The Ghostly Tales of Russell Kirk
mys.tery fr. L mysterium, fr. Gk mystērion 2a: something not understood or beyond understanding: ENIGMA 2d: a piece of fiction dealing usu. with the solution of a mysterious crime. (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed.)
Does one of those definitions grab you, while the other one doesn’t? Or do they both fascinate you? Would you agree that a fiction writer who is a master in both of these realms is worth reading?
That would be Russell Kirk—and if you don’t know the name, I urge you to stroll away from the vicarage, those mean streets, or cyberspace and allow him to introduce himself to you. If you also happen to like ghost stories, well, Kirk’s 2004 book, Ancestral Shadows: An Anthology of Ghostly Tales might just be your cup of tea (or poison . . . that’s in there too).
Kirk is best known for his leadership in late 20th-century conservatism. His book The Conservative Mind continues to be the authoritative work on the development of conservative thought from Britain’s Edmund Burke to T.S. Eliot. If that fact don’t interest you in the least . . . great! It’s his contribution to the modern ghostly tale that interests us here.
Although some critics refer to the “Gothic” nature of Kirk’s work in Ancestral Shadows, the stories leave that lazy characterization in the dust. These are rich and complex modern tales that, at their heart, explore how unwise choices and bad actions can nevertheless lead to redemption. How can that be? Well, I suppose it has something to do with that first definition above: “something not understood or beyond understanding.” For “mystery” fans, it doesn’t matter anyway. This is simply beautiful, soulful writing, with a lot at stake for the characters involved.
In the words of Vigen Guroian’s introduction:
Kirk’s rich imaginative mind vividly casts the drama of the soul’s struggle with good and evil in relation to the transcendent realm of meaning and purpose. Eschewing didacticism, Kirk infuses into his stories his most deeply held religious, moral, and political convictions—especially belief in divine providence, a higher moral law, eternal life, and the dual nature of the human being as body and spirit.
If that’s too fancy-pants a description for your liking, you can tune in to Kirk’s “experiments [on] what the nature of the ‘otherworldly’ journey is, and what heaven and hell are like.”
I don’t know about you, but to me that’s some invitation to help while away a weekend evening. Better make that a weekend afternoon, considering the guests you can expect to show up.
Russell Kirk, Ancestral Shadows: An Anthology of Ghostly Tales (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004).
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