The House in the Fog.

[MJE]

Hallo.

     Not sure if it's acceptable to ask here about a specific short story: if it is, then I suppose it could open the floodgates to people wanting to ask about hundreds of stories. But if it's unacceptable, then I suppose people just won't answer - so I'll give it a try.
     As I've mentioned before, I've decided to try to fill the many holes in my Blyton collection, before the copies I want become even rarer, more battered, and more expensive. One problem I find sometimes is that on eBay, for instance, I may find only one or two books I want from a seller, so the postage may cost far more than the book itself. For that reason, I try, as far as I can, to buy several books from the same seller at the same time.
     Accordingly, for one seller I've just bought a couple of books from, I looked through their Blyton listings, and found just one extra book that *might* interest me: a collection called "The House in the Fog and Other Stories". I have no idea what the stories inside are like, but the cover showed a rather atmospheric picture of a fogbound house, with a boy with a torch outside, as if investigating the house in an adventure.
     I looked this collection up in the Cave, and found a listing of story titles - and I must admit that most of them seem less interesting to me. Well, I guess they may be quite good, and of interest to some - but I am not even trying to collect anything by Enid Blyton, and most of them didn't seem to fit the type of story I collect.
     Just one story - the title story, "The House in the Fog" - sounded as if it could be an exciting or mysterious adventure. I just thought I'd ask here if anyone's read it, and whether it's a good story, worth buying the collection for. I am aware that, even when a short story is in the mystery or adventure style, it can sometimes be rather tame, just because of the brevity constraints.
     Also, are any other stories in that book in the same style, even though their titles don't immediately point to that?
     I'm just trying to decide whether to bid on the book, so if anyone knows about this, I'd appreciate hearing from them.
     Thanks.

Regards, Michael.


P.S.:
     Are you surprised that there should be so many holes in my Blyton collection? Surely I've long since obtained all the books that interest me?
     Well, yes, that's true - but most of them were acquired pre-Internet, from actual second-hand bookshops, and so it was rather a hit-and-miss affair - and the sad fact is that probably over three-quarters of those books are not really acceptable: either they are just not the edition I want (sometimes from the 1970s or 1980s - much too recent), or else, if they are, they are really tatty or without dustjackets. And I really want to correct this, although (* SIGH! *) it's going to really cost me, and may make me rather poor for a while. But if a time comes when *any* hardcover Famous Five costs $200 without a dustjacket, and $500 with, and even an Armada or Dragon paperback from the 1960s costs $100 in good order, then I will regret that I didn't do this when the going prices were, in each case, about one zero less.

[Moonraker]

I have the book, Michael, and The House in the Fog is very atmospheric. It is a while since I have read it, and I think it is pretty short, which is a shame. It would have made a very good ghost story as a novella or even a full sized 'stand-alone' novel. However, I have no regrets and I am glad I bought it. I only paid a few shillings for it, so I would say, "Go ahead, Michael!"

Sorry my answer is on the brief side (like the story!), if you need to know more, let me know, and I will hunt the book out and refresh my memory.

[Julie2owlsdene]

I've got the book and read The House in the Fog, Michael, but I wasn't all that keen on it. It wasn't what I expected the story to be!

[Anita Bensoussane]

I've got 'The House in the Fog' in Anytime Tales (Purnell Sunshine Library) and I like it very much. It's not an "adventure" story but is fantastical and sinister and has some spooky elements, though it's only a short story and is over fairly quickly as Nigel said. Enid Blyton's short tales often contain some great ideas but the length doesn't always allow them to be explored fully.

One short story collection which contains a number of mini-adventures reminiscent of the Secret Seven is Happy Adventure Tales (Purnell Sunshine Library). I'm particularly fond of 'Adventure for Two' in which the father sounds like a grown-up Fatty, saying to his children Jack and Mary, "I rather thought I'd go to the bakery and have one of those chocolate ice-creams of theirs. But you know how I hate eating ice-creams alone." I also like (in the same volume) 'Colin is a Good Policeman,' 'The Prisoner in the Cave' (I found the ending quite a surprise on a first reading), 'Little Lucky Man,' 'When Mac was a Shadow,' 'Isn't He a Coward!', 'Adventure in the Afternoon' and 'The Train that Broke in Half.'

[Moonraker]

I also like 'The Prisoner in the Cave' (I found the ending quite a surprise on a first reading)...

His name wasn't Tony, was it?

[Anita Bensoussane]

No, but it would be apt!

[tix]

Unfortunately the book is not "complete" Blyton because it appeared in 2000 and is therefore updated (censored?). Looking at one other story (Silly Simon and the Goat), I noticed this had also been altered in parts - and furthermore, shouldn't it be "Simple" Simon? Get the version in "My EB Bedside Book" which also contains much better illustrations.

To me, "The House in the Fog" is reasonably mediocre but may be looked upon by a potential buyer as "special" because the volume is named after it. The tales are reprints of course and if the title story was desired, it might be better to grab a copy of "The Twelfth Holiday Book" where you'll not only get the goods as the author produced them, but also with far superior pictures (Perrin). Admittedly "Fog" has only about one alteration - a friend’s name has been changed from "Mary Jane" to "Jane!" Surely this isn’t because "Mary Jane" is a slang term for marijuana!! If so, then the mind boggles!!

It could be a worthy exercise to look at your own collection first to see if you already possess some of the stories and then track the others down. However, if the investment has already been made then it doesn't really matter because you'll have over 30 EB tales added to your lot.

Regarding the collecting issue - there are plenty of cheap "Armada" and "Dragon" books available if one pokes around a little. "Castle of Adventure" (Armada) was won for about 50p last month.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Unfortunately the book is not "complete" Blyton because it appeared in 2000 and is therefore updated (censored?). Looking at one other story (Silly Simon and the Goat), I noticed this had also been altered in parts - and furthermore, shouldn't it be "Simple" Simon?

What a daft alteration. It seems likely that Simple Simon was named after the nursery-rhyme character ("Simple Simon met a pieman...") - a connection which is lost in the edited version. Clearly Enid Blyton's work is too literary for some!

[Moonraker]

Daft indeed. Especially as 'simple' kids now are 'children with learning difficulties'. Of course being simple used to mean that you led a basic existence and weren't necessarily 'thick'.

[pete9012S]

[Bertie]

Thanks for posting that, Pete.

Anita, how simplistic are the short stories in Happy Adventure Tales? I went to eBay to order it when you said they're reminiscent of The Secret Seven, but the picture on the front looks very childlike so just wondered how young the children in them are and how simplistic are the adventures? If they have the kind of 'feel' and terminology as The Secret Seven then I'll definitely get them as some bonus short stories.

[Anita Bensoussane]

The stories are not as childish as the cover picture implies, but I'd say most of the children are a little younger than the Secret Seven. Quite a few of the stories in Happy Adventure Tales are mini mysteries/adventures. To give you an idea, Pete has provided a link to 'The Prisoner in the Cave' (though with different illustrations).

'The Prisoner in the Cave':

viewtopic.php?p=421580#p421580

[Bertie]

Thanks for that link, Anita (and originally, Pete).

I quite enjoyed that short story so I'll definitely get the book.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I hope you enjoy the other stories in Happy Adventure Tales, Bertie.

A couple of us have commented in the Journal 79 thread that, although the illustrations for 'The House in the Fog' in The Twelfth Holiday Book are nicely drawn, the bright colours don't suit the sinister murkiness of the story. I've also just noticed that the clock in the first picture says it's ten to seven, yet William tells his mother he must go as his Cub Meeting starts at six o'clock!

[Boodi 2]

Well spotted Anita! Amazing how many of the artists/illustrators don't seem to have read the stories properly and that the editors did not notice the contradictions in the illustrations...