Review: The Two Sams: Ghost Stories

The Two Sams by Glen Hirshberg is ostensibly a collection of five ghost stories; it says so right on the cover, and the claim is echoed on the title page. In truth, these are stories in which the presence of the supernatural acts as part of each tale’s moral framework even as it is catalyst for events that reveal some aspect of character, both of the narrator – all the stories are told in the first person – and those around the narrator.

Each story examines personal relationships: “Struwwellpeter” portrays an uneasy friendship between two boys, and the even more troubled relationship between one of those boys and his father; “Shipwreck Beach” follows two cousins who have difficulty with trust in spite of loving each other; and “Dancing Men” is narrated by a man looking back on his boyhood, trying to understand his father and grandfather, the latter’s effect on the former and the effect of both on himself.

Perhaps the standout stories of the collection are “Mr. Dark’s Carnival” and the title story. The former is homage to Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked this Way Comes. Unlike the other stories, it displays humor that leavens its tone of sadness, a tone shared by the other stories, but that also makes the sadness somehow more poignant. The humor stems from the narrator, a historian and teacher, and it is his sense of humor and the sense of adventure exhibited by all the characters that tie this story to Bradbury’s. It is a tribute to Hirshberg’s skills that this story is just as affecting as Bradbury’s.

“The Two Sams” is narrated by a husband who is worried by his wife’s pregnancy, her third after two miscarriages. Hirshberg’s portrayal of his anxiety and fear are spot-on. Like the other stories, the ghosts in this one are not so much frightening as sad and understandable, though their effect on the narrator and the direction of the story itself are unsettling.

All of the stories in The Two Sams are connected, loosely, by Hirshberg’s focus on education; not formal schooling, though these stories portray an abundance of teachers, but on how people learn about other people, come to understand the world in which they live. And in Hirshberg’s world, arriving at knowledge is not solely for the young. While Hirshberg’s sensibility seems more mainstream-literary than genre-horror, his prose is smooth and accessible – though possibly strewn with too many similes – and each story has moments that are startling and even creepy. Still, the primary effect is derived from seeing how the past affects the present and this frequently lends the stories a melancholy tone.

The Two Sams is a remarkably accomplished collection for so new a writer. While I wouldn't necessarily recommend these stories to a reader looking for the thrills elicited by E.F. Benson or M. R. James, anyone who appreciates Oliver Onions’ “The Beckoning Fair One,” the ghost stories of Edith Wharton or the more accessible ghost stories of Henry James, should find Hirshberg’s stories rewarding.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Randy - RAM

Book Review: The Two Sams: Ghost Stories