Oliver Onions

For the Italian music group Oliver Onions, see Guido & Maurizio De Angelis.
George Oliver Onions

Oliver Onions' Portrait
Born George Oliver Onions
(1873-11-13)13 November 1873
Bradford, Yorkshire, England
Died 9 April 1961(1961-04-09) (aged 87)
Aberystwyth, Wales
Pen name Oliver Onions
Occupation Novelist
Language English
Nationality British
Genre Detective fiction, Ghost stories, Romance, historical fiction
Spouse Berta Ruck (1909–1961)
Children 2

George Oliver Onions[1] (13 November 1873 – 9 April 1961) was a British writer of story collections and over 40 novels.[2] He wrote in a variety of genres, but is perhaps beset remembered for his ghost stories, notably the highly-regard collection Widdershins and the widely anthologized novella "The Beckoning Fair One". He was married to the novelist Berta Ruck.

Personal life

Born George Oliver Onions on 13 November 1873 in Bradford, Yorkshire, England, UK, of humble parents. He studied art for three years in London at the National Arts Training Schools (now the Royal College of Art). In the book Twentieth Century Authors, Onions described his interests as motoring and science; he was also an amateur boxer as a young man.[2]

In 1909, he married the writer Berta Ruck (1878–1978), and they had two sons, Arthur (b. 1912) and William (b. 1913).[2] In 1918, he legally changed his name to George Oliver, but continued to publish under the name Oliver Onions.

He died on 9 April 1961 in Aberystwyth, Wales.

Writing career

Oliver Onions ca. 1915

Originally trained as a commercial artist, he worked as a designer of posters and books, and as a magazine illustrator during the Boer War. Encouraged by the American writer Gelett Burgess, Onions began writing fiction.[2] The first editions of his novels were published with dust jackets bearing full-colour illustrations painted by Onions himself.[2]

Poor Man's Tapestry (1946) and its prequel, Arras of Youth (1949) are about the adventures of a juggler, Robert Gandelyn, in the fourteenth century.[3] Onions wrote two detective novels: A Case in Camera and In Accordance with the Evidence.[4] Two of his works are science fiction novels: New Moon (1918) about a utopian Britain, and The Tower of Oblivion (1921), featuring a middle-aged man who recedes back to his youth.[5] A Certain Man (1931), about a magical suit of clothes, and A Shilling to Spend (1965), about a self-perpetuating coin, are fantasy novels.[6]

Onions wrote several collections of ghost stories, of which the best known is Widdershins (1911).[7][8] It includes the novella The Beckoning Fair One, widely regarded as one of the best in the genre of horror fiction, especially psychological horror.[7] On the surface, this is a conventional haunted house story: an unsuccessful writer moves into rooms in an otherwise empty house, in the hope that isolation will help his failing creativity. His sensitivity and imagination are enhanced by his seclusion, but his art, his only friend and his sanity are all destroyed in the process. The story can be read as narrating the gradual possession of the protagonist by a mysterious and possessive feminine spirit, or as a realistic description of a psychotic outbreak culminating in catatonia and murder, told from the psychotic subject's point of view. The precise description of the slow disintegration of the protagonist's mind is terrifying in either case.

Another theme, shared with others of Onions' stories, is a connection between creativity and insanity; in this view, the artist is in danger of withdrawing from the world altogether and losing himself in his creation.[8] Another noted story from Widdershins is "Rooum", about an engineer pursued by a mysterious entity.[8][9] "Phantas", "The Rosewood Door" and "The Rope in the Rafters" involve time shifts.[10]

The title novella of The Painted Face (1929) is about a Greek girl who is the reincarnation of an ancient spirit; Ashley describes it as "one of the finest works in the genre".[9] The collection also contains "The Master of the House", a story involving a werewolf and black magic.[8]

A long supernatural novel is The Hand of Kornelius Voyt about an isolated boy who falls under the psychic influences of another.[10]

Onions was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his 1946 novel Poor Man's Tapestry.[2]

Reception and influence

Onions' work has generally been well received. Gahan Wilson ranked him as "one of the best, if not the best, ghost story writers working in the English language," declaring that "Mr. Onions did as much as anyone to move phantoms and other haunts from dark, Gothic dungeons to the very room in which you presently sit."[11] Discussing ghost stories, Algernon Blackwood described The Beckoning Fair One as "the most horrible and beautiful ever written on those lines".[9] J.B. Priestley described Widdershins as a "book of fine creepy stories".[12] Robert Aickman named "The Beckoning Fair One" as "one of the (possibly) six great masterpieces in the field".[9] E. F. Bleiler lauded Widdershins as "a landmark book in the history of supernatural fiction".[13] Clemence Dane stated of Onions: "His books have a lasting attraction for a reader who enjoys using his brains and his imagination".[2] An Irish Times review of Arras of Youth stated "Mr. Onions writes limpid and often beautiful prose".[3] Martin Seymour-Smith described Onions' Whom God Hath Sundered trilogy as a neglected classic: " 'In Accordance with the Evidence' is the masterpiece of the three, but the other sequels in no way disgrace it".[14] Neil Wilson has stated that Onions' supernatural works "are notable for their depth of psychological insight, elegant writing and sophisticated plots". Wilson notes that " 'The Beckoning Fair One' (1911) is regarded by many as one of the greatest English tales of the supernatural but has overshadowed Onions' other work in the genre which some consider of equal, if not greater, importance. In fact, the majority of the author's supernatural fiction is of an extremely high standard and is notable for its originality, subtlety and careful characterizations which lift it well above the average".[15] On the other hand, H.P. Lovecraft's assessment of Onions' work was negative; in a 1936 letter to J. Vernon Shea, Lovecraft stated, "I have Onions' Ghosts in Daylight...I didn't care much for the various tales".[16]

Karl Edward Wagner's short story, "In the Pines" (1973) is a homage to Onions' "The Beckoning Fair One".[17] Russell Hoban also alludes to Onions' work in his books Her Name Was Lola and Amaryllis Night and Day.[18]

Bibliography (partial)

Novels

Omnibus collections

Ghost story collections

References

  1. ↑ Pronounced by his family as in the vegetable, not oh-NY-ons'. See Twentieth Century Authors, 1950.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Kunitz, Stanley J.; Haycraft, Howard, eds. (1950). Twentieth Century Authors: A Biographical Dictionary of Modern Literature (3rd ed.). New York: H. W. Wilson. pp. 1051–52.
  3. 1 2 "Recent Fiction by "B.M"" (Review of Arras of Youth), The Irish Times, 23 July 1949.
  4. ↑ Allen J. Hubin, Crime fiction, 1749–1980: a comprehensive bibliography. Garland Publishing, 1984. (p. 305)
  5. ↑ E. F. Bleiler and Richard Bleiler. Science-Fiction: The Early Years. Kent State University Press, 1990. (p.575-76). ISBN 9780873384162.
  6. ↑ Brian Stableford, "Onions, Oliver", in The A to Z of Fantasy Literature Scarecrow Press,Plymouth. 2005. ISBN 0-8108-6829-6 (p. 309)
  7. 1 2 Keith Neilson, "Collected Ghost Stories of Oliver Onions, The" in Frank N. Magill, ed. Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature, Vol 1. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Salem Press, Inc., 1983. (pp.294–299). ISBN 0-89356-450-8
  8. 1 2 3 4 Norman Donaldson, "Oliver Onions", in E.F. Bleiler, ed. Supernatural Fiction Writers. New York: Scribner's, 1985. pp.505–512. ISBN 0684178087
  9. 1 2 3 4 Mike Ashley, "Oliver Onions:The Man at the Edge" in Darrell Schweitzer, ed. Discovering Classic Horror Fiction I, Starmont House, (p.120-26). ISBN 1-55742-084-X
  10. 1 2 Mike Ashley, "Onions,Oliver ", in S. T. Joshi and Dziemianowicz, (ed.) Supernatural Literature of the World : an encyclopedia. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 2005. ISBN 0313327742 (p. 874-5).
  11. ↑ "Books", F&SF, May 1973, p. 75-6
  12. ↑ J.B. Priestley, The Edwardians, Harper and Row, 1970 (p. 129).
  13. ↑ E. F. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction, Kent State University Press, 1983 (p. 392).
  14. ↑ Martin Seymour-Smith, "Forgotten Classic". Scotland on Sunday, 22 February 1998 (p.26)
  15. ↑ Neil Wilson, Shadows in the Attic: A Guide to British supernatural fiction, 1820–1950 British Library, London, 2000. ISBN 0712310746. (p.298)
  16. ↑ S.T. Joshi (2002) Lovecraft's Library: A Catalogue p.108, Hippocampus Press ISBN 0967321573
  17. ↑ "The tale is a retelling of sorts of Oliver Onions' classic ghost story 'The Beckoning Fair One' (which Wagner references in his story) and it shows how well Wagner understood the mechanics of the horror tale". Stefan Dziemianowicz, Review of Where the Summer Ends and Walk on the Wild Side by Karl Edward Wagner. Locus Magazine, 13 May 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  18. ↑ "He also references Gothic writers who have influenced him, such as Margaret Oliphant and Oliver Onions". Review of Her Name Was Lola by Russell Hoban. The Times, 8 November 2003, p.14.
  19. ↑ "Review: Widdershins by Oliver Onions". The Athenæum (no. 4350): 274. 11 March 1911.

Sources

Further reading

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