HALLOWEEN READING: CANON ALBERIC’S SCRAPBOOK (1893, 1895)

CANON ALBERIC’S SCRAPBOOK – Written by Montague Rhodes James, and I’m shocked that I still encounter people today who are not familiar with him and his works. Anyway, that made me decide to examine his first supernatural horror story.

Canon Alberic’s Scrapbook was originally written by James and was read aloud by him in October 1893 to his friends in the ChitChat Society at King’s College, Cambridge. It was published in 1895.

The story features Dennistoun, a Cambridge Scholar who takes a vacation on the Continent so he can tour, photograph and sketch old cathedrals in France. Dennistoun bicycles to the town of St.-Bertrand-de-Comminges near Toulouse to cover its cathedral.

A very nervous old Verger is assigned to accompany him and while Dennistoun contentedly whiles away the day lost in the ancient appeal of the cathedral he becomes increasingly aware of the Verger’s discomfort. The older man refuses to leave our main character alone in the building, even when sinister, hollow tittering is heard throughout the cathedral.

By the time that Dennistoun – who considers himself to be too modern to be troubled by odd sounds in a centuries-old structure – is ready to leave, he is surprised to see the Verger kneeling and praying to a painting of St. Bertrand saving a man from Satan. Our man from Cambridge is still unconcerned despite noticing that echoes of whispers and laughter have grown more frequent.   

Relieved to be out of the cathedral, the nervous Frenchman lures Dennistoun to his home to look at an odd scrapbook compiled by the cathedral’s Canon Alberic in the 1690s. The Verger’s daughter is clearly relieved that her father and the visitor came to no harm, but she is alarmed when her father tells her “He was laughing in the tower.”

The Frenchman and his daughter live in the palatial home of the long-dead Canon Alberic de Mouleon, which is how he came to own the scrapbook. That tome is wrapped in silk and locked away in a chest beneath a huge crucifix.

The Cambridge scholar is enthralled to discover that the scrapbook contains pages from several lost books dating back over a thousand years. Dennistoun desperately wants to buy the book for Cambridge’s collection, but his host tells him he must read all the way to the end of the book first.

Alberic’s own writings in the scrapbook mention that he stole and destroyed some of those ancient volumes, preserving only the pages he glued into his collection. Canon Alberic also details his covert studies in occultism and his conjuration of an entity which once clashed with King Solomon himself.   

A brief catechism in the book covers Alberic’s exchanges with the entity on December 12th, 1694. Q: Shall I find it? A: Thou shalt.  Q: Shall I become rich? A: Thou wilt.  Q: Shall I live an object of envy? A: Thou wilt.  Q: Shall I die in my bed? A: Thou wilt. 

At last, the Cambridge man reaches the final page of Alberic’s book. It holds a 1690s illustration by the late Canon. It features King Solomon and some of his soldiers confronting an ugly, partly humanoid creature which sports a lot of hair and is emaciated, yet muscular looking. Dennistoun compares it to a South American Goliath Birdeater Tarantula in semi-human form.   

The Cambridge man speculates that this monstrous figure may be a Spirit of Vengeance, or a Demon of the Night which battled King Solomon, or a night-monster from the ruins of ancient Babylon mentioned in Isaiah:13.

The Verger tells Dennistoun that he has seen the entity unleashed by Canon Alberic twice now. A third visit from it is fatal, as it was with Alberic, who is presumably burning in Hell over his unholy bargain.

Our main character still dismisses all this as mere superstition held by peasants and insists on buying the scrapbook for Cambridge. Though the tome could sell for hundreds of thousands of francs, the Frenchman sells it for a few hundred, relieved to have it out of his hands.

The Verger’s daughter prevails upon Dennistoun to wear a heavy silver crucifix around his neck for protection. He humors her and wears it back to his hotel room. The woman and her father watch to make sure the scholar gets there safely and tell the innkeeper that two sturdy men may be needed as guards overnight.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

As one might expect, the entity takes Dennistoun by surprise but he uses the silver crucifix he reluctantly took from the young Frenchwoman to drive it off. The two men standing guard also confront the creature.

The Cambridge man burns the book’s illustration of the entity, hoping it will save him from further visits by the thing that he now believes in. He photographed the drawing first, so the ending leaves questions and dread hanging over the story’s participants.

Will the photo attract the being like the illustration did? Will Dennistoun get two more visits, ending with his death? After all, the creature tormented Alberic with seven years of tittering and whispers before finally killing him in 1701. Will the two sturdy men at the Inn also fall victim? We are told that the Verger died a few months later, but we are left to speculate if the entity caused his death with a third visit or if he died of natural causes.

NOTE: This tale is usually included among M.R. James’ ghost stories even though it’s not a ghost in the story.

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