11 JANUARY 1902, Page 24

The Place of Dreams. By the Rev. William Barry, D.D.

(Sands and Co. 3s. 6d.)—These stories will appeal to people who like to read of supernatural adventures and " black magic." In the first three stories the scene is laid in the present day, and the mysterious workings cf forbidden knowledge are skilfully inter- woven with the ordinary events of life. As a Roman Catholic the author perhaps treats miraculous events with more convic- tion than would an ordinary teller of ghost stories. However this may be, he succeeds in making the reader shudder at the " darker arts." The last part of the book consists of what he calls a fantasia on a romance of Hoffmann's, in which miracles, magic, and alchemy all have a share. The writer shows wisdom in the reticence with which he treats supernatural horrors, leaving many details to be supplied by the imagination of the startled reader.