Several aspects of Westall's work have been of continuing concern throughout his career: violence, harsh language, sexual content, insensitivity to the portrayal of female characters, and stereotypes about homosexuals and sex roles. In The Haunting of Chas McGill several of these elements are present. Violent events occur in nearly all of the stories. In "The Haunting of Chas McGill," for instance, the ghost soldier from World War I refers to the death of his friend and his friend's grotesque burial in the wall of the trench. In "The Vacancy," Martin is disintegrated "like an erratic firecracker" after he is identified as being a threat to the state because of his intelligence, initiative, and curiosity. The most violent of all of the stories is "A Walk on the Wild Side," which features a blood-spattered kitchen left in.....
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