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Post by dem on Oct 23, 2007 8:20:19 GMT
Mary Danby (ed.) - Frighteners 2: New Stories of Horror and the Unknown (Fontana, 1976)  Alan Hood
Roger Malisson - The Thirteenth Kestral
Roy Harrison - The Cockroaches
Roger F. Dunkley - Cross Talk
Sydney J. Bounds - A Complete Collection
Tim Vicary - Guest Room
Dorothy K. Haynes - Fully Integrated
Robert P. Holdstock - Magic Man
Kay Leith - Avalon Heights
Bryn Fortey - The Substitute
Bernard Taylor - Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake
Sydney J. Bounds - An Eye For Beauty
Catherine Gleason - Friends
Margot Arnold - Brain Drain
Roger F. Dunkley - The Method And Madness Of George Strode Just been dipping into the second book these past couple of days and it's good fun with (so far) two miniature 'rivals of The Rats, a mad horror fan story and a ghastly Gorgon job. Frances Stephens - Claws: Tony Price escapes his creditors by doing a flit to the Outer Hebrides where he lands a job at a lobster refinery. Unfortunately, one of his colleagues, Logan, takes an instant dislike to him for being a 'prancing Nancy boy' Southerner with a flash car, and Price is obliged to bash him over the head and feed him to the merchandise. The Islanders don't take kindly to this at all. Roy Harrison - The Cockroaches: Occultist Borynski does away with his impossible neighbours the drunken, proto-chav O'Hallorans by unleashing an army of roaches on 'em. What little is left of the couple is enough to make an experienced police officer throw up. Sydney J. Bounds - A Complete Collection: Pulp author Michael Cox is ambushed by his number one fan at the World Fantasy Convention in London and can't shake him. Jonathan Jamieson also has a morbid obsession with Egyptian burial practices .... Sydney J. Bounds - An Eye For Beauty: Cockney sculptor Dave Breton's work goes from rubbish to genius when he takes a studio on a Greek island. Now he specialises in life-size statues of nude beauties, their faces frozen in silent terror. What is the secret of his success? Roger Malisson - The Thirteenth Kestrel: Stanley Davis was the only man who could fly the Kestrel without coming to grief. Even so, when he dies (suicide: complicated love life and debt) there's no shortage of club members willing to buy it with Bill Rogerson eventually winning through. His colleagues find that odd: wasn't Stan having an affair with his wife Lucy? Bill's maiden flight in the Kestral is also his last and over the coming weeks the plane wipes out most of Stan's associates in increasingly vicious and inventive manner. Margot Arnold - Brain Drain: Widow Mr. Parsons takes a job at the library and is immediately struck by the unhealthy, apathetic demeanor of her zombie-like colleagues. Before long, she too is rapidly being drained of her vitality. All those great books require something back. Roger F. Dunkley - The Method And Madness Of George Strode: Our hero's increasingly desperate attempts to be rid of wife Emilia, all of which backfire, the snake-in-the-bed wheeze humiliatingly so. Will his luck change on their forthcoming trip to the seaside? Kay Leith - Avalon Heights: Recently affluent Deborah moves into the brand new block of luxury flats ahead of her husband. she's perturbed that there's no sign of the caretaker or, for that matter, her fellow residents. Evidently the old boy keeps a dog as there are bones strewn across the floor of his apartment and she keeps hearing shuffling noises ... Bernard Taylor - Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake: A precocious baby gets even with his negligent mother after another evening dumped in the corner of the pub while she gets on with organising tonight's leg-over and playing darts. Two more. The first an excellent incubus/succubus horror, the second a horror-ed up Billy Liar: Catherine Gleason - Friends: Brendon's popularity amongst his work colleagues is due in no small part to his giving them the use of his flat to conduct their sex lives. He's astonished - and delighted - when the office loner approaches him and requests use of it: Malochie rarely exchanges a word with anyone. Thinking him a shy introvert, Brendon invites him along to one of his parties where Malochie surprises everyone by chatting up young Mary who'd previously shown no liking for him whatsoever. The unlikely pair go missing, presumed eloped, some weeks later along with Brendon's trunk. Then her dismembered body is found ... Bryn Fortey - The Substitute: In his dream world, put-upon office worker Larry is transformed into Lackadaisical 'Lacky' Macey, revolutionary, terrorist and ladies man, striking a blow against the Bennington dictatorship. Gradually, the main players from his fantasy cross over into his dull everyday life with disastrous consequences for his mother and work colleagues.
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Post by Johnlprobert on Oct 23, 2007 11:22:22 GMT
Another great cover! One of my favourite paperbacks as a kid, this. I thought The Thirteenth Kestrel was loads of fun, the Roger Dunkley story hilarious, and Avalon Heights really scared me. It took me years and years to find volume one.
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Post by dem on Oct 23, 2007 11:40:19 GMT
And, given the trend for bigger books, you'd think that somebody at Fontana or wherever would have hit on what a great idea it would be to reissue them both as a Frighteners Omnibus.
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Post by Dr Terror on Oct 23, 2007 11:59:03 GMT
There does seem to be a bit of a nostalgia thing going on in publishing at the moment, with those Commando, Battle comic books, and even a Look-In book.
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Post by Johnlprobert on Aug 9, 2010 7:23:18 GMT
So having picked a mint copy of this over the weekend I couldn't resist dipping into it last night. My Dad originally bought this from the Woolworths bargain bin for me when I was off school ill. Obviously he thought that something with cockroaches crawling over an eye was the thing to cheer up his ten year old son and goodness me he was right. Congratulations to Mary Danby for squeezing 15 stories into its 150 pages. Dem's done the plot summaries so I have the far easier job of just saying what I thought:
Frances Stephens - Claws. This story is probably just an excuse to say 'Aren't lobsters scary?' but of course there could be a deeper subtext here, namely lobsters don't kill people - people kill people. With lobsters.
Roger Malisson - The Thirteenth Kestrel. I still love this one, especially the final image, but the idea of a killer aeroplane is pretty original and I can't remember it having been done before or since.
Roy Harrison - The Cockroaches. "She farted triumphantly and closed the door" I've no idea who Roy Harrison is but his story is hilarious
Roger F. Dunkley - Cross Talk. Witches and telephone lines and some lovely dialogue between the two dotty old leads
Sydney J. Bounds - A Complete Collection. I got out a lot more out of this (and the other stories) than I did when I was 10. There's obviously quite a bit of Syd Bounds himself in the lead character, disillusioned at the World Fantasy Convention by being a jobbing writer who has never specialised but writes anything that pays.
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Post by dem on Aug 9, 2010 8:08:31 GMT
How lovely to have this cherished collection back on the agenda! The cover is by Alan Hood who, as Justin has pointed out in Paperback Fanatic, had a big 'eye in peril' thing going on at the time (think the covers of Shaun Hutson's Slugs and David Loman's Blowfly) I find it incredibly sad that Sydney J. Bounds never saw his horror stories compiled. The resulting paperback (it would HAVE to be a paperback!) would have made for a brilliant Frighteners companion. For all that his horrors are often very jolly in the best EC tradition, there are times when the frustration and disillusion creeps in - the depressing Worst Enemy which, for all I know, has never seen publication beyond the debut issue of Simon Gosden's Out Of The Woodwork, seems unnervingly true to life, like he was getting a bit fed up with it all. |
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Post by Johnlprobert on Aug 9, 2010 8:44:50 GMT
How lovely to have this cherished collection back on the agenda! The cover is by Alan Hood who, as Justin has pointed out in Paperback Fanatic, had a big 'eye in peril' thing going on at the time (think the covers of Shaun Hutson's Slugs and David Loman's Blowfly) i find it incredibly sad that Sydney J. Bounds never saw his horror stories compiled. The resulting paperback (it would HAVE to be a paperback!) would have made for a brilliant Frighteners companion. For all that his horrors are often very jolly in the best EC tradition, there are times when the frustration and disillusion creeps in - the depressing Worst Enemy which, for all i know, has never seen publication beyond the debut issue of Simon Gosden's Out Of The Woodwork, seems unnervingly true to life, like he was getting a bit fed up with it all. Thanks! I know that a two volume set of Syd Bounds' work was planned by someone (??Night Shade Presss but I could well be wrong). I even remember ordering it though Andy Richards about 10 years ago but I don't think it was ever published. Certainly when I mentioned its failure to appear and the name of the publisher concerned Erik Arthur at the Fantasy Centre just said it wasn't surprising. It's a shame, because presumably that means there IS a definitive Bounds languishing on someone' s hard drive somewhere. |
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Post by Johnlprobert on Aug 9, 2010 11:52:52 GMT
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Post by dem on Aug 9, 2010 12:18:42 GMT
great minds and all that, but have a guess what i've just been typing out? Have put the contents on the Syd thread for ease-of-find purposes and to give it a booster. To these eyes, the first collection looks like wall-to-wall SF, but for some of us, the second is perhaps more the ticket.
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Post by Johnlprobert on Aug 10, 2010 14:23:04 GMT
Well after the sheer filth and shockery of the Mayflower Black Magic book I had to calm myself down with some more classic horror:
Tim Vicary - Guest Room. Oh dear - a bad choice. It seems 'literary' horror isn't just confined to 80s and 90s anthos. Here the relatively straightforward story of a self-harming mother whose ghost ends up revisiting her family is given the full high bollocks treatment. Far less clever than it thinks it is, someone is now going to tell me that Tim Vicary is a tremendously successful and respected writer who I've never heard of.
Dorothy K. Haynes - Fully Integrated. This is more like it! When a family decide to spend their summer holiday at a quaint guesthouse they accept the invitation to stay for longer than planned. And longer. And longer. The fact that they're getting fatter and the local butcher is sharpening his carving knives can't mean anything, can it? Good old Dorothy.
Robert P. Holdstock - Magic Man. Here's one I remember from when I was ten, mainly because I was impressed that someone could write a horror story set in the stone age. It's still not bad - One Eye the cave painter ensures that the tribe kill plenty of bison on their hunts with his magic powers, but He Who Carries Red Spear isn't happy, especially as Red Spear's son is more interested in girly cave painting rather than killing things with his bare hands. But the boy has had enough of both of them and has special powers of his own...
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Post by dem on Aug 10, 2010 16:37:25 GMT
You know, i could have sworn i'd churned out some garbage about all the stories - i certainly remember Fully Integrated (a Frighteners classic) and Magic Man (beautifully written if not really my thing) but the Tim Vicary story is a blank which, going by your remarks is maybe just as well. Seems like he's packed in the horrors for more lucrative markets ... Tim Vicary's Official Website |
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Post by Johnlprobert on Aug 11, 2010 10:17:34 GMT
Kay Leith - Avalon Heights. I remember liking this as a young 'un which is odd as it's one of those ambiguous tales where I'm still not really sure what's going on. My best guess is that this brand new apartment block is eating people, and the subtle splash of blood and bit of bone at the end are beautifully disquieting.
Bryn Fortey - The Substitute. Walter Mitty time with the bleeding in and out of the lead character's fantasy life into reality handled really well. I especially liked the kidnapped French actress straight out of a BBC sitcom
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Post by Johnlprobert on Aug 13, 2010 10:48:05 GMT
Bernard Taylor - Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake. It's that talkative baby story I remember so well. There can't be many stories where a baby is both the narrator and the killer, so full marks to Mr Taylor for originality
Sydney J. Bounds - An Eye For Beauty. Here's an idea that's ripe for a modern reinterpretation. Rubbish artist finds a gorgon and uses it to provide him with success and acclaim. So short this story is just a sketch, it would be fun to have some lunatic have a whoe collection of mythical monsters that he uses to create art for him.
Catherine Gleason - Friends. The 'incubus with eyes of fire' story. It's a bit longer than the others and by now a bit of length is welcome, actually. Well written and with some good nastiness.
Margot Arnold - Brain Drain - I get the feeling Ms Arnold works / worked in a library and didn't really get on with anyone in it. Nice image of the grey tentacles popping out of the stacks and giving all these old ladies queer sensations.
Roger F. Dunkley - The Method And Madness Of George Strode. And finally - a story I first read at the back of a chemistry lesson and handed it to my next door neighbour so we could chuckle about it together. Stories like this, and the tales of Conrad Hill in the Pans, and the tales of Chetwynd-Hayes in general, did so much to influence my love of this genre of ours. It's not even a horror story really, and it's certainly not scary. It is silly, it is daft, and it's very, very funny. I laughed out loud again at the psychiatrist who likes 'dressing up'. There aren't enough stories like this around anymore, in a genre that's become much too po-faced for my liking. Discuss...
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Post by dem on Aug 13, 2010 13:25:38 GMT
There aren't enough stories like this around anymore, in a genre that's become much too po-faced for my liking. Discuss... I was present at a launch a few Halloween's back and our host (no names, no pack drill, it was Stephen Jones, etc) came out with "horror is the only genre that confronts the world's problems head on" or words to that effect, which is very laudable but honest, I've never expected any author to solve my trivial problems, let alone the real horrors going down all over the globe at any given time. Personally, if they can keep me entertained by whatever means for the duration of their story, maybe give me a shock once in a while, I'm more than happy with that. I like that Charles has thrown the occasional rib-tickler into the Black Books mix - think the series is as much daughter of Frighteners as it is son Of Pan Books Of Horror - and Christopher Fowler's collections are always good for a laugh out loud funny tale or two as, indeed, are your own Lord P. Light and shade, I guess. Not saying I'd prefer it if my writers were to come on like they were Norman Wisdom or Chetwynd-Hayes at his most self-consciously bonkers all the time, because that would be dead tiresome too, but yeah, the genre's surely big enough to accommodate "silly", "daft" good time horror. Although I draw the line at f**king Bert's Resurrection! |
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Post by David A. Riley on Aug 13, 2010 14:01:17 GMT
Oddly enough I always appreciate a bit of humour interspersed in horror movies. When there's none, I miss it. I also enjoy humorous horror films - such as Zombieland or Shaun of the Dead. I've never been all that happy, though, with humour in literary horror. I think that's why I never much cared for most of Chetwynd-Hayes' stories. On the other hand, one of my favourite writers at one time was Robert Bloch, who was never adverse to occasionally sticking his tongue quite firmly in his cheek. (But I never claimed to be consistent in my views, anyway. After all, I like John Probert's stories too, who's much better than C-H ever was.) I must admit I don't at all go along with Stephen Jones' comment. Surely he can't have meant it seriously? Could he? "horror is the only genre that confronts the world's problems head on"  |
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