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Post by dem bones on Mar 4, 2008 1:55:19 GMT
Michel Parry (ed.) - Christopher Lee's Omnibus Of Evil (Mayflower, 1978) Introduction by Christopher Lee
Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle - The Final Problem Theodora Benson - In The Fourth Ward Robert Louis Stevenson - Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (extract) Ray Russell - Sagittarius Sax Rohmer - The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu (extract) J. S. Le Fanu - Carmilla Bram Stoker - Dracula (extract) Harry Harrison - At Last, The True Story Of Frankenstein Traditional - Sawney Beane Robert Bloch - The Skull Of the Marquis de Sade J. B. Priestley - The Demon King Man, that is one deathly dull cover. Still, thankful for small mercies - at least it isn't a photo of C. Lee in his Dracula togs yet again. The idea behind Omnibus Of Evil was to pick examples of each of the archetypal monsters and villains Lee has either played or confronted during his acting career. The only real surprise is Theodora Benson's Jack the Ripper story. Ray Russell's Sagittarius portrays Mr. Hyde as some kind of demon from the mists of time who, once he's dispensed with Jekyll, continues to plague London as the Whitechapel monster and is something of a 20th century classic. The Conan-Doyle is the famous one where he "kills" Sherlock Holmes (for a few years, at least) while Sawney Beane is here to represent the wonderful Death Line. Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle - The Final Problem: Holmes versus Moriarty, Napoleon of crime - the fatal last encounter at the Reichenbach falls. Non-horror really, but nice to imagine lots of futile splashing around. Theodora Benson - In The Fourth Ward: Byrnes, the New York Police chief, brags that if Jack the Ripper ever set foot in his neck of the woods, he'd show those Limey bastards how the job should be done. Thomas Goolden, a sea-dog on the Isabella C. Paterson rams Byrnes' boasts back down his throat by slicing and dicing a mad hag English ex-pat on his first night in the city. Notable for its delirious depiction of the roughest brawling houses in NY and its clientèle at the beginning of the last century which may yet feature on the 'Worst Pub Landlord' thread should we ever revive it. J. B. Priestly - The Demon King: The company assembled for Mr. Tom Burt’s boxing day premier of Jack And Jill at the Theatre Royal, Bruddersford are a motley crew, the solitary performer with any kind of track record being their Demon King, Kirk Ireton, whose talent has been somewhat diminished by his capacity for alcohol. When he disappears after a session in The Cooper’s Arms mere hours before the pantomime it looks as though even the dubious talents of the Happy Yorkshire Lasses won’t salvage this turkey. But come the eleventh hour and Ireton - or, at least, somebody dressed in a most impressive Devil’s costume - shows up. The troupe go on to play a blinder. Ray Russell - Sagittarius: In 1909, the two finest actors in Paris were the classical Sellig and his polar opposite Laval, a monstrous performer at the Grand Guignol. Narrator Earl Terrence Glencannon is intrigued by both, the one handsome and charming, the other every bit as ghastly as the Bluebeard role he has made his own (he doesn’t even use make-up). When Clothilde, a pretty good-time girl on the theatre fringes is found butchered in the manner of a Ripper victim, the terrible secret linking the two actors is gradually revealed. Glencannon theorises that the killer is none other than the son of Mr. Hyde, modelling himself on Gilles de Rais (!). Robert Bloch - The Skull Of The Marquis De Sade: Christopher Maitland, a collector of morbid artifacts, is offered the skull of the divine Marquis for a knock-down £500 by down at heel Wapping-based dealer Marco who confesses he wants shot of it as the relic is playing on his mind. Maitland decides to sleep on it and, after a restless night in which he dreams vividly of being tortured by the Inquisition, consults his friend and fellow collector, Sir Fitzhugh Kilroy who once owned the skull and advises Maitland against making the purchase. “I’m not trying to frighten you, my friend. But I know the history of that skull. During the last hundred years it has passed through the hands of many men. Some of them were collectors, and sane. Others were perverted members of secret cults - worshippers of pain, devotees of Black Magic. Men have died to gain that grisly relic, and other men have been - sacrificed to it.” Despite telling Sir Fitzhugh that he’s decided to give the skull a miss, Maitland calls on Marco at his Soho flat (Soho is, apparently a district of Wapping in this story) and finds him dead on his bed with a torn throat. Obviously, Marco’s police dog must have contracted rabies or something because there’s no sign of any break-in. Maitland shoots the dog and heads off home with his prize …. Harry Harrison - At Last, The True Story Of Frankenstein: Panama City, Florida. After witnessing the extraordinary performance of a ‘monster’ seemingly entirely oblivious to pain, reporter Dan Bream interviews its master, monocled Carney showman, Victor Frankenstein V. Frankenstein confides that the creature is wearing out and he’ll need replacing very shortly … Traditional - Sawney Beane And His Family: Sawney Beane and his clan snatch innocent travellers, drag them back to their cave then pickle and eat them. “In the conflict the poor woman fell from behind him, and was instantly butchered before her husband’s face, for the female cannibals cut her throat, and fell to sucking her blood with as great a gust, as if it had been wine”. This exciting and incredibly gory history is usually credited to Captain Charles Johnson, although it probably wasn’t new when he included it in his General History Of The Most Famous Highwaymen, etc. (1734). It’s even been suggested that ‘Johnson’ was Daniel Defoe.
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Post by sean on Mar 4, 2008 11:32:53 GMT
Man, that is one deathly dull cover. Its funny, two colours that I don't usually associate with evil are dayglo pink and green.
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Post by dem bones on Mar 4, 2008 11:58:38 GMT
The original W. H. Allen hardcover edition of the same year which, I believe, went by the title The Great Villains, had the good grace to feature a cover painting of Jack the Ripper looking all evil and Victorian. The Mayflower job may just as well have had a massive 'Remainder me' sticker on the front. It's unusual for them, too, as their paperbacks are generally attractive.
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Mar 4, 2008 12:08:56 GMT
Dayglow pink and green were part of the general horror in the 70's, Sean. The coup de grâce was the shiny spangled silver balls at discos.
But I agree that it's vying with Pan 25 for the mr dull spot.
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Post by sean on Mar 4, 2008 12:18:50 GMT
Come to think of it, I had socks in those colours in the early 80s...
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Post by killercrab on Mar 4, 2008 16:31:57 GMT
Both VAMPIRE CIRCUS and TWINS OF EVIL sport hot pink titles. Trying to remember if LUST FOR A VAMPIRE does too!
ade
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Jan 29, 2009 14:28:55 GMT
Both VAMPIRE CIRCUS and TWINS OF EVIL sport hot pink titles. Trying to remember if LUST FOR A VAMPIRE does too! ade I'm compelled to admit that on first reading this, to my tired eyes, the word "titles" had an extra "t" and an "i" in place of the "l". If that had been the case, I'd have said that, yes, "LUST FOR A VAMPIRE" certainly did too. That shameful confession aside, I remember borrowing this one from the local library under its "Great Villains" titt... er... title. My chief recollections were of the charming Priestley story and my introduction to the insidious Dr. Fu Manchu just a week before BBC1 started showing the Christopher Lee films on Friday evenings. I was slightly obsessed with "the Devil Doctor" for a time, though I never quite made it through any of the novels. I think I might have been too young to appreciate them.
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Post by dem bones on Jan 29, 2009 17:02:37 GMT
For all that he despises being remembered for playing the old count, is this the only horror collection "co-edited" by C. Lee that lacks a photo of him being Dracula on the cover? Come to think of it, his photo is usually there or there abouts on any horror cover, whether he had a hand in compiling it or not.
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Post by allthingshorror on Jan 29, 2009 17:11:27 GMT
Maybe there should be a Books by Christopher Lee that's not really by him thread.....
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Post by andydecker on Jan 29, 2009 21:25:36 GMT
Hot Pink Titties? I would buy this Or is this Tarrantino copyrighted?
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Post by dem bones on Jan 30, 2009 13:02:07 GMT
I just picked up C. Lee's autobiography Lord Of Misrule (Orion, 2003) in the Spitalfield Crypt charity shop for £1.50. God, but it looks dull. No mention of the Haining or Parry collaborations. Expect really useless "review" when ... I dunno. When I'm dead, probably.
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Post by carolinec on Jan 30, 2009 15:20:35 GMT
I just picked up C. Lee's autobiography Lord Of Misrule (Orion, 2003) in the Spitalfield Crypt charity shop for £1.50. God, but it looks dull. No mention of the Haining or Parry collaborations. Expect really useless "review" when ... I dunno. When i'm dead, probably. I have a copy of this - basically because he was doing a signing of it in Waterstones London (which I wasn't able to go to, but I did order a copy), and it's very difficult to get a genuine example of his signature. (yours isn't a signed copy is it? If so, you'd make a tidy profit if you put it on eBay!) I haven't read much of it - I was just kind of looking things up in the index and seeing what he said about particular things - but you're right, it doesn't look very exciting. I think the kinds of things we'd be particularly interested in - like his horror films or the book things you mention - aren't things he's particularly proud of. I mean, we all know his views on Dracula! So a lot of it seems to be about the high drama/"posh" stuff he's done - like acting with Sir Somebody-or-other in a film of someone important's life! Oh, and then there's Lord of the Rings too ..
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Post by dem bones on Jan 30, 2009 20:58:25 GMT
Not signed, alas, but I got him to autograph my ticket at some Hammer Festival at the Barbican once. "Could you just sign it to 'VAT'? Thanks!". I mean, how hard can that be? Not sure who the other one is, but it's either Ingrid Pitt or Olive out of On The Buses!
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Post by allthingshorror on Jan 30, 2009 21:54:40 GMT
That's Ingrid's sig - though it looks like she's had a few too many...
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Post by carolinec on Jan 31, 2009 15:42:11 GMT
Ooo, that's a nice autographed ticket there - except they BOTH look like they've had one too many! Were you using a slightly dodgy pen, Dem? And "Bat", he dedicated it to you as "Bat" - that's so funny! Sorry - I just love that!
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