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Post by dem bones on Jun 9, 2008 14:10:32 GMT
The Evening Standard Book Of Strange Stories (Hutchinson, n.d.) Grateful thanks to Richard Humphreys for providing the cover scan!W. W. Jacobs - A Tiger's Skin Ralph Straus - The Room On The Fourth Floor Margaret Irwin - The Book H. A. Manhood - Crack Of Whips A. M. Burrage - Nobody's House A. M. Burrage - The Black Diamond Tree F. Britten Austin - The Strange Case Of Mr. Todmorden Martin Armstrong - Mary Ansell Barnard Stacey - The Devil's Ape L. A. G. Strong - Chailey's Folly Anthony Marsden - Dusk Below Helvellyn George R. Preedy - Crab-Apple Harvest 'Seamark' - Query Louis Golding - He Fought A Ghost Anthony Gittens - The Third Performance Hal Pink - The Screaming Plant Holloway Horn - The Old Man C. Patrick Thompson - Sunset Woman Kathleen Rivett - Portrait Of A Queen William Gerrhardi - The Big Drum Alfred Tresidder Sheppard - The Third Medal H. De Vere Stackpoole - Chinese Girl A. J. Alan - My Adventure At Chiselhurst A. J. Alan - The Hair Guy de Maupassant - Fear Guy de Maupassant - The Hand Thomas Burke - The Song Of Ho Ling Thomas Burke - The Hollow Man J. S. Fletcher - The Lighthouse On Shivering Sands Francis Gribble - The Secret Of The Schwarztal Basil Tozer - The Pioneers Of Pike's Peak Michael Kent - The Shade Of Peterbee F. Marion Crawford - The Screaming Skull T. F. Powys - The Two Horns Jan Neruda - The Vampire S. L. Dennis - The Second Awakening Of A Magician Oscar Wilde - The Sphinx Without A Secret Charles Davy - The Vanishing Trick George Meredith - The Punishment Of Shahpesh, The Persian, On Khipil, The Builder Basil Murray - Three Pennyworth Of Luck L. C. S. Anson - An Experiment With Blood Charles Dickens - No 1 Branch Line: The Signalman Frank R. Stockton - The Lady, Or The Tiger? Ambrose Bierce - A Horseman In The Sky E. H. Lacon Watson - Escape E. M. Delafield - Squirrel In A Cage Hector Bolitho - The Albatross Algernon Blackwood - The Land Of Green Ginger Algernon Blackwood - Ancient Lights Arthur Morrison - The Thing In The Upper Room Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch - A Pair Of Hands Sir John Squire - Entirely Imaginary Sheila Kaye-Smith - Mrs Adis Michael Arlen - The Battle Of Berkeley Square Stacey Aumonier - A Man Of Letters Phyllis Bottome - Henry Graham Greene - The End Of The Party Ethel Mannin - Romanoff Marthe McKenna - Glasshouses Lesley Storm - Discipline P. C. Wren - The Dust That Was Barren Francis Brett Young - Balalaika Oliver Onions - Phantas Theophile Gautier - The Mummy's Foot Dorothy L. Sayers - The Unprincipled Affair Of The Practical Joker F. A. Kummer - The De Medici Cup Eden Phillpotts - High Tide Lady Eleanor Smith - Mrs. Raeburn's Waxwork Lady Eleanor Smith - Satan's Circus R. H. Mottram - I Pagliacci Alphonse Daudet - The Elixir Of The Rev. Father Gaucher Lafcadio Hearn - The Story Of Ming-y Selwyn Jepson - Nor The Jury E. Nesbit - Man-Size In Marble John Metcalfe - The Tunnel John Metcalfe - The Bad Lands J. D. Beresford - The Misanthrope J. D. Beresford - Powers Of The Air E. F. Benson - Mrs Amworth Jerome K. Jerome - The Dancing Partner Maurice Baring - Venus Ernest Bramah - The Story Of Yung Chang Geoffrey Moss - Primula Norman Matson - The House On Big Faraway Sir Max Pemberton - If A Man Might Tarry Marc Connelly - Coroner's Inquest Hjalmar Bergman - Judith W. Somerset Maugham - The TaipanE. F. Bleiler gives the publication date as 1934. Haining, Aickman, Chetwynd-Hayes and Mary Danby are among those editors who've dipped into this one for their own collections, and if you have the Fontana Ghost/ Horror/ tales Of Terror books you'll already have a fair number of these.
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Post by dem bones on Apr 20, 2015 14:40:09 GMT
Ignore the guesstimate in previous post. Of the eighty-eight stories, only twenty-three reappear in the various Fontana & Octopus volumes, though several others are familiar from elsewhere.
Arthur Morrison - The Thing In The Upper Room: Attwater, 25, an impoverished English artist in Paris, desperate for cheap lodgings, takes a room which has remained vacant for a decade on account of its terrible reputation. His predecessor committed suicide just as the police arrived to arrest him in connection with a grisly murder. The room smells rank at all times and the young man suffers the most appalling nightmares, but refuses to let the 'demon' force him out, taking comfort from H. G. Wells' The Red Room ("He thought of a story he had once read of a haunted house wherein it was shown that the house actually was haunted - by the spirit of fear, and nothing else.") Unfortunately for Attwater, 'the thing' is real and soon Paris is subjected to a new murder spree.
Jan Neruda - The Vampire: "He had long black curls down to his shoulder. His face was pale and his dark eyes deeply set." A Polish family meet a Greek artist aboard a steamer who specialises in corpse portraiture. Too late the pretty daughter discovers that you really don't want to sit for him.
L. C. S. Anson - An Experiment With Blood: MAD SCIENTIST, specialising in hematokonia, uses himself and new born baby boy as guinea pigs in risky experiment. Contrary to expectation, the toddler doesn't die but "would to God it had!" Not sure I got this one at all.
Charles Davy - The Vanishing Trick: A stage magician unwittingly provides henpecked husband Albert Creasey a means of leaving behind his miserable lot when he "vanishes" him live on stage at the pier pavilion in Birling. One year on their paths meet again when the conjurer is performing in London. Albert, now working as a waiter at the Magnolia hotel in Russell Square, begs the magician to keep his secret. That night's performance is memorable on two counts. First the conjurers assistant loses most of her skirt when it catches on a nail. Second, a bloody something appears in the magic cabinet.
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Post by mattofthespurs on Apr 21, 2015 9:43:55 GMT
That looks superb! I have found one on eBay, sans dust jacket unfortunately, for £10. This site always ends up costing me money!
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Post by mattofthespurs on Apr 21, 2015 9:45:59 GMT
What colour cover boards does yours have Dem? There are two available on eBay. One in red (with the woman from the cover stamped in black), and a green boarded one with no markings.
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Post by dem bones on Apr 21, 2015 11:46:57 GMT
What colour cover boards does yours have Dem? Luckily enough, I got the red with the panda-eyed flapper girl imprint. Just in case you were unaware, there's also a bookshelf-warping volume 2. Louis Golding - He Fought A Ghost: A very entertaining sport is horror contender from the Call Of The Hand man. Flamboyant Cockney-Irish prizefighter Deaf Burke is haunted by the ghost of fellow pugilist Simon Byrne, the man he unintentionally punched dead during a bout in London. Deaf, desperate to be rid of this goading phantom, travels to America where a fight is eventually arranged with Samuel O'Rourke, a granite-fisted giant sworn to avenge Byrne's "murder." Even prior to the contest, several attempts are made on Deaf life before Mr. Al Capone steps in as minder. The fight takes place before a partisan crowd comprised of "Creoles, Half-breeds, French Gamblers, Yankee sharps, Irish roughs." Even the referee - outrageously biased in O'Rourke's favour - packs blade and pistol. Round three, and with O'Rourke on the ropes, the crowd invade the ring with knives drawn. It looks like curtains for Deaf until an unlikely party intervenes on his behalf. Anthony Gittins - The Third Performance: Composer and reputed demonologist Feodor Sarbecoff's apocalyptic Symphonic De La Morgue Souterraine, has been performed to great acclaim in Paris and Berlin, but on each occasion the harpist dropped dead during his solo. As one critic brilliantly surmises, the discordant din has "the very smell of grave-clothes about its composition." Now, seven years later, Paul Duvivier, celebrated harpist then living", is determined to stage the Opera a third time despite the composer's insistence that it is cursed. Proto-Throbbing Gristle enthusiasts and ghoulish thrill-seekers descend on the Albert Hall. Possibly inspired by the legend surrounding timeless death disc, Gloomy Sunday.
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Post by mattofthespurs on Apr 21, 2015 12:30:13 GMT
Thanks. Didn't know about the second volume.
I'm now wondering whether the seller has mis-listed the green volume on eBay and it is indeed the second volume.
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Post by dem bones on Apr 21, 2015 22:40:10 GMT
Thanks. Didn't know about the second volume. I'm now wondering whether the seller has mis-listed the green volume on eBay and it is indeed the second volume. Could be that one version (the red) was published by Hutchinson, the other by Odhams, which seems to have been the case with many, if not all, of the 'Century' books and their spin-offs. Either way, you can't really go wrong. This next has no supernatural or horror content whatsoever, it's not even particularly "strange", just so incredibly charming. Be sure not to skip it! Stacey Aumonier - A Man Of Letters: "I am entirely in agreement with you with regard to the quite inexplicable action of Weekes in introducing the 'leather mechanic' into the society. It appears to me quite superfluous effrontery to put upon our members .... As you remark, it lowers the whole standard of the society. We might as well admit agricultural labourers, burglars, grooms and barmaids, and the derelicts of the town."Lance Corporal Alfred Codling returns home from Gallipoli a much changed man. His horrific war experience has made him question the meaning of it all and, much to the amusement of his fiancée, Annie Phelps, "the best girl a feller could wish for", he applies to join the Tibbelsford Literary Society, even though he can barely string two words together. The membership secretary, John Weekes, being a mischief maker, admits Alfred to the circle, primarily to upset pompous windbag Ephraim Baldwin, master of metaphysics. The Society are split over Weekes' actions. Some regard the appointment as a wizard hoot - an illiterate among academics - imagine! - but as many again are frightfully put out. The "hobbledehoy" has unwittingly brought chaos to the society. Matters come to a head on the the fateful night when Baldwin reads from his paper, The influence of Hegelism on modern psychology ....
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Post by mattofthespurs on Apr 22, 2015 11:21:06 GMT
Thanks Dem.
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Post by dem bones on Apr 22, 2015 17:50:46 GMT
George R. Preedy - Crab-Apple Harvest: Silesia in wartime. A starving old woman loads a coffin on her cart and painfully lugs it through a cordon of mocking, battle-hardened French soldiers. A sergeant, initially hopeful that she is trying to smuggle money, or booze, or proper food out of the town, waves her through after a cursory raising of the lid, the abominable stench enough to convince that the coffin does, after all, contain her husband's corpse. The dying woman presses on until she is in sight of the convent at Cracow, whereupon she opens the box . Inside are a number of dead rats and, most importantly, her beautiful young niece, Lisbeth, who would surely have been ravished by the victorious army had she remained. Better to join the Sisterhood than suffer a fate worse than death!
Lisbeth has other ideas.
Ralph Straus - The Room On The Fourth Floor: Paris, 1900, and nothing must be allowed to threaten the success of the Great Exhibition. We mention this in connection with the curious circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the formidable Mrs. Farringham who, on arrival in the city with her daughter, promptly vanished from her hotel room, never to be seen again. Manager, chambermaid and porter are so convincing in their insistence that Miss Farringham arrived alone that the poor girl questions her own sanity. Thirty years later, the Right Hon. John Chester, reveals the full extent of the scandalous diplomatic collusion between France and England which saw Mrs. Farringham ghosted to the mortuary. Not quite horror, though the denouement is certainly shocking.
Guy de Maupassant - Fear: The Captain has stood toe to toe with Death on many occasions. But only the sound of ghastly persistent drumming in the African desert and a face at the window experience at a house in the forest have ever paralysed him with a sense of true, soul-destroying, FEAR.
Lesley Storm - Discipline: Thomas the night-watchman may not think highly of the head of the company, but nonetheless considers it his duty to inform Mr. Lewis Cole of his premonition. Thomas, the seventh son of a seventh son, is a gifted psychic, and knows Cole will die horribly should he catch the late train home tonight. One thing Thomas certainly didn't see coming was Cole's show of gratitude. Moral: never do any bastard a good turn.
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Post by dem bones on Apr 24, 2015 18:37:18 GMT
Hector Bolitho - The Albatross: To relieve the boredom of a voyage from Hamburg to Sydney, second officer Lewisohm shoots dead an albatross, an action for which bird-loving Captain Angermann beats him senseless with a telescope. Seven years on, the pair are reunited aboard a freighter bound for Hamburg, and the Captain has still not forgiven Lewisohm his cretinous behavior. Angermann has devoted much study to the subject of soul transference and plans something grisly to coincide with Lewisohm's birthday celebrations.
John Metcalfe - The Tunnel: After several years toil and heartbreak, Pietro Succi, wrongly convicted of murdering a love rival, has finally tunnelled to within inches of freedom. It just a few minutes he will chisel through the top soil and escape into the forest! What could possibly go ...?
Sheila Kaye-Smith - Mrs Adis: Having panicked and shot dead a gamekeeper in Cinder's Wood, Peter Crouch, poacher and all round ne'er-do-well, seeks shelter at the home of his best friend's mother. She reluctantly hides him in the outhouse. A party from the castle arrive to break her the bad news.
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Post by dem bones on Apr 26, 2015 10:03:57 GMT
J. D. Beresford - Powers Of The Air: (The Seven Arts, October 1917). Winter in Cornwall. As the dreaded Black Time approaches, the narrator makes a last desperate attempt to convince a "foolish book-type" to keep clear of the lonely clifftop after dark. But the Townie proves stubborn. "It's absurd to pretend a kind of superior wisdom. If you can't give me some reason for this superstition of yours I must go out and test it for myself." And he does.
Theophile Gautier - The Mummy's Foot: Gautier, on the hunt for a budget-priced paperweight, buys the embalmed foot of the Princess Hermonthis from the gnomish proprietor of a Paris junk shop. That night the Princess manifests in his room and pulls aside the bed-curtains ....
Marc Connelly - Coroner's Inquest: The worst thing that can happen to a performing "midget" is that, around the age of thirty, he or she may suddenly start growing, sometimes by as much as twelve inches, effectively ending their professional career. Such was the case with snidey Jimmy Dawle, who, depressed and eaten up with jealousy for Theodore Robel, his still-small and employed brother-in-law, plays him a rotten trick. It ends badly for both parties.
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Post by dem bones on Apr 30, 2015 17:33:50 GMT
Another dip in the grab bag. A dangerous case of somnambulism, a fellside ghost, and a man who, if he's not careful, will be permanently away with the fairies.
F. Britten Austin - The Strange Case Of Mr. Todmorden: He's a lawyer, passionately in favour of the death penalty - until his friend and client, Miss Hartley, is brutally slain by a pyjama clad burglar. So why should this upstanding pillar of the community feel so uncomfortable before the police sergeant, and how came a diamond brooch to be in his top pocket?
Anthony Marsden - Dusk Below Helvellyn: A Cockney alone on Dunmail Raise, save for an intimidating rustic with a lethal spiked shepherd's crook who knows more than is healthy about a local murder .....
Algernon Blackwood - Ancient Lights: "Trespassers will be persecuted.". Mr. Lumley is unhappy that the copse known as Fairy Wood restricts his view of the South Downs and wants it cut down. Luckless Mr. Thomas, surveyor's clerk, is despatched from Croydon to prepare the way. The trees and the little people conspire against him. Don't always get on with Blackwood - doubtless it's the sheer volume of his work defeats me - but this one's a treat.
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Post by dem bones on May 10, 2019 20:07:06 GMT
Maurice Baring - Venus: A poster in a London telephone box advertising a brand of soap acts as portal to the planet Venus - at least it does for everybore John Fletcher, minor govt. official and trainspotter. Fletcher grows increasingly terrified that his involuntary conquest of the spongy, green plant may be hazardous to both health and sanity. A bit like 10cc's I'm Mandy, Fly Me but with benign giant fungi and caterpillars.
J. D. Beresford - The Misanthrope: Cornwall. William Copely attempts to build a house on Gulland Rock that he may live in self-imposed exile. Were we inflicted with his dubious "gift" I reckon we'd most of us do the same.
Frank R. Stockton - The Lady Or The Tiger: "The institution was a very popular one. When the people gathered together on one of these great trial days, they never knew whether they were to witness a bloody slaughter or a hilarious wedding." A Barbarian King with a keen sense of "justice" as popular entertainment. The alleged transgressor is given the choice of two identical doors to pass through. Behind one lies horrible death, behind the other dubious reward . In this particular instance, the offender has committed the most heinous crime of all. The King's daughter has taken him as her secret lover .....
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on May 10, 2019 21:01:44 GMT
Frank R. Stockton - The Lady Or The Tiger: "The institution was a very popular one. When the people gathered together on one of these great trial days, they never knew whether they were to witness a bloody slaughter or a hilarious wedding." A Barbarian King with a keen sense of "justice" as popular entertainment. The alleged transgressor is given the choice of two identical doors to pass through. Behind one lies horrible death, behind the other dubious reward . In this particular instance, the offender has committed the most heinous crime of all. The King's daughter has taken him as her secret lover ..... What is a "puzzle story"? I want to have an idea before I try reading one.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on May 10, 2019 21:37:00 GMT
Frank R. Stockton - The Lady Or The Tiger: "The institution was a very popular one. When the people gathered together on one of these great trial days, they never knew whether they were to witness a bloody slaughter or a hilarious wedding." A Barbarian King with a keen sense of "justice" as popular entertainment. The alleged transgressor is given the choice of two identical doors to pass through. Behind one lies horrible death, behind the other dubious reward . In this particular instance, the offender has committed the most heinous crime of all. The King's daughter has taken him as her secret lover ..... What is a "puzzle story"? I want to have an idea before I try reading one. Ok, so I read it anyway. And now I know.
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