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Post by eddempster on Jun 9, 2008 19:01:12 GMT
Thanks, Franklin, and Dr Terror. I guess I'll just wait and see, then.
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Post by benedictjjones on Jun 12, 2008 11:48:23 GMT
Now that three is nearly here i think i have to say...
"we want four! we want four!"
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Post by benedictjjones on Jun 18, 2008 12:02:54 GMT
right...
my favourite stories in this one were:
"The Pit"-i thought this was absoloutely brilliant and was gripped throughout-sometimes sympathising with the main character and other times not...
"The Scarlet Picture"-again i thought this was brilliant. was very reminiscent of the best gaslight tales in gentlemans clubs.
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Post by Johnlprobert on Jun 20, 2008 9:21:28 GMT
There's a splendid review of Black Book 2 in Black Static 5 by the way.
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Post by dem bones on Aug 3, 2011 9:33:28 GMT
Charles Black (ed.) – The 2nd Black Book Of Horror (Mortbury Press, Feb. 2008) Paul Mudie Gary McMahon – Black Glass David A. Sutton – Amygdala David A. Riley – Now and Forever More Steve Goodwin – The Cold Harvest Craig Herbertson – On the Couch Mike Chinn – All Under Hatches Stow’d Daniel McGachey – The Crimson Picture D. F. Lewis – Squabble Eddy C. Bertin – The Eye in the Mirror Julia Lufford – The Meal John L. Probert – In Sickness And … L. H. Maynard & M. P. N. Sims – Onion Rog Pile – The PitReading the Eighth Black Book left me hungry for more, so here we are, scuttling back to #2 which, to the huge relief of all involved, I never did get around to 'reviewing'. It is amazing how many stories you can forget in three years no matter how much you loved/ hated them at the time! Julia Lufford – The Meal: Tom and Helen's al fresco sex session is rudely interrupted by a tentacled abomination they at first take for a Peeping Tom strayed from a Dr. Who outdoor shoot. No such luck. Poor Helen has sure picked the wrong day to entertain Tom's bondage fantasies as she's she's still tied to a tree as her other half gallantly scarpers. What has happened to Julia? She was the first ever female contributor to a Black Book ... and I thoroughly enjoyed both this and The Looker in #3. David A. Sutton - Amygdala: Deliciously gory DIY transplant unpleasantness. An intruder sneaks into the Hospital morgue, intent on procuring a brain for his dead Uncle Charlie, and he's in no mood to let anyone stand in his way .... Either I wasn't in the mood and it went completely over my head or I couldn't have read this next before. Gary McMahon – Black Glass: Alec Pope buys the lavish country mansion that, until recently, housed dead rock star Eddie Woe and Eva, his mysteriously disappeared other half. From the first Pope is pestered by obsessive fans of Nefandor, the duo's punk metal band, but he soon takes a shine to a tiny Goth girl, Henna, who spends her evenings gazing up at the huge black glass window at front of the building. once he tires of 'accidentally' flashing her, Pope invites Henna inside. Turns out she lived here with Eddie and Eva as their bedroom partner and muse. Pope becomes increasingly aware of a presence watching him through the black window and Henna blithely informs him that will be Eva, a powerful sorceress, who Eddie trapped behind the glass. All Alec must do to release her is play a certain Nefandor track backwards ... D. F. Lewis - Squabble: "They make fun of me, say I'm old fashioned, say I've got a big spamhead, laugh at my pink hair-ribbon, say I read books, say I'm weird, say I'm ill bred, say I'm .... The other kids clearly don't think much of Pansy Tyrell, but the nightwatchman despises her father Fred even more as they had an argument before he came on duty. When he discovers the little girl hiding in the industrial plant, he comes up with a drastic means of getting it all off his chest. David A. Riley – Now and Forever More: Holidaying at a typically welcoming Cornish coastal village ("You'll be glad to leave 'ere, I s'ppose?"), John and Julie Daniels fall foul of the local inbred degenerates, a bunch of goat-worshipping Satanists presided over by Marsh, the landlord of The Broken Mast. Moral. When in the West Country, never let a native overhear you mention that he's inhospitable, deformed and would benefit from the occasional shower or he might take offence. John L. Probert - In Sickness And .... : Sparring couples are disappointed that Lorraine, their nice marriage councillor, is unavailable. Voluntary stand-in, Marguerite Lucas, proves that she is more than capable of doling out advice that will ensure the destruction of their fragile relationships for good, as her lucky husband Roger would doubtless attest ..... MTF
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Post by Dr Terror on Aug 4, 2011 10:32:21 GMT
One of a number of writers who I'd like to see return to the Black Books sometime.
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Post by dem bones on Aug 4, 2011 13:57:43 GMT
One of a number of writers who I'd like to see return to the Black Books sometime. Me too. The combination of that monster - kept thinking of animated, very fat and evil bagpipes - and Helen's undignified plight brought a great big smile to my face. And i am the man with no smile. My one minor criticism of the début was the lack of female authors but things have certainly perked up since then. Julia was a pioneer.
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Post by dem bones on Aug 6, 2011 21:15:10 GMT
as with Ms. Lufford, so with these gents.
Steve Goodwin - The Cold Harvest: With their crops destroyed by the Pest, the residents of Dunham village are slowly dying of starvation. Taking inspiration from the Book of Genesis, the Rev. Tanner proffers a simple solution to the crisis though it will not be without sacrifice. Pray your God that you don't catch Mrs. Siddall's eye as you pass her gate. Think Shirley Jackson's The Lottery relocated to the Derbyshire countryside and without even the element of chance. You're almost there.
Eddy C. Bertin – The Eye in the Mirror: How Frank Hellinger 'murdered' his intolerable wife Liz, and escaped execution, despite the fatal flaw in his foolproof plan. Sneaky law enforcement officer the creep thought to photograph the dead woman's eyes and there was Frank's image, captured in all its glory on his victim's retina! Luckily Frank had the foresight to arrange a psychiatry session with Therapeutics Limited before he committed the act for real. There'll be no messing up this time.
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Post by dem bones on Aug 8, 2011 5:41:58 GMT
Rog Pile – The Pit: Cornwall. Somewhat to the consternation of his sister, Martha, the unmarried, reclusive narrator inherits the family mansion on his father's death. There's room enough for everyone though and Martha, her husband Alex and ten year old son Edward live in one wing while he has the other to himself. Despite bossy boots Martha's minor nuisance value, our man is relatively content with his lot until the arrival of a nephew, James, a ten year old recently orphaned when his parents were mangled in a car smash. James and Edward are soon thick as thieves and take to blackmailing Uncle into buying cigs, gin, air pellets and nails, the implication being that Edward has confided to James that Uncle has been molesting him for years. Eventually Uncle traces them to their hideout, a deep, concealed mineshaft in ther forest. Dangling over the edge, their rope ... The boys disappearance is a seven day wonder in the national press until they're pushed off the front pages by a fortuitous (for Uncle) major air-crash and unofficially given up for dead. One search party makes a gruesome discovery - a number of small animals crucified around a scarecrow. Either the boys were indulging in some rudimentary black magic rites or they were a pair of sadists. At this unexpected development, Uncle hints to the one police officer to suspect him that the pair were lovers. It seems as though he will get away with murder but what's with the ragged bundle left outside his door? another cracker and no mistake. i'm not sure The Second Black Book received a unanimously thumbs up from the critics, but it sure works for me. Incidentally, although sadly THE HARROW is no longer an ongoing concern, the site has been archived and you can still read Mario Guslandi's review at here (you want volume 11, number 6)
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Post by dem bones on Aug 24, 2011 18:08:10 GMT
Right, military discipline it is. no starting another novel - most likely Thomas Tryon's Harvest Home - until i'm done with Susan Hill and 2nd Black Book-of Horror. so without further waffle, another juicy pair from Dr. Terror's back catalogue; the first a nasty conte cruel, the second (another strong best-in-book contender), and an artist whose every portrait means a terrible death for those forced to sit for him.
Mike Chinn – All Under Hatches Stow’d: An outbreak of plague on Lake Togo fast decimates the crew of The Busiris. Edmund Adjany, a bully and rapist, is overseeing an illegal tree-felling operation and stubbornly refuses to quit until the work is done. When the ship's doctor and an equally drunk crewman engage in an impromptu kick-about on deck using a diseased monkey's head for a ball, Yukashi, the only woman aboard, who shows every indication of immunity to the disease, figures it's time to make a break for it.
Daniel McGachey - The Crimson Picture: "Her eyes ... bulged piteously in horror, shock and a final, ghastly revelation that I was glad I could not share.
If J. D. Beresford's The Misanthrope turned his hand to painting, his portraits would likely resemble the works of poor, doomed Hector Jardine, a tortured artist contentedly going about his starving until he receives a commission from a mystery patron. Despite the lateness of the hour, Jardine is escorted to a dreary, starkly furnished house by his wealthy client's butler where a room has been set aside for him to begin work immediately. The mystery man has already mixed the paints, and the brush seem to have a will of its own. At first Jardine thinks his subject has dozed off but as the night wears on he has the horrible impression that he's painting a slowly decomposing corpse! The butler calmly demonstrates that the man is very much alive, but the twisted monstrosity Jardine commits to canvas appalls him so that he vows never to work for these sick weirdos again. A generous fee and the promise of regular commissions soon overcome his aversion.
Jardine's morbid surrogate career coincides with his breakthrough as a landscape painter and a romance with the lovely Margaruite. All is well until, inevitably, she takes a fancy to playing the artist's model ....
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Post by killercrab on Aug 24, 2011 18:16:37 GMT
most likely Thomas Tryon's Harvest Home
Hey that's my book pile mister! After finishing Straub's Shadowland ( still 100 pages to go) I'll very likely read The Doll Who Ate Her Mother ( recommended by King in Danse Macabre - my go to bible) . I wanted to read Ghost Story before Shadowland but the local secondhand shop didn't have a copy. I'm after a specific cover ( the black one with the bug on it).
KC
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Post by dem bones on Aug 27, 2011 17:00:33 GMT
most likely Thomas Tryon's Harvest HomeHey that's my book pile mister! After finishing Straub's Shadowland ( still 100 pages to go) I'll very likely read The Doll Who Ate Her Mother ( recommended by King in Danse Macabre - my go to bible) . I wanted to read Ghost Story before Shadowland but the local secondhand shop didn't have a copy. I'm after a specific cover ( the black one with the bug on it). KC Never attempted Shadowland, but sure enjoyed Ghost Story the one and only time I read it many moons ago. Incidentally, the "black one with the bug on it" is the Futura 1984 paperback. Also like this Leisure club edition (1987) for its attractive Tom Adams wrap-around. Tom Adams The Doll Who Ate Its Mother was my first Ramsey Campbell novel and, to be honest, i wasn't ready for it. a rematch, once i'd been won over by Ancient Images, The Face That Must Die and various short story collections, and this time it clicked. Anyhow, the final pair from The Second Black Book of Horror, neither of which lend themselves to my rubbish "and then this happens, and then that happens, and then everybody dies screaming" way with a plot summary so god help poor Craig and Messrs Sims & Maynard! Craig Herbertson - On The Couch: Asylum inmate Mulliner is undergoing rigorous psychiatric treatment from Dr. Brixton. Mulliner is traumatised by a recurring nightmare which sees him visited by (among other horrors) two cannibalistic twins, one of whom, Siren, has a thing about eating his genitals and regurgitating them over his torso. Fellow inmate Miss Ferris is an occult obsessive bent on curing him. She's learnt that, during Victoria's reign, Winter Billings ran the asylum as his personal fiefdom. Billings, a dabbler in the black arts, realised that it went against all financial sense to cure a patient when their families were happy to pay for their long term treatment, so he messed up their minds still further! Egged on by Miss Ferris (and, possibly, the whistling spectre of the vile Victorian himself), Mulliner steals the hospital records pertaining to Winter Billings' satanic reign and learns - too late - the terrible truth about his secret weapon, the couch still being put to use by the well-intentioned Dr. Brixton! Craig, its about time there was a collection of your short horror fiction. L. H. Maynard & M. P. N. Sims – Onion: His wife Melinda having left him eleven years into what he thought was a strong marriage, a demoralised Nick spends his evenings drinking alone in a local pub. One night he catches the attention of the predatory Jill, an attractive blonde, pushing forty, who gives every indication that she's fallen head over heels for him. Back at her place and things take a turn for the weird. He brawls with a stranger who turns out to be the husband Jill never thought to mention, and, after they've enjoyed a steamy sex romp, who should walk in on them but her infant son? The more wine Jill puts away, the more her moods swing alarmingly. The flowers Nick bought her wither and die and the framed photo's and prints on the walls change before his eyes. Despite the promise of more great sex in the offing, Nick's immediate thought is to get the hell out of there, but that proves plenty more difficult than he anticipated. Very strange. The key is presumably in the title and while i was gripped from the first paragraph, come the last line and "what was that all about?" So where does this one stand in relation to the other books in the series? It was the first to adopt the 200 page format (the debut alone ran to 300), the first to include a story from a female author, and if I tell you I found it a consistently entertaining and often inspired collection of horror stories then I'm telling no lies. Don't mean to depress anyone, but be f**k**g very scared as it's in my mind to attempt a mop up of numbers one, three and four over coming days/ weeks.
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Post by mattofthespurs on Aug 27, 2011 17:28:50 GMT
[/quote] never attempted Shadowland, but i sure enjoyed Ghost Story the one and only time i read it many moons ago. incidentally, the "black one with the bug on it" is the Futura 1984 paperback. i also like this Leisure club edition (1987) for its attractive Tom Adams wrap-around. Tom Adams [/quote] That cover is identical to teh first edition by Jonathan Cape which sits upon my shlef. And very nice it is too.
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Post by killercrab on Aug 27, 2011 17:31:01 GMT
Can't go wrong with Adams - that's a beauty!
KC
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Post by mattofthespurs on Aug 27, 2011 17:34:00 GMT
never attempted Shadowland, but i sure enjoyed Ghost Story the one and only time i read it many moons ago. incidentally, the "black one with the bug on it" is the Futura 1984 paperback. i also like this Leisure club edition (1987) for its attractive Tom Adams wrap-around. Tom Adams [/quote] That cover is identical to teh first edition by Jonathan Cape which sits upon my shlef. And very nice it is too.[/quote] Bloody hell. Looking at all those typos you can tell I got a bottle of red inside me.
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