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Post by franklinmarsh on Jul 28, 2015 11:47:41 GMT
Eddy C. Bertin – The Eye in the Mirror
A curious tale of the worm turning. Or does it? Odd one this, but one that makes you work a bit.
Julia Lufford – The Meal
Not the most sophisticated tale in the volume, but probably the most fun. Hee!
L. H. Maynard & M. P. N. Sims – Onion
Brilliant stuff here. Off-kilter, erotic, beguiling, you're never quite sure what's happening or where we're going to go.
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Post by franklinmarsh on Jul 28, 2015 21:06:46 GMT
A grandstand finish with two quite depressing tales...
John L. Probert – In Sickness And …
Lord P pulls an excellent flanker by starting off in an amusing, light-hearted fashion, and then gradually making things darker and darker. Horrible.
Rog Pile – The Pit
Rog's odd allusive style works wonders with a tale of escalating uneasiness, working in two directions simultaneously. A quiet ending perhaps makes things worse.
Another successful collection, combining different hues and shades of horror rather masterfully.
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Post by Dr Terror on Jul 30, 2015 11:04:42 GMT
Thanks for writing these up, FM. Good to know that someone is enjoying them. Amazon gives that running order, but ... No great mystery, just down to me putting them in the wrong order when I filled in the info that goes on Amazon etc. Must have copied and pasted it onto the Mortbury website too.
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Post by franklinmarsh on Jul 30, 2015 11:09:12 GMT
I'm having a blast with them at present, Chas. Hope to catch up with 8, 9, 10 and 11 in forthcoming months.
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Post by Swampirella on Dec 13, 2016 1:38:10 GMT
For what it's worth, my copy just arrived in the mail today. Should be good as always....
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Post by fritzmaitland on Oct 24, 2020 5:28:27 GMT
Daniel McGachey – The Crimson Picture My favourite of Dan's retro tales. and, considering the Black Books are usually contemporary, I think this may well be my favourite story from the series. Reminds me of E A Poe. Jardine's realisation of why his artist's model is so very still is a great moment. The whole thing is a smashing read, as we gradually learn more and more about the portrait, the artist, and his strange commissions. 23rd of October saw a return to The Crimson Picture. I do adore this story. Although I'd already read one 'haunted' painting story this month, Dan's tale really gets me every time. The way the artist is conveyed to his sittings, the whole art gallery discussion stucture around the painter's recital, it just works beautifully.
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Oct 24, 2020 17:44:36 GMT
23rd of October saw a return to The Crimson Picture. I do adore this story. Although I'd already read one 'haunted' painting story this month, Dan's tale really gets me every time. The way the artist is conveyed to his sittings, the whole art gallery discussion stucture around the painter's recital, it just works beautifully. I've thanked you elsewhere for your kind words, I know, but it would be churlish not to thank you again here. Which I do. Thanks.
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Post by finchinfin on Feb 18, 2023 13:21:19 GMT
I’ve been reading these books out of order and I still have half a dozen to look forward to. My standouts:
Rog Pile – The Pit At some point in time I read more than a few laudatory comments about this story here. It lived up to the hype.
Julia Lufford - The Meal Smartly calibrated to land at the intersection of scary/sexy/funny. I too wonder what happened to Julia, if she’s continued writing. Psst… rumor has it that she’s a woman. And, by golly, that’s extremely important. Is that sarcasm? It would be if I said it a few years ago!
Eddy Bertin - The Eye in the Mirror Twilight Zone-y tale of pre-crime. On the strength of this story I found another of his about two boys who discover an old creature in an abandoned cellar. Forget the name of it, but it was good, too. I wonder if he has an English collection.
DF Lewis - Squabble Every good horror story anthology deserves this kind of ridiculous story. Very good. Just yikes.
David A Riley - Now and Forever More “Couple in a Strange Village” is almost a subgenre. This is a very good one. I really like Riley and I hope he puts out more. Very glad I still have his latest collection. Just moved it to the top-end of my TBR pile as I noticed there are no ratings for it on Goodreads. Shame! (After Nightfall is the book in question and it has a really awesome cover.)
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Post by dem bones on Feb 18, 2023 20:47:39 GMT
So cheering to see love for the Black Books. The first remains my favourite, though there were better to come; six is like a Pan Book of Horrors for the 00s. Hard to believe that this time next month will see the fourth anniversary of Charlie's death.
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