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Post by Shrink Proof on Jun 4, 2012 11:34:33 GMT
I thought this was a great book & thoroughly enjoyed it. The only slight disappointment was Ramsey Campbell's story. Not that there was anything wrong with it as a story - in fact it was great - it's just that I'd be rooting for anyone/anything, even voracious fungoid blobmen, against the Inland Revenue...
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Jun 4, 2012 16:37:49 GMT
I thought this was a great book & thoroughly enjoyed it. Same here. Of the stories, the ones by RCH, Lee, Lumley, Lansdale, Wagner, Copper, and Silverberg stand out the most in my memory. I haven't read "The Humgoo" or seen the movie version of The Monster Club, so I have no basis for comparison there. Lumley's "The Thin People" isn't one of his Lovecraftian tales, which is a good thing in my book--as with Derleth, the Mythos theme seems to bring out the worst in him. Lansdale's tale is a hoot. Wagner's ".220 Swift" seems like a Manly Wade Wellman tribute at first, but then goes in a different direction.
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Post by DemonSpawn on Jun 4, 2012 23:46:18 GMT
I'm reading this at the moment, and tbh finding it very varied in quality - some outstanding stories, but some are very forgettable.
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Post by dem bones on Jul 5, 2012 14:36:51 GMT
Brian Lumley - The Thin People: "Barrows Hill" [Crouch End], London. Balmy Bill, The Railway's resident alcoholic, relates his experiences of an incredibly tall, skinny race who hide behind lampposts, disguise themselves as drain-pipes and neatly fold things. Lumley doesn't believe him until the kids find a novelty rubik's cube in a rubbish skip .... Michael Marshall Smith - Someone Else's Problem: Easygoing John is imposed upon by useless boss, Egerton, to sacrifice his weekend, take the intercity from London to sort out a computer malfunction in the Birmingham office. His fellow passengers comprise four comatose-drunk businessmen, power-dressed 'Ms. Organised' of the lovely handwriting, and, fleetingly, what he first takes to be a small, blue-eyed monkey. After a nightmarish experience in the buffet car, John decides it's time he stopped caring about everyone else, looked after number one from now on, which is very bad news for Ms. Organised. I loved this one, it's coming from very similar territory to Wire's The Other Window on the superlative 154 album. Possibly MMS wrote this as a companion piece to Rain Falls in Mammoth Book Of The Werewolf/ Wolf Men or vice versa.
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Post by franklinmarsh on Sept 9, 2013 15:05:32 GMT
Good to see this is so highly thought of as I lucked onto a copy at the hospital over the weekend.
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Post by ohthehorror on Feb 11, 2015 10:25:36 GMT
Have been reading a few of these and ended up adding a couple to my newly started little list of favourite short stories. 'Ramsey Campbell's - Down There' being one, and 'Brian Lumley's - The Thin People' the other. I've been plodding through the stories in order so far and have enjoyed all of them, with the possible exception of 'Tanith Lee's - The Hill' which may have been entirely my fault since the tv was on in the background and that's never a good idea with me, far too distracting. I may have to re-read it.
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