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Post by dem bones on Dec 16, 2008 13:22:22 GMT
It's out! Justin Marriott (ed.) - Paperback Fanatic #8 (December, 2008) - Fanatical Thoughts
- Eaten Alive! The Fanatic continues it's study of New English Library's pulp horrors of the 1970's
- The Ivy League Vampire. Paperback covers produced by the legendary comics creator Jim Steranko
- Men's Adventure starring Sas Malko
- Terry Harknett: A Fistful of Pulps
- Edgar Rice Burroughs and the Paperbacks Time Forgot
- Fanatical Mail
I've just been handed this by an ashen-faced postman so you'll not be getting a word of sense out of me for at least the rest of the day and possibly never again! Here's the cover and contents for the time being - non-spoiler 'review', thoughts or equivalent later when I get back from Argos! Thanks Justin! [/center]
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Post by dem bones on Dec 16, 2008 18:26:28 GMT
Well, it is more than a little spoiler-ish, so look away now if you don't want to know the result, etc. You know those part-work magazines like The Unexplained, how you collect them week by week until they built up into a book and then you slipped 'em inside the snazzy binder that came free with issue 2? No binder as yet, but that's how i reckon Paperback Fanatic has shaped up since the debut as Pulp Mania. I've only had #8 a couple of hours, completed just the one article and already find myself scurrying back to earlier numbers to see how the story (of 'seventies publishing houses and those who wrote for them) fits together. No prizes for guessing that the first item I turned to in the new issue was Eaten Alive: New English Library Pulp Horrors. This wisely all but dispenses with GNS, James Herbert and Stephen King to concentrate on the work of lesser known talents including Cyril Donson, Phil Smith, Jeremy Brent and Derek Hyde-Chambers. Up until now i've always found that the more Mr. Marriott slaughters this or that novel as entirely devoid of redeeming values, the more desirable it becomes (at least until you're unfortunate enough to find a copy) but in the case of 'Simon Major's desperate sword and sorcery bollocks, The Druid Stone, I can only grudgingly echo his verdict: The Druid Stone is not so much unfinishable as virtually unstartable. Dracula And The Virgins Of The Undead is a thrill a second page turner in comparison. That said, The Brood Of Bubastis sounds magnificent and it's almost reassuring when Norman Bognor's ace The Snowman comes in for verbals, while Pierce Nace fans will not be surprised that Justin commemorates his genius in a short but scathing paragraph on the dubious merits of Eat Them Alive!. There's a listing of Nel horrors running from 1963 (the old Four Square days) up to and including 1979, certainly the most comprehensive of its kind i've seen to date but it's possible we could still get a decent thread going with some suggested additions (thought of a few definites, and there are some borderline cases we could maybe kick around later if needs be). And throughout the issue, as ever, cover scans aplenty (Amazon searches for 'William Pine's The Protectors will increase a hundred fold over the coming week, I fancy). While i'm reading up on Edgar Rice Burroughs to see if i have to start pretending i've been into Tarzan all along, you'll find all the ordering details at Paperback Fanatic.
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Dec 16, 2008 22:14:14 GMT
Long time Burroughs fan, just spent too much on the Wordsworth editions and another sneaky book for Christmas, still regretting not buying 'coffin nails.. I'm seriously thinking of leaving the vault on the grounds of addiction. Any chance of saving me one of these until January - I could kind of justify a months gap to the wife...
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Post by pulphack on Dec 19, 2008 11:03:03 GMT
got my copy yesterday, and another cracker. i remember the burroughs stuff always being around, and the covers are beautiful. steranko's shadow covers are also pretty damn good. i'm learning more and more about the cover artists whose images tempted me to delve, and when i think about how much this influenced youthful choices, i can only be thankful that justin took note of these guys when i didn't!
the two highlights for me were the Terry Harknett interview and the article on Malko, with andy decker's addendum. what can you say about Terry? he really doesn't seem to realise what an impact his books had! it wasn't all right place right time, Terry - you had to deliver, too - and you did. more great archiving of lost times from justin - like johnny with his sites, it's getting these guys to commit their memories before it's too late, and (at the risk of repeating myself) it's vital that pop culture gets recorded like high culture, as otherwise the future witll have a distorted view of what people really liked.
the Malko piece was fascinating as i know nothing about the series, and it was a reminder that pulp is not just anglocentric - only a fraction of them translated to english, yet look at those sales! 200,000 per title in France alone, even now - UK publishers get orgasmic if they can get a regular series or imprint that does a tenth of that!
highly recommended, as ever. now get 9&10 out quick, as you need to feed our habit, justin!
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Post by dem bones on Dec 23, 2008 19:04:23 GMT
We'll give it 'til after Christmas when hopefully a few more of our regulars have a copy, but much of the subject matter in #8 is deserving a thread to itself. Perhaps those in the know can give us their take(s) on Edgar Rice Burroughs and the Malko spy series (which i'd never heard of) and there should be a bit some mileage in trying to figure if certain titles that don't make Justin's list actually qualify as horrors. For now, all I can do is to echo pulps sentiment that the magazine improves apace with each issue and we've been extremely fortunate to have watched it develop from the beginning.
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Post by justin on Dec 27, 2008 10:21:08 GMT
Please DO post any additions/suggestions for the NEL horror checklist. Or any piece in the mag. As more and more of the authors pass on we need to document and discuss this stuff. So the challenge is there for The Vault Brains Trust....
I'm already thinking I missed out Waiting for William by Babs Deal for starters....
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Post by dem bones on Dec 27, 2008 19:42:09 GMT
Babs Deal had one called The Crystal Mouse too, didn't she? Not having seen it, i don't know if it qualifies as horror but i think these do: please bear in mind i'm still a little hungover so it's possible you have already listed these .....
Robert Bloch - Horror 7 (1965) (Reprinted as "Torture Garden", Sept 1967) Daniel P. Mannix - The Hell-Fire Club (1967) Robert Bloch - The Scarf (1972) Matthew Gregory Lewis - The Monk (1973) Robert Lory - Dracula's Brothers (1974) Frederick Marryat - The Phantom Ship (1975) W. Harrison Ainsworth - The Elixir Of Life, May 1975) Martin Sherwood - Maxwell's Demon (1976) Robert Lory - The Drums Of Dracula (1976) Loren D. Estleman - Sherlock Holmes Vs. Dracula or, The Adventure of The Sanguinary Count (1978?)
Some I can't quite make my mind up on include:
Conrad Voss Bark - The Big Wave(1979). London and most of its population wiped out by flooding: plenty of horrible deaths.
Roderick Grant - The Stalking Of Adrian Lawford (1974). Psycho son takes exception to mum's new bloke and hunts him through the Scottish Highlands. Dead grim.
Russell Foreman - The Ringway Virus (1976). Brit family on holiday in Australia contract a dose of flu with 100% mortality rate. Evidently it wipes out most of world's population (haven't read it yet)
Elleston Trevor - The Theta Syndrome (1977). Another i've not read but from the blurb it certainly looks more horror than his usual SF.
Michael Fisher - The Captives (1971): Should have a better idea if this really makes it by the end of the week 'cause i've only sixty or so pages to go. Mad scientist traps man and woman in cage as protest at Foundation underfunding. She's quite enjoying the experience!
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Post by justin on Dec 29, 2008 8:47:52 GMT
Bloody hell! I don't think the drink has dulled your senses too much!
Missed out from the biblio due to my sloppiness- Robert Bloch - Horror 7 Matthew Gregory Lewis - The Monk Robert Lory - Dracula's Brothers Frederick Marryat - The Phantom Ship W. Harrison Ainsworth - The Elixir Of Life Robert Lory - The Drums Of Dracula
News to me title! Loren D. Estleman - Sherlock Holmes Vs. Dracula or, The Adventure of The Sanguinary Count
Intentionally left out- Daniel P. Mannix - The Hell-Fire Club as I consider this to be non-fiction Robert Bloch - The Scarf, I consider this to be a crime book Martin Sherwood - Maxwell's Demon, definitely SF
I have a copy of The Crystal Mouse and it's crime.
Interesting suggestions re the other titles. I suppose it's like The Scarf- some people would classify them as horror, some crime, some psychological thriller.
Thanks for this Dem. (through gritted teeth!)
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Post by justin on Dec 29, 2008 8:50:07 GMT
And I forgot to mention I'm reading The Doctor Wears Scarlet by SImon Raven which Four Square marketed as a horror. So far it's a homo-erotic and class conscious account of the friendship of two young men, one of whom is going off to the jungle where I hope something really horrible is going to happen to him...
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Post by dem bones on Dec 29, 2008 9:33:14 GMT
The Loren D. Estleman romp has been republished several times but the NEL edition possibly only appeared in hardcover (1978). Know what you mean about The Scarf - when you think of it, Psycho is crime fiction too, although it's still a nasty horror novel into the bargain. Then there's Peter Hawkins' The Man With The Mad Eyes (1973) which is packaged as horror but is more of a carry on caning/ kinky sex-travaganza. With crime overtones. I don't have Valentine Penrose's The Bloody Countess in the NEL edition, but personally, i'd treat it as non-fiction in as much as these things can be. Can't make my mind up about The Captives. How can a novel that ends on a note of impending cannibalism not be horror, and yet ..... Maybe it's too well-written and thoughtful! What was this Michael Fisher character playing at?
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Post by franklinmarsh on Jan 1, 2009 22:09:48 GMT
And I forgot to mention I'm reading The Doctor Wears Scarlet by SImon Raven which Four Square marketed as a horror. So far it's a homo-erotic and class conscious account of the friendship of two young men, one of whom is going off to the jungle where I hope something really horrible is going to happen to him... Mwa-ha!!! Not the book that 'inspired' Incense For The Damned aka Bloodsuckers, the Cushing/Mower/Macnee/Woodward vampires in Greece melodrama??? Hard going isn't it?
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