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Post by dem bones on Sept 3, 2018 7:41:26 GMT
Drat! Just received a second copy of Vol. 5. Thought I'd got the ISBN numbers straight and was ordering 1 copy of each. Too bad Weekend didn't clearly put "Vol 2" or "Vol 5" on their books, although many sellers don't bother putting Vol. number info even if it's there. Ordering what I hope is the right copy of Vol. 2 so as to have all 3. A "nice" after-Christmas present to myself According to an A*m*zon review of Weekend Second Book Of Ghosts by a certain Scarecrow : Richard Whittington-Egan (ed.) - Weekend Book Of Ghosts (Associated Newspapers, 1975) First of the five volumes. From a Vault contributor's perspective, pride of place surely goes to Roger Dean on Secondhand Hauntings, featuring a ghostly chessboard, a malevolent portrait of Aleister Crowley, Jennie Morrison's "haunted nightie" and a demoniacally possessed Victorian scrapbook, all of them acquired in 'pre-loved' condition. Nigel Doughty's That Certain Feeling, concerning premonitions of doom, leads with grim tale of the cursed glove-puppet which so plagued filming of Tony Hancock's The Punch & Judy Man. On a similar note, Paul Andrews's Goodbye Dolly - You're Too Evil sees little Bokkie Barnes and family persecuted by an evil 4ft high 'Bride of Chucky' prototype. Stars and the Supernatural; mildly eerie episodes in the lives of, among others, Ernest Borgine, Renee Houston, Susannah York, David Niven, Victor Maddern and Roy Hudd (Reincarnation and past lives were evidently very much in vogue throughout the 'seventies). It's Andrew Parker's turn to pen the mandatory feature on the ghosts of the Tower of London. Richard Egan meets Weekend (and Titbits)' favourite superstar exorcist, Rev. Christopher Neil-Smith. There's an exclusive rare photo of celebrity witch Maxine Saunders with her clothes on. Also intensively researched, authentic accounts of Haunted Prisons, Hospitals, Courtrooms, etc.
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Post by dem bones on Sept 4, 2018 11:39:31 GMT
Richard Whittington-Egan (ed.) - Weekend Second Book Of Ghosts (Associated Newspapers, 1978) It was the turn of Pluckly, Kent (pop. 900) to be "Britain's Most Haunted Village," though their 'authentic' ghosts paled in comparison to the colourful crew - The Red Lady, The Screaming Man, and the Watercress Woman ("who set herself alight with her clay pipe") - laid on for the tourists. Ronald Camp's Death Looked Up In The Moonlight revisits "The Dufferin Curse". Eric Maple's Danger: Hairy Hands Ahead concerns motorway hazards - special guest appearances from the phantom hitch-hiker, the spectral monk of Epping Forest, and a "dead gangster" who won't lie down. Nigel Doughty investigates The Monster Of Glamis: does "the most terrible room in Britain" conceal "something of the most appalling horribleness?" Also Douglas Fairey on The Angel Of Mons, Eric Camp on When The Devil Walked In Devon, and another spin for Gloomy Sunday, "The Song That Killed 200 People," (unattributed, probably the editor?). Seriously, can't fathom how anyone would find that catchy melody "depressing." It sounds positively jolly. Bloody lightweights.
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Post by franklinmarsh on Sept 4, 2018 12:14:07 GMT
When I was growing up in the 70s, there were always periodicals of the "Weekend" type in our house, the best remembered by me being "Titbits" and "The Weekly News." Always varied in content, there was usually something of interest to a growing lad. Have such publications bitten the dust now in our modern age and been replaced by celebrity gossip magazines? Just reading Arthur La Bern's book Nightmare (circa '77) and the main character disparages such publications (along with the much-missed Reveille) as suitable reading material - and he's banged up in a mental hospital. I always liked 'em - not least for introducing me to Alice Cooper via a lurid photo spread involving the dolls filled with blood. Great days! re the above - would Ronald and Eric Camp be related?
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Post by dem bones on Sept 5, 2018 10:03:07 GMT
When I was growing up in the 70s, there were always periodicals of the "Weekend" type in our house, the best remembered by me being "Titbits" and "The Weekly News." Always varied in content, there was usually something of interest to a growing lad. Have such publications bitten the dust now in our modern age and been replaced by celebrity gossip magazines? Just reading Arthur La Bern's book Nightmare (circa '77) and the main character disparages such publications (along with the much-missed Reveille) as suitable reading material - and he's banged up in a mental hospital. This is still my favourite: "I am not here to tell you sordid 'News of the World' cases. I investigate psychic cases, not cases of that kind. I wouldn't want to." - John Campbell, psychic investigator, in J. Ramsey Campbell's The Tower ( Ghostly Tales, 1958). Anyway. It is a shame Titbits and/or Reveille didn't follow suit with a series on Black Magic. Mirror Groups got in on the act with, among others, The Daily Mirror Book Of Space (1970), ... Of Football (1970), .... For Boys (1971, 1972), ....For Girls (1970, 1971, 1972, 1980, 1981) Roy of the Rovers Football Quiz Book (1978), and Joyce McKinney & The Manacled Mormon (1978), but seem to have steered clear of the ghost & horror stuff (would love to be proved wrong). Much later in the day: Jane Moore - The Sun Book Of Short Stories (Bantam, 2007) Jane Moore - Foreword
Francesca Bardsley - Ball Games Gavin Bell - A Living Elizabeth Brassington - Henry Angela Coughlan - The Lost Gene Collette Dickinson - There's a Queue for The Therapists Chair Terence Foster - I Don't Know Why Richard Grant - Last Gasp Paul Horsman - Murder in Catcher's Wood Jeanette Middlemass - Christmas Truce Stuart Real - Dad's Car Michael Ripley - Super Daniel Rowe - She Lisa Sanders - One Wish Kevin Tutchener - Need to Know Georginia Voller - Daylight Robbery Steve White - In Terms of: An Office Story Blurb To celebrate the launch of Quick Reads in 2006, The Sun ran a short story competition called 'Get Britain Reading' in order to find the hidden talent among its ten million readers.It was judged by Sun columnist and bestselling author Jane Moore. The Sun Book of Short Stories contains a selection of the winning entries.They may make you smile, laugh or cry - but all of them are sure to entertain you.And from the introduction: "The idea was to find brilliant, unpublished writers. We were overwhelmed by the tens of thousands who entered short stories of a very high standard .... after much deliberation, our panel of judges picked the best from the Under 16 and Over 16 categories, many of which are printed in this book.
I have little doubt that some of the short story writers you see here today will become the bestselling authors of tomorrow. Enjoy!"Some "supernatural"/ fantasy content, macabre themes predominate. Those read all concern a death or two. Francesca Bardsley - Ball Games: Amira, innocent schoolgirl, is duped into perpetrating a suicide bombing by an amiable terrorist. Elizabeth Brassington - Henry: Wife invests in a life-size blow-up doll, ostensively to guard against car-jackers and muggers when she's out driving. Husband, sick of them both, attacks 'Henry' - "He's twice the man you are!" - with a skewer, but a puncture kit soon restores him to his best. Unlike his rival, Henry has a charmed life. Outright winner of the competition, on the evidence of this anthology, deservedly so. Collette Dickinson - There's a Queue for The Therapists Chair: ..... but only one of Jane's patients belongs this side of the grave. Richard Grant - Last Gasp: Self-harming moped girl breaks granddad out of the old folks home for midnight cemetery visit. We think we know where this is headed but, alas, we are miles wide of the mark. Angela Coughlan - The Lost Gene: A daughter's fond memories of her "eccentric" mum. Dread to think the response if this had been posted on social media. Gavin Bell - A Living : Protagonist reflects on his life in drab hotel room as he awaits a visitor. Surprise ending - we learn his occupation - isn't all that. Paul Horsman - Murder in Catcher's Wood: Late for school, Simon Lewis takes a short cut through the wood, even though the police have yet to find the man who strangled young Miss Phelps, head of IT ....
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Post by dem bones on Sept 6, 2018 8:05:13 GMT
Spoke too soon. No deaths in any of these. Selection has tailed off dramatically since the blow-up doll story.
Terence Foster - I Don't Know Why: Boss bullies factory hand who takes out his rage and frustration on Wife. Wife digs out their son, who is sent off in cup final for punching an opponent for laughing at his Poundland football boots. Modern life is no fun at all.
Jeanette Middlemass - Christmas Truce: Hungover parents are shamed into a ceasefire for sake of their kids. Dear God ...
Stuart Real - Dad's Car: ... is haunted by a little green rubbish-sprite. It can't leave until the vehicle is spotless, which won't be any time soon.
Michael Ripley - Super: Shape-shifting, gravity-defying Superkids Julian and Sam at play trashing each other and much of the planet until Mighty Mum calls them in for dinner. At least there's some decent scorched flesh action, thankful for small mercies.
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