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Post by dem bones on May 7, 2009 9:20:04 GMT
Dennis Wheatley Library Of The Occult *slightly tarted up from Vault MK. I where we got a decent thread out of it* Sphere published 45 volumes of this incredible series - in paperback between 1974 and 1977, an extraordinary 24 of them in the first year. An intriguing mix of fact, 'fact', folklore and fiction, it's delightful to see Wheatley (or whoever: there's some dispute as to selected which titles should comprise the library although he provided introductions to each of them) championing not just the acknowledged classics - Dracula, The Werewolf Of Paris, The Monk, The Phantom Of The Opera, Frankenstein etc. - but neglected period novels by O'Donnell, Benson, Crowley and Crawford, a pulp masterpiece by Jack Williamson, and even - what's he doing in this company? - a Peter Saxon romp! Of the factual material, the Tabori biography of Harry Price is especially good on the infamous Borley Rectory case although I'm not so sure the Donald McCormick approach to research holds up too well these days. 1974 1. Bram Stoker - Dracula 2. Guy Endore - The Werewolf Of Paris 3. Aleister Crowley - Moonchild 4. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky - Studies In Occultism 5. William Hope Hodgson - Carnacki The Ghost-Finder 6. Elliott O'Donnell - The Sorcery Club 7. Paul Tabori - Harry Price: The Biography Of A Ghost Hunter 8. F. Marion Crawford - The Witch Of Prague
9. Dennis Wheatley (ed.) - Uncanny Tales #1 10. A. E. W. Mason - The Prisoner In The Opal 11. J. W. Brodie-Innes - The Devil's Mistress 12. Cheiro - You And Your Hand 13. Marjorie Bowen - Black Magic 14. Philip Bonewits - Real Magic 15. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - Faust 16. Dennis Wheatley (ed.) - Uncanny Tales #2
17. John Buchan - The Gap In The Curtain 18. Zolar - The Interpretation Of Dreams 19. Alfred Métraux - Voodoo 20. R. H. Benson - The Necromancers 21. Dennis Wheatley (ed.) - Satanism And Witches 22. Joan Grant - The Winged Pharaoh 23. J.K. Huysmans - Down There 24. M. G. Lewis - The Monk1975 25. Alexandre Dumas - Horror At Fontenay 26. Donald McCormick - The Hell-Fire Club 27. Marie Corelli - The Mighty Atom 28. Frances Mossiker - The Affair Of The Poisons 29. Hilda Lewis - The Witch And The Priest 30. Julian Franklyn - Death By Enchantment. An Examination Of Ancient And Modern Witchcraft 31. Ida B. Prangley - Fortune Telling By Cards 32. Peter Saxon - Dark Ways To Death
33. William Hope Hodgson - The Ghost Pirates 34. Gaston Leroux - The Phantom Of The Opera 35. Charles Williams - The Greater Trumps 36. Maurice Magre - The Return Of The Magi 37. Dennis Wheatley (ed.) - Uncanny Tales #31976 38. Evelyn Eaton - The King Is A Witch 39. Mary Shelley - Frankenstein 40. Lord Dunsany - The Curse Of The Wise Woman 41. Sax Rohmer - Brood Of The Witch Queen 42. Pedro McGregor - Brazilian Magic: Is It The Answer? 43. Jack Williamson - Darker Than You Think 44. Charles Williams - War In Heaven1977 45. John Cowper Powys - Morwyn: The Vengeance Of GodFor a great selection of covers and much, much more see the indispensable Dennis Wheatley info
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Post by Johnlprobert on May 7, 2009 16:54:55 GMT
Oh wonderful. Back in 1999 when Gollancz / Millennium were starting their SF Masterworks range I lobbied them to start a Horror Masterworks line as well. I even sent them a list of suggested books to get it started (And yes it DID include a fair amount of Bloch, Birkin and - you guessed it! Chetwynd-Hayes - but the The Monster Club does deserve a reprint for a new generation who've only seen the movie). They wrote back saying 'No call for this sort of stuff' but I suspect it may also have been because they didn't have the rights, and at least a couple of decent scary writers (Jonathan Carroll and Clark Ashton Smith) got represented eventually in their Fantasy Masterworks series.
Anyway, if Lacey Stockingtops ever lets me get near the typewriter long enough to write the JLP equivalent of Harry Potter or Twilight this is exactly the sort of library I'd love to see reprinted. Stacks of horror classics and Peter Saxon as well!!!
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Post by dem bones on May 7, 2009 21:46:07 GMT
The Saxon is worth having for Wheatley's introduction which begins with the immortal "I have rarely read a novel, the first chapter of which was more colourless, impersonal and lacking in inducement to continue. But don’t be put off by that ..." "No call for this sort of stuff". What bollocks! Every person who ever posts on a blog or board like this gives the lie to that one, but it's great that you tried. The only SF Masterwork i have is Matheson's I Am Legend and if that's typical of the series then Wordsworth Editions have more than made up for Gollancz's oversight - and their prices are way cheaper. All's well that ends well. At present i'm adding the covers and blurbs to Vault Wordpress, but ignore that and check out Dennis Wheatley Info instead where, by clicking on the cover, you get Wheatley's intro's to each volume in their entirety. My admiration for Mr. Rothwell's dedication knows no bounds. Glad that Lacy and yourself are back on terms after the regrettable "My Vows Of Lust To Kinky Sex Surgeon" episode. I always suspected she'd been misquoted and any fool could tell that business about your 'enormous stethoscope' was taken out of context ... I'd certainly be interested in seeing your list if you kept it?
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Post by hugegadjit on Dec 8, 2009 12:23:03 GMT
I've got a couple of these - one appears to be a fairly serious anthropological work on voodoo, the other is a story called Black Magic (forget the writer's name... somebody Bowen?) which is downright weird and genuinely unsettling. Anyone read?
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Post by dem bones on Dec 9, 2009 8:24:29 GMT
that will be Marjorie Bowen's Black Magic, huge, which has been on my 'to read' list for about a century. we've a Library of the Occult thread HERE with all the titles (if not very much else yet!). Bloody fascinating series!
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Dec 9, 2009 8:47:53 GMT
Aleister Crowley's Moonchild, written in 1917, is about a magical war between a group of white magicians, led by Simon Iff, and a group of black magicians over an unborn child. Ringing any Rosemary's Baby bells here?
Numerous thinly disguised acquaintances of Crowley appear and as one might expect if Crowley likes you you get ten points and a sticky toffee and if he doesn't hell is too good for you. The central premise of the novel is that one can impregnate a girl with the soul of an ethereal being - a moonchild. To achieve this, the lucky girl needs to be kept in a secluded environment surrounded by more Magick than that contained in the molecules of Tommy Cooper's rubber wand.
The black magician is bent on destroying Grey, the white magician's plan. However, Grey's ultimate motives may not be what they appear. War breaks out - the white guys go with the allies and the black - well you knew it was coming.
Crowley suffered from being a man caught on the penumbra of change. Basically he was born a little to early. Most of his black magic is now on sale in shops with funny incense or promulgated at yoga classes. he had a big interest in sex and magick probably was as good a cover for that as anything else. From memory the novel was written to fund a cocaine habit.
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Post by jamesdoig on Dec 9, 2009 21:15:14 GMT
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Post by jamesdoig on Dec 10, 2009 6:22:16 GMT
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Post by Johnlprobert on Dec 10, 2009 7:40:14 GMT
I've heard of Cowper Powys through the writings of Michael Moorcock and of the Guy Endore novel but the other authors there are totally unfamiliar - am I missing out on classics or were these bottom of the barrel scrapers put out in a 'Collectors Series' to get people to actually buy them?
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Post by jamesdoig on Dec 10, 2009 10:28:53 GMT
You're right - some like Correlli's The Mighty Atom, Mason's Prisoner of the Opal, Grant's The Winged Pharoah etc are interminable I reckon. I think these were novels that Wheatley liked and wanted reprinted, but they've dated pretty badly. Some, like Brodie-Innes's Devil's Mistress, are forgotten classics. There's also a lot of non-fiction on the occult - I wonder if these were chosen by Parry? The Charles Williams occult thrillers are good - he was one of the Inklings, with Tolkien and CS Lewis - they've held up well.
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Dec 10, 2009 11:03:44 GMT
Although the Winged Pharaoh by Joan Grant might be a bit crappy for a horror fan I confess to loving the book. It could be the anthropologist in me, but it offers a strangely realistic and believable account of spiritualistic, benevolent pharaohs in ancient Egypt.
As I am dragged kicking and screaming to the occult ward before being treated with natron and buried alive, I offer as a defense that Grant is the only occult writer who ever gave me the feeling that she might actually have lived in the times she describes in the book.
I studied Egyptology among my other sins and also cultural anthropology so I'm not easily taken in by accounts of this time. This book just had a 'feel' to it, of inner knowledge - as though the author was only relating events. The surface details appeared accurate and the inner psyche was credible, but, how can I put it, more than credible, simply matter of fact.
Its well worth reading and if anyone has the time please get hold of it and confirm whether I am a gullible lunatic or nor.
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Post by Dr Strange on Dec 10, 2009 14:23:10 GMT
RE: "Brazilian Magic: Is It The Answer?" - can someone enlighten me as to what the question (that this might be the answer to) is? (And I don't want to hear anything about bikini waxing). And isn't "Pedro McGregor" just a great name?
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Post by pulphack on Dec 10, 2009 16:54:03 GMT
having read this, the question is: 'does brazilian magic explain the universe'. basically.
and it doesn't. but pedro macgrgeor the scots anthropologist and ghostwriter (how apt) tony stratton smith make a decent fist of the case.
the same stratton-smith who cheated death in the munich air crash and went on to manage the Nice and found Charisma records. so maybe it does answer the question, as it seemed to work for him...
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Post by jamesdoig on Dec 10, 2009 20:58:23 GMT
I think with that one in particular some insider knowledge of ancient Egypt and its beliefs would make it more enjoyable. I'll have to give it another go some time.
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Post by jamesdoig on Dec 10, 2009 21:05:10 GMT
The original title was evidently the portentous The Moon and Two Mountains, so we can't blame Pedro Mac and T.S.
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