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Post by Craig Herbertson on Dec 11, 2009 11:24:47 GMT
To be fair I took an Egyptology subsidiary for one year but at one point I could read a bit of the hieroglyphics. I also read a lot on it privately and the anthropology was of enormous help in understanding social mind sets for want of a better word. The striking thing about Grant's writing is that you forget that she's not what she claims to be - an Egyptian Pharaoh. As far as I know nothing of her account has been contradicted. It just feels right.
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Post by Dr Strange on Dec 11, 2009 12:00:32 GMT
Article on Joan Grant: tinyurl.com/ycth4ncQuote: "I knew that my knowledge of Egyptian history was minimal, and that if I had been venal enough to want to perpetrate an elaborate hoax I would have first embarked on very careful historical research, instead of scrupulously not doing any." Of course, the fact that she was married to an archaeologist at the time (and that they visited Egypt together) is neither here nor there...
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Dec 11, 2009 14:05:32 GMT
Thanks for that bio on Joan. I quote from the article where Denis Wheatley remembers the ceremony of roses where she would go into an Egyptian trance: 'which involved a stark naked Joan "glistening and quivering in ecstasy . . . writhing and contorting her body sensually in tune with the administration of his hands".' After looking at a picture of Joan I found myself wishing I could swap lives with the administrator, if only briefly.
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Post by dem bones on Dec 19, 2009 10:28:33 GMT
... 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? Probably a bit of both! How much Wheatley contributed to the series is still a bit murky. According to Peter Tremayne "Dennis did not have much to do with it except to allow his name on the covers and contribute the briefest introductions .... It was Stan Nicholls, I believe who was Dennis's research assistant for the series" ( Paperback Fanatic #9. Stan Nicholls, writing in 1991 admits that he was recruited in an editorial consultant capacity, and that, from the huge list of titles compiled, Wheatley selected those which he'd find the easiest to rattle off his intro. Many of the titles were in the public domain and the anthologies were regurgitated from the Century books (except for Witchcraft & Satanism, a wholesale rip-off of Hainings The Necromancers). Sphere, it seems, had big - as in insane - plans for the series; it would run to a staggering 400 volumes!!! ... provided it got off to a good start commercially. It didn't. Dracula, for all its merits, was a dreadful choice of opener as just about every publisher had an edition on the market at the time. Michel Parry, who was also involved in the project, told us recently: "I was more interested in fiction titles while he was keen on publishing 'factual' occult titles he had read when young, or which he had consulted in his research for his novels or for his 'Devil and All His Works' non-fiction book." In a way, there are similarities with the Wordsworth 'Mystery & The Supernatural' series in that along with the recognised classics you find some real oddities. Some of the non-fiction selections are a struggle and personally, i can't see myself reading, say, Goethe's Faust or completing R. H. Benson's tedious The Necromancers, but it's great that Sphere made 'em available all the same. If Dr. Strange is reading this, i managed to get hold of Julian Franklyn's Death By Enchantment, but the next one i'm gonna attempt is Donald McCormick's The Hellfire Club.
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Post by cw67q on Jan 20, 2010 15:37:34 GMT
i can't see myself reading, say, Goethe's Faust or completing R. H. Benson's tedious The Necromancers, I'm sorry to say I did complete that stinker of a book, and in the edition under discussion. believe me it gets worse in the end, a horrible excercise in class bigotry masquerading as religious principle. Foul beyond mention. Best forgotten. Bester still unread. John mentioned Cowper Powys, an author that I discovered just over a year ago and who has come to rival Arthur Machen, Robert Aickman and Sarban in my affection. I've not read Morwyn (which is in print from Faber Finds) , though and the later fantasies that i have read have been a bit more hit and miss than the monumentally wonderful (or terrible, I conceded that JCP may not appeal to all tastes) mid-career novels. Of those I've read, Owen Glendower, Porius and A Glastonbury Romance are all superb, and Wolf Solent is not that far behind. These all have fantasy or gothic elements to some extent without qualifying as genre novels. Owen or Wolf would provide the best introduction, better leave the other two until you decide whether JCP is for you or not. I'm pleased to still have Weymouth Sands, Maiden Castle and some of the less well known works to meet for the first time. Here's favourite quote from Wolf Solent, the title character is having a conversation with his dead father at the latter's graveside: " ‘Ho! Ho! You worm of my folly,’ laughed the hollow skull. ‘I am alive still, though I am dead; and you are dead, though you’re alive. For life is beyond your mirrors and your waters. It’s at the bottom of your pond; it’s in the body of your sun; it’s in the dust of your star spaces; it’s in the eyes of weasels and the noses of rats and the pricks of nettles and the tongues of vipers and the spawn of frogs and the slime of snails. Life is in me still, you worm of my folly, and girls’ flesh is sweet for ever; and honey is sticky and tears are salt, and yellow-hammers’ eggs have mischievous crooked scrawls !’" - from chapter 15 of Wolf Solent by John Cowper Powys And a shorter one that appeals to me from Porius: "the devil is every god who exacts obedience." - ChapterXV Porius by JC Powys I've also been working may way through Charles William's novels over the last year or so. CW was a devout, but bearable, Christian writer and his books explore occult and mystical themes that appealed to him. These higer musings are generally welded to a pulpish plot in a manner that works better in some books than others IMHO. All Hallows Eve, a moody ghost story (of a type) with some powerful set pieces, and the Greater Trumphs, which deals with the rediscovery of the original tarot deck, I found to be the most succesful. Decent into Hell is anothoer worthwhile read. It describes how various individuals in a small community resist or succumb to various temptations such as suicide or succubi. It perhaps doesn't really hold together as a novel, in fact I'm not entirely convinced that it really is a "novel" being more of a succesion of linked scenes of (mostly) inner turmoil. . The philosophy could probably be fairly described as overpowering the plot, but an interesting read nontheless tackling some interesting questions. War in Heaven, which deals with the finding of the Holy Graal and some occultists who want it for their nefarious ends, and Many Dimensions which features a less familar magical/religious maguffin are enjoyable fast paced (for Williams) reads. In both of these the pulpiness of the plot (and in MD, the unbelievable maguffin) perhpas undermine CW's more serious intentions. OTOH, this probably makes these the lightest and most accessible of the novels. Shadows of Ecstasy was the first of the novels to be written, but publication was delayed. Here the marriage of (very) pulp plot to abstruse philosophical questions proved very rocky indeed and the book falls apart under long winded metaphysical exposition and overblown plot elements. This is the only novel that didn't work at all for me. Still to read, the Place of the Lion. All of CW's novels are currently in print. - Chris
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Post by dem bones on Jan 20, 2010 23:03:59 GMT
i can't see myself reading, say, Goethe's Faust or completing R. H. Benson's tedious The Necromancers, I'm sorry to say I did complete that stinker of a book, and in the edition under discussion. believe me it gets worse in the end, a horrible excercise in class bigotry masquerading as religious principle. Foul beyond mention. Best forgotten. Bester still unread. - Chris another very interesting post, Chris. lucky me, i've plenty to read otherwise i'd be sorely tempted to go for the rematch after a mauling like that! i got as far as chapter six of The Necromancer before giving up (a very battered, undated Hutchinson edition with an add for Fry's Breakfast Cocoa stamped on the back). funnily enough, i read his The Watcher a few days ago, first time i'd been near his work in maybe ten years; thought it was pretty effective, and, at four pages, didn't overstay its welcome. seems like as good a place as any to plug a favourite example of class bigotry in the ghost story, Sabine Baring-Gould and his rancid A Dead Finger! can't comment on Charles Williams: i've only read a handful of his shorter pieces spread over some Haining anthologies and The Oxford Book Of Ghost Stories; don't remember anything about them except they went over my head, probably wasn't ready for him? i've been eyeing a copy of the Dennis Wheatley Library Morwyn: maybe if my friend at interzone drops the asking price .... substantially!
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Post by jamesdoig on Jan 21, 2010 8:44:42 GMT
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Post by andydecker on Jan 21, 2010 10:02:47 GMT
Lovely covers! Real art. I honestly would like to know if todays editors don´t commission something like that any more because photoshop artists are just cheaper or because they think it won´t sell books. On the other hand, just look at the current Warhammer Covers. Those paintings are often better than the content
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Post by cw67q on Jan 21, 2010 14:50:42 GMT
Thanks demonik I think I quite liked the RHB stories that i read in the wordsworth collection, but I have a tough time keeping him separate from ACB. EFB I can just about single out as I'd read him long before I found out his brothers also wrote ghost stories. BTW here is a great essay on Charles Williams by Glen Cavaliero, who actually knows what he is talking about: freepages.pavilion.net/tartarus/williams.htmlGC has published books on both Charles Williams and John Cowper Powys. It was the essay linked to above that made me look up CW. - chris
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Post by dem bones on Jun 20, 2010 17:04:35 GMT
Dennis Wheatley (ed.) – Uncanny Tales 1 [Dennis Wheatley Library Of The Occult # 9] (Sphere, 1974) Dennis Wheatley - Introduction Sheridan Le Fanu – Carmilla Wilkie Collins – The Dream Woman Sir Walter Scott – The Tapestried Chamber Mrs Oliphant – The Open Door Washington Irving – The Spectre Bridegroom Edgar Allen Poe – Ligeia Théophile Gautier – Clarimonde I know, I know. No surprises, seven - admittedly excellent - stories that most of us will already have several times over, disappointingly non-incendiary introduction from diabolical Dennis - nobody in the right mind needs this book, right? Yeah, but that glorious cover artwork ...
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Post by Johnlprobert on Jun 20, 2010 18:27:02 GMT
I've got all those stories & I'd still want that!
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Post by dem bones on Jun 22, 2010 11:21:09 GMT
It gets you like a complete obsessive compulsive disorder after a while. Recently found a copy of the Byron Preiss & Co. edited The Ultimate Dragon. Now, however talented the contributors may be, I've absolutely no interest in reading about spazzy dragons, so why bother with it? Ah, but I have The Ultimate Vampire and The Ultimate Werewolf from the same series so how much did you say that was again love?
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Post by dem bones on Jun 25, 2011 10:19:14 GMT
Thanks to nosferatu, some more scans & blurbs to add. We already had The Affair of the Poisons cover in initial post, but that was ages ago! It's a shame Sphere didn't keep the uniform look through to the end - they changed on #37, Uncanny Tales #3, as far as I can make out - as the full colour covers, however good or bad the paintings, lack that proper Dennis Wheatley Library Of The Occult feel to them if you get my meaning? For this reader another chief joy of the series has to be Mr. Wheatley's introductions which are often as hilarious as his more deranged Black Magic novels. Our much missed friend Bob 'The Duke' Rothwell put the lot on-line and you can read 'em at Dennis Wheatley info. Frances Mossiker - The Affair Of The Poisons (Sphere, 1976) Blurb: The extraordinary 'affair of the poisons' was one of the most scandalous secrets of the reign of Louis XIV. Scores of the alchemist-necromancers and perfumer-poisoners operating in Paris were arrested and began to denounce ever more exalted members of the aristocracy as their clients.
Before the end of the affair three hundred people had been seized, tortured or put to death, and scandal had touched the highest in the land.
The Affair of the Poisons is Volume 28 in the Dennis Wheatley Library of the Occult Marie Corelli - The Mighty Atom (Sphere, 1976) Blurb Lionel Valliscourt was an only child; and when you've only got one boy you expect a great deal of him. Deprived by his father of youthful pleasures and the company of other children, surrounded by petty tyrannies and a rigorous system of 'intellectual training', Lionel became pale and silent.
Lionel's tutor went so far as to accuse his father of child-murder....
The Mighty Atom is Volume 27 in the Dennis Wheatley Library of the Occult Mary Shelley - Frankenstein (Sphere, 1976) Blurb "I suddenly beheld the figure of a man, at some distance, advancing towards me with superhuman speed. He bounded over the crevices in the ice, among which I had walked with caution; his stature also, as he approached, seemed to exceed that of a man. I was troubled: a mist came over my eyes and I felt a faintness seize me.'
Such is Dr Frankenstein's horrified reaction to the sudden encounter with the monster he has created. Filled with remorse at the ghastly results of his experiment, he feels that he must make amends...
Frankenstein is Volume 39 in the Dennis Wheatley Library of the Occult Charles Williams – War In Heaven (Sphere, 1976) Blurb A DEMONIC PL0T FOR HUMAN SACRIFICE
Lionel Rackstraw returned from lunch one day to find a dead body under his desk. Then this bizarre murder was overshadowed by the strange occurrences in a much more sinister mystery, a mystery surrounding the legendary Holy Grail. Lionel found himself caught up in a maelstrom of evil, as two unscrupulous Satanists struggled to gain possession of the Grail, with its occult powers, for their own sinister ends. And at the centre of their plot was the horrific ritual sacrifice of Lionel's own son to the Devil ...
War In Heaven is Volume 44 in the Dennis Wheatley Library of the Occult
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Post by dem bones on Aug 2, 2017 19:23:02 GMT
For Mr. Morgue Rat. Julian Franklyn – Death By Enchantment [# 30] (Sphere, 1975: originally Hamish Hamilton, 1971) Blurb: ‘An Examination of Ancient and Modern Witchcraft Witchcraft has in recent years come back to the public consciousness with reports of graveyard desecrations, black magic rites and vandalism. Julian Franklyn discusses such incidents as manifestations of the black art. Touching on the infamous Salem witch trials, sorcery in Melanesia and the notorious Aleister Crowley, he reviews the whole subject in the light of modern theories of psychology, hypnotism and suggestibility..
Death By Enchantment is #30 in the Dennis Wheatley Library Of The Occult.
Donald McCormick – The Hellfire Club [#26] (Sphere, 1976)
Blurb: ‘Many myths have grown up around the activities of the Hell-Fire Club, deep in the caves at the heart of West Wycombe Hill. The mysterious rites, Satanic practices and masked orgies of some of the most elevated figures in the land – including the Prime Minister – captured the public imagination. This book reveals the fascinating truth behind the legends of the infamous club.
The Hell-Fire Club is #26 in the Dennis Wheatley Library Of The Occult.
A. E. W. Mason – The Prisoner In The Opal [#10] (Sphere, 1974)
Blurb: ‘The Two Men were standing face to face, the priest sheltering what knowledge he had behind a stolid face, Hanaud towering over him, like an inquisitor …
“You did not find all your vestments in the sacristy this morning. For one of them is in the mortuary at Villeblanch stained with the blood of a young woman who dined at the same table with you in this house last night, and was savagely murdered afterwards.””
The Prisoner In The Opal is #10 in the Dennis Wheatley Library Of The Occult.
Philip Bonewits – Real Magic [ #14] (Sphere, 1974)
Blurb “I believe this book to be unique …. “
Philip Bonewits, who holds the world’s first university degree in Magic, reveals his scientific explanation of the nebulous patterns in occultism. He uses data from many different arts and sciences to loosen the rigid boundaries of traditional thought and reports his results in plain language. And he challenges you to test his theories for yourself!
Real Magic is Volume 14 in the Dennis Wheatley Library of the Occult.
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Post by Middoth on Jul 3, 2021 12:48:16 GMT
Here are a few more covers in the series. I was interested to read in the Michel Parry interview in Pulp Mania 1 that he had a hand in choosing and editing some of these books. The Devil's Mistress seems quite scarce. engole.info/isobel-gowdie/Gowdie and her magic have been remembered in a number of later works of culture. She appears as a character in the biographical novels The Devil’s Mistress by novelist and occultist J. W. Brodie-Innes, Isobel by Jane Parkhurst and the fantasy novel Night Plague by Graham Masterton. In the 21st century her story has been the inspiration for plays, radio broadcasts and lectures. The Confession of Isobel Gowdie is a work for symphony orchestra by the Scottish composer James MacMillan;he believed Gowdie’s confession was obtained by torture, and that she was burned at the stake for witchcraft. In a broadcast by BBC Radio 3 in 2010 he styled the composition as his requiem for her The Sensational Alex Harvey Band song titled “Isobel Goudie” was one of many songs commemorating her.
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