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Post by dem bones on May 11, 2009 18:16:27 GMT
*could've sworn we'd had this already ....* A. N. L. Munby - The Alabaster Hand: Uncanny Tales Of The Evil That Walks By Night (Tandem, 1974: originally Dennis Dobson Ltd, 1949. Four-Square edition, 1965) Herodes Redivivus
The Inscription
The Alabaster Hand
The Topley Place Sale
The Tudor Chimney
A Christmas Game
The White Sack
The Four-Poster
The Negro's Head
The Tregganet Book Of Hours
An Encounter In The Mist
The Lectern
Number Seventy-Nine
The Devil's AutographBlurb: "Centuries-old houses, ancient leather volumes, illuminated manuscripts and long-revered traditions - these are the stuff of which the most fearsome tales can be woven. The stories in this book challenge comparisons with those of that master of the uncanny tale, the author of Ghost Stories Of An Antiquary, to whom they are dedicated".Can't remember if I've done so already, but I've got to throw in a vote for 'The Alabaster Hand' by A.N.L. Munby. I used to read this a lot when I was at Uni, because they had a copyright library with the '95 Ash Tree print there. Recently, however, I procured the 1999 reprint, and it was like going back to an old friend! It's got so many classic stories in it. Even if his style is a blatant rip-off/hommage (delete as appropriate) of M.R. James, there are moments when he comes frighteningly close to James' crown. I think because his monsters don't get as physical as James', that creeps me out more. 'The White Sack' is the most well known one, about a guy who encounters a mysterious 'thing' in the mountains of the Isle of Skye, which is never clearly discernible but has a stench of... well read it and you'll see. Equally good though are 'The Devil's Autograph', which transcends it's cheesy title to become a very good Faustian tale, and 'The Inscription', which features an academic-style plot twist that M.R. James would have enjoyed immensely I'm sure. It's one of my favourite collections of antiquarian ghost stories. 'The Alabaster Hand' is a favourite of mine. I've got the 1999 Ash-Tree reprint that now seems to go for $250 on Amazon. Here's my review from all those years ago: A splendid collection of short, atmospheric ghost stories in the style of M R James. With many imitators of James' style assuming verbosity to be an essential component in the creation of atmosphere, Munby's prose is refreshingly economical. His characters find themselves in appropriately scary situations which are resolved within eight or so pages, but not to the detriment of the overall effect of the story. Excellent. A classic. If you love these sorts of stories, you've probably got this book already. Tandem books were full of surprises. One of my treasured Charity shop moments was finding this modern reprint of Munby's only ghost story collection. It's been years since I read it, but I remember being favourably impressed at the time. I'm not usually one for gentle ghost stories, but An Encounter In The Mist is a classic of it's kind: A man lost in the Welsh mountains meets a kindly old hermit who provides him with a map. Trouble is, the lay of the land has changed since the eighteenth century and the narrator nearly goes over a cliff. Also includes: A Christmas Game: Dorchester, 1880's. Father invites Fenton, an old school friend, to spend Christmas with his family after a chance meeting in Exeter. The man has an aversion to anybody mentioning his years as an administrator in New Zealand. Despite this, things are fine until the family settle down to play 'dead man' (as made infamous by Ray Bradbury in The October Game) and Fenton is handed two squishy grapes in the dark. He screams and suffers a stroke. Shortly after, the narrator, a young medical student sees the ghost of a blind Aborigine stumbling about the yard and it's obvious who he's come for. The Tregganet Book Of Hours: St. Denoil, Cornwall. How an illustration in a Calendar of Saints came to be defaced and replaced. It all goes back to the 15th century when Lord of the Manor and pirate Hector Tregganet cheated Thomas Prest (!) out of his land by circulating stories among the superstitious peasants that he practiced witchcraft. They duly torched Prest's house with he and his wife trapped inside. Before he died, Prest pronounced a curse on Tregganet that he "would never be buried with his forefathers in the church of St. Fagan." On his death in 1510, Tregganet's coffin was indeed taken into the church, but .... |
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Post by killercrab on May 11, 2009 18:40:17 GMT
I've got the 4 Square edition with a different cover. I've also seen the same art used on another book too. It's a statue thing.
KC
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Post by dem bones on May 11, 2009 19:27:58 GMT
This one, ain't it? Artist criminally uncredited in both cases. The second book is Andre Norton & Sam Moskowitz's Great Untold Stories Of Fantasy & Horror (Pyramid, Oct. 1969), containing Winston Churchill's classic conte cruel, Man Overboard!. Unpleasant! |
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Post by killercrab on May 12, 2009 7:56:59 GMT
Yeah that's the one. Haven't read it of course - lol - nice cover though.
ade
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Post by dem bones on Oct 15, 2011 18:39:42 GMT
The Four-Poster: Grinley House, Sussex. Archaeologist Edward Clarkson is frightened to death while staying at the country home of his friend Richard Manning. Manning had given him the spare room in the South Wing which had not been slept in for several years. Unbeknown to him, the canopy of the four poster consists of a recycled shroud. The bed had once belonged to Amos Soames, professional body-snatcher, hanged for his crimes in 1791.
Herodes Redivivus: Bristol. A fifteen year old schoolboy is befriended by Mr. Race, the deathly pale, lanked haired proprietor of a bookshop in the shadow of St. Mary Redcliffe church. These being more innocent times, the lad is not the least suspicious of his temperamental new acquaintance, even when he turns off the lights while the boy is washing his hands in the pitch dark cellar. He is saved by the intervention of a mysterious cleric, but Race's next pupil, Roger Weland, is not so fortunate. Mr. Race is a disciple of alleged serial child-killer Gilles de Rais and has taken to emanating his hero's grisliest rituals.
Number Seventy-Nine: Why Mr. Egerton, the proprietor of a Red Lion Square bookshop, destroyed a manuscript, dating from the seventeenth century and believed to be the work of Dr. John Dee, despite the enthusiasm of Munby who is prepared to pay the £15 asking price. Munby is very put out until Egerton tells him what happened to his erstwhile colleague Mr. Merton.
Returning permanently damaged from WWI, Merton, despite his eccentricities, had been Egerton's invaluable right-hand man for twenty years - right up until yesterday when whatever it was he saw in the basement caused him to run screaming into the street and straight under the wheels of a bus. Merton had recently surprised his employer by announcing his impending marriage and Egerton was delighted to see such a change in the poor man whose life had been blighted by misfortune. Thank goodness those dark days are behind him!
Merton remained in cheery mood right up until his fiancée was killed in a car accident, whereupon he began consulting Spiritualists and mouldering volumes on the occult, specialist subject: Necromancy.
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Post by Shrink Proof on Oct 16, 2011 14:40:32 GMT
This is a collection I've been looking for for ages, ever since reading "An Encounter in the Mist" in the Oxford Book of English Ghost Stories, but the prices I've seen so far are just too steep.
Apparently he wrote these (very-Jamesian) tales whilst a POW in Germany in WW2.
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Post by dem bones on Oct 16, 2011 19:05:48 GMT
yeah, he says as much in the very brief introduction. The charming An Encounter In The Mist is typical of the collection so i'm sure you'll have a good time with it. Mr. Race in Herodes Redivivus is convincingly creepy, gave me unpleasant flashbacks to granddad in the (what were they thinking!?) Werther Original adverts from a few years back, and The Four Poster may yet bring on my next boring list, i give fair warning. |
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Oct 16, 2011 19:13:48 GMT
The Four Poster may yet bring on my next boring list, i give fair warning. Terribly strange beds? |
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Post by Skarthi on Apr 15, 2012 21:47:50 GMT
Earlier tonight I acquired a copy of the Tandem edition for £2.50 via Ebay. Amazingly, there were no other bidders. The photo showed a "Very Good" copy and no faults were mentioned in the description - seems almost too good to be true. I last saw a copy change hands on Amazon for something like £22.00 (exc. p&p).
I'm so pleased I just had to tell somebody!
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Post by Shrink Proof on Apr 16, 2012 17:57:04 GMT
£2.50?? I'm envious as hell...
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Post by Skarthi on Apr 16, 2012 18:12:43 GMT
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Post by Shrink Proof on Sept 16, 2012 12:22:46 GMT
Just picked this up from eBay for a tenner. Again, no other bidders (whew).
Special thanks to skarthi who gave me a heads up on this one - normally I don't bother with eBay, so cheers.
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Post by Shrink Proof on Jun 8, 2013 20:55:11 GMT
Well, I read it right through today, the short, economically-constructed stories are very moreish. What a thoroughly wonderful book, I can see why it's acquired a reputation.
Mr Race (in Herodes Redivivus) is certainly a seriously creepy character...
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zaraath
Crab On The Rampage
Posts: 12 
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Post by zaraath on Jun 24, 2013 6:49:48 GMT
I am a dedicated horror collector and bought a hardback edition some years ago for around US$45 iirc. I wasn't that impressed though, a few of the stories were decent but that's the most I can say (it has been awhile thought and perhaps it is worth a reread this fall, when I tend to enjoy horror fiction the most).
I have to say my impression of R.H. Malden and E.G. Swain is about the same, no one can match the Master MRJ.
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Post by Shrink Proof on Jun 25, 2013 13:19:12 GMT
I am a dedicated horror collector and bought a hardback edition some years ago for around US$45 iirc. I wasn't that impressed though, a few of the stories were decent but that's the most I can say (it has been awhile thought and perhaps it is worth a reread this fall, when I tend to enjoy horror fiction the most). A good idea. Better still, read it in autumn in Britain. In threatening weather. As night sets in. Somewhere remote. Alone. |
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