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Post by marksamuels on Aug 30, 2009 12:53:31 GMT
Dem's covered some of this before gruesomecargoes.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=cb&action=display&thread=6There's also a scan of the 1967 cover over there (this one's the 1964).   Introduction - Dennis Wheatley The Kiss Of Death **, The Hens, Les Belle Dames Sans Merci **, "The New Ones", The Mouse Hole, Fairy Dust, "Some New Pleasures Prove"**, The Kennel, "Mon Ami, Pierrot", The Mutation, Lighten Our Darkness, Fine Needlework **, The Hitch **, The Three Monkeys, Malleus Maleficarum **. ** means go read Dem's synopses. Dem-- was Lighten Our Darkness not in the 1967 edition? I'll try and post synopses of those you've not covered in the next week. The Kennel is possibly one of his most outrageous tales ever. Mark S. The man himself! The legend!  |
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Post by bushwick on Aug 30, 2009 15:08:21 GMT
Old Charles has a touch of the Peter Lorre about him there.
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Post by dem bones on Aug 30, 2009 19:08:07 GMT
Thank you so much for posting this, Mr. S! I've checked the 1967 reprint and - no Lighten Our Darkness! It just skips from The Mutation to Fine Needlework. That photograph is just so brilliant. Whereas the one on the flip of Where Terror Stalked catches him all relaxed and dapper, he looks positively haunted (and haunting) in this one.
I look forward to your synopsis' if and when you have the time. Please feel free to comment on those i've written a load of junk about! No stories or novels are ever 'covered' on here, and the board works best when we've multiple viewpoints.
Incidentally, please pass on my congratulations to Mr. Staines (Black Book Of Horror #5) and the late Mr. Bertand (Destination Nihil in Mammoth Book Of Best New Horrror #20) - those murdering horror convention bastards deprived us of a great talent! And well done to you sir, for landing The White Hands a spot in next years Mammoth Best Of Best New Horror. I reckon you're having quite a month!
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Post by dem bones on May 6, 2010 19:54:04 GMT
Charles Birkin - The Kiss Of Death & Other Horror Stories (Tandem, 1964, 1967) Introduction - Dennis Wheatley
The Kiss Of Death
"Some New Pleasures Prove"
The Hens
The Three Monkeys
The Mutation
Les Belle Dames Sans Merci
Fine Needlework
The Mouse Hole
The Kennel
"The New Ones"
Malleus Maleficarum
The Hitch
Fairy Dust
"Mon Ami, Perrot"For Mary Etheldreda Keswick who is so deeply interested in the horrific and the macabre.includes: The Kiss Of Death: An obscure island in the Philippines. In her younger days, social-climber Lady Sylvia Nicholson was engaged to Colin Howard, but "jilted him at the altar when a bigger fish swam along." Several years later she lies in bed awaiting a midnight visit from her latest lover, Philip Dewhurst. She makes love to the man who enters in the dark .... only to discover that it isn't Dewhurst she's sharing her bed but her old flame, Colin. Who is now a leper ... 'Some New Pleasures Prove': Devon. Laura Campbell's car breaks down shortly after being stopped at a police roadblock where she was warned that sadistic killer Arthur 'The Midnight Murderer' Smith is on the loose having escaped from the Waymore asylum. When she chances upon Jasmine Cottage, Laura thinks her troubles are over - until, watching the ten o'clock news, she realises that her genial host fits the description of the man the police are looking for. Fine Needlework: Northern France. The ultra-wealthy Jacques is kept isolated from society because he's a dangerous psychopath. A nanny, cook and a male nurse are his only company until Clarissa and Mary, guests of the absent Countess, arrive and, oh dear, the male nurse is drunk out of his brains ... 'Les Belle Dames Sans Merci': "Take off your clothes my dear. It will not be too painful. While you are conscious the water will not be unduly cold ... or would you sooner that Reed should strip you? He might well find it entertaining ..." Homosexual Conrad and his manservant, Reed, still have their uses for women, as his third wife is about to discover ... Best described as "chilling". The Kennel: Paul Rutherford, 60 year old plantation owner on a Caribbean Island, is furious when he learns his young negro mistress Danielle is pregnant by shady trader Louis de plergue. Rutherford cares nothing for Danielle, but the fact remains that he owns her. Once the child is born he sets about his terrible retribution. My guess is this one was intended as a tribute to Maurice Level who Birkin greatly admired. The Hitch: Another of Birkin's unbearable stories concerning Nazi atrocities during World War II. Some years after the hostilities, the Wends innocently purchase a lampshade while on holiday in Bavaria. It has a peculiar design in black and blue, a benevolent Neptune overlooking some frolicking sea-horses. By some bizarre coincidence, Gretel, their loyal Jewish home-help, was married to a young man with such a design tattooed across his chest ... Malleus Maleficarum: London, The Savoy. Jeremy Vraders' occult dabbling lead to his being assailed by tiny demonic figures which attach themselves to his person and accompany him everywhere. Anthea finds it all very fascinating and attractive, but unfortunately, mentions the wrong name in their company and they desert their host. Jokier than usual, and as such, not really my thing.
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Post by marksamuels on May 6, 2010 22:34:15 GMT
Aye, Dem. "The Kennel" is truly outrageous. Couldn't get away with it these days.
The alternative cover's up on this board somewhere, too, as I recall, but this one has the edge. It's just bizarre.
Mark S.
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Post by marksamuels on May 6, 2010 22:35:55 GMT
Oh! It's actually in this thread. Confused by my "last thirty posts" entry point.  Mark S. |
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Post by Johnlprobert on May 7, 2010 7:25:24 GMT
I'm just going to take this opportunity to mention I can't find this bloody book anywhere for less than £12-00!  |
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Post by dem bones on May 7, 2010 7:28:44 GMT
Aye, Dem. "The Kennel" is truly outrageous. Couldn't get away with it these days. Mark S. It owes plenty to Level's story of the same name (which you can find in Hugh Lamb's The Man-Wolf And Other Horrors) but, of course, Birkin being Birkin, he does his best to make it nastier still. |
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Post by andydecker on May 7, 2010 9:52:52 GMT
12 is good. On Amazon.uk there is one for 16, and it is in the US. At least the postage wouldn´t be that high, as it is fixed on Amazon. I used to buy a lot of books in the US. But after their postal reform (or whatever happened) this isn´t workable any longer. There was this nice lot of 10 really hard to get paperbacks for 15 USD. Which was a very good price. Postage though would have been 45 USD.  Even for one lousy slim paperback postage is thrice the price. This market has lost any appeal. Rant over  still, I really would like to sample more Birkin, as there were only two german translations. But his novels are really too expensive, if you are merely interested and not a big fan. A shame. |
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Post by Dr Terror on May 9, 2010 22:36:30 GMT
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Post by Dr Terror on Mar 17, 2013 17:51:52 GMT
The Hens: One cold winter night a farm worker sends his son to feed the hens...
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Post by Swampirella on Oct 10, 2016 20:32:08 GMT
Bought this one recently and read it last week. I found it fairly disapointing, apart from "Some New Pleasures Prove" and "Fine Needlework". You win some (My Name Is Death) you loose some....
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Post by Middoth on Jul 18, 2019 18:25:33 GMT
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Even for one lousy slim paperback postage is thrice the price. This market has lost any appeal.
