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Post by David A. Riley on Sept 29, 2010 7:50:56 GMT
Aw, I'm glad I'm not the only one here who can't read about horrible things happening to our furry and feathered friends. In another BBoH (was it #5?) there were two stories involving cats which I had difficulty reading - Reggie Oliver's "Mrs Midnight" and Anna Taborska's "Schroedinger's Human". I struggled with both of these - although in the Taborska tale the cat gets the upper hand, so that's fine by me. BTW Dem, have you read Reggie Oliver's story in the latest BBoH yet? It's superb IMHO. Like I said, cruelty to kids I can handle. I'm sorry - I'll first have to say that I come from a cat family - but I keep getting recurring images of members of the vault, who specialise in the description and elucidation of almost every form of depravity, regularly invent despicable horrors better buried in the nether reaches of the imagination, blithely dismiss the slaying of millions, pacts with devils, inhuman torture and the crushing, mashing and disruption of souls, hands, fingers and the population of continents - yet produce a small animal in a poor condition and you're almost frightened to open the vault door. Having said that I've not read the story yet... Funnily enough, Craig, I don't happen to like cats. I much prefer dogs. Nor am I particularly bothered about animal rights issues - I would never be a vegetarian, for instance, and have no sympathy at all for the concept.
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Post by David A. Riley on Sept 29, 2010 7:54:07 GMT
I'm sorry - I'll first have to say that I come from a cat family - but I keep getting recurring images of members of the vault, who specialise in the description and elucidation of almost every form of depravity, regularly invent despicable horrors better buried in the nether reaches of the imagination, blithely dismiss the slaying of millions, pacts with devils, inhuman torture and the crushing, mashing and disruption of souls, hands, fingers and the population of continents - yet produce a small animal in a poor condition and you're almost frightened to open the vault door. Having said that I've not read the story yet... Funnily enough, Craig, I don't happen to like cats. I much prefer dogs. Nor am I particularly bothered about animal rights issues - I would never be a vegetarian, for instance, and have no sympathy at all for the concept. It caught my attention more because I kept wondering if some of the characters were based on real people. Not that I got anywhere with that line of thought.
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Sept 29, 2010 9:59:16 GMT
I'm the man that saved dying wasps as a small child so I might recant when I read this story. Checking every morning for the post now - my mum has got her copy.
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Sept 29, 2010 11:10:22 GMT
Funnily enough, Craig, I don't happen to like cats. I much prefer dogs. Nor am I particularly bothered about animal rights issues - I would never be a vegetarian, for instance, and have no sympathy at all for the concept.
I've always had an ambivalence about dogs, David. I've found it almost an invariable rule that if I like the owner I like the dog. On the other hand the sight of anonymous dogs shitting everywhere in Brussels (one of my pet hate towns) fills me with wrath and makes me prefer the sleek, arrogant, inconsiderate and selfish cat. I suppose it's got a lot to do with childhood where my brother got bit by a black Labrador and we were owned by a lovely wee cat called Dusty - an organic hot water-bottle
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Post by David A. Riley on Sept 29, 2010 11:19:54 GMT
Funnily enough, Craig, I don't happen to like cats. I much prefer dogs. Nor am I particularly bothered about animal rights issues - I would never be a vegetarian, for instance, and have no sympathy at all for the concept. I've always had an ambivalence about dogs, David. I've found it almost an invariable rule that if I like the owner I like the dog. On the other hand the sight of anonymous dogs shitting everywhere in Brussels (one of my pet hate towns) fills me with wrath and makes me prefer the sleek, arrogant, inconsiderate and selfish cat. I suppose it's got a lot to do with childhood where my brother got bit by a black Labrador and we were owned by a lovely wee cat called Dusty - an organic hot water-bottle I was the exact opposite when I was a small child. We had a cat called Mickey that scratched me and a collie called Laddie that was great. Since then I've had a German Shepherd (loved that one), two poodles, a beagle and a lurcher - we had the lurcher, till she died a couple of years back, for sixteen years. The last cat we had used to leave nasty deposits all over the house, hated me because I used to wipe her nose in them. She finally got the message and went to molest someone else's house instead.
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Sept 29, 2010 14:33:39 GMT
Funnily enough, Craig, I don't happen to like cats. I much prefer dogs. Nor am I particularly bothered about animal rights issues - I would never be a vegetarian, for instance, and have no sympathy at all for the concept. I've always had an ambivalence about dogs, David. I've found it almost an invariable rule that if I like the owner I like the dog. On the other hand the sight of anonymous dogs shitting everywhere in Brussels (one of my pet hate towns) fills me with wrath and makes me prefer the sleek, arrogant, inconsiderate and selfish cat. I suppose it's got a lot to do with childhood where my brother got bit by a black Labrador and we were owned by a lovely wee cat called Dusty - an organic hot water-bottle I was the exact opposite when I was a small child. We had a cat called Mickey that scratched me and a collie called Laddie that was great. Since then I've had a German Shepherd (loved that one), two poodles, a beagle and a lurcher - we had the lurcher, till she died a couple of years back, Lurcher, that's a great Northern term I remember from days at Ashton Under Lyme
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Post by lemming13 on Sept 29, 2010 15:48:08 GMT
As a long-term cat person (I only have canaries now because after the death of our last 3 at the ages of 11. 18 and 19 I couldn't bear to see another cat in their place just yet) I'm sorry to have to tell you, David, but cats pick their place to make deposits based on the smell of past deposits. They dig where they have dug before, in other words. So if you rub their noses in it, you are in fact reinforcing their idea that this is the correct place to defecate. It's a common mistake, and I do believe dogs are the same. The best way to deal with it is to put on plastic gloves, move the offending item into the litter tray, and thoroughly spray the wrong place with a disinfectant which kills odours. Of course I'm assuming you wanted to stop her defiling the premises with her waste, rather than her presence; excuse me if I'm wrong Oh, and - Craig? Dying wasps? Don't you know wasps are Satan's children and are evil? Mind you, if you kill one it emits a pheromonal signal which draws in other wasps and makes them angry to boot. Actually, that rather reinforces my theory...
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Sept 29, 2010 16:48:51 GMT
As a long-term cat person (I only have canaries now because after the death of our last 3 at the ages of 11. 18 and 19 I couldn't bear to see another cat in their place just yet) I'm sorry to have to tell you, David, but cats pick their place to make deposits based on the smell of past deposits. They dig where they have dug before, in other words. So if you rub their noses in it, you are in fact reinforcing their idea that this is the correct place to defecate. It's a common mistake, and I do believe dogs are the same. The best way to deal with it is to put on plastic gloves, move the offending item into the litter tray, and thoroughly spray the wrong place with a disinfectant which kills odours. Of course I'm assuming you wanted to stop her defiling the premises with her waste, rather than her presence; excuse me if I'm wrong Oh, and - Craig? Dying wasps? Don't you know wasps are Satan's children and are evil? Mind you, if you kill one it emits a pheromonal signal which draws in other wasps and makes them angry to boot. Actually, that rather reinforces my theory... Needless to say, having rescued the wasp from a disused out door swimming pool by wading in up to my neck when I could barely swim, the little bastard stung me.
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Post by David A. Riley on Sept 29, 2010 17:14:38 GMT
In the end I put scoot around the front and back doors and that cat - which we loved so much we only ever called her Cat - never defiled our premises again.
Which, I think, is taking this about as far off topic as you can get.
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Post by dem bones on Sept 29, 2010 18:08:27 GMT
Ha! I'm reading Caroline Graham's Midsomer Murders novel, Death Of A Hollow Man at the mo. There's a cat who has a free run of the theatre which it stalks like a pair of disembodied green eyes. name? 'Riley'. will let you know if anything NASTY happens to him. BTW Dem, have you read Reggie Oliver's story in the latest BBoH yet? It's superb IMHO. Like I said, cruelty to kids I can handle. Yes, I've read it - another for The Devil's Swishes thread if ever there was. Must admit, I found this one a lot easier on the brain than Mr. Oliver's East End gangster versus slug-spewing Greek deity outing in #6. Just the Stephen Volk story to go and will then try writing 'em up which should be a laugh as I'm two days into giving up smoking and likely to trash any story that even looks at me funny. ;D Of those admittedly few read so far this year, 7th Black Book Of Horror and Zombie Apocalypse will be fighting it out for my favourite anthologies of 2010.
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Post by marksamuels on Sept 29, 2010 20:33:08 GMT
It's about time Charlie picked up a BFS gong.
Apologies to Stevo, who I know reads this board. But he's got a ton of them already.
Mark S.
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Post by dem bones on Sept 30, 2010 0:08:16 GMT
oh, bollocks to the awards! Gary Power - Flitching’s Revenge: Something else I appreciate this series is just how many stories are reminiscent of the between-the-wars horrors of the Not At Night's and, occasionally, the shudder pulps. Flitching’s Revenge is another case in point - it's not a million miles removed from the kind of nasty Hugh B. Cave would knock out for Horror Stories. When young Tracy Wyatt is raped, strangled with her own tights and dumped in the woods, suspicion falls on the Ukrainian Stefan Makarovski on the grounds that Flitching is a respectable, quintessentially English village community and he's a filthy foreigner. Five of the local worthies - Dr. Lucan Cowell, Solicitor Max Tremble, Local M.P. James Fortesque, Kevin Spall the village bobby and the victim's father, Conrad Wyatt - torture the innocent man to death and feed him to the pigs, but not before he's placed a curse upon them: over the next five years, one of their number will die in excruciating agony on the anniversary of his murder. It's a bloody good curse and the beauty of it is, you know at least four of 'em will receive their just desserts. Tony Richards - The In-Betweeners: Birchiam Pier is the haunt of strange teen gangs who the narrator, a slightly reclusive author of weird fiction, believes may be responsible for the recent drowning of a harmless tramp. After witnessing a bizarre fracas outside a bar, he trails a group of the dark clad, monosyllabic, ever-staring youths to their lair and worms out their terrible secret. Sensing he's onto them, the South Coast's answer to Innsmouth's finest deformities pay a late night visit to his apartment block. Rooftop drama ensues ... Another winning pair. Still haven't read Mr. Volk's contribution but so far there's not been one story that gave me the irrits which is bloody good going. It's kind of odd the way it pans out. The Fifth Black Book was, I gather, perhaps the most popular since the debut, but I thought #6 was another cracker yet that received a very meagre response on here. perhaps we should have a mini-Black Book retrospective when we're done with the current offering?
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Post by marksamuels on Sept 30, 2010 0:50:30 GMT
oh, bollocks to the awards! Dem, when it comes to my personal opinion, you know I want to be presented with one so I can set fire to it on stage, trample it underfoot, and cause a right old scandal at the ceremony. Abso-blooming-lutely anti-Hollywood style. Dunno about anyone else, really. But if they are going to hand 'em out, and folk want 'em, I reckon BBoH & Charlie would get my vote. Mark S.
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Post by David A. Riley on Sept 30, 2010 7:29:05 GMT
I agree with you, dem. Flitching's Revenge by Gary Power is a good, old fashioned type of story, and none the worse for that. There's some proper, pulp-style characterisation in it - just enough to give you an interest in whatever fates are going to befall the various protagonists, all of which are imaginative, nasty and fitting. I enjoyed this one.
I haven't read The In-Betweeners by Tony Richards yet but after your description of this story it's next on my list. You've just gone and whetted my appetite too much!
I don't know about the Black Books and Charlie winning a BFA. If anything deserves one - and it's well overdue in my opinion - ithey do, but my interest in these awards has deteriorated over recent years so much I never even voted in the last two. Just as I've never even voted in the final round of the Stokers either for the past couple of years. The only thing I was pleased to see win it's category this time was Let the Right One In - not that a film company or director are going to be all that bothered about winning a BFA, I suppose.
I liked how dem deliberately withdrew the Vault this time from consideration.
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Post by dem bones on Sept 30, 2010 8:21:02 GMT
I haven't read The In-Betweeners by Tony Richards yet but after your description of this story it's next on my list. You've just gone and whetted my appetite too much! Just about the only thing good i can find to say about the smoking ban is that if you attend a BFS event at Ye Olde Cock Tavern or similar, you'll always get to chat with a passing Micheal Marshall Smith or Simon Clark when they nip out for a crafty fag. On one occasion i noticed there was another chap yo-yoing from bar to front entrance with even more frequency than self, a kamikaze attack on one's own lungs which so impressed me i just had to say hello. So we stood there exchanging pleasantries through an almighty wall of tobacco smoke and turned out he was Tony Richards! told him i was a big fan of his stories for the Fontana Ghost and horror series but had lost sight of him since then, and he explained he'd been mostly concentrating on novels but more shorts were in the pipeline. Very glad that one has subsequently turned up in a Black Book! I noticed Mr. Richards contribution to recent anthology The British Invasion is entitled Birchiam Pier - is it the same story? Anyway, just so i haven't given the wrong impression, The In-Betweeners isn't a Cthulhu Mythos story as far as i can see, but its not a story any South Coast resort will be highlighting in their next brochure if they're hoping to attract tourists. Paul Finch - The Green Bath: On the eve of travelling down to a holiday villa in Penzakhy with wife Sarah, Peter Jackson is informed that as of next March his services will no longer be required by the Manchester newspaper he's worked on for most of his career. Sarah persuades him that they should go ahead with their vacation but soon regrets doing so when she claps eyes on the owner of the dilapidated Hotel De-luxe, the impossibly sexy seaside succubus Carla Trelawny. "Miss Boob-job 2010 ... She's the most over-the-top woman I've ever seen. Don't tell me she turned you on?" she half-mocks half-implores her husband, somehow failing to notice the protuberance in his jeans (surely only a guy could have written that bit?). Despite Peter's impending redundancy, the pair find themselves enjoying the most fantastic sex of their seven year marriage, but that isn't enough for the previously faithful Peter who simply has to get hold of Carla. While Sarah takes a dip in the huge, scary looking bathtub, Peter sneaks out and lets himself into the hotel. He finds Miss Trelawny's place in even more disgusting repair than he thought and what's with the rank vegetation clinging to every wall? Meanwhile, she who has been around since the time of St. Jute is shaping up to drown Sarah .... Am glad Mark wrote so eloquently about this one because I haven't done it the least justice! The Green Bath is the second excellent Paul Finch story I've read in a week after Special Powers blew me away in Zombie Apocalypse. Of the two, S.P. shades it but that's only because I really go for downbeat endings.
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