Difficult to know where to put this, reprints of a 1931 anthology.
I've just been rooting around the old place, trying to find the different threads which had various bits about the reprints of Dashiell Hammett's
Creeps by Night. I think it will become too complicated if I try to add Dem's post on
The Red Brain anthology, which I think is already here (?)
At the old place, it's
hereFirst the two Four Square/Nel reprint volumes from
Creeps by Night (1931), issued as
Breakdown and
The Red Brain. Various stories were missing, i.e. not reprinted in either paperback. And the two reprints had different content.
NEL/Four Square, 1968.
Introduction by Dashiell Hammett
The Kill by Peter Fleming
The Music of Erich Zann by H P Lovecraft
Green Thoughts by John Collier
Breakdown by L A G Strong
Mr Arcularis by Conrad Aiken
A Rose For Emily by William Faulkner
Beyond the Door by Paul Suter
A Visitor From Egypt by Frank Belknap Long
The House by Andre Maurois
The King of the Cats by Stephen Vincent Benet
Four Square, 1965.
Introduction by Dashiell Hammett
Green Thoughts by John Collier
The Ghost of Alexander Perks, A.B. by Robert Dean Frisbie
The Kill by Peter Fleming
Ten O'Clock by Peter MacDonald
Breakdown by L A G Strong
The Rat by S Fowler Wright
Faith, Hope and Charity by Irwin S Cobb
The Music of Erich Zann by H P Lovecraft
The Red Brain by Donald Wandrei
The Phantom Bus by W Elwyn Backus
Breakdown by L A G Strong: Vera is an exotic, a temptress; Muriel his companion, his own. Maurice loved them both, but between the strain of two women and his work, he knows he is nearing the edge of a breakdown; one of the women will have to go. He carries out a horrific, cold-blooded murder, then returns home to his wife - only to find that none of this has happened. What he has dreaded, the breakdown, is already occurring.
Mr Arcularis by Conrad Aiken: Mr Arcularis is released from hospital and begins a long ocean voyage. The voyage is full of distractions, like the attractive young woman who reminds him of the young helper at the hospital. But even the longest voyage has its end. I think Conrad Aiken was the grandfather of Joan Aiken(?)
A Rose For Emily by William Faulkner: Why does the mayor arrange that Miss Emily need pay no taxes. And what's the awful smell that emanates from her house. Behind a cover of respectable deep South gentility lies sexual obsession, murder and madness. This one's been rewritten a dozen times, usually as chapters of novels by Stephen King or Robert R MacCammon.
Beyond the Door by Paul Suter: Godfrey Sarston's house is a maze of passages where insects pinned to the walls rustle in uncertain draughts. Sarston is dead, and the girl Lucy Lawton who came all the way from Australia after her father's death, to live under Sarstead's roof, vanished some time before he died. The only clue to his death might be in his diary, or perhaps under the slab hiding the dried up well in the cellar...
A Visitor from Egypt by Frank Belknap Long, Jnr: The museum curator is honoured by the visit of the reknowned archeologist, but puzzled by his intense arguments concerning the judging of the dead. Long's conjuring up of an Egyptian Lord of the Dead is lively, colourful, and ultimately quite impressive. The manifestation at the end might have inspired Clive Barker, and this story was written back in 1931.
The House by Andre Marois: translated by Jacques Chambrun. This is the one about the woman who is obsessed by a series of dreams about a beautiful house. Then one days she finds it. The story is so short, only a couple of pages, that it really isn't fair to say more.
The King of the Cats by Stephen Vincent Benet: Monsieur Tibault has set fashionable society in a spin, conducting music masterfully with his tail. He is the epitome of elegance and self-assurance. The Princess Vivrakanarda - who has been the very centre of the fashionable world's attention before his arrival - is really quite taken with him. But Tommy Brooks, who is
infatuated with the Princess, wishes that Tibault would just go away. Besides, he is convinced that Tibault is only a cat. The question is, how does he prove it? Tommy is at a loss to know what to do, and even Professor Tatto can’t help; but Tommy’s friend Billy Strange recalls a strange tale he’s heard about a funeral held by cats in a ruined abbey in a forest, where a small coffin with a crown resting on top is buried, and the effect that the tale has on any cat who hears it.
The Ghost of Alexander Perks, A.B. by Robert Dean Frisbie: The ship's mate doesn't believe in ghosts, but his crewmate insists that the ghost of Able Bodied Seaman Perks is present aboard the Pirara and wants a game of drafts. This one is set above the crowd by the quite casual introduction of a tropical desert island setting, which is positively primeval.
Ten O'Clock by Philip MacDonald: Claire is the centre of the young man's life. They have been obsessed with each other since the night he found her. He must meet her tonight at precisely ten. He is a King's Council, so perhaps it shouldn't be so surprising that he be made late by a man wanting legal advice.
This one is a perfect demonstration of what Hammett, in his introduction, describes as 'The business of making the reader feel that what cannot happen can but should not.' By the author of
Our Feathered Friends.
The Rat by S Fowler Wright When Dr Merson discovered a serum that will prevent aging and disease and make the user all but immortal, he finds himself facing an awful dillemma. Is mankind ready for it? What, for instance, if someone obnoxious, like that awful Peter Corner should become immortal? This one rambles along in a readable but preachy sort of way for a number of pages and seems as if it's not going to deliver; then quite suddenly it does.
Faith, Hope and Charity by Irvin S Cobb: Three criminals escape from a train, pursued by justice and their own fears of the execution which awaits them when if they are caught. The Frenchman faces the guillotine, the Spaniard the garotte, the Italian a living burial in a solitary cell. This one, like many very good short stories, is quite predictable and none the worse
for that.
The Red Brain by Donald Wandrei: The end of the universe comes in the form of a great smothering sea of cosmic dust, blotting out stars and suffocating planets. Only Antares is left, with its race of immense brains, who have for centuries devoted their thoughts solely to destroying the cosmic dust, even at the cost of their own destruction. Then the red brain reveals its plan...
This one is not as good a story as it could have been; it goes on a little too long for its own good, and everything hinges on that last twist of the knife.
The Phantom Bus by W Elwyn Backus: Arthur Strite becomes obsessed with the idea of catching the rattletrap bus which always preceded his own to the city. Perhaps this has something to do with the death of his fiance in a similar bus not a year before? After all, she had always promised to come back for him... This is such a neat idea, that its almost possible to overlook its slightly clumsy handling at the end.
The Kill by Peter FlemingIs reprinted far too often in my opinion. One appearance is
The 1st Pan Book of Horror Stories. A muddled werewolf story told by one person in a waiting room about his ancestor/s, the main problem seems to be figuring out just whose narrative we're following.
I re-read the story and came to the conclusion that it was less interesting though even more confusing than the discussion we were having on the thread about it's first appearance.
Prompted by a query by Peter C and various replies, I took a quick look at my own synopsis about The Kill in my site, and remembered that I'd been slightly dissatisfied with it; dissatisfied with both my synopsis and the story. I worked my way through the story, making notes. But I don't think I've made sense of it yet.
The story is told by the younger man in that railway station, about his uncle, Lord Fleer, who adopts a Belgian refugee. Later, Lord Fleer starts telling a story about his uncle, who took on a Welsh housekeeper. As this went on, I lost track of what Uncle was telling the story, or was it the young man telling his own? If someone else wants to sort out this peculiar puzzle, I'll be very happy. The story has a nice sense of its time and place, but otherwise I think it just seems a jumble.
Obviously a lot of people liked it, judging by all the anthologies it's been in.
Demonik remembered that Peter Fleming was related to Ian.
Franklin Marsh wrote that acknowledgements in Pan 1 credited it to Colonel Peter Fleming - "a Google reveals Ian Flemings older brother to be Peter, a Colonel, a travel writer, writer for the spectator and married to Celia Johnson. No definite confirmation re The Kill tho'!"
This led to Severance posting a listing from
Creeps By Night (below).
The Music of Erich Zann by H P Lovecraft: The setting of this one makes it one of Lovecraft's better pieces of writing: A street so steep it is 'more like a cliff,' ending in a high wall which can only be overlooked from the window of the attic which seems to overlook an abyss, where mute violinist Erich Zann plays as if driving back demons...
Green Thoughts by John Collier: Mr Mannering is delighted with his latest aquisition, a bizarre looking orchid. The first flowers are strange tiny things: they look like the heads of flies. Then the cat disappears...
A couple of my favourites here are
The Ghost of Alexander Perks, A.B. by Robert Dean Frisbie for its brilliant island evocation, and
Ten o'Clock by Philip MacDonald, which is that rarest of things, a genuinely
frightening story.
Severance wrote (about
The Kill):
I thought that the first appearance was in the anthology "Creeps by Night" in 1931 - whether this anthology is in 'Gruesome Cargo' territory only Dem can tell us.
edit: just found a contents listing
"Introduction" - Dashiell Hammett
"A Rose for Emily" - William Faulkner
"Green Thoughts" - John Collier
"The Ghost of Alexander Perks, A.B." - Robert Dean Frisbie
"The House" - Andre Maurois
"The Kill" - Peter Fleming
"Ten O'Clock" - Philip MacDonald
"The Spider" - Hanns Heinz Ewers
"Breakdown" - L.A.G. Strong
"The Witch's Vengeance" - W.B. Seabrook
"The Rat" - S. Fowler Wright
"Faith, Hope and Charity" - Irvin S. Cobb
"Mr. Arcularis" - Conrad Aiken
"The Music of Erich Zann" - H.P. Lovecraft
"The Strange Case of Mrs. Arkwright" - Harold Dearden
"The King of the Cats" - Stephen Vincent Benet
"The Red Brain" - Donald Wandrei
"The Phantom Bus" - W. Elwyn Backus
"Beyond the Door" - Paul Suter
"Perchance to Dream" - Michael Joyce
"A Visitor from Egypt" - Frank Belknap Long If I haven't miscounted, Severance's contents list for
Creeps by Night shows 20 titles, while Dem's shows 18.
Each reprint anthology contains 10 stories. But they are not all of the stories included in the 20 story contents list.
The two reprint books total 16 different stories between them.
Looking at Sev's list, the 4 'missing' stories are:
The Spider - Hanns Heinz Ewers
The Witch's Vengeance - W.B. Seabrook
The Strange Case of Mrs. Arkwright - Harold Dearden
Perchance to Dream - Michael Joyce
While these stories are included in both
Creeps and
The Red Brain:
The Kill by Peter Fleming
The Music of Eric Zann By Lovecraft
Green Thoughts by John Collier
Breakdown by L A G Strong
At this point, once again, I've begun wondering why I'm turning myself into a nervous wreck trying to sort this out!
P.S. I think someone's already said that this excellent anthology isn't really in the right place here... Yep, this fine site would be a better place for it (advt):
gruesomecargoes.proboards52.com/.
