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Post by franklinmarsh on May 2, 2017 22:36:11 GMT
Rather chuffed to turn up an ex-library copy of this. Mr Mains recently mentioned on the Faceache thing that he and Robin Ince had tried to get an audio version together featuring the actual comedians reading their stories, but it was not to be.
Interesting dedications...
Robin Ince's intro firmly marks him out as a horror fan in the classic tradition namechecking a host of faves and claiming to have been involved in a late night prog improv musical take on Guy N Smith's Crabs (with Robin Hitchcock no less)
Johnny's Foreword sets the scene, and...
Dog – Reece Shearsmith
Cracking opener - very nasty, building to an odd finale.
A Spider Remember – Sara Pascoe
As scatty as Ms Pascoe herself. Or as she appears to be on the telly. Couldn't really warm to it.
The Patient – Mitch Benn
Really enjoyed this. Mr Benn's humorous musical skits on The Now Show in no way prepare one for this nightmare. Terrific.
For Everyone’s Good – Al Murray
I can see why Ms S was a bit nonplussed by The Pub Landlord's Tale. Like the previous story, it's about as far away from what you know about the author as it can get (it's told from a female perspective for a start.) It was a struggle, but ultimately rewarding in a strange way. The coda rather spoilt it.
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Post by franklinmarsh on May 3, 2017 19:38:17 GMT
A View from a Hill: A Christmas Ghost Story – Stewart Lee
Not familiar with Stewart Lee's comedy, and don't think this has that much to do with MRJ (I should read his Hill again) but this is almost stiflingly post-modern or meta or whatever it is. Robin Ince gets name-checked, and there's some supernatural shenanigans involving the White Horse of Uffington, plus if you're not keen on Paddy Power or Dyson 'hoovers for wankers' there's something here for you.
Out of Character – Robin Ince
I wanted to like this, but I'm afraid it headed into Sarah Pascoe territory
Possum – Matthew Holness
Like most of the other stories so far (apart from Mitch Benn's) I'm not 100% sure I understood it. Whether I did or didn't, it's really horrible. Like Reece Shearsmith's Dog I was reminded of Iain Banks' The Wasp Factory atmosphere. Euw.
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Post by rawlinson on May 3, 2017 22:53:18 GMT
Murray is an interesting one in terms of his persona. Because obviously the Pub Landlord is a character, but it's incredibly far removed from him as a person. Alastair Murray - His great great great grandfather on his father's side was a Duke. On his mother's side the great great great grandfather was Thackery. There's been various other aristocracy on the family tree. I think it was his great grandfather who was Bishop of Rochester. One of his either cousins or uncles is a Sir. His grandfather was another Sir, a diplomat who married the daughter of an Austrian Count. It's a hell of a family tree.
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Post by franklinmarsh on May 4, 2017 19:39:13 GMT
For Roger – Katy Brand
Not keen on Katy's comedy, but she's always come over well in interviews. A good story, about a diary that kind of predicts the future...and there's nothing Rog can do about it....or can he? Very enjoyable.
Thanks for the stuff on Al, Rawls. Although I've seen him on telly as himself, it's difficult to escape the Pub Landlord.
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Post by franklinmarsh on May 5, 2017 7:23:05 GMT
Woolboy – Richard Herring
Stewart Lee's old comedy partner! I'm glad they've been reunited in this volume, even though their comedy TV show at the time convinced me I didn't understand 'modern' comedy - like my parents with Rutland Weekend Television. Anyway, Woolboy's a good 'un in the Marsh can understand it - mostly stakes. It's almost a Brit variation on The Blair Witch Project, or at least the good bit of that particular confidence trick. As in BWP, not much happens, but it's about a feeling.
Halloween – Tim Key
If the comics received a flat fee for their contributions, Tim didn't really earn his. Half a page of taking the piss I mean silliness. As the first comedian to actually be funny it's a welcome touch of levity amidst the grimness.
Fixed – Rufus Hound
Back to the grimness, in a good way. Rufus has always struck me as a jovial, if occasionally crude kind of chap, so this is nothing like what I would have expected from him. Just the right side of overwritten, most of it seems to be a guessing game (which I inevitably got wrong, but kudos to the Hound for misdirection). The ending is a nice bit of whatthefuckery.
In Loving Memory of Nerys Bag – Danielle Wheeler Another good if rather depressing story. The ladies are more than holding their own here.I don't know Danielle at all, but she tells a good tale.
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Post by rawlinson on May 5, 2017 10:32:17 GMT
Something about Katy Brand that fascinates me is that during her teens she was a really extreme Christian, extreme to the extent she once took part in an exorcism.
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Post by franklinmarsh on May 6, 2017 9:52:07 GMT
Anthemoessa – Phil Jupitus
Lovely clash of urban myth - the coked-up would-be Master Of The Universe in the Square Mile - meeting Greek mythology - the sirens, here introduced via the medium of karaoke. Our two-bob Gordon Gekko ends up being lured from the City to the wild wetness of Canvey Island where an aquatic fate awaits...really liked this one, although the comedic last line almost scuppers it. Huzzah for Porky The Poet!
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Post by franklinmarsh on May 7, 2017 15:25:04 GMT
The Dream of Nightmares - Michael Legge
Yipes! Seems to be missing from the original contents list, but Miss Scarlett has restored it. Perhaps more crime than horror but equal parts fascinating and funny. Gwen's a sleepless mess but her husband Alf mumbles away as he snores on. Turns out his mumbling accurately predicts murderous crimes, and Gwen realises she can become a crimebuster by listening and acting on Alf's nighttime clues. It'll have to end in tears. Great story.
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Post by franklinmarsh on May 7, 2017 21:06:23 GMT
All Warm Inside – Neil Edmond
I'm as unfamiliar with Neil Edmond as I was with Michael Legge, but I really enjoyed All Warm Inside. As Miss S mentioned it's similar to Robin Ince's story, but the initial strangeness is replaced by disgust and then an almost double whammy ending. Great.
Filthy Night – Charlie Higson
Blast of a finish too. I'm on familiar ground with Charlie, and here's a popular culture overland. It's an Amicus portmanteau homage. Hastings is a wonderful character, a cross between Christopher Lee and Ollie Reed, until he launches into an anti-Lee diatribe and his first name is revealed as Peter. The character of Mark might not be a million miles from Johnny M either. Lovely wallow in horror fandom, with a daft but appropriate ending.
All in all a smashing collection. (Must have something - I actually finished it).
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Post by rawlinson on May 18, 2017 22:59:58 GMT
Finally made a start on this earlier.
Dog is very very good, Shearsmith read it on the Book Shambles podcast so I was already familiar. It has that grim quality that's underlined his work from the very beginning, but here taken to a very bleak place.
Spider. I found Spider more difficult to take to. It's a good idea, but I think it needed to be expanded a little. Or maybe a couple more rewrites to strengthen what was already there. I think an interesting approach would be to take out some of the detail and reduce it to the very bare bones, it might capture the insanity in the story better if it was stripped right down.
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Post by fritzmaitland on Oct 8, 2020 5:40:05 GMT
Possum – Matthew Holness Like most of the other stories so far (apart from Mitch Benn's) I'm not 100% sure I understood it. Whether I did or didn't, it's really horrible. Like Reece Shearsmith's Dog I was reminded of Iain Banks' The Wasp Factory atmosphere. Euw. On the 8th day of Shocktober ; Matthew Holness - Possum. This was one story that stuck in the memory. One of two previously published (Holness work appearing in The New Uncanny circa 2008, the other being Stewart Lee's piece), it crawled under my skin. No description can really do it justice. Suffice to say it concerns an unnamed narrator, possessor of a horrible puppet named Possum he carries around in a bag and uses for 'performances' which seem to consist of frightening children. This person returns 'home' for Christmas to his late parents' house, currently occupied by an elderly man named Christie. And the story plays out detailing the narrator's attempts to perform the seemingly impossible task of getting rid of or destroying Possum, as his ghastly relationship with Christie is gradually revealed. Holness developed the idea into a film, which I haven't seen as yet.
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Oct 8, 2020 17:12:59 GMT
Holness developed the idea into a film, which I haven't seen as yet. The film impressed me enormously. Like a distillation of the grimness and unease of so many 1970s British horror films and television. If someone had made a film version of the 'Shadows of Fear' opening titles, it wouldn't feel far removed from Possum, I reckon... www.youtube.com/watch?v=NW8k0uECh_o
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Post by fritzmaitland on Oct 9, 2020 21:23:46 GMT
Well I've ordered a cheap DVD...
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