|
Post by ripper on Dec 19, 2014 9:24:36 GMT
I would also like to express my gratitude and appreciation to the authors, illustrators and, of course, to Dem for putting it all together. Thank you to you all.
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Dec 20, 2014 7:25:59 GMT
Heading: Marion Bondage Day twenty: Way back in 1970, David A. Riley's celebrated Lurkers In The Abyss' appeared in H. Van Thal's 11th Pan Book Of Horror Stories (AKA "the one with the photograph of a delicious wedding cake on the cover"), but despite contributing a steady stream of horror and black magic tales to several top-notch anthologies and magazines, events conspired to thwart publication of his début collection for over forty years (!). Then, a splurge of activity. In 2012, Hazardous Press published a five-novella selection, His Own Mad Demons. Hot on its heels came the essential, career-spanning The Lurkers In The Abyss & Other Tales Of Terror via David A. Sutton's happily revived Shadow Press, and a Lovecraftian gangster novel, The Return (Blood Bound, 2013). A third collection, Their Cramped Dark World and Other Dark Tales is forthcoming from Hazardous. You can find out more about these and further publications on his informative blogspotToday's story, centred around a lethal grimoire with a habit of falling into innocent hands, was first published in issue 58 of British Fantasy Society publication Dark Horizons in 2008.
|
|
|
Post by Craig Herbertson on Dec 20, 2014 16:05:45 GMT
Heading: Marion Bondage Day twenty: Way back in 1970, David A. Riley's celebrated Lurkers In The Abyss' appeared in H. Van Thal's 11th Pan Book Of Horror Stories (AKA "the one with the photograph of a delicious wedding cake on the cover"), but despite contributing a steady stream of horror and black magic tales to several top-notch anthologies and magazines, events conspired to thwart publication of his début collection for over forty years (!). Then, a splurge of activity. In 2012, Hazardous Press published a five-novella selection, His Own Mad Demons. Hot on its heels came the essential, career-spanning The Lurkers In The Abyss & Other Tales Of Terror via David A. Sutton's happily revived Shadow Press, and a Lovecraftian gangster novel, The Return (Blood Bound, 2013). A third collection, Their Cramped Dark World and Other Dark Tales is forthcoming from Hazardous. You can find out more about these and further publications on his informative blogspotToday's story, centred around a lethal grimoire with a habit of falling into innocent hands, was first published in issue 58 of British Fantasy Society publication Dark Horizons in 2008. Excellently dark and bleak from David. Sin that an earlier collection didn't materialise but at least that's been addressed now.
|
|
|
Post by pulphack on Dec 20, 2014 19:07:33 GMT
Catching up on the last couple of days, and what an interesting contrast - Mr Mains go for the jugular in a short, sharp and graphic manner - very effectively, I must say - while David shows the more considered touch of an older tradition. I think I preferred his story, but mostly because I am quite old fashioned in that way. With that quality, it's shameful it took so long for a first full collection to hit the racks.
I must echo everyone here - rather boringly - and thank Dem and Chrissie for piecing this together, and those who have contributed not just this year, but also the years that I am only now catching up on.
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Dec 21, 2014 6:48:00 GMT
Chrissie Demant Day twenty-one: "[Why set up Mortbury Press?] It was mainly a love of anthologies, and the fact they don't make them like that anymore. There was ... some frustration at seeing so many publishing ventures start up and fold without producing more than one issue, or in many cases, anything at all. I thought 'I can do better than that and if I can't, at least I'd have the courtesy to tell the writers that the project had died rather than just disappearing." That was Charles Black speaking to on-line 'zine Pantechnicon, late 2008 *, during the run up to The Fourth Black Book Of Horror , appropriately enough, the volume bearing a dedication to Michel Parry. Sadly, an ever-worsening economic climate has seen many a publication go tits up in the intervening seven years, so to guide such a consistently rewarding series to a landmark tenth volume, all the while keeping the UK cover price at a bargain £6.00 a shot, is commendable indeed. In 2013 Charles branched out with the first Mortbury Press non-series publication, Anna Taborska's astonishing début collection For Those Who Dream Monsters, introduced and beautifully illustrated by Reggie Oliver. As to his own horror fiction, there's a timelessness to several of the stories, revenge fantasy Grey being a fine example. It would not have been out of place in one of the Creeps anthologies of the mid-'thirties. ***************** * Caroline Callaghan's interview with Charles was reprinted in The Thinking Man's Crumpet #2, Winter, 2009.
|
|
|
Post by pulphack on Dec 21, 2014 15:51:33 GMT
Hellfire, only two things to say here: first, I'm sorry I've never actually got around to any of the Black Books (it's the contrarian in me that stays on a horror slanted board when opting for the other stuff), and also that Charlie doesn't write enough himself. That was a damn near perfect three pages.
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Dec 22, 2014 8:06:41 GMT
Day twenty-two, and we welcome another very special visiting star; Reggie Oliver ...... The most succinct way of defining it is that I am looking in these stories for a moment of illumination as well as a moment of fear, if possible a combined moment of illumination and fear. By "illumination" I do not mean to say that everything becomes clear: it may be that such a moment only serves to deepen the mystery. It is depth that I am after. **Reggie Oliver is an acclaimed play-write, theatrical director, actor, novelist, biographer, illustrator and author of six volumes of strange tales of the supernatural, The Dreams of Cardinal Vittorini (2003/ 2012), The Complete Symphonies of Adolf Hitler (2005/ 2013), Masques Of Satan: Twelve Tales and a Novella (2007), Madder Mysteries (2009), Children Of The Night award winner Mrs. Midnight & Other Stories (2011), and Flowers Of The Sea (2013), four of which have recently been reissued in paperback by Tartarus Press. His macabre novels include The Dracula Papers, Book 1: The Scholar's Tale, 2011) and Virtue In Danger (2013). The following chiller took on its present form for Dr. Terror's The Eighth Black Book of Horror (2011). Writing in Stephen Jones's Mammoth Book Of Best New Horror 23, Mr. Oliver explains that it had originally been included as an inset story, purportedly the work of a gentleman of the cloth, contained within The Giacommetti Crucifixion. We are delighted to have opportunity to reproduce it on our calendar! ******** **Nick Gevers - An Interview with Reggie Oliver: SFSiteAttachments:Quieta Non Movere.pdf (320.97 KB)
|
|
|
Post by pulphack on Dec 22, 2014 9:16:10 GMT
Well, excellent on atmospherics and builds up nastily to the climax. I confess, not having read Mr Oliver before, I was fooled by its starting out as an MR James pastiche before slowly transmuting into something else. Apart from being roundly chastised for not having read him before, the upshot of this is that I shall have to investigate further.
|
|
|
Post by Craig Herbertson on Dec 22, 2014 17:38:44 GMT
Day twenty-one: "[Why set up Mortbury Press?] It was mainly a love of anthologies, and the fact they don't make them like that anymore. There was ... some frustration at seeing so many publishing ventures start up and fold without producing more than one issue, or in many cases, anything at all. I thought 'I can do better than that and if I can't, at least I'd have the courtesy to tell the writers that the project had died rather than just disappearing." That was Charles Black speaking to on-line 'zine Pantechnicon, late 2008 *, during the run up to The Fourth Black Book Of Horror , appropriately enough, the volume bearing a dedication to Michel Parry. Sadly, an ever-worsening economic climate has seen many a publication go tits up in the intervening seven years, so to guide so consistently rewarding a series to a landmark tenth volume, all the while keeping the UK cover price at a bargain £6.00 a shot, is commendable indeed. In 2013 Charles branched out with the first Mortbury Press non-series publication, Anna Taborska's astonishing début collection For Those Who Dream Monsters, introduced and beautifully illustrated by Reggie Oliver. As to his own horror fiction, there's a timelessness to several of the stories, revenge fantasy Grey being a fine example. It would not have been out of place in one of the Creeps anthologies of the mid-'thirties. ***************** * Caroline Callaghan's interview with Charles was reprinted in The Thinking Man's Crumpet #2, Winter, 2009. Nice short (well not nice nice. nasty nice) More from Charles would be good.
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Dec 23, 2014 5:58:35 GMT
Day twenty-three. Chrissie Demant I seriously marvel at the energy-levels of several of our contributors, Paul Finch being yet another who falls into the human dynamo category. A former Policeman turned prolific crime novelist, screenwriter, and author of several horror fiction collections, Paul is also series editor of the highly recommended Terror Tales anthologies. His grisly DS Heckenburg thrillers sell in such quantities that even Tesco and Sainsburys have been known to stock them. Today's twisted treat first appeared in the Rick Bennett-edited Unreal Dreams #5 magazine for December 1998, and has since resurfaced on Paul's lively Walking In The Dark blog, as one half of a Christmas double-bill in 2011.
|
|
|
Post by paulfinch on Dec 23, 2014 8:49:26 GMT
Thanks for this, D ... hope folks enjoy it. But just for the sake of clarity, this first appeared in the Unreal Dreams edited by Simon Bestwick rather than the one edited by Rick Kennet. Sorry about that ... my original information was bumph.
|
|
|
Post by Craig Herbertson on Dec 23, 2014 8:50:05 GMT
Day twenty-three. Chrissie Demant I seriously marvel at the energy-levels of several of our contributors, Paul Finch being yet another who falls into the human dynamo category. A former Policeman turned prolific crime novelist, screenwriter, and author of several horror fiction collections, Paul is also series editor of the highly recommended Terror Tales anthologies. His grisly DS Heckenburg thrillers sell in such quantities that even Tesco and Sainsburys have been known to stock them. Today's twisted treat first appeared in the Rick Bennett-edited Unreal Dreams #5 magazine for December 1998, and has since resurfaced on Paul's lively Walking In The Dark blog, as one half of a Christmas double-bill in 2011. Another great illustration and stocking filler from the master of eerie empty buildings - one of my pet loves too.
|
|
|
Post by ripper on Dec 23, 2014 9:01:41 GMT
I have thoroughly enjoyed the contributions from our modern authors. Nice to see Paul Finch being represented here again and I look forward to reading his tale tonight. I always try to save the advent calendar stories for a night-time read, just prior to bed-time :-).
|
|
|
Post by pulphack on Dec 23, 2014 12:32:51 GMT
Great stuff - suburban witchcraft meets Just William, sort of. And dad deserved it for being a Bolton fan. Really.
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Dec 24, 2014 7:11:38 GMT
Day twenty-four. Relax, your torture is so nearly at an end. Chrissie Demant The lazy commentator will always have it that " John Llewellyn Probert writes in the tradition of the Hammer and Amicus films", which he does - when he's not writing in the traditions of, among others, Sir Charles Birkin, Chetwynd-Hayes, 'Alex White' and .... John Llewellyn Probert. Recently voted the most immaculately groomed man in history of the universe for the nth consecutive year, the Right Hon. Lord Probert's macabre works include such terrifying collections as The Faculty Of Terror (Gray Friar, 2006), Coffin Nails (Ash Tree, 2008), The Catacombs Of Fear (Gray Friar, 2009), Against The Darkness (Screaming Dreams, 2009) and Wicked Delights (Atomic Fez, 2010). His BFS award-winning novella Nine Deaths of Dr. Valentine (Spectral Press, 2012) has spawned a recently published sequel, The Hammer Of Dr. Valentine, which, at time of writing I can only hazard will end up embedded in somebody's skull at the very least. His on-line blog, House Of Mortal Cinema, is, as name suggests, devoted to horror movies of a decidedly 'filmed in disturb-o-vision' bent. You can share in Lord P.'s adventures past, present and future, via the official site, the home of the haunted jpeg. Today's story? It may share its title with a slushy Wham Christmas hit, but this Last Christmas is a whole different snowball fright. My thanks to the great man for sharing! Dr. Kevorkian will see you now .....
|
|