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Post by dem bones on Mar 2, 2015 6:08:36 GMT
David G. Rowlands - Eye Hath Not Seen (Haunted Library, 1980) David Lloyd Preface
The Apples Of Sodom (aka The Lady Alys, (The Saints Preserve Us, 1961) The Previous Train ( Cork Holly Bough, 1977) Tintinabula (aka The Message Of The Bells, Cork Holly Bough, 1978) Sins Of The Fathers (aka The Dog in the Night, 1962) Irene WyntoursThese early adventures see our Catholic Priest and part-time phantom fighter encounter a variety of supernatural entities including a female vampire, a devil dog, a martyred bell-ringer, and a gloomy railway guard. Not to be outdone, David Rowlands, Watson to Father O'Connor's Holmes, has a run in with a phantom crayfish. Cover artist David Lloyd provides splendid pulp throwback illustrations throughout. The Apples Of Sodom: The first published Father O'Connor adventure, the author would have been twenty at the time. Len James, the unofficial church sexton, disturbs the grave of a woman interred in 1747 with a stake driven through her heart, which has since matured into a full blown crab apple tree. In 1584, the Lady Alys Beaugrand, a staunch Roman Catholic, chose suicide over arrest for plotting against Elizabeth I and died unrepentant. Len's clearing operation has shifted the slab from her grave, releasing a hairy thing with yellow, rabbit-like teeth and a blood red slash for a mouth. The Lady Alys preys upon her hapless victim until O'Connor's colleague, Father Montagu intervenes on his behalf and sets the vampire soul to rest. The Previous Train: "Coming events cast a shadow before them." Father O'Connor is about to board the unscheduled train at Aldeburgh until he catches sight of the guard and hastily changes his mind - an understandable reaction in the circumstances given the poor fellow is draped in cobwebs. And yet the Priest's subsequent inquiries reveal no fatal accidents on the branch line. Yet. A Graven Image is a cracking little story. David G. Rowlands also wrote another Father o'Connor story in which a train featured...something about a haunted station and another burned apparition, though the title escapes me...possibly The Previous Train but that may be a third train story. "The Previous Train" is indeed another Father O'Connor railway ghost story. A phantom train as a premonition of a disaster a year later to the day. A bit like Dickens' "Signalman" but not as creepy. Agree with Dr. Proof that there are shades of The Signal-man (which along with The Hound Of The Baskervilles, receives a passing mention in the text), possibly The Dufferin Curse and its progeny, too. Tintinabula: "Miss Sayers is an irritating writer; her minor characters are excellently drawn, but that fellow Wimsey is insufferable!" Having passed judgement on the merits or otherwise of The Nine Tailors, Father O'Connor relates his own first-hand experience of just how spine-chilling a business this campanology lark can be (see also A. F. Kidd). Setting is a derelict, dust-ridden bell-tower on the Barson family estate in Derbyshire haunted by the ghost of the Catholic martyr, Sir Roger, burnt in the town square for refusing to renounce his faith. Can't help but notice that, at this stage of his career, Father O'Connor specialised in discovering centuries-hidden rooms at a rate of approximately one a story. Sins Of The Fathers: "Deliver my dear one from the power of the dog." Another early one, first published in 1962, when it "appeared in so-ephemeral an ephemeral that I have entirely forgotten it." Holidaying in Suffolk during the 1930's, Father O'Connor puts up at 'The Black Dog Inn' near Leiston Old Abbey. 'The Black Dog' , he learns from the current landlord, was once the favoured drinking den of highwaymen and footpads, who had need of an innkeeper as corrupt as themselves and made use of his cellar to stash their wares. Not the least of these scoundrels was Toby the Jack, who mysteriously vanished off the face of the earth at the height of his infamy. Better still, from the Priest's perspective, is the news that, every stormy night - like this one - the Devil dog, Black Shuck, can be heard bounding past the pub, demolishing a wall in the process (the wall is, of course, in good repair the following morning). No local man dare set eye on this harbinger of doom. Father O'Connor can hardly wait! His midnight vigil is rewarded. Not only does Black Shuck charge howling down the street, but, courtesy of the somnambulant landlord, the Reverend Father chances upon a second spectral 'hound' not dissimilar to that encountered by the Campions in Roger Johnson's The Dog. Toby the Jack was a bad bit of goods but no man deserves to die as he had.
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Post by Shrink Proof on Mar 2, 2015 8:19:44 GMT
"The Executor" contains all of the above stories, plus another 13 Father O'Connor tales. It also includes a huge stack (all?) of David Rowlands' "Mr Batchell" stories. Better value, but maybe a bit much, certainly at one sitting. Rather like munching your way through an entire box of chocolates instead of having one or two now and then (and without the risk of some wretch having snuck in and nicked the best ones from the layer underneath while you were away...).
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Post by dem bones on Mar 2, 2015 10:37:02 GMT
Alas, no copy of The Executor adorns these shelves of shame, so have had to approach this via the scenic route (e.g., the two booklets, the Equation Chillers Stoneground Ghost Tales, and Mr. Rowlands' various anthology and magazine appearances). Can only agree that, lovely as they are, the Mr. Batchel stories are best appreciated every once in a while between books. For forms sake; David G. Rowlands - The Executor and Other Ghost Stories (Ash-Tree Press, 1996) Douglas Walters David G. Rowlands - IntroductionFather O’ConnorA Graven Image The Apples of Sodom The Previous Train Tintinabula Sins of the Fathers Irene Wyntours The Whistling Stones A Fisher of Men A Fairy Horse Unconsidered Trifles The Fifteenth Evening The Uncommon Salt The Executor Conkers Traveller’s Fare The Elbow The Tears of Saint Agathé Gebal and Ammon and AmalekMr. BatchelFrom the Diggings One Man Went to Mow One Good Turn... The Marsh Lights Providing a Footnote Off the Record Hic Dracones The Train of Events Vox Humana The Long Hundred On Information Received With This Ring The Codex The Saints Which SleptGhost-Tales of Eton College Choir SchoolEvery Picture Tells a Story The Passage What’s in a Name? The Greeter Other StoriesTruth Will Out On Wings of Song King John’s Ditch Sources***** Concluding Eye Hath Not Seen ...Irene: A phantom-magnet's lot is such that even the most harmless pursuits, such as butterfly collecting in the Kerry hills, are fraught with peril. Father O'Connor is so intent on his prey that he trips over an altar stone, laid several centuries ago to "disinfect" a Pagan place of worship. Against all his principles, the Priest feels compelled to dig up the stone, releasing a snakelike, pig-eyed fertility Goddess in the process! ‘Wyntours’ – David G. Rowlands. It's model railway ghost story time! I have to admit I've not come across a Jamesian style ghost story before where the 'ghost' in question is a giant crayfish. It felt a bit ordinary after the last story but it's still worth a look by those of an Aztec God Curses Plunderers of His Tomb To Be Haunted By Great Big Wriggly Thing disposition. And model railway enthusiasts. And those keen to see how the two might be combined. "My dear David" confides why the prospect of modelling small buildings and the sight of boiled lobster are anathema to him. Sadly, Wyntours is not the giant crayfish versus incredible shrunken man trapped on runaway model steam engine yarn I'd envisioned. Could be I was overtired, more likely plain dim, but so convoluted a plot has defeated me for time being. Maybe later.
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Post by mcannon on Mar 3, 2015 7:50:55 GMT
>>Alas, no copy of The Executor adorns these shelves of shame, so have had to approach this via the scenic route (e.g., the two booklets, the Equation Chillers Stoneground Ghost Tales, and Mr. Rowlands' various anthology and magazine appearances). Can only agree that, lovely as they are, the Mr. Batchel stories are best appreciated every once in a while between books. For forms sake; David G. Rowlands - The Executor and Other Ghost Stories (Ash-Tree Press, 1996)>> Dem - there's an ebook version available from Ash-Tree Press: www.ash-tree.bc.ca/eBooks.htmI know that for many of us it's not the same as having a nice physical book, but I decided a year ago that I was better off avoiding bankruptcy rather than chasing heaps of out-off-print Ash-Tress Press titles. I've bought a few batches of their ebooks in the last couple of years - I wish they'd offer some more of their back list. Mark
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Post by dem bones on Mar 3, 2015 9:01:36 GMT
Thanks for the tip-off, Mark, good bargain, too. Am surprised Ash Tree have yet to fully endorse the ebook, as a sale is a sale and, love or loath them, they're the way its heading. Now for a dip into the continuing adventures of Mr. Batchel. David G. Rowlands - The Living & the Dead (Crimson Altar Press, 1991) Alan Hunter Preface
Hic Dracones The Train of Events Vox Humana ( Ghosts & Scholars 11 [as by Anonymous], 1989) The Long Hundred On Information Received With This Ring The Saints Which Slept
Mary Ann Allen - AfterwordAfterword first. We learn from our friend Ms. Allen that Vox Humana, The Saints Which Slept, and the six stories included in Bone To His Bone: The Stoneground Ghost Tales of E. G. Swain (Equation, 1989; will come to it), were first self-published by the author in 1983 as More Stoneground Ghost Tales, in a limited edition of three copies (!) to distribute among friends. These originals were in turn copied and circulated among a small pool of enthusiasts, one of whom happened to be Michael Cox, who requested permission to include them in the then forthcoming re-issue of E. G. Swain's Jamesian classic, Stoneground Ghost Tales. Hic Dracones: Christmas Day. A shifty troupe of foreign mummers invade Stoneground to perform George and the Dragon and filch the poor box. The Rev. Roland Batchel, floundering in pursuit utters a prayer and unwittingly summons the oldest - and strangest - spectre in the parish (that's him chasing the miscreant 'St. George' on the cover). Young Mr. Groves, the parish lensman, makes a hash of obtaining photographic evidence . The Train of Events: Mr. Batchel dislikes train travel and his journey to Doncaster, there to address the Railwaymen's Mission, does nothing to change his mind. Carriage 3241 is haunted by the ghost of a young woman who committed messy suicide therein shortly after losing her first child to diphtheria. Vox Humana: Mr Edwin Bower, the church organist, is notoriously heavy on the foot pedal, so nobody is too surprise when, during choir practice, man and keyboard, man and keyboard go crashing through the worm-eaten boards. The gaping hole reveals an alcove dug into the foundations and the skeleton of Jeremiah Hoxlea, who'd donated the organ in return for burial within the church. Mr. Batchel wonders about the protocol of such an arrangement and reburies the bones in the graveyard. The new surroundings are not to Jeremiah's liking.
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Post by dem bones on Mar 3, 2015 15:57:42 GMT
Michael Cox (ed.) - Bone To His Bone: The Stoneground Ghost Tales of E.G. Swain (Equation, 1989) Introduction - Michael Cox
1. E. G. Swain - Stoneground Ghost Tales (originally Heffers, 1912)
The Man With The Roller Bone To His Bone The Eastern Window The Rich Pins The Indian Lampshade The Rockery Lubrietta The Place Of Safety The Kirk Spook.
2. David G. Rowlands - More Stoneground Ghost Tales
From The Diggings One Man Went To Mow One Good Turn The Marsh Lights Providing A Footlight Off The Record.
Bibliography and Acknowledgements.Blurb `Groping along to where the table stood, Mr Batchel felt over its surface for the matches which usually lay there; he found,however, that the table was cleared of everything. He raised his right hand, therefore, in order to feel his way to a shelf where the matches were sometimes mislaid, and at that moment, whilst his hand was in mid-air, the matchbox was gently put into it.'
Of the many ghost stories written under the direct influence of M. R. James, those of E. G. Swain hold a special place in the affections of supernatural fiction enthusiasts.
The central character of Swain's tales is the genial and scholarly rector, Mr Batchel, a truly successful literary creation whose encounters with the supernatural are narrated with economy and wit. The Stoneground Ghost Tales have an enduring charm all of their own which quickly draws the reader into Mr Batchel's haunted world on the edge of the Fens.
A photograph with a tragic tale to tell ... a 'creamy vaporous form' intent on atoning for past wrongs ... a touching encounter with a long-dead clergyman ... an unseen but still murderous returning suicide: Swain's ghosts are various and memorable. This new edition contains all nine of the original Stoneground Ghost Tales and makes available again, for the first time in over seventy years, some of the most delicately spooky ghost stories ever written. And as a bonus the collection also includes six new stories featuring Mr Batchel by David Rowlands.***** Pretty much somnambulated through the Rowlands content on first reading - you can have too much of a gentle thing - but am enjoying The Living And The Dead. Easy to understand why Vox Humana was selected for G & S as it's not only rich in those all-important Jamesian touches, it's a charming ghost story in its own right. Train Of Events is tidy, too, and the bereaved new mum's suicide is as horribly achieved as it is tragic. Provided there's no second coming of Puff The Magic Dragon from Hic Dracones, should be able to get through the remainder without undue stress and then revisit the Swain-Rowlands posthumous collaboration.
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Post by dem bones on Mar 4, 2015 9:49:08 GMT
It soon became glaringly apparent that, before setting eyeball to The Living And The Dead, it's best you brush up on E. G. Swain's original Stoneground Ghost Tales , but too late now!
The Long Hundred: It's an old Stoneground tradition that verbal deals struck in the churchyard are binding, and, as far as one eighteenth century pipe-smoking ghost of Mr. Batchel's acquaintance is concerned, none more so than the brickmakers annual pay deal. When the powers that be look to renege on the agreed rate, Mr. Batchel intervenes on behalf of spectre and workers to prevent an industrial dispute.
On Information Received: The church door is axed from its hinges and the silver stolen. When the local police prove inefficient in catching the culprit, Mr Batchel puts his love of all things Sherlock Holmes and rudimentary fingerprinting skills to work. That the villain is soon apprehended and the church property recovered is largely thanks to the intervention of two phantom monks who prevail on the vicar to catch a train to Doncaster (carriage 3241 has now been retired, we notice).
With This Ring: I'll be blessed - a love story! Not, I hasten to add, the stuff of salacious News Of The World 'kinky vicar' exposés, but a poignant account of Mr. Batchel's final encounter with "the charming and unscrupulous Lubrietta (nee Rodria)," - no matter that he's a mere five paces from the Vicarage at the time and she dying in India. When he receives the sad news from her husband - who encloses a portion of Lubrietta's ashes (as a keepsake?)- Mr. Batchel amends his last will and testament.
The Saints Which Slept (A Fragment): His final mass. Mr. Batchel witnesses an Easter Sunday miracle and dies a beautiful, happy death during a choral service in Stoneground church.
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Post by dem bones on Mar 5, 2015 21:31:24 GMT
The Living And The Dead having proved a far more gratifying experience than anticipated, Bone To His Bone has jumped from nowhere to #3 on the 'schedule a rematch' chart. For now though, it's back to Father O'Connor and what was announced as "possibly the final [adventure] in the series when it appeared in David Cowperthwaite & Jeffrey Dempsey's ( Dark Dreams #7 in 1989 . Sadly this seems to have been the case. The Elbow : The tourist information provided by Clerechalk Church unwittingly misrepresents the significance of the bizarre and - at first glance - rather amusing carving on a pew in the Dean's stall. Father O'Connor is not to be fooled, however, as the secret was first revealed him in a dream on a previous visit when he dozed off during a dull sermon. After a swift lunch in the Druids Rest (given his fondness for a pipe and a pint, I'm guessing Father O'Connor would be incandescent at the smoking ban in pubs), the Priest shares his spectral tale of a razed monastery, a martyred Abbot, and the doom of a craven Dean, Geoffrey Hythe, who prospered through betraying his fellow clergy to the Roundheads.
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Post by Swampirella on Oct 26, 2016 17:09:13 GMT
Just bought the ebook of The Executor And Other Stories myself, looking forward to getting started soon....
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Post by Swampirella on Oct 28, 2016 1:15:56 GMT
Alas, no copy of The Executor adorns these shelves of shame, so have had to approach this via the scenic route (e.g., the two booklets, the Equation Chillers Stoneground Ghost Tales, and Mr. Rowlands' various anthology and magazine appearances). Can only agree that, lovely as they are, the Mr. Batchel stories are best appreciated every once in a while between books. For forms sake; David G. Rowlands - The Executor and Other Ghost Stories (Ash-Tree Press, 1996) Douglas Walters David G. Rowlands - IntroductionFather O’ConnorA Graven Image The Apples of Sodom The Previous Train Tintinabula Sins of the Fathers Irene Wyntours The Whistling Stones A Fisher of Men A Fairy Horse Unconsidered Trifles The Fifteenth Evening The Uncommon Salt The Executor Conkers Traveller’s Fare The Elbow The Tears of Saint Agathé Gebal and Ammon and AmalekMr. BatchelFrom the Diggings One Man Went to Mow One Good Turn... The Marsh Lights Providing a Footnote Off the Record Hic Dracones The Train of Events Vox Humana The Long Hundred On Information Received With This Ring The Codex The Saints Which SleptGhost-Tales of Eton College Choir SchoolEvery Picture Tells a Story The Passage What’s in a Name? The Greeter Other StoriesTruth Will Out On Wings of Song King John’s Ditch Sources***** Concluding Eye Hath Not Seen ...Irene: A phantom-magnet's lot is such that even the most harmless pursuits, such as butterfly collecting in the Kerry hills, are fraught with peril. Father O'Connor is so intent on his prey that he trips over an altar stone, laid several centuries ago to "disinfect" a Pagan place of worship. Against all his principles, the Priest feels compelled to dig up the stone, releasing a snakelike, pig-eyed fertility Goddess in the process! ‘Wyntours’ – David G. Rowlands. It's model railway ghost story time! I have to admit I've not come across a Jamesian style ghost story before where the 'ghost' in question is a giant crayfish. It felt a bit ordinary after the last story but it's still worth a look by those of an Aztec God Curses Plunderers of His Tomb To Be Haunted By Great Big Wriggly Thing disposition. And model railway enthusiasts. And those keen to see how the two might be combined. "My dear David" confides why the prospect of modelling small buildings and the sight of boiled lobster are anathema to him. Sadly, Wyntours is not the giant crayfish versus incredible shrunken man trapped on runaway model steam engine yarn I'd envisioned. Could be I was overtired, more likely plain dim, but so convoluted a plot has defeated me for time being. Maybe later. Really enjoying this collection; I've got as far as "The Uncommon Salt". my favorites so far are "A Graven Image", "The Apples of Sodom" and "Wyntours" But they're all good!
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Post by Michael Connolly on Oct 28, 2016 11:40:45 GMT
Alas, no copy of The Executor adorns these shelves of shame, so have had to approach this via the scenic route (e.g., the two booklets, the Equation Chillers Stoneground Ghost Tales, and Mr. Rowlands' various anthology and magazine appearances). Can only agree that, lovely as they are, the Mr. Batchel stories are best appreciated every once in a while between books. For forms sake; David G. Rowlands - The Executor and Other Ghost Stories (Ash-Tree Press, 1996) Douglas Walters David G. Rowlands - IntroductionFather O’ConnorA Graven Image The Apples of Sodom The Previous Train Tintinabula Sins of the Fathers Irene Wyntours The Whistling Stones A Fisher of Men A Fairy Horse Unconsidered Trifles The Fifteenth Evening The Uncommon Salt The Executor Conkers Traveller’s Fare The Elbow The Tears of Saint Agathé Gebal and Ammon and AmalekMr. BatchelFrom the Diggings One Man Went to Mow One Good Turn... The Marsh Lights Providing a Footnote Off the Record Hic Dracones The Train of Events Vox Humana The Long Hundred On Information Received With This Ring The Codex The Saints Which SleptGhost-Tales of Eton College Choir SchoolEvery Picture Tells a Story The Passage What’s in a Name? The Greeter Other StoriesTruth Will Out On Wings of Song King John’s Ditch Sources***** Concluding Eye Hath Not Seen ...Irene: A phantom-magnet's lot is such that even the most harmless pursuits, such as butterfly collecting in the Kerry hills, are fraught with peril. Father O'Connor is so intent on his prey that he trips over an altar stone, laid several centuries ago to "disinfect" a Pagan place of worship. Against all his principles, the Priest feels compelled to dig up the stone, releasing a snakelike, pig-eyed fertility Goddess in the process! Really enjoying this collection; I've got as far as "The Uncommon Salt". my favorites so far are "A Graven Image", "The Apples of Sodom" and "Wyntours" But they're all good! Going by memory, "Gebal and Ammon and Amalek" and "The Marsh Lights" are the best stories in the book.
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Post by dem bones on Oct 28, 2016 18:02:04 GMT
Another collection I'd love to see in mass market paperback. Not sure I could read the entire book in one hit - Mr. Rowlands' stories work best for me in multiple author anthologies and small press publications. Must admit, it took me an age to chance the Stoneground Ghost tales. Mr. Batchel, a man of the cloth so affable even Black Sorcerers probably kiss his photo goodnight, requires the most sympathetic handling, and the prospect of reading more of his adventures by someone other than E. G. Swain was a bit daunting. It is testimony to Mr. Rowland's talent that he captures the spirit of the originals just so.
Don't know about "best," but Sins Of The Fathers and Apples Of Sodom have stayed with me, possibly because they were the first I read. Am also especially fond of Truthe Will Out, and the ingenious Dracula variation, On Wings Of Song.
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Post by Michael Connolly on Jun 30, 2017 12:56:50 GMT
Another collection I'd love to see in mass market paperback. Not sure I could read the entire book in one hit - Mr. Rowlands' stories work best for me in multiple author anthologies and small press publications. Must admit, it took me an age to chance the Stoneground Ghost tales. Mr. Batchel, a man of the cloth so affable even Black Sorcerers probably kiss his photo goodnight, requires the most sympathetic handling, and the prospect of reading more of his adventures by someone other than E. G. Swain was a bit daunting. It is testimony to Mr. Rowland's talent that he captures the spirit of the originals just so. Don't know about "best," but Sins Of The Fathers and Apples Of Sodom have stayed with me, possibly because they were the first I read. Am also especially fond of Truthe Will Out, and the ingenious Dracula variation, On Wings Of Song. Having just re-read them, the best two and most substantial Father O'Connor stories in The Executor and Other Ghost Stories are "The Apples of Sodom" (1961, the first one written) and "Gebal and Ammon and Amalek" (1988, the second most recent one in the book). As David Rowlands has his own style, the stories are more than just Jamesian pastiches. I have just started on his Mr. Batchel stories, which are amusing in every sense of the word.
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Post by Michael Connolly on Jul 1, 2017 10:35:58 GMT
Another collection I'd love to see in mass market paperback. Not sure I could read the entire book in one hit - Mr. Rowlands' stories work best for me in multiple author anthologies and small press publications. Must admit, it took me an age to chance the Stoneground Ghost tales. Mr. Batchel, a man of the cloth so affable even Black Sorcerers probably kiss his photo goodnight, requires the most sympathetic handling, and the prospect of reading more of his adventures by someone other than E. G. Swain was a bit daunting. It is testimony to Mr. Rowland's talent that he captures the spirit of the originals just so. Don't know about "best," but Sins Of The Fathers and Apples Of Sodom have stayed with me, possibly because they were the first I read. Am also especially fond of Truthe Will Out, and the ingenious Dracula variation, On Wings Of Song. Having just re-read them, the best two and most substantial Father O'Connor stories in The Executor and Other Ghost Stories are "The Apples of Sodom" (1961, the first one written) and "Gebal and Ammon and Amalek" (1988, the second most recent one in the book). As David Rowlands has his own style, the stories are more than just Jamesian pastiches. I have just started on his Mr. Batchel stories, which are amusing in every sense of the word. This illustration by David Lloyd for "The Apples of Sodom" is already on the Vault, but I can't see it because of those damned technical difficulties.
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Post by helrunar on Aug 26, 2022 3:43:12 GMT
Even though I'm somewhat allergic to cozy Catholic prelates, I enjoyed "Apples of Sodom." The cameo appearance by Montague Summers was appreciated, as was that lovely revenant with the unique approach to hair care.
And I may need to read more of these stories.
H.
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