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Post by killercrab on Oct 19, 2007 21:02:25 GMT
I figured that Tremayne was deserving of his own thread since he produced a veritable bunch of schlok horror books - of which I only own THE ANTS Sphere 1980. He reputedly penned VENGEANCE OF SHE - no doub't a Hammer film literary adaption. Apologies if he's been mentioned elsewhere - but here is a list of his horror output - or near most of it!
Hound of Frankenstein (1977) The Vengeance of She (1978) The Ants (1979) The Curse of Loch Ness (1979) Zombie! (1981) The Return of Raffles (1981) The Morgow Rises! (1982) Snowbeast! (1983) Raven of Destiny (1984) Kiss of the Cobra (1984) Swamp! (1985) Angelus! (1985) Nicor! (1987) Trollnight (1987) Ravenmoon (1988) aka Bloodmist Island of Shadows (1991) Master of Souls (2005) Dracula Unborn (1977) aka Bloodright : Memoirs of Micrea Son to Dracula The Revenge of Dracula (1978) Dracula, My Love (1980) Dracula Lives! (omnibus) (1993)
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Post by killercrab on Oct 19, 2007 21:03:39 GMT
THE MORGOW RISES! Peter Tremayne Sphere 1982.
Beware when the Morgow rises: Lament for the living. Lament for the unborn. All things end!
The idyllic Cornish village of Bosbradoe is suitably populated by eccentrics - none more so than 72 year old retired mining expert Henry Archibold Penrose , known as *Happy* to the locals. Owning a crumbling old mansion Tybronbucca ( meaning House on Goblin Hill) - Happy likes nothing better than to pack a thermos and sandwiches and explore the disused Tom Wheal tin mine he owns , adjoining the property , in the hopes of finding a new vein of Malachite that will re-energise the town's economy.
However the dank and fetid undersea caverns hold something far more deadly than tin , as Happy finds out to his peril...
Meanwhile his visiting neice Claire breaks down on a lonely stretch of the Bodmin moor ( in the best Hammer Horrible tradition). Local fortune teller and witch , cackling Mother Polruan accosts her - fortelling of her *doom* in no uncertain terms - echoes of a village CURSED reverberating across the desolute moors ! Claire is *rescued* by Willian Neville - thriller writer , car expert and all round handsome chap and together their twin fates spiral intextricably towards the slavering jaws of the Morgow !!...
Peter Tremayne's knowledge of Cornish lore embues the story with a delicious superstitous aura - is the Morgow a monster of myth or something of a more recent vintage?! The local pub The Morvren Arms is no doub't a derivation of Morveran - the name of the mermaid from Cornish folklore and certainly befits the drinking hole of the local fisherfolk like old Billy Scalwen and Jack Trenaglos - overseen by the moon-faced landlord Noall. The actual legend of the Morgow though seems more a fiction dreamed up by Tremayne - possibly the name inspired by the character of the same name in LORD OF THE RINGS ? - no matter - Tremayne makes you believe that Mother Polruan's fortellings of the mythical beast returning are dangerously real enough. Mix into this potent brew journalistic rivalries and Harrier jump-jets and you've a cracker of a tale!
Whilst the book boasts a salaciously saliva-drippingly lurid delineation of red head siren Sheila Fahy ( of the too full breasts she opines!) , getting scoffed alive by the slithering Morgow - Tremayne opts to concentrate more on building suspense initially , rather than outright explicit sex and gore - but let's fly as the reader rounds on the final bend of the book The story is exuberantly kinetic and easy on the eye - a couple of hours should suffice the average reader. Tremayne's real strentgh lies in his ability to forge folklore and reality convincingly without the story getting bogged down in too much detail - highly recommended!
Killercrab click rating 4/5
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Post by killercrab on Oct 19, 2007 21:07:34 GMT
Graham's review:
Hi guys,
Here's a short review of THE ANTS (in a nutshell, it's not as great as I had hoped):
The Ants By Peter Tremayne. First published in Great Britain by Sphere Books Ltd. 1979.
“THE HUNGRY HORDES ARE ON THE MARCH… When Jane Sewell returns to the Brazilian jungle to help her anthropologist father in his work, it is not the happy reunion she is expecting. She doesn’t find the thriving village she remembers. Just a pile of bones. Human bones. Picked clean. And then the ancient steamboat Falcao chugs cheerfully into sight, carrying a ghastly cargo of grisly death. And, for Jane, the horror really begins.
Somewhere, out in the seething jungle, a remorseless army is on the move. And it seems as though nothing can stop its savage, merciless drive. Relentlessly, inexorably, tearing, rending and consuming everything in their path… THE ANTS ARE COMING! It’s everyone’s creeping nightmare – when the ant millions teem in for the kill…”
One of Tremayne’s earlier ‘nature runs amok’ novels, this is a pretty entertaining read that clocks in at only 182 pages, so it shouldn’t take longer than a week to finish for most readers. It’s a fast-moving adventure that does away with heavy characterisation or plotting; instead, this is a lean, mean and focused story that remains straightforward throughout. As is the case with many books by Tremayne, the strength of the book lies in the meticulous research that has been done to support it; not only are the titular menace realistically depicted, but the various native superstitions and gods also sound authentic and true to life.
Surprisingly, for a noted scholar, this book has quite a lot of typographical errors – for example I lost count of the number of times that “loose” was substituted for “lose”. Still, it was early in Tremayne’s career as an author, so we can’t complain too much. Gore lovers should look elsewhere, however, as Tremayne is no Guy N. Smith; there are only a handful of deaths here and they typically skimp on explicit detail. Still, the suspense is strong and the action quite tense, recalling the good old days of pulp adventure by stirring up the excitement.
The major problem with this book is that the second half is quite obviously based on the Carl Stephenson short story, LEININGEN VERSUS THE ANTS, which was originally published in the 2nd Pan Book of Horror Stories. Although a few elements have been mixed around (as well as the inclusion of a cellar sequence inspired by NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD), Tremayne follows Stephenson's tale very closely indeed – surely it couldn’t have been hard to come up with a more original premise? Additionally, characterisation is a bit clichéd, there’s a romantic sub-plot that reeks of Mills & Boon, and not enough people die, aside from the obvious contenders.
The first half of the book is the strongest, building up a really eerie atmosphere in the jungle through the inclusion of great plot points like deserted villages, creepy silences, strange trails and gleaming skeletons. Unfortunately, as with many books like this, the lead characters are overwhelmingly dense in working out where the threat is coming from – they have to actually see a guy getting eaten by ants before they realise that insects are behind it all!
Rating: 3/5
Cheers
Graham
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Post by killercrab on Oct 19, 2007 21:10:11 GMT
Dem's review:
Here's one of Tremayne's shorts (26 pages), this one from Alan Ryan's Halloween Horrors (Sphere, 1986): I've only given the plot details up to around the half-way mark as anything more would spoil it, and it really is worth your time should you come across a copy.
Peter Tremayne - The Samhain Feis: "One of the beliefs of the Samhain Feis is that on the strike of midnight the fairy-hills split wide open and from each fairy-hill there emerges a spectral host ... goblins, imps, bogeymen, demons, phantoms, and the like. They spill out to take revenge on the living. The locals stay indoors on that night."
County Clare, West of Ireland. Katy Fantoni has taken up residence in a holiday cottage with her son, Mike, having fled America and her drunken, womanising husband. Flaherty fills her in on the finer details of the Samhain Feis after overhearing the name of Mike's 'imaginary' playmate, Sean Rua. "Of all the goblins and imps who appear at the Samhain Feis, there is a small, red-headed imp called the Taiblise Derg ... round these parts we call him Red John. It is said he eats the souls of children." Flaherty approves of the ornate crucifix hung over the cottage door, but urges her to make a paste of oatmeal and salt and spread it on the boys forehead before he goes to sleep. Katy is having none of this superstitious scaremongering, but come the night Sean Rua appears outside the boy's bedroom door and lures him into the night. Katy can only watch, transfixed in horror, as the mountains split asunder and a pulsating red light fills the night.
Imagine her relief when, next morning, she finds Mike sound asleep in bed. It must all have been a nightmare brought on by Flaherty's old wives' tales ...
And that's when it gets really creepy.
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Post by killercrab on Oct 19, 2007 21:11:00 GMT
Dem's review:
Peter Tremayne - The Hound Of Frankenstein (Mills & Boon, 1977; Mammoth Book Of Frankenstein ed- Stephen Jones, Robinson, 1994)
Bosbradoe, Cornish coast. It begins with a terrified man being chased across the Bodmin moor by a massive hound, then cuts to a coach travelling the same route two nights later. The occupants of the carriage are Dr. Brian Shaw - a bloody Londoner, what with their fancy ways and all - and Ms. Helen Trevaskis who is on the verge of swooning because the pissed up driver is taking it so fast. Turns out he's terrified because strange things happen on these here moors - things some jumped-up Jessie from the smoke couldn't hope to comprehend - and this being Halloween night, too.
They arrive unmolested at The Morvoren Inn where gloomy landlord Noall breaks the news that her father, Dr. Talbot Trevaskis, has gone missing and the villagers are too busy being superstitiuous to arrange a search party! Dr. Shaw happens to be Dr. T's new assistant, so he decides to go off and try to find him as this is as good a way as any to impress his new boss and, especially, Helen, who has already taken a shine to him. Learning from Noall !!! that the doctor was last seen making his way toward 'the foreigner's place', Brian sets off. Reaching the secluded estate he's attacked by a grotesque, slobbering, bug-eyed, bow-legged hunchback and looks set to be strangled until the intervention of a tall, whip-wielding gent in black who calls the monster off. The stranger introduces himself as Baron Victor Frankenberg and explains that the mis-shapen fellow is Hugo, his servant, who moonlights as his guard dog ....
When next Brian meets them it's at the The Morvoren Inn when Hugo comes in on an errand for his master. The locals get the poor brute drunk and make him dance for them. Hugo topples over next to Brian and Helen, who promptly faints. When she revives, she explains to the doctor that she'd recognised Hugo's mermaid tattoo. The hunchback has her father's arm!. What can it all mean?
A mysterious stranger; a deformed assistant: hideous expeiments and body-parts in jars: a dashing young hero and feckless heroine: hostile villagers: an alcoholic Priest; a 'Hound of the Baskervilles' clone ... in short, all your favourite Frankenstein cliches recycled over a 60 page novel that reads like a comic strip. And it's brilliant.
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Post by allthingshorror on Aug 22, 2008 21:56:28 GMT
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Post by allthingshorror on Aug 25, 2008 7:49:40 GMT
In addition to the interview I've done with Peter Tremayne regarding The Hound of Frankenstein - I should have an interview with Jack Hamilton Teed (Jack Adrian) regarding his The Blood of Dracula in the next few weeks or so.
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Post by dem bones on Aug 25, 2008 8:14:14 GMT
In addition to the interview I've done with Peter Tremayne regarding The Hound of Frankenstein - I should have an interview with Jack Hamilton Teed (Jack Adrian) regarding his The Blood of Dracula in the next few weeks or so. Ooh, do tell Hugh Lamb if you want to give him a laugh! Not been about for a few days, so I'm just off to read your Peter Tremayne interview, John. You're certainly racking up some top names. Incidentally, it would be great if you mention the wonderful Worms to Jack Adrian as there seems to be some dispute over whether or not it's one of his.
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Post by franklinmarsh on Oct 26, 2008 15:33:19 GMT
Here's one for Ade. Saw the spine and thought it might be a Hammer tie-in (by PT???). It isn't, but what a cover!
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Post by erebus on Feb 24, 2009 18:33:36 GMT
Well Ive got SWAMP, ZOMBIE and ANTS and to be truthful I found them pretty poor and recall being bored shitless with them. I have MORGOW too (recent buy on the cheap) but after bad times with the above Im loathe to read it.
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Post by H_P_Saucecraft on Apr 9, 2009 22:02:08 GMT
I thought this thread could do with a few more cover scans, so here they are:
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Post by erebus on Apr 10, 2009 10:44:33 GMT
Wow Thanks for that HP . Ive never seen the Trollnight Cover before. Amazing.
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Post by H_P_Saucecraft on Apr 10, 2009 16:08:57 GMT
I'd never seen those covers either, til I got them. Not read any Tremayne yet, other than short stories, I think. So I've got those to look forward to.
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Post by dem bones on Apr 12, 2009 6:53:33 GMT
A few more covers, and Justin's listing of Tremayne horrors in paperback here. Hound Of Frankenstein is a stormer but i've a feeling that sometimes the covers promise more than they deliver. God knows Zombie! is a hard slog. The short stories are worth the effort, mind.
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Post by funkdooby on Apr 25, 2009 12:35:52 GMT
Great scans I absolutely loved The Curse Of Loch Ness - brilliant bit of jiggery pulpery.
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