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Post by ohthehorror on Aug 13, 2015 15:12:20 GMT
Selected by John Betancourt and Robert Weinberg(Barnes and Noble 1997) Jacket design by Ziga Design, Illustration Chihuahuas from Hell by Bob Eggleton
Introduction
The 1920s: The Early Years
The Fireplace by Henry S. Whitehead The Rats in the Walls by H. P. Lovecraft Bells of Oceana by Arthur J. Burks The Eighth Green Man by G. G. Pendarves
The 1930s: The Golden Age
The Seed from the Sepulcher by Clark Ashton Smith The Accursed Isle Mary E. Counselman The Graveyard Rats by Henry Kuttner Lost Paradise by C. L. Moore
The 1940s: New Voices
The Hound by Fritz Leiber The Crowd by Ray Bradbury Pacific 421 by August Derleth The Dead Man's Hand by Manly Wade Wellman
The Three Pools and the Painted Moon by Frank Owen The Ring of Bastet by Seabury Quinn Lucy Comes to Stay by Robert Bloch The Rhythm of the Rats by Eric Frank Russell
The 1970s: The First Revival
Sea Curse by Robert E. Howard The Dead Smile by F. Marion Crawford Lethal Labels by Ray Russell The Finding of the Graiken by William Hope Hodgson
The 1980s: Death and Life Again
The Dead Man by Gene Wolf The Pit-Yakker by Brian Lumley Save the Children by Steve Rasnic Tem Love Song from the Stars by Robert Sheckley
The 1990s: A New Golden Age
Welcomeland by Ramsey Campbell The Lily Garden by Tanith Lee The Pulse of the Machine by Nina Kiriki Hoffman Turn, Turn, Turn by Nancy Springer
I thought it'd be fun to simply jump in more or less at random and so began with Tanith Lee followed swiftly by Ramsey Campbell.
The lily garden - Tanith Lee - Wonderful little story that quite took me by surprise at the end. I was so intent on keeping my eye on the strange young lady sitting out at night amidst the lilies that I was completely wrong-footed. Camillo, a likeable sort of chap catches a glimpse of a hidden garden, walled off and unseen and is intrigued. He manages to gain access after performing a neat little disappearing trick with the key and is soon madly in love with a beautiful young lady who spends her days sleeping and her nights sitting out reading or sewing or whatever takes her fancy. It's not until he refuses to take no for an answer when she expresses her reluctance to leave the garden with him when her true nature makes itself known. It's not often a story completely blind-sides me the way this one did, but I'm glad it did. Very sad though.
Welcomeland - Ramsey Campbell - There's always a nagging suspicion at the back of my mind when I read something by Ramsey Campbell that I may be missing something. I'm pretty sure I'm mostly getting it, but then I think about it afterwards and start to think that there was probably more to it than I gave it credit for. On the whole I like that feeling. It tells me that the story has enough depth for a second, third or even fourth reading at some point. It's almost like getting several stories for the price of one half the time. Welcomeland has an air of the deserted, once loved but now decrepit and rundown feel to it. Slade arrives at his hometown to find something off about it, even the town sign is gone and now nothing but a big yellow arrow remains along with part of the name '-MELAND'. I got a heavy sense of zombies about this story, but I'm not really sure that Ramsey was going specifically for that but maybe more a strange infection or disease that's laid the town to waste. People are unable to move very fast or very far, and Slade notes that one lady must have been working too long in the sun because it 'hadn't done her complexion any good, to put it mildly'. It's these bits that really set my zombie-senses off. I'm not a lover of zombie stories at all, but as zombie stories go, if that's what this is, then this is a very good one. That particular talent Ramsey has for layering subtlety upon subtlety, and building the creepiness without us even realising he's doing it is just remarkable. This section is listed in the Contents as, 'The 1990s: A New Golden Age', and if these first two stories are anything to go by then by god they're right.
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Post by ohthehorror on Aug 13, 2015 17:59:59 GMT
This next one is from 'The 1970s: The First Revival' section.
Lethal Labels - Ray Russell - Nothing too shocking or amazingly thought-provoking here, but a nice enough tale as far as it goes. Derreck is filled with hate, to the extent that it's described as an actual force acting upon or at least within him, which of course in some sense it is. It literally fills him up from the bottom of his toes, wrapping around his heart and taking him over completely. Derreck has a habit of sticking little labels with his name and address to each letter he sends out, and one day has an idea that he might get some more printed, but this time with the words, 'Kurt must die' printed on them. He sticks these everywhere, not just on his letters, and low and behold some time later Kurt dies. He's reminded by people that knew Kurt that he was already ill and not in the first flush of youth anyway but this does nothing to quell the intense joy at Kurt's death that Derreck just knows was his doing. He promptly orders more labels, this time with Phyllis' name on, but oh the horror(heh!), the labels come back with his own name printed on them. The story ends with him on his back, eyes wide open. Hmmm... nothing wrong with it as such but it struck me as a little pedestrian and held no surprises for me at all.
Now back to 'The 1950s: A Quiet Exit' for,
Lucy Comes to Stay - Robert Bloch - A nice bit of misdirection as we meet Lucy who's visiting Vi in a hospital. We get the impression from early on that Lucy isn't the great friend she's pretending to be and that there's something a little manipulative about her. Lucy persuades Vi that she has to get out for her own good, and that her husband George is in cahoots with the nurse in keeping her locked up here in her room. Lucy aids her escape with the aid of a sedative and as we find out later, a pair of scissors driven into the throat of poor old George. But all is not as it appears and Vi wakes to find herself back in the hospital with the doctor asking her if she can see Lucy in the mirror he hands her, to which she responds, 'She was standing right behind me, laughing'. If you ever wondered what Schizophrenia felt like, I suspect this might give you just a tiny glimpse.
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Post by ohthehorror on Aug 14, 2015 13:29:58 GMT
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Post by dem bones on Aug 14, 2015 17:18:40 GMT
Was tempted by this one as Robert Weinberg is a big hero of mine, but am familiar with so many of the stories from other anthology/ mag appearances. No surprise that the latest revival didn't last long. Wish they'd just leave Weird Tales to lie peaceful in its grave. Didn't see the latest incarnation, but some of these short-lived comebacks have done it no favours whatsoever.
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Post by bobby on Aug 18, 2015 2:46:02 GMT
Selected by John Betancourt and Robert Weinberg(Barnes and Noble 1997)Jacket design by Ziga Design, Illustration Chihuahuas from Hell by Bob Eggleton
"Yo quiero Taco Bell!"
"Lucy Comes To Stay" certainly has been reprinted enough. I have it in two other anthologies besides this one, as well as three of Bloch's collections. (It does have the distinction of being his final story for the original Weird Tales, even though the magazine lasted roughly two-and-a-half more years after this story was published.)
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Post by ohthehorror on Aug 21, 2015 7:49:52 GMT
From 'The 1950s: A Quiet Exit',
The Ring of Bastet - Seabury Quinn - A man proposes to his young lady. The ring is beautiful, gold with a green stone. But little does she know it once belonged to the priests of Bastet, a Goddess of ancient Egypt who took the form of a domestic cat. In the story she has a sister, Sekhmet, which is her more violent aspect but I always knew them to be simply different aspects of the same Goddess. Anyway, the young lady(whose name I forget for the moment) is overcome by the Goddess and suffers a kind of possession. Luckily it isn't too difficult to talk her out of this trance-like state by reminding her how the Old Ones are long gone and long forgotten and that the One True God reigns supreme nowadays. It's an ok sort of story but felt a little like being preached to at the end there. I personally like my Gods to be many and varied, so I was on the side of the Goddess.
The Three Pools and the Painted Moon - Frank Owen - I'm finding that the more short stories I read, the more I'm enjoying the ones that contain an element of desperation, especially when that desperation emanates in some way from love or longing. As well as that, I've always had an irrational love of anything exotic or 'far-eastern', you know that Japanese kind of vibe? This hits the mark on both counts. A man(once again my memory fails me) considered a great master of his art has painted a scene on a vase of a young woman standing by a clear, blue pool. He falls deeply in love with her and sets about attempting to paint himself into the scene so that they may be together forever. He forgets though(as I did up to a point) that there are other decorations on the vase and all seems lost for a moment, but this being a very short, short story, we're not left hanging as long as perhaps we could have been. The vase breaks and the only thing standing in the way of their love is vanquished and for a moment I thought it was going to end very sadly with our man losing his love too, but no, here she is walking into the room. *sigh*
Really liked that one.
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Post by ohthehorror on Sept 4, 2015 10:00:48 GMT
From 'The 1980s: Death and Life Again',
Love Song from the Stars - Robert Sheckley - And now for something a little different. But only in the sense that the strange young lady that our man Kinkaid meets is from outer space and has been dropped off on the little uninhabited island he's arrived on by spaceship. Her name is Alia and she's from the planet Andar. She tells Kinkaid that after the 'Disappearance' her people were forced to go out into space in search of other planets. We find out soon enough that all the men on Andar suddenly disappeared but she's not supposed to talk about it. As Kindaid falls almost instantly in love with her she has a halfhearted attempt at dissuading him from his present lustful course of action. Of course Kinkaid being an amateur Archeologist, and therefore a man of action grabs her, kisses and... well, things proceed apace. As things proceed he feels six sharp puncture wounds, three along each side of his ribcage, and as he lies there contented and spent he's reminded of certain insects that do something similar. Alia then proceeds to tell him that shes impregnated him and that he'll sleep for a year when she'll come back, tend to him for a week before impregnating him again and the whole cycle begins again. Kinkaid tries to protest of course but part of the impregnation includes a sedative and he's fast drifting off. Well, she did try to warn him after all.
Very good. Loved it. I'm partial to a bit of pulp sci-fi.
Save the Children - Steve Rasnic Tem - Probably going to have to come back and read this one again. Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention but I've no clue as to what this was about. I read it last night before I lay down to sleep and I'm unable to remember a single thing about it apart from the wife telling the husband to 'Save the Children', and something about children merging into a hand at the end. I don't know what that was about. I'm sure it must have been down to me being half asleep when I read it. A re-read is required.
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Post by ohthehorror on Sept 6, 2015 13:59:23 GMT
From 'The 1930s: The Golden Age',
Lost Paradise - C. L. Moore - Another sci-fi story now. I've read only one Northwest Smith story before, Shambleau, which didn't amaze me from what I remember although I don't remember hating it either, but this is a very different matter. It's a very moving story about the meeting between a Moon-man, a Priest who has the capability to travel through time and Northwest Smith and his companion who then enter into a bargain with him after retrieving a parcel for him from a thief. We have the great pleasure of wandering through the beautiful green landscapes of the Moon and looking up at the Earth as it rises in the sky, and all the time experiencing all this through the eyes of an ancient Moon-man in a time long ago before the Moon became barren and dead. The entire story is suffused with beautiful imagery of the surrounding areas and lovely cities and whole thing is a joy to read. It's also quite sad, and the feeling of intense loss comes across very well, particularly at the end where we're treated to a first hand look at what happens when the childish Gods(if that's what they really are!) that are holding the moon's atmosphere together decide to 'take their ball away' and bugger off simply because Northwest Smith refuses to go lightly into certain death. It doesn't help matters that the mind/body he's inhabiting in this jaunt through time is someone not a million miles away, and so as well as instigating the destruction of an entire Moon-world, he also pretty much wrecks our little Moon-man's life from then on too.
Really beautiful story that impresses some lovely imagery onto the minds eye while telling of the loss of an entire world. Wonderful.
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Post by ohthehorror on Sept 7, 2015 18:51:27 GMT
From 'The 1930s: The Golden Age',
The Accursed Isle - Mary E. Counselman - We're greeted here by several(seven, I think?) men shipwrecked on a small island, about a mile long. When the tide comes in it submerges much of the island but for a mound upon which they've built a signal fire and planted a flag in case any ships pass close enough to see. Soon enough, one by one as they sleep at night they wake to find another of their number has been murdered, the bruising around the neck resembling a hand-print. Even after posting men on watch while the others sleep doesn't help and still in the cold light of morning they find another of their ever dwindling company dead, staring straight up at the sky. It comes to a head when only two remain, and one of the two decides he simply can't cope with the possibility of being the heinous murderer of his fellows and so promptly slashes both his wrists with a knife and bleeds out before our eyes. This just leaves one man, who as luck would have it is spotted just at that moment by a passing ship, a little boat is rowed out to him and cries of comfort and assurance reach him from the men on-board. The story ends shortly after with him testing the sharpness of the knife against his thumbs.
Some of the most innocent little stories leave me confused at times when I'm pretty sure they're not meant to. I'm still not sure exactly what to make of it. Is he the murderer? Is he mad and just not aware of it? Why is he testing the sharpness of the knife as the men row towards him? Is he planning to kill them too? I've missed the point somewhere, I'm sure of it. I'm just not sure where!
I'm confused...
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Post by dem bones on Sept 7, 2015 19:23:46 GMT
Is he the murderer? Is he mad and just not aware of it? You're on the right track. I love M.E.C.'s work and The Accursed Isle is a particular favourite. First read it as the opening story in the Not At Night Arrow paperback selection, which started my love affair with Christine Campbell Thomson's magnificent series. It's the pre-WW II Weird Tales that does it for me. Can't quite put my finger on it but, while there's still much to recommend the '40's and '50's stuff, I could never adore those issues in quite the same way. |
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Post by ohthehorror on Sept 18, 2015 8:31:42 GMT
From 'The 1990s: A New Golden Age',
Turn, Turn, Turn - Nancy Springer - A woman, Aurie, is very much into her arts and crafts, re-using any old thing to make her ornaments. She re-uses a Pringles tube for example to make a little vignette of an angel in an oval cut-out, and saves old milk cartons for letter holders and so on. All very exciting stuff ...not! Yeah, this one wasn't for me at all. It contained no spookiness, eeriness or creeps at all, and was entirely devoid of any kind of 'atmosphere' whatsoever. Even when her man, Grant, pops his clogs at the end and she mixes his ashes into her gold paint to make a nice textured version of another, more life sized angel, it's all very sterile and non-eventful. I've pretty much loved every story in this anthology so far, or at least liked those lesser ones a little at least for some reason, but this one really doesn't have anything at all to recommend it. Sorry Nancy.
and now 'The 1920s: The Early Years',
Bells of Oceana - Arthur J. Burks - Now this on the other hand was almost certainly my absolute favourite so far. It may have had a slight advantage over some of the others in the sense that I couldn't sleep last night and was up reading at 3am in a deathly silent room with some wonderful subdued lighting, but still, exceptionally good tale. Told in the first person, which I never used to like much but am now taking quite a liking to, it tells of a Troopship heading west from the California coast and the strange disappearances of a couple of the crew at the hands of a 'sea creature'. I'm nothing if not a sucker for a good 'sea creature' story, and I'm beginning to get a real feel for the older stories from way back when, too. They almost seem to exude that good ol' spooky, eerie atmosphere without even trying. At one point the 'sea creature' is described as having a scaly bottom half like a serpent and the upper half of a naked, beautiful woman. She has a wonderful hypnotic affect upon the crew, enabling her to draw them willingly to their deaths. I'm quite sure the 3am, subdued lighting helped a little with this one, but I can't put it all down to that. It's a beautifully told story with a fantastic atmosphere throughout and I shall no doubt be re-visiting it in the future. My very, very favourite so far.
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Post by dem bones on Sept 18, 2015 11:12:51 GMT
Bells Of Oceana is yet another pulp classic we have Christine Campbell Thomson to thank for introducing to the British public, this time via 1929's By Daylight Only. From 'The 1990s: A New Golden Age', That's satire, right?
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Post by ohthehorror on Sept 19, 2015 16:52:58 GMT
From 'The 1920s: The Early Years',
The Eighth Green Man - G. G. Pendarves - This put me in mind of The Wicker Man. Nicholas Birkett has taken a road that has his friend Raoul nervous. It's instinct by all accounts and Nicholas would've been wise to take note. The trees thin out and a white building looms up ahead, seven trees shaped like men line the way. We immediately know if we didn't before that somethings amiss. It's not too long before Nicholas is taken in by the strange man that offers them food and drink and tells them of 'The Sons of Enoch', a very prestigious group(or so he says) that probably wouldn't admit such men as them anyway(*snort). This has Nicholas enthralled and so he returns later with a view to joining the strange group. Raoul comes along in protest with a bid to save his friend from something heinous. Suffice to say things don't go too well and, well, the title kind of gives the rest away really. Very good. Really enjoyed it.
From 'The 1970s: The First Revival',
Sea Curse - Robert E. Howard - I remember reading this one before, but didn't realize it until I was a little way in. John Kulrek and his sea-faring friend Lie-lip(which has to be one of the best names I've come across) are known as a couple of wide-boys and are sort of respected/feared due to living most of their lives on the briny deep and drinking and carousing and generally carrying on. But things turn bad when a girl turns up dead with John Kulrek in the frame for it. Her Mother, Moll, curses him and Lie-lip(and what a curse it is too) and the next time we see either of them on dry land again it's Lie-lip, alone, claiming initially that John went ashore(I forget where, *tut) and that he stayed there, but finally breaks down and admits his crime. Apparently they had a drunken fight and John Kulrek came off worse. When he washes up very, very dead Moll promptly spits on his corspe and then keels over stone dead. Bonus scenes of an ancient devil ship rowed by actual living skeletons are an unexpected joy. Wonderful stuff.
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Post by ohthehorror on Oct 20, 2015 19:18:25 GMT
From 'The 1930s: The Golden Age',
The Seed from the Sepulcher - Clark Ashton Smith - An expedition to find the legendary lost Indian gold in the Venezuelan jungle turns up nothing, well, nothing like the gold they sought anyway. Falmer, who'd gone on ahead, had found a lost city of grey walls and something in 'The Pit'. It's not long before his companion is slicing a little green bud in two which has started growing from the top of his friends head. It gets worse, and then a 'lot' worse from here on out, and I mean that in a good way. Great antler like tendrils grow from his head, sucking him dry and leaving him little more than a clothed skeleton, and a pale blossom opens in the vicinity of his head and seemed almost sentient in it's strange, horrific way. The strange plant sways and almost beckons Falmer's friend, Thone, until he can no longer control himself and crawls helplessly toward his own vegetative demise. And so we're left with 'two' pale flowers, their tendrils reaching up into the heights of the jungle, presumably ready to send the next unwary adventurer into his own little trance too.
This was a real beauty. It was terrible and horrific, but in a more shocking, OMG that didn't just happen did it?, sort of way. I love stories where nature takes hold and shows mankind, or just anybody really just what it is they're messing with. It's like Mother Nature snorting at the eco-warriors just before hitting them with a tsunami just so they might understand, finally, once and for all, that she really doesn't need their help to save the planet. She's quite capable of saving it herself thanks all the same.
Ok. Lecture over. I loved this by the way. It was great.
The Graveyard Rats - Henry kuttner - Old Masson, the caretaker of Salem's oldest cemetary has a feud with some big-arsed rats by all accounts and is not averse to heading off into their not so little burrows and tunnels with his trusty pistol at the ready. He gets a little more than he bargained for though due to some unfortunate cave ins and a very, very wrong turn. Those coffins are a bugger to get out of once you're in one you know. I can still hear his screams now.
Another great tale, although very short, it certainly did the job. I don't hold with old men going hell for leather on the wildlife with guns at the ready, not even when that wildlife happens to be very, very big and generally considered vermin, but you can't help feeling for poor old Masson and his dodgy sense of direction.
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Post by dem bones on Oct 20, 2015 22:14:28 GMT
The Seeds From The Sepulcher was the first CAS story I ever read - in Beaver Book Of Horror, a children's anthology edited by, of all people, Hamlyn nasty man, Mark Ronson. Ramsey Campbell went him one better by including The Graveyard Rats in his young adult selection, The Gruesome Book. We had come a long way from R. Chetwynd-Hayes' weedy 'Armada Monster' Books, that's for sure.
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