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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Mar 27, 2016 13:42:28 GMT
The Black Books of Horror have featured the occasional Jamesian/ Jamesian-ish offering by Daniel McGachey, Reggie Oliver and, most recently, Edward Pearce ( East Wickenden). Sam Dawson's 'The Weathervane' is another excellent Jamesian tale in the latest volume. As for the reviews costing folk money, I've found G&S review sections and the James Gang list forming the basis of many a shopping list. I don't recall being steered wrong yet.
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Post by dem bones on Mar 28, 2016 7:24:14 GMT
Sam Dawson's 'The Weathervane' is another excellent Jamesian tale in the latest volume. As for the reviews costing folk money, I've found G&S review sections and the James Gang list forming the basis of many a shopping list. I don't recall being steered wrong yet. Oh yes, The Weathervane surely qualifies! The Black Books are a splendid resource for non-Jamesian ghost stories, too. For the uninitiated, you can watch the Count Magnus and The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance trailers at Mansfield Dark (as feared, bride of dem suitably impressed). For examples of Richard Svensson's artwork, visit the f*ceb**k page at M R James Card Game: Monsters & MiscreantsPaperback Fanatic & it's satellite publications also have a nasty habit of making me interested in books I'm "not interested in." Every issue without fail. Then again, if your book-wants list is within a million miles of achievable, you're not doing it right.
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Post by Michael Connolly on Mar 30, 2016 13:31:38 GMT
Speaking of "Count Magnus", in an Oxfam bookshop yesterday I saw a copy of the first edition of of August Derleth's 1944 anthology Sleep no More. It includes Lee Brown Coye's illustration for "Count Magnus". There is also a colour version of it for the cover of Weird Tales July 1945 (which does not include the story).
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Post by Michael Connolly on Mar 30, 2016 14:00:19 GMT
I see you already used the black and white "Count Magnus" illustration on the August Derleth ed. Sleep No More thread. The Count's little friend looks like a malignant duck on the colour version.
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Post by ropardoe on Mar 31, 2016 15:47:42 GMT
I see you already used the black and white "Count Magnus" illustration on the August Derleth ed. Sleep No More thread. The Count's little friend looks like a malignant duck on the colour version. You have to watch those malignant ducks! I've got it in the back of my mind that I did once read a story with a spooky duck in it, but am I misremembering? One thing is certain - there's a lane in the Cheshire countryside which is supposed to be haunted by a headless duck (it's mentioned in Simpson and Westwood's Lore of the Land). I've no idea whether there's a back story to this, or why there should be one duck which takes it into its (non)head to haunt a place while lots of other ducks who presumably have suffered similar fates over the centuries should remain unghostly. I'm been down the lane by car on several occasions but saw no ducks, neither corporeal nor non-corporeal. There were a few shifty-looking tussocks of grass though.
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Post by ropardoe on Mar 31, 2016 16:03:19 GMT
I see you already used the black and white "Count Magnus" illustration on the August Derleth ed. Sleep No More thread. The Count's little friend looks like a malignant duck on the colour version. You have to watch those malignant ducks! I've got it in the back of my mind that I did once read a story with a spooky duck in it, but am I misremembering? One thing is certain - there's a lane in the Cheshire countryside which is supposed to be haunted by a headless duck (it's mentioned in Simpson and Westwood's Lore of the Land). I've no idea whether there's a back story to this, or why there should be one duck which takes it into its (non)head to haunt a place while lots of other ducks who presumably have suffered similar fates over the centuries should remain unghostly. I'm been down the lane by car on several occasions but saw no ducks, neither corporeal nor non-corporeal. There were a few shifty-looking tussocks of grass though. And if you Google for "ghostly duck" you'll get a hit for another ghostly duck in Cheshire, in a different part of the county to the one I was referring to. This one was apparently prayed down by a bunch of parsons, trapped in a bottle and placed in the wall of an inn. What is it with Cheshire and supernatural ducks? Is it a memory of some sort of ancient duck worship? Did Lewis Carroll mean to write about the Cheshire Duck, not Cat? All these questions and no answers. My brain hurts.
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Apr 1, 2016 11:12:36 GMT
Is it a memory of some sort of ancient duck worship? Casts new light on the origins of the witch trials' 'ducking stool', perhaps? It also reminds me of the legends of that ancient aquatic behemoth feared by sailors and seafaring folk. No, not Moby Duck - I mean the Quacken!
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Post by Michael Connolly on Apr 1, 2016 11:37:38 GMT
What have I started this time? To get back to "Count Magnus" (and sanity), when I skimmed over August Derleth's introduction to it in Sleep No More, he referred to the correspondence that he had had with M.R. James. This was the subject of an article by Rosemary in Ghost & Scholars M.R. James Newsletter 17. This is further evidence that the letter MRJ received from "a native of Wisconsin" was from Derleth.
About Rosemary's reference to The Lore of the Land: A Guide to England's Legends, from Spring-heeled Jack to the Witches of Warboys (2005) by Jacqueline Simpson and Jennifer Westwood, I am currently re-reading Westwood's Albion: A Guide to Legendary Britain (1985), essentially an earlier version of the hugely-expanded and heavily-illustrated later book. Both are strongly recommended if you want to read folklore about deals with the devil, death-portents and shape-changing horrors etc. MRJ is cited in both books.
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Post by ropardoe on Apr 1, 2016 16:54:27 GMT
Is it a memory of some sort of ancient duck worship? Casts new light on the origins of the witch trials' 'ducking stool', perhaps? It also reminds me of the legends of that ancient aquatic behemoth feared by sailors and seafaring folk. No, not Moby Duck - I mean the Quacken! Why is it that whenever I get involved in a conversation, it starts to get very silly very quickly? It can't be me, surely? Anyway, it might be worth pointing out that the Celtic tribe which hung out in Cheshire was the Cornovii. Corn... ducks are rather fond of corn, aren't they? It all begins to make sense - if only to me.
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Post by ropardoe on Apr 1, 2016 16:57:47 GMT
About Rosemary's reference to The Lore of the Land: A Guide to England's Legends, from Spring-heeled Jack to the Witches of Warboys (2005) by Jacqueline Simpson and Jennifer Westwood, I am currently re-reading Westwood's Albion: A Guide to Legendary Britain (1985), essentially an earlier version of the hugely-expanded and heavily-illustrated later book. Both are strongly recommended if you want to read folklore about deals with the devil, death-portents and shape-changing horrors etc. MRJ is cited in both books. I totally agree - both books are excellent, and The Lore of the Land in particular has an excellent two page spread on M.R. James and the (supposed) legend of the three East Anglian crowns. Another Jacqueline Simpson book which I like very much (and which is a good sourcebook for story ideas) is Green Men & White Swans: The Folklore of British Pub Names.
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Post by rawlinson on Apr 2, 2016 0:32:58 GMT
I have to second the recommendation for the pub names book, I picked it up on a whim (In The Works, I believe) some time ago and it's excellent. I'm going to have to get hold of The Lore of the Land now.
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Post by ropardoe on Apr 2, 2016 11:08:27 GMT
I have to second the recommendation for the pub names book, I picked it up on a whim (In The Works, I believe) some time ago and it's excellent. I'm going to have to get hold of The Lore of the Land now. It's off the subject of books a bit, but for anyone interested in the subject, I also recommend the very active Inn Sign Society. Despite the fact that so many have disappeared there are still some great signs out there, and some good new ones being made.
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Post by Michael Connolly on Apr 2, 2016 12:57:44 GMT
Now we're onto pubs. Hmmmm.
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Post by ropardoe on Apr 2, 2016 15:21:25 GMT
Now we're onto pubs. Hmmmm. But we can easily return on topic... What stories do we know featuring spooky haunted inn signs? I can offer Mary Ann Allen's "The Blue Boar of Totenhoe". Also the "Oh, Whistle" episode of Doctors had an inn sign which altered in a strange and disturbing manner.
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Post by rawlinson on Apr 2, 2016 18:44:56 GMT
I really need to see that episode of Doctors.
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