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Post by ropardoe on Nov 24, 2017 18:13:33 GMT
I'm not giving anything away - I wouldn't do that to you! As you can see from the interview with Nicola Upson, there are two separate crime sprees going on - the MRJ-related one, and the attacks on women. So all I've revealed is that the same person isn't responsible for both! I suppose that's a spoiler but it's a very small one. damn you too! I haven't given anything away which you can't learn from the on-line interviews with Nicola Upson. Honest!
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Post by Michael Connolly on Nov 25, 2017 13:38:46 GMT
For information on MRJ, in Nine Lessons Nicola Upson acknowledges the work of Michael Cox and Peter Haining. Hmmm.
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Post by ropardoe on Nov 25, 2017 13:40:33 GMT
For information on MRJ, in Nine Lessons Nicola Upson acknowledges the work of Michael Cox and Peter Haining. Hmmm. Yes, I noticed that! As you say - hmmm!
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Nov 26, 2017 14:37:57 GMT
For information on MRJ, in Nine Lessons Nicola Upson acknowledges the work of Michael Cox and Peter Haining. Hmmm. Yes, I noticed that! As you say - hmmm! Thankfully as far as I could see, Michael Cox's book seemed to have more of an influence. (Having read Nine Lessons, I went back to the Sarob Press collection I'd been reading, Darkly Haunting. I normally read anthologies in order, as it's the easiest way to ensure no story gets missed, but I saved the first story in this till last as it was the one that drew me to the book. Early Stages by James Doig is the highlight of a very good book, and an excellent Jamesian tale.)
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Post by jamesdoig on Nov 26, 2017 20:01:25 GMT
I went back to the Sarob Press collection I'd been reading, Darkly Haunting. I normally read anthologies in order, as it's the easiest way to ensure no story gets missed, but I saved the first story in this till last as it was the one that drew me to the book. Early Stages by James Doig is the highlight of a very good book, and an excellent Jamesian tale.) Thanks Lurk! That was actually based on a British radio series about the earliest English drama that was broadcast in the 1950s - a friend lent his recordings of it to me, a huge 12 part series with commentary, performances and wot not. Now I can't remember what it was called - something like The Early Stage or The First Stage - but that couldn't be right because I can't find any reference online. It made me realise how patchy theatre history is up until the fifteen century -just a few fragments survive before then.
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Nov 26, 2017 20:36:32 GMT
Thanks Lurk! That was actually based on a British radio series about the earliest English drama that was broadcast in the 1950s - a friend lent his recordings of it to me, a huge 12 part series with commentary, performances and wot not. Now I can't remember what it was called - something like The Early Stage or The First Stage - but that couldn't be right because I can't find any reference online. It made me realise how patchy theatre history is up until the fifteen century -just a few fragments survive before then. [/quote] Ah, I hadn't realised it had a basis in fact, beyond the fascinating details about the various forms of early drama - a subject I hadn't considered before but found intriguingly evoked in your story. Good old BBC Genome suggests the series was; THE FIRST STAGE
A chronicle of the development of English drama from its beginnings to the 1580s Arranged for broadcasting and introduced by John Barton Edited and produced by Raymond Raikes genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?adv=0&q=The+first+stage&media=all&yf=1923&yt=2009&mf=1&mt=12&tf=00%3A00&tt=00%3A00#search
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Post by mrhappy on Nov 26, 2017 20:55:09 GMT
I went back to the Sarob Press collection I'd been reading, Darkly Haunting. I normally read anthologies in order, as it's the easiest way to ensure no story gets missed, but I saved the first story in this till last as it was the one that drew me to the book. Early Stages by James Doig is the highlight of a very good book, and an excellent Jamesian tale.) Thanks Lurk! That was actually based on a British radio series about the earliest English drama that was broadcast in the 1950s - a friend lent his recordings of it to me, a huge 12 part series with commentary, performances and wot not. Now I can't remember what it was called - something like The Early Stage or The First Stage - but that couldn't be right because I can't find any reference online. It made me realise how patchy theatre history is up until the fifteen century -just a few fragments survive before then. I 100% agree with your assessment of Early Stages. While definetly Jamesian, there is a Lovecraftian undercurrent present as well. There are a couple of ridiculously creepy passages in that story and I honestly believe it may become somewhat of a modern classic. I was so taken by it that I had to pick up a copy of Friends of the Dead which only arrived a couple days ago. Hopefully one of the year's best anthologists have taken notice because it deserves a much wider audience. Amazingly well done. Mr. Happy
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Post by jamesdoig on Nov 27, 2017 6:27:26 GMT
That's it all right - an amazing achievement and now almost completely forgotten.
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Post by jamesdoig on Nov 27, 2017 6:30:05 GMT
I 100% agree with your assessment of Early Stages. While definetly Jamesian, there is a Lovecraftian undercurrent present as well. There are a couple of ridiculously creepy passages in that story and I honestly believe it may become somewhat of a modern classic. I was so taken by it that I had to pick up a copy of Friends of the Dead which only arrived a couple days ago. Hopefully one of the year's best anthologists have taken notice because it deserves a much wider audience. Amazingly well done. Mr. Happy You're too kind, Mr H - I'm undeserving of those sorts of accolades, but the Vault has always been a supportive community to loiter about!
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Nov 27, 2017 10:00:58 GMT
I was so taken by it that I had to pick up a copy of Friends of the Dead which only arrived a couple days ago. I was recently thwarted in my attempts to buy one through eBay. (If - going by the timing - by any chance it was you who outbid me, I'll immediately withdraw the hex I mentally cast. It would be utterly impolite to damn a fellow Vault dweller in such a manner. ) Currently in pursuit of a different copy, so here's hoping. Hopefully one of the year's best anthologists have taken notice because it deserves a much wider audience. Hear, hear!
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Post by mrhappy on Dec 3, 2017 1:21:31 GMT
I was so taken by it that I had to pick up a copy of Friends of the Dead which only arrived a couple days ago. I was recently thwarted in my attempts to buy one through eBay. (If - going by the timing - by any chance it was you who outbid me, I'll immediately withdraw the hex I mentally cast. It would be utterly impolite to damn a fellow Vault dweller in such a manner. ) Currently in pursuit of a different copy, so here's hoping. Hopefully one of the year's best anthologists have taken notice because it deserves a much wider audience. Hear, hear! You need not drop your hex on my behalf as it was someone else who outbid you. I bought mine from an online bookseller for a fair price. However, I have noticed that they raised their price to $95 on their remaining copy. I also see that an auction recently ended on eBay so I am hoping that you were the winner. It is a very enjoyable book. Mr. Happy
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Dec 3, 2017 13:18:18 GMT
You need not drop your hex on my behalf as it was someone else who outbid you. I bought mine from an online bookseller for a fair price. However, I have noticed that they raised their price to $95 on their remaining copy. I also see that an auction recently ended on eBay so I am hoping that you were the winner. It is a very enjoyable book. Mr. Happy I did, indeed, win the auction for a copy of the book in the early hours of this morning, thanks - in far better condition than the one I lost out on, so I'd have removed any hexes anyway, no matter who the purchaser was. Hopefully it'll make it across the water in time for Christmas, but, if not, I've got plenty of reading matter to keep me in a ghostly mood over Christmas, with collections from Clive Ward, John Gordon, and Terry Lamsley next on the list, and some Ash Tree Press anthologies after those.
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Post by ropardoe on Dec 4, 2017 15:50:19 GMT
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Post by franklinmarsh on Dec 5, 2017 19:42:22 GMT
Thanks for this Rosemary. I went to school in Windsor, and occasionally ventured into Eton, not in search of MRJ's grave, but to the inappropriately named Windsor Organ Centre where I obtained some Bowie reissues (at least Aladdin Sane had the proper cover) and the Suspiria soundtrack, in the heady days of vinyl. I'm not too far away so must think about treading in Mr Scovell's footsteps. Keep meaning to get to Dennis Wheatley's last resting place at Longcross too.
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Dec 5, 2017 19:55:09 GMT
Keep meaning to get to Dennis Wheatley's last resting place at Longcross too. I only recently learned that, during the Second World War, Dennis Wheatley was part of the London Controlling Section in the intelligence services - spreading misleading information to fool the enemy - with Major Neil Gordon Clark, father of A Ghost Story for Christmas director Lawrence Gordon Clark.
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