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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Jan 2, 2018 14:20:40 GMT
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Post by helrunar on Jan 2, 2018 16:23:50 GMT
That's very sad news indeed, Dan. Peggy's performance added so much to Night of the Demon--for me, one of the immortal classics. Unlike some, I cherish every second that Mr. Demon is onscreen.
May her bright spirit fly free.
H.
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Jan 3, 2018 9:39:30 GMT
M.R. James: Supernatural Storyteller, the 2004 documentary (sometimes referred to by the alternative title The Corner of the Retina) that was used to introduce BBC Four's first season of repeats of classic M.R. James adaptations has just resurfaced online; www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyQ_jXRDaH4
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Post by helrunar on Jan 19, 2018 2:43:38 GMT
Today's lunch and commute read was actually a tale published in 2018--an extremely rare event, to read something so contemporary. John Lanchester's short story "Coffin Liquor" appeared in the 4 Jan. issue of the London Review of Books. The yarn takes the form of diary entries written by one Professor Merritt Watkins, noted scientist and atheist. It opens with his extreme annoyance upon learning that he has been tricked into attending a conference in Romania not on the latest developments in the hard sciences, but on the value of conversations between science and the humanities (dismissively described as "mythology"). His distress grows more acute upon opening the program brochure in his hotel room and learning that the inaugural talk the next morning is to be upon the topic "What String Theorists can learn from Vlad the Impaler: Narrative, Belief, and the Immanence of the Imperceptible." In other words, "a degenerate mass of whiffle and nonsense."
I'm not sure that notice of this tale belongs in this section, but I am unsure where else to place it. Elements of Bram Stoker, Dickens, and the Master are interwoven with a lead character somewhat reminiscent of the hero of the 1957 film Night of the Demon.
There's a web file of this story but one has to be a subscriber to access it.
A sample of the author's remarkable ability to channel Dickens, had the latter somehow decided to prophesy in the spirit of H. P. Lovecraft:
I turned my head and for a moment thought that my impression of being followed was nothing but the work of my imagination, still troubled by the encounter at Miss Havisham's. Then, with a growing feeling of horror, I realised that my initial apprehensions were not mistaken. There was indeed a figure following me, a shape I had not seen at first glance because I was looking for a man standing or walking. This was neither standing nor walking, nor, perhaps, was it a man. At a distance of perhaps a hundred yards a shape was slithering towards me along the ground. It was moving with the propulsion of its arms, assisted by the convulsion of its torso. It was neither crawling nor walking because it appeared to have no legs. Its face was largely shapeless but its mouth was open and it appeared to be exhaling, or hissing, with all the force in its lungs.
This story was a surprise to me, so I felt like sharing something about it here.
cheers, H.
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Post by jamesdoig on Jan 19, 2018 4:37:37 GMT
This story was a surprise to me, so I felt like sharing something about it here. Thanks for the heads up, Mr H - I'll certainly dig up the issue.
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Post by helrunar on Jan 19, 2018 5:28:48 GMT
According to Wickedpaedophile, John Lanchester mainly writes novels and nonfiction books about high finance and journalism on such topics as "Bitcoin." So, this is something of a departure.
All I can say is I enjoyed every word.
cheers, H.
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Post by Michael Connolly on Jan 27, 2018 14:31:20 GMT
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Feb 2, 2018 10:55:02 GMT
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Post by ropardoe on Feb 2, 2018 15:18:45 GMT
Imagine how pretentious that would have been! Anyway... "College Professor"
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Post by ropardoe on Feb 2, 2018 15:22:30 GMT
Imagine how pretentious that would have been! Anyway... "College Professor" I did NOT put an emoji there. Aaargh - I'm haunted!
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Feb 2, 2018 16:50:17 GMT
Imagine how pretentious that would have been! Anyway... "College Professor" I had to go and look up his filmography to see if I'd seen anything by him. Nothing since 'Boogie Nights' and 'Magnolia' in the 90s, both of which I liked. I've no idea how pretentious he has become since. I'm guessing the passage of nearly two decades without any wish to see anything he's made since is a potential indicator. It took me quite a while to get to grips with the titles and roles of university people - never having attended one myself - so I'm a bit more forgiving of people who think MRJ was some kind of teacher or professor.
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Post by Michael Connolly on Feb 26, 2018 15:09:23 GMT
The BBC's Home Service version of Martin's Close from 24 Aug 1963 is available on Radio 4 Extra: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09sng2yIt stands up much better than The Hex from 1981, which thankfully isn't available.
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Post by Michael Connolly on Apr 7, 2018 13:52:04 GMT
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Post by ropardoe on Apr 15, 2018 8:51:10 GMT
Here's the new website for a very interesting M.R. James conference being held in York this September. A number of names familiar to G&S readers are involved, like Peter Bell, Gail-Nina Anderson, Helen Grant, John Reppion and Mark Valentine; and one of the organisers is Paul Chapman whose article on the identity of Karswell has been so well received in the latest G&S. Should be good. www.thefriendsofcountmagnus.org
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on May 2, 2018 8:54:03 GMT
Bafflegab Productions, the audio company who have produced, among other things, The Scarifyers, a new version of Clive Barker's The Hellbound Heart and an audio adaptation of Blood On Satan's Claw have recorded a modern day version of Casting the Runes, starring Anna Maxwell Martin, Tom Burke and Reece Shearsmith, with the story adapted by Steven Gallagher. Release date is to be in time for Hallowe'en.
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