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Post by dem bones on Jun 4, 2018 18:43:05 GMT
Rosemary Pardoe - The Black Pilgrimage & Other Explorations: Essays On Supernatural Fiction (Shadow Publishing, May 31 2018) Rosemary Pardoe David A. Sutton - Introduction: A Fanzine Life
M. R. James And His Stories
The Black Pilgrimage (with Jane Nicholls) Who was Count Magnus? Notes towards an identification James Wilson's Secret (with Jane Nicholls) Hostanes Magus Two Magicians: Wilsthorpe and Aswarby (with Darroll Pardoe) 'I've see it': 'A School Story' and the House in Berkeley Square The Night Raven 'A Wonderful Book': George MacDonald and 'The Ash Tree' Hercules and the Painted Cloth The Demon in the Cathedral: A Jamesian Hoax The Herefordshire of 'A View from a Hill' (with Darroll Pardoe) How did Mr. Baxter find his Roman Villa The Manuscript of 'A Warning to the Curious' The Three Fortunate Concealments 'The Heathens and their Sacrifices: The God(s) of 'An Evening Entertainment' 'The Old Man on the Hill: Beelzebub in 'An Evening's Entertainment' 'I seen it wive at me out of the winder': The Window as Threshold in M. R. James's Stories 'Fluttering Draperies': The Fabric of M. R. James Scrying and the Horse-demon The Date of 'Merfield Hall/ House' Adventures of a Jamesian Detective The Man in King William Street M. R. James and Arthur Machen M. R. James and the 'native of Winsconsin' Introduction to Eton and Kings (with Darroll Pardoe) Introduction to The Five Jars Afterword to Two Ghost Stories: A Centenary 'Strange Pastures': Introduction to Occult Sciences Introduction to Tales from Lectoure
Other Authors:
Walter Map's De Nugis Curialium Arthur Gray E. G. Swain A. P. Baker and A College Mystery Fritz Leiber's Our Lady of Darkness: A Jamesian Classic Fritz Leiber's 'The Button Molder: A Jamesian story?' Fritz Leiber's 'A Bit of the Dark World' Manly Wade Wellman's 'Chorazin'
An Everlasting Club Miscellany:
Remembrances of Early Fandom and Old Fanzines Early Reading: Dogs, Cats and Hobby Horses Phil Rickman and Gwendolen McBride The Real Thing: Garner, Lindholm, Brust and Pratchett Paul Cornell's 'Shadow Police' Jack Finney and the Disappearance of Rudolph Fentz Wraiths don't show up on CCTV (except when they do) Creatures which frequent the roads and byways of America The Magic of Maps
Frequently mentioned works An Index to Story and Novel TitlesBlurb: THE GHOSTLY WORK OF M.R. JAMES
The celebrated writer M.R. James (1862-1936) is arguably the most significant author of ghost stories in the world. His macabre work has terrified and fascinated readers for over a hundred years. Now collected in one volume, here are twenty-nine essays on his ghostly tales and themes by editor and James scholar Rosemary Pardoe.
Plus eight further essays on other authors, including Fritz Leiber, E.G. Swain and Manly Wade Wellman, and a fascinating miscellany of nine additional pieces on a variety of topics.
Rosemary Pardoe is a respected essayist and has edited the influential M.R. James-related magazine Ghosts & Scholars since 1979. She also edited three volumes of The Ghosts & Scholars Book of Shadows (Sarob Press), and is the co-editor of Ghosts and Scholars: Stories in the Tradition of M.R. James (with Richard Dalby, 1987) and Warnings to the Curious: A Sheaf of Criticism on M.R. James (with S.T. Joshi, 2007).Arrived today. Many thanks to David A. Sutton. Comments to follow after some serious reading ....
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Post by daveinva on Jun 5, 2018 2:54:11 GMT
Thanks for the tip. Just ordered.
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Post by ropardoe on Jun 5, 2018 9:33:53 GMT
Thanks Kev. Hope you enjoy it - I'm very happy with it. In case people missed my post in the Shadow Publishing thread, here's a link to a great write-up by Mark Valentine on the Wormwoodiana blog: wormwoodiana.blogspot.com
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Post by dem bones on Jun 6, 2018 17:10:31 GMT
Had a first dip in last night - read David's introduction and sample essays from each of the sections (adding three titles to already impossible wants list as a consequence). Am delighted that Shadow is again publishing non-fiction anthologies or, as in the case of the recent splendid James Wade opus, a mixture of supernatural horror stories and articles. When Ro first mentioned the project, I was hoping she would see fit to include some pieces related to her late sixties/ early 'seventies exploits in the field, so Remembrances of Early Fandom and Old Fanzines - and Mr. Sutton's introduction - are much appreciated (poor Dark Horizons #5, still taking a pasting after all these years). Overall favourite essay to date is The Black Pilgrimage itself, a remarkable feat of literary detection. Did MRJ invent the entire concept off the back of his research for List of MMS formerly owned by Dr. John Dee? Did 'Count Magnus' inspire the O.T.O.'s Jack Parsons to undertake his ill-starred astral journey to Chorazin? Also features a splendidly caustic cameo from Aleister Crowley dismissing Parsons and his cohort L. Ron Hubbard as deluded chancers ("I get fairly frantic when I contemplate the idiocy of these louts"). I've Seen it!' A School Story' and 'The House in Berkeley Square' identifies the source for the 'authentic' ghost story alluded to by one of the gents at the outset of A School Story, and it isn't Bulwer-Lytton's classic. It was the feature on 'Ingulphus' in G&S #13, specifically the synopses of 'The Everlasting Club,' 'The Necromancer' and - have still never read it - 'The Sacrist of St Radegund' first decided me to try seek out some examples of his work, in much the same way Hugh Lamb's anthologies invariably sent me scuttling after rafts of stories by various dead folk. The inclusion of nine pieces from Lady Wardrop's Journal widens the appeal for those (surely relatively few?) lucky enough to have a full run of G&S and the newsletter, providing insight on the author's interests outside the life and works of M. R. James and his disciples. Jack Finney and the Disappearance of Rudolph Fentz is a brief if welcome foray into the fascinating subject of urban myths originating from works of supernatural fiction (see also Ro's Nick Redfern on Fiction as Fact). more to follow ...
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Post by dem bones on Jun 12, 2018 12:17:23 GMT
Loosely related to the article on Jack Finney and the Disappearance of Rudolph Fentz, The Demon In The Cathedral concerns an account of an 'authentic' Mexican haunting published in Fate (Sept. 1977) which, shall we say, probably owes more than a little to MRJ's An Episode Of Cathedral History. Responding to critics who remarked the similarities, authors Bound and Lopez were adamant they'd no familiarity with James' work and their piece was based on documentary evidence provided them by a 'Professor Carrasco' and his aide, Jorge Zaragoza Carmona. Ro ponders the delightful possibility that the pair were themselves the victims of a hoax perpetuated by a mischievous 'Professor Carrasco' and his aide, Jorge Zaragoza Carmona. The Three Fortunate Concealments highlights an instance of MRJ subverting extant Celtic folklore to create a new (Anglo-Saxon) myth - namely "the three crowns of East Anglia' - via 'A Warning To The Curious.' And then there's Fluttering Draperies. All you ever needed to know about "MRJ's horror of cloth" and the likely origins of this peculiar faux phobia. From the 'Everlasting Club' writings, Wraiths don't show up on CCTV (except when they do). Not what this reader was expecting from the title but a riposte to a smug lit. bore's snooty, self-aggrandizing, and wildly misguided remarks on the ghost story. Am glad Ro cites Roald Dahl as an example of another cosy establishment non-authority on the subject, his pompous introduction to A Book Of Ghost Stories being a classic example of the "anything I don't like is hopeless" school. Judged on his seven intro's to The Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories, Robert Aickman also had plenty of this about him, but at least he wasn't boring with it. Finally for time being, Adventures of a Jamesian Detective (or Agatha Christie's Pardoe as it's known chez Dem) will resonate with anyone whose investigations of a literary mystery have met with success. Part 2, where-in the author identifies the lucky recipient of a copy of Thackeray's 'Ballads' dedicated by MRJ, is especially cheering.
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Post by ropardoe on Jun 12, 2018 12:40:07 GMT
Loosely related to the article on Jack Finney and the Disappearance of Rudolph Fentz, The Demon In The Cathedral concerns an account of an 'authentic' Mexican haunting published in Fate (Sept. 1977) which, shall we say, probably owes more than a little to MRJ's An Episode Of Cathedral History. Responding to critics who remarked the similarities, authors Bound and Lopez were adamant they'd no familiarity with James' work and their piece was based on documentary evidence provided them by a 'Professor Carrasco' and his aide, Jorge Zaragoza Carmona. Ro ponders the delightful possibility that the pair were themselves the victims of a hoax perpetuated by a mischievous 'Professor Carrasco' and his aide, Jorge Zaragoza Carmona. The Three Fortunate Concealments highlights an instance of MRJ subverting extant Celtic folklore to create a new (Anglo-Saxon) myth - namely "the three crowns of East Anglia' - via 'A Warning To The Curious.' And then there's Fluttering Draperies. All you ever needed to know about "MRJ's horror of cloth" and the likely origins of this peculiar faux phobia. From the 'Everlasting Club' writings, Wraiths don't show up on CCTV (except when they do). Not what this reader was expecting from the title but a riposte to a smug lit. bore's snooty, self-aggrandizing, and wildly misguided remarks on the ghost story. Am glad Ro cites Roald Dahl as an example of another cosy establishment non-authority on the subject, his pompous introduction to A Book Of Ghost Stories being a classic example of the "anything I don't like is hopeless" school. Judged on his seven intro's to The Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories, Robert Aickman also had plenty of this about him, but at least he wasn't boring with it. Finally for time being, Adventures of a Jamesian Detective (or Agatha Christie's Pardoe as it's known chez Dem) will resonate with anyone whose investigations of a literary mystery have met with success. Part 2, where-in the author identifies the lucky recipient of a copy of Thackeray's 'Ballads' dedicated by MRJ, is especially cheering. I think "Wraiths don't show up on CCTV" is the only article in the book where I get really angry! As for the Jamesian Detective piece, I wish I had more of that sort of investigation work to do (at reasonable rates, of course!).
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Post by andydecker on Jun 13, 2018 14:18:35 GMT
Got this a few days ago.
A very interesting book.Just browsed a bit and read the first couple of articles. I really have to refresh my knowledge of the tales. Before ordering it I re-read a few James stories. I had completly forgotten how creepy his work can be. Even a seemingly lesser (?) tale like "The Mezzotint".
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Aug 1, 2018 14:10:42 GMT
I really enjoyed reading this book, which I went through from cover to cover. In quite a few places it was a case of re-acquainting myself with pieces I'd read in G&S, but there was always something new to learn or something forgotten or given added context by other articles in the book. As someone who sometimes struggles on the more academic type of literary essay, I found everything here thoroughly researched, well informed, but very accessible... but, then, I knew that would be the case going in.
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Post by ropardoe on Aug 2, 2018 7:58:27 GMT
I really enjoyed reading this book, which I went through from cover to cover. In quite a few places it was a case of re-acquainting myself with pieces I'd read in G&S, but there was always something new to learn or something forgotten or given added context by other articles in the book. As someone who sometimes struggles on the more academic type of literary essay, I found everything here thoroughly researched, well informed, but very accessible... but, then, I knew that would be the case going in. Blush. Thanks Dan! I'm proud that no one can ever accuse me of writing an "academic type of literary essay". If I ever do, please put me away!
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Post by piglingbland on Aug 20, 2018 7:24:44 GMT
THE BLACK PILGRIMAGE reviewed in THE WASHINGTON POST.
Rosemary Pardoe’s “The Black Pilgrimage & Other Explorations: Essays on Supernatural Fiction”, gets ‘first billing’ in Michael Dirda’s “Washington Post” column of 15th August. In ‘This is getting weird: Critics on horror, science fiction and fantasy’, Dirda discusses the cross-fertilization of the horror, SF and fantasy genres and John Clute’s “useful umbrella term ‘fantastika’”. He then reviews some recent books about fantastika and has some fine things to say about Rosemary Pardoe’s writing.
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Post by jamesdoig on Aug 20, 2018 7:45:03 GMT
Gee, that's great! Well done Rosemary.
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Post by ropardoe on Aug 20, 2018 8:07:52 GMT
THE BLACK PILGRIMAGE reviewed in THE WASHINGTON POST.
Rosemary Pardoe’s “The Black Pilgrimage & Other Explorations: Essays on Supernatural Fiction”, gets ‘first billing’ in Michael Dirda’s “Washington Post” column of 15th August. In ‘This is getting weird: Critics on horror, science fiction and fantasy’, Dirda discusses the cross-fertilization of the horror, SF and fantasy genres and John Clute’s “useful umbrella term ‘fantastika’”. He then reviews some recent books about fantastika and has some fine things to say about Rosemary Pardoe’s writing.
Of course, a certain person thinks that everything in the Washington Post is 'fake news', so that's one order we won't be getting (hooray!).
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Post by dem bones on Aug 20, 2018 8:10:34 GMT
Congratulations, Ro. And very well done to the publisher!
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Post by andydecker on Aug 20, 2018 15:50:59 GMT
Congratulations, Ro.
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Post by piglingbland on Sept 13, 2018 11:37:36 GMT
Another very complimentary review of Rosemary Pardoe's "THE BLACK PILGRIMAGE & OTHER EXPLORATIONS: Essays on Supernatural Fiction" (ISBN 978-0-9572962-7-5) has been published in Rue Morgue magazine #184.The reviewer Dejan Ognjanovic in part says, www.shadowpublishing.net/www.rue-morgue.com/
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