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Post by dem bones on Jun 12, 2018 17:11:20 GMT
Off the top of my head, the only phantom-hitcher (avowed) fiction I can think of are the relatively recent examples in Sherman & DeCandido's hit and miss Urban Horrors selection. Have drawn a complete blank on variations on Michael Arlen's 'The Phantom Footsteps' though know they are out there! Am also particularly interested in supernatural and/or horror fiction rooted in 'The Hook' and 'Typhoid Mary / AIDs Harry' legends. As ever, any suggestions welcome.
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Post by ropardoe on Jun 13, 2018 8:57:16 GMT
Off the top of my head, the only phantom-hitcher (avowed) fiction I can think of are the relatively recent examples in Sherman & DeCandido's hit and miss Urban Horrors selection. Have drawn a complete blank on variations on Michael Arlen's 'The Phantom Footsteps' though know they are out there! Am also particularly interested in supernatural and/or horror fiction rooted in 'The Hook' and 'Typhoid Mary / AIDs Harry' legends. As ever, any suggestions welcome. It being an unwritten rule at the time - in fact I think it was written at the time in the All Hallows guidelines - that you should never write a story based around the Phantom Hitchhiker legend, Steve Duffy accepted the challenge. It was with considerable success too, I think. "The Vanishing Hitchhiker" appeared in Supernatural Tales 1 (2001). He followed up with an equally good take on the Hook legend: "The Hook" appeared in Supernatural Tales 3 (2002). At around the same time, I think his story "Numbers", in Queer Fear II (2002) is a take on one of the Aids urban legends.
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Post by dem bones on Jun 13, 2018 10:44:26 GMT
It being an unwritten rule at the time - in fact I think it was written at the time in the All Hallows guidelines - that you should never write a story based around the Phantom Hitchhiker legend, Steve Duffy accepted the challenge. It was with considerable success too, I think. "The Vanishing Hitchhiker" appeared in Supernatural Tales 1 (2001). He followed up with an equally good take on the Hook legend: "The Hook" appeared in Supernatural Tales 3 (2002). At around the same time, I think his story "Numbers", in Queer Fear II (2002) is a take on one of the Aids urban legends. Thank you, Ro! Three variations on 'The Hook' from the aforementioned Urban Horrors; Kristine Kathryn Rusch - The Hook Billie Sue Mosiman - The Hook of Death Adam-Troy Castro - What Happened Next Four phantom hitchers: Elizabeth Walter - In The Mist: ( Davy Jones's Tale & Other Chilling Supernatural Stories, 1971; The Spirit Of The Place & Other Strange Tales: Complete Short Stories, 2017) Suzanne Pickett - I Can’t Wear White: ( Weird Tales, Jan 1953: Robert Weinberg, Stefan Dziemianowicz, and Martin H. Greenberg (ed's.) 100 Wild Little Weird Tales, 1994) Maeve Friel - The Hitch-hiker on Blueberry Hill: (Helen Paida [ed.] Scary Stories for 10 Year Olds, 2000) Joseph Rubas - The Ghostly Hitch-Hiker: ( Shades: Dark Tales of Supernatural Horror, 2017) AIDs Harry (with fangs); Robert Bloch - The Bedposts Of Life: ( Weird Tales, Summer 1991).
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Post by dem bones on Jul 12, 2018 15:45:03 GMT
David W.Landrum - The Phantom Hitchhiker : ( Fiction on the Web, 2014). Musician and ghost-finder, Sossity Chandler, picks up a mystery girl on the highway home from a tough gig at One-Eyed Mick's biker bar. As they drive, Vanessa hums Dickie Lee's teenage death disc Laurie while fading to transparency in her seat. Fiction of the Web showcase a frequently updated selection of original short stories. Readers of this forum might like to sample those classified under Creepy ...
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Post by Shrink Proof on Jul 12, 2018 16:13:20 GMT
Moving sort-of sideways from the above, I'd recommend a canter through Jan Harold Brunvand's "The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends and Their Meanings". It's a sort of academic-ish work by a folklorist, looking at all the best known urban legends; the vanishing hitchhiker, the alligators in the sewers, you know the drill. Not exactly PhD-level stuff but some interesting thoughts on their characteristics - like the fact that there's always folk who swear that they happened (usually not to them, but to a friend or a relation or a relation of a friend, etc.), or that there are even cases where they are reported in the press as happening (which turn out to vanish like mirages on close examination). The author even categorises them, with a chapter each on car stories (e.g., "The Philanderer's Porsche"), teen horror tales ("The Hook"), contaminations ("Spiders in the Hairdoo"), death ("Dead Cat in the Package"), nudity ("Nude in the RV"), and business ripoffs ("Red Velvet Cake").
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Post by ropardoe on Jul 12, 2018 18:05:16 GMT
Moving sort-of sideways from the above, I'd recommend a canter through Jan Harold Brunvand's "The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends and Their Meanings". It's a sort of academic-ish work by a folklorist, looking at all the best known urban legends; the vanishing hitchhiker, the alligators in the sewers, you know the drill. Not exactly PhD-level stuff but some interesting thoughts on their characteristics - like the fact that there's always folk who swear that they happened (usually not to them, but to a friend or a relation or a relation of a friend, etc.), or that there are even cases where they are reported in the press as happening (which turn out to vanish like mirages on close examination). The author even categorises them, with a chapter each on car stories (e.g., "The Philanderer's Porsche"), teen horror tales ("The Hook"), contaminations ("Spiders in the Hairdoo"), death ("Dead Cat in the Package"), nudity ("Nude in the RV"), and business ripoffs ("Red Velvet Cake"). Yes, Brunvand is the best writer on urban legends. I recommend all his books.
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Post by dem bones on Jul 13, 2018 11:53:46 GMT
Moving sort-of sideways from the above, I'd recommend a canter through Jan Harold Brunvand's "The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends and Their Meanings". It's a sort of academic-ish work by a folklorist, looking at all the best known urban legends; the vanishing hitchhiker, the alligators in the sewers, you know the drill. Not exactly PhD-level stuff but some interesting thoughts on their characteristics - like the fact that there's always folk who swear that they happened (usually not to them, but to a friend or a relation or a relation of a friend, etc.), or that there are even cases where they are reported in the press as happening (which turn out to vanish like mirages on close examination). The author even categorises them, with a chapter each on car stories (e.g., "The Philanderer's Porsche"), teen horror tales ("The Hook"), contaminations ("Spiders in the Hairdoo"), death ("Dead Cat in the Package"), nudity ("Nude in the RV"), and business ripoffs ("Red Velvet Cake"). Yes, Brunvand is the best writer on urban legends. I recommend all his books. Sounds exactly what I'm after - many thanks for the suggestion. will see if lovely staff at Watney Market idea store (formerly library) can order in a copy. Not entirely sure ghost below is hitching a ride but this uncredited cover painting is adorable. John Harries - The Ghost-Hunter's Road Book (Letts, 1974)
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Post by Shrink Proof on Jul 13, 2018 13:56:45 GMT
Dem, I had to do a double take on that one. Having read it decades ago, I was 101% convinced that "The Ghost Hunter's Road Book" was one of the scores of similar books published by Peter Underwood. Surprised me that it was by A N Other. Must've confused it with Underwood's "Gazetteer of British Ghosts", which reappeared later (as Underwood's stuff tended to, either repackaged, recovered or compiled) as this:- Interestingly, "British" isn't considered the same as "Scottish", a view that will have gained Underwood a few fans north of the Border...
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Post by PeterC on Jul 15, 2018 18:58:23 GMT
The Bite and Heads You Lose by Francis Grieg (both 1981) are collections of fictionalised urban legends. Both are highly recommended.
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Post by dem bones on Sept 11, 2018 7:41:23 GMT
Margaret Isbell - Appointment With Death: ( The Unseen #11, Aug 1953). You Can't Always Be Sure of a Hitch-Hiker on a Dark, Snowy Night! A car wreck on the snowbound highway. A young man begs a ride to Lewisville Hospital where his wife is fighting for her life. Stephen Gammell : ( Scary Stories To Tell in The Dark, Scholastic, 1981) 'Jeanette' - Beware of the Hookman: (Various US local newspapers, 8 November 8 1960). Widely cited as 'The Hook's print début, 'Jeanette's letter was first published throughout the US in 'Abigail Van Buren's multi-syndicated advice column, Dear Abby. Retold in: Alvin Schwartz - The Hook: ( Scary Stories To Tell in The Dark, Scholastic, 1981) S.E. Schlosser - The Hook: ( Spooky Campfire Tales, Globe Pequot Press, 2007). Read at American FolkloreRex Miller - Box 69: (Jeff Gelb, Hottest Blood: The Ultimate In Erotic Horror, 1993). A wronged lover's revenge, featuring alluring hooker Robyn in 'Aids Mary' mode. Plenty for the 'Classified Ads' section in this one. Art Saaf: ( The Unseen #9, March 1953)
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Post by dem bones on Sept 13, 2018 6:34:52 GMT
Alvin Schwartz - The Bus Stop; ( Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones, HarperTrophy, 1991). Another day, another variation on 'The Phantom Hitch-hiker.' A rainy day. Ed Cox offers a lift to a girl at the bus stop. The two hit it off, and Joanna Finney agrees to go out with him the following evening. The relationship blossoms until the night Joanna doesn't show up. Ed calls at her house in Farmington, where the girl's mother relates a tragedy of twenty years ago. Songfacts. com provides the intriguing back story to Dickie Lee's immortal phantom hitcher disc, and unlikely US hit single, Laurie (Strange Things Happen)/ The Girl from Peyton Place (TCF Hall, 1965). Needless to say, would love to locate the original newspaper article which inspired it.
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Post by dem bones on Sept 23, 2018 9:26:56 GMT
Charles Black - The Con: ( A Taste For The Macabre, Mortbury 2018). Personal pick of Baron Mortbury's second collection, cutely turns the legend on its head to create a new one. Anthony Horowitz - The Hitch-hiker: ( More Horowitz Horror, Orchard, 2000). Neat if predictable spin on "the killer in the back seat." Anon - We Picked Up A Ghostly Hitch-Hiker: Who was the strange hitch-hiker on the lonely country road? ( Shout Spooky Stories: 13 True Life Experiences, DC Thomson, 1997). Follows established drill to the letter. Dad and teenage daughter pick up a handsome young hitcher who gives his name as Richard Ellis. Some way along their short drive he vanishes from the back seat. A few weeks later she chances upon his grave in the cemetery. "There are stranger things in this world, Horatio ..", "It happened to me, " etc.
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Post by dem bones on Nov 20, 2018 7:08:09 GMT
Moving sort-of sideways from the above, I'd recommend a canter through Jan Harold Brunvand's "The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends and Their Meanings". It's a sort of academic-ish work by a folklorist, looking at all the best known urban legends; the vanishing hitchhiker, the alligators in the sewers, you know the drill. Not exactly PhD-level stuff but some interesting thoughts on their characteristics - like the fact that there's always folk who swear that they happened (usually not to them, but to a friend or a relation or a relation of a friend, etc.), or that there are even cases where they are reported in the press as happening (which turn out to vanish like mirages on close examination). The author even categorises them, with a chapter each on car stories (e.g., "The Philanderer's Porsche"), teen horror tales ("The Hook"), contaminations ("Spiders in the Hairdoo"), death ("Dead Cat in the Package"), nudity ("Nude in the RV"), and business ripoffs ("Red Velvet Cake"). My kind of bookshop. Monster budget of £10 soon swallowed up, but came away with five prize paperbacks - including a wants-list stalwart and a Dr. Proof non-fiction recommendation. Throw in the freebie adventure and it's time and money well spent. Which one was that as a matter of interest? Jan Harold Brunvand - The Vanishing Hitchhiker: Urban Legends and their Meanings (Picador, 1983) Cover photography: Peter WilliamsBlurb: Hasn't everyone heard the story about the take-away chicken that was really a batter-fried rat? Or the one about the carnivorous spider hidden underneath a well lacquered hairdo, busily eating away at the scalp? They're the stories that always happened to a friend of a relative of the man in the pub who's telling it to you. But as Jan Harold Brunvand demonstrates in this wonderfully entertaining book, they're a great deal more than that. These tales form the folklore of modern man. Some of them have gained so much credibility that they regularly appear as genuine news. Here then is the myth and the legend of the fast-food joint and the parking lot, the executive life-style and the urban jungle. Here lurks the story of the alligator in the sewer and the madman and the babysitter.
`A long string of legends about cars and cadavers, purloined corpses and killers in the backseat, including the eponymous hitchhiker herself. He demonstrates that almost all the stories so widely told in America and frequently in Europe are inherently unlikely even if they did happen to your best friend's best friend' THE SUNDAY TIMES
'Folklore is alive and thriving, even though we didn't recognise certain tales as such. Who hasn't heard of mouse parts in a Coke bottle, the dead cat in a stolen package. Brunvand examines these and other contemporary legends along with variations' PUBLISHERS WEEKLYNot had much free time this past four days, but managed to have a couple of dips into this one - as suspected, just what I was after so thanks for the recommendation. Am now looking for horror fict variations on 'the hippie babysitter' and 'the dead boyfriend' (am certain Richard Laymon incorporated the latter into one of his novels, but which one?). Two further adventures of 'The Hook' from Stefan Dziemianowicz, Robert Weinberg, Martin H. Greenberg (eds.) - Horrors! 365 Scary Stories: Get Your Daily Dose of Terror (Barnes & Noble 1998). David Annandale's After The Hook and, one of the best to date in my humble, Richard T. Chizmar's wicked Monsters
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Post by Shrink Proof on Nov 20, 2018 8:27:26 GMT
Glad you found a copy - mine was from a second hand book place in wildest Geordieland. It proves that non-fiction can be fun too.
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gilmore
Crab On The Rampage
Posts: 27
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Post by gilmore on Nov 20, 2018 11:19:38 GMT
'On Harting Hill' is a rather sweet vanishing hitchhiker story from Kate Mosse's collection The Mistletoe Bride & Other Haunting Tales, 2013. I have the1999 collection, Too Good To Be True, The Colossal Book of Urban Legends, by Brunvand which includes all of the old favourites from the '83 collection in addition to new legends.
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