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Post by ripper on Dec 7, 2018 10:56:38 GMT
Day seven Virgil Finlay ( The Girdle, Weird Terror Tales #3, Fall 1970) "Strange power had this belt of human skin, which was worn by Sir John's son in the trenches." Another of the great Weird Tales/ Not At Night one-hit wonders. To best of my knowledge, Joseph McCord's strange and bloody account of how a WWI fashion victim went down fighting was his sole contribution to supernatural literature.
Other stuff.
Chrissie asked me to say thank you for the kind comments about her work.
Appeal to contemporary authors, artists, and other undesirables. We've still got untold vacant slots to fill!
R.I.P. Pete Shelley.
Very sad about Pete Shelley. RIP.
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Post by ripper on Dec 7, 2018 11:26:41 GMT
That ending really took me by surprise. Another fine entry in this year's calendar.
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Post by Shrink Proof on Dec 7, 2018 14:02:19 GMT
Very sad about Pete Shelley. RIP. Indeed - one of the good guys. A great loss.
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Post by ripper on Dec 7, 2018 14:35:56 GMT
I thought that the mention of the belt or girdle sounded vaguely familiar, though I knew I had not previously read the story. A bit of digging and I found where I had heard about it before. Peter Stumpp, a 16th century German farmer, claimed that the devil gave him a belt or girdle which transformed him into a werewolf when he put it on. He was known as the Werewolf of Bedburg and was executed in 1589 for multiple murders.
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Post by andydecker on Dec 7, 2018 15:53:31 GMT
I thought that the mention of the belt or girdle sounded vaguely familiar, though I knew I had not previously read the story. A bit of digging and I found where I had heard about it before. Peter Stumpp, a 16th century German farmer, claimed that the devil gave him a belt or girdle which transformed him into a werewolf when he put it on. He was known as the Werewolf of Bedburg and was executed in 1589 for multiple murders. Right. That's a famous one. I read this one up back when "Le pacte des Loupes" aka "Brotherhood of the Wolf" and the beast of Gevaudon was a topic. Very well written story. Great example of how to put much plot into a few pages and succeeding.
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Post by ripper on Dec 7, 2018 18:12:09 GMT
I thought that the mention of the belt or girdle sounded vaguely familiar, though I knew I had not previously read the story. A bit of digging and I found where I had heard about it before. Peter Stumpp, a 16th century German farmer, claimed that the devil gave him a belt or girdle which transformed him into a werewolf when he put it on. He was known as the Werewolf of Bedburg and was executed in 1589 for multiple murders. Right. That's a famous one. I read this one up back when "Le pacte des Loupes" aka "Brotherhood of the Wolf" and the beast of Gevaudon was a topic. Very well written story. Great example of how to put much plot into a few pages and succeeding. I am undecided if the girdle in McCord's story is supposed to be the same one that Peter Stumpp claimed to have had, though I am not aware if he ever said that it was made of human skin like the one worn by Sir John's son.
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Post by jamesdoig on Dec 7, 2018 20:45:14 GMT
Chrissie is a serious talent! Yes - I always look forward to Chrissie's work.
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vaultadventcalendar
Black Crow King
Horror chav at the controls/ weird cheerleader #arts&culture
Posts: 143
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Post by vaultadventcalendar on Dec 8, 2018 5:30:20 GMT
Day eightChrissie Demant Charles Henry Mackintosh - whose Guardian of the Guava's graced CCT's At Dead Of Night, via Weird Tales - ably demonstrates how mummies can be dangerous even when - unlike the one above - they just lie their being dead. Many thanks to friend Helrunar for nominating Pussy by the great 'Flavia Richardson', "a short, sharp instance of some feckless innocent being mauled to death by the mighty claws of an ancient Goddess." Right; seaside, here I come. Hullo bucket hullo spade hullo toolkit hullo duffelbag hullo rope ladder hullo cemetery hello squishy bodies hullo skellingtons, etc.
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Post by ripper on Dec 8, 2018 13:38:59 GMT
Nice double bill of Ancient Egypt related terrors. I particularly enjoyed Flavia Richardson's tale, and as my Not at Night series collection is so thin I always welcome an entry from it.
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Post by helrunar on Dec 8, 2018 19:07:20 GMT
Lovely new selections! And with a gorgeous new drawing from Chrissie! A wonderful weekend treat.
cheers, H.
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vaultadventcalendar
Black Crow King
Horror chav at the controls/ weird cheerleader #arts&culture
Posts: 143
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Post by vaultadventcalendar on Dec 9, 2018 9:27:46 GMT
A. R. Tilburne Day nine " ... got spectre's in my heart ...." The evils of gentrification laid bare in Stanton A. Coblentz's most melancholy of ghost stories. On reflection, probably too un-nasty for Vault. You'll have to make allowances. I'm getting on a bit. Normal service will be resumed .... if/ when i can get my head to go again.[/div]
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Post by ripper on Dec 9, 2018 16:01:32 GMT
That was quite a change of pace and mood from previous calendar stories. I do enjoy this type of melancholic ghost story as well as those where the phantom is out-and-out malevolent. I quite like the sense of loss and regret that the author creates in the narrator.
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vaultadventcalendar
Black Crow King
Horror chav at the controls/ weird cheerleader #arts&culture
Posts: 143
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Post by vaultadventcalendar on Dec 10, 2018 8:19:06 GMT
Day Ten "Torture! ... Torture! ... It ... pleasures me."
The first of three all-time favourites.
As with On The Embankment, a London story as relevant today as when it was written, but there the similarities end. According to J. Mains, the version of 'Alex White' who wrote Never Talk To Strangers was Pan regular Dulce Gray which is a stroke of good fortune as women are woefully under-represented on this years VAC (sorry, it's just the way it worked out). Have no idea of the copyright situation regarding this one, so better run a Disclaimer.
Vault is a non-profit forum. Any possible infringement of copyright is entirely unintentional and offending items will be removed at owner's request.
Anyway, if you fancy a soundtrack and don't have Throbbing Gristle's Very Friendly to hand, here's Dulce singing 'You Tickle Me Spitless, Baby' with the Royal Jokers in 1963.
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Post by ripper on Dec 10, 2018 9:41:01 GMT
I can't think of much starker a contrast between yesterday's tale and today's Alex White shocker. Although I have read it before it still packs a punch, as does Dulce in that song.
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Post by helrunar on Dec 11, 2018 2:49:54 GMT
"Never talk to strangers," though everything about it was telegraphed almost from the get-go, was effectively grisly. Wikipedia says that Dulcie Gray, who I couldn't hear at all in that recording (she must have been a gingery old dear to be up for such fun in middle age!), was known for her murder mysteries and thrillers in addition to being an accomplished actress.
I know Flavia Richardson would have been envious of the deft facility with which Miss Gray rolled out the horrors in the finale of this unpleasant little caper. I'm not aware of the "Alex White saga."
cheers, Helrunar
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