|
Post by michaelscollins on Jan 17, 2024 15:37:23 GMT
I believe that's the first time my ghost stories have got a mention on Vault of Evil. Exciting!
Many good writers in this one and all for a good cause too.
|
|
|
Post by michaelscollins on Apr 22, 2021 13:06:29 GMT
This is Christmas Past by David Belbin. Belbin was an ex-policeman who turned to pulp teen fiction in the 90s, later writing the grim The Beat series about policing in the 90s. As suspected, this was In The Bleak Midwinter by Robert Swindells. Both were in the same book! www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?369068Anyhow, that concludes that long lasting mystery. (And I do aim to post on here more often, one just loses track of years...)
|
|
|
Post by michaelscollins on Dec 5, 2019 16:49:51 GMT
Hello, thanks, sorry for the belated reply. I was in Mrs Walkers class from 1995 to 1998. I have been working down the ifsdb list (and this forum's own description sections) to narrow down the possibles. The phrase "Horror for Christmas" definitely sticks in the mind for the collection with the vampire bats.
Mrs Walker's view was basically: kids learn best when they read. They read more when they enjoy the topic. Kids love (age suitable) horror. So she'd read to us from the Goosebumps books, and moved onto classics like The Signalman and A School Story. Great teacher.
A look through the isfdb brings up a few other possibles, which I note here so I remember them too:
And 3 better options. Apparently Scholastic UK produced three Christmas horror collections in the 1990s. My school was part of the Scholastic Book Club to aide literacy in working class areas in the 1990s. (As a result, I was one of the many test readers on the first Harry Potter book, incidentally, and 10 year old me... absolutely panned it!)
You can see why they'd mix in the mind with the Dalby Christmas collections. And, incredibly, I think I recognise that Chilling Christmases cover!
A look at Goodbooks using that link gives me a strong possibility for Story 1:
"Jingle Bells by Tessa Krailing - a girl who is haunted by the mysterious jingling of bells and a terrifying sense of suffocation every Christmas hopes moving house will put an end to her terror. However, the haunting follows her, and she has to find out why." Moving house, check, haunting follows her, check... now does she wind up dead in a car in a snow storm? There is another story about ghosts from the past in Chilling Tales which could also be the right one.
And as a result of this Vault of Evil/ifsdb/memory jog/GoodReads train of thought, I am now 80% sure I have tracked down story 2!
"'In the Bleak Midwinter'' by Robert Swindells. A family of four on their way to grandma's cottage. A heavy snowstorm forces them to seek shelter and accept the hospitality of a strange old man. I remember I had nightmares because of this story. It is dark. Dark and harrowing."
Yes, I think that's it. (If so, sorry for spoiling the From Dusk till Dawn style twist ending...)
Looks like I can track down copies fairly easily in the new year once the Christmas rush is over (hah!), but yes, thank you for the help, everyone! I think the mystery could be solved soon.
|
|
|
Post by michaelscollins on Nov 30, 2019 12:55:52 GMT
Two and a half years on, I am still trying to track these stories down. Chillers for Christmas wasn't it. I was sure Horrors for Christmas was the book read to my school class, but no, it wasn't (although the Basil Copper take on W.S. is good fun). Now for Shivers and to see if it has any vampire bat stories in it. It sounds like pulp horror and probably was, but the image of the locked room being broken open by the kids to find their dad surrounded by giant bats, and the coda: "It was morning and dad was dead"... it stuck in the mind!
I am increasingly worried that I am barking up the wrong tree on Dalby having edited the book, and my teacher actually read some other "Horror/Ghosts/something for Christmas" anthology published around 1993-97. I am reasonably sure of that timeline as I went into Dillons Book Shop on Argyll Street while the vampire bat story was being read in installments, found the book newly released, and spoiled the ending for myself!
Oh well, onward and upwards. The search continues.
|
|
|
Post by michaelscollins on May 6, 2017 17:38:43 GMT
I meant on a personal level, but the point is taken!
|
|
|
Post by michaelscollins on May 5, 2017 17:44:40 GMT
I'm not very keen on thread creation, but given the news of the untimely death of Mr Dalby, an old query surfaced to my mind. As its stumped me, I wondered if folk here would know, from the very bare recolllections.
Also, I was convinced I'd posted this months ago and then forgot all about it, only to check and find I hadn't. Mind's like a sieve...
Anyhow, the Richard Dalby anthologies my primary school teacher read to us, aged 10, had two stories in particular which lingered in the memory at the time. I've no idea who wrote them, or which books they were in, or even if they were any good. I think, but can't claim for certain, that they were in the "X for Christmas" series. It's certainly not Chillers for Christmas, though. Pretty sure it's not in Horrors for Christmas either, but I can only recall the Basil Copper and Robert Bloch's novellas in that, off the top of my head.
Sorry, inadvertent spoilers follow, but this is pretty much all what I remember, after 20 years...
Story 1. Young career minded woman goes off on a trip before Christmas, called Trez (pronounced that way, my teacher had interesting character name pronunciation at times, so no idea of the spelling) . Her car breaks down in a snow storm, and she travels to this hotel/house in the middle of nowhere, where an old woman - who seems strangely familiar to her - keeps calling her Theresa, despite the main characters claims that "she hasn't gone by that name" in some time. I think its meant to be her mum, despite the mum having died some time previously. Anyhow, she (Trez/Theresa) is dead in that car, and its her ghost who went to the hotel. Cliched story, but I didn't know that at the time!
Story 2. Young family on holiday! Car breaks down. What is it with cars in these stories? 2 parents, 2 kids. B&B place run by super creepy old man. Think he offers some cocoa that the kids dont drink, can't be sure. Anyhow, they wake up in the middle of the night, to find dad gone and mum drugged.Dad's in a room at the end of the corridor, surrounded by vampire bats, which are feasting on him. Kids get away to warn the police, but their dad dies. Happy Christmas!
Any ideas on who and what these stories were?
Thanks in advance.
|
|
|
Post by michaelscollins on May 5, 2017 17:21:03 GMT
Very sad news to hear about Richard Dalby's death. His 90s collections inspired a long held passion for horror fiction for me.
|
|
|
Post by michaelscollins on Nov 15, 2016 18:31:08 GMT
Which leaves, of all the tales, Florinda. What a horrible, nasty story that is. I mean that in the best possible way. Wee girl seems to have a imaginary friend, as family move into small place in the country, and start to clear the overgrown garden. When things start to go wrong, girl blames it on Florinda, her "pal". And then things start to get really dark, and creepy, and if I read it again now, it'd probably have a whole new layer of creepy parent fear on top. If this is symptomatic of Frazer's other stories, I'll need to track them down. However, I might wait till the wean's in uni... In that case think you would enjoy his The Fifth Mask. Copies of The Tandem Book Of Horror Stories are thin on the ground/ ridiculously overpriced just now but Ramsey Campbell included it in the excellent Fine Frights: Stories That Scared Me which should be a little easier to find. And whilst I remember nothing of Poor Girl, it leads me to a thought with Elizabeth Taylor: we all know The Fly Paper, right? I don't! I'll have a look for the Frazer, thanks. And on that note: Elizabeth Taylor - The Fly Paper: Sylvia is an unpopular, quiet young schoolgirl. Her mother died, and her gran has decided the best thing for Sylvia to do is to take piano lessons on the other side of town in the middle of Winter. Finally the bus home arrives, and on it, she finds one of those chatty types sidling up for conversation. This man seems on the creepy side, and Sylvia's smart enough to see the danger there. "I'm fond of children, I'm good with them" he says, but she gets off the bus..and he follows. Not to worry, a kindly old woman frightens him off, and says she'll just give our Sylvia a nice cup of tea before she phones the police for her... It must have been anthologised at some point, because Roald Dahl read it (possibly during his reading for that TV series in the 1950s that never was) and was adamant that it was picked up for use in Tales of the Unexpected. By that time, Taylor was dead, though I seem to recall Dahl had written to her in her lifetime to express admiration for the tale. I mean, even though it's a subtle tale at heart, there's probably an obvious reason why it's not published often (child harm), but even then, it's near complete disappearance surprises me.
|
|
|
Post by michaelscollins on Nov 15, 2016 15:43:27 GMT
I've misplaced my copy of this. It'll turn up somewhere. I like the nice massive 50+ story collections. They've always got the usual suspects, and a few duffers, but more often than not turn up a few unheralded good ones. This was my first introduction to Aickman, I've re-read Ringing the Changes since, and still haven't a clue what's going on there! Though that's a theme to the book - The Ash Tree, Schalken the Painter, Someone in the Lift and Three Miles Up were all stories which left me cold on first reading, but I've come to properly appreciate with re-reads. The M.R. James is up there with his nastiest, blood sucking revenge creatures. Lovely. My memory tells me The Ghost Who Vanished by Degrees is a funny one, I need to read it again, and The Judge's House is one of Stoker's finest. I find Stoker tends to waffle on a bit for my liking, but he can be quick and nasty ( The Squaw) and Judge's House is one of his most effective uses of creeping tension. (I feel it was an inspiration for Crooked House, the BBC ghost drama a few years back.) I think it was influenced somewhat by Le Fanu. Speaking of Stoker - B.M. Croker? an Irish horror writer, from roughly the same time period? Yer fooling no one with that pseudonym, Stoker... The Crowd is one of Bradbury's nastier works - no nostalgic childhood here, just an all knowing, unstoppable thing which should not be. The Wakefield is the only of his I've read as he is so difficult to get ahold of these days, and from the evidence, it's a crying shame. Which leaves Smee (obligatory Burrage reference here). There's also Man Size in Marble, a fantastic tale about the legend of two statues which are said to move once a year, and how the main character disbelieves it, even when he finds out his new house is the only place standing of the old house the people the statues are of lived in. And whilst I remember nothing of Poor Girl, it leads me to a thought with Elizabeth Taylor: we all know The Fly Paper, right? Roald Dahl said it was the one story he regretted not writing first. Classic of the nasty non-supernatural horror genre. Yet... I can't for the life of me recall it being anthologised in anything I've read, and the ifsdb draws a blank too. Which leaves, of all the tales, Florinda. What a horrible, nasty story that is. I mean that in the best possible way. Wee girl seems to have a imaginary friend, as family move into small place in the country, and start to clear the overgrown garden. When things start to go wrong, girl blames it on Florinda, her "pal". And then things start to get really dark, and creepy, and if I read it again now, it'd probably have a whole new layer of creepy parent fear on top. If this is symptomatic of Frazer's other stories, I'll need to track them down. However, I might wait till the wean's in uni...
|
|
|
Post by michaelscollins on Nov 15, 2016 15:07:44 GMT
I find Sad Ghost quite forgettable, beyond the fact that its got a character called Sorel and that's down to Rosemary Timperley. It's the only Fontana Ghost book I have, as I used to collect the Danby anthologies instead (no idea where they all went though!), but this site has reminded me to go looking for some of the others.
|
|
|
Post by michaelscollins on Nov 15, 2016 14:46:39 GMT
Dad was reading this on our family holiday in France in...1995-ish. He pointed out a few stories he thought were child-suitable (The Inexperienced Ghost, The Moonlit Road) but told me to, on no account, read The Room in the Tower.
Guess what I went right away to read.
Swiftly after, it became known as the book with THAT story in it! However, as an adult, I can appreciate it's position as one of the great horror stories. Creepy as hell, but builds nicely and with the quality of a dream to the reveal of the painting. Wonderful stuff.
Elsewhere, The Tower (Laski) was an enjoyable read aged 9 and then again aged 30. It's written by a devout atheist too, from what I hear, which must add some subtext or other to the thing. A woman feared of heights counting the steps up to the top of an Italian tower and back down again is such a simple premise, you'd think someone would have come up with before Laski. I've always found AJ Alan's Adventure in Norfolk hilarious, Muriel Spark's ghosts are always worth the price of admission, and The Axe is a great piece of satire about modern (modern even now) business which takes a nasty turn towards the end. Singlebury reminds me rather of Peter Cook's "interesting facts" fellow.
It's a collection which has (possibly) Le Fanu's finest ghost story, and of course: One Who Saw!
Dad gave me his copy of the book, and it's still on our living room bookcase. Certainly one of the better anthologies I've got a copy of somewhere.
|
|
|
Post by michaelscollins on Nov 15, 2016 14:15:09 GMT
Enjoy. I can only recall the Burrage, the Bierce and the Hartley off the top of my head, but Monkshood Manor is one of his nastier ghosts from memory.
|
|
|
Post by michaelscollins on Nov 14, 2016 14:56:25 GMT
Ah, now, this is my favourite anthology. As far as my memory stretches back, it was the first I owned, so that might have something to do with it. However, a majority of the tales within have certainly held up on multiple reads over the last twenty years. Aged 10, my primary school teacher decided to read the class the Goosebumps book series, which stirred the horror interests, and she moved on, as we reached Primary 7, to tackle the Richard Dalby Christmas horrors series. This had me scurrying to Dillons and Waterstones and the like to hunt down my own copies, only to find that Mum was slightly perturbed, to say the least. Finally, after what seemed like centuries, but was probably a few weeks, Dad arrived home from work one night brandishing a copy of this book. He'd found it in a second hand shop in Paisley during his lunch break, and he'd picked it at random from a few other similar Fontana/Armada type books. So I stayed up all night reading this book, and swiftly had nightmares. Looking back at it, this book introduced me to two of my top 5 favourite British short horror story writers, and to the one story which no one ever seems to remember which stuck a chord with me. I tend to lurk rather than post on this forum - most forums, in fact - but I figured if I was going to say anything, I might as well say a few words on this book. (I aim to avoid spoilers, but spoiler warning none the less!) R. Chetwynd Hayes - Introduction: This is how I like my introductions. No lengthy essays on the nature of ghosts. Just short and snappy "Hello, I'm your editor" with some teasing descriptions and biographic details of each tale and writer to get the excitement going. He wishes he'd come up with the Timperley and Eyre stories first. He supplies a story of his own which wont overshadow the rest of the book. L.P. Hartley - Fall in at the Double: One of the aforementioned top five writers, this was written towards the end of Hartley's life, so I am led to believe. Alfred the butler/servant, is straight out of a more sardonic tale: ghost story as told by Wodehouse, perhaps. There's no doubt to my mind that if Osgood had been in nearly any other Hartley tale, he's a doomed man. Though, whenever people get these big houses in the country for cheaper than the going rate in horror stories, they never seem to wonder if there's a catch! James Turner - The St Christopher Medallion: Now, here's the story which has stuck in my mind for twenty years without budging. And yet, hardly anyone has ever heard of it! Our narrator takes his son, Raymond, to his old school, Lancing, and while being nostalgic about his childhood, stumbles across the ghosts of two of his class who died during their time together. Hildreth was the first to die, a lonely, bullied boy who showed signs of being gay, and committed suicide. One of his few worldly possessions was a medallion of St Christopher. Soon after Bryant, a popular lad who was one of Hildreth's only friends, drowns swimming across to the other bank of the River Adur. Our narrator looked over him in the college chapel, and finds the medallion, buried with Hildreth, now around the dead boy's neck. With his return to Lancing, the man starts to see the horrific manifestations of his childhood everywhere. But what are they trying to warn him about? Warn. That's one perspective on things... Turner wrote a number of short stories before his death in 1975. There's an anthology, Where Shadows Fall, but I've not got a copy. I have been told this is the standout tale, however. Lots going on in this one. A.M. Burrage - One Who Saw: Technically, another of my top five, but really, he's my top one. And this is my favourite ghost story, undisputed, unbeaten after two decades of reading as many as possible. It starts like Smee and a few other Burrage tales, to be truthfully honest. "Hey, other people at this party, whatever happened to Likeable But Quiet Chap? He was nice."
"Oh, he's quite ill now", says a mysterious man in the corner.
Later that night, Mysterious Man in the corner told our narrator all about what befell Likeable But Quiet Chap, having become aware of the story himself.But that is to be churlish. For when the ghost that did for Crutchley's sanity shows it, it's all the more powerful for what we don't find out. Just that dejected young woman, sitting in the hotel garden. How Crutchley longs to see her face, despite the increased horrified reactions of the hotel staff to his telling them of her existence. The place in Rouen still exists, and despite much of that city being destroyed during WW2, some of the buildings in that specific area are still fairly old. Indeed, some are hotels, and still have those gardens hidden from street view. Feel like it would be tempting fate to look too far... Rosemary Timperley - Masks and Voices: We're never hidden from the fact that Kate Lethem has murdered her husband. She's on the run, and as far as Guyana. She's a sympathetic character too, an abused wife who finally snapped, and even then, the voice of her abusive partner seems to torment her from the beyond. It's a typical Timperley tale. Finally, to plagarise myself from a recent 100 Best Ghost Stories thing I wrote (at short notice, at a friend's suggestion, so I feel a better list could be compiled with time and effort)... Barbara Joan Eyre - Siren Song: The haunting takes place in, of all places, a caravan park! I knew those places had something of the night about them. I would call this another in the line of ghostly revenge tales, but then, is it? Eyre's story is subtle: so much so that, by the finish, we're not sure if the main character actually is suicidal, or if it is part of an elaborate murder plan. Or even if the ghost is protecting her, or using her as conduit for revenge, or even if revenge is not in the picture and we just have a malicious spirit which picks on the vulnerable. The relationship between mother and children is sweet but realistic, there is a sense of genuine love without the saccharine schmaltz, of the children who will try to take advantage of their mother's illness, but who still genuinely care about her. The less said about the husband, but then, it's hard to say if he is the villain or victim of the piece. As I say, the entire thing is a subtle read, and my interpretation changes on each reading. (distinctly battered front cover)
|
|
|
Post by michaelscollins on Apr 26, 2015 16:21:09 GMT
Hello Michael and welcome to the Vault. It may have been the Caldecott story. I think the last time I read 'The Ghost now Standing...' I skipped several stories, including the one by Caldecott, so I will re-read it and see if it was that one I was getting mixed up with Burrage's tale. Thanks! Long time reader of the forum (where else would one find folks views on LP Hartley's horrors, for example!). Caldecott's story, much to my surprise, I had actually read and entirely forgotten about. Its more about the portrayal of a chap whose dreams seem to correspond with events in reality. The train has more presence in the Burrage (and Serling). I have the vaguest inkling it should remind me of a similar, more famous, story from the time period, about a dreamer being in two places at once.
|
|
|
Post by michaelscollins on Apr 24, 2015 16:13:52 GMT
I have Shadows in the Air, which I thought was okay, but haven't come across the others in the series yet. I did read a railway ghosts factual book a few years ago, which I quite enjoyed, but for the life of me I can't remember its title and author. With regard to the A.M. Burrage story, when I first read the book I thought the man who alights at the wrong station dies at the end of the story, but to my surprise on re-reading it recently, he is alive and well at the conclusion. I don't know whether there is a similar story and I am confusing the two, but I thought he was found dead at the end. Despite being a Burrage fan, I hadn't read the story. Having a glance at it in the Francis Chard ebook, it reads remarkably similar to the Twilight Zone episode A Stop at Willoughby, one of Serling's favourite episodes. Only Serling's version adds on the downbeat ending you recall. There is apparently also a variation on the same theme by Caldecott, Branch Line to Benceston, from the 1940s.
|
|