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Post by lemming13 on Jun 22, 2011 8:36:23 GMT
Super! I've been galloping through the last batch far too quickly, I'll have to pace myself or I'll be right through them by Saturday. Let me know how much for p &p and I'll paypal it on to you (last payment get to you okay, by the way?)
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Post by lemming13 on Jun 22, 2011 8:33:29 GMT
Ramsey, that's the best news I've heard in ages; I will definitely be in line for the ebook version. Any others lined up?
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Post by lemming13 on Jun 21, 2011 7:39:53 GMT
Can I have the Railway stories as well, or is that gone?
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Post by lemming13 on Jun 21, 2011 7:37:38 GMT
I got The Sound of His Horn as a freebie ebook from Manybooks; verrrrry interesting reading.
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Post by lemming13 on Jun 21, 2011 7:35:28 GMT
C W Leadbeater's An Astral Murder - totally train-oriented.
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Post by lemming13 on Jun 19, 2011 15:59:12 GMT
OOh! If that includes The Evil People and The Satanists, I'm definitely in the market.
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Post by lemming13 on Jun 19, 2011 15:50:05 GMT
Agree with you on both those stories; I'm not a fan of Bradbury, though he does have his shining moments, and I thought that one was particularly unsuited to the collection. I thought the Tennessee Williams was astoundingly daring, and it quite startled me, but my favourites in this lot are Williamson and The Idol of the Flies.
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Post by lemming13 on Jun 18, 2011 11:46:05 GMT
Well, concluded this one and enjoyed it immensely, though I did think it could have done with a bit more variety in the stories and I still prefer Cold Print. There are a lot of running themes - childhood nightmares, decay and corruption, urban degeneration - which work well within the stories but when all read at once (or in a couple of sittings) can become repetitive. Still, I am delighted to have it and can heartily recommend a read. Have to say, though, the blurb by Stephen King concerning The Companion - 'horror beyond my ability to describe' - says more about King's writing ability than Ramsey's story. It's good, but I thought it was far surpassed by The Man in the Underpass, Mackintosh Willy, In the Bag, Baby, Calling Card... There are so many really disturbing stories in this collection, but if I had to pick one outstanding one I think it would be Mackintosh Willy. That one stirs up so many childhood terrors, and the landscape is so disturbingly familiar (at least to a Briton from any city), it gets to me more than any other. That's one thing I can always rely on Ramsey for; his stories actually do give me the shudders.
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Post by lemming13 on Jun 18, 2011 11:31:15 GMT
The Poor Clare, Elizabeth Gaskell. The nuns aren't supposed to be villainous, but I found them deeply creepy. There are nuns in Wyndham's The Cathedral Crypt, too, but sadly only as sidekicks to creepy monks and as a victim of said monks.
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Post by lemming13 on Jun 18, 2011 11:27:49 GMT
Sorry the picture is so tiny but my scanner is buried under a pile of papers at the moment and this was the only image I could find of the cover to the copy I have. There was a result on Google giving the Vault website but the image didn't load (photobucket account playing up?). Anyway, I had this from nosferatu and started it last night. This 1969 Ensign Books (originally from Leslie Frewin) collection claims to host 'twenty of the most horrible horror stories ever published', and many of the ones I've read so far have indeed been rejected or even banned at various periods for their nastiness, though in all honesty I have not read one yet that really lived up to the reputation for me (probably because I've been spoiled by modern tidal waves of gruesomeness). Still, there are several fun stories, and since I can't find a thread about it on here yet, I thought I'd share. There's a foreword by August Derleth, which is quite nice, a prologue by Peter, and then: The Monk, Matthew Lewis. An extract from the end of the epic, in which the monk Ambrosio and his witch consort Matilda have been captured by the Inquisition. The Raven, Edgar Allen Poe. A bit of a cheat in my view, since it is a poem, not a story, and its justification as horrific appears to be largely based on the vapourings of Robert Browning's wife. The Bird Woman, Henry Spicer. A story of deformity from an author apparently turned down flat by some publishers for his nastiness. My Own Tale, R H Benson. A restrained little piece about a house which seems to repel residents. Williamson, Henry S Whitehead. A very well-crafted story about a man who is to all appearances the nicest of chaps - and yet, inspires a strange terror in some quarters... A Thing of Beauty, Wallace West. A sweet tale of a hunchbacked janitor at a medical school and a vat of cadavers. The Outsider, H P Lovecraft.This one I thought was a poor choice, since though it's a good story it has been anthologised so many times it fails to impress; but apparently it was Derleth's pick for the collection. The Loved Dead, C M Eddy. This story of necrophilia appeared in the Wordsworth collection of HPL's work under the same title, but there is no mention of the Lovecraft connection in Haining's introduction; though he does mention Weird Tales and Farnsworth Wright. The Copper Bowl, Captain George Eliot. Again, familiar from many anthologies, a story of fiendish torture by an evil Chinese mandarin. The Feast in the Abbey, Robert Bloch. One of his early tales, this one a gothic tale of strange monks and a peculiar banquet. Very juicy. The Cathedral Crypt, John Wyndham. Tourists accidentally locked into an old cathedral witness a less than charming survival of customs. The Graveyard Rats, Henry Kuttner. Ghoulish tale of a graveyard custodian's battle against unusually smart rodents. Bianca's Hands, Theodore Sturgeon. Rare horror piece from the science fiction writer; a disturbing story of a girl whose hands are the only thing of beauty about her. The Head and the Feet, C S Forester. Story of a Nazi death camp doctor. The Idol of the Flies, Jane Rice. Tale of quite the nastiest child you may meet in fiction and his rather unsavoury habits. A Night at a Cottage, Richard Hughes. A vagrant sheltering in an abandoned cottage meets up with a fellow wanderer. The Shape of Things, Ray Bradbury. Rather silly science fiction story of a couple whose child is born into the wrong dimension. Desire and the Black Masseur, Tennessee Williams. Very daring and disturbing story of the relationship between a timid white clerk and a black masseur. The Coffin, Dennis Wheatley. Extract from The Ka of Gifford Hillary, concerning burial alive. Mercy, Laurence James. The victim of a car accident is trapped and bleeding to death.
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Post by lemming13 on Jun 17, 2011 19:24:57 GMT
How about Huxley's Devils of Loudun? More creepy nuns than you can shake a rosary at!
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Post by lemming13 on Jun 17, 2011 11:06:09 GMT
I didn't much go for Ginger Snaps, hated American Werewolf In Paris, and I was underwhelmed by The Howling (the were-hamster was the worst thing, true). Big Bad Wolf wasn't great but it has its moments, and some very near the knuckle stuff indeed. I actually did quite like The Wolf Man (and Van Helsing, and The Mummy). I think the trouble with the likes of Van Helsing is, they aren't really supposed to be more scary than a big budget Scooby Doo; these are really created for a family audience as some fantasy eye candy. But studios do try to get maximum bums on seats and sell them in a misleading way. In fact I think that's the issue with The Wolf Man. It was oversold. The hype machine gets going and starts peddling the latest film is the 'greatest, scariest, most amazing thing you will ever see; it will shatter your sanity, cause you to spontaneously combust and and make your library books overdue...' Only it isn't, of course, so people are let down. The more so if they've been drawn into watching 'making of' promo features and the like, which I refuse to watch till after I've seen the film because I want to keep the illusion-shattering for afterwards. The same happens with comedy -'gutwrenchingly, knicker-wettingly funny' turns out to be 'mildly amusing'. For once it would be nice if the marketing division would try an approach on more restrained lines. 'Go see Mad Cheesegrater Killer 4 - it's quite good really...'
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Post by lemming13 on Jun 17, 2011 10:50:58 GMT
Nosferatu has kindly supplied me the Fontana version with the wardrobe, and I'm enjoying it considerably. The Man in the Underpass is my favourite so far, possibly because it recalls nightmares I used to have about a particularly nasty underpass that used to run from our semi-derelict bus station to a small shopping precinct (sealed off years ago because of the excessive risks involved in using it). Juicy stuff.
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Post by lemming13 on Jun 17, 2011 10:45:17 GMT
Oh, these look so much fun - once I'm through nosferatu's box of jollies, I must go for these. Of course, I may find nuns lurking within those too...
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Post by lemming13 on Jun 15, 2011 11:24:18 GMT
I felt the same about Straight To Hell; Courtney Love was bleeding diabolical. Mind you, I feel the same about her music. I've been in the summer sale at Amazon and just acquired a few jollies - David Attenborough's The Tribal Eye, Boy Eats Girl, the Lee/Cushing Hound of the Baskervilles, Plague of the Zombies, and The Gorgon. When I'll find time to watch them is now the question, as I just got a huge box of fabulous books from nosferatu. I love that man, and I want to host his mutant parasites.
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