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Post by dem bones on Apr 29, 2008 8:11:07 GMT
After the Second World War, and, as far as the horror anthology was concerned, Not At Night and the Creeps had never happened. The bias now was toward the literary ghost story which probably makes a lot of sense. Everyone had doubtless experienced enough real horror, gore and tragedy to comfortably see them through the rest of their lives without worrying about what some sadistic circus freaks, carnivorous plants and mad surgeons might be doing to scantily clad debutantes.
Typical of the early efforts are John Hardies 22 Strange Stories (1945) wherein familiarity breeds contempt and Anne Ridler's more entertaining resurrection of oldies for Faber, Best Ghost Stories (1945). The Mandrake Root (1946) and At Close Of Eve (1947) edited by 'Jeremy Scott' (Kay Dick), both published by Jarrold at least attempted something different. The former is a very personal selection of the old and new, notable for Dorothy K. Haynes' The Changeling. Her Thou Shalt Not Suffer A Witch ... saw it's first book publication in At Close Of Eve, a collection of all-new stories and essays about which no less an authority than E. F. Bleiler was moved to comment: "Mostly mundane fiction, needlessly obscure, over-written and pretentious" (I'd love to let him loose on some modern 'dark fantasy'!). James Laver's haunted inn story, Pamela Hansford Johnson's Sloane Square and the Haynes contribution are among the few absolved from criticism.
Kay Dick followed these with The Uncertain Element (1950), about which I know absolutely nothing. The same year saw Herbert Van Thal's Told In The Dark for Pan, a strong selection of Victorian and near-contemporary classics which offered not the smallest hint of what he'd be getting up to at the close of the decade, likewise his A Book Of Strange Stories (Pan, 1956). Lady Cynthia Asquith's Ghost Book had been published way back in 1926, and in 1952 we finally got the second volume, with the third following three years later. These are every bit as good as the debut and have been wisely ransacked by anthologists ever since (the Robert Aickman edited volumes of the Fontana Book Of Great Ghost Stories are particularly indebted).
The scandalously unsung Randolph C. Bull's Perturbed Spirits (Arthur Baker, 1954) is a dry run for Hugh Lamb's great Victorian Horror collections of the 'seventies.
John Keir Cross - no slouch when it came to writing a surreal terror tale and a man who'd attempted to raise the devil for the BBC compiled Best Horror Stories (1957) for Faber (Raspberry Jam, Our Feathered Friends and A Rose For Emily would all feature in the early Pan Horrors), but where's our lovely pulp horror nonsense gone? Badger Books' commendably silly Supernatural Stories proved that there was still a market for disposable escapist tosh but it was left to Herbert Van Thal to fly the flag for the not always entirely sensible horror you can enjoy over and over and in that respect he is the true successor to Christine Campbell Thomson and Creeps era Charles Birkin.
As if the emphasise the need for something different, Pamela Search's The Supernatural In The English Short Story (1959) took us right back to where we began with John L. Hardie. With few exceptions, Search utilised the same authors, sometimes even the same stories, anticipating Robert Aickman who would revisit them once again as editor of the soon-come Fontana Book Of Great Ghost Stories!
If anybody can flesh out this listing, please do!
John L. Hardie - 22 Strange Stories (Art & Educational, 1955)
Anne Ridler - Best Ghost Stories (Faber, 1945)
Jeremy Scott (Kay Dick) - The Mandrake's Root (Jarrold, 1946)
Jeremy Scott (Kay Dick) - At Close Of Eve (Jarrold, 1947)
D. Scott-Moncreiff - Not For The Squeamish (Background Books, 1948)
Kay Dick - The Uncertain Element (Jarrold, 1950)
Herbert Van Thal - Told In The Dark (Pan, 1950)
Cynthia Asquith - The Second Ghost Book (Barrie, 1952: Pan, 1956)
Herbert Van Thal - A Book Of Strange Stories (Pan, 1954)
Randolph C. Bull - Perturbed Spirits (Arthur Baker, 1954)
Cynthia Asquith - The Third Ghost Book (Barrie, 1955: Pan, 1957)
Randolph C. Bull - Upon The Midnight: Ghost & Horror Stories (MacDonald, 1957)
John Keir Cross - Best Horror Stories (Faber, 1957)
Pamela Search - The Supernatural In The English Short Story (Bernard Hanison, 1959)
Basil Davenport (ed.) - Deals With The Devil (Faber, 1959)
Anon - Tales Of The Supernatural (Pan 1947, 1951)
R. Thurston Hopkins - Cavalcade of Ghosts (World's Work, 1956)
Updated 18/ 7/ 2022
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Post by bloodhound on Jul 22, 2012 14:25:39 GMT
Sutro Miller - "H" Is For Horrific (Sentinel Publications Ltd, 1947)
I have this one, if you require a scan then please let me know.
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Post by dem bones on Jul 22, 2012 16:04:22 GMT
Thanks Karl, that would be terrific if it's not too much trouble.
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Post by bloodhound on Jul 22, 2012 18:42:38 GMT
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Post by bloodhound on Jul 22, 2012 18:45:20 GMT
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Post by durdles on Jul 17, 2022 18:02:48 GMT
Hi Dem Bones, I have eight of the books you've listed here. As this post was quite a while ago would you still like some information on them? I'd be happy to do so.
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Post by dem bones on Jul 17, 2022 20:12:44 GMT
Hi Dem Bones, I have eight of the books you've listed here. As this post was quite a while ago would you still like some information on them? I'd be happy to do so. Hi Durdles, many thanks for registering and also for your kind offer. Actually, the anthologies on the list were those we were familiar with — I was asking if people could think of any from the 'fifties we'd overlooked. Now you've reminded me this thread existed, will try and update it tomorrow! |
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