Pan Horror 14 - Sir Gore Carruthers

[allthingshorror]

you're right it is - have previously contacted the fella who owns it. By Josh kirby too.

[erebus]

Vortex of Horror : This is like a bizarre nightmare that someone has dreamt up. Not unlike a Lovecraft tale. Very surreal but enjoyable at that.

Schwartz : Awful.... What on earth is a dull story like this doing in a Horror book. Its more like Sci Fi . And incredibly stupid

The Rat Trap : Typical Pan fare. Nasty person gets his comupance. Not the greatest of stories but one to read and basically forget about.

The Hook : Love the end. Like a question mark indeed. Odd story of course but original to say the least

The Man and The Boy : This is horrible. Not written horrible but the subject matter. Its sadly a thing that happens today and reading a tale like this is very disturbing. A difficult read and quite frankly one that shocked me. Definetly the most horrid in the book.

Still have Strange Roots to read yet but to judge this volume I would say average.

[robertmammone]

While trawling through Paul Finch's blog I saw him wax lyrical about Vortex of Horror (surely wins and award for title not matching story contents?).

Story itself is fine, but not overly memorable.

Scwartz: f**k**g awful. Obviously a parody/comedy/satire piece, but why was it included? Does Johnny Mains know?

The one with the woman and her insufferable husband and dog - dull.

The Spider story - really quite good and a bit stomach churning. Joshi would wax lyrical about the prose poetry, while damning it overall as being symptomatic of the fall of Western civilisation.

Will read the rest over weekend and hope quality improves markedly.

[Swampirella]

   

Just ordered this and five others, more to add to the collection than because it really grabbed me. Includes:

Vortex of Horror - Gaylord Sabatini
So Much Work - Conrad Hill
Schwartz - Harry Turner
The Rat Trap - Myc Harrison
Patent Number - Gerald Atkins
Strange Roots - David Case
The Clinic - Alex White
The Spider and the Fly - Myc Harrison
Change of Heart - John Snellings
The Hook - Gilbert Phelps
The Man And The Boy - Conrad Hill
It Came To Dinner - R. Chetwynd-Hayes

At least the Chetwynd-Hayes story should be good/great.

Just finished it; not bad...

Vortex of Horror (Gaylord Sabatini): A reporter tries to interview an old man, and ends up hearing the tale of an accidental and unexpected visit to a parallel world, where plants farm humans as food.

So Much Work (Conrad Hill): A rather pointless but entertaining tale. Mrs. Nesbit, a browbeaten wife, is obliged to join her husband when he takes "her" dog for a walk. The denouement is certainly unexpected. As is my use of the word "denouement".

Schwartz (Harry Tuner): Schwartz is an all powerful computer, at least in 1973. Until he gets lonely and is provided with a companion. 0 horror, mild amusement.

The Rat Trap (Myc Harrison): Three brothers live on their farm The eldest, Luke, is what used to be known as a wastrel, the youngest, Matthew, is mentally challenged and the middle one, Jed, tries to keep the peace. While the Jed is elsewhere, the drunk and enraged Luke decides to try to find and kill a rat in the barn, with the unwilling Matthew forced to help. The rat isn't the only one in trouble.

Patent Number (Gerald Atkins): 1.5 pages about Eddie, who had an accident and had most of his moving parts replaced by man-made ones. Easily readable, easily forgettable.

Strange Roots (David Case): Anton is a lone scientist researching lycanthropy. His neglected wife, meanwhile, researches adultery with various partners. After a government official puts the idea of using it against the country's enemies, Anton decides to use it against his wife's lover. Naturally there's a twist at the end.

The Clinic (Alex White): Beautiful Ellen is "the only child of a broken marriage". Sent to France at 12 to visit her mother, doctor stepfather and step-sister. None of them are nice at all and she's happy when the visit is cut short. When her father, who has sole custody, dies unexpectedly, she's forced to return permanently. Her step-father sends her to his clinic for "correction". Brutal and unforgettable.

The Spider and The Fly (Myc Harrison again):  Another very short story. A spider spins a webs across the naked corpse of a dead woman. In the midst of death we are in life, and all that....

Change of Heart (John Snellings): Paula thinks she sees a cannibal across the street eating cats and dogs. Actually, her husband has paid somebody to do this in hopes of having her committed. Then he has a change of heart and wants to call it all off.

The Hook (Gilbert Phelps): Mrs. Rydall invitations to her sought-after house parties always have the phrase "Don't bring your coat-hangers"  You'll have to read it to find out why. Quite good, I thought.

The Man and The Boy (Conrad Hill, again): For me, the most disturbing story of this volume. A man returns to his childhood village and recalls the summer's day he went fishing and what happened to irretrievably spoil that day and have repercussions that would never fade.

It Came to Dinner (R. Chetwynd-Hayes): Another RCH winner here; a tramp stumbles across a run-down country house in the Fens. It's occupied by the aristocratic but odd Carruthers family, who really love their meat. Readers can easily guess where this will go, but it's a great pleasure to read the how and when.

 

[lena01]

The Pan Book of Horror Stories was a paperback series of short horror story anthologies published by Pan Books Ltd. The series ran to thirty volumes, the first published in 1959.
The series was initially collected and edited by Herbert Van Thal. On Van Thal's death Clarence Paget edited the series, from volume twenty-six until its demise with volume thirty in 1989.

The early editions of the Pan Book of Horror Stories were notable for their lurid cover art and Van Thal's introduction of stories by new authors alongside classics of the genre. The first edition included works by Peter Fleming, Muriel Spark, Bram Stoker and C. S. Forester. Later volumes featured Ray Bradbury and Lord Dunsany among others. Basil Copper made his debut in fifth volume, with the story "The Spider". The series also published work by Charles Birkin, R. Chetwynd-Hayes and Alex Hamilton. [4] After volume nine, Van Thal placed a heavier reliance on new authors. The series grew in popularity and was the stepping stone for much new talent. In the 1970s, the increasingly violent content of the Pan Books provoked some controversy. In the early eighties a slow decline in standards was observed. Popularity rose again in the late eighties but a multitude of reprint stories from Stephen King and a severe slide in quality ended the iconic series in 1989. The last book is now a rare collectors item, due to the small print run it received.

A U.S Edition of the first Pan book was released by Gold Medal, an imprint of Fawcett Publications and books 3 - 5 were released by Berkley Medallion. While the first book was complete in its contents - the other three books gave only a small selection of its UK counterparts. There is no evidence to support PBoH #2 ever having a US release.

Screaming Terror published under the Arthur Baker imprint is a collection from the first three Pan Book of Horror Stories and is also edited by Herbert Van Thal.

[johnnymains]

Aug 4, 2017 8:09:33 GMT lena01 said:

The Pan Book of Horror Stories was a paperback series of short horror story anthologies published by Pan Books Ltd. The series ran to thirty volumes, the first published in 1959.
The series was initially collected and edited by Herbert Van Thal. On Van Thal's death Clarence Paget edited the series, from volume twenty-six until its demise with volume thirty in 1989.

The early editions of the Pan Book of Horror Stories were notable for their lurid cover art and Van Thal's introduction of stories by new authors alongside classics of the genre. The first edition included works by Peter Fleming, Muriel Spark, Bram Stoker and C. S. Forester. Later volumes featured Ray Bradbury and Lord Dunsany among others. Basil Copper made his debut in fifth volume, with the story "The Spider". The series also published work by Charles Birkin, R. Chetwynd-Hayes and Alex Hamilton. [4] After volume nine, Van Thal placed a heavier reliance on new authors. The series grew in popularity and was the stepping stone for much new talent. In the 1970s, the increasingly violent content of the Pan Books provoked some controversy. In the early eighties a slow decline in standards was observed. Popularity rose again in the late eighties but a multitude of reprint stories from Stephen King and a severe slide in quality ended the iconic series in 1989. The last book is now a rare collectors item, due to the small print run it received.

A U.S Edition of the first Pan book was released by Gold Medal, an imprint of Fawcett Publications and books 3 - 5 were released by Berkley Medallion. While the first book was complete in its contents - the other three books gave only a small selection of its UK counterparts. There is no evidence to support PBoH #2 ever having a US release.

Screaming Terror published under the Arthur Baker imprint is a collection from the first three Pan Book of Horror Stories and is also edited by Herbert Van Thal.

This is the wikipedia page for the Pan Horrors - why you reproducing it in the Pan 14 thread specifically? 

[andydecker]

Onward to Pan Horror 14 with the wonderful Josh Kirby cover. This got not much coverage. For synopsis see Swampirella's great introduction.


Vortex of Horror - Gaylord Sabatini.

Typical monster story with a twist. Nothing new here, quite violent, very B-Movie, but fun in an old-fashioned way. Seems this is the only story of the writer. But this is too smooth to be a one-off. Maybe a pseudonym?


So Much Work - Conrad Hill

Hill on the other hand published half a dozen tales. A dark and absurd comedy. In places really funny.


Shwartz - Harry Turner

I wonder if it was so dumb at the time of publishing. But this has aged so badly, it is not funny.


The Rat Trap - Myc Harrison

A typical sadistical Pan story. Nothing supernatural, just a deeply unpleasant tale of abuse and karma, which as we all know is a bitch.



Patent Number - Gerald Atkins

Another head scratcher of bad SF. 1 ½ pages. What was the point? This is like Shwartz. No plot, just a sketch.


Strange Roots - David Case

This first Case which is a fail for me. Too many pages of unrelated stuff, which has lost any relevance and is just rambling. It seems to want to be satiric in tone, but falls flat. Then a too long tale for its mad scientist plot with an inane twist at the end.


The Clinic - Alex White

After all this years this is still a revolting conte cruel. The story doesn't make sense, but it is the stuff nightmares are made off. A minor masterpiece.


The Spider and the Fly - Myc Harrison

Exact the opposite to The Rat Trap. A short snapshot, no real plot. But morbid and atmospheric.



To be continued.

[dem]

I've a particularly fondness for this volume, even if its only the Alex White, Gaylord Sabatini and RCH stories have stayed with me.

Turns out we had two threads for PH14, so have now merged them.

#superbmoderatingskills #masteroftechnology

[andydecker]

I missed this. Thanks!

#dobetterresearch

[andydecker]

14 Months later ...

Change of Heart - John Snellings

Today this is called "gaslighting" in some circles. I liked the writing more than the plot, which glossed over too many improbable things. The twist at the end would have merited a different title. Still this is a typical Pan.

I wonder how many recognized the Night Stalker reference back then. Seemingly Snellings is another of those mystery contributors with one story only. This is much too well written to be the only story of the writer.

The Hook - Gilbert Phelps

A bit uneven. Too long and takes ages to come to the point, but the last third is again typically Pan.

The Man And The Boy - Conrad Hill

Sometimes it is really interesting how horror stories are ahead of their time. In popular culture like crime tv and novels this has become a doubtful mantra: the abused becomes the abuser. A chilling and unpleasant work, again much more effective then most of todays offerings.

The difference to Too much work is huge. I am not convinced that you do a writer a favour if you present such different works in the same volume. But Hill is a writer who surely will be welcomed in the next Pan's.

It Came to Dinner - R. Chetwynd-Hayes

As I maybe already mentioned I had to read a lot RCH. This is vintage RCH, without the so-called humor and playing it straight. While the ending is not a big surprise, there is a lot to like here. One wonders what RCH could have achieved if he took another path. In the Sandman's library there is a RCH gothic horror novel which was the basis of a blockbuster 70s horror movie.

When Pan fails, it fails spectaculary. There were some terrible stories, when it came to sf, van Thal had no clue. But on the whole 1973 was a good year for Pan. A wonderful cover, one absolut classic story and a few very well written ones.

[fritzmaitland]

October 20th - Strange Roots - David Case. Sir Gore Carruthers had been eyeing me from the shelves for a while. I couldn't read It Came To Dinner as I'd already used an RCW story this month. An acquaintance had mentioned The Clinic, and I had fond memories of Vortex Of Horror being batshit crazy but when my gaze travelled down the table of contents, it was David Case who waved at me. One odd phrase jumped out at me to remind me that I head read this in adolescence, but I'd retained no memory. Case is on his werewolf schtick, which he's very good at. This time he's gone for an oddly cynical satirical tone, disparaging everyone from shaggy protesting students to top secret war mongering government departments, and indeed the subject of horror itself. There's one brilliant scene, when Anton's experiments finally go right, and after a bad dream, he has to go and investigate a strange middle-of-the-night howling in his laboratory. It's a little uneven, and the ending somewhat anticlimactic (although rather suspenseful) - it's a yes from me.