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Post by dem bones on Sept 19, 2008 11:54:51 GMT
One more for you. Don't know how I could've forgotten Ramsey Campbell's magnificent Cold Print, the cautionary tale of kinky school-teacher Sam Strutt whose obsession with CP literature leads him into the clutches of a Lovecraftian abomination.
Anyway ....
Frank Neate - Miss Fletcher's Plum Tree: New Zealand. Doddery old Miss Anita Fletcher is a closet sadist with worsening mental problems and when she catches little Ian Reeves scrumping plums from her favourite tree it goes badly for him. Between attending her housework, admiring the garden and offering tea and sympathy to the police searching for the missing boy, she tortures Ian over a period of days, finally realising that it would not be in her interests to ever let him go.
It's rather frustrating having to dump him in the river, but doubtless there will be other little tykes to repace him.
Old people. They're really creepy when you think about it.
Patricia Highsmith - The Terrapin: This one manages to be nasty and pathetic at the same time. Victor's Mama is a ridiculous creature; a would-be illustrator of children's books, she forces him to enjoy her drawings and dresses him in stupid six year old's clothes that make him a laughing stock among the other kids. She's also quick to strike him if he displeases her in any small way. Victor despises the very ground she walks on. The day Mama brings home a terrapin to cook in a stew finally does for his restraint, and all the rage and frustration spews out in a bloody matricide.
Martin Ricketts - The Nursery Club: After the death of his wife, Lord Brandon employs John Graydon and our narrator, David Ryan, to tutor his children in the comfort of their really depressing nursery room. The kids, two boys, two girls, ranging from the ages of ten to six, are shy, angelic, fun little creatures - but still Graydon can't help but think there's something not quite right about them. When he suggests they form a secret club, the children are delighted. Unfortunately Michael, the eldest, has been reading up on his history and knows what they used to do to traitors at the Tower of London ....
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Post by marcgreenman on Jul 15, 2013 22:16:43 GMT
just finished reading volume 12, enjoyed it a little more than volume 23, thought that overall the writing was stronger, although not as adult or nasty, much slower and more considered. here is my verdict: The Hunter - gripping thriller, is it a werewolf or something else? 5/5 The Instant Divorce - not bad, better than the poem in 23 3/5 In Mother’s Loving Memory - nice murders, not much plot 2/5 Ashes to Ashes - great way to die, nice final twist 4/5 The Terrapin - decent enough 2.5/5 Sergeant Lacey Demonstrates - short but effective chiller 3.5/5 Borderline - unpleasant, effective short 3/5 Pieces of Mary - twisted murder, nice and gory 3.5/5 Miss Fletcher’s Plum Tree - child abduction and murder 4/5 The Nursery Club - children's teaching goes wrong 4/5 Laura - short but morbid 2.5/5 The Dancing Shoes - not bad 2.5/5 The Peg-Doll - decent ghost story 3/5 Man With A Knife - okay story 2.5/5 a fairly decent collection, felt that this was better than 23, my last read. the hunter is miles away from kowlongo plaything in terms of style, more slow burning but leaving a lingering impression, it is probably the most substantial story in the collection by some way, though some of the others aren't bad. particularly liked the psycholigcal duel between the two hunters, this was perhaps the most gripping aspect as the villain toyed with the hero. i could easily see this as a movie, with someone such as bruce willis playing wetherby, getting on but still in the game, versus an intelligent, psychotic oponent, such as anthony hopkins (as examples!), in fact this has been filmed, as scream of the wolf (1974), see www.imdb.com/title/tt0072128/ . have not yet seen this so can't compare them. liked the postive comments on mrs fletcher's plum tree as this was another favourite. overall rating 3/5
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Jul 16, 2013 18:11:31 GMT
The Hunter - gripping thriller, is it a werewolf or something else? 5/5 If you liked "The Hunter," then I would recommend Case's other novellas: "Fengriffen," "The Cell," "The Dead End," "Pelican Cay," and "Among the Wolves." He's a master of the slow burn.
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Post by marcgreenman on Jul 16, 2013 22:10:28 GMT
volume 15 is next, looking forward to re-reading among the wolves. have actually read most of the pans before, case has always been my favourite author! the re-reads are something of a re-discovery, since i'm older now, i expect my tastes may have changed, have forgotten most of the stories though some still stand out!
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Jul 17, 2013 18:48:35 GMT
Ah, in my zeal to promote Case I didn't notice that you mentioned him as one of your favorite authors in your first post.
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Post by marcgreenman on Jul 18, 2013 12:15:31 GMT
i'm currently re-reading volume 15, i'm in the middle of among the wolves which is going really well, an exceptional story. bodes well for the rest!
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Post by charliegrenville on Jun 20, 2014 0:49:54 GMT
David Case -The Hunter
David Learmont Aitken - The Instant Divorce
Barry Martin - In Mother's Loving Memory
Alan Hillery - Ashes To Ashes
Patricia Highsmith - The Terrapin
Norman Kaufman - Sergeant Lacey Demonstrates
James Jauncey - Borderline
Robert Ashley - Pieces Of Mary
Frank Neate - Miss Fletcher's Plum Tree
Martin Ricketts - The Nursery Club
Barry Martin - Laura
Rachel Kemper - The Dancing Shoes
Rosemary Timperley - The Peg-Doll
T. H. McCormick - Man With A Knife
EEEEYIKES. PIECES OF MARY- another one that EVERYONE remembers!! This story is so universally regarded as utterly nausea- inducing that even my ex was terrified of it, and practically NOTHING scared that old dragon.
IN MOTHER'S LOVING MEMORY and LAURA are similarly ick, but retain that slight air of daftness associated with Barry Martin: not as daft, though, as THE INSTANT DIVORCE, another one of Bertie's little forays into poetry (not that he wrote it, but he at least chose it) which always met with mixed reviews. BORDERLINE is quite exciting but suffers from a touch of badly written English: SERGEANT LACEY DEMONSTRATES shows Nasty Norman Kaufman stepping, albeit temporarily, out of his usual 'first person' nastiness into the tale of someone else who genuinely gets what they deserve. MAN WITH A KNIFE, meanwhile, is a masterclass in atmosphere, with that wonderfully clinical, disinfectant- drenched air of hospitals all over it, and deserves to be better known.
And then there's THE HUNTER. I loved it at the time of first reading- yes, believe it or not, there are some David Case stories I've managed to delve into despite their immense length- and thought it might even make a good film, but would it still? I shall have to have another read and find out...
The rest I either haven't read or need reminding of, but no doubt they'll yield up rewards, even if, because of the cover artwork, layout and fonts, it does come across as a budget, lite version of the 11th volume, but with maybe a bit more quality control. The trick is to drill a strict reading regimen back into oneself rather than just gazing out of bus windows...
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Post by franklinmarsh on Jun 20, 2014 15:23:23 GMT
And then there's THE HUNTER. I loved it at the time of first reading- yes, believe it or not, there are some David Case stories I've managed to delve into despite their immense length- and thought it might even make a good film, but would it still? I shall have to have another read and find out... What ho, Chas. I hope you do get something out of The Hunter if you go back to it. I reread it recently and it stood up well, or as well as it could as nothing can match that hair-raising first read. I wanted to watch the US TV movie version Scream Of The Wolf, and started off (in true Marsh style) by obtaining a 99p copy of ...er...Moon Of The Wolf, which turned out to be a Southern Fried Werewolf melodrama, with David Janssen, Bradford Dillman and some unconvincing make up - but proof positive that the Americans do have a class system. I obtained a copy of Scream Of The Wolf in somewhat bizarre circumstances and it proved to be...not too bad. Directed by Dan Curtis with some atmosphere, and Peter Graves and Clint Walker doing their best, but failing to recreate that uniquely British setting.
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Post by andydecker on May 30, 2020 19:52:30 GMT
So I got nothing better to do than read Pan 12. The one with the de-frosted skull.
David Case – The Hunter This is even longer than Case's opening story of 11. It is a fine tale, no doubt about this, but … more on this at the end.
David Learmont Aitken - The Instant Divorce Lizzy Borden took an axe … We have this kind of rhyme already. So why bother to duplicate this? This is just filler.
Barry Martin - In Mother's Loving Memory A deranged killer of woman whose mind got scrambled by his mother – now I know I am reading a Pan. This is so by the numbers it is a bore.
Alan Hillery - Ashes To Ashes And because once is not enough, here is the next unfaithful woman which gets killed. With a lame twist which is obvious on the second page. I guess in 1971 it wasn't that obvious, but this is the second story in a row purely by the number.
Patricia Highsmith - The Terrapin Of course talent and craft make all the difference. A nasty story with basically the same psychological profile and plot elements as the Martin, mother abuses her child until the son finally snaps. But the execution takes this on a whole another level. Do you really cook turtles like hummer?
Norman Kaufman - Sergeant Lacey Demonstrates Again the same plot. Revenge of the Abused, EC made in Britain. The sameness gets to be annoying.
James Jauncey – Borderline Not very remarkable, but a nasty story with a good twist. I liked the black humor.
Robert Ashley - Pieces Of Mary Again a too short story with a simple plot. But Ashley manages to make it as unpleasant as possible with his tone.
Frank Neate - Miss Fletcher's Plum Tree Hands down the most horrifying black comedy of the volume. I guess this wouldn't be published today.
Martin Ricketts - The Nursery Club It worked for me. Nice atmosphere, a view of the past – the private teacher situation was kind of creepy, two teachers have to share a room because they have to live on the premises? – and a good ending.
Barry Martin – Laura And another two page story which is obvious from start to finish. If you know a few stories of this kind this won't surprise you.
Rachel Kemper - The Dancing Shoes Nice ghost-story and a much needed breath of variety.
Rosemary Timperley - The Peg-Doll Nothing remarkable about this. The lame ending didn't help either. They throw the doll into the fire and that's it?
T. H. McCormick - Man With A Knife I guess okay, but again nothing remarkable.
In one word weak. Why start with a short novel? I like Case as much as other Vaulters, but I wouldn't have put this at the beginning. Again. This is the Pan Book of Horror Stories, not the Book of a Case novel and a few random short-shorts for filler. The sameness, shortness and un-originality of most of the rest was a disappointment. Didn't van Thal really got no better material than this? This is a lazy anthology.
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Post by helrunar on May 31, 2020 11:31:16 GMT
Thanks for these notes, Andreas. The book sounds very disappointing although if the Case novella is good, at least one would have that. I am not familiar with the author.
I'm quite intrigued by what you say about Frank Neate's story about the plum tree. I looked him up on ISFDB and this is the only thing by him attested there. And this was the story's only publication. Sounds like something worthwhile, as does Patricia Highsmith's story and a couple of the others.
cheers, Steve
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Post by helrunar on May 31, 2020 11:40:28 GMT
Interesting to read through this thread and the notes others have made about the tales.
Gosh, David Case wrote "Fengriffen"--I finally watched the film version, And now the Screaming Starts last year--hoo boy, what a rotten show! I felt tremendous sympathy for all the actors. Maybe the original novella actually made sense--the film script as realized onscreen was barking.
The notes about Miss Fletcher, her plum tree and that unfortunate little boy remind me of a story I read by Joan Aiken back in the early 70s about a woman, who I think was a Witch, who was obsessed with somebody's quince tree. I don't remember much about it. The story may have intrigued me because we do not seem to have quinces here in America and I wondered what the fruit was like.
Steve
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Post by andydecker on May 31, 2020 13:51:25 GMT
Gosh, David Case wrote "Fengriffen"--I finally watched the film version, And now the Screaming Starts last year--hoo boy, what a rotten show! I felt tremendous sympathy for all the actors. Maybe the original novella actually made sense--the film script as realized onscreen was barking. The notes about Miss Fletcher, her plum tree and that unfortunate little boy remind me of a story I read by Joan Aiken back in the early 70s about a woman, who I think was a Witch, who was obsessed with somebody's quince tree. I don't remember much about it. The story may have intrigued me because we do not seem to have quinces here in America and I wondered what the fruit was like. Steve The novella Fengriffen makes a lot more sense than the movie. The movie has the problem that it changes the PoV and some key events dramaticaly. The novella is narrated by proto-psychiatrist Pope in the first person and the first part of the story is told in long flashbacks, for instance. I can understand the reason why they changed this for the movie, there would have been two different flashback in different times which may have been confusing for the viewer and also hinder the flow. Also the ending is a major change in the movie, rather less effective, if you ask me. I don't want to spoil it, but if you want to know just ask The spoiler function from ProBoard doesn't seem to work.
I absolutly adore Fengriffen, must have read it half a dozen times over the years.
At least the story of Miss Fletcher and her plum tree has a moral. Don't steal in the neighbor's garden if you don't want to get sadistically tortured and killed. Miss Flechter would have made Buffalo Bill proud with her efforts
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Post by fritzmaitland on Nov 1, 2020 10:26:05 GMT
David Case - The Hunter. When I started the October odyssey, this was always going to be the Halloween finale. After haunted paintings racked up to three, expert big game hunter stories also achieve the hat trick. My fondness for this story dates back to the first time I read it. The young man hurrying back from the pub to his wife, and seeing their front door ajar...real hair raising stuff back in the day. I love the mystery aspect...more of a whatdunnit than a whodunnit. And the penultimate scene with a trophy room (reminiscent of the 1930s The Most Dangeous Game film) certainly crept the flesh this time around.
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marcrhodestaylor
Crab On The Rampage
just received fengriffen and other gothic tales this afternoon looking forward to another great read
Posts: 14
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Post by marcrhodestaylor on Feb 20, 2021 18:44:59 GMT
I have just watched the tv movie Scream of the Wolf and thought it was not bad at all; a little slow in places, no gore as such and very little violence which ends abruptly when it does happen. The murders and their methods were different, no beheadings just one missing face which we are not shown and I can't remember what happened to the other victims. There is no climatic trophy room scene, which would have been terrific. Instead, the story goes on for a little while longer and brings the story to an actual climax; there is no doubt as to what happens to Wetherby and Byron. I thought that Graves and Walker acted their roles fairly well, Walker in particular was gripping very sinister it was amazing that he wasn't arrested, a bit of a plot flaw, there was another big flaw with the climax which I won't go into for those who haven't see the film yet. There is also a difference in the response of the authorities, with the film featuring a major police operation even the national guard are brought in. The psychological twists of Case's story are successfully preserved, especially in Byron's point of view. The story and several of Case's other stories are still available in The Cell and Other Transmorphic Tales. Please feel free to check out Case's other collections Brotherly Love, and Pelican Cay and Other Disquieting Tales. Pelican Cay was nominated for a British Fantasy Award. In Case's favour The Hunter was more violent, more gruesome and more morbid overall, the tv movie did tone certain aspects.
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Post by fritzmaitland on Oct 6, 2021 15:40:52 GMT
Well, after Irvine Welsh, I was hoping to carry on ringing the changes on October 6th with Chuck Palahniuk's Haunted, but the blurb on the back told me it's a novel composed of stories, so I thought I'd leave it. Pan 12 was fortunately nearby. Rosemary Timperley - The Peg Doll. Alan finds a peg doll in the rubble of his latest demolition job (an old orphanage) and brings it home. To his and wife Joan's surprise, their daughter Alma really takes to it, considering she's shown little on no interest in any of the fancy painted dolls she's previous been presented with. But when her behaviour starts to alter, and her folks are awakened by screaming in the night, Al decides he'd better investigate peg dolls, and that orphanage he helped to demolish...
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