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Post by dem on Aug 13, 2010 16:25:05 GMT
I must admit I don't at all go along with Stephen Jones' comment. Surely he can't have meant it seriously? Could he? "horror is the only genre that confronts the world's problems head on"  It's no big deal but that was the gist of it. It was the Years Best New Horror 18 launch. Several people were aiming their mobiles at the stage and I was hoping some clips would eventually emerge on YouTube so I could give an exact quote, because, to my way of thinking at least, it wasn't the evening's only debatable utterance. We'd not long moved to this board and I remember thinking at the time that, whatever the Vault hard core were about, it had very little to do with contemporary horror trends. I've a lot of time for Stephen Jones and haven't exhumed the line to do him down, merely to illustrate the point that perhaps the scene can take itself far too seriously sometimes. To be fair, Mr. Jones strikes me as a more than capable showman and it may have been intended as a team building gesture to the authors who'd given of their free time to bring us a reading (it was a very pleasant evening). To be fairer still, I might have completely misheard him, although an email received the next morning from a fellow attendee suggests otherwise. Ultimately you'll have to decide if you can take my word for it - but I'm prepared to swear on my Misty annual that the quote is, if not verbatim, then close as. Something I find odd is, as much as I enjoy amusing horror stories (especially if they have a bit of sick to them), as a rule, the same doesn't seem to apply to humorous ghost stories. Not so sure the genre suits, although the moment this is posted, I'll doubtless think of one that contradicts so sweeping a generalisation just to spite myself. |
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Post by David A. Riley on Aug 13, 2010 18:08:45 GMT
"To be fair, Mr. Jones strikes me as a more than capable showman and it may have been intended as a team building gesture to the authors who'd given of their free time to bring us a reading"
That sounds more like it!
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Aug 16, 2012 11:42:38 GMT
So having picked a mint copy of this over the weekend I couldn't resist dipping into it last night. My Dad originally bought this from the Woolworths bargain bin for me when I was off school ill. Obviously he thought that something with cockroaches crawling over an eye was the thing to cheer up his ten year old son and goodness me he was right. Congratulations to Mary Danby for squeezing 15 stories into its 150 pages. Dem's done the plot summaries so I have the far easier job of just saying what I thought Good call by your dad, JLP. I'm following your lead in just adding my reactions. Frances Stephens - Claws: When I started reading Frighteners 2, I had it in my head that it was an anthology intended for children (probably because I'm also working my way through Danby's Nightmares series). The scene where the girlfriend of the one of the lobstermen comes on to the protagonist in his car made me rethink that assumption. Roy Harrison - The Cockroaches: Lots of fun, and reminiscent of Thomas Disches' "The Roaches." Maybe the rabbinical student from this story and the young woman from that story would make a good couple. Bernard Taylor - Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake: Like JLP, I can't think of another horror story about a killer baby narrated by the baby, let alone one where I rooted for said killer baby. I read this years ago in another Danby anthology but still remember it vividly. Sydney J. Bounds - An Eye For Beauty: I'm fond of the "modern-day Gorgon" theme, so I was predisposed to like Bounds' solid take on the idea. If anyone ever wanted to put together an anthology of Gorgon-themed horror stories, there would be plenty of good material with which to fill it. |
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Aug 16, 2012 12:41:36 GMT
So having picked a mint copy of this over the weekend I couldn't resist dipping into it last night. My Dad originally bought this from the Woolworths bargain bin for me when I was off school ill. Obviously he thought that something with cockroaches crawling over an eye was the thing to cheer up his ten year old son and goodness me he was right. Congratulations to Mary Danby for squeezing 15 stories into its 150 pages. Dem's done the plot summaries so I have the far easier job of just saying what I thought Your dad - top bloke, John. |
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Post by Johnlprobert on Aug 16, 2012 22:36:54 GMT
So having picked a mint copy of this over the weekend I couldn't resist dipping into it last night. My Dad originally bought this from the Woolworths bargain bin for me when I was off school ill. Obviously he thought that something with cockroaches crawling over an eye was the thing to cheer up his ten year old son and goodness me he was right. Congratulations to Mary Danby for squeezing 15 stories into its 150 pages. Dem's done the plot summaries so I have the far easier job of just saying what I thought Your dad - top bloke, John. Cheers Craig - I'll tell him next time I see him! |
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Aug 17, 2012 11:41:14 GMT
Your dad - top bloke, John. Cheers Craig - I'll tell him next time I see him! My grannie let me watch Hammer House of Horror when I was ten. Acts of beneficence like this should definitely not go unrecognized.  |
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