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Post by dem on Aug 14, 2008 7:07:17 GMT
Another request from Vault of Evil WordpressMike writes: If any of you could help me…. My twin brother received a fantastic horror anthology years ago that featured a cover that was a slightly creepier version of the painting american gothic. It would have been sometime in the 80’s. The introduction discussed the incident involving the word “Croatoan”. Can any of you help? I want to buy this book for my son.
Thanks!Something's telling me this is Martin Greenberg & William F. Nolan (eds.) Urban Horrors, but i don't have a copy and i wouldn't want to direct our friend toward the wrong book. Can anyone help? |
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albie
Devils Coach Horse
Posts: 137
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Post by albie on Aug 14, 2008 11:54:01 GMT
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Post by Calenture on Aug 14, 2008 16:54:23 GMT
Quite famous, this one. The text below from this Wikipedia page"Croatoan" is a short story by Harlan Ellison, published in 1975 in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and anthologized in Strange Wine in 1978. The story was short-listed for a Hugo Award, and won a Locus Award. The story is also used for a specimen of analysis by Stephen King in Danse Macabre. "Plot summary The story's narrator, Gabe, is forced by a hysterical girlfriend to descend into New York City's sewers, into which he has just flushed her aborted baby. Arriving there, he finds that fetuses populate the sewers, along with an animal population composed of similarly disposed-of crocodiles, whom the fetuses ride, and the word "Croatoan", crudely lettered on a wall near the entrance to the sewer. The story ends with the narrator's hysterical realization: "I am the one they have been looking for all along....They call me father." "Croatoan" was also carved into a tree at the deserted Roanoke colony, possibly referring to the Croatan indians, whom many believe the survivors joined with when they left the colony." Um, I just thought it was worth nicking that text for Vault. Hi, Albie!  |
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albie
Devils Coach Horse
Posts: 137
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Post by albie on Aug 15, 2008 12:41:41 GMT
HI. That's the story. Not bad, as I recollect.
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Post by jackball74 on Oct 9, 2010 21:52:58 GMT
Another request from Vault of Evil WordpressMike writes: If any of you could help me…. My twin brother received a fantastic horror anthology years ago that featured a cover that was a slightly creepier version of the painting american gothic. It would have been sometime in the 80’s. The introduction discussed the incident involving the word “Croatoan”. Can any of you help? I want to buy this book for my son.
Know this is an older post but I have the book - "A Treasury of American Horror Stories" by McSherry, Waugh and Greenberg. A very good anthology!
Thanks!Something's telling me this is Martin Greenberg & William F. Nolan (eds.) Urban Horrors, but i don't have a copy and i wouldn't want to direct our friend toward the wrong book. Can anyone help? |
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stavner
Crab On The Rampage
Posts: 21
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Post by stavner on Oct 10, 2010 2:07:15 GMT
I went to ISFDB and looked up Urban Horrors, but apparently "Croatoan" isn't in that book.
I do remember Stephen King's discussion of the story in Danse Macabre. That's a good book, but King's colloquial style gets on your nerves in spots.
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Post by jackball74 on Oct 10, 2010 4:06:35 GMT
Oops - must have stuck my answer into the middle of the quote!
The book sought is "A Treasury of American Horror Stories" by McSherry, Waugh and Greenberg. It's a great anthology with a story from every state in the union. The intro discusses the Roanoke mystery in regards to Croatoan, not the Ellison story.
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