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Post by dem bones on Aug 25, 2008 19:31:44 GMT
Karl Edward Wagner (ed.) - The Year’s Best Horror # 9 (DAW, August 1981)  Michael Whelan
Stephen King - The Monkey
Ramsey Campbell - The Gap
Neil Olonoff - The Cats Of Pere LaChaise
Basil A. Smith - The Propert Bequest
Dennis Etchison - On Call
Peter Shilston - The Catacomb
T. E. D. Klein - Black Man With A Horn
William Relling, Jr. - The King
Harlan Ellison - Footsteps
Peter Valentine Timlett - Without Rhyme Or ReasonIt's been ages since I read this but I know I was very taken with Ellison's she-werewolf tale (written before an avid audience in the front window of a Parisian bookstore), Peter Shilston's The Catacombs from Ghosts & Scholars and the Timlett and Olonoff stories about which I can now recall absolutely nothing. The King features an Elvis tribute band who come to grief. I really must reread this .....
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Post by Johnlprobert on Jul 4, 2011 15:33:08 GMT
I've finally made a start on the KEW-edited volumes (I don't have Volume VIII, in fact it's the only one I haven't been able to find so any donations would be very gratefully received  ). It'll be interesting to see how they differ from the Davis / Page books which I've so far really enjoyed. The Monkey - Stephen King. It's a toy monkey, one of those clashing cymbal affairs, except that whenever the cymbals go jang (according to this) someone dies. Even though I'd revisited Stephen King only recently with Children of the Corn I'd forgotten just how good he is. This story is about 50 pages long but doesn't outstay its welcome at all and is in fact loads of fun, right down to the inevitable attempting to get rid of the evil cuddly toy in question. Great start to volume 9. |
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Post by Johnlprobert on Jul 18, 2011 7:43:17 GMT
Ramsey Campbell - The Gap. Lionel Tate, author, gets given one of those jigsaws where there's no picture on the front of the box. As he begins to assemble it he realises that it shows him and...someone creeping up behind him. Unfortuately he can't tell who it is as there's just a gap where its face should be. A walk through the back alleys of Soho probably isn't a good idea, no matter how much his head needs 'clearing' and it all ends like many an RC tale - uncomfortably and in darkness.
Neil Olonoff - The Cats Of Pere LaChaise. Would you go walking in a cemetery where there are far too many well-fed looking cats with the bloke whose wife you stole? Thought not, but some people just never learn - presumbaly the sort who don't read stories like this one.
Basil A. Smith - The Propert Bequest. Old-fashioned Jamesian horror, and at novella length as well. Dr Propert (no relation) has a huge collection of old books that various parties are after and ending up dead in the process. When he dies the book entitled 'An Office of Deliverance From the Evil One' could possibly hold a clue. Lots of Latin quotes and an author whose day job was Rector of Holy Trinity, Micklegate in York should be enough to tell you whether or not this one's your bag.
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Post by Johnlprobert on Jul 19, 2011 16:14:01 GMT
Dennis Etchison - On Call. I know Dennis Etchison is a very good horror writer. The intro here says he 'may well be the finest writer of psychological horror this genre has seen', and many people whose opinions I greatly admire hold him in very high esteem. Sadly (and I do mean that - I always feel very sad indeed when I don't 'get' horror stories that are widely considered to be classics) very little of his work does much for me and unfortunately 'On Call' is one of them. Wintner drops off his wife for a doctor's appointment and then she disappears, or she never existed, or there's something weird about the clinic she went to, or maybe something else - I don't know. All I do know is I got a headache getting through this one and I don't doubt the fault's all mine. Sorry Dennis.
Peter Shilston - The Catacomb. And just to show it really is horses for courses this next tale turned out to be one of the bloody scariest I've read in ages. Stopping at an obscure village in Sicily Mr Pearsall finds himself in a deserted square facing a locked church. A side entrance leads to a nave filled with paintings depicting biblical scenes and characters in which all the characters look evil. Locked in, he finds his only possible means of escape is down into the catacombs, where he encounters an aisle of preserved bodies dating back hundreds of years until, once he has gone as far as possible he finds...
I'll leave it to you to find out but I LOVED this - even writing that synopsis has me shivering at its memory. Lots of good horror in this one & I hope Mr Shilston (a history teacher apparently) wrote some other stories.
T. E. D. Klein - Black Man With A Horn. Here we go again - that trepidation when I know I'm about to read a story widely considered to be a classic and knowing there's a chance it may do nothing for me at all. Thankfully this time all was well - this is a cracking novella with some great nasty bits and a properly disquieting concept for a monster. Add in the bits of lung tissue scattered around the vicar's apartment and you have a story that deserves its reputation as a bit of cracker.
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Post by Johnlprobert on Jul 19, 2011 16:19:02 GMT
William Relling, Jr. - The King. There was a time when Elvis Presley horror stories were pretty common. In fact, was there an anthology devoted to them? Anyway this one's a pretty good example of its type, with some decent satirical barbs about the cash-in / "tribute" industry, with one particular act paying the price.
Harlan Ellison - Footsteps. As Dem says above, this is the one written in the window of a Paris bookshop. Given the ideas of a female werewolf who is a rapist, who should have long blonde hair and is stalking the streets of Paris Ellison came up with this, which is pretty good and definitely worth a look.
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Post by Johnlprobert on Jul 19, 2011 21:02:58 GMT
Peter Valentine Timlett - Without Rhyme Or Reason. Finally, just as I'm thinking this series is pretty much the antithesis of the Pan Book of Horror we get a story that's very Pan indeed, which makes it all the weirder that it was taken from the Pan published volume New Terrors 1 which was conceived (I believe) as a series featuring literary stories that old Herbert van Thal would never have chosen for his books (I'm sure Mr Campbell will correct me if I'm wrong). But here we have a tale of a young Deborah Templeton going to stay as a companion to 48 year old Mrs Bates whose husband left her for 'some young thing'. Mrs Bates has already had 6 other young female companions who never stayed long. It couldn't have anything to do with the 6ft by 20ft stretch of flowerbed she keeps tending could it? Lots of blood and stabbing at the end rounds off a volume of stories I've thoroughly enjoyed and can highly recommend. Good stuff!
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Post by ramseycampbell on Jul 20, 2011 8:16:30 GMT
The brief for New Terrors was for a Dangerous Visions of horror. I forget whether Nick Webb phrased it that way to me or Thom Tessier did - Millington were to bring out a hardcover to precede the paperback but then went under, alas.
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Post by Johnlprobert on Jul 21, 2011 9:29:31 GMT
The brief for New Terrors was for a Dangerous Visions of horror. I forget whether Nick Webb phrased it that way to me or Thom Tessier did - Millington were to bring out a hardcover to precede the paperback but then went under, alas. Thanks Ramsey. Were the two volumes published by Pan intended as a single large volume? (I remember the original Dangerous Visions being split into three paperbacks, at least in the US as that's how I orginally read them). Or was volume 2 produced on the basis of the success of volume 1? We probably need a New Terrors thread and if there is one around here somewhere I've been unable to find it. |
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Post by dem bones on Jul 21, 2011 15:27:03 GMT
Peter Shilston - The Catacomb. And just to show it really is horses for courses this next tale turned out to be one of the bloody scariest I've read in ages. Stopping at an obscure village in Sicily Mr Pearsall finds himself in a deserted square facing a locked church. A side entrance leads to a nave filled with paintings depicting biblical scenes and characters in which all the characters look evil. Locked in, he finds his only possible means of escape is down into the catacombs, where he encounters an aisle of preserved bodies dating back hundreds of years until, once he has gone as far as possible he finds... I'll leave it to you to find out but I LOVED this - even writing that synopsis has me shivering at its memory. Lots of good horror in this one & I hope Mr Shilston (a history teacher apparently) wrote some other stories. Will sort you that New Terrors thread later, Lord P. in the meantime, thanks for the ace review and also for persuading me to re-read The Catacombs! I'm not sure Peter Shilston has been very prolific in the genre; can only find three stories for Ghosts & Scholars magazine, Old Johannes in the debut (1979), Catacombs in More Ghosts & Scholars the following year (reprinted in Richard Fawcett's Best Of Ghosts & Scholars booklet), and Footsteps in #7 (1985). Back in 1979, Peter wrote: "I'm a Cambridge history graduate, currently earning my living as a schoolmaster plus what bits and pieces I can pick up from writing ... My other main interest is women's gymnastics, where I work as a coach, and as British correspondent for a couple of American magazines." Catacombs is maybe his most accomplished of the three stories but the others are also great fun. Old Johannes: Events leading to the nervous breakdown of brilliant Cambridge student Henry Collins as he prepares his thesis on Johannes Van Krietzel, the 15th century alchemist and reformed Black Magician. Van Krietzel disappeared from an inquisition cell on the eve of his execution and now walks the Uni library - his mission: to scupper Henry's attempt at demon raising. It reads like M. R. James' The Tractate Middoth with frequent snooker interludes and a bitch at L. Ron Hubbard. Footsteps: Against his formidable landlady's instructions, Cambridge student James Martin returns to his lodgings while she's taking her annual holiday and also puts up a friend, Edward Allen, in a room that's not been used for decades. Edward is soon enduring vivid nightmares involving Vikings and a scholarly fellow they seem intent on suffocating. Mrs Walters returns from her vacation just in time to prevent a second student's death in the haunted room. A neat face at the window moment but overall i didn't find it as effective as the other two. would like to read more of his work though. later; we had a NEW TERRORS thread all along! |
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Post by Johnlprobert on Jul 21, 2011 20:02:58 GMT
Oh well done Dem! I was looking in all the wrong places for it!
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Post by ramseycampbell on Aug 5, 2011 8:01:04 GMT
The brief for New Terrors was for a Dangerous Visions of horror. I forget whether Nick Webb phrased it that way to me or Thom Tessier did - Millington were to bring out a hardcover to precede the paperback but then went under, alas. Thanks Ramsey. Were the two volumes published by Pan intended as a single large volume? (I remember the original Dangerous Visions being split into three paperbacks, at least in the US as that's how I originally read them). Or was volume 2 produced on the basis of the success of volume 1? We probably need a New Terrors thread and if there is one around here somewhere I've been unable to find it. Let me rack my brains (if they're still plural)... I think the hardcover would have been a single volume containing all the tales, but Pan didn't want to do a book that big and so asked for two approximately equal ones. As I had four novellas I was able to begin and end each volume with one. |
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Post by andydecker on Nov 10, 2019 14:44:52 GMT
I just wanted to look up Klein's story, but I have mostly forgotten everything about the content and started again. Still a great compilation.
Stephen King - The Monkey: I would consider myself a lapsed fan, sometimes in the 90s I just stopped reading King. But the early King is still fun as I discovered. Not his best story, but in hindsight you see the talent. Even if the happy end is kind of disappointing.
Ramsey Campbell - The Gap: Over the years I have come to loath the horror tale about the horror writer, I find this thing today off-putting lazy and un-original. Still this works for me. Atmospheric and kind of disturbing.
Neil Olonoff - The Cats Of Pere LaChaise: One thing Wagner did so well was finding stuff in exotic sources. I wasn't awed by the story, but it was interesting at least and the end had a nice EC vibe.
Basil A. Smith - The Propert Bequest: I have come to love the M.R.James tale. While I would complain that this is just too long for its plot, one keeps on reading. I often wonder how much this England of priests and academics has roots in reality or is just made up.
Dennis Etchison - On Call: At first I liked it. Very well done and relatable, if one sits too often at the doctor's office, Proper downbeat atmosphere. But at the end I just didn't understood it, like too often with the writer. What the hell happens here? I don't get it.
Peter Shilston - The Catacomb: One from Ghosts&Scholars. It made an impression even back then when I read this one for the first time, and I had a hazy recollection. But it still works for me after all those years, a novel idea, spot on executed. Great atmosphere, and even if there is not one drop of bloodshed, the images are haunting. A shame that the writer only did 3 stories, if the database is to believe.
To be continued ...
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Post by jamesdoig on Nov 10, 2019 19:43:41 GMT
I just wanted to look up Klein's story, but I have mostly forgotten everything about the content and started again. Still a great compilation. You've made me pull it off the shelves, and it is a cracker - I reckon 'Black Man With a Horn' is the pick of the bunch, a great homage. |
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Post by mrhappy on Nov 10, 2019 20:21:56 GMT
Basil A. Smith - The Propert Bequest: I have come to love the M.R.James tale. While I would complain that this is just too long for its plot, one keeps on reading. I often wonder how much this England of priests and academics has roots in reality or is just made up. Definitely a little overlong but it has a distinct charm to it. It covers some of the bases that I find enjoyable in this type of tale: the internal mechanics/politics of higher education, rare tomes, hidden doors, small passages of time where seemingly innocent events transpire that connect to a darker whole amd a ghastly thing lurking in the shadows. Great fun. The Scallion Stone, Smith's posthumous collection of five tales that Russel Kirk championed, is enjoyable but this tale is definitely the cream of the crop although the title story comes really, really close! Mr Happy |
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Post by andydecker on Nov 17, 2019 14:10:27 GMT
Here is the rest:
T. E. D. Klein - Black Man With A Horn: The reason I took this one from the shelf in the first place, there was a copy of Dark Gods on sale, and I looked up how many of these stories I already have. (This collection is stunningly expensive. Why Klein isn't reprinted in a decent way is beyond me.) Regardless, in every aspect as good as I had it in memory. Compared to this the majority of Lovecraft pastiches can be dismissed. This has gotten only better with age.
William Relling, Jr. - The King: The whole "The King" business always baffled me. So this didn't interested me much. It is an okay story.
Harlan Ellison - Footsteps: Every time I read a story by Mr. Ellison I think, this guy is way overrated. The circumstances in which this story got written are more interesting then the story. The plot is a variation of the EC theme "the vampire bit a man, and guess what, it was a werewolf", which got tired so fast. (And which the Warren magazines later put finally to death). It is professionally done, a bit too much purple prose for my liking.
Peter Valentine Timlett - Without Rhyme Or Reason: Lord P. is right. This is a bit like Pan Horror. Which in my book is not a bad thing. The twist is nice and amusing. I have Timlett's fantasy trilogy for ages on the shelf, but never came to read it.
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). It'll be interesting to see how they differ from the Davis / Page books which I've so far really enjoyed.
