More Tales Of Unknown Horror

[dem]

Peter Haining (ed.) - More Tales Of Unknown Horror (Nel, Jan 1979)

Tony Masero

Introduction - Peter Haining

Kathleen Ludwick - Dr. Immortelle
Claude Farrere - The Passing Of Van Mitten
Fred M. White - The River Of Death
Edgar Allan Poe - Morning On The Wissahiccon
Fitz-James O'Brien - The Spider's Eye
M. P. Shiel - A Shot At The Sun
Issac Asimov & James MacCreigh - The Little Man On The Subway
E. Everett Evans & Ray Bradbury - The Undead Die
Robert E. Howard - Devendra Est
Rosemary Timperley - On The Theatre Steps
C. S. Forester - Between Eight And Eight
Stephen King - The Night Of The Tiger

A variation of this book appeared in hardcover as:

Peter Haining (ed.) - The Third Book Of Unknown Tales Of Horror (Sidgwick & Jackson, 1980)

Lawrence, Famous Fantastic Mysteries, 1946

Introduction - Peter Haining

Dick Donovan - Some Experiments With A Head
Phil Robinson - The Last Of The Vampires
Edgar Allan Poe - Morning On The Wissahiccon
Fitz-James O'Brien - The Spider's Eye
M. P. Shiel - A Shot At The Sun
Issac Asimov & James MacCreigh - Legal Rites
E. Everett Evans & Ray Bradbury - The Undead Die
Robert E. Howard - Devendra Est
C. S. Forester - Between Eight And Eight
Denis Noble - Rosemary For Remembrance
Robert Haining - Spring Violets
Stephen King - The Night Of The Tiger

Kathleen Ludwick - Dr. Immortelle: The eighteenth century Dr. Immortelle and his assistant, the once negroid now 'Caucasian' Victor de Lyle, survive to the early 21st by means of frequent blood transfusions which invariably end in the deaths of their youthful victims - but not before Immortelle has had his wicked way with them. Immortelle even establishes an orphanage to provide him with a steady supply of donors and make everybody think what a great guy he is. It is only when Linnie Chaumelle (the only woman Immortelle has ever loved) realises that he is the man who killed her brother that de Lyle gets an attack of conscience. Having set the girl loose and drugged his master, he drives them both over the cliff. Immortelle is killed outright, de Lyle survives just long enough to tell his story to Linnie's intended from his San Francisco hospital bed.
On a somewhat unnecessarily grim note, we learn that, after the narrator and Linnie are wed, she later dies in France when the Germans bomb a Red Cross tent during World War I.

Dick Donovan - Some Experiments With A Head: The head in question is that belonging to Gaspard Thurreau who hacked his wife, mistress and children to pieces so can't have too many complaints about being sentenced to the Guillotine. Despite it all, he's an obliging chap and readily agrees to co-operate with Dr. Grassard and the narrator, a young medical student, in their quest to determine whether or not the brain briefly lives on after death. Thurreau meets his death with great dignity, his head is placed in a basin of softened wax to seal the bleeding and,, by means of his eye-movements, he manages to answer a couple of questions until, when an electric current is applied to the blob of grey matter, his eyes roll in their sockets and that's the end of him.

Claude Farrere - The Passing Of Van Mitten: Straightforward account of the last moments of a man on his deathbed and his reincarnation as a new born baby. Maybe it's because I can think of no worse fate that I rated this one not a jot.

Phil Robinson - The Last Of The Vampires: A professor from the university of Bierundwurst wounds and captures Arinchi, the prehistoric vampire of the Amazons. From the cave there follows an endless journey downriver, a terrifying race against time for the German as twice the desperate bloodsucker breaks its muzzle while he slowly succumbs to the lethal black fever ...

E. Everett Evans & Ray Bradbury - The Undead Die: Robert Warram wakes during a storm to discover that the splintered limb of a great tree has smashed through the lid of his beloved wife's coffin, impaling her through the heart. He reminisces on their several decades together, pre- and post- their being vampirised. Now Lisa has gone, he has nothing to unlive for.

[lobolover]

Never heard of the Shiel story, but even worse, neither of the Poe. What is wrong with this world?!

(If I may ask, what the hell is it about? )

[justincase]

Hi,

I'm in the process of obtaining the first two books of Unknown Tales of Horror (1976 and 78 respectively) - they are ostensibly on their way to me directly (can't friggin wait). I'm only missing the h/c of "The Third Book of Unkown Tales of Horror" ((Sidgwick & Jackson, 1980). If anyone knows where I can buy one or is willing to sell one they have I'd be greatly indebted. Please either PM me. Willing to pay handsomely ;D

Best Regards,
Phil

[dem]

Seems to me that whichever version of this book you wind up with, it's still the weakest volume of the three Unknown's.

Rosemary Timperley - On The Theatre Steps: Encounter between Anne Melville, eighteen-year-old A Level student, and a prematurely aged homeless alcoholic sheltering from the rain under a pile of newspapers. They have more in common than either could imagine.

Fred M White - River Of Death: (The Strand, June 1904).

THE POISONED THAMES
Millions of plague germs flowing down into London. Bacillus of bubonic plague in the river. New River and Kent Companles alone can supply pure water. Stupendous discovery by Professor Darbyshire. Death in your breakfast cup today. Shun it as you would poison. If you are not connected with either of the above companies, or if you have no private supply, CUT OFF YOUR WATER AT THE MAIN AT ONCE! - News item from sensationalist Victorian tabloid, The Telephone.

As London is gripped in a heat wave, a Portuguese ship washes up on the beach near Aldenburgh, cargo, oranges and the bubonic plague. The Thames is contaminated. Professor Owen Darbyshire, the one man who can save us, lies comatose in Charing Cross Hospital having fallen from a hansom in Trafalgar Square! Cue mass panic, looting, and riots from Mayfair to Whitechapel!

Edgar Allan Poe - Morning On The Wissahiccon: (The Opal: A Pure Gift for the Holy Days, 1843). A fragment. Poe takes a skiff out on the river, falls into a dream. A native American snares an elk. It's possible that this "macabre" travelogue was forgotten for good reason; nothing happens.

[dem]

These are more like it.

Robert Haining - Spring Violets: Meet Lord Belview and - briefly - his wife, Agnes, the pair united only in mutual loathing. Belview is rarely seen about his Berkshire Estate, preferring to gallivant in London, but even the little time he spends at home is too much to bear. His hatred of Agnes is such that she takes to her deathbed with a virulent wasting disease beyond the doctor's powers of diagnosis. As a final act of contempt, Belview tosses a bouquet of withered flowers on her grave and hits the capital. Hardly is the body cold than he meets, and marries, the lovely Alice. But Agnes is not one to enjoy eternal repose when she can be destroying the newly-weds' happiness.

To the best of my knowledge, Peter's talented younger brother's entire literary output consists of eight very good horror stories and a novel, The Soul Eater, as by 'Robert Alexander' (Souvenir Press, 1979: Corgi, 1980), which has as yet eluded me. Must try put that right as he has a real talent for the macabre.

M. P.Shiel - A Shot At The Sun: (The Pictorial Magazine, October 24 1903). Cliftonville, South Carolina, 1859. Charles K. Brownrigg, the vilest slave owner in the Deep South, has already escaped justice for the cold blooded murder of five blacks when lovers Brams and Jess flee the plantation. Brownrigg - surely a descendent of the Newgate Calendar's celebrated sadist Elizabeth? - utilizes voodoo to locate the fugitives, then offers them as sacrifice to the sun in return for a decent cotton crop. When the Sun obstinately hides behind a cloud, Brownrigg draws his gun and threatens to shoot it from the sky unless it plays ball. Which of them will blink first?

[ripper]

Hi Dem, would there be a date for the original publication of the Dick Donovan tale?

[dem]

Apr 19, 2016 8:37:43 GMT ripper said:

Hi Dem, would there be a date for the original publication of the Dick Donovan tale?

Apparently it's from an 1889 issue of Cornhill Magazine, no idea which month. Haining says he found it in 'Donovan's rare collection, Stories Weird & Wonderful, published that same year.

[dem]

MAD SCULPTOR versus the WERE-BEAST

Denis Noble - Rosemary For Remembrance: (London Mystery Selection #110, September 1976). John Tennant, art teacher, loses his way in the fog while visiting his brother and calls at a gloomy house on Spinners Street to ask directions. On learning his profession, the owner, Mr. Hugo Searle, invites John to view his secret basement workshop. John is uneasy about this but Searle is an accomplished painter and sculptor in ivory, although the rows of figurines carved in gleaming white bone are a little unsettling . John is particularly enamoured of a portrait of a beautiful woman, and Searle explains that she was his wife ....

Stephen King - Night Of The Tiger: (MF&SF, Feb. 1978). On tour with Farnam & Williams All-American Three Ring Circus & Sideshow. Eddie Johnston, roustabout, is caught up in the protracted feud between Mr. Indrasil the fiery lion-tamer, and enigmatic Mr. Legere. Nobody knows how or why it started, just that they've hated one another for longer than anyone can remember. Eddie is worried that Mr. Legere spends much of his time loitering outside the cage of 'the Green Terror,' a particularly vicious tiger ...