|
|
Post by dem bones on Oct 9, 2008 10:51:58 GMT
alas i think i found an erronious contents list for shadows II as petey doesn't seem to be in it!! Ah, I can see what's happened here! Charles L. Grant (ed.) - Shadows 2 (Berkley, 1984: originally Doubleday, 1979) Charles L. Grant - Introduction
William F. Nolan - Saturday's Shadow
Jack Dann - Night Visions
Manly Wade Wellman - The Spring
Janet Fox - Valentine
Ramsey Campbell - Mackintosh Willy
Ruth Berman - Dragon Sunday
Elizabeth A Lynn - The White King's Dream
Alan Dean Foster & Jane Cozart - The Chair
Barry N. Malzberg & Bill Pronzini - Clocks
Juleen Brantingham - Holly, Don't Tell
Lee Wells - Old Man's Will
Peter D. Pautz - The Closing Off Of Old Doors
Richard Christian Matheson - Dead End
Michael Bishop - Seasons of Belief
T. E. D. Klein - PeteyAnd now, the UK edition: Charles L. Grant (ed.) - Shadows II (Headline, 1987: originally Doubleday, 1978 as Shadows) Charles L. Grant - Introduction
Avram Davidson - Naples
Ramsey Campbell - The Little Voice
William Jon Watkins - Butcher's Thumb
Thomas F. Monteleone - Where All The Songs Are Sad
R. A. Lafferty - Splinters
Robert Bloch - Picture
Dennis Etchison - The Nighthawk
Ramsey Campbell - Dead Letters
Raylyn Moore - A Certain Slant Of Light
Bill Pronzini - Deathlove
Michael Bishop - Mory
John Crowley - Where Spirits Gat Them Home
Stephen King - Nona Incidentally, this is what £9.95 could buy you in 1987. No wonder it was remaindered! That's no slur on either editor or authors and, fair enough, it's a hardback - a very slim hardback, printed on butcher paper - but, corkers!, it is 2008 and you can get the latest Mammoth Best New Horror from the lovely people at Robinson's for a mere £7.99! But I digress. I've no way of checking this right now, but i'm almost certain that the British Shadows II shares the same content as the American Shadows and, if so, why they changed the running order is anyone's guess. If any of our readers have a copy of the Headline edition named simply Shadows, please post the contents. And for no other reason than I love the cover, here's a later US volume. Charles L. Grant - Shadows 9 (Berkley, May 1988) Charles L. Grant - Introduction
Stephen Gallagher - The Jigsaw Girl
Christopher Browne - The Lesson
Leanne Frahm - On The Turn
Nancy Holder - Moving Night
Kim Antieau - Sanctuary
Sheri Lee Morton - Now You See Me
Leslie Alan Horvitz - The Fishing Village Of Roebush
Galad Elflandsson - Icarus
Nina Kiriki Hoffman - Ants
Ardath Mayhar - Nor Disregard The Humblest Voice
Janet Fox - The Skin You Love To Touch
Craig Shaw Gardiner - Walk Home Alone
T. L. Parkinson - The Father Figure
Joseph Payne Brennan - An Ordinary Brick House
Lou Fisher - Overnight
Galad Elflandsson - The Last Time I Saw Harris
Peter Tremayne - Tavesher
Steve Rasnic Tem - BloodwolfBlurb: Come, journey into the darkest regions of the soul ...
Walk softly past an ordinary brick house — where extraordinary evil seeks a mutilating vengeance... and refuses to die.
Turn left at the quaint country shop — where a brutally inhuman craftsman fashions a hideous collection of all-too-human artifacts.
Check into the dreaded Deadfall Hotel — where the strange clientele are even deadlier than the sharp-toothed creatures that roam the halls ...
You have reached your final destination .... and Death is the only escape![/i] |
|
|
|
Post by jkdunham on Oct 9, 2008 11:23:15 GMT
I've no way of checking this right now, but i'm almost certain that the British Shadows II shares the same content as the American ShadowsI believe you're quite right, Dem - I also believe that the British Shadows was a reprint of the American Shadows 4. |
|
|
|
Post by benedictjjones on Feb 25, 2009 12:34:54 GMT
ahhhh! *bows head* 'the vault is great, the vault is all knowing'  so what was in the british version of Shadows 1  ? i ask because i've seen one on ebay and if they simply swapped one with two (though why they did it is any ones guess) and two with one i'll snap it up. |
|
|
|
Post by benedictjjones on Feb 25, 2009 13:01:08 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by cauldronbrewer on Feb 15, 2012 21:26:59 GMT
Charles L. Grant - Introduction
Avram Davidson - Naples
Ramsey Campbell - The Little Voice
William Jon Watkins - Butcher's Thumb
Thomas F. Monteleone - Where All The Songs Are Sad
R. A. Lafferty - Splinters
Robert Bloch - Picture
Dennis Etchison - The Nighthawk
Ramsey Campbell - Dead Letters
Raylyn Moore - A Certain Slant Of Light
Bill Pronzini - Deathlove
Michael Bishop - Mory
John Crowley - Where Spirits Gat Them Home
Stephen King - Nona I have the 1978 Playboy Press edition of this one (published as Shadows in the U.S.). I won't bother to post a picture of the utterly boring cover, which features the title in red letters on a blank plane. Spinal Tap and Metallica would be proud. The editor's name doesn't appear on the cover, but Stephen King's name is featured. No doubt the publisher thought that would move copies. For my part, I bought it to read the Lafferty, Bloch, and Campbell stories. The Bloch piece is a minor "deal with the devil" tale. Of the two Campbell stories, I preferred the shorter, punchier "Dead Letters," which concerns an unfortunate experience with a Ouiji Board at a dinner party. I enjoyed the Lafferty story, thought it's difficult to summarize (as with most of his stories). He's an interesting case--a truly oddball science fiction/fantasy writer who found his way into horror anthologies edited by the likes of Grant, Campbell, Gerald Page, and Kirby McCauley. No one has ever written quite like him, and I've only seen one writer (Neil Gaiman) even try. Of the rest, my favorites were Monteleone's (a slow-burning tale of dark family secrets set in Sicily) and Moore's (echoes of Shirley Jackson's stories about houses that consume their occupants' personalities). Watkin's was fun, Davidson's was perplexing but moodily effective, and Etchison's was just confusing (as a general rule, I don't get his work). As for the King story, I found it uninspired and poorly written. I sometimes wonder, however, whether his popularity makes me view his work more critically. |
|
|
|
Post by Craig Herbertson on Feb 16, 2012 11:47:17 GMT
As for the King story, I found it uninspired and poorly written. I sometimes wonder, however, whether his popularity makes me view his work more critically.
I think that's spot on with King - if he'd only written a couple of novels and a few shorts they would likely be regarded as utter classics. As for Mr King himself, he deserves enormous pats on the back for a seriously grand contribution to the genre. His books generally make great films. His ideas are often fantastic, his style and execution - you can't really fault it - except perhaps a bit verbose at times. He deserves to one of the most popular writers of his generation and well - sometimes you just can't get into his books.
|
|
|
|
Post by noose on Feb 16, 2012 12:05:02 GMT
[shadow=red,left,300]Stephen Books that in my opinoin, should never have seen the light of day...[/shadow]
Christine
Thinner
The Eyes of the Dragon
The Tommyknockers
The Stand: Complete and Uncut Edition
Gerald's Game
Rose Madder
Desperation
The Regulators
Dark Tower IV - Wizards and Glass
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
Hearts in Atlantis
Dreamcatcher
Black House
From a Buick 8
Dark Tower V - Wolves of the Calla
Dark Tower VI - Song of Susannah
Dark Tower VII - The Dark Tower
The Colorado Kid
Cell
Lisey's Story
Blaze
Duma Key
Under the Dome
On a brighter note, I found 11.22.63 to be a powerhouse of a novel a blistering return to form and am looking forward to Dr. Sleep - the sequel to The Shining.
|
|
|
|
Post by cauldronbrewer on Feb 16, 2012 12:34:14 GMT
I'm the odd horror fan who's only read three King novels. I'm probably even odder for those three being The Stand, The Green Mile, and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. I thought the original version of The Stand was bloated, so I can only imagine what the expanded version is like. The Green Mile had some good parts--especially the first execution--but I can't believe that King actually gave his Christ-figure the initials J.C.; that was trite even back when John Steinbeck did it. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon had potential and a couple of creepy passages; unfortunately, it also had a rushed and schmaltzy ending.
I've had better luck with King's short stories. Most of the ones I've read are from his 1970s-early 1980s period. Particular favorites are "Children of the Corn," "The Mist," and "Jerusalem's Lot."
I agree that King deserves huge credit for popularizing the genre. He also seems generous with giving praise and credit to other authors. Based on what I've read, I would say that his chief virtues as a writer are his accessible style, his sense of pacing (when he exercises it), and his willingness to deliver pulpy thrills. His chief flaws, in turn, are his tendency toward verbosity and his occasionally hackneyed ideas and turns of phrases. I appreciate what he's trying to do when he drops brand names and pop culture references, but I think the effect is often to date his stories.
Be that as it may, I also read--and liked--his book about writing.
|
|
|
|
Post by David A. Riley on Feb 16, 2012 13:13:24 GMT
[glow=red,2,300]Stephen Books that in my opinoin, should never have seen the light of day...[/glow] Christine Thinner The Eyes of the Dragon The Tommyknockers The Stand: Complete and Uncut Edition Gerald's Game Rose Madder Desperation The Regulators Dark Tower IV - Wizards and Glass The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon Hearts in Atlantis Dreamcatcher Black House From a Buick 8 Dark Tower V - Wolves of the Calla Dark Tower VI - Song of Susannah Dark Tower VII - The Dark Tower The Colorado Kid Cell Lisey's Story Blaze Duma Key Under the Dome On a brighter note, I found 11.22.63 to be a powerhouse of a novel a blistering return to form and am looking forward to Dr. Sleep - the sequel to The Shining. I'd agree with that list apart from Christine and Thinner, both of which I enjoyed, and Under the Dome, which I enjoyed till the end, which was a bit of a disappointment. The aliens just didn't work for me. On the other hand, Salems Lot, The Shining, Pet Semetery and many of his short stories, like The Mist, are top notch. |
|
|
|
Post by noose on Feb 16, 2012 13:35:09 GMT
Cauldron, you should give Pet Sematary a go, it's his best, hands down.
|
|
|
|
Post by cauldronbrewer on Feb 16, 2012 13:50:15 GMT
Cauldron, you should give Pet Sematary a go, it's his best, hands down. That seems to be a popular opinion. I'm somewhat reluctant to read it right now, however, because I've also read (I think it was on the Vault) that it can be tough going for someone who is (like me) the parent of a small child. |
|
|
|
Post by killercrab on Feb 16, 2012 17:30:13 GMT
Stephen Books that in my opinoin, should never have seen the light of day...
Thinner
You need to have a word with yourself. How can a book about gangsters versus a gypsy curse *not* be fun ?!
KC
|
|
|
|
Post by noose on Feb 16, 2012 17:37:59 GMT
I *enjoyed* the film more... |
|
|
|
Post by Craig Herbertson on Feb 16, 2012 19:03:06 GMT
I'm the odd horror fan who's only read three King novels. I'm probably even odder for those three being The Stand, The Green Mile, and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. I thought the original version of The Stand was bloated, so I can only imagine what the expanded version is like. The Green Mile had some good parts--especially the first execution--but I can't believe that King actually gave his Christ-figure the initials J.C.; that was trite even back when John Steinbeck did it. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon had potential and a couple of creepy passages; unfortunately, it also had a rushed and schmaltzy ending. I've had better luck with King's short stories. Most of the ones I've read are from his 1970s-early 1980s period. Particular favorites are "Children of the Corn," "The Mist," and "Jerusalem's Lot." I agree that King deserves huge credit for popularizing the genre. He also seems generous with giving praise and credit to other authors. Based on what I've read, I would say that his chief virtues as a writer are his accessible style, his sense of pacing (when he exercises it), and his willingness to deliver pulpy thrills. His chief flaws, in turn, are his tendency toward verbosity and his occasionally hackneyed ideas and turns of phrases. I appreciate what he's trying to do when he drops brand names and pop culture references, but I think the effect is often to date his stories. Be that as it may, I also read--and liked--his book about writing. Funnily enough I think I may have only read three king Novels - and you mention two of them - The Stand and The Green Mile - the latter I thought was an excellent read. I have read a collection of his novelettes and a fair number of his short stories. I've also started to read some stuff and put it down. and I think I read Salem's Lot and perhaps Carrie years ago but I forget. Being impoverished and in a foreign land sometimes you'll buy or borrow the only book available. That is usually the point where I pick up King - because I am struggling to find something to read and there isn't much of a choice over here. Having said that I couldn't find it in my heart to knock him particularly because he seems a top bloke and he has given people loads of pleasure and he undoubtedly can write - just not really my thing. |
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Oct 3, 2016 15:38:54 GMT
From the Berkeley Shadows 2 (not the Headline Shadows II)
Juleen Brantingham - Holly Don't Tell: "It's Pinky. I just saw someone pick the lock on your back door and sneak inside. Let me in quick! It's probably the sex maniac that escaped from the county jail!" A stage magician pulls a disappearing act to escape the clutches of his dreadful wife. Only daughter Holly, eleven, knows where he's hiding, and she's not telling. Meanwhile, Pinkie, the school clown, thinks he can take advantage of the timid little girl. She introduces him to Dad's bolt-hole, the fathomless expanse of nothingness inside the trunk he used for storing props.
Jack Dann - Night Visions: Martin, a sex-obsessed hack novelist who's long realised he'll never get any while married to joyless Jennifer, decides it is time to end it all. He climbs into his coupé intent on going out in a violent motorway accident. The car thwarts him at every turn.
|
|
?
