|
|
Post by dem on Oct 10, 2008 2:18:54 GMT
William Fryer Harvey - The Beast With Five Fingers & Other Midnight Tales (Aldine, 1962: 0riginally Dent, 1946) Introduction - Maurice Richardson
Midnight House
the Dabblers
Unwinding
Mrs. Ormerod
Double Demon
The Tool
The Heart Of The Fire
The Clock
Peter Levisham
Miss Cornelius
The Man Who Hated Aspidistras
Sambo
The Star
Across The Moors
The Follower
August Heat
Sarah Bennet's Possession
The Ankardyne Pew
Miss Avenal
The Beast With Five Fingersincludes: Miss Avenal: "I could not say how old she was. Her hair was dark, and though untouched with grey, was strangely lustreless. Her eyes were dark, but with no spark of fire in them. She would have been beautiful for her features were good, but her face lacked expression." Yorborough. A young nurse tends Miss Avenal at Kildale Mill, her remote home on the moors. After the old lady suffers "some kind of nervous breakdown" the girl finds that she spends her days telling the invalid every intimate detail about herself. As Miss Avenal regains her vitality, so the nurse is drained of all save the memories of the old woman which have been exchanged for her own. The Beast With Five Fingers: "Eustace watched it grimly, as it hung from the cornice with three fingers and flicked thumb and forefinger at him in an expression of scornful derision." Shortly before his death, the blind Adrian Borlsover became prolific at automatic hand-writing, and the messages from the other side seemed to be directed at his cousin, Eustace. When Uncle Adrian died, the right hand used it's skilled penmanship to fake a dying request from the old man - that it be severed from the corpse and sent to Eustace. The entity manipulating the hand - possibly a stray elemental or the spirit of someone Eustace has swindled - is not without a sense of fun and is even spotted sliding down the banister. But it also has a supremely vindictive streak and finally, stabbed, burnt, but refusing to lie down, it tires of toying with him ... Miss Cornelius: Scientist Andrew Saxon is asked by friends to investigate an apparent outbreak of poltergeist activity at their home in Meadowfield Terrace. His conclusion - that a house-guest, Miss Cornelius, is the focal point for the disturbances - earns him the elderly woman's bitter enmity. Soon similar instances of flying cutlery and the like are occurring in his own home. The constant persecution increases in hostility. On one terrible occasion, Saxon catches wife Molly in the act of tossing a tube of sulphuric acid his way ... or thinks he does. Whatever strange powers the thoroughly evil Miss Cornelius possesses, she refuses to leave the Saxons alone. It all comes to a head when Andrew takes Molly to be seen by a psychiatrist ... Across The Moors: Little Peggy is poorly and her governess, Miss Craig is sent to fetch a doctor at dead of night. This requires passing the reputedly haunted Redman's Cross, scene of a horrific murder. Having left her message at Tebbits Farm, lucky Miss Craig meets a stranger who volunteers to escort her home ... Sambo: But for that regrettable title this would surely be better known as its one of his best. Uncle Arthur, stationed in Africa, sends little Janey an extremely ugly doll as a present to cheer her up. The child detests it on sight but, scolded by her mother as an ingrate, includes it in all the games she plays with her favoured crew, Guliema Maria, the Salvation Army lass, Nelson & Co. The newcomer has soon usurped the other dolls - helping himself to their best clothes, taking the seat of honour at Janey's tea parties, watching the firework display from the window on Guy Fawkes night - yet, as Janey explains to her understanding uncle, she still hates and fears Sambo but he's calling the shots. Uncle intervenes after witnessing Sambo presiding over a dolly sacrifice ... The Clock:Lewes. the narrator is asked to view an old time-piece from Ash Grove House, recently vacated by Mrs. Caleb who assures him the place has stood empty this past fortnight. That's not the impression he's given ... A mood piece: expertly crafted but just not scary. Miss Cornelius has a brief cameo at the start suggesting she was up to her object-tossing jiggery pokery long before Mr. Saxton rumbled her. August Heat: James Withencroft, artist sketches the impression of a man he's never met, " ... enormously fat. The flesh hung in rolls about his chin: it creased his huge, stumpy neck ...He stood in the dock, his short, clumsy fingers gripping the rail, looking straight in front of him. The feeling that his expression conveyed was not so much one of horror as of utter, absolute collapse." Satisfied with his work, Withencroft goes for a stroll. Its a sweltering day and lost in thought, he wanders into a stone-masons, to be confronted with the original of his picture. The mason seems genial enough, working on a gravestone he's planning to enter for an exhibition. Withencroft reads the name he's inscribed and asked how he came by it. The mason tells him it's a funny thing, but he plucked it straight out of the air. It is, of course, Withencroft's, with his exact date of birth to boot. To reveal any more would be to ruin it for anyone who's not read it (you should), but Fryer seems to be of the opinion that we're all of us God's toys, manipulated by powers we can't hope to comprehend. And these forces are not necessarily benign. This theme surfaces again in one of his out-and-out horrors ... ... The Tool: Narrated by the inmate of a mental institution. A curate on a walking holiday across the moors, discovers the body of a foreigner with a green parrot tattooed on his chest. If he wasn't horrified by the discovery, he is when he realises he's lost a day, having no recollection of staying at a certain Inn or anything he did over a 24 hour period. He has another blackout the following week during which time someone buries the corpse. Eventually it becomes apparent to him just who the murderer is.
|
|
|
|
Post by dem on Dec 17, 2008 7:51:07 GMT
Not sure if it's the same selection, but there's a Wordsworth edition of The Beast With Five Fingers scheduled for publication in the Spring of 2009.
|
|
|
|
Post by wordswortheditions on Jan 6, 2009 9:39:38 GMT
The Beast With Five Fingers - W.F. Harvey ISBN 9781840221794 - Published May 2009 (From Midnight Tales) The Beast with Five Fingers Midnight House The Dabblers Unwinding Mrs Omerod Double Demon The Tool The Heart of the Fire The Clock Peter Lewisham Miss Cornelius The Man Who Hated Aspidistras Sambo The Star Across the Moors The Follower August Heat Sarah Bennet's Possession The Ankerdyne Pew Miss Avenal (From Midnight House) Last of the Race Deaf and Dumb Middle Class Tragedy The Fern The Angel of Stone The Tortoise After the Flower Show The Desecrator The Educationalist (From The Arm of Mrs Egan) Dead of Night Mishandled The Habeas Corpus Club The Long Road Twelve Strange Cases The Lake Chemist & Druggist[/center Euphemia Witchmaid Ripe for Development Atmospherics The Vicar's Web Dark Horses The Arm of Mrs Egan Old Masters No Body Account Rendered The Flying Out of Barnard Hollis |
|
|
|
Post by monker on Jan 21, 2009 11:28:53 GMT
Great stuff! Only it has made my feverish efforts to get a hardback edition, recently, of the first collection somewhat redundant.  Now for Burrage?  |
|
|
|
Post by wordswortheditions on Jan 22, 2009 15:50:05 GMT
Now for Burrage? Burrage is still in copyright, unfortunately. He has been mentioned to us a couple of times though so he is on our radar... Emma@Wordsworth |
|
|
|
Post by dem on Jan 22, 2009 16:12:52 GMT
I know he doesn't fit the '70 years dead' rule, but one author whose name comes up again and again is L. P. Hartley and as Mr. The Coffin Flies has pointed out, there was an Everyman edition of his The Travelling Grave in 1984. A modern edition - combined with the entire contents of Night Fears! -would certainly be welcome. Not that i'm greedy or anything.
I'm sure someone else will have mentioned this by now but L. A. Lewis's extraordinary collection Tales Of The Grotesque from 1934? Lewis died in 1961 as far as i'm aware, so that might be a stumbling block.
By the way, if you'd be so kind: when is the deadline for poll nominations?
|
|
|
|
Post by wordswortheditions on Jan 23, 2009 9:18:04 GMT
By the way, if you'd be so kind: when is the deadline for poll nominations? Deadline for nominations is the 1st February, the poll will follow in that week I should think. I'll add those author suggestions to my ever-growing database, if there's enough demand then we'll certainly look into the ones that aren't out of copyright. Might actually do another poll for authors still in copyright, then we can see who's in demand and investigate further... Keep the suggestions coming!  Emma@Wordsworth |
|
|
|
Post by dem on Jan 23, 2009 10:12:24 GMT
Ok, i've been building up to this! Not quite sure of what copyright issues might arise, but how about one of the great 'lost' books in British horror fiction?
Charles Birkin - Devil's Spawn (Philip Allan, 1936)
"The Happy Dancers",The Cockroach,The Terror On Tobit, Old Mrs. Strathers, Shelter, The Last Night, An Eye for an Eye, Henri Larne, Havelock's Farm, The Harlem Horror, A Poem and a Bunch of Roses, Obsession, The Actor's Story, Special Diet, Premiere, Angela.
As 'Charles Lloyd', Birkin edited the Creeps series from 1932-6 and Devil's Spawn collects all his contributions to the series plus two new nasties, one of which Havelock's Farm, will be familiar to readers of the Fontana Horror books - Mary Danby used it in #8. Many of the other stories have been anthologised by Hugh Lamb and Herbert Van Thal. I don't have a copy - Jon Pelan mentioned on our old board that he paid $1000 for his! - so if you could kindly see your way to providing us with a nice, budget 'Mystery & Supernatural' edition I would be ever so grateful!
|
|
|
|
Post by jonathan122 on Jan 23, 2009 12:35:49 GMT
Without wanting to tread on the toes of the excellent Wordsworth Press books, I thought I should just mention Faber Finds, who are also on the look out for recommendations for out-of-print books (in any genre) to re-publish. They're more expensive than the Wordsworth books, as they tend to focus more on books which aren't yet in the public domain. www.faber.co.uk/article/2008/8/faber-finds-lost-and-found |
|
|
|
Post by dem on Jan 23, 2009 15:03:10 GMT
Thanks for that, Jonathan. " .... books can be fiction, memoir, poetry, autobiography, criticism, history, anthologies, science fiction, thrillers, and books for children. Let us know by emailing us at lostandfound@faber.co.uk." It looks as though they're strongly considering an edition of Robert Aickman's Cold Hand In Mine if the illustrations are anything to go by. Might actually do another poll for authors still in copyright, then we can see who's in demand and investigate further... Emma@Wordsworth Ha! In that case, i'm going to start looking at authors who come into the around fifty years dead category and see where we go from there. |
|
|
|
Post by jonathan122 on Jan 23, 2009 15:17:30 GMT
It looks as though they're strongly considering an edition of Robert Aickman's Cold Hand In Mine if the illustrations are anything to go by. It's actually already been released, along with The Wine-Dark Sea and The Unsettled Dust. |
|
|
|
Post by Johnlprobert on Jan 27, 2010 9:18:29 GMT
I've been working through the Tartarus Press W F Harvey volume 'The Double Eye' but I think it makes sense to post the contents here so interested members (ooer) can compare and contrast:
The Double Eye W F Harvey Tartarus 2009
Introduction by Richard Dalby,
Midnight House
The Star
Across the Moors
August Heat
Sambo
Unwinding
Sarah Bennet's Possession
The Tortoise
The Beast with Five Fingers
Six to Six-Thirty
Blinds
Miss Cornelius
The Heart of the Fire
Peter Levisham
The Clock
Ghosts and Jossers
The Sleeping Major
The Ankardyne Pew
The Tool
The Devil's Bridge
Two and a Third
Miss Avenal
The Double Eye
The Dabblers
Mrs Ormerod
The Follower
The Man Who Hated Aspidistras
Double Demon
The Arm of Mrs Egan
Account Rendered
The Flying Out of Mrs Barnard Hollis
The Habeas Corpus Club
|
|
|
|
Post by Johnlprobert on Jan 27, 2010 11:50:21 GMT
So what do I think of Mr Harvey? He seems to have written a real mix of stories that are definitely worth a look by fans of weird fiction. Here are a few memorable ones:
Miss Avenal: Harvey tackles the vampire theme the same way Robert Aickman did - by not really mentioning vampires at all and getting you to do some of the work. And it works very well.
The Devil's Bridge: The devil builds a bridge and all he wants in payment is the soul of the first person to cross it. Will it be our delicate fresh-faced heroine? I really liked this story so you can probably guess how it ends
The Tool: 'I just get these terrible headaches'. Naughty insane curate blackout murder fun. Good stuff.
Across the Moors: A good old-fashioned ghost story that packs a punch even though you can see the ending coming
Sambo: In the tradition of Charlie-Boy from Hammer House of Horror and Zombique from Joseph Payne Brennan here's another nasty doll from the dark continent. Rather than just be happy killing people this one messes with the mind of its young charge so that in a quite deliciously perverse twist it makes her do terrible things to her other dolls
|
|
|
|
Post by cw67q on Jan 27, 2010 17:59:54 GMT
I have a real soft spot for Harvey and was delighted when I heard Tartarus were bring out their edition, even more so when i realised how mnay of the tales I hadn't read before.
I'm also really pleased that wordsworth will be bringing out a budget priced collection.
If you haven't read Harvey before don't miss out on this chance rectify this.
John have you read Ghosts and Jossers yet? That was one I hadn't read before, a short piece but one of WFH's most poignant and chilling tales.
- chris
|
|
|
|
Post by dem on Jan 28, 2010 9:46:17 GMT
The Wordsworth is already available, Chris, all 418 pages of it! Not made a proper start yet, but in his introduction, David Stuart Davies claims (and i don't doubt him) "never have so many of W. F. Harvey's stories been collected in one volume." The Double Eye isn't quite as generous, but trust that pesky Richard Dalby to uncover another handful of stories! Or maybe they're some from the Wordsworth under original titles, as i'm guessing he contributed to the day's periodicals?
|
|
