|
|
Post by dem bones on Nov 15, 2007 20:12:02 GMT
Hugh Lamb (ed.) - A Wave Of Fear (W.H. Allen, 1973) L. A . Lewis - The Child
Eleanor Scott - Celui-La
Ambrose Bierce - A Resumed Identity
M. P. Shiel - Huguenin's Wife
H. R. Wakefield - Blind Man's Buff
Charles Birkin - Marjorie's On Starlight
L. T. C. Rolt - Hawley Bank Foundry
Marjorie Bowen - Twilight
A. C. Benson - Basil Netherby
E. F. Benson - Wishing well
R. H. Benson - The Traveller
Joy Burnett - Phantom silhouette
Frederick Cowles - Terrible Mrs. Green
D. K. Broster - Clairvoyance
J. D. Beresford - The Late Occupier
Robert W. Chambers - The Messenger
Vivian Meik - A Honeymoon In Hate For people who always wanted to know what happens when a steamroller runs over somebody's head - you're in luck! A bit different for Hugh, this one, as he's allowed some contemporary writers in to mix it with the Victorian and Edwardian types. The Wishing Well wins it for E. F. in the battle of the Benson brothers - this is up there with The Face as one of his grimmest offerings with a suitably haunting ending. Birkin shows that he still has the knack from his Creeps days (I'm building up to giving him his own thread). The great Frederick Cowles' Terrible Mrs. Green is just that, and Lamb concludes his book in traditional manner with a great slab of voodoo Grand Guignol. L. A . Lewis - The Child: The narrator, a city boy and motorcyclist - though not, as he hastens to point out, the type "that carries a leggy flapper on the pinion and sports a cigarette holder a yard long": What's the matter with him? - investigates an alleged haunting at a gamekeepers cottage in the woods near 'Wailing Dip'. Some years before, a woman who'd murdered her children had escaped from the local asylum and was last seen near the site. She was heavily pregnant at the time. The woman is presumed dead down a pot hole, but who or what has been stealing poultry from the village these past years and what did a poacher see that scared him to death? Frederick Cowles - Terrible Mrs. Greene: "I hate him. I detest his nice manners and I loathe his silly verses. But I shall never let Reginald go. In life and death he is mine to do with as I like, for my mind has his in subjection." St. Endeth, Cornwall. Friends of the affable poet Reginald Greene are stunned and ultimately appalled by his choice of bride. Mrs. Greene is a piggy-eyed, bloated slob of a woman with a working interest in black magic and witchcraft. When a young lady, one of her disciples, went insane and committed suicide in the stone circle nearby, it was widely held among the villagers that she drove the girl to take her life. One bitterly cold winter, Mrs. Greene catches pneumonia and dies, much to the relief of Reginald. His joy is premature - soon the familiar flabby, ring-festooned fingers are materialising in the house and the bell by her bedside is summoning him again. Finally, she tires of toying with him, and Cowles sets about delivering a fittingly creepy ending. Marjorie Bowen - Twilight: The passing of Lucrezia Borgia. Even as she lies on her deathbed her spirit is busy, alternately attempting to seduce the young Roman Orsini and horrify him with "All my beautiful sins that I cannot tell the priest ... Will you hear how the Pope feasted with the Hebes and Ganymedes? Will you hear how we lived in the Vatican?" As Orsini flees her in fear and disgust he is met by a woman, one of several rushing to and fro from the palace bearing the dreadful news .... Vivian Meik - Honeymoon in Hate: Mikalongwa, Angoniland. English refugees Blair Taylor and Martin Kemp are bitter rivals for the love of the beautiful Estelle. When she decides to marry Taylor, Kemp turns to black magic and drives him to madness and suicide. Estelle avenges her beloved by marrying his murderer, having first infected herself with the blood of a leper. On their wedding night she performs a macabre striptease ... Charles Birkin - 'Marjorie's On Starlight': Ten year old Cynthia torments and humiliates her adopted sister with sadistic glee. When they're out riding, she callously reminds Marjory that her mother is dead, and causes her horse to bolt. There's a vehicle slowly approaching on the other side of the road, but it should be alright, unless either rider is thrown ... H. R. Wakefield - Blind Man's Buff: Aylesbury, Herts. Mr. Cort learns why none of the locals will approach Lorn Manor after nightfall. In pitch darkness, He loses himself within a few feet of the front door and is pursued about the old house by unseen entities. Ambrose Bierce - A Resumed Identity: A Union soldier's encounter with a spectral army and a physician who believes him to be suffering from memory loss. Reads like a Civil War variation on his influential An Inhabitant Of Carcosa. J. D. Beresford - The Late Occupier: The narrator is being shown around the vacant property when he flashes on what became of the previous owner, or "the late occupier" as the estate agent keeps repeating, mantra fashion. The man had been threatened with eviction but refused to budge even when his wife died and the gas and water supplies were terminated. The narrator realises that the dead man has concealed himself on the premises, and he knows where.
|
|
|
|
Post by helrunar on Apr 23, 2017 2:15:17 GMT
Well worth remarking that the redoubtable Hugh included all three Bensons in this one. I really like what I presume to be the original cover on the left side of the post.
I think I need to track down a copy of the tale of the horrendous Mrs Greene... when I check Amazon a few days ago, some of these Hugh Lamb titles weren't readily available--some were priced ridiculously high. So it goes...
H.
|
|
|
|
Post by Swampirella on Apr 23, 2017 2:47:42 GMT
I love Frederick Cowles and have all three of his books in e-book form. One of them, "The Night Wind Howls" includes "The Terrible Mrs. Green". You can get it from Ash-Tree press for US$6.99, if you like. I know I've read it in some other collection as well... www.ash-tree.bc.ca/atp41nightwindhowls.htm |
|
|
|
Post by helrunar on Apr 23, 2017 3:25:34 GMT
Many thanks, Miss Scarlett. I know nothing of Mr. Cowles' work but he has been mentioned frequently in these old entries I have been perusing. I will have to see if I can find out something about him.
I have a real thing for Witchcraft stuff... you might say it's in my blood.
cheers, Steve
|
|
|
|
Post by helrunar on Apr 23, 2017 3:28:02 GMT
And there proves to be a very nice concise introduction to the topic of Mr. Cowles and his legacy of horror on the link you so kindly provided.
Thank you again for your thoughtfulness!
Best wishes,
Steve
|
|
|
|
Post by Swampirella on Apr 23, 2017 3:32:15 GMT
My pleasure!
Scarlett
|
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Apr 23, 2017 9:51:41 GMT
Have just replaced the scans with larger versions. The Jacket photo is the work of Bob Marchant, the illustration, Fontana Book Of Great Ghost Stories legend Alan Lee.
Wave Of Fear is perhaps my favourite of all Hugh's anthologies as it introduced me to the fiction of Charles Birkin, Frederick Cowles and L. T. C. Rolt. Shall always be grateful to him for that!
|
|
|
|
Post by helrunar on Apr 23, 2017 17:53:08 GMT
Thanks for the improved scans. Lovely work!
H.
|
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Apr 23, 2017 18:15:20 GMT
Thanks for the improved scans. Lovely work! H. Thanks, I do try and replace the tiny ones when possible. Five years or so back many of us were on dial-up so it made sense to use smaller scans or else the pages would take forever to load and then time-out! Worst thing was when Ripway suddenly vanished into the ether. Had used them to host virtually every cover - lost about three or four years worth of images in the blink of an eye! |
|
|
|
Post by helrunar on Apr 23, 2017 19:31:17 GMT
Glorioski, Dem--now THAT'S horror! (having all those files and years of work vanish in an instant like that!)
The Internet is often far more terrifying than any dungeon in any of our beloved paperbacks...
H.
|
|
|
|
Post by Michael Connolly on Apr 24, 2017 12:17:04 GMT
Have just replaced the scans with larger versions. The Jacket photo is the work of Bob Marchant, the illustration, Fontana Book Of Great Ghost Stories legend Alan Lee. Wave Of Fear is perhaps my favourite of all Hugh's anthologies as it introduced me to the fiction of Charles Birkin, Frederick Cowles and L. T. C. Rolt. Shall always be grateful to him for that! I first came across Hugh Lamb's anthologies in my local library, which had some of the hardback editions about ten years after they had been published. I also think that A Wave of Fear is his best collection, especially for L.T.C. Rolt's "Hawley Bank Foundry". I had a copy of the paperback. Its pages were so browned and dry it's like someone had kept it in their oven. I was able to replace it with a copy of the hardback, so passed the cooked one on. |
|
|
|
Post by helrunar on Apr 25, 2017 3:28:07 GMT
So, I lucked out with Frederick Cowles... it turns out that the Library here holds a copy of the Ash Tree Press edition of his tales. I read "Terrible Mrs Greene" on my commute home tonight and enjoyed it very much. However it really reminded me more of "Seaton's Aunt" by Walter de la Mare than anything in Dr James's canon.
I started "The Vampire of Kaldenstein" and I absolutely love it. Worthy of inclusion in one of the Not at Night volumes by the redoubtable CCT.
This book has a very readable introduction from Hugh Lamb, with a definite personal touch in how he recounts his rediscovery of Mr. Cowles' oeuvre, thanks in large part to Mrs. Cowles.
H.
|
|
|
|
Post by Michael Connolly on Apr 26, 2017 12:08:59 GMT
Have just replaced the scans with larger versions. The Jacket photo is the work of Bob Marchant, the illustration, Fontana Book Of Great Ghost Stories legend Alan Lee. Wave Of Fear is perhaps my favourite of all Hugh's anthologies as it introduced me to the fiction of Charles Birkin, Frederick Cowles and L. T. C. Rolt. Shall always be grateful to him for that! I first came across Hugh Lamb's anthologies in my local library, which had some of the hardback editions about ten years after they had been published. I also think that A Wave of Fear is his best collection, especially for L.T.C. Rolt's "Hawley Bank Foundry". I had a copy of the paperback. Its pages were so browned and dry it's like someone had kept it in their oven. I was able to replace it with a copy of the hardback, so passed the cooked one on. I've just re-read this. It reads like I ate a cooked copy of A Wave of Fear before passing it on! |
|
|
|
Post by Michael Connolly on Apr 18, 2018 12:33:12 GMT
Hugh Lamb (ed.) - A Wave Of Fear (W.H. Allen, 1973) L. A . Lewis - The Child
Eleanor Scott - Celui-La
Ambrose Bierce - A Resumed Identity
M. P. Shiel - Huguenin's Wife
H. R. Wakefield - Blind Man's Buff
Charles Birkin - Marjorie's On Starlight
L. T. C. Rolt - Hawley Bank Foundry
Marjorie Bowen - Twilight
A. C. Benson - Basil Netherby
E. F. Benson - Wishing well
R. H. Benson - The Traveller
Joy Burnett - Phantom silhouette
Frederick Cowles - Terrible Mrs. Green
D. K. Broster - Clairvoyance
J. D. Beresford - The Late Occupier
Robert W. Chambers - The Messenger
Vivian Meik - A Honeymoon In Hate For people who always wanted to know what happens when a steamroller runs over somebody's head - you're in luck! A bit different for Hugh, this one, as he's allowed some contemporary writers in to mix it with the Victorian and Edwardian types. The Wishing Well wins it for E. F. in the battle of the Benson brothers - this is up there with The Face as one of his grimmest offerings with a suitably haunting ending. Birkin shows that he still has the knack from his Creeps days (I'm building up to giving him his own thread). The great Frederick Cowles' Terrible Mrs. Green is just that, and Lamb concludes his book in traditional manner with a great slab of voodoo Grand Guignol. L. A . Lewis - The Child: The narrator, a city boy and motorcyclist - though not, as he hastens to point out, the type "that carries a leggy flapper on the pinion and sports a cigarette holder a yard long": What's the matter with him? - investigates an alleged haunting at a gamekeepers cottage in the woods near 'Wailing Dip'. Some years before, a woman who'd murdered her children had escaped from the local asylum and was last seen near the site. She was heavily pregnant at the time. The woman is presumed dead down a pot hole, but who or what has been stealing poultry from the village these past years and what did a poacher see that scared him to death? Frederick Cowles - Terrible Mrs. Greene: "I hate him. I detest his nice manners and I loathe his silly verses. But I shall never let Reginald go. In life and death he is mine to do with as I like, for my mind has his in subjection." St. Endeth, Cornwall. Friends of the affable poet Reginald Greene are stunned and ultimately appalled by his choice of bride. Mrs. Greene is a piggy-eyed, bloated slob of a woman with a working interest in black magic and witchcraft. When a young lady, one of her disciples, went insane and committed suicide in the stone circle nearby, it was widely held among the villagers that she drove the girl to take her life. One bitterly cold winter, Mrs. Greene catches pneumonia and dies, much to the relief of Reginald. His joy is premature - soon the familiar flabby, ring-festooned fingers are materialising in the house and the bell by her bedside is summoning him again. Finally, she tires of toying with him, and Cowles sets about delivering a fittingly creepy ending. Marjorie Bowen - Twilight: The passing of Lucrezia Borgia. Even as she lies on her deathbed her spirit is busy, alternately attempting to seduce the young Roman Orsini and horrify him with "All my beautiful sins that I cannot tell the priest ... Will you hear how the Pope feasted with the Hebes and Ganymedes? Will you hear how we lived in the Vatican?" As Orsini flees her in fear and disgust he is met by a woman, one of several rushing to and fro from the palace bearing the dreadful news .... Vivian Meik - Honeymoon in Hate: Mikalongwa, Angoniland. English refugees Blair Taylor and Martin Kemp are bitter rivals for the love of the beautiful Estelle. When she decides to marry Taylor, Kemp turns to black magic and drives him to madness and suicide. Estelle avenges her beloved by marrying his murderer, having first infected herself with the blood of a leper. On their wedding night she performs a macabre striptease ... Charles Birkin - 'Marjorie's On Starlight': Ten year old Cynthia torments and humiliates her adopted sister with sadistic glee. When they're out riding, she callously reminds Marjory that her mother is dead, and causes her horse to bolt. There's a vehicle slowly approaching on the other side of the road, but it should be alright, unless either rider is thrown ... H. R. Wakefield - Blind Man's Buff: Aylesbury, Herts. Mr. Cort learns why none of the locals will approach Lorn Manor after nightfall. In pitch darkness, He loses himself within a few feet of the front door and is pursued about the old house by unseen entities. Ambrose Bierce - A Resumed Identity: A Union soldier's encounter with a spectral army and a physician who believes him to be suffering from memory loss. Reads like a Civil War variation on his influential An Inhabitant Of Carcosa. J. D. Beresford - The Late Occupier: The narrator is being shown around the vacant property when he flashes on what became of the previous owner, or "the late occupier" as the estate agent keeps repeating, mantra fashion. The man had been threatened with eviction but refused to budge even when his wife died and the gas and water supplies were terminated. The narrator realises that the dead man has concealed himself on the premises, and he knows where. I re-read Clairvoyance yesterday. It really built up suspense until the gory bits started on the second-last page. I don't mind gore when it's well done like this.  |
|
|
|
Post by cauldronbrewer on Apr 18, 2018 22:55:35 GMT
I re-read Clairvoyance yesterday. It really built up suspense until the gory bits started on the second-last page. I don't mind gore when it's well done like this. Seconded. I read this years ago, but that ending remains lodged in my mind. Like a sword. |
|
