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Post by Dr Strange on Nov 8, 2019 14:10:45 GMT
My copy of the Dover re-issue of The Shapes of Midnight arrived today. Contents -
Diary of a Werewolf
The Corpse of Charlie Rull
The Pavilion
House of Memory
The Willow Platform
Who Was He?
Disappearance
The Horror at Chilton Castle
The Impulse to Kill
The House on Hazel Street
(So, no "Canavan's Back Yard" or "Slime")
I'm already more than halfway through; here are some short descriptions for the first half dozen -
Diary of a Werewolf - I think I've read this one before; a very effective description of lycanthropy as insanity, rather than anything supernatural.
The Corpse of Charlie Rull - hobo bum keels over and dies, his corpse ending up in a swamp polluted with radioactive waste. As you'd expect, the corpse reanimates and goes on the rampage. Reminded me of the Swamp Thing comics, and also the Return of The Living Dead films of the 1980s.
The Pavilion - nonsupernatural tale about a murderer who goes back to check on his victim's corpse, buried in the sand under a beach pavilion, when he becomes worried that recent storms might have uncovered it.
House of Memory - rather twee story about a much-loved, but now demolished, house that becomes visible again.
The Willow Platform - liked this one a lot; something of Lovecraft about it (man finds grimoire and starts meddling with things he shouldn't), and also Blackwood (a passing reference to the wendigo).
Who Was He? - "He" being a creepy man, whose appearances in a hospital's "cardiac corridor" always seem to coincide with the death of a patient.
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Post by dem on Nov 8, 2019 16:35:51 GMT
My copy of the Dover re-issue of The Shapes of Midnight arrived today. Contents - Diary of a Werewolf The Corpse of Charlie Rull The Pavilion House of Memory The Willow Platform Who Was He? Disappearance The Horror at Chilton Castle The Impulse to Kill The House on Hazel Street (So, no "Canavan's Back Yard" or "Slime") The lack of any overlap suggests it was intended as a companion volume to Nine Horrors & A Dream. |
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Post by Dr Strange on Nov 8, 2019 17:11:02 GMT
Yes, I actually got the Dover edition of that too. They are very slim books, around the 120 page mark each. At this rate I will have them both read by the end of the weekend. Shouldn't really complain though, because I've really enjoyed most of the stories so far. Here's the contents for the Dover Nine Horrors and a Dream: Slime Levitation The Calamander Chest Death in Peru On the Elevator The Green Parrot Canavan’s Backyard I’m Murdering Mr. Massington The Hunt The Mail from Juniper Hill (So, the same as the Ballantine) |
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Post by cromagnonman on Nov 9, 2019 10:21:04 GMT
Joshi hates Brennan.
Always a badge to be worn with pride in my view.
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Post by helrunar on Nov 9, 2019 14:02:38 GMT
Is Brennan too schlocky for Joshi? Brennan doesn't sound at all "literary" from the descriptions, though the stories are clearly effective and pack a strong punch--not qualities prized in today's academia. If you've ever read any academic articles from the last 30 years, you'll know that "punch" is absolutely the last thing they aim for.
I'd like to hear Vincent Price read "The Calamander Chest." I listened to a couple of Vincent's LPs on you tube the week before last. Really wonderful stuff. His reading of "Thus I refute Beelzy" is delicious, masterly. If anyone is interested, I'll look out the you tube link for ye.
Best, Steve
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Post by Dr Strange on Nov 9, 2019 14:14:59 GMT
Disappearance - another nonsupernatural murder mystery, which rather telegraphs the ending early on in the story; two feuding brothers live on a farm together and hate each other intensely until one of them conveniently disappears; although the remaining brother is an obvious suspect, a thorough search of the farm reveals no signs of foul play and, more importantly, no body; years pass until the second brother dies of natural causes, and the solution to the first brother's disappearance is discovered.
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Post by Dr Strange on Nov 9, 2019 14:33:56 GMT
Is Brennan too schlocky for Joshi? Brennan doesn't sound at all "literary" from the descriptions, though the stories are clearly effective and pack a strong punch--not qualities prized in today's academia. I think that's definitely part of it - Brennan's prose is very spare and down-to-earth, and so is the complete opposite of the likes of Lovecraft. His writing often reminds me of Manly Wade Wellman's - there's a sort of good-naturedness about it (I don't mean humour) so that, apart from the obvious villains and monsters, his characters generally come across as being likeable. He also has quite a few of his stories set in a very Wellman-like 1950s rural USA, which can sometimes feel a bit quaint and homely. There's a quote from Joshi on wikipedia, where he says Brennan has "the ability to devise a clever supernatural idea but an utter deficiency of literary talent to execute it competently. The hallmark of Brennan's work is an almost childishly simple, unadorned prose that might be thought to facilitate the subtle incursion of the weird; but in reality this flatness of style renders his conceptions preposterous and absurd because of an insufficiency of atmospheric preparation". Personally, I think that is completely unfair - his style, to me, is not at all "flat" (though I would go along with "simple" and "unadorned"). Joshi seems to rate Brennan's poetry (a bit) more highly, though - "Brennan is probably a better poet than a fiction writer, and his simplicity of utterance can be highly effective in short, pungent poems of fantasy and terror. Arkham House's Nightmare Need (1964) is well worth seeking out, as is the later Sixty Selected Poems (1985)". |
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Nov 9, 2019 15:05:01 GMT
Is Brennan too schlocky for Joshi? Brennan doesn't sound at all "literary" from the descriptions, though the stories are clearly effective and pack a strong punch--not qualities prized in today's academia. If you've ever read any academic articles from the last 30 years, you'll know that "punch" is absolutely the last thing they aim for. Joshi is not an academic. He is an H P Lovecraft "fanboy." |
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Post by cromagnonman on Nov 9, 2019 23:13:28 GMT
Is Brennan too schlocky for Joshi? Brennan doesn't sound at all "literary" from the descriptions, though the stories are clearly effective and pack a strong punch--not qualities prized in today's academia. If you've ever read any academic articles from the last 30 years, you'll know that "punch" is absolutely the last thing they aim for. Joshi is not an academic. He is an H P Lovecraft "fanboy." Spot on. One, moreover, who would probably classify his idol's bowel movements as some sort of sublime advancement in literary horror. |
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Post by David A. Riley on Nov 10, 2019 0:37:55 GMT
While I certainly don't agree with all of Joshi's opinions, he has written one of the best literary biographies ever in I Am Providence, a book that is so much better than de Camp's it's in a different league altogether. As a Lovecraft scholar he is second to none.
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Post by andydecker on Nov 10, 2019 14:22:25 GMT
I am Providence is the one book(s) for anybody who really is interested in Lovecraft.
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Post by Knygathin on Nov 11, 2019 9:16:31 GMT
I am Providence is the one book(s) for anybody who really is interested in Lovecraft. I have not read Joshi's book. But for me, the one book, for anyone interested in getting to know Lovecraft, is Lovecraft Remembered, because it collects first-hand experienced meetings with Lovecraft; it is a delightful read. Along with reading Lovecraft's letters, of course. |
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Post by David A. Riley on Nov 11, 2019 9:25:52 GMT
I am Providence is the one book(s) for anybody who really is interested in Lovecraft. I have not read Joshi's book. But for me, the one book, for anyone interested in getting to know Lovecraft, is Lovecraft Remembered, because it collects first-hand experienced meetings with Lovecraft; it is a delightful read. Along with reading Lovecraft's letters, of course. is an excellent book - the last Arkham House book I have so far bought - but I Am Providence is monumental and covers Lovecraft's life in so much detail it is truly amazing. It also shows just how wrong so many presumptions about him are, such as for example of him being virtually a hermit, as he travelled extensively for month on end by Grayhound bus, often staying for economy in either YMCAs or with friends. His travels extended as far as Florida. This is only one aspect of Lovecraft that Joshi helped to correct, and why I Am Providence is such an invaluable book. And very readable too. |
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Post by Dr Strange on Nov 11, 2019 16:45:54 GMT
Here's the rest of the stories in the Dover edition of The Shapes of Midnight -
The Horror at Chilton Castle - this is a cracker, probably my favourite in the collection; has standard "sealed room in ancient castle dungeons, only ever opened to initiate the next heir into its horrifying secret" schtick, but is very well done in a sort of early Bloch / EC style.
Impulse to Kill - unremarkable serial killer origin story, told in first person.
The House on Hazel Street - sort of companion piece to House of Memory; the past continues to exist alongside the present, and maybe you really can go back if you want to enough, etc; reminded me of Ray Bradbury.
And these 3 are from Nine Horrors and a Dream, which is a collection I've read before (but it was yonks ago) -
Slime - amoebic blob monster on the rampage; not really my sort of thing, but a classic of its type.
Levitation - Bradbury-esque story about a carnival hypnotist's trick that turns out not to be.
The Calamander Chest - creepy story about a cursed/haunted chest; the current owner acquires the chest at a suspiciously low price from a second-hand dealer, then starts to see "a long pale finger with a heavy knuckle bone and a black nail" poking out from under the lid at various times over the next few weeks, before eventually deciding to get rid of it; I can't help feeling he has himself to blame for the way things turn out at the end... I mean would you have kept the chest for weeks after that finger started making an appearance?
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Post by andydecker on Nov 11, 2019 17:29:34 GMT
Lovecraft Remembered is an excellent book - the last Arkham House book I have so far bought - but I Am Providence is monumental and covers Lovecraft's life in so much detail it is truly amazing. It also shows just how wrong so many presumptions about him are, such as for example of him being virtually a hermit, as he travelled extensively for month on end by Grayhound bus, often staying for economy in either YMCAs or with friends. His travels extended as far as Florida. This is only one aspect of Lovecraft that Joshi helped to correct, and why I Am Providence is such an invaluable book. And very readable too. Yes, the details are overwhelming. I learned more about amateur journalism - I guess todays this is blogging - then I ever wanted to know. I hope you got a nice edition. I got two print-on-demand jobs which as far as book-making is concerned are truly disappointing editions. |
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