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Post by ropardoe on Nov 9, 2016 18:33:40 GMT
So the world has officially gone insane. Anyway, I've been spoilt recently with retired proprietrix of Canberra's Gaslight Books, Gayle Lovett, pruning her collection and passing some magazines on to me, including some early issues of Dark Horizons, the official organ of the British Fantasy Society:  Cover by David Riley, who I didn't realise was an artist Dark Horizons #2, ed. Rosemary Pardoe, 1972 ContentsEddy C. Bertin, The 'Lovecraftian' Works of Colin Wilson David A. Sutton, The Golden Age of British Horror Fanzines David Riley, Rain (poem) Bobbie Gray, Not Your Philosophy Horatio (part 1) Reviews Letters  David Riley Dark Horizons #3, ed. Rosemary Pardoe, 1972 ContentsBrian Mooney, Kenneth Grant: A New Viewpoint of HPL Allan Parkes, On C.S. Lewis Bobbie Gray, Not Your Philosophy Horatio part 2 John Godrich, Wanderings in the Weird David A. Riley, Olympiad of Ghosts (poem) Reviews Letters  Mike Higgs
Dark Horizons #4, ed. Rosemary Pardoe, 1972 ContentsEditorial Adrian Cole, Fantasy and a Place for Contemporary Music A.W. Parkes, The Magical Fire (poem) John Godrich, Wanderings in the Weird part 2 Rosemary Pardoe, Checklist of 'Monk'Lewis Bobbie Gray, Not Your Philosophy Horation part 3 Reviews Letters Quiz! Who is this collecting a British Fantasy Award in 1984 (from a British Fantasy Newsletter)  Those are some great covers. Even one from back in my unicorn days! As for the photo - I was a little plump, wasn't I? I think I'm slightly thinner now, but also much greyer (or let's say, silvery-er). Otherwise, not a lot different - most of the time I feel just about as blurry. |
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Nov 9, 2016 19:48:48 GMT
So the world has officially gone insane. Anyway, I've been spoilt recently with retired proprietrix of Canberra's Gaslight Books, Gayle Lovett, pruning her collection and passing some magazines on to me, including some early issues of Dark Horizons, the official organ of the British Fantasy Society: Cover by David Riley, who I didn't realise was an artist Dark Horizons #2, ed. Rosemary Pardoe, 1972 ContentsEddy C. Bertin, The 'Lovecraftian' Works of Colin Wilson David A. Sutton, The Golden Age of British Horror Fanzines David Riley, Rain (poem) Bobbie Gray, Not Your Philosophy Horatio (part 1) Reviews Letters David Riley Dark Horizons #3, ed. Rosemary Pardoe, 1972 ContentsBrian Mooney, Kenneth Grant: A New Viewpoint of HPL Allan Parkes, On C.S. Lewis Bobbie Gray, Not Your Philosophy Horatio part 2 John Godrich, Wanderings in the Weird David A. Riley, Olympiad of Ghosts (poem) Reviews Letters Mike Higgs
Dark Horizons #4, ed. Rosemary Pardoe, 1972 ContentsEditorial Adrian Cole, Fantasy and a Place for Contemporary Music A.W. Parkes, The Magical Fire (poem) John Godrich, Wanderings in the Weird part 2 Rosemary Pardoe, Checklist of 'Monk'Lewis Bobbie Gray, Not Your Philosophy Horation part 3 Reviews Letters Quiz! Who is this collecting a British Fantasy Award in 1984 (from a British Fantasy Newsletter) Those are some great covers. Even one from back in my unicorn days! As for the photo - I was a little plump, wasn't I? I think I'm slightly thinner now, but also much greyer (or let's say, silvery-er). Otherwise, not a lot different - most of the time I feel just about as blurry. great to see these old covers - a staple of my gaslight writing days. And at the risk of being mistaken for a Trump henchman I think you've maybe got a female jaundiced view of plump. That counts as extra slinky in my Billie Bunter guidebook. |
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Post by ropardoe on Nov 10, 2016 12:24:30 GMT
Those are some great covers. Even one from back in my unicorn days! As for the photo - I was a little plump, wasn't I? I think I'm slightly thinner now, but also much greyer (or let's say, silvery-er). Otherwise, not a lot different - most of the time I feel just about as blurry. great to see these old covers - a staple of my gaslight writing days. And at the risk of being mistaken for a Trump henchman I think you've maybe got a female jaundiced view of plump. That counts as extra slinky in my Billie Bunter guidebook. First time in my entire life that I've ever been called "extra slinky"! Looking at the contents of those issues again (I don't have copies), I do wonder why on earth I reprinted Bobbie Gray's articles, which are actually accounts of her real-life ghostly experiences. People, quite rightly, were expecting coverage of fiction (fantasy, supernatural and horror), and weren't very keen on these articles. Perhaps it was just that I was desperate to fill space. That's more than likely. |
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Post by helrunar on Nov 10, 2016 15:57:02 GMT
Rosemary, I had wondered if that photo was you. It looks as if you were being awarded and it is a very special thing to see for those of us who have enjoyed your work over the years.
Were you personally acquainted with Bobbie Gray? I recently read the revised edition of Alan Richardson's book about her husband Bill, winningly entitled The Old Sod (Richardson tells us at least three times that Bill would have happily embraced the title). The stuff about Bobbie is fascinating. She was a friend of E. A. St. George, aka Sandra West, whose poetry and novels (the few I have been able to find) I have enjoyed tremendously. Would love to read those accounts of spectral manifestations from Bobbie someday. By the end of The Old Sod, I came away more impressed by her than by him since she seems to have been more grounded and intuitive. Of course, this is just an impression from reading, which is very different from actually knowing a person.
Best wishes,
Helrunar
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Post by ropardoe on Nov 10, 2016 18:47:38 GMT
Rosemary, I had wondered if that photo was you. It looks as if you were being awarded and it is a very special thing to see for those of us who have enjoyed your work over the years. Were you personally acquainted with Bobbie Gray? I recently read the revised edition of Alan Richardson's book about her husband Bill, winningly entitled The Old Sod (Richardson tells us at least three times that Bill would have happily embraced the title). The stuff about Bobbie is fascinating. She was a friend of E. A. St. George, aka Sandra West, whose poetry and novels (the few I have been able to find) I have enjoyed tremendously. Would love to read those accounts of spectral manifestations from Bobbie someday. By the end of The Old Sod, I came away more impressed by her than by him since she seems to have been more grounded and intuitive. Of course, this is just an impression from reading, which is very different from actually knowing a person. Best wishes, Helrunar All I remember about getting that British Fantasy award was that the ceremony (at Fantasycon that year) was running late. So my entire acceptance speech consisted roughly of "Thank you. Must go - I've got a train to catch!" I only met Bobbie Gray once, but we were both members of OMPA, the Offtrails Magazine Publishers Association, in the early 1970s (it was the main British science fiction APA back then). Her account of her ghostly experiences (many of them involving her cats, if I remember rightly) were first published in her zines there, before I reprinted them in Dark Horizons. I was a young upstart back then while Bobbie Gray had already been in fandom for going on twenty years, from a time when "femmefans" (I know - horrible) were a rarity. There are quite a lot of references to her in Rob Hansen's Then: Science Fiction Fandom in the UK: 1930-1980 (new edition just out in a nice paperback version via Ansible). I found Bobbie a little awkward in person (but then so was I - super shy!), but we got on well in the APA, despite her being a good deal more reactionary than me; and her zines were always interesting. Not everyone there shared our interest in the supernatural. |
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Post by helrunar on Nov 10, 2016 20:13:16 GMT
Thank you, Rosemary, for those fascinating memories. I'm not surprised to hear Bobbie was reactionary--Bill was an unrepentant racist, with what I would once have called fascist tendencies. But the word fascist is almost devoid of meaning now because of severe over-use in recent years.
And many thanks for that very useful reference to the book on British Sci-Fi fandom of that period. In the Richardson book, there are frustratingly vague references to an early fandom group in the 1950s. It was where Bobbie and Sandra West first met and became friends, and I think Bobbie met Bill either at a meeting there, or because Sandra introduced them. I can't recall the chronology and it might have been left unclear in the Richardson book.
I hope you made that train! My impression of the photo is that you were definitely in a hurry! I myself have always been interested in both horror literature and the occult, so I am sure I would have been fascinated by your zine!
Best,
Helrunar (Steve)
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Post by ropardoe on Nov 11, 2016 11:25:05 GMT
Thank you, Rosemary, for those fascinating memories. I'm not surprised to hear Bobbie was reactionary--Bill was an unrepentant racist, with what I would once have called fascist tendencies. But the word fascist is almost devoid of meaning now because of severe over-use in recent years. And many thanks for that very useful reference to the book on British Sci-Fi fandom of that period. In the Richardson book, there are frustratingly vague references to an early fandom group in the 1950s. It was where Bobbie and Sandra West first met and became friends, and I think Bobbie met Bill either at a meeting there, or because Sandra introduced them. I can't recall the chronology and it might have been left unclear in the Richardson book. Helrunar (Steve) Yes, we caught the train! There's only one reference to Bill Gray in Then: "In September [1959], Bobbie Wild married the Cheltenham Circle's Bill Gray and moved to that town." There might be something more about the Cheltenham Circle at that time in Peter Weston's fan-history zine Prolapse (renamed Relapse), but it would require hunting through every issue: a labour of love as the zine is marvellous, but awfully time-consuming. I believe it's available on-line. There's some great stuff in the zine about '60s and '70s SF bookshops in London (Dark They Were and Golden Eyed, etc), which I'd recommend to anyone interested in the subject. |
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Post by helrunar on Nov 11, 2016 13:54:37 GMT
Again, many thanks for that further reference, Rosemary. I wonder if the Cheltenham Circle was the name of the group Richardson references, or if that was simply the local cell in a fandom organization that had membership circles all over the country. I'll try to find the Peter Weston zine you mention although how much time I can cadge for further investigations is doubtful. I would love at least to take a peek at the mag, though.
Best wishes,
Helrunar (Steve)
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Post by dem on Nov 11, 2016 18:31:25 GMT
Thanks for sharing these, James. That's two of us hadn't realised our resident Lurker In The Abyss was an artist (or poet, for that matter) . Particularly like the illustration on cover of #3. (can't comment on #2 or #4 due to total loathing of all things unic*rn). For those not already aware, Mr. Riley was recently interviewed by The Gal In The Blue Mask. Think the only early-ish Dark Horizons I have is #18, an absolute classic of an issue featuring fiction from David A. Sutton, Adrian Cole, Peter Valentine Timlett, and Ken Cowley's neglected vampire classic, Dracula Reflects. |
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Post by ropardoe on Nov 11, 2016 18:34:02 GMT
Again, many thanks for that further reference, Rosemary. I wonder if the Cheltenham Circle was the name of the group Richardson references, or if that was simply the local cell in a fandom organization that had membership circles all over the country. I'll try to find the Peter Weston zine you mention although how much time I can cadge for further investigations is doubtful. I would love at least to take a peek at the mag, though. Best wishes, Helrunar (Steve) Apparently, (again according to Then), the Cheltenham SF Circle was formed in 1955, and grew out of the failing/failed West Country SF Group. There was no countrywide SF organisation back then: that didn't happen till the end of the '50s and the start of the British Science Fiction Association. There were, however, dozens of local groups, some more active than others. The Cheltenham Circle were responsible for founding the Knights of St Fantony, originally "to honour the Liverpool Group for their work in fandom". By the time I entered fandom in the latest '60s St Fantony was starting to be perceived (rightly or wrongly - probably wrongly) as an elitist organisation whose ceremonies at conventions were an embarrassment (we have a Knight of St Fantony here in the Vault, in the shape of Ramsey Campbell, incidentally). In the index for Then (mercifully it has quite a good one), there are a lot of references to the Cheltenham Circle. |
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Post by helrunar on Nov 14, 2016 16:23:27 GMT
Thank you again, Rosemary, for taking the time to find and share that very interesting information. I appreciate your generosity very much.
In one of E. A. St. George's books, Casebook of a Working Occultist, published around 1973, one of the episodes involves the titular character invoking Mr. Spock to materialize via astral travel on a damaged spacecraft (in real life 1970s Earth space) to repair its "crude" but" fascinating" engineering. I don't think Britain had a space program although I also recall a favorite Dr. Who story, THE AMBASSADORS OF DEATH, that involved a similar plot (minus Mr. Spock)--maybe this was wishful thinking on the part of British sci-fi enthusiasts. Anyhow I have wondered whether Elizabeth inadvertently gave birth to the Chaos Magick movement of the 1980s with that story, since one of the things that was mentioned frequently in the early writing by Pete Carroll and Phil Hine was invoking Star Trek characters such as Kirk, Spock and Uhura in magical rituals. It may have been just coincidental but my impression is that the British world of sci-fi and occult enthusiasts in the 1970s and 1980s was a fairly small and cozy one.
cheers, H.
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Post by cromagnonman on Nov 24, 2016 21:54:11 GMT
 Salvaged today from the Siberian gulag under Waterloo Bridge. One of my more infrequent foraging haunts I have to say, though maybe I should consider going there more often as the books are always interesting and in good condition and generally no more expensive than in the basements of Charing Cross Road. Surprising this considering its such a prime site for the ambushing of oblivious tourists. Anyway, its probably the Arctic conditions prevailing there that dissuade me from going more regularly. Even at the height of summer book hunting there is an exercise in endurance as much as persistence; what with the chill shadow of the bridge itself, to say nothing of the wind funnelling off of the Thames. On a day like today though conditions were fit only for Sasquatches. How the dealers stationed there endure it for hour upon hour I just don't know. Although there might be a clue in the fact that the young woman who sold me these spoke in - what I'm fairly sure - was a Russian accent. Either that or her vocal chords had petrified with frost.  |
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Post by Swampirella on Nov 24, 2016 22:13:37 GMT
Congrats!  I just happened to have finished the Fontana collection today, it arrived in the mail yesterday. Not bad, but not great either... |
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Post by dem on Nov 25, 2016 11:17:46 GMT
Salvaged today from the Siberian gulag under Waterloo Bridge. One of my more infrequent foraging haunts I have to say, though maybe I should consider going there more often as the books are always interesting and in good condition and generally no more expensive than in the basements of Charing Cross Road. Surprising this considering its such a prime site for the ambushing of oblivious tourists. Anyway, its probably the Arctic conditions prevailing there that dissuade me from going more regularly. Even at the height of summer book hunting there is an exercise in endurance as much as persistence; what with the chill shadow of the bridge itself, to say nothing of the wind funnelling off of the Thames. On a day like today though conditions were fit only for Sasquatches. How the dealers stationed there endure it for hour upon hour I just don't know. Although there might be a clue in the fact that the young woman who sold me these spoke in - what I'm fairly sure - was a Russian accent. Either that or her vocal chords had petrified with frost. Ben Jones mentioned the stalls under the bridge ages back, keep meaning to explore but still not got around to it which is ridiculous. Was over that way not so long ago, but didn't see any action. Is it a Thursday thing or all week? Slim pickings post-fair, but looks like me luck has changed! |
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Post by cromagnonman on Nov 25, 2016 14:14:41 GMT
The Waterloo Bridge book market is a seven day a week fixture insofar as I am aware, Dem. Open daily till 7pm or thereabouts.
A good place to browse. But be sure to take your flamethrower. Its cold enough under that bridge to keep extraterrestrial pods preserved in the permafrost.
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I just happened to have finished the Fontana collection today, it arrived in the mail yesterday. Not bad, but not great either...
