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Post by jerrylad on Feb 24, 2008 22:52:17 GMT
I don't really know if anyone will be interested in this but I'm going to get it off my chest as it were and the people I work with everyday would never appreciate it . A few years ago ,just before I discovered the Vault and I was selling my horror collection on e-bay for vast riches,I came across my old Pan horror books and said to my wife "I cant get rid of these because they mean too much to me" so I kept them . I had the first 18 books and a battered copy of 19 and an even worse copy of 25. That week we were pouring 5000 metres of concrete into a new shopping centre in Shrewsbury (The Charles Darwin Centre as it would become) and I was supervising various aspects of the pour .There were about 150 people working there that day on cranes ,excavators etc and i just stopped to help one gang who were having some difficulty.A young lad had held onto a skipful of concrete that the crane was loading and got swung out 300 feet above Shrewsbury. He was screaming in panic as you would imagine and the crane driver was unsighted so didnt know what was going on. Thankfully he hung on and when he got his feet back down to earth I went with him to casualty as he was in deep shock. I took his wellies off for him (and I know that sounds funny) and there was loads of concrete in them. As I was cleaning the concrete off myself I noticed something that shouldn't have been there.Concrete consists of 20mm gravel ,sand and cement and in my hands was a chess piece from an ordinary run-of-the-mill plastic chess set. Out of curiosity I cleaned it off and it was a white queen.Why was it there ,? to come across that in 5000 metres of concrete .It must have fallen into the batcher many miles away but to come across it ? I kept it because the lad survived and really he would have died nine times out of ten and I thought it might be a lucky omen. The next day I was carrying the white queen with me while I visited my favourite book stall in Telford market when a guy came along and gave the stallholder a bagful of horror books which happened to be the Pan books from 19 to 30 in mint ,unread condition.The guy knew I was looking out for old horror books and asked me if I wanted them for 2 quid each (24 quid !) so obviously i took them and he knocked four quid off. That was a bizarre 36 hours of my life but ,after two and a half years ,I cant stop carrying it around with me .I even gave it to my 19 year old daughter when she took her driving test and it worked. What was it doing in all that concrete ,why did I chance upon it in exceptional circumstances and why did the Pan books start at 19 just where I needed them ? The bloody thing has eroded smooth now but if i didnt have it with me everyday I would be in a blind panic. My wife thinks I'm soft in the head but for me its just too much to dismiss . Sorry to bore you with this (but they are mint,unread !)
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Feb 24, 2008 23:00:03 GMT
Jerrylad,
that's just fascinating. Quite some tale.
As well as getting the lucky chess piece you are now on to a few bob with the later editions of pan which are worth a bit. But then I wouldn't sell mine and I doubt you will either.
Craig
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Post by jerrylad on Feb 24, 2008 23:11:30 GMT
No Craig , I'll never sell them,to tell you the truth I wish i hadnt sold any of my books ,especially the Wheatley Library of Occults which went for hundreds ,at the time i didnt think anyone else had an interest in old horror books
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Post by Calenture on Feb 24, 2008 23:21:43 GMT
That's a pretty amazing tale, Jerry. I'm not superstitious, but I'd be inclined to hold onto that White Queen, too!
I wonder if that Dennis Wheatley series will appear as mysteriously as the Pans did?
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Post by Dr Terror on Feb 24, 2008 23:55:36 GMT
The next day I was carrying the white queen with me while I visited my favourite book stall in Telford market The one in Wellington?
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Feb 25, 2008 5:32:30 GMT
I'm considering making book requests
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Post by dem bones on Feb 25, 2008 9:15:23 GMT
really glad you shared that with us, jerry. had i still been doing a 'supernatural-interest' 'zine, i'd have been nagging you narrow to allow me to run The White Queen. we had a brief stab at sharing our experiences of the paranormal on the old board and hopefully this will get us going again.
i'm with craig and you'll be bombarded with endless wants list stuff very shortly!
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Post by jerrylad on Feb 25, 2008 16:53:45 GMT
Yes Charles,the one in Wellington market.He has loads of horror ,sf and fantasy and he knows his stuff in some fields but not ,fortunately for me,those.
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Post by Dr Terror on Feb 27, 2008 0:05:57 GMT
It's one of my favourite places for books. The only problem is he's got so much piled up you can't see everything unless you're prepared to risk starting an avalanche.
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albie
Devils Coach Horse
Posts: 134
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Post by albie on Aug 13, 2008 16:15:16 GMT
You want to hear something weird? I have become somewhat obsessed with the film THE GHOST TRAIN. I have been watching it off and on for years and especially since I bought the DVD. It was written by -yes you already know- Arnold Ridley of Dad's Army fame. A few weeks ago I was watching it every night. Sometimes nodding off to it at bedtime. I began to recall a few Dad's Army episodes that were similar to the film's plot. One involved the troop guarding a deserted lighthouse and a more similar one had them trapped on the pier end. I wondered if these episodes had been written as a kind of homage to Ridley's film. One night, watching the film again, I noticed a poster in the waitng room where the characters spend most of the film. It was a poster for Weston Super Mare. First time I'd noticed it. I fell asleep watching it and woke up in the morning and turned the news on. That was the day the pier in Weston Super Mare burned down! Coincidence? Or am I insane? I live nowhere near Weston Super Mare, btw. Just in case you think I like to start setting fires.
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albie
Devils Coach Horse
Posts: 134
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Post by albie on Aug 13, 2008 16:24:41 GMT
Not the first odd thing to happen to me. A while ago, I had a dream I was sat in my kitchen and heard/felt a rumbling noise. I went outside and saw a massive tidal wave towering over the city. The next night, just as I was nodding off, was the night of the recent earthquake. It's epicentre just a few miles away from me. And I felt it. It woke me up. A horrible rumbling beneath. I thought" Tidal wave!" and expected water to come crashing through my house any second. Luckily I had a clean pair of pants handy. I also had a dream about a large fire near my home, on a certain road. The next day a large B&Q burnt down on that road. Nobody has ever been able to establish why it burnt down. The dream suggested it was my fault.
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Aug 13, 2008 17:01:38 GMT
You're insane Albie. But I wouldn't worry about it. Could you dream that I am in room full of naked woman and am clutching a cheque from Ernie for 50 million quid.
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Post by carolinec on Aug 13, 2008 17:59:32 GMT
You're insane Albie. But I wouldn't worry about it. Could you dream that I am in room full of naked woman and am clutching a cheque from Ernie for 50 million quid. Don't be daft, Craig, if you were clutching a cheque for £50M the naked women would have it off you in no time! (I had to be very careful how I typed that sentence as I almost accidentally put "have it off with you" instead! ) By the way, Albie, I'm glad it wasn't you who burnt down Weston-s-Mare's pier. I spent much time there as a youngster, I loved the place, so I was very upset that it burnt down recently.
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Post by allysonbird on Aug 13, 2008 20:46:16 GMT
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albie
Devils Coach Horse
Posts: 134
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Post by albie on Aug 14, 2008 10:43:36 GMT
I didn't burn it down. Arnold Ridley did it!
Or was it Askey?
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