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Post by David A. Riley on Jul 25, 2008 20:46:52 GMT
Ash-Tree Press are publishing a new anthology in October, Shades of Darkness.
There are a few familiar names in the lineup:
Peter Bell Simon Bestwick Lawrence C. Connolly Michael Cox Steve Duffy Paul Finch Helen Grant Christopher Harman Glen Hirshberg Joel Lane Eric Michael Lewis Mark Patrick Lynch Keris McDonald Gary McMahon Frances Oliver Reggie Oliver Marion Pitman Guenther Primig David A. Riley Barbara Roden Ian Rogers Mark Samuels Simon Strantzas Harvey Peter Sucksmith Melanie Tem Simon Kurt Unsworth
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Post by David A. Riley on Aug 5, 2008 19:37:15 GMT
Christopher Roden has now released more details of the stories in this anthology:
The Oram County Whoosit - Steve Duffy Cold Reading - Simon Bestwick Smugglers - Guenther Primig The Old Traditions Are the Best - Paul Finch The Devil's Funeral - Reggie Oliver Leaves Brown - Ian Rogers In Old Oaks - Keris McDonald Thyxxolqu - Mark Samuels Flames - Larry Connolly Soft Little Fingers - David A. Riley The King of Majorca - Frances Oliver Monster - Melanie Tem The Children - Christopher Harman Cargo - Eric Michael Lewis A Bit of a Giggle - Harvey Peter Sucksmith Archangel - Peter Bell Brokenback Isle - Gary McMahon Old Man's Pantry - Simon Kurt Unsworth A Mouth to Feed - Joel Lane In Vitro - Michael Cox Out of Season - Marion Pitman Under the Overpass - Simon Strantzas The Apartment of Bryony Hartwood - Mark Patrick Lynch Grauer Hans - Helen Grant Back Roads - Barbara Roden Esmerelda - Glen Hirshberg
The cover is by Jason Van Hollander.
David
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Post by allysonbird on Aug 5, 2008 20:38:06 GMT
Looking very good.
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Post by David A. Riley on Oct 3, 2008 15:48:27 GMT
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Mar 13, 2009 18:59:28 GMT
Having scraped together enough cash to treat myself to a book (it's been far too long, thank God I've got plenty still unread on my shelves), I've got this one wending its way to me, mainly on the strength of finding that Michael Cox, M.R. James' biographer, has fulfilled a long-held ambition to write an MRJ tribute.
I'm also looking forward to acquainting myself with Reggie Oliver's work, and re-acquainting myself with the works of several other splendid writers.
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Mar 20, 2009 4:44:09 GMT
I've received my copy of the paperback edition, and it's a pleasingly hefty tome, as nicely produced as the hardbacks I have from Ash Tree Press. I also really like the cover painting, great colours and atmosphere.
I'm resisting the temptation to jump straight to Michael Cox's story, and I'm working my way through it in order. Will post more when I've got a few more stories under my belt, but so far it's good stuff.
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Mar 23, 2009 16:10:34 GMT
The Oram County Whoosit - Steve Duffy Oram, west Virginia, 1924. Young newspaper photographer and seasoned reporter are sent to cover the remarkable thing found in a coal mine. The snapper reckons it's just a silly season story, and that what supposedly was found preserved inside the coal is nothing more than than a fake, like one of P.T. Barnum's 'Feejee Mermaids'. His more seasoned colleague isn't so convinced, and when he catches sight of the oddly-angled impression of the creature in the hunk of coal, it confirms his fears, and causes him to worry that the horrific events he went through quarter of a century ago during the Gold-rush are set to be relived.
Steve Duffy's collection "The Night Comes On" is full of superb Jamesian stories. Here, though, he turns his attention to Lovecraft with similarly impressive results, although he thankfully leaves off of the usual jargon found in Mythos tales.
Cold Reading - Simon Bestwick Mike, an ex-soldier with anger management issues, isn't too happy that a so-called medium has been preying on the grief of his best friend Julie's mum after Julie's dad's death, and has fleeced her of her savings and nearly caused her suicide. Now he's tracked the slimeball down to out-of-season Blackpool, but it seems he might have been beaten to it.
Smugglers - Guenther Primig Mr Ingram's holiday looks set to be marred by two things, his unfulfilled wish that he'd led a more adventurous life, and the pangs of guilt he feels over his resentment of his wife's clinging neediness. Then, after his wife claims to have seen a woman fall from the train, figures are seen to lurk by the cemetery path, and something that scuttles like a crab seems to dog the couple's steps.
The Old Traditions Are the Best - Paul Finch Sixteen year old Scott is an ASBO case on the 'Safari Programme' - a young offender's holiday as part of his rehabilitation - in Padstow, Cornwall. Only Scott doesn't particularly want to be rehabilitated, and all the Mayday celebrations annoy him enough to attempt a bit of destructive mischief. He shouldn't have ignored the warnings that the Obby-Oss (Hobby Horse) has a more sinister reputation in that part of the world than a mere fertility symbol.
The Devil's Funeral - Reggie Oliver A series of letters from the Canon of Morchester Cathedral to his fiancee, and extracts from the diary of the cathedral's Dean, dating back to 1882, provide a link between the Canon's disturbing dreams of a ritual known as a "devil's funeral" and his increasingly alarming visions and the death of one of the choirboys and ungodly behaviour in the Cathedral.
Jamesian touches and references, though the scandal at the heart of the story is something MRJ wouldn't have dreamed of touching upon. Apparently this was inspired by the author's great grandfather's actual dying words.
Leaves Brown - Ian Rogers Only Sheldon knows why his teenage grandson Ben screams during the night and suffers from nightmares. It's the same reason Sheldon left Cape Breton for decades and only recently came back. It's time for the old man and the boy to have a long talk about what it is about the shadows on the island that makes them different from shadows anywhere else.
In Old Oaks - Keris McDonald It's Alison's first day as arborist in the Grimswold Woodland Gardens, and already there's trouble when a branch from an old oak tree falls and nearly dents a child's skull. The best bet is for her to go up on a rope and chainsaw away the dead branches before the Estate has a lawsuit on its hands. But Bob the groundsman isn't too keen on Grey's Oak, particularly not after what happened to Alison's predecessor, and she soon begins to suspect that there may be more than ravens nesting in the foul-smelling hollow of the old tree.
There was a certain point when I was reading this last night where I felt myself shudder and had to go back and re-read what I was afraid I had just read, a really creepy moment. Thyxxolqu - Mark Samuels Owen Barclay is mystified by the strange, unrecognisable text on the advertising hoarding he spies from the window of the bus. He is even more perplexed when the same unidentifiable language begins to manifest itself in newspaper reports and in his fellow passengers' speech. He wants to read up on it, but somehow trying to read in English, or any of the other lqanguages he's fluent in, begins to make him ill. And then there are those other changes to the people around him. Flames - Larry Connolly Bobby is supposed to be driving Seth and Renee home from college for the Thanksgiving holidays, but when the car gets stuck in the snow, the three are forced to decamp to the old house in the woods. But there's something not quite right about the place. It's almost as if it is waiting for them... at least, waiting for some of them.
Soft Little Fingers - David A. Riley Peter Devlin can't help feeling sympathy for the poor, sick child he sees peering out from the back window of the green Corsa. I mean, it must be sick, mustn't it, to look the way it does? But the sympathy shifts to a feeling closer to dread or revulsion as he starts to see the same green and its same pale occupant more and more frequently. Then comes the night of the accident on the road.
Read this one a few hours ago, and it's still lingering with me. There's a great tightening of the tension when the clues begin to fall into place. I was glad that when I was reading it on the bus I didn't look out and see a green Corsa in the next lane. Brrrrr...
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stephenbacon
Crab On The Rampage
www.stephenbacon.co.uk
Posts: 78
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Post by stephenbacon on Mar 23, 2009 21:39:59 GMT
I'm currently reading this superb anthology and loving it. I'm only on the Peter Bell story so far (just over half way I think), but I've not come across a bad story yet.
Favourites so far - stories by Steve Duffy, Reggie Oliver, and Eric M Lewis.
Highly recommended.
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Post by benedictjjones on Mar 24, 2009 12:34:47 GMT
those to stories sound excellent. i'll try and order this on thursday.
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Mar 28, 2009 20:30:46 GMT
The King of Majorca - Frances Oliver Stories unfold within a story, as Marianne, taking a two-month course in a small French town in the summer of 1951 repeatedly writes apparently autobiographical essays about a girl whose obsession with a statue of a king in the town's cathedral proves fatal.
Monster - Melanie Tem Naomi, the narrator of this bleak little story, is a counsellor, helping prospective adoptive parents who have realised that they cannot face the resposibilty and are ready to sever the bonds with the child they've taken on. Naomi sees her job as a calling, since her experiences with her own children have taught her that sometimes the monsters are inside the children.
The Children - Christopher Harman The woods near his new home become a source of fascination for Pelham, after he becomes convinced that he's heard something with dragging steps following in his wake. Could it be Mother Grace, the local bogey-woman who lived in those woods a century ago, the remains of whose cottage he thinks he's stumbled across? If it is, it might not be a good idea to take a souvenir home with him.
Cargo - Eric Michael Lewis Sergeant Davis a US Airforce Loadmaster is used to taking care of all sorts of cargo, from personel to weapons. But the hundreds of boxes on the latest mission make him, and the two passengers he's carrying uncomfortable, particularly when they here the sounds of playing. Because this is November 1978 and these long boxes are being brought back home frome a place known as Jonestown.
A Bit of a Giggle - Harvey Peter Sucksmith Lenny isn't nearly as tough as his hardnut mate, Harry, and he really doesn't think it's a good idea for Harry to wind-up the joke shop owner, especially after what Harry did to the old man's son. Grief stricken or not, the man who once took to the stage as "Milsom the Magnificent" still has some tricks up his sleeve.
Archangel - Peter Bell Marcus's visit to the old church takes a sinister turn after he finds the dislodged face of the stone angel in the churchyard, and there's nothing angelic about it. Then he discovers more about the history of the vividly grotesque scenes in the stained glass windows.
One of my favourites. Very atmospheric.
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Post by Michael Connolly on Oct 24, 2018 13:39:49 GMT
I've just bit the bullet on Shades of Darkness. My copy has just been shipped, apparently. I can't think why I waited ten years. It any event, it is the last anthology edited by Barbara and Christopher Roden for Ash-Tree Press.
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Post by Shrink Proof on Oct 24, 2018 17:44:13 GMT
I've just bit the bullet on Shades of Darkness. My copy has just been shipped, apparently. I can't think why I waited ten years. It any event, it is the last anthology edited by Barbara and Christopher Roden for Ash-Tree Press. Money well spent, IMHO. The other compilations in the series ("Midnight Never Comes", "Acquainted With the Night" and "At Ease With the Dead") all get my vote too. Love the Jason van Hollander covers...
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Oct 24, 2018 18:25:59 GMT
I wonder what distracted me from finishing my little write-ups nine and a half years ago... Whatever the case, my memory of it is that it was one of those rare anthologies where I enjoyed every story enormously, with particular praise going to the stories by Michael Cox, Peter Bell and Keris McDonald.
I got rather lucky with my timing and managed to pick up very nice copies of the other books in the series on eBay last year at reasonable - if not exactly cheap - prices.
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Post by David A. Riley on Oct 24, 2018 20:05:04 GMT
I've just bit the bullet on Shades of Darkness. My copy has just been shipped, apparently. I can't think why I waited ten years. It any event, it is the last anthology edited by Barbara and Christopher Roden for Ash-Tree Press. A lovely book and a great shame it was the last to be published by them, though if you want to go out on a high, this would be it. I had only recently made contact with the Rodens and my story in this book was the first I ever had published by them. I little suspected it would be the last!
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Post by mrhappy on Oct 25, 2018 13:40:48 GMT
I've just bit the bullet on Shades of Darkness. My copy has just been shipped, apparently. I can't think why I waited ten years. It any event, it is the last anthology edited by Barbara and Christopher Roden for Ash-Tree Press. Money well spent, IMHO. The other compilations in the series ("Midnight Never Comes", "Acquainted With the Night" and "At Ease With the Dead") all get my vote too. Love the Jason van Hollander covers... And don't forget the 2000 release Shadows and Silence. These five collections are cornerstones of modern ghostly fiction and I can't recommend them highly enough. Mr. Happy
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