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Post by Dr Terror on Jun 25, 2008 15:20:56 GMT
Spawned from Horror and Fear come the familiars of Terror — 15 disturbing tales to haunt your days and upset your dreams — every single one now published for the first time.
The Typewriter which possesses its user
The Storm which eats what it kills
The Sky is not as empty as it may appear
The Balm which soothes no-one!
The Terrible Truth of the porch lantern
The Sound of Justice which hammers beneath the floor
All these never-before-seen stories:
“The Carpet Crawlers” by GUY ADAMS
“The Hack”, by JAMES COOPER and ANDREW JURY
“The Velocity of Blame”, by CHRISTOPHER FOWLER
“It Sounds a Bit Like…”, by GARY FRY
“Nightmare Alley”, by RHYS HUGHES
something or other by DAVIN IRELAND
“Chelsea Grin”, by MICHAEL KELLY
“Falling Off the World”, by TIM LEBBON
“Seen But Not Heard”, by GARY McMAHON
“Bad Call” by MARK MORRIS
“Our Man in the Sahara” by SARAH PINBOROUGH
“Pinholes in Black Muslin”, by SIMON STRANTZAS
“The Tobacconist’s Concession”, by JOHN TRAVIS
“Wary Be the Traveller”, by CAROL WEEKES
“Late Returns” by CONRAD WILLIAMS
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Post by allysonbird on Aug 19, 2008 1:08:53 GMT
On my list for BFSCon in September!
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Post by Johnlprobert on Oct 22, 2008 7:12:27 GMT
The Second Humdrumming Book of Horror Stories 'Selected by' Ian Alexander Martin Contents: Conrad Williams - Late Returns Gary McMahon - Seen but not Heard Simon Strantzas - Pinholes in Black Muslin Tim Lebbon - Falling Off the World Guy Adams - Quadrophobia Rhys Hughes - Nightmare Alley Christopher Fowler - The Velocity of Blame Gary Fry - It Sounds a Bit Like... Mark Morris - Bad Call Carol Weekes - Wary be the Traveller Michael Kelly - Chelsea Grin Davin Ireland - Maryland John Travis - The Tobacconists' Concession Sarah Pinborough - Our Man in the Sudan James Cooper & Andrew Jury - The Hack It was with some trepidation I approached this volume as despite the fact that both the logo, the editorial byline and the format were obviously deliberately in the style of the dear old Pan series, most of the stories in that volume certainly weren't. The appearance of Charlie's Black Book of Horror on the scene at the same time only served to emphasise how not 'Pan' the first Humdrumming book was. This doesn't mean it was a bad book, or that the stories were poor. In fact far from it, but they were far more a mix of the avant garde and the literary (two terms that where horror is concerned make me shudder more than the contents of any spine tingler) than the gleeful atrocities the cover design might have suggested. So here's volume two, and having met the extremely pleasant and personable Mr Martin recently I thought I'd give the series a second chance and was rewarded with a far more pleasurable reading experience. I'll stop buggering about now and get to the stories: Conrad Williams - Late Returns. I've always wondered about those random slips of paper you find in library or secondhand books. Here Dashiell Callaghan is being haunted by a mysterious admirer who leaves the aforementioned notes in the books he borrows. An ending that has shades of Leiber's 'Our Lady of Darkness' rounds off this subtle opener nicely. Gary McMahon - Seen But Not Heard. One of GM's 'Usher' detective stories. A short, sharp, child-murdering one this. Gary tells me it's his riff on MRJ's Lost Hearts and the ending is suitably gruesome. Simon Strantzas - Pinholes in Black Muslin. Having read Simon's Beneath the Surface collection I was expecting more Ligottian gloom and madness but this is actually a very well executed action-packed tale of cosmic horror - a little bit like Lovecraft meets Jan de Bont's 'Twister' but good. The 'insignificance of humankind' concept is dealt with well while never detracting from the action that builds well to an appropriately devastating finale. Possibly the best story in this book. John. Hope you don't mind but i've taking the liberty of adding the cover. Do you know who the artist is? He's not credited on the site? - dem bones |
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Post by Johnlprobert on Oct 22, 2008 7:27:50 GMT
Tim Lebbon - Falling Off the World. A little girl gets carried into the air by a balloon. And that's it. For some reason it reminded me of William Sansom's 'The Vertical Ladder' in that it's not exactly horror but it has a kind of weirdly deranged view of the world.
Guy Adams - Quadrophobia. Yes it's fear of the number 4 time with the increasing neurosis leading to the inevitable loony nastiness.
Rhys Hughes - Nightmare Alley. Sometimes I find Mr Hughes clever or amusing and sometimes I really can't be bothered to try and work out what the fuck is supposed to be going on. This is one of the latter, which admits it's a tribute to Kafka (I've read The Trial and that's about it). Can't say much else as this was one of those stories that gave me a bit of a headache even reading it.
Christopher Fowler - The Velocity of Blame. The is more like it, and wouldn't have been out of place in the old Pan series. Fowler does a superb job of wringing every drop of horror out of an already squirmy situation. Leeches. Loads of them. Another one to read first if you're in a hurry.
Gary Fry - It Sounds a Bit Like. More messing with people's heads from Dr Fry. A modern ghost story with morbid psychological overtones
Mark Morris - Bad Call. Feels sort of ordinary for most of its length then suddenly goes into full blooded classic horror movie mode with a punchline that is just brilliant. Another "Best in Volume".
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Post by Johnlprobert on Oct 22, 2008 7:57:27 GMT
Carol Weekes - Wary be the Traveller. Traditional dark & stormy night stuff that's probably the most reminiscent of the pulp chillers of the 1950s. Black magic and ghouls and only 8 pages long. Nice.
Michael Kelly - Chelsea Grin. This miserablist tale of sex and gloom was a bit too weird for me I'm afraid. But I think that tells you all you need to know if you'd want to read it.
Davin Ireland - Maryland. Another weird one. I'm not sure if I entirely liked this tale that is kind of 'Gung-Ho Americans Investigate Weird Things in the Countryside'. But then Mr Ireland throws in a final couple of pages that are so utterly utterly daft and funny they wouldn't be out of place in a Harry E Turner story. I do like this, actually, and I dare you to read the description of the Ultimate Horror at the end without crying with laughter.
John Travis - The Tobacconist's Concession. From the weird to the pretty much impenetrable. I've met John and he's a very nice chap but I really had no idea what was going on in this one. Sorry Mr Travis!
Sarah Pinborough - Our Man in the Sudan. Another traditional one that again wouldn;t have been out of place in the old anthologies. Title is pretty much self-explanatory as Fanshawe is posted to the Sudan to investigate the death of Cartwright, another British agent. The story meanders a bit but builds to an absolutely spectacular set-piece and a ghostly coda. Good stuff.
James Cooper & Andrew Jury - The Hack. An interesting one to end the book on. Weird but good as well, it's the tale of a man who moves into a flat only to be kept awake by the constant typing from the pulp writer living next door, the pulp writer who never stops typing. until, that is, he asks our hero if he has any ideas as to how he might continue his magnum opus.
And there you go. Like I said - it's a lot better than volume one, and there's something for everyone in there. Besides, Humdrumming needs your support if they are to continue publishing such sterling authors as Gary McMahon, Pete Crowther. Tim Lebbon and yes all right me as well. In fact having met Ian his heart is definitely in the right place. And he was very keen on my idea of having a very attractive lady with no clothes on on the cover of my book of nasty horror stories for him so he's obviously keen on perpetuating the traditions that have made the Vault great.
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Post by carolinec on Oct 22, 2008 9:23:44 GMT
Michael Kelly - Chelsea Grin. This miserablist tale of sex and gloom was a bit too weird for me I'm afraid. But I think that tells you all you need to know if you'd want to read it. For some reason, that description makes me want to go and read it!  Still, no time today as I'm busy with work and stuff - must dash .... |
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Post by dem bones on Oct 22, 2008 11:32:18 GMT
It was with some trepidation I approached this volume as despite the fact that both the logo, the editorial byline and the format were obviously deliberately in the style of the dear old Pan series, most of the stories in that volume certainly weren't. The appearance of Charlie's Black Book of Horror on the scene at the same time only served to emphasise how not 'Pan' the first Humdrumming book was. This doesn't mean it was a bad book, or that the stories were poor. In fact far from it, but they were far more a mix of the avant garde and the literary (two terms that where horror is concerned make me shudder more than the contents of any spine tingler) than the gleeful atrocities the cover design might have suggested. It's very bad form to comment on a book you've not read, but I suspected this might be the case and, despite the ace cover, I could never get enthused to chase up Humdrumming Horror #1. But from the list of contributors to #2, it's obvious Mr. Martin must be doing something right: I wonder if the Chris Fowler story is some kind of ghastly relative of The Luxury Of Harm (which I shall always treasure for namechecking the walking dead guy on the cover of Pan Horror 7!)? And he was very keen on my idea of having a very attractive lady with no clothes on on the cover of my book of nasty horror stories for him so he's obviously keen on perpetuating the traditions that have made the Vault great. This is the single most beautiful comment anyone has made about Vault. I'm filling up! Which of your diabolically fiendish works in progress are Humdrumming after, yer Lordship, or is it hush-hush? |
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Post by Johnlprobert on Oct 22, 2008 13:19:15 GMT
Thanks for putting in the cover scan, Dem!
As to your question, all being well (and subject to the usual approval of the final manuscript to which I am adding extra blood, nudity and even more stories as we speak) the plan is for Humdrumming to publish a nice big book of my 'proper' horror stories - ie all the ones with lots of blood, nastiness, sex, nudity, gorgeous women, bizarre torture devices, painful works of art and deviant behaviour. The planned title is 'Wicked Delights' and it will include lots of conte crueles and my 10000 word tribute to 70s British horror movies in general and Pete Walker's films in particular. I am absolutely bloody delighted with the whole thing - even the contents page reads like a shopping list of sin, which will also be reflected by the planned cover illustratiop.
So while I do hate to plug my own stuff, supporting Humdrumming will help to keep me off the streets doing 'research' and at my desk unleashing yet more atrocities into a world badly in need of more stories in the style of Charles Birkin, Maurice Level and (oh yes) Harry E Turner!.
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Oct 22, 2008 15:57:52 GMT
Why does a warm glow suffuse my heart and a loud 'hear, hear' spring from lips at these stirring and inspirational words.
Gordon Brown better watch out or there could be an unexpected landslide contender at the next election and a new darker but far better dressed representative, of the public mood.
Best of luck with the whole project John
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Post by Johnlprobert on Oct 22, 2008 21:03:22 GMT
Cheers Craig! I shall do my best not to disappoint.
I have no idea Mr Bones, although my copy says it was 'designed by' Guy Adams.
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Post by lynnielynn on Oct 31, 2008 17:15:55 GMT
Does anyone know if the books have been sent out yet? I prepaid for one in July and haven't received it yet  |
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Post by carolinec on Oct 31, 2008 18:56:26 GMT
Does anyone know if the books have been sent out yet? I prepaid for one in July and haven't received it yet They have, and I know the person who's responsible for sending them out (if you're in the UK, that is). If you PM me with your proper name, Lynn, I'll get in touch with her and see if she's got your order OK. It's fellow Vaulter, Troo, I'm talking about by the way, but she won't see your query here as she hasn't been here in ages as she's so busy elsewhere. |
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alansjf
Devils Coach Horse
Posts: 107
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Post by alansjf on Oct 31, 2008 19:45:00 GMT
Does anyone know if the books have been sent out yet? I prepaid for one in July and haven't received it yet They have, and I know the person who's responsible for sending them out (if you're in the UK, that is). If you PM me with your proper name, Lynn, I'll get in touch with her and see if she's got your order OK. It's fellow Vaulter, Troo, I'm talking about by the way, but she won't see your query here as she hasn't been here in ages as she's so busy elsewhere. I have the same problem. Ordered this + Beneath the Surface on September 29 and they still haven't arrived. No reply to my first query email, but Ian Alexander Martin did reply to the second about a week ago - said if the books weren't on the way already they would be shortly ... but as I said, that was a week ago. I was going to email again on Monday, if they haven't turned up ... |
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Post by carolinec on Oct 31, 2008 19:51:55 GMT
Oh heck! Same with you Alan - if you want to PM your name to me, I'll check with Troo. In fact, I'll contact her now anyway and let her know there's a potential problem here ...
I do believe Ian is visiting the UK at present (it's some time around now, anyway) so he may not have access to email at the moment, which might explain the delay in responding. I reckon your best bet is if I get on to Troo about it.
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Post by PeterC on Oct 31, 2008 21:09:51 GMT
I pre-ordered Beneath the Surface back in February, with delivery promised in September. It's almost November now and, like Ms Ross, I'm still waiting.
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Still, no time today as I'm busy with work and stuff - must dash ....
