Peter Haining - Summoned From The Tomb

[dem bones]

Peter Haining (ed) - Summoned From The Tomb (Sidgwick & Jackson, 1973: originally Digit, 1966)

Jacket design: William Rankin

Introduction - Peter Haining

Washington Irving - Guests From Gibbet Island
Edgar Allan Poe - Hop-Frog
J. S. Le Fanu - The Bully Of Chapelizod
Alexander Pushkin - The Coffin-Maker
Bram Stoker - The Judges House
Jules Verne - The Ordeal Of Dr. Trifulgas
Ambrose Bierce - A Watcher By The Dead
Thomas Mann - The Wardrobe
M. R. James - There Was A Man Dwelt By A Churchyard
Algernon Blackwood - The Goblin’s Collection
H. P. Lovecraft - Beyond The Wall Of Sleep
August Derleth - The Whippoorwills In The Hills
Edogawa Rampo - The Caterpillar
Basil Copper - The Academy Of Pain
Robert Bloch - Floral Tribute
Ray Bradbury - The Scythe

As with many of the early Hainings, this one falls into the “nice to have” as opposed to the “indispensable” category. The original Summoned From The Tomb (Digit, 1966) was, according to Haining “my first professionally compiled collection (I had prior to it edited one anthology of classic horror stories but this had been before I became fully involved in the world of publishing)”. Writing in 1973, Haining reflects in his introduction:

“Finally, let me add that in revising this volume I have added to it one or two stories from another subsequent collection of mine, Legends For The Dark, which is similarly out of print and while not in my opinion being worthy of reissue itself, did contain some gems which should not suffer because of the dross they appeared with”

Actually, he reprinted five stories from Legends …, namely, those by Verne, Lovecraft, Copper, Bloch and Bradbury. But it’s the alleged “dross” we’re all interested in, so here’s the roll of shame:

Arthur Porges - Solomon’s Demon
Robert Sheckley - The Altar
August Derleth - Here, Daemos!
Wesley Rosenquest - The Secret Of The Vault
Edward D. Ludwig - A Night With Hecate

[lobolover]

Wait wait. How is "Hop-Frog" in any way conected with the phrase "summoned from the tomb" ?

[dem bones]

Great question. I'm only surprised Mr. Haining wasn't picked up on his silly mistake more often.

Well, it's taken until just before dawn but I eventually managed to establish contact with the disembodied spirit of Peter Haining via the Ouija board. He would like you to know that he chose Summoned From The Tomb as the title for this collection of ghost and horror stories because "I liked it. Of course, this was very early in my career and little did I realise the inclusion of Hop Frog in a collection bearing that name would so deeply traumatise someone on a message board forty years later. I apologise for all the distress caused by my thoughtlessness and would be most grateful were you to forgive me this oversight so I may at last rest in peace."

What a relief to have that one settled after all this time.

[lobolover]

Stil, its almost a sily a mistake as having Stocton's "Repulsive force" story in a colection called "A watch by the dead", having tales by Poe, Hawthorne and Gaskell, among others.A comical proto science fiction story which has nothing of the horrible or disqueting about it at all? Sure, it'll fit right in.

Though I dont mind it, as it's quite a fair tale, and even if it's more on the side of Poe's sorry excuse of "humour" unlike things like "Lionising" or "The man who was used it", it had some horrible streak to it.

[dem bones]

Peter Haining (ed) - Summoned From The Tomb (Digit, 1966)

Introduction - Peter Haining

Robert Bloch - Hell On Earth
Washington Irving - Guests From Gibbet Island
Bram Stoker - The Judges House
J. S. Le Fanu - The Bully Of Chapelizod
Ivar Jorgensen - The Curse
Alexander Pushkin - The Coffin-Maker
Clive Pemberton - "Purple Eyes"
Ambrose Bierce - A Watcher By The Dead
August Derleth - The Whippoorwills In The Hills
Edgar Allan Poe - Hop-Frog

Relieved friend Milan ( interzone site coming any day now) of the "Screaming Shuddering Spine-chilling TEN horror classics by the great masters of suspense" original this morning and was pleased to find three stories hadn't made the much expanded hardback. Not sure I've seen Hell On Earth (Weird Tales, March 1942) anyplace else. Groovy graveyard cover artwork to.

[dem bones]

Algernon Blackwood - The Goblin's Collection: (Ten Minute Stories, 1914). A young Irish valet is haunted by a harmless goblin who likes to borrow tie-pins, cuff-links and other small, shiny trinkets for his collection. House guest Dutton's attempt at catching the light-fingered spook at work is rewarded with partial success. As a blood-thirsty bastard I have no idea why anyone would wish to write this story, far less why Haining would want to revive it.

Thomas Mann - The Wardrobe: The terminally ill Albrect van der Qualen leaves the Berlin-Rome express and takes a room in a city he doesn't recognise. Tbe aged landlady, who has a hideous fungal growth on her face, seems to have been expecting him. His room isn't up to much, but Albrecht grows very fond of it on account of the naked girl who nightly steps out of the wardrobe and tells him sad stories, easing him into death.

M. R. James - There Was A Man Dwelt By A Churchyard: Set during the reign of Elizabeth I. M. R. James finishes what Shakespeare started in A Winter's Tale. John Poole, morbid git and miser, spends every night at his window, watching the funerals in the churchyard below. Old Mother Wilkins, recently deceased, has left a generous sum of money to the church but the Parson refuses to take it as the woman was a notorious witch. Instead, he tosses the purse on top of her corpse, and has the sexton bury both. The following day, much to the surprise of his neighbours, the tight-fisted Poole embarks on a spending spree ...

[Jojo Lapin X]

Jun 25, 2012 14:41:53 GMT dem bones said:

Algernon Blackwood - The Goblin's Collection: (Ten Minute Stories, 1914). A young Irish valet is haunted by a harmless goblin who likes to borrow tie-pins, cuff-links and other small, shiny trinkets for his collection. House guest Dutton's attempt at catching the light-fingered spook at work is rewarded with partial success. As a blood-thirsty bastard I have no idea why anyone would wish to write this story, far less why Haining would want to revive it.

Sounds unusually plot-heavy for Blackwood.

[dem bones]

Paul Lundy

Ivar Jorgensen - The Curse: (Amazing Stories, Feb. 1953). The curse dwelt within him - a terrible, writhing thing bent upon destruction. So, with sublime courage, he locked the horror in.

"The eyes are the windows — the barred windows to all that man really is — his brain." As told to the author by a stranger in a Chicago bar. An operation to save the sight of piano maestro Roger Godfrey has the most disastrous side effect — it unleashes the patient's inner Mr. Hyde to wallow in violence and mayhem. Top of the demon's hit list, Margaret, his fiancee. Roger won't allow her to be lost. His sacrifice is great. A properly brutal horror story, although he does his best (but fails) to ruin it at the end. Not sure if author is same version of Ivar who wrote Rest in Agony.


Clive Pemberton - "Purple Eyes": (The Weird O' It, 1906). Bruce Denman of Stoke Manor has his heart set on wedding Dorothea Hastings. Despite being very fond of the young lady, his father the Squire will not grant his blessing to their nuptials. It all comes down to Bruce's grandfather, who lost his temper with a fakir while garrisoned in India ...

"On the daughter of Colonel Tredecar — your mother — Gurlah Khan foretold that she would die in giving birth to a son, but that her son would live and be the father of a child with purple eyes! And that child would do something that would make the father curse the hour it was born. Bruce"—the old man lowered his voice to an awed whisper—"your dear mother did die the day you were born!"
"But, sir," protested Bruce: "it was chance - coincidence. The fakir could have had nothing to do with that."
"Bruce," returned the old man, solemnly, "I tell you that it is not to be scoffed at or treated lightly. These medicine men — these Indian fakirs possess uncanny powers that are beyond the understanding, but which cannot be disputed."

Naturally, Bruce takes no notice of the old fogey's ludicrous superstitions and goes ahead with his plans. A child is born ....

[dem bones]

Hannes Bok

Robert Bloch - Hell on Earth: (Weird Tales, March 1942). Would You Go to Hell for Ten Thousand Dollars? Watch out for Scarlet Temptations in this Suspense-charged Drama!

On the strength of his knowledge of demonology, Bloch is hired for an enormous sum to act as impartial witness in an occult experiment funded by a multi-millionaire philanthropist. Prof. Phillips Keith has undertaken to prove that, by applying modern science to spells recorded in ancient grimoires he can successfully raise ghosts, demons and elementals. Bloch, a sceptic, is initially reluctant, but the lure of easy money combined with the prospect of spending three months up close with Keith's brilliant, glam assistant, Dr. Lily Ross ("Even the white surgical gown did not wholly conceal features which would make James Bond foam at the mouth if he saw her in a sweater."), wins him over.

The experiment gets off to a catastrophic start when an attempt to summon a ghost up top of a New York skyscraper succeeds only in raising Satan, in Goat of the Sabbath guise. Trapped inside a glass cage, Satan possesses first Keith, then Dr.Ross and, finally, Bloch who, believing himself ruler of the universe, summons legion monsters from the fiery pit to unleash Hell on Earth.

For thirty-odd pages I was wondering why this story never made it into any Bloch collections published during his lifetime. The lame ending explains all.

[helrunar]

Cool drawing by Bok.

The most uncanny feature is a reference to James Bond in a story published in 1942. According to reference works, the first published Bond story was emitted in 1953. Better living through time travel once again?

cheers, Hel

[dem bones]

Nov 4, 2021 12:15:37 GMT helrunar said:

Cool drawing by Bok.

The most uncanny feature is a reference to James Bond in a story published in 1942. According to reference works, the first published Bond story was emitted in 1953. Better living through time travel once again?

cheers, Hel

The thought never crossed my mind until you mentioned it. Looked up Weird Tales for March 1942, and the line runs. "Even the white surgical gown did not wholly conceal features which would make Will Hays foam at the mouth if he saw her in a sweater."

Bloch - or, not improbably, Haining - was moving with the times.

[Jojo Lapin X]

Nov 4, 2021 12:52:59 GMT dem bones said:

Bloch - or, not improbably, Haining - was moving with the times.

That is just bizarre. How is James Bond, a fictional spy and womanizer, a modern equivalent of Will Hays, a historical person who introduced the "Hays Code" for motion pictures and functions as the personification of prudery in the original version of the text?

[andydecker]

Nov 4, 2021 13:59:01 GMT Jojo Lapin X said:

Nov 4, 2021 12:52:59 GMT dem bones said:

Bloch - or, not improbably, Haining - was moving with the times.

That is just bizarre. How is James Bond, a fictional spy and womanizer, a modern equivalent of Will Hays, a historical person who introduced the "Hays Code" for motion pictures and functions as the personification of prudery in the original version of the text?

You beat me by an hour :-) It doesn't make any sense, only pulls a 180.

[helrunar]

Thanks for checking, Dem. I figured it was one of Haining's silent "corrections" or "improvements" (take your choice). Or I guess Bloch could have revised the story at some point in the 1960s.

cheers, Hel

[ramseycampbell]

I doubt the substitution was Bob's. It wouldn't have been the only ignominy his work suffered in England without his knowledge.