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Post by dem bones on Jan 11, 2009 15:39:02 GMT
Gahan Wilson's Favourite Tales Of Horror: Terrifying Tales Chosen & Illustrated by America's Grand Master Of The Macabre (Tempo, 1976) General Introduction - Gahan Wilson
Charles Birkin - Kitty Fisher Clark Ashton Smith - The Treader Of The Dust Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - The Horror Of The Heights William Hope Hodgson - The Stone Ship Gahan Wilson - The Sea Was Wet As Wet Could Be Mary Wilkins Freeman - Luella Miller Sir Frederick Treves - The Idol With Hands Of Clay Ambrose Bierce - My Favourite Murder William Fryer Harvey - The Clock Robert W. Chambers - The Harbor-Master M. R. James - Rats. Could cheerfully have lived without that cartoon cover pic and we've met a number of these elsewhere on the board, but any collection that kicks off with Charles Birkin in deeply unpleasant mode is alright by me! Charles Birkin - Kitty Fisher: Hubert, babysitting while his parents are a party, is coerced into giving his girlfriend a lift home, leaving baby Lucy in the hands of her sister Kitty. But Kitty is trying to put on a performance of Cinderella with her dolls, and the kid won't stop bawling ... Sir Frederick Treves - The Idol With Hands Of Clay: A recently married Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons operates on his bride - at her insistence - when it's discovered that she has appendicitis. Despite his inexperience, he allows his vanity to get the better of him, and proceeds ... to make too big an incision. Reasonably gross offering from the Elephant Man's best mate. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - The Horror Of The Heights : "And then there was Myrtle's head. Do you really believe - does anybody really believe - that a man's head could be driven clean into his body by the force of a fall?"Gallant aviator Joyce-Armstrong believes that the "mysterious" deaths of several pilots were caused by malevolent entities that haunt the skies 30,000 feet above Wiltshire. Taking to the air in his trusty monoplane, he seeks out the beauty and horror of the heights! Fortunately for us, Joyce-Armstrong belongs to that commendable breed who keep scribbling away in their journal right up to the moment of doom. His final entry is priceless. Gahan Wilson - The Sea Was Wet As Wet Could Be: A party of drunks are waylaid by the walrus and the carpenter from Lewis Carroll's Through The Looking Glass. The pair bring serenity to the world-weary four who, blissfully unaware, follow them to their deaths, all save Phil, the narrator, who recalls the poem. This story was also included in Ellen Datlow's boundary-stretching vampire anthology, Blood Is Not Enough. Mary Wilkins Freeman - Luella Miller: New England. The comely Luella drains the energy from all who attend her, she being either too ill or indolent to do anything more strenuous than sit in her rocking chair. A steady stream of helpers, including her sister and a doctor, go to their graves exhausted. William Fryer Harvey - The Clock: Lewes. the narrator is asked to an old time-piece from Ash Grove House, recently vacated by Mrs. Caleb who assures him the place has stood empty this past fortnight. That's not the impression he's given ... A mood piece: expertly crafted but just not scary. Miss Cornelius has a brief cameo at the start suggesting she was up to her object-tossing jiggery pokery long before Mr. Saxton rumbled her. Ambrose Bierce - My Favourite Murder: Bierce invents the serial-killer, and this one certainly takes the greatest pride in his work! Begins with the chatty "Having murdered my mother under circumstances of singular atrocity, I was arrested and put upon my trial, which lasted seven years. In summing up, the judge of the Court of Acquittal remarked that it was one of the most ghastly crimes that he had ever been called upon to explain away." This being Bierce, our friend leaves the court a free man "without a stain on my reputation". Robert W. Chambers - The Harbor-Master: A zoologist is sent to Black Harbor to collect two great auks, previously believed to be extinct, from the misanthropic, invalided recluse, Burton Halyard. Halyard lives on a strip of rock with just a pretty nurse for company. During his stay, the narrator learns of a creature far rarer and stranger than the auk, the harbor-master, "a slate-coloured thing with gills that looks like a man." More fantasy than horror, with a romantic interlude, but there's a wonderful moment when the football-headed monster attempts to drown the lovers.
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Post by carolinec on Jan 11, 2009 16:34:10 GMT
Could cheerfully have lived without that cartoon cover pic and we've met a number of these elsewhere on the board ... In fact, I love that cover too! I must have a bit of a thing about cartoon-style illustrations at present ...
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Post by Johnlprobert on Jan 12, 2009 10:59:33 GMT
I can't say I care much for Gahan Wilson's covers - the ones he did for the Fedogan & Bremer HPL anthos make the books look silly in my opinion
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Post by carolinec on Jan 12, 2009 16:04:08 GMT
I can't say I care much for Gahan Wilson's covers - the ones he did for the Fedogan & Bremer HPL anthos make the books look silly in my opinion I think for me it's the juxtaposition of horror and humour - horror which doesn't take itself too seriously. I like that! ;D
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Post by mcannon on Feb 3, 2019 0:18:42 GMT
I was saddened to read that Gahan Wilson has announced his retirement - www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2019/01/20/gahan-wilson-retires/At least he’s still with us, but he turns 89 later this month. I assume Wilson feels that he’s just no longer up to working, and / or that he doesn’t have too long to go. He leaves us with a massive body of wonderful macabre work - hopefully he’ll have a happy retirement. Mark
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Post by mcannon on Mar 4, 2019 23:13:24 GMT
In further miserable news, it's now reported that Gahan Wilson has severe memory loss due to dementia. Presumably that’s at least part of the reason for his recent retirement announcement. Oh, and his wife passed away a couple of days ago. Struth...... There’s a GoFundMe page that’s has been set up to help with financial support for his care. www.gofundme.com/gahan-wilson-team-effort?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=fb_dn_postdonate_rAs one contributor commentated, it would be lovely if one of Wilson's past big clients, such as “Playboy”, could make a sizeable contribution. It’s not like people only ever read the magazine for the articles……. Mark
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Mar 6, 2019 21:19:29 GMT
That's very sad news. In addition to drawing covers and illustrations (and editing a few anthologies), Wilson also put out a fine collection of short stories: The Cleft and Other Odd Tales (Tor, 1998).
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Post by Knygathin on Mar 7, 2019 2:09:19 GMT
I read Birkin's "Kitty Fisher". It is relentlessly bleak and meaningless, in a way that otherwise only the brutality of the real world can be. But Birkin is a fine writer, and starts off the story in a cheerful enough way, very convincingly. I wonder why he would write something like this. It gives a very unpleasant feeling, like reading of tragedies in the news. It left me feeling empty in the end. I enjoyed "My Name is Death" a lot more, it had supernatural and aesthetic beauty to it. I liked Gahan Wilson's cover for Arkham House's The Horror in the Museum. Unfortunately I was foolish enough to sell it, when I updated my Lovecraft books to revised texts. (Although I agree with Johnlprobert, as a cover it makes the book look a bit silly; his work is better suited for humorous context books, magazines and fandom.)
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