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Post by dem bones on Apr 9, 2009 8:11:27 GMT
Here, to the best of my knowledge, the contents of his short-story collections. Devil's Spawn (Philip Allan, 1936) "The Happy Dancers", The Cockroach, The Terror On Tobit, Old Mrs. Strathers, Shelter, The Last Night, An Eye for an Eye, Henri Larne, Havelock's Farm, The Harlem Horror, A Poem and a Bunch of Roses, Obsession, The Actor's Story, Special Diet, Premiere, Angela. The Kiss Of Death & Other Horror Stories (Tandem, 1964, 1967) Introduction - Dennis Wheatley
The Kiss Of Death, "Some New Pleasures Prove", The Hens, The Three Monkeys, The Mutation, Les Belle Dames Sans Merci, Fine Needlework, The Mouse Hole, The Kennel, "The New Ones", Malleus Maleficarum, The Hitch, Fairy Dust, "Mon Ami, Perrot". The Smell Of Evil (Tandem, 1965) Introduction - Dennis Wheatley
The Smell Of Evil, Green Fingers, Is There Anybody There?, The Serum Of Dr. White, The Cornered Beast, Text For Today, Ballet Negre, Little Boy Blue, "Dance, Little Lady", The Godmothers, The Lesson, The Interloper, The Cross.Where Terror Stalked (Tandem, 1966) Where Terror Stalked, New Faces, Obsession, Shelter, The Orphanage, Paris Pilgrimage, The Belt, Softly ... Softly, Old Mrs. Strathers, The Harlem Horror, Gran, Bring Back My Bonny, No More For Mary.My Name Is Death & Other New Tales Of Horror (Panther, 1966) My Name Is Death, Hosanna!, Hard To Get, Kitty Fisher, Parlez Moi D'Amour, Who's Your Lady Friend?, The Finger Of Fear, King Of The Castle Dark Menace (Tandem, 1968) Dark Menace, Happy As Larry, S.O.S., The Jungle, T-I-M, The Life Giver, 'Don' t Ever Leave Me' , The Yellow Dressing Gown, Waiting for Trains, The Lord God Made Them All, The Accessory, Simple Simon; Siren Song So Pale, So Cold, So Fair (Tandem, 1970) "So Pale, So Cold, So Fair", The Godsend, Rover, Circle Of Children, Lot's Wife, Gideon, The Road, A Haunting Beauty, Lords Of The Refuge.Spawn Of Satan (Award, 1970) Spawn Of Satan, The New Dress, A Right To Know, Child's Play, Wedding Presents, Soeur Celeste, A Lovely Bunch Of Coconuts, The Beautiful People, Traces Of Lipstick, Au Clair De Lune.Sir Charles Birkin - A Haunting Beauty (Midnight House, 2000) Introduction - Mike Ashley
Little Boy Blue, The Mousehole, Some New Pleasures Prove, King Of The Castle, Waiting For Trains, Lords Of The Refuge, Ballet Nègre, The Smell of Evil, Text For Today, A Right To Know, Fairy Dust, Hosanna!, The Horror On Tobit, A Haunting Beauty. Sir Charles Birkin - The Harlem Horror (Midnight House, 2002) Introduction - John Pelan
The Harlem Horror, A Poem And A Bunch of Roses, Don't Ever Leave Me, The Godsend, A Lovely Bunch Of Coconuts, The Kiss Of Death, The Belt, Dance Little Lady, Old Mrs. Strathers, The Beautiful People, T-I-M, The Hitch, Green Fingers, Special Diet, Shelter. **** The Darkside Press posthumous "Best of ..." collections, "The Harlem Horror" and "A Haunting Beauty" are limited editions (450 each). Uncollected? His work has been published in Britain and America, as well as Germany, Denmark, Spain and France. His seven collections, six of which are available in this country, have maintained an exceptionally high quality not often found in such works. The stories of Charles Birkin, however, are not for the squeamish. Be warned, if you are at all sensitive, leave him well alone. He deals unflinchingly with such subjects as murder, rape, concentration camps, patricide, mutilation and torture. But if you can stand the heat, step in the kitchen and meet Cynthia, the charming little heroine of this story, published here for the first time. Once will be enough ... - From Hugh Lamb's introduction to Marjorie's On Starlight, A Wave Of Fear (W. H. Allen, 1973) As far as I'm aware, the following stories don't appear in any of Birkin's collections to date: Marjorie's On Starlight from Hugh Lamb (ed.) - A Wave Of Fear, (W. H. Allen, 1973) Dinner In A Private Room from Hugh Lamb (ed.) - Cold Fear, (W. H. Allen, 1977) The Medicine Cupboard from Charles Birkin (ed.) - The Tandem Book Of Horror Stories, (Tandem, 1965) Zara And Zita from Charles Birkin (ed.) - The Tandem Book Of Ghost Stories, (Tandem, 1965) A Low Profile from Mary Danby (ed.) The 10th Fontana Book Of Great Horror Stories, (Fontana, 1977) 'Marjorie's On Starlight': Ten year old Cynthia torments and humiliates her adopted sister with sadistic glee. When they're out riding, she callously reminds Marjory that her mother is dead, and causes her horse to bolt. There's a vehicle slowly approaching on the other side of the road, but it should be alright, unless either rider is thrown ... Zara and Zita: Identical twins Zara and Zita are stranded in the rain when their car breaks down outside Dorking. They're heading for a party back in Chelsea where Zara intuitively knows Peter will propose to her - and she will accept. A handsome young man, Giles Wheatley, pulls up and offers them a lift ... Birkin turns all expectation on it's head with this one, the gentlest of his stories I've encountered to date. A sad, albeit slight, traditional ghost story. Dinner In A Private Room: Something of a departure for Birkin in what seems to have been his final story(?). The modern-day incarnations of some of the most notorious characters in history are invited to dine with Mr. Nasat. Nero, Judas Iscariot, Cesare Borgia and de Rais are commended on their past achievements, but are reminded they could all have done better. Natas has decided to move into the movie industry: "We'll be showing the Nazarene as he really was, and that is as a failure and a two-bit agitator. He was a muddled and hysterical homosexual and those twelve disciples of his - well, we'll slant them as a kind of Touring Company for Gay lib. The Magdalene's a Pansy's Moll. Get the idea?" A Low Profile: A small community of elderly English expatriates are caught up in the invasion and occupation of Zarana, a tiny island off the coast of Africa. 'Boy' Brackett hasn't heard from his two friends Henrietta and Doris for a few days so he crosses town to see if they're alright. They're not. Looters have murdered them, tied their bodies to chairs and propped them up around a table. Doris's hand has been severed - the cats are playing with it in the dirt outside - to get at her rings. Not knowing what to do or even who to report the crime to, Brackett finishes the game of scrabble they were engaged in to see who'd have won, a final futile gesture of friendship.
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Post by dem bones on Apr 9, 2009 13:49:24 GMT
He's not a bad judge. Been a long time coming, Mr. Pelan's book. I remember we had quite an active thread going when his selection first appeared ... in Sept. 2006! John Pelan - Century's Best Horror Perhaps it would be a good idea to copy the listing across? There have been so many comings and goings since then, we'd possibly get a little more mileage out of it. Anthology Appearances Other than the Creeps series, Birkin's work has featured in the following anthologies. Some stories are credited to his pseudonym, Charles Lloyd. A Lovely Bunch Of Coconuts - Shafts Of Fear ed. Dennis Wheatley (Arrow, 1964) A Low Profile - The 10th Fontana Book Of Great Horror Stories ed. Mary Danby (Fontana, 1977) An Eye For An Eye - 3rd Pan Book Of Horror Stories ed. Herbert Van Thal, (Pan, 1962) A Poem And A Bunch Of Roses - 3rd Pan Book Of Horror Stories ed. Herbert Van Thal, (Pan, 1962) A Right To Know - Quiver Of Horror ed. Dennis Wheatley (Arrow, 1964) Au Clair de Lune - 11th Pan Book Of Horror Stories ed. Herbert Van Thal, (Pan, 1970) Ballet Negre - Zombie: Tales Of The Walking Dead - ed. Peter Haining (W. H. Allen, 1985, Target, 1985) Dinner In A Private Room - Cold Fear: New Tales Of Terror - ed. Hugh Lamb (Severn House, 1981) The Happy Dancers - The Thrill Of Horror - ed. Hugh Lamb (Magnum, 1978) Havelock's Farm - The 8th Fontana Book Of Great Horror Stories ed. Mary Danby (Fontana, 1973) Is there Anybody there? - The Mammoth Book of Ghost Stories: Volume 1 ed. Richard Dalby (Robinson 1990) The Last Night - 3rd Pan Book Of Horror Stories ed. Herbert Van Thal, (Pan, 1962) Little Boy Blue - 65 Great Tales Of The Supernatural ed. Mary Danby (Sundial 1979) 'Marjories On Starlight' - A Wave Of Fear ed. Hugh Lamb (W.H. Allen, 1973, Coronet, 1976) The Medicine Cupboard - The Tandem Book Of Horror Stories - ed. Charles Birkin (Tandem, 1965) No More for Mary - Tales Of Terror From Outer Space ed. R. Chetwynd-Hayes (Fontana, 1975) Some New Pleasures Prove - A Tide Of Terror ed. Hugh Lamb (W. H. Allen, 1972) Special Diet - 3rd Pan Book Of Horror Stories ed. Herbert Van Thal, (Pan, 1962) Text For Today - 65 Great Tales Of Horror ed. Mary Danby (Sundial 1981) Waiting For Trains - Star Book Of Horror #1 - ed. Hugh Lamb (W. H. Allen, 1975) Zara And Zita - The Tandem Book Of Ghost Stories - ed. Charles Birkin (Tandem, 1965)
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Post by Johnlprobert on Apr 9, 2009 16:36:32 GMT
My dear Dem this is actually very helpful, as despite being a big fan of Sir C I only have the Midnight House collections of his books, plus any Pan contributions he may have made.
Mind you, a quick trawl suggests I need a fair bit of cash to get hold of some of these! But The Kiss of Death is on order.
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Post by dem bones on Apr 9, 2009 18:56:49 GMT
I'm short the Midnight House editions as I already had just about everything in them bar T-I-M but will probably get both when/ if i'm ever flush again, if only for the introductions and what sounds like a top photo of CB! Anyway, I thought it best to lump his collections in with Creeps so he gets a section to himself and people know where to find him.
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Post by thebluelizard on May 3, 2009 5:32:20 GMT
Demonik, thank you for starting the bibliography on Birkin here. In the past six months I started scrambling to collect everything I could by him after being knocked out by several of his stories. I had started my own bibliography and when I have some time I'll compare mine with yours to see if there are any gaps I can fill in. I have managed to track down all of his collections except for the elusive DEVIL'S SPAWN. Do any of you have this or know anyone who has this? It seems impossible to find, although I think there is only one story in there titled "Premiere" which never appeared in any anthology (including the CREEPS series). I would love to read this story if anyone has it. Glad to know there are other Birkin fans out there. His writing greatly improved in the sixties' stories, but some of the earlier works by him that I have read have a lingering presence, most notably "The Harlem Horror".
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Post by dem bones on May 3, 2009 9:16:29 GMT
Oh yes - we must compare bibliographies some time! I've not even seen a copy of Devil Spawn. John Pelan told us he paid $1000 for his and he plans to reissue every Birkin short over a six volume set for Midnight House but .... that could take time. A few of us are trying to get Wordsworth editions interested in reprinting it as part of their excellent 'Mystery & The Supernatural' series: you might like to add your voice! Wordsworth Author SuggestionsA few more tit-bits: Other Anthologies edited by Charles BirkinTandem Book Of Horror Stories (Tandem, 1965): Reprinted in the US as The Witch-Baiter ("A Black Magic Book of Terror"!) by Paperback Library, 1967. Tandem Book Of Ghost Stories (Tandem, 1965): Reprinted in the US as The Haunted Dancers (Paperback Library, 1967) Birkin stories: the magazine appearances?I haven't researched this - actually, i never research anything - but a swift trawl around t'net reveals only two. Surely there must have been more? For the record: Ballet Negre - Magazine Of Fantasy & Science Fiction Volume 33 Number 5, November 1967 Fairy Dust - Argosy Sept. 1970 Birkin Books Across The GlobeFriend Olivaro writes: Charles Birkin is one author who never 'made it', at least in Germany. There were only two books (published by Wilhelm Heyne Verlag). You've already mentioned Der Finger Der Furcht and there's also So Bleich, So Kalt, So Tot, 1972 (So Pale, So Cold, So Fair, 1970) I must confess I'm no fan of Birkin, most of his stories are 'contes cruels', I consider them rather disturbing than thrilling. I'm wondering if there are any more non-UK/ US editions of his books? Anyhow: it's Sunday morning, i've no-one to play with, so might as well fill the time with a few new-ish Birkin/ Creeps threads. Thanks for breathing life into this one, mr. lizard!
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Post by thebluelizard on May 7, 2009 3:45:53 GMT
Demonik,
You are a man after my own heart with your detailed gathering of information on the stories of Charles Birkin. I can't tell you what joy I am having reading all of his stories -- I think I have about 60 more to go. Since last posting on here a few days ago I have read and loved "Ballet Negre" and "King of the Castle". I so admire the way Birkin quite often takes the conte cruel one step further and imparts a haunting, overriding sense of humanity and poignancy to the ironic turn of events. He is rarely content to settle for being merely clever.
Thank you for calling my attention to the Wordsworth editions. I am ashamed to say that I had no idea they were publishing what they have been publishing! You might think that living in New York City I would have come across them somehow but I haven't. I will certainly add my voice to the suggestions page that they do DEVIL'S SPAWN.
Is John Pelan still around? Does he visit Vaults of Evil on a regular basis? I thought that Midnight House had been dissolved. I bought the two Midnight House editions of Birkin's stories, and I also bought their edition of R.R. Ryan's jaw-droppingly over-the-top and peculiarly fascinating ECHO OF A CURSE. Have you ever read any of Ryan's work under that name or any of his various pseudonyms? That's the only novel of his that I've been able to afford. Come to think of it, I should suggest Wordsworth dig up some of his stuff to republish.
As promised in my last posting, I'll compare our Birkin bibliographies and get back to you soon but I think you've covered things extraordinarily well!
Best wishes and many thanks, Dennis (The Blue Lizard)
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Post by David A. Riley on May 7, 2009 7:34:42 GMT
"Is John Pelan still around? Does he visit Vaults of Evil on a regular basis? I thought that Midnight House had been dissolved." JP is still around, as is Midnight House. Things have been a little quiet on the publishing scene there, probably because he relocated a year back from Seattle to New Mexico. But Midnight House, late last year, did bring out a wonderful collection of Joseph Payne Brennan stories, The Feaster From Afar (there's a separate thread about that on the Vault). vaultofevil.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=faveraves2&action=display&thread=1951This is a link to Midnight House's new website: www.darkmidhouse.com/David
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Post by jamesdoig on May 7, 2009 9:47:40 GMT
I've just signed up to this excellent site - wish I had before!
Just in reponse to talk on R.R. Ryan - I agree it would be great to see all his books back in print. A few years ago Midnight House was going to do an omnibus of Ryan novels, and still might do it, though JP may have higher priorities on his schedule these days. And, as you say, there are the Noel Despard, Cameron Carr and John Galton titles which would be worth reprinting.
Here are brief summaries of some his books from the contemporary journal Library World:
RYAN (R. R.). The Right to Kill. Jenkins, 7s 6d. net. Mary Bootle has a rough deal. She kills a man by accident, whilst trying to defend her honour, and things go very hard with her. For the rest of her days, she is doomed to be blackmailed by a cur who knows. One feels that she might have saved herself much by throwing herself upon the mercy of the police, but there are good reasons why she does not take this course. After many years some compensation comes to her for what she has done and suffered. No moral is drawn in this rather wild story.
RYAN (R. R.) Death of a Sadist. Jenkins, 7s 6d. net. It is difficult to understand the author’s idea in writing this novel. Crude brutality and crude sentimentality should have been tempered with sufficient ordinary humanity to make it readable.
RYAN (R. R.) Devil’s Shelter. Jenkins, 7s 6d. net. The Devil’s Shelter was the name of a disused monastery lost on the bleak unfriendly Yorkshire moors. Here the glorious Divina found herself stranded. Her adventures among the pseudo-lunatics and the hypnotic host form an improbably but exciting story.
CARR (Cameron) A New Face at the Door. Jenkins, 7s 6d. net. A story of the Repertory Theatre, and the extraordinary results of the introduction of new blood into the caste. Don Howell is a genius and a law unto himself. He breaks hearts and leads the woman who loves him to make the supreme sacrifice.
RYAN (R. R.) The Subjugated Beast. Jenkins, 7s 6d. net. One of the chapters of this book is called “Lessons in Morbid Psychology,” and that is its theme; but it is handled in a highly unpleasant and sensational way. The author and those readers who enjoy his books are surely themselves object lessons in morbid psychology.
CARR (Cameron) Gilded Clay. Jenkins, 7s 6d. net. This story goes close to the bone in an important question of medical jurisprudence. It also goes to show that women medicos have very serious problems to face, and that when these are complicated by their emotions and affections becoming deeply involved, the solutions they have to find become more difficult than before.
CARR (Cameron) The Other. Jenkins, 7s 6d. net. A somewhat morbid and extremely psychological novel dealing with the close mental connection between twins and the retention of this mental bond after the violent death of one of them.
RYAN (R. R.) Freak Museum. Jenkins, 7s 6d. net. The charge for entering the mystery museum was a pound and if anyone desired to sketch the subjects contained in it a further sum of twenty pounds for half an hour’s work was demanded. This in itself would prevent the ordinary man in the street from making free with exhibits, which perhaps was as well, for all the grisly things that went on inside, the hero and heroine must surely have experienced the worst. Do people really like this kind of thriller?
GALTON (John) The Stars I Kneel To. Jenkins, 7s 6d. net. A rather terrible story of a young genius, Kenneth, who is trained to be a barrister and becomes an actor. His stern brother goes into his dressing-room and beats him so mercilessly that he cannot act again and gradually deteriorates in character. One imagines that if Kenneth had time to tell his brother he was earning £50 a week instead of sitting still waiting for briefs, the story might have ended differently.
RYAN (R. R.) Echo of a Curse. Jenkins, 7s 6d. net. Terry loved Mary, but it was the beginning of the Great War and she married his fascinating comrade, Vin Border. Vin, however, is a human freak. A bizarre story of a curse which is at last dispelled, to the definite relief of the reader.
RYAN (R. R.) No Escape. Jenkins, 7s 6d. net. Gerry marries Adela Beever, seven years older than himself. He finds out too late that they do not love each other, and that they are unsuited in character and temperament. Adela then falls in an apathetic state of health from which nothing can rouse her, and becomes a chronic invalid. He can stand the position no longer, having met Helen, a woman he can love, and is tempted to poison Adela. A psychological study of a murderer “for whom there is no escape.”
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Post by dem bones on May 7, 2009 10:14:50 GMT
RYAN (R. R.) Death of a Sadist. Jenkins, 7s 6d. net. It is difficult to understand the author’s idea in writing this novel. Crude brutality and crude sentimentality should have been tempered with sufficient ordinary humanity to make it readable. Hi James, thanks for joining and i hope you have fun here. Intriguing first post. I've heard Ryan's name mentioned on here, never found any of his books, but just those two brief sentances have sold me. Another name straight onto the wants list Dennis, sadly We don't see much of Mr. Pelan, but you might be able to contact him via his own board, Horrabin Hall. Derek, the main man at Wordsworth regularly drops in to check the suggestions thread, and I'm sure you'll find plenty of treasures among the classics they've already reissued with a number of excellent titles under consideration for the future. Apart from Birkin and Ryan, there's another Midnight House name whose work i'd love to see them reissue - J. U. Nicolson and his remarkably insane Fingers Of Fear. Karl E. Wagner rated this as one of the top ten horror novels of all time, while it also made the top 13 in a Twilight Zone readers poll - except that time it was for the worst the genre could offer. Great to hear from you, gents.
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Post by franklinmarsh on May 7, 2009 10:15:40 GMT
. The author and those readers who enjoy his books are surely themselves object lessons in morbid psychology. Welcome, James. I had to use the quote above. I think it covers a whole multitude of sins regarding site members and their favourite authors. I've never heard of R R Ryan, and have read a few Birkin/Lloyd's thanks to this site
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Post by jamesdoig on May 7, 2009 10:34:51 GMT
The unfortunate thing about R.R. Ryan is that the books are almost unobtainable - a copy of Freak Museum in a dust jacket recently sold for about 1,300 quid at auction by Bloomsbury! That's why some enterprising publisher should reuissue them.
Part of the allure is their rarity, but also the books are quite manic. R.R. Ryan was the psuedonym of a theatre manager from Hove named Evelyn Bradley - he killed himself in 1950 aged 68. His daughter also wrote mystery novels in the 1940s under the name Kay Seaton, and she may have had a hand in some of the Ryan novels.
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Post by dem bones on May 7, 2009 11:34:25 GMT
Rummah mentioned before that sadly Ryans books are all but unobtainable to non-billionaires, so the best i can suggest is that you nominate him on the Wordsworth Author Suggestions thread. Friend Derek keeps an eye on this one and he's the fellow you have to convince.
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Post by jamesdoig on May 7, 2009 11:36:40 GMT
Yes, Fingers of Fear was great. For a while Midnight House was bringing a lot of great British thrillers - Dark Sanctuary, Echo of a Curse, Beasts of Brahm. Now Ramble House is bringing out a lot of that stuff.
An entertaining read in a similar vein is Frank Walford's Twisted Clay, first published in 1922 and banned here in Australia for 30 years. It was reprinted a few times by Horwitz in the 1960s. It's about a precocious 15 year old lesbian who murders her father when she learns he wants to take her to Europe to undergo experimental hormone treatment to cure her. She suffers bouts of insanity during which she is compelled by the ghost of her father to dig him up and plug the hole in the back of his head (he complains his brains are falling out, you see). When she's caught digging him up for the second time she's committed to an asylum. When she escapes she takes to prostitution and acquires a taste for murdering her clients Jill-the-Ripper style. After that it gets silly...
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