Thana Niveau
Devils Coach Horse
We who walk here walk alone.
Posts: 109
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Post by Thana Niveau on Jul 12, 2010 9:40:09 GMT
What a fantastic collection! I enjoyed every lurid moment and am hungry for more. And let me just say that if you ever get the chance to hear Lord P read "The Finger of Fear", it's an experience not to be missed.  |
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Post by dem on Jul 15, 2010 6:22:39 GMT
What a fantastic collection! I enjoyed every lurid moment and am hungry for more. And let me just say that if you ever get the chance to hear Lord P read "The Finger of Fear", it's an experience not to be missed. My one worry would be that it couldn't possibly live up to the vision of same that went through my head when I read the above. Very glad you've enjoyed the Charles Birkin experience so far, Lady P. Andy & Mark. The Midnight House's are very welcome and i gather Mr. Pelan plans to run them to six volumes collecting all his stories, though this being Midnight House it might take some time! I still hope to get Wordsworth Editions interested in reprinting Devil Spawn though, as ever, the copyright issue might prove a stumbling block even if they're up for the idea. Lord & Lady P. With My Name Is Death fresh in your memory, you might like to reread 'Alex White's The Clinic. Thanks to John Mains research we know Dulce Grey was responsible for some of the Alex stories but not that one. My feeling is, if The Clinic wasn't by Birkin's hand then it was written by someone who studied his work with a very keen eye indeed. |
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Post by noose on Jul 15, 2010 6:43:29 GMT
Lord & Lady P. With [ii]My Name Is Death [/i] fresh in your memory, you might like to reread 'Alex White's The Clinic. Thanks to John Mains research we know Dulce Grey was responsible for some of the Alex stories but not that one. My feeling is, if The Clinic wasn't by Birkin's hand then it was written by someone who studied his work with a very keen eye indeed.[/quote] For what its worth - I think one of the possible candidates for The Clinic might be Rosemary Timperley. She had a habit of putting young girls in horrific situations - normally after moving them to a new enviroment, wrote quite a bit about hospitals - and there's just something about The Clinic that kind of makes sense when I read it alongside some of her other stuff. I may be horrendously off course, of course...  |
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Post by dem on Jul 15, 2010 7:01:51 GMT
I may be horrendously off course, of course... as might i be. Birkin told Mike Ashley that, other than abbreviating his name to 'Charles Lloyd' for the Creeps stuff, he didn't write under a pseudonym. But The Clinic sure makes me wonder. |
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Thana Niveau
Devils Coach Horse
We who walk here walk alone.
Posts: 109
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Post by Thana Niveau on Jul 15, 2010 7:11:01 GMT
Lord & Lady P. With My Name Is Death fresh in your memory, you might like to reread 'Alex White's The Clinic. I'll see if we have it. What collection is it likely to be in? |
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Post by David A. Riley on Jul 15, 2010 7:20:14 GMT
"The Midnight House's are very welcome and i gather Mr. Pelan plans to run them to six volumes collecting all his stories, though this being Midnight House it might take some time!" No, I wouldn't advise holding your breath for them.  David |
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Post by noose on Jul 15, 2010 7:38:43 GMT
The Clinic is in Pan Horror 14, Lady P.
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Post by dem on Jul 15, 2010 7:42:30 GMT
Lord & Lady P. With My Name Is Death fresh in your memory, you might like to reread 'Alex White's The Clinic. I'll see if we have it. What collection is it likely to be in? and yes, Lord P. most certainly has a copy. i don't normally go in for "Trust me - you'll enjoy it!"s, but in this instance "Trust me - you'll enjoy it!" David, i thought you might appreciate the Midnight Books reference |
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Post by David A. Riley on Jul 15, 2010 9:46:37 GMT
"David, i thought you might appreciate the Midnight Books reference " Too much so!  |
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Post by andydecker on Jul 15, 2010 9:52:59 GMT
Midnight House has reprinted Birkin's tales in new collections Thanks for the link. |
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Thana Niveau
Devils Coach Horse
We who walk here walk alone.
Posts: 109
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Post by Thana Niveau on Jul 15, 2010 10:51:52 GMT
For what its worth - I think one of the possible candidates for The Clinic might be Rosemary Timperley. She had a habit of putting young girls in horrific situations - normally after moving them to a new enviroment, wrote quite a bit about hospitals - and there's just something about The Clinic that kind of makes sense when I read it alongside some of her other stuff. I wasn't familiar with her so I looked her up this morning and then read a handful of her stories in various volumes of Pan Horror. Good stuff! Alas, it seems she's never been anthologised. She wrote a novel called The House of Mad Children, which I couldn't find anywhere (just a brilliant cover image) or I'd have bought it! |
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Post by noose on Jul 15, 2010 10:59:51 GMT
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Post by Johnlprobert on Jul 15, 2010 19:16:18 GMT
OK we've just read Alex White's 'The Clinic' (and this must be the first time I've read it since I was 12) and while the opening is a bit Birkinesque it doesn't really have the feel of genuine Sir Charles. We thought Harry E Turner might be more of a likely candidate - certainly he was very good at the kind of disparaging descriptions of unlikeable characters that we get to read at the beginning. But golly it IS all a bit grim isn't it?
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Thana Niveau
Devils Coach Horse
We who walk here walk alone.
Posts: 109
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Post by Thana Niveau on Jul 15, 2010 19:20:58 GMT
Very grim indeed! But still enjoyable (if that's the word). I said afterwards that it felt like very personal porn the writer had scribbled down just for him/herself, never intending it to be seen by anyone else.
And having just read some Rosemary Timperley today I don't think it's her either. Doesn't quite sound like her style. The descriptions of people are too gleefully grotesque - more like Harry E Turner.
Oh and thanks for the link, Noose!
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Post by dem on Jul 22, 2010 16:08:19 GMT
re The Clinic: thank you Lord & Lady P - absolutely fascinating. I had never considered Harry E. Turner as a suspect but yes, it certainly makes sense. My one nagging doubt is, this. The Clinic is surely one of the most commented upon of the Pan Horror stories and if Mr. Turner was responsible for writing it why didn't he include it in either of his collections? Maybe Lady Thana is onto something with "I said afterwards that it felt like very personal porn the writer had scribbled down just for him/herself, never intending it to be seen by anyone else." Mr. Noose, I wouldn't rule out Rosemary Timperley altogether but nothing else i've read of hers suggests she was capable of writing anything this spiteful. Alan Temperly on the other hand ....
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