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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Jul 16, 2017 15:38:20 GMT
Er, I think you'll find that all the recipients of the award are dead I see! It saves on the prize money, to be sure.
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Post by mcannon on Jul 17, 2017 7:55:59 GMT
Er, I think you'll find that all the recipients of the award are dead I see! It saves on the prize money, to be sure. It would be lovely if somebody sporting waxed blonde moustaches and an outrageous French accent showed up to accept the award, though. Mark (great to see the site looking back to.....errrrrr.... normal)
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Oct 24, 2017 19:45:52 GMT
"The Grinning Mummy" is possibly the most idiotic thing I have read in quite a while.
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Post by dem bones on Oct 24, 2017 20:16:39 GMT
"The Grinning Mummy" is possibly the most idiotic thing I have read in quite a while. Have not had the pleasure of that particular story, but in light of your endorsement, will step up my efforts to locate a copy.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Oct 24, 2017 20:24:07 GMT
"The Grinning Mummy" is possibly the most idiotic thing I have read in quite a while. Have not had the pleasure of that particular story, but in light of your endorsement, will step up my efforts to locate a copy. Although it was not meant as an endorsement, I see how you could easily mistake it for one.
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Mar 15, 2018 17:31:59 GMT
If obsessive collecting is a deadly disease, then I've surely reached the terminal phase. Today I received my copy of "The Horror of the Links", Volume 1 of the Night Shade Books editions of the complete Jules de Grandin. Mark and me both, evidently. I just finished Volume 2 of the Night Shade series, The Devil's Rosary, having bought and read Volume 1 a few months ago. Contents per the Night Shade website: The Black Master ( Weird Tales, January 1929) The Devil People ( Weird Tales, February 1929) The Devil’s Rosary ( Weird Tales, April 1929) The House of Golden Masks ( Weird Tales, June 1929) The Corpse Master ( Weird Tales, July 1929) Trespassing Souls ( Weird Tales, September 1929) The Silver Countess (Weird Tales, October 1929) The House Without a Mirror ( Weird Tales, November 1929) Children of Ubasti ( Weird Tales, December 1929) The Curse of the House of Phipps ( Weird Tales, January 1930) The Drums of Damballah ( Weird Tales, March 1930) The Dust of Egypt ( Weird Tales, April 1930) The Brain-Thief ( Weird Tales, May 1930) The Priestess of the Ivory Feet ( Weird Tales, June 1930) The Bride of Dewer ( Weird Tales, July 1930) Daughter of the Moonlight ( Weird Tales, August 1930) The Druid’s Shadow ( Weird Tales, October 1930) Stealthy Death ( Weird Tales, November 1930) The Wolf of St. Bonnot ( Weird Tales, December 1930) A few observations: * Robert Weinberg clearly picked the top-shelf material for the six-volume Popular Library paperback series (such as "The Silver Countess," "The Bride of Dewer," and "Daughter of the Moonlight" in this volume). The leftovers aren't as strong. Of the latter I did enjoy "The Druid's Shadow" even though it deals with the hoary "ancestral memory" theme. * Dr. Watson's reputation as a bumbler may be undeserved, but Dr. Trowbridge truly is useless even as a sidekick/exposition sink. * On the other hand, de Grandin himself is consistently entertaining despite all the "name-of-a-blue monkey" prattle. * Whenever Sergeant Costello talks, I just skim his dialogue--it's unreadable and usually unimportant, anyway. * I did notice a few typos (mostly mix-ups between "be" and "he," perhaps due to scanning issues). Nothing too bad, however. * I agree with all of those who dislike the Santa Claus-meets- Weird Tales mess that is "Roads." Give me "Dark Rosaleen," "The Cloth of Madness," "Masked Ball," "The Globe of Memories," "Is the Devil a Gentleman?" or any halfway decent de Grandin story over that one.
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Mar 15, 2018 17:46:09 GMT
One other thought: On rereading these stories, it's striking how callous de Grandin is about the deaths of any characters--including young women and even children--who aren't central to the plot. And when I read about de Grandin's magical plastic surgery skills in "The House Without a Mirror," I couldn't help remembering how philosophical he seemed to be about the deaths of the young women in "The House of Horrors"--wasn't his reaction essentially, "So they drowned? C'est la vie. Probably for the best, anyhow."
Oh, well. It doesn't pay to think too deeply on such things.
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Post by andydecker on Mar 15, 2018 19:13:03 GMT
One other thought: On rereading these stories, it's striking how callous de Grandin is about the deaths of any characters--including young women and even children--who aren't central to the plot. And when I read about de Grandin's magical plastic surgery skills in "The House Without a Mirror," I couldn't help remembering how philosophical he seemed to be about the deaths of the young women in "The House of Horrors"--wasn't his reaction essentially, "So they drowned? C'est la vie. Probably for the best, anyhow." Oh, well. It doesn't pay to think too deeply on such things. I also noticed this. De Grandin can be very callous. I re-read "The Devil's Bride" last year and was astonished how he switched his compassion on and off according to the plot. Quinn often didn't care about this.
And you are right about Sergeant Costello. I also skipp his dialogue. Readers in the 30s must have been a harder bunch than us to tolerate this.
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Mar 15, 2018 19:54:19 GMT
De Grandin can be very callous. I re-read "The Devil's Bride" last year and was astonished how he switched his compassion on and off according to the plot. Quinn often didn't care about this. It's been a while since I read The Devil's Bride, but I seem to recall de Grandin traveling across the ocean to save one young woman who'd been brainwashed by an evil cult, while also (1) interrogating another young woman busy dying from horrible injuries inflicted by the same cult; (2) passively watching yet another young woman--apparently drugged by the cult--kill herself as part of a ritual; and (3) participating in the slaughter of the cult's members, some of whom were also presumably brainwashed by it just like the heroine. Do I have that right?
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Post by mcannon on Mar 15, 2018 20:31:02 GMT
If obsessive collecting is a deadly disease, then I've surely reached the terminal phase. Today I received my copy of "The Horror of the Links", Volume 1 of the Night Shade Books editions of the complete Jules de Grandin. Mark and me both, evidently. I just finished Volume 2 of the Night Shade series, The Devil's Rosary, having bought and read Volume 1 a few months ago. Contents per the Night Shade website: The Black Master ( Weird Tales, January 1929) The Devil People ( Weird Tales, February 1929) The Devil’s Rosary ( Weird Tales, April 1929) The House of Golden Masks ( Weird Tales, June 1929) The Corpse Master ( Weird Tales, July 1929) Trespassing Souls ( Weird Tales, September 1929) The Silver Countess (Weird Tales, October 1929) The House Without a Mirror ( Weird Tales, November 1929) Children of Ubasti ( Weird Tales, December 1929) The Curse of the House of Phipps ( Weird Tales, January 1930) The Drums of Damballah ( Weird Tales, March 1930) The Dust of Egypt ( Weird Tales, April 1930) The Brain-Thief ( Weird Tales, May 1930) The Priestess of the Ivory Feet ( Weird Tales, June 1930) The Bride of Dewer ( Weird Tales, July 1930) Daughter of the Moonlight ( Weird Tales, August 1930) The Druid’s Shadow ( Weird Tales, October 1930) Stealthy Death ( Weird Tales, November 1930) The Wolf of St. Bonnot ( Weird Tales, December 1930) A few observations: * Robert Weinberg clearly picked the top-shelf material for the six-volume Popular Library paperback series (such as "The Silver Countess," "The Bride of Dewer," and "Daughter of the Moonlight" in this volume). The leftovers aren't as strong. Of the latter I did enjoy "The Druid's Shadow" even though it deals with the hoary "ancestral memory" theme. * Dr. Watson's reputation as a bumbler may be undeserved, but Dr. Trowbridge truly is useless even as a sidekick/exposition sink. * On the other hand, de Grandin himself is consistently entertaining despite all the "name-of-a-blue monkey" prattle. * Whenever Sergeant Costello talks, I just skim his dialogue--it's unreadable and usually unimportant, anyway. * I did notice a few typos (mostly mix-ups between "be" and "he," perhaps due to scanning issues). Nothing too bad, however. * I agree with all of those who dislike the Santa Claus-meets- Weird Tales mess that is "Roads." Give me "Dark Rosaleen," "The Cloth of Madness," "Masked Ball," "The Globe of Memories," "Is the Devil a Gentleman?" or any halfway decent de Grandin story over that one. Well, the insanity continues; last night I ordered the upcoming third volume, "The Dark Angel" (due in April), as I noticed that B**k D*p*s*t*ry had it listed with a 30% discount. I agree with all those comments, particularly the Costelloisms (did Irish-Americans ever say things like "felly" instead of "fellow"? I very much doubt it) and Trowbridge's general uselessness and thick-headed nature. Even after encountering literally dozens of supernatural threats his reaction to every new encounter is "Oh, nonsense!", "but it can't be!" or an uncomprehending "What... what....what?". I can only hope that his medical skills were of a higher order, or Harrison would have had the nation's highest rate of both natural and supernatural deaths. On the issue of typos, I also noticed one or two 1920s-written stories made reference to "The First World War". I assume that earlier reprints had substituted this for "The Great War" and nobody thought to change it back. Still, for all their faults I love the de Grandin stories - so long as I don't read more than about one a month. Mark
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Post by andydecker on Mar 15, 2018 22:03:47 GMT
De Grandin can be very callous. I re-read "The Devil's Bride" last year and was astonished how he switched his compassion on and off according to the plot. Quinn often didn't care about this. It's been a while since I read The Devil's Bride, but I seem to recall de Grandin traveling across the ocean to save one young woman who'd been brainwashed by an evil cult, while also (1) interrogating another young woman busy dying from horrible injuries inflicted by the same cult; (2) passively watching yet another young woman--apparently drugged by the cult--kill herself as part of a ritual; and (3) participating in the slaughter of the cult's members, some of whom were also presumably brainwashed by it just like the heroine. Do I have that right? You captured the highlights perfectly Not to mention some hairbrained conspiracy about undermining America's youth through satanism and the usual Weird Tales nonsense about the Yezids as satan worshippers.
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Post by andydecker on Mar 15, 2018 22:22:32 GMT
Well, the insanity continues; last night I ordered the upcoming third volume, "The Dark Angel" (due in April), as I noticed that B**k D*p*s*t*ry had it listed with a 30% discount. I agree with all those comments, particularly the Costelloisms (did Irish-Americans ever say things like "felly" instead of "fellow"? I very much doubt it) and Trowbridge's general uselessness and thick-headed nature. Even after encountering literally dozens of supernatural threats his reaction to every new encounter is "Oh, nonsense!", "but it can't be!" or an uncomprehending "What... what....what?". I can only hope that his medical skills were of a higher order, or Harrison would have had the nation's highest rate of both natural and supernatural deaths. On the issue of typos, I also noticed one or two 1920s-written stories made reference to "The First World War". I assume that earlier reprints had substituted this for "The Great War" and nobody thought to change it back. Still, for all their faults I love the de Grandin stories - so long as I don't read more than about one a month. Mark This is all true about Trowbridge - even if I shudder to think about the competence of your typical country doctor ca. 1930 considering the state of the medical sciences -, still I like this portrait of a friendship. Maybe he is too simple to be irked by de Grandin's behavior. Or he is just a true friend.
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Post by dem bones on Mar 16, 2018 13:16:59 GMT
* I agree with all of those who dislike the Santa Claus-meets- Weird Tales mess that is "Roads." Give me "Dark Rosaleen," "The Cloth of Madness," "Masked Ball," "The Globe of Memories," "Is the Devil a Gentleman?" or any halfway decent de Grandin story over that one. Been so long since I read The Globe Of Memories that it's now a blank, but agree that Dark Rosaleen (so beautiful), The Cloth of Madness, Masked Ball and Is the Devil a Gentleman? are vastly superior to the mawkish Roads. Off the top of my head, would add Rebel's Rest, Uncanonized and Madeleine (Jesus, but Quinn was an unashamed romantic) as other examples of top-notch non-Jules de Grandin's. Re Masked Ball, the mysterious proprietor of the New Orleans costumier is a ringer for de Grandin. Perhaps his case-load had temporarily dried up. As to the 'leftovers' from the Robert Weinberg selection, Suicide Chapel, which, incidentally, was so nearly the name of this message board [true], is perhaps my favourite of the post-war de Grandin's, and the infamous The House where Time Stood Still was unlucky not to make the cut. I also have a perverse fondness for Malay Horror, but can understand why Robert passed. De Grandin can be very callous. I re-read "The Devil's Bride" last year and was astonished how he switched his compassion on and off according to the plot. Quinn often didn't care about this. It's been a while since I read The Devil's Bride, but I seem to recall de Grandin traveling across the ocean to save one young woman who'd been brainwashed by an evil cult, while also (1) interrogating another young woman busy dying from horrible injuries inflicted by the same cult; (2) passively watching yet another young woman--apparently drugged by the cult--kill herself as part of a ritual; and (3) participating in the slaughter of the cult's members, some of whom were also presumably brainwashed by it just like the heroine. Do I have that right? Seems de Grandin's moral fluidity, and occasional lapses into outright sadism, were noted very early in his career. "[in the wake of the third published adventure, The Isle Of Missing Ships ( Weird Tales, Feb. 1926) ] ..... one or two lady readers did reproach me for having de G cut Goonong Besar's throat, saying it was cold-blooded murder." [Robert A. W. Lowndes, Reminiscences on Seabury Quinn, Magazine Of Horror #34, Fall 1970). For me, The Devil's Bride showcases Quinn at his best and worst, but then I guess you could say the same about virtually any of his stories. I first encountered TDB when R.A.W.L. serialised it over three issues of Magazine Of Horror. The first instalment, notably the crucifixion scene, (which, for some reason, I misremembered for several years as culminating with the Satanists throwing snowballs at their tortured victim), raised my hopes that this was the best thing SQ had ever produced, but, sadly, the downside of writing blind is that, when it doesn't quite work, the results can be a convoluted mess (see also R. Chetwynd-Hayes at his worst). I'm not getting this disdain for Sergeant Costello! Have a heart guys, he's one of my heroes. Incidentally, we've a form of prohibition operating in London pubs these days. Guinness. £4.70 a pint.
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Post by Michael Connolly on Mar 16, 2018 13:57:39 GMT
* I agree with all of those who dislike the Santa Claus-meets- Weird Tales mess that is "Roads." Give me "Dark Rosaleen," "The Cloth of Madness," "Masked Ball," "The Globe of Memories," "Is the Devil a Gentleman?" or any halfway decent de Grandin story over that one. Been so long since I read The Globe Of Memories that it's now a blank, but agree that Dark Rosaleen (so beautiful), The Cloth of Madness, Masked Ball and Is the Devil a Gentleman? are vastly superior to the mawkish Roads. Off the top of my head, would add Rebel's Rest, Uncanonized and Madeleine (Jesus, but Quinn was an unashamed romantic) as other examples of top-notch non-Jules de Grandin's. Re Masked Ball, the mysterious proprietor of the New Orleans costumier is a ringer for de Grandin. Perhaps his case-load had temporarily dried up. As to the 'leftovers' from the Robert Weinberg selection, Suicide Chapel, which, incidentally, was so nearly the name of this message board [true], is perhaps my favourite of the post-war de Grandin's, and the infamous The House where Time Stood Still was unlucky not to make the cut. I also have a perverse fondness for Malay Horror, but can understand why Robert passed. It's been a while since I read The Devil's Bride, but I seem to recall de Grandin traveling across the ocean to save one young woman who'd been brainwashed by an evil cult, while also (1) interrogating another young woman busy dying from horrible injuries inflicted by the same cult; (2) passively watching yet another young woman--apparently drugged by the cult--kill herself as part of a ritual; and (3) participating in the slaughter of the cult's members, some of whom were also presumably brainwashed by it just like the heroine. Do I have that right? Seems de Grandin's moral fluidity, and occasional lapses into outright sadism, were noted very early in his career. "[in the wake of the third published adventure, The Isle Of Missing Ships ( Weird Tales, Feb. 1926) ] ..... one or two lady readers did reproach me for having de G cut Goonong Besar's throat, saying it was cold-blooded murder." [Robert A. W. Lowndes, Reminiscences on Seabury Quinn, Magazine Of Horror #34, Fall 1970). For me, The Devil's Bride showcases Quinn at his best and worst, but then I guess you could say the same about virtually any of his stories. I first encountered TDB when R.A.W.L. serialised it over three issues of Magazine Of Horror. The first instalment, notably the crucifixion scene, (which, for some reason, I misremembered for several years as culminating with the Satanists throwing snowballs at their tortured victim), raised my hopes that this was the best thing SQ had ever produced, but, sadly, the downside of writing blind is that, when it doesn't quite work, the results can be a convoluted mess (see also R. Chetwynd-Hayes at his worst). I'm not getting this disdain for Sergeant Costello! Have a heart guys, he's one of my heroes. Incidentally, we've a form of prohibition operating in London pubs these days. Guinness. £4.70 a pint. I was thinking about Sergeant ("Tip of the mornin' to ye") Costello a couple of days ago. Regarding the use of Irish dialect, this exchange reported by Carnacki in William Hope Hodgson's "The House Among the Laurels" is either very accurate or an insult. I don't know which: "'I tell ye, sorr,' he told him, ''tis of no use at all, thryin' ter reclaim ther castle. 'Tis curst with innocent blood, an' ye'll be betther pullin' it down, an' buildin' a fine new wan. But if ye be intendin' to shtay this night, kape the big dhoor open whide, an' watch for the bhlood-dhrip. If so much as a single dhrip falls, don't shtay though all the gold in the worrld was offered ye.' "Wentworth asked him what he meant by the blood-drip. "'Shure,' he said, ''tis the bhlood av thim as ould Black Mick 'way back in the ould days kilt in their shlape. 'Twas a feud as he pretendid to patch up, an' he invited thim—the O'Haras they was—siventy av thim. An' he fed thim, an' shpoke soft to thim, an' thim thrustin' him, sthayed to shlape with him. Thin, he an' thim with him, stharted in an' mhurdered thim wan an' all as they slep'. 'Tis from me father's grandfather ye have the sthory. An' sence thin 'tis death to any, so they say, to pass the night in the castle whin the bhlood-dhrip comes. 'Twill put out candle an' fire, an' thin in the darkness the Virgin Herself would be powerless to protect ye.'
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Mar 16, 2018 14:42:51 GMT
I think "Dark Rosaleen" may have been the first Quinn story I ever read. It's a little gem, with a nifty multi-perspective nonlinear format and a genuinely nasty shock all in a few pages.
As for phonetically rendered dialect, such as Sergeant Costello's ... Not to get too heavy, but I realized a year or so ago why I dislike this writing approach so much (beyond it being a chore to read, which it really is for me): I take it as carrying the implicit statement that the author (and I suppose the imagined reader as well) speaks the "right" way whereas the dialect-speaking character speaks the "wrong" way. Put another way: we're meant to think that Trowbridge speaks "normally" while Costello talks funny. That bugs me. I prefer the approach taken, for example, by Wellman in his John stories, where the Appalachian dialogue is realistically distinctive but not burdened with all sorts of (condescending) apostrophes and creative spellings.
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