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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Nov 30, 2009 16:46:24 GMT
Dark Corners
Stephen Volk (2006, Gray Friar Press)
Contents
No More Hidden Things - An Introduction by Tim Lebbon
31/10
The Best in the Business
The Latin Master
Three Fingers, One Thumb
The Anamorph of Hans Baldung Grien
Blitzenstein
The Chapel of Unrest
The Fall Children
A Pair of Pince-Nez
Indicator
Sleepless Nights
Curious Green Colours Sleep Furiously
Time Capsule
The Good Unknown
No Harm Done
Little H
Afterword by Stephen Volk
Acknowledgements
A very nice collection of 16 short stories by Stephen Volk, probably better known as a screenwriter, on projects like "Gothic", the series "Afterlife", and, infamously, "Ghostwatch".
In fact, the first story, 31/10, is a sequel to "Ghostwatch", taking place ten years after Sarah Greene disappeared into the cupboard under the stairs and Michael Parkinson became possessed by the ghost of a child murderer.
The stories take place in the past and the present, with Three Fingers, One Thumb taking place in a modern theme park, or Blitzenstein telling the story of some street urchins who find a body during the Blitz and decide to copy what they saw in that film with Boris Karloff.
My favourites are, unsurprisingly, those concerning "amateur supernaturalist" Venables, in stories written in homage to M.R. James, Conan Doyle, Seabury Quinn and Algernon Blackwood (The Latin Master, The Anamorph of Hans Baldung Grien, The Chapel of Unrest, The Fall Children, A Pair of Pince-Nez, Sleepless Nights). I was particularly taken with A Pair of Pince-Nez, which has a touch of The Mezzotint and A View From a Hill about it.
An excellent collection, all in all.
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Post by Johnlprobert on Nov 30, 2009 22:12:40 GMT
I really liked this collection, and Mr Volk is a lovely man as well as a fine writer.
The one I remember is Little H, both for the punchline and for the fact that it's an eminently 'read out loud' story. Which I did for Lady Probert one windswept night up North....
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Post by dem on Dec 1, 2009 11:01:50 GMT
In fact, the first story, 31/10, is a sequel to "Ghostwatch", taking place ten years after Sarah Greene disappeared into the cupboard under the stairs and Michael Parkinson became possessed by the ghost of a child murderer. You had me hooked at that point but then, a story written in homage to Seabury Quinn? !!! Anyone read Mr. Volk's novelisation (from his own screenplay) of Ken Russell's Gothic? |
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Dec 5, 2009 23:19:20 GMT
Just watched "Ghostwatch" again for the first time in ages, and it really is pretty damn creepy. The whole background to the haunting is superbly unpleasant, and there's a sort of "Quatermass and the Pit" in miniature conclusion, when all Hell breaks loose. Parky's pretty convincing in it, too, but he was an old hand at horror, of course, having appeared as himself opposite Vincent Price in "Madhouse".
I haven't read anything else by Mr. Volk (nor have I seen 'Gothic', as I'm not a massive admirer of Mr. K. Russell), but I really like most of the stories in this collection - which I bought at the same time as another very entertaining book from Gray Friar Press... something about a 'Faculty', I believe, with some 'Terror' involved.
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Post by Johnlprobert on Dec 6, 2009 9:46:57 GMT
Oh Mr Lurker you bring a smile to my face, especially as just to my right on my desk here is a lovely red hardcover volume that's something to do with Dwelling in Dark Places that's going to be read very soon  Oh, and if you just seen Ghostwatch, whatever you do don't go and watch Paranormal Activity as it's a severe letdown. |
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Post by marksamuels on Dec 6, 2009 16:11:14 GMT
Oh Mr Lurker you bring a smile to my face, especially as just to my right on my desk here is a lovely red hardcover volume that's something to do with Dwelling in Dark Places that's going to be read very soon Oh, and if you just seen Ghostwatch, whatever you do don't go and watch Paranormal Activity as it's a severe letdown. No way! Paranormal Activity is a classic imho (best of its kind since Blair Witch). I was too scared to go to sleep after seeing it. Mind you, I think it's more effective as a see-it-alone DVD movie than a cinema one. So there!  I wish I wish I wish I'd seen Ghostwatch when it was first broadcast live... it must have been a marvellously spooky experience. Mark S. |
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Dec 6, 2009 18:44:39 GMT
No way! Paranormal Activity is a classic imho (best of its kind since Blair Witch). I was too scared to go to sleep after seeing it. Mind you, I think it's more effective as a see-it-alone DVD movie than a cinema one. So there! I'd already decided to wait till 'Paranormal Activity' was on DVD to get that more authentic feel. Must admit that I didn't like 'Blair Witch' much, apart from the last ten minutes or so. I did think that some of the other stuff shot to publicise and augment the film was brilliant - fake 70s documentary footage, news reports, etc - and I thought the actual film would have been miles better if they'd combined this footage with the 'lost in the woods' stuff. I did see 'Ghostwatch' live, but on a B&W portable in company with a couple who had smoked a lot of... er... something that made it difficult to concentrate on the TV at first, but also made it easier to convince them that it was a genuine live broadcast after I'd recognised some of the actors. |
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Post by carolinec on Dec 6, 2009 23:40:03 GMT
Must admit that I didn't like 'Blair Witch' much, apart from the last ten minutes or so. I did think that some of the other stuff shot to publicise and augment the film was brilliant - fake 70s documentary footage, news reports, etc - and I thought the actual film would have been miles better if they'd combined this footage with the 'lost in the woods' stuff. In that case, Lurker, you might enjoy The Last Broadcast. That film was done shortly before Blair Witch, but with far less hype/fanfare. It's got all the documentary footage/news report stuff too. I love Blair Witch, but I reckon The Last Broadcast is much better. ;D |
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Dec 7, 2009 8:07:16 GMT
In that case, Lurker, you might enjoy The Last Broadcast. That film was done shortly before Blair Witch, but with far less hype/fanfare. It's got all the documentary footage/news report stuff too. I love Blair Witch, but I reckon The Last Broadcast is much better. ;D I have seen 'The Last Broadcast', and I did enjoy it more, although I wasn't too sure about the end. Not about what was revealed, but by the way it jumped from a fairly believable documentary format into a piece of fiction. Still pretty good and interesting, I thought. |
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Dec 16, 2009 22:27:51 GMT
Well, I watched "Paranormal Activity" at home on Saturday, and quite enjoyed it. Certainly more than "Blair Witch". It does succeed in building up an atmosphere by the brilliantly simple technique of having an open door into a darkened hallway in the frame during the nighttime sequences. I was constantly straining to see if anything was going to emerge from the far off rooms.
The end, though, didn't work all the well for me (haven't seen the cinema ending or the original end), though this was because of the earlier 'internet discovery', which blew the pretence for me. It was just too convenient, and not remotely convincing. So, while I'd earlier been a bit nervous about pausing it to nip upstairs to the loo, afterwards I wasn't remotely jittery.
Still, not bad, and with a few good scares, but "Ghostwatch" still beats it on the creep-you-out factor.
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