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Post by lemming13 on Oct 16, 2010 13:07:04 GMT
Cheers! That's awesomely perverse. I love it.
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Feb 18, 2012 0:01:26 GMT
I just started reading Merritt's last book, Creep, Shadow, Creep, and it's inspired me to look back over his work. The short version: I like him a lot better as a horror writer than as a fantasy writer. From the beginning: Through the Dragon Glass (1917)Never read it. The People of the Pit (1918)One of my favorite Merritt stories. Two travelers in northern Canada come across a man whose hands and feet have been worn down nearly to stumps. He tells them about his discovery of a gargantuan pit, his journey to its bottom, and what he found there. The Moon Pool (1918; novel, 1919)HPL rated this one highly. Me, too. The narrator describes his encounter with Dr. Throckmartin, apparently the last survivor of an expedition to an island in the South Pacific. The expedition discovered a gateway to another world. Too bad for them that something came through it. When "The Moon Pool" turned out to be a hit, Merritt wrote a sequel, "The Conquest of the Moon Pool." HPL didn't like it as much, and I haven't read it; I gather that it's a lost world/lost race story. The two stories were subsequently combined into a novel, which has been republished many times. The 2009 Cosmos Books/Dorchester Publishing edition shamelessly tried to cash in on the popularity of Lost and Lovecraft simultaneously: I have to salute the effort displayed by their marketing folks. Three Lines of Old French (1919)A sentimental story about a WWI soldier who undergoes a timeslip and falls in love with a damsel.
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Post by andydecker on Feb 18, 2012 10:12:41 GMT
The 2009 Cosmos Books/Dorchester Publishing edition shamelessly tried to cash in on the popularity of Lost and Lovecraft simultaneously: Lost? Seriously?
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Feb 18, 2012 12:58:48 GMT
Well, I suppose that they both took place on a Pacific island and involved a lot of weird things happening. If one really wanted to stretch the parallel, maybe Lost's smoke monster is the descendent of Merritt's seven-light thing . . . . . . nah. Moving on: The Metal Monster (1920)I haven't read it. Hippocampus Press recently published an edition of it, however: I don't think it's selling well--if you buy their edition of Blackwood's Incredible Adventures, they'll throw in a copy of The Metal Monster for free. They must have started this offer after I bought my copy of Incredible Adventures (which is worth buying!). The Pool of the Stone God (1923)Published as by "W. Finemore," this story was identified by Sam Moskowitz as the work of Merritt. It's a short, grisly piece about a group of castaways who find a disturbing stone idol. I seem to recall that E. F. Bleiler hated it, but I loved it. The Face in the Abyss (1923; novel, 1931)The original novella (reprinted in Dziemianowicz, Weinberg, and Greenberg's excellent anthology, Famous Fantastic Mysteries, which is where I read it) is about four men looking for the lost Inca gold in the mountains of Peru. They find gold, all right, along with a lost world ruled by the Snake Mother. Merritt later expanded the novella into a novel. I've never felt motivated to read the latter.
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Post by doug on Feb 18, 2012 13:38:52 GMT
Well, I suppose that they both took place on a Pacific island and involved a lot of weird things happening. If one really wanted to stretch the parallel, maybe Lost's smoke monster is the descendent of Merritt's seven-light thing . . . . . . nah. Moving on: The Metal Monster (1920)I haven't read it. Hippocampus Press recently published an edition of it, however: I don't think it's selling well--if you buy their edition of Blackwood's Incredible Adventures, they'll throw in a copy of The Metal Monster for free. They must have started this offer after I bought my copy of Incredible Adventures (which is worth buying!). The Pool of the Stone God (1923)Published as by "W. Finemore," this story was identified by Sam Moskowitz as the work of Merritt. It's a short, grisly piece about a group of castaways who find a disturbing stone idol. I seem to recall that E. F. Bleiler hated it, but I loved it. The Face in the Abyss (1923; novel, 1931)The original novella (reprinted in Dziemianowicz, Weinberg, and Greenberg's excellent anthology, Famous Fantastic Mysteries, which is where I read it) is about four men looking for the lost Inca gold in the mountains of Peru. They find gold, all right, along with a lost world ruled by the Snake Mother. Merritt later expanded the novella into a novel. I've never felt motivated to read the latter. You have to read Merritt! These books are so overlooked that it's almost criminal. Face in the Abyss. Ship of Ishtar Dwellers in the Mirage Moon Pool The Metal Monster "The Metal Monster" is my least favorite. But just the imagery alone still makes it worth checking out. And no, I mean the imagery in the book and not the spiky thing on the old cover and the odd expressions on the womans face!
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Feb 18, 2012 18:58:30 GMT
The Women of the Wood (1926).I can't improve on Dem's description of this as "Algernon Blackwood with a full-on pulp makeover." Another one of my favorite Merritt stories. You have to read Merritt! These books are so overlooked that it's almost criminal. Now I'm getting to the novels that I've read--though you may not agree with my take on the next two. The Ship of Ishtar (1926)I know that a lot of people like this book. Cawthorn and Moorcock included it in their Fantasy: The 100 Best Books, and Planet Stories recently reprinted it. I'm sorry to say that I couldn't even make it halfway through it. I have the Avon edition with the Doug Rosa cover posted above, so here's the Planet Stories cover: Seven Footprints to Satan (1928)Here, Merritt started with a promising idea: a mysterious antagonist who may or may not be the Devil incarnate and who offers select people the chance to play a bizarre high-stakes game. Unfortunately, the novel devolves into run-of-the-mill weird menace territory with a cut-rate Sax Rohmer villain and a groan-inducing love-at-first sight romantic subplot. OK, that was fairly negative, but better stuff is on its way with Dwellers in the Mirage and Burn, Witch, Burn!
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Feb 18, 2012 19:05:19 GMT
Moon Pool By the way, I find this cover both hilarious and charming for some reason.
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Post by dem bones on Feb 19, 2012 9:21:21 GMT
The Pool of the Stone God (1923)Published as by "W. Finemore," this story was identified by Sam Moskowitz as the work of Merritt. It's a short, grisly piece about a group of castaways who find a disturbing stone idol. I seem to recall that E. F. Bleiler hated it, but I loved it. I'm with you, CB. it's my favourite of the shorts i've read after The Women Of The Wood. Bleiler could be a little hard to please sometimes! There's a seven page gallery of Merritt-inspired cover artwork in the current issue of Paperback Fanatic (# 21)
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Post by noose on Feb 19, 2012 10:58:37 GMT
I suppose now is the time to say it - it's been in the pipeline for ages - but I'm joining forces with another small press publisher to bring out a special edition of BURN, WITCH, BURN next year - hoping to get someone pretty special to do the introduction as well. Launch date should be World Fantasycon next year!
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Feb 19, 2012 12:23:48 GMT
I suppose now is the time to say it - it's been in the pipeline for ages - but I'm joining forces with another small press publisher to bring out a special edition of BURN, WITCH, BURN next year - hoping to get someone pretty special to do the introduction as well. Launch date should be World Fantasycon next year! That's great! Happy to see someone working to bring attention to this under-appreciated classic.
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Post by doug on Feb 19, 2012 13:07:42 GMT
Moon Pool By the way, I find this cover both hilarious and charming for some reason. How's this for just plain awful?
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Feb 19, 2012 14:11:35 GMT
That cover raises many questions, none of which should ever be answered.
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Post by noose on Feb 19, 2012 14:14:23 GMT
like where can I get my wife that lovely red outfit!!!
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Post by doug on Feb 19, 2012 15:37:28 GMT
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Post by andydecker on Feb 19, 2012 19:08:22 GMT
say, Johnny, you don´t live at a river or the sea? And btw, this Fredericks stuff is diappointingly pedestrian.
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