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Post by dem on Aug 12, 2010 8:56:55 GMT
Horowitz wrote horror novels? I only knew about his YA thrillers which I have zero interest in. uh, i could've put that better. Horowitz writes horror for the YA market, though i'm told the shorts in such collections as Horowitz Horrors have wider appeal. Having so enjoyed the likes of Chris Priestley's glorious "children's book" Uncle Montague's Tales Of Terror and many of John Gordon's ghost and horror stories, i'd certainly be prepared to give him a go. The only one of his novels to come my way was Groosham Grange aimed at a very, very young readership - i.e., even i didn't find it too much of a challenge and i've a mental age of about three - so i'm inclined to dismiss it as representative of the rest. Back with 2nd Mayflower Black Magic and up-top of the thread, Redbrain had great things to say about this next story. Having re-read it last night, i can only agree. Marjorie Bowen - The Necromancer: Madrid during the days of the Holy Inquisition. Dr. Lazarillo de Tolmes, fraudulent alchemist, bogus occultist and peddler of dubious potion, is approached by a beautiful and very wealthy young woman who asks him to destroy her husband, a request to which he readily agrees. After all, what harm can it do? He knows any spells devised by his minions - the crone Camilla and her sidekick, a revolting defrocked Jesuit Priest - won't work and, once he's fleeced her, the young woman is unlikely to go complaining to the authorities. So he leaves his reliably inept adepts to attend to the Black Magic side of things. Unfortunately, this wretched pair, pick a bad time to suddenly develop an aptitude for the Black Arts, or at least, as they slowly toast a wax image of the Cavalier before a fire so he sickens and fast wastes away. Not having any stomach for murder and living each moment in mortal fear of denouncement to the Inquisition, Tolmes discovers, too late, that he has a conscience after all. He demands that his stooges desist, but success has gone to their heads and besides, they're being paid handsomely to see the business through to the bitter end. And then his loathed rival, Don Pasquale, is appointed the dying man's physician .... To comment further would perhaps be one spoiler too many, but full marks to Mr. Parry for reviving this one. Roland Caine - The Eye of the Beholder: Hollywood hustler Manfred summons a spectacularly hideous demon. The usual set-up. Three wishes in return for his mortal soul. Manfred's first is "bring me to have and to hold as my very own - the most beautiful woman in the world!" The demon complies. He doen't get to make a second. Richard Matheson - The Likeness Of Julie: There are plenty of lookers in Prof. Euston's English class so how comes Eddy Foster is so fixated with plain - make that downright ugly - Julie Elrige? It's a question our clean cut college boy asks himself time and again, but he feels compelled to have her and steps up his efforts. From mild stalking through voyeurism to date rape. "He'd invite her to a drive-in movie, drug her coke there, take her to the Hiway Motel. To guarantee his safety afterward, he'd take photographs of her and threaten to show them to her parents if she said something."It all goes to plan but too late Eddy realises that he was never the one pulling the strings. |
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Post by dem on Aug 15, 2010 20:15:38 GMT
love Midsomer Murders, me. Especially when the story-lines involve witchcraft & the supernatural ( Talking to the Dead features, among other niceties, phantom monks, a slappable showbiz psychic and murder by impalement inside an iron maiden) and the surprisingly numerous episodes where the going gets fruity (Elverton-cum-Latterly is an unlikely hotbed of fantasy role playing, "private cookery lessons", risqué riding crop action and other scandalous goings on in Country Matters). Sometimes you strike lucky and get both for the price of one. In The Straw Woman a gay vicar is burned alive inside an effigy, his lover "spontaneously combusts", a severed pig's head is mounted on the altar and a retired nightclub owner converts his stately hall into a swingers paradise. Then there are the eps which are just plain old fashioned grisly; the recent Sword Of Guillaume saw the beheading of a property developer aboard a ghost train. Gruesome enough but bettered by the next murder - a buxom hotelier has her head hacked off and plonked on the dressing table. i'd hoped to bump into one of Caroline Graham's six original Midsomer Murders novels on my travels by now but no joy as yet. Also love Midsummer Murders. They showed it here on german tv, sunday´s at 10. Still are a few seasons behind. But it is a lot of fun. The higher the bodycount, the better they are. The Straw Woman was a good one. Or the one with the guillotine, They seek him here  They can be pretty meanspirited which I really like. Not taking themselves so seriously as other british crime shows is also a bonus. Hey andreas! you know when were discussing the unutterable majesty of Midsomer Murders the other day? i hit a market stall earlier and staring straight back at me ... Caroline Graham – Death Of A Hollow Man (Headline, 1990)  Fred PrestonBlurb: For Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby a visit to the Causton Amateur Dramatic Society's production of Amadeus is not an ideal evening's entertainment. But loyalty to his wife Joyce (noises-off) means that attending the-first night is a must, and Barnaby knows that an immense amount of hard work has gone into the show.
Backstage, nerves are fraying. Director of the play, Harold Winstanley, has introduced a strict pecking order among the cast but the leading man is taking his role far too much to heart. For Salieri (alias Esslyn Carmichael), suspecting that his wife is having an affair, has decided that the stage is as good a place as any to wring the truth out of the guilty party. It is his final act, though, that proves to be a piece de resistance and when the scene takes a particularly gruesome turn, Barnaby finds that his professional skills are called to the fore.i remember the adaptation of this one - sadly bereft of witchcraft and sexual deviancy, but good nonetheless - in fact it was repeated fairly recently. will let you know how i get on with it! |
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