Charles Birkin anthologies from Midnight house

[doug]

Hey all,
I lurk mostly, but need some advice.

Did Charles Birken write supernatural horror stories or stories of "unpleasant" horrors?
I can't seem to have ever read a single Birken story. Is it possible that he didn't get antholgized much in the States?
I'm asking because I've had my eye on the 2 Birken anthologies from Midnight House. Problem is is that the aren't cheap. I'm crazy about most horro stories frome between the late 1800's till the 1950 50s/60s. So mostly Pulp stories with modern writers like Campbell, Copper, Lansdale,Brennan,Matheson and Aiken thrown in.
I've already read some of the synopses'es for some Birken stories here in the Vault. They seem more like nasties than supernatural.
This may sound stupid, but are they enjoyable?
Please let me know what you think.
Thanks and take care.
Doug
"a Buckeye abroad"

[dem]

Mar 31, 2010 17:51:30 GMT doug said:

This may sound stupid, but are they enjoyable?

that, believe me, is not a stupid question! i'm not sure if 'enjoyment' is quite the word i'd use, although his more extreme Grand Guignol moments have reduced me to tears of laughter. after the second world war he wrote some of the grimmest stories i've ever read, miles removed from the escapist entertainment of much horror fiction. There are a few supernatural stories, but it's mostly mindless sadism/ man's inhumanity to man, etc., with the victims having done little or nothing to deserve their fate.

from just the responses on here, it's maybe fair to say his work divides readers, but seems those of us who 'like' him rate him very highly indeed.

hope this is of some use. put it this way; if you buy either of the Midnight House books, you're likely to look back on your purchase as the best or worst thing you ever did with your cash.

[doug]

Hi,
thanks for the reply. I just reread my original post and noticed my mind is starting to slip.
Birkin!
Aickman!
Not Birken and Aicken.
I just ordered from Ebay two Mary Danby "65" anthologies. "Supernatural" and "Horror".
I'll check here in the Vault to see if these contain any Birken?
Sadly my collection contains mostly US anthologies and none of them contain any Birken.
The two Midnight House collections will run me about 80€ including postage and that's almost my entire book budget for 2 months!

take care.
Doug

[dem]

hi doug. i don't think they're on here yet, but the contents are up on wordpress.

65 Great Tales Of The Supernatural

65 Great Tales Of Horror

both include Birkin stories; Supernatural has Little Boy Blue, a particularly grim ghost story, one of his finest. Horror has Text For Today which is a bit of a blur to me now - i should reread it!

the beauty of it is, even if you don't rate the Birkin pair, i'm sure you'll still have fun with these sprawling collections.

while i'm about it, Danby also edited the companion volumes:

65 Great Spine Chillers
Realms Of Darkness

[doug]

I bought 65 Spine chillers over 23 years ago at the "Stars and Stripes" store here in Nuremburg (S&S is the Army bookstore).
Spine Chillers is an excellent anthology. I've now purchased the other two "65 Great" anthologies from Ebay this past week. I still haven't found a harbound copy of "Realms of Darkness". There are several listed at abebooks at affordable prices, but the sellers IMHO seem to exaggerate a wee bit on book conditions.
What I love the most about the Spine chillers anthology is that it truly seems to have a little bit of everything.

Good generalized/wide range anthologies seem to be a thing of the past. When I go to amazon it seems that most anthologies today are "Themed" ones. For example I'm awaiting my copy of "Cthulhu's Reign"
This is a collection of "after the stars are right" stories coming out from DAW and editied by Darrel Schweitzer. Cool idea but it could also be very limited in scope and tone.
The best thing about the Hanby collections is that I get a chance to read writers I've never read before.

Take care and enjoy the Easter weekend.

Doug

[doug]

Hi,
I managed to sidetrack myself. I'm looking forward to the 2 Birkin stories to see if I like them. I hate to buy something on a hunch (Midnight House editions) and realize that it's not realy my taste.
a few years ago I bought a collection of "little known" stories from Weird Tales called "Far Below and other Horrors". It has a story by G.G. Pendarves called "Thing of Darkness". At the time I read it I found it to be an almost perfect story. This convinced to buy the Pendarves collection from midnight House. I was very happy with my decision even though it blew my monthly budget.
The horror collections from Wordsworth have been a god send since they are so inexpensive I can afford to take the risk on buying a book of stories that I'm not at all familiar with.

Take care.
Doug

[dem]

i agree; the Mary Danby collections are great and the fact that the stories are all over the place - one minute we're on a nice polite Victorian ghost story, the next there's a modern day version of Leiningen Versus The Ants then back to The Graveyard Rats - adds to the entertainment.

incidentally, we've a thread for Far Below & Other Horrors though it's not been very happening up 'til now. started writing it up but, as is so often the case, got sidetracked. i don't remember the Pendarves story at all!