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Post by David A. Riley on Oct 21, 2010 15:20:20 GMT
The title story, With Deepest Sympathy, has Mrs Primrose Hildebrand, who could have been the Miss Marple of her community, but instead turns her talents to poison pen letters, with dire consequences in the amputatory department. You can see Johnny's love for the nastiest side of the Pan horrors here. And a wicked sense of humour.
The Spoon, on the other hand, is just a one page joke at the expense of Uri Geller - who, seemingly, was amused by it! 10 out of 10 for originality and chutzpah if nothing else.
Next up, the longer Gun Money, which sounds just up my street.
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Post by stuartdouglas on Oct 22, 2010 19:27:36 GMT
The title story, With Deepest Sympathy, has Mrs Primrose Hildebrand, who could have been the Miss Marple of her community, but instead turns her talents to poison pen letters, with dire consequences in the amputatory department. You can see Johnny's love for the nastiest side of the Pan horrors here. And a wicked sense of humour. The Spoon, on the other hand, is just a one page joke at the expense of Uri Geller - who, seemingly, was amused by it! 10 out of 10 for originality and chutzpah if nothing else. Next up, the longer Gun Money, which sounds just up my street. Great to see people are enjoying Johnny's stories - and liking the look of the thing too! 'Gun Money' is my own favourite story in the collection, I have to admit. Stuart |
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Post by David A. Riley on Oct 23, 2010 9:17:49 GMT
Gun Money is a strange ghost story of Ireland's recent, very troubled past, the days of its Civil War and the assassination of Michael Collins. This and a modern scrounger who cheats his way through life - till he tries to cheat the dead, and finds they're not so easily cheated.
The mood swings completely with the next much shorter tale, Jesus Wept, an amusing piece of blasphemy which would ensure, if known, make Johnny's reception in religious quarters more than warm. Quite a grab bag of jokes too, mixed in with some quite horrific descriptions, clipped, colourful and always spot on. Hard core drugs and Christianity in the form of a junky Jesus Christ, who may or may not be real - at least to the narrator. With a comical punchline, which made me laugh at least.
The Bag Lady is a much more serious story, a true horror about a murderous old woman with a big red bag. Told from the perspective of an eleven-year-old boy, it's a dark, grisly tale of child murder and the supernatural.
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Post by noose on Dec 29, 2010 8:38:34 GMT
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Dec 29, 2010 9:46:06 GMT
Mixed Johnnie and never mind. Should have seen the letter the BBC sent me once.
'We are not looking for comedy....'
It was a serious effort to be clever.
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Post by noose on Dec 29, 2010 9:54:41 GMT
It's fine - not going to foam at the mouth over it - I just think he doesn't like pulpy, badly written horror...  |
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Post by andydecker on Dec 29, 2010 12:41:57 GMT
At least he got your name right  |
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Post by David A. Riley on Dec 30, 2010 9:04:36 GMT
As "bad" reviews go, that's not all that bad. It's more that the reviewer just isn't all that keen on the type of fiction this collection was about. I think Stephen Theaker is more into SF and fantasy than pulp-style horror.
One thing you can be sure from Stephen is that there was no malice behind it and the review was honest from his point of view.
Glad to see, though, you are big enough to put a link to it and to have the class to handle a bit of negativity well. Unlike some others I could - but shan't - name.
Anyway, there's a much more positive review in Prism when it eventually appears sometime in January.
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Post by Swampirella on May 10, 2017 0:35:50 GMT
Gun Money is a strange ghost story of Ireland's recent, very troubled past, the days of its Civil War and the assassination of Michael Collins. This and a modern scrounger who cheats his way through life - till he tries to cheat the dead, and finds they're not so easily cheated. The mood swings completely with the next much shorter tale, Jesus Wept, an amusing piece of blasphemy which would ensure, if known, make Johnny's reception in religious quarters more than warm. Quite a grab bag of jokes too, mixed in with some quite horrific descriptions, clipped, colourful and always spot on. Hard core drugs and Christianity in the form of a junky Jesus Christ, who may or may not be real - at least to the narrator. With a comical punchline, which made me laugh at least. The Bag Lady is a much more serious story, a true horror about a murderous old woman with a big red bag. Told from the perspective of an eleven-year-old boy, it's a dark, grisly tale of child murder and the supernatural. I'm just reading this now (as "Will Anyone Figure Out That This Is A Repackaged First Collection?" ; "The Bag Lady" is excellent, as are several others so far. |
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