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Post by sadako on Apr 26, 2011 20:25:05 GMT
 I re-read my paperback editions of these two Peter Haining anthologies and wrote about the stories and the movies they inspired. 18 stories in all, and I watched 16 of the films. They are still two very much treasured books, partly because of the cover art, partly because I feel (but I don't know) that some of the stories may be hard to track down, even though they've each inspired a movie, and sometimes several... I was partly inspired by this site, which has helped reminded me of so many stories that preoccupied me as a teenager. Here's my first article... blackholereviews.blogspot.com/2011/04/ghouls-book-one-horror-fiction-to.html |
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Post by doomovertheworld on Jul 13, 2011 20:53:43 GMT
i have very fond memories of reading this book when it was republished in 1994 as a youngster. it is part of the reason why i have a life long love for ray bradbury. it was also the book which introduced me to the joys of h.p. lovecraft after reading stephen king rave about him in danse macabre. coming back to it now the story which sticks most in the memory is the errie incident at owl creek by ambrose bierce the front cover of the edition that i have is as follows:  i've always rather liked it |
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Feb 8, 2013 20:01:31 GMT
I ordered a copy of Peter Haining's The Freak Show but instead have received a copy of his The Ghouls. Given that it's temporarily in my possession, here's the Stein and Day (1971) edition: |
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Post by killercrab on Feb 8, 2013 20:15:17 GMT
Nice cover - great title font!
KC
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Feb 8, 2013 20:28:34 GMT
I like the cover, too. Unfortunately, the stories inside are mostly of the heavily-reprinted variety ("Most Dangerous Game," "The Body Snatcher," "The Beast with Five Fingers") and/or are cases where Haining has given his own title to a book excerpt or an otherwise familiar story (for example, Poe's "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether" becomes "The Lunatics").
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Post by dem on Feb 8, 2013 21:01:24 GMT
Even worse, The Most Dangerous Game is abridged, or at least, it is in the Orbit paperback. I remember comparing it with another version, in Hitchcock's Stories They Wouldn't Let Me Do On TV I think, and the edit does nothing for the story whatsoever. Are the stories in the W. H. Allen/ Stein & Day editions identical to those included in the paperbacks?  John Holmes (Orbit, 1974, 1976) Foreword – Peter Haining
Introduction – Vincent Price
Francis Oscar Mann – The Devil In A Nunnery (filmed as “The Devil In A Convent”)
Edgar Allan Poe – The System Of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether (“The Lunatics”)
Nathaniel Hawthorne – Feathertop (“Puritan Passions”)
Gaston Leroux – Phantom Of The Opera
Somerset Maugham – The Magician
Tod Robbins – Spurs (“Freaks”)
Richard Connell – The Most Dangerous Game
Bram Stoker – Dracula’s Guest (“Dracula’s Daughter”)
Steven Vincent Benet – The Devil And Daniel Webster (“All That Money Can Buy”)
Afterword – Christopher Lee
Cast And CreditsThe Ghouls: The Stories Behind The Classic Horror Films: Book 2 (Orbit, 1974 ) Foreword – Peter Haining
Introduction – Vincent Price
Robert Louis Stevenson – The Bodysnatcher
W. F. Harvey – The Beast With Five Fingers
Ray Bradbury – Foghorn (“The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms”)
George Langelaan – The Fly
Nikolai Gogol – Viy (“Black Sunday”)
Ambrose Bierce – Incident At Owl Creek Bridge
H. . Lovecraft – The Colour Out Of Space (“Monster Of Terror”)
Robert Bloch – The Skull Of The Marquis De Sade (“The Skull”)
Edgar Allan Poe – The Oblong Box
Afterword – Christopher Lee
Cast And Credits |
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Feb 8, 2013 21:10:00 GMT
Haining abridged "The Most Dangerous Game"?! I knew he did some strange things as editor, but that tops all of them.
And the contents in the Stein and Day edition are identical to the ones you listed. It also includes a number of film stills.
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Post by dem on Feb 8, 2013 22:18:02 GMT
Thanks for the confirmation, Mr. B. I don't have an original to compare it against, but could be that the Arthur J. Burks story Mr. Haining reprints as Cerimarie in The Evil People - it first appeared in Weird Tales for Dec. 1924 under the title Voodoo as by (top name!) 'Estil Critchie' - may also have been got at. The plot is far less convoluted than we're used to, and, perhaps most damning of all, it only runs to six pages. Burks wrote longer sentences than that. |
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Post by pulphack on Feb 11, 2013 7:30:09 GMT
God I hate this new updated board - everything takes bloody ages to load on my laptop now! Anyway, there seems to be a move towards moaning about Haining because he chopped bits about and retitled them. Ok, you can dislike it, but please stop acting like he was the only editor ever to do it. It's what they do, what they always have done, especially in the cheaper areas of publishing, which is where most genre fiction comes from. Fact is, it's not just about the readers, it's about the publishers too, and persuading them you're giving them something new and saleable, and something that will entice the casual and not-so-casual reader. Without some chicanery, he wouldn't have made a living and wouldn't have got so much old stuff back in print. Never forget that for many of us Hainings cheapo paperback anthologies opened up doors that would not otherwise have been there. It's a balancing act, but on balance he did more good than harm.
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Feb 11, 2013 15:16:23 GMT
Anyway, there seems to be a move towards moaning about Haining because he chopped bits about and retitled them. Ok, you can dislike it, but please stop acting like he was the only editor ever to do it. It's what they do, what they always have done, especially in the cheaper areas of publishing, which is where most genre fiction comes from. Fact is, it's not just about the readers, it's about the publishers too, and persuading them you're giving them something new and saleable, and something that will entice the casual and not-so-casual reader. Without some chicanery, he wouldn't have made a living and wouldn't have got so much old stuff back in print. Never forget that for many of us Hainings cheapo paperback anthologies opened up doors that would not otherwise have been there. It's a balancing act, but on balance he did more good than harm. I'm a big Haining fan, so my comments fall more under the heading of affectionate eye-rolling. As far as editing quirks go, Haining seems to me to be particularly fond of excerpting and retitling. I get why he did that, but it is something that can lead an unwary collector astray; if a Haining anthology seems to include an unfamiliar story by a famous author, then it's wise to look more closely. I agree that if we're picking on Haining for that sort of thing, then it would be equally easy to single out other editors for their shenanigans as well. For example, there's August Derleth, whom I also love despite the fact that he once wrote a story and then attributed it in one of his anthologies to J. Sheridan LeFanu. And then there was the great Stephen Jones/M. R. James re-paragraphing controversy. |
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Post by jamesdoig on Feb 11, 2013 22:48:20 GMT
Talking of the great man, his library is being sold at a Cheffins auction on 21 Feb. Go to www.cheffins.co.uk/fineart/catalogues.asp and click on the catalogue for the specialist books, maps and prints sale on 21 February. Some pretty nice things to be had if you're cashed up...Start looking from Lot 294. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2013 11:20:45 GMT
Talking of the great man, his library is being sold at a Cheffins auction on 21 Feb. Go to www.cheffins.co.uk/fineart/catalogues.asp and click on the catalogue for the specialist books, maps and prints sale on 21 February. Some pretty nice things to be had if you're cashed up...Start looking from Lot 294. Cheers for that James - I'm putting together a rescue package to get the Hugh Lamb books and Hugh Lamb is now aware of this. |
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Post by jamesdoig on Feb 12, 2013 20:13:36 GMT
I'm putting together a rescue package to get the Hugh Lamb books and Hugh Lamb is now aware of this. That's good of you Johnny  The auction doesn't seem to be particularly well advertised. |
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Post by jamesdoig on Feb 21, 2013 21:06:41 GMT
Cheers for that James - I'm putting together a rescue package to get the Hugh Lamb books and Hugh Lamb is now aware of this. I see the auction results are up: auctions.cheffins.co.uk/asp/results.asp Oddly, lot 335 is left out, which was the Hugh Lamb lot. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2013 21:13:12 GMT
Cheers for that James - I'm putting together a rescue package to get the Hugh Lamb books and Hugh Lamb is now aware of this. I see the auction results are up: auctions.cheffins.co.uk/asp/results.asp Oddly, lot 335 is left out, which was the Hugh Lamb lot. Yeah - i had to withdraw as sadly i had to find £300 for nursery costs. Don't know why they withdrew the whole thing though. |
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The auction doesn't seem to be particularly well advertised.