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Post by mattofthespurs on Oct 20, 2011 14:33:16 GMT
 (I have a copy of Weird Tales with that cover, which is used to illustrate "Song In The Thicket") Horror Gems Published by Armchair Fiction April 2011, 200 pages Return of The Shoggoth by Gregory Luce A Black Solitude by H Russell Wakefield Fling The Dust Aside by Seabury Quinn Song In The Thicket by Manly Banister Insistent Ghost by Emil Petaja Whisper Water by Leah Bodine Drake Black As The Night By Alice Farnham Dearest by H Beam Piper The Ebony Stick by August Derleth The Spanish Camera by Carl Jacobi  Armchair Fiction, October 2011, 200 pages The Calamander Chest by Joseph Payne Brennan The Music of Erich Zann by HP Lovecraft Widow House by Gregory Luce The Dwarf by Ray Bradbury The Chemical Vampire by Lee Francis Doctor Adams Garden of Evil By Fritz Leiber Mop-Head by Leah Bodine Drake The Ghost That Never Died by Elizabeth Sheldon Birth Of A Monster by Richard Stark Way Station by Mary Elizabeth Counsselman Victim Of The Year by Robert F Young I don't have either of these volumes but I am sorely tempted to rectify that matter. Both volumes look like having a good line up and I like the garish covers. Unfortunately they are, at the time of writing, currently only available from either amazon.com or the publishers website www.armchairfiction.com/ where they are also republishing a shed load of old sci-fi titles. |
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Post by dem on Oct 21, 2011 5:34:50 GMT
these look interesting. off the top of my head i'd guess the selections from Weird Tales in Volume 1 are mostly resurrected from the post-World War II issues, usually bypassed in favour of the 'thirties treasures unless you happen to be Kurt Singer. Vol 2 is selected from a wider field, again mostly second world war though the Evelyn Sheldon story was included in Grim Death, one of the craziest volumes in the Not At Night series. |
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Jul 24, 2012 1:33:16 GMT
off the top of my head i'd guess the selections from Weird Tales in Volume 1 are mostly resurrected from the post-World War II issues, usually bypassed in favour of the 'thirties treasures unless you happen to be Kurt Singer. And you'd be exactly right. The first story, Gregoy Luce's Return of the Shoggoth, is the only exception. Luce is apparently the (uncredited) editor of the series. As its title suggests, his own contribution is a Lovecraft tribute; its protagonist is named, rather suspiciously, Gary Lucas. Here are the original Weird Tales appearances for the rest: H. Russell Wakefield - A Black Solitude (March 1951)
Donald Wandrei - Strange Harvest (May 1953)
Seabury Quinn - Fling the Dust Aside (November 1951)
Manly Banister - Song in the Thicket (May 1953)
Emil Petaja - Insistent Ghost (September 1950)
Leah Bodine Drake - Whisper Water (May 1953)
Alice Farnham - Black As the Night (November 1952)
H. Beam Piper - Dearest (March 1951)
August Derleth - The Ebony Stick (September 1953)
Carl Jacobi - The Spanish Camera (September 1950)Mr. Luce deserves credit for digging up some obscure WT stories. As far as I can tell, the Quinn, Banister, Drake, and Farnham stories have never been reprinted since initial publication. Furthermore, the Wakefield, Piper, Derleth, and Jacobi stories have never appeared in any anthology that I can find (though they have appeared in single-author collections). Kurt Singer did include Petaja's story in Ghost Omnibus, and Wandrei's story has appeared in multiple anthologies. I enjoyed all of the stories, even if there aren't any forgotten masterpieces here. My favorite may be Whisper Water, Drake's tale of a jealous native American tree spirit--it's somewhat similar in style to Manly Wade Wellman's North Carolina stories and Davis Grubb's West Virginia stories. I wasn't surprised to discover that Drake had lived in my home state of Kentucky (she never names the setting, but a few details give it away). Given how much I enjoy poking fun at Derleth for his love of the supernatural vengeance motif, I can't resist adding that The Ebony Stick may be his silliest take on the theme (maybe by design). Lazy Uncle Jack forges a will that names him sole beneficiary of Great-Aunt Maud's fortune; his nephews and nieces then watch with glee as the old lady's ghost whacks some remorse into him with her old walking stick. |
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Jul 24, 2012 11:27:49 GMT
Volume Three in the series: August Derleth - The Closing Door
J. G. Warner - The Titan in the Crypt
Jack Sharkey - Behind the Door
Stanton A. Coblentz - The Round Tower
Fritz Leiber - Hatchery of Dreams
Gregory Luce - Drive-Thru
Richard Casey - Horn o' Plenty
Evangeline Walton - At the End of the Corridor
Seabury Quinn - Rebel's Rest
John Jakes - Death Has Green Eyes
Gordon MacCreagh - Hand of St. Ury
Fritz Leiber - Casket Demon
H. Russell Wakefield - The Third Shadow
Margaret St. Clair - The Last Three Ships
Rog Phillips - The House
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Post by ramseycampbell on Jul 24, 2012 12:55:00 GMT
By gum, "The Hand of Saint Ury"! It saved me from a weird mental aberration. To quote the piece I wrote for Contemporary Authors:
"In 1964 Arkham House published my collection The Inhabitant of the Lake. Not long after I received copies I became unable to read fiction. I felt compelled to loiter so long on every phrase that by the time I reached the end of a sentence I’d lost any grasp of its sense. The only explanation I can find is that proofreading my book had made me so aware of the discrete existence of words that I was hyperconscious of their presence in other people’s prose. I was still able to read film criticism, however. One summer day, after months of struggling to regain my grasp of fiction, I sat in the front garden with an issue of Weird Tales and raced through the lead novelette, 'The Hand of Saint Ury' – just another severed hand on the traditional rampage, but an invaluable text while it lasted that afternoon. I never suffered from the condition again, and have passed it on to Wilfred Lowell, a character in The Overnight."
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Post by dem on Jul 24, 2012 20:36:26 GMT
For those who like to try before they buy and don't mind reading from a screen, you'll find 44 complete issues of Weird Tales, spanning the years 1942-1954, at Unz.Org. Gordon MacCreagh's The Hand Of St. Ury is available here. Ron Unz's treasure trove also contains several issues of Famous Fantastic Mysteries, Unknown, Thrilling Wonder Stories, Fantastic Novels, Startling Stories and Fantastic Adventures. It's a treat of Pulpgen proportions! |
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Jul 30, 2012 1:26:41 GMT
For those who like to try before they buy and don't mind reading from a screen, you'll find 44 complete issues of Weird Tales, spanning the years 1942-1954, at Unz.Org. Gordon MacCreagh's The Hand Of St. Ury is available here. Ron Unz's treasure trove also contains several issues of Famous Fantastic Mysteries, Unknown, Thrilling Wonder Stories, Fantastic Novels, Startling Stories and Fantastic Adventures. It's a treat of Pulpgen proportions! Thanks for the link--I'm looking forward to reading some of these, particularly the never-reprinted stories by Margaret St. Clair, Everil Worrel, Greye La Spina, and Allison V. Harding |
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Aug 26, 2012 21:04:22 GMT
By gum, "The Hand of Saint Ury"! It saved me from a weird mental aberration. To quote the piece I wrote for Contemporary Authors: "In 1964 Arkham House published my collection The Inhabitant of the Lake. Not long after I received copies I became unable to read fiction. I felt compelled to loiter so long on every phrase that by the time I reached the end of a sentence I’d lost any grasp of its sense. The only explanation I can find is that proofreading my book had made me so aware of the discrete existence of words that I was hyperconscious of their presence in other people’s prose. I was still able to read film criticism, however. One summer day, after months of struggling to regain my grasp of fiction, I sat in the front garden with an issue of Weird Tales and raced through the lead novelette, 'The Hand of Saint Ury' – just another severed hand on the traditional rampage, but an invaluable text while it lasted that afternoon. I never suffered from the condition again, and have passed it on to Wilfred Lowell, a character in The Overnight." I finally read "The Hand of Saint Ury" last night. Like you say, it's a standard-issue severed hand story; still, I enjoyed it (and reading it in light of your background on it gave it an extra edge). |
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Post by billdemo2 on Nov 12, 2012 2:12:53 GMT
Horror Gems Vol 4  Seabury Quinn - Dark of the Moon (Weird Tales July 1949) (Online at UNZ.org) Ivar Jorgensen - A Handful of Dust (Fantastic Adventures Oct 1951) Lee Francis - Terror on the Telephone (Amazing Stories Sept 1947) Rog Phillips - Vampire of the Deep (Amazing Stories May 1951) Manly Wade Wellman - The Golgotha Dancers (Weird Tales Oct 1937) (Online at Gutenberg.org) Mary Elizabeth Counselman - Something Old (Weird Tales Nov 1950) (Online at UNZ.org) Esther Carlson - Room With a View (Fantastic May/Jun 1953) Fritz Leiber - I'm Looking For Jeff (Fantastic Sept 1952) Gordon Schendel - The Sisters (Fantastic Jan/Feb 1954) Robert Arthur - The Mirror of CagliostroVictoria Glad - Each Man Kills (Weird Tales Mar 1951) (Online at UNZ.org) |
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Jan 9, 2013 13:12:23 GMT
Horror Gems Vol 4 Seabury Quinn - Dark of the Moon (Weird Tales July 1949) (Online at UNZ.org) Ivar Jorgensen - A Handful of Dust (Fantastic Adventures Oct 1951) Lee Francis - Terror on the Telephone (Amazing Stories Sept 1947) Rog Phillips - Vampire of the Deep (Amazing Stories May 1951) Manly Wade Wellman - The Golgotha Dancers (Weird Tales Oct 1937) (Online at Gutenberg.org) Mary Elizabeth Counselman - Something Old (Weird Tales Nov 1950) (Online at UNZ.org) Esther Carlson - Room With a View (Fantastic May/Jun 1953) Fritz Leiber - I'm Looking For Jeff (Fantastic Sept 1952) Gordon Schendel - The Sisters (Fantastic Jan/Feb 1954) Robert Arthur - The Mirror of CagliostroVictoria Glad - Each Man Kills (Weird Tales Mar 1951) (Online at UNZ.org) The editor of this series, Gregory Luce (with co-editor Leanne Wray for Vol. IV), is like a jackal, picking at pulp horror carcasses that more finicky anthologists have left alone. Put another way, he's a latter-day Kurt Singer. As with the other volumes, this one includes a number of stories that apparently have never been reprinted since initial publication; one of those is a non-Jules de Grandin tale by Quinn. And, as with the other volumes, this one is entertaining reading even if it doesn't include any lost masterpieces. As long as Armchair Fiction keeps publishing volumes in the series, I'll probably keep buying them. |
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Post by doug on Jan 9, 2013 17:47:38 GMT
Hey all. I now have volumes I, III and IV. Even if these are the greatest stories from WT's at least they are ones that are new to me and i find that nice. I've seen people praising Mr. Singer for reprinting later lesser known stories from WTs. I'm about 5 stories into volume I and aside from the Shoggoth story, which must be from " Cthulhu Codex" they all seem to be from the late 1940s/early 1950s. I wished they would have listed publication dates. I do know that Volume I reprints the cover from WT May 1954. It's Bannister's "Song in the Thicket".  All in all I find the series to be enjoyable light weight bed time reading. And I get a smile from the faux "Ace Books" style covers. Take care. Doug |
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Post by mattofthespurs on Jan 9, 2013 19:11:27 GMT
Anywhere you can buy these in the uk online?
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Post by doug on Jan 9, 2013 20:11:28 GMT
I know that amazon isn't carrying them. I lucked out and my Dad sent them as birthday and Christmas presents. I'll probably break down and order volume II directly from the States next month.
Doug
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Jul 22, 2013 17:44:41 GMT
The editor of this series, Gregory Luce . . . . is like a jackal, picking at pulp horror carcasses that more finicky anthologists have left alone. Put another way, he's a latter-day Kurt Singer. As with the other volumes, this one includes a number of stories that apparently have never been reprinted since initial publication . . . And, as with the other volumes, this one is entertaining reading even if it doesn't include any lost masterpieces. As long as Armchair Fiction keeps publishing volumes in the series, I'll probably keep buying them. Sure enough, Luce has produced yet another volume. Elizabeth R. Lewis - Know Thy Neighbor
Gregory Luce - The Big Bang
Stanton A. Coblentz - The Ubiquitous Professor Karr
Dorothy Quick - The Artist and the Door
Robert F. Young - A Drink of Darkness
Mary Elizabeth Counselman - Rapport
Florence Engel Randall - One Long Ribbon
Fritz Leiber - In the X-Ray
Dave Mayo - On the Mountain
Don Wilcox - Mirrors of Madness
David Wright O'Brien - The Tenant on the 13th Floor
E. Hoffman Price - The Shadow of Saturn
David Wright O'Brien - That Dreadful NightApart from Leiber's "In the X-Ray," I hadn't previously encountered any of these stories. Many of them are really more Unknown-style fantasy than horror, but Quick's "The Artist and the Door" and Counselman's "Rapport" are two notable exceptions. |
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Post by cauldronbrewer on May 28, 2019 12:50:54 GMT
Gregory Luce's Horror Gems anthology series has now reached sixteen volumes. I just read Volume 13, which features a few standards, including HPL's "The Colour Out of Space" and Clark Ashton Smith's "The Return of the Sorcerer," along with the usual obscurities from the pulps. The ones drawn from Weird Tales include "Hoodooed," a Seabury Quinn tale I'd never run across before (probably because its romanticized take on the Confederacy has aged poorly), and Allison V. Harding's "The Damp Man." In rereading the latter, I was surprised at how well it holds up. Its sequel, "The Damp Man Returns," appears in Volume 14, so I'm curious to read that now.
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