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Post by Craig Herbertson on Dec 11, 2011 18:38:09 GMT
Oswell Blakeston (1907-1985) is the only author to have stories included in the Not At Night, Creeps and Thrills series', delightfully weird ones at that. Blakeston was an artist, poet, film critic (he edited the magazine Close-Up for some years) and author of - among other titles - Priests, Peters & Pussens (Fortune, 1947), "a classic volume of creepy stories" according to Hugh Lamb who recycled three of the nastier ones over his anthologies. There would have been a fourth, as, at Hugh's instigation, Oswell was revising his Creeps classic The Hut at the time of his death. Oswell Blakeston, writing in collaboration with Roger Burford, was also the mysterious 'Simon'. Now, Oswell's work most certainly does not fall within the seventy years rule, so this brief (three page), nightmarish gem is offered as a tribute to a relatively neglected master of the macabre in the hope those who have not yet had the pleasure go seek out more of his work. What an absolutely brilliant piece. Hooked me from line one. great writer.
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Post by dem bones on Dec 12, 2011 9:09:01 GMT
What an absolutely brilliant piece. Hooked me from line one. great writer. He was some talent, eh? really should have given Oswell his own thread long ago so will try come up with something this side of coherent shortly. The BIG PLAN is to introduce examples of contemporary macabre and/ or supernatural fiction from Vault contributors & friends later in the week, but to do that we will need some! Sincere thanks to those who have already forwarded stories for consideration, but alas, their selfless intervention alone will not be enough to spare the rest of you a week of aggressive begging! Meanwhile, we've reached halfway now, so a swift recap. Anthony M. Rud - A Square Of CanvasMichael Annesley - RatsVera A. Gadd - The RoadPhilip Murray - Hangman's CottageGeorge Benwood - The Interrupted Honeymoon'Sapper' - Touch And GoHester Holland Gaskell - High TideRichard Middleton - The Wrong TurningA. L. Davis - The SkullGuy Preston - A Lover Came To SunnameesOswell Blakeston - The House OppositeMasterpiece Of Thrills lacks author biographies, so can tell you nothing about Kenneth Myer except this was his solitary contribution to the series. Having said that, pseudonymous entries were rife and he could have been Arthur Machen for all I know, though very much doubt it, and so will you if you read his ghastly tale of a notorious Victorian sadist, back from the grave and up for trouble. Attachments:
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Post by mattofthespurs on Dec 12, 2011 19:13:26 GMT
And how would one offer up a story for the advent calender?
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Post by dem bones on Dec 13, 2011 8:22:28 GMT
Hi Matt The best way is to email the story to whitechapelgothic ATgmail.com * as a WORD, RTF or PDF document. if you title your email 'vault advent calendar' or something similar, that would be a help. Also, if there's a particular illustration you'd like to run alongside it, please enclose that, too! * substitute AT with @ The above is also for the benefit of any other interested parties! Now, all i can tell you about Zita Inez Ponder is that, apart from this, her solitary contribution to the Not At Night series, she was responsible for a mystery novel, The Bandaged Face, (Macauley, 1929). i'm no writer/ editor/ proof-reader/ typist/ tea-boy, but even i can see His Wife is as over-long as it is overwrought but goodness, what a wonderful London horror story! Attachments:
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Post by mattofthespurs on Dec 13, 2011 10:52:58 GMT
Thanks Dem, email on it's way.
Feel free to dismiss the story if it's not the sort of thing you are looking for.
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Post by dem bones on Dec 14, 2011 13:57:47 GMT
much obliged to you, matt! Another day, another minor masterpiece from the gift that never stops giving, Christine Campbell Thomson's extraordinary Not At Night series! Warden Ledge. No idea. He came, he penned perhaps the classic were-stoats on the rampage nasty for 1933's Keep on the Light, he didn't outstay his welcome. It was only after typing Legion Of Evil that i realised Hugh Lamb had already resurrected it in Return From The Grave but even so, that was thirty-five years ago - it's likely to be new to at least one or two of our readers. But no matter: i've asked another of my multiple personalities to pop along shortly, sort you out a little bonus something while i get on with me grouting .... Attachments:
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Post by Dr Strange on Dec 14, 2011 16:19:10 GMT
Being attacked by a frenzied stoat pack is a recurring bit of country folklore - www.forteantimes.com/features/articles/88/stoat_packs.htmlBut that article only traces the story back to "J Wentworth Day" in the 1930s, which is also when the "Warden Ledge" story was published. And James Wentworth Day also reckoned himself as a ghost-hunter... in fact he's also cited on wikipedia as the source of the "Glamis Castle Monster" story - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_of_GlamisAnd if you Google "Warden Ledge" all you get is stuff about a reef in the Solent, which makes it look like it's probably a pseudonym. What you reckon to "Warden Ledge" being James Wentworth Day? Unfortunately, he seems to have been a bit of an arse though - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Wentworth_Day(Boring day at the office.)
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Post by dem bones on Dec 14, 2011 19:26:09 GMT
By the cursa slimy death, but you've got me racking my 'brains', now Dr. S. In a hideous life, i used to have an interest in these things and, while Wentworth-Day likely popularised the Monster of Glamis legend, i am almost certain that August Hare - the incorrigible old mischief maker who performed a little cosmetic surgery on Rhymer's Varney ... to give the world the 'factual' Croglin Grange Vampire - was not without involvement somewhere along the line. But can i remember where i read what i did made me draw this possible conclusion? Another of Hare's enduring fabrications is 'The Dufferin Curse' which indirectly provided the inspiration for E. F. Benson's The Bus Conductor. I wrote a monumentally tedious article about it once, went on for ever!
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Post by dem bones on Dec 15, 2011 8:16:21 GMT
A pretty picture to start the day! Chrissie Demant: Seacreeps It's a bit naughty of me to revive a story by Frederick Cowles as his work still falls eight years shy of the seventy years rule, so, as was the case with Oswell Blakeston's story, The Thing From The Sea is offered as a tribute to one of my literary heroes and you are encouraged to seek out all of his work with extreme prejudice! In retrospect, The Thing ... is perhaps a little too similar to Hester Holland's seaside shocker to include both, but there is one particular line in this story so gives me the creeps that i couldn't resist. And so we reach the end of the between the wars material. I hope those of you who've read these wonderful stories enjoyed the experience. A huge THANK YOU to every author who participated, albeit involuntarily, and bloody Kisses to Chrissie, the beloved bride of dem, for allowing me to reproduce loads of her artwork, even providing some strange new stuff at a moments notice. Tomorrow, all being well, it will be the turn of the contemporary authors ! Attachments:
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Post by Dr Strange on Dec 15, 2011 9:58:04 GMT
i am almost certain that August Hare... was not without involvement somewhere along the line. But can i remember where i read what i did made me draw this possible conclusion? From Jacynth Hope-Simpson’s Who Knows?, published in 1974: "Ben died childless in 1865, so his brother Claude became the thirteenth Earl of Strathmore. He was, by all accounts, a kind, conscientious man, who was married with five children. From the day of his succession, three very strange things happened. The first was a startling change in the new Earl himself, thought to date from his having been told the secret of Glamis. Apparently, not being an eldest son, he had not heard it before. He said to his wife that they had often joked about it together, but now, ‘I have been into the room, I have heard the secret, and if you wish to please me you will never mention the subject again.' A famous gossip, Augustus Hare, who visited the house, commented on how happy and lively the family were. ‘Only Lord Strathmore himself had ever a sad look.’ The second happening was that a workman ‘became alarmed’ at something he saw along a passage near the chapel. The Earl was summoned from Edinburgh by telegram, and closely questioned the workman. ‘He and his family were subsidized and induced to emigrate.’ The third occurrence was a violent outbreak of haunting… It is, perhaps, inevitable that stories like this should grow up in such a place, but now, in the 1860s, it was suddenly claimed that these phantoms had reappeared, almost as if they were trying the frighten the new owners away. The Bishop of Brechin heard of the haunting and offered to hold a service of exorcism. According to Augustus Hare, the Earl was deeply grateful, but said that ‘in his unfortunate position no-one could help him." Source: blogs.forteana.org/node/75
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Dec 15, 2011 11:01:17 GMT
A pretty picture to start the day! The bride of dem: Seacreeps It's a bit naughty of me to revive a story by Frederick Cowles as his work still falls eight years shy of the seventy years rule, so, as was the case with Oswell Blakeston's story, The Thing From The Sea is offered as a tribute to one of my literary heroes and you are encouraged to seek out all of his work with extreme prejudice! In retrospect, The Thing ... is perhaps a little too similar to Hester Holland's seaside shocker to include both, but there is one particular line in this story so gives me the creeps that i couldn't resist. And so we reach the end of the between the wars material. I hope those of you who've read these wonderful stories enjoyed the experience. A huge THANK YOU to every author who participated, albeit involuntarily, and bloody Kisses to Chrissie, the beloved bride of dem, for allowing me to reproduce loads of her artwork, even providing some strange new stuff at a moments notice. Tomorrow, all being well, it will be the turn of the contemporary authors ! Bride of Dem is a seriously talented artist.
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Post by dem bones on Dec 15, 2011 18:20:40 GMT
Hi Craig, Chrissie asked me to say 'thank you' from her for your kind comment.
thanks to you too Dr. Strange for putting me out of my misery - almost. i was pretty definite that Augustus Hare had no small part to play in shaping the legend as we know it - his talent for embroidery was truly phenomenal - but one thing's for sure, i've never set eyes on a copy of Jacynth Hope-Simpson’s Who Knows? in my life. The passage you quote is far more substantial than my initial source, so it's not unlikely that, whatever it was i read, was derived from JHS's book.
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Dec 15, 2011 18:43:12 GMT
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Post by mattofthespurs on Dec 15, 2011 18:58:34 GMT
Whilst sounding like a 'follower' I can only echo Craig's comments.
Seriously good artwork.
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Post by noose on Dec 15, 2011 20:31:48 GMT
Late to the party, but it's a stunningly lovely drawing. Well done to the Bride!!
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