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Post by andydecker on Jun 14, 2012 13:28:36 GMT
Mrs Midnight and Other Stories – The Tartarus Press 2011
Bought as a Kindle
Mrs Midnight
Countess Otho
Meeting with Mike
The Dancer in the Dark
Mr Pigsny
The Brighton Redemption
You Have Nothing to Fear
The Philosophy of the Damned
The Mortlake Manuscript
The Look
The Giacometti Crucifixion
A Piece of Elsewhere
Minos or Rhadamanthus
It is hard not sounding like a fanboy when saying something about Mr. Oliver´s work. I love it. Even if I don´t like the plot of some of tales or think sometimes the endings a bit weak, these stories are so well written. Even the limited scope of the settings don´t bother me, which is saying a lot.
Mrs. Midnight
Dumb Reality tv meets gruesome Victorian entertainment when the narrator, the presenter of a casting show, is roped into a project to save the rotting Old Essex Music Hall in Whitechapel of all places. Here the team discovers the remains of an Victorian show act called Mrs. Midnight and her Animal Comedians. But Mrs. Midnight was in reality self-styled medical practitioner Mr. Graham who advocated a new remedy which involved feeding patients the organs of still living animals. Also Graham was connected to the Ripper investigation. Things don´t end well.
This would made a nice little horror movie.
Countess Otho
The musical Rue Morgue is a hit. Our hero this time is the understudy of the star. He gets some papers from the estate of a distant relative, also an actress, and there is this terrible play called Countess Otho. But suddenly he has this mysterious benefactor, and faster than you can say King in Yellow his career gets a boost through violence, while he becomes entangled by family secrets, old murders and madness.
This isn´t exactly a new idea, and some of the elements could mesh a bit better. But it is nicely told.
Meeting with Mike
The narrator is a writer and historian who gets commissioned to write the autobiography of King Kyril of Slavonia who is now living in Geneva. Unfortunately King Kyril is in the clutches of a sect, and you just don´t want to meet their founder Mike.
This is a conspiracy tale with some pulpish supernatural thrown in, and frankly it didn´t work for me. Some elements were memorable though, especially the character bits.
The Dancer in the Dark
Our actor-hero isn´t exactly thrilled to be a last minute replacement in the newest play by old writer Roger Carlton who has seen better days. But it is an opportunity to work with screen legend Billie Beverly who did those dancing movies in the 40s. Things are tense, the atmosphere is bad, and soon our hero is deeply involved in intrigues and some old hates.
The revenge from the grave motif works well in this, the best bit is again the authenticity of the theater crowd.
Mr. Pigsny
Mobster Reg is dead, but he sure had some gruesome associates as Professor Housman of Cambridge has to discover.
The Sopranos it ain´t – or shall I say The Krey´s ;D – and I am not sure I understood the ending, but it is a weird and original story. Something different.
The Brighton Redemption
The Reverend Cyprian Bourne-Webb is working in Brighton in 1885. He is working for Reverend Arthur Devereux, whose pet project is arranging the release of Miss Alice Southern from jail. Who has been convicted for killing some twins.
Well done period piece with some effective scenes. I am not so sure about the plot, especially the ending. The whole thing is a bit too ambiguous for my taste.
You have nothing to Fear
The 70s. The narrator is working in advertising when not working on his paintings. He is a school friend of Lord Purefoy who made himself a name as a photographer. On a shoot at family property Stanhill Manor the Lord meets beautiful model Gloria Munday. First she becomes the object of his desire, later his object of art in his artistic endeavor Lord Art which revolves about Gloria. She alone on posters, art objects, paintings, photos – you name it. They try do do a Warhol Factory thing. But then things go wrong.
Up to a point a very well told story. Very suspenseful, wonderful period atmosphere – I guess the 70s already count as a period piece -, there is a lot of playing with reader´s exceptions. But the last third is oddly vague, as if the writer didn´t have a strong idea how to end this. Maybe I didn´t understand the finer points, but frankly I thought the actual ending unconvincing.
To be continued …
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Post by Shrink Proof on Jun 14, 2012 14:44:53 GMT
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Post by dem on Jul 2, 2012 19:14:22 GMT
From Ray Russell at Tartarus Press: The next Tartarus Press book will be a paperback edition of Reggie Oliver's first short story collection, The Dreams of Cardinal Vittorini. The first 200 copies will be signed and numbered by the author (copies will be allocated on a first come, first served basis). It will also be available as an ebook.
The volume contains: “Author’s Note”, “Beside the Shrill Sea”, “Feng Shui”, “In Arcadia”, “Evil Eye”, “Miss Marchant’s Cause”, “Tiger in the Snow”, “Garden Gods”, “The Black Cathedral” ,”The Boy in Green Velvet”, “The Golden Basilica”, “Death Mask”, “The Seventeenth Sister”, “The Copper Wig”, “The Dreams of Cardinal Vittorini”. Each story has an illustration by the author.
The Dreams of Cardinal Vittorini and Other Strange Stories is a paperback of 333 pages, printed lithographically.
Publication 9th July 2012.
Paperback: £14.95
Ebook: £3.50 |
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Post by justincase on Jul 3, 2012 17:08:28 GMT
From Ray Russell at Tartarus Press: The next Tartarus Press book will be a paperback edition of Reggie Oliver's first short story collection, The Dreams of Cardinal Vittorini. The first 200 copies will be signed and numbered by the author (copies will be allocated on a first come, first served basis). It will also be available as an ebook.
The volume contains: “Author’s Note”, “Beside the Shrill Sea”, “Feng Shui”, “In Arcadia”, “Evil Eye”, “Miss Marchant’s Cause”, “Tiger in the Snow”, “Garden Gods”, “The Black Cathedral” ,”The Boy in Green Velvet”, “The Golden Basilica”, “Death Mask”, “The Seventeenth Sister”, “The Copper Wig”, “The Dreams of Cardinal Vittorini”. Each story has an illustration by the author.
The Dreams of Cardinal Vittorini and Other Strange Stories is a paperback of 333 pages, printed lithographically.
Publication 9th July 2012.
Paperback: £14.95
Ebook: £3.50This is truly great... an opportunity for many to have access to some of these stories (those that have not been reprinted elsewhere and in almost equally expensive editions ala Centipede and Egaeus Press - both upstanding presses in they're own right). I simply love Tartarus! |
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Post by andydecker on Jul 4, 2012 12:00:10 GMT
Great news!
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Post by cw67q on Jul 4, 2012 12:53:55 GMT
This is a superb collection, do not miss this if you can avoid it.
-chris
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