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Post by dem on May 1, 2022 13:48:11 GMT
Terrifying Transformations, cont.
Catherine Crowe - The Story of a Wehr-Wolf: (Hogg’s Weekly Instructor, 16 May, 1846). A Gothic romance, published two years before her enduring study of the supernatural, The Night Side of Nature. Cabanis, a small village in the mountains of Auvergne, 1536. Françoise Thilouze, the alchemist's daughter, is falsely accused of witchcraft and lycanthrope by her cousin and rival for the affections of Count Victor de Vardes. Strong, if totally misleading circumstantial evidence, apparently confirms her guilt. Only when Françoise and her father are condemned to burn in the market square does Manon repent her treachery, by which time it is too late to save them, unless .... Manon sets out into the forest to slay the real culprit, a man-killing white wolf minus one paw. If she can but present its corpse to the authorities, they must surely halt the witch-burning.
Eric Stenbock - The Other Side: A Breton Legend: (The Spirit Lamp, 6 June 1893). Bullied by his schoolfellows on account of a gentle nature, still Gabriel is the only person in the village dares cross the enchanted brook to pluck a blue flower from the forest on the "other side." Wandering through fields, he encounters a pack of were-hybrids, including a ram with a hideous human face and Lilith, the golden haired wolf-woman. Returning home, the boy catches his reflection in the water. The pious intervention of his parish priest returns the boy to human form, but Father Felicien is not yet done with Lilith and friends.
Most enjoyable so far, although it could be argued the Dudley Costello comedy is included under false pretences.
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Post by helrunar on May 1, 2022 17:49:44 GMT
Count Stenbock's The Other Side really is quite good.
Some of those tales described sound as if the editor was scraping rather beyond the bottom of the barrel.
H.
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Post by dem on May 30, 2022 18:12:52 GMT
Frederick Marryat - The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains: (The Phantom Ship, 1839). On surprising his wife in bed with a Hungarian noble, Krantz kills both and flees Transylvania with his three infant children — Caesar, Hermann (our narrator) and Marcella — to lie low in the Hartz Mountains. His bride's infidelity has soured Krantz toward all womankind, little Marcella bearing the brunt of his hatred.
Krantz is hunting a huge white wolf recently taken to howling beneath his window when he meets a stranger struggling through the snow. The man gives his name as Wilfred of Barnsdorf — who'd have believed it, a previously unknown cousin! When Barnsdorf introduces daughter Christina, a beauty in white furs, Krantz's misogyny is a thing of the past. They marry, with the groom swearing a terrible oath dictated by his soon-to-be father-in-law.
Initially, Christina is all sweetness and light toward the children, but no sooner is Krantz's back turned than she turns violently against them. She also takes to sneaking out into the forest at night, which is surely too reckless - after all, Krantz has still to hunt down the dreadful white wolf! Worse is to follow when Caesar, tracking his stepmother on one of her midnight excursions, is torn to bits. Worse — no sooner has Krantz buried what's left of his son than the wolf despoils the grave to get at the bones. Only after Marcella meets a similar fate does it dawn on the fugitive that maybe this "cousin" and his daughter may not be all they seem ...
Been so long since I'd read this Gothic horror masterpiece, the ending came as a shock all over again.
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Post by dem on Apr 17, 2024 11:00:18 GMT
 Bob Baum: ( See for Men, Nov. 1961: Robert Deis & Wyatt Doyle [eds] - Atomic Werewolves and Man-Eating Plants, 2023). It was like no other animal that stalked the range — an unkillable monster big as a steer. But what made the stranger so sure it was a werewolf? Gene Preen - Killer of the Cave: ( Adventure, April 1966: Robert Deis & Wyatt Doyle [eds] - Atomic Werewolves and Man-Eating Plants, 2023). It turned a man into a killer-beast and Newman tracked it down until he stood face-to-face with it ... then he had no choice but to die |
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Post by dem on Aug 9, 2024 12:01:21 GMT
 Andrew Smith White Wolf Calling, Tales from the Nightside, 1981) : ( The Temple Servant[/i], 1930). A newly-wed cursed by a pilgrim is transformed into a livestock mauling, infant eating were-hyena. Norvell W. Page - Accursed Thirst: ( Terror Tales, Sept. 1935). He was such a creature as even the bravest fled from in frenzied fear!Charles L. Grant - White Wolf Calling: ( MF&SF, Apr. 1975: Tales From The Nightside, 1981. Kind-hearted old timer Mars Tanner finally gets to meet the father of his new best pal and surrogate grandson. Gemma Files - In the Poor Girl Taken by Surprise: ( The Worm in Every Heart, 2003: Mammoth Book of Monsters, 2007). Little Red Riding hood's Grandma proposes a deal with the murder-pub regulars who raped and butchered her daughters. Ask the Vet London Evening Telegraph, 1 October 1968. |
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Post by dem on Sept 18, 2024 8:42:18 GMT
 I. Harry: ( Bull's Eye Detective, Fall 1938) He who wore the gleaming girdle was doomed — helpless slave of a soul-less ghoul. Furious at losing her to wholesome Hugo, Ivan Sandoff gifts Miss Rose-Marie Devereaux a girdle, "sparked and glittered as if set with cut steel" as an early wedding gift. Rose-Marie, reassured that he bears no grudge, promises to wear it night and day. Soon two werewolves haunt Skidderville farm, tearing apart sheep and the occasion husband-to-be. Dr. George Mersey, who suspects the horrible truth, relieves Rose-Marie of the harness, but his wife remains sceptical - a belt that transforms country folk into wolves indeed! "If I cannot see you do it with my own eyes, I don't see why you should expect me to believe it." Mersey rashly ties on the belt. Tempted to add this to our alt-Not at Night selection, but it is perhaps a little too similar to Joseph McCord's The Girdle. # fashionvictims |
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