Pan Horror - or is it Fontana?

[carolinec]

You seem like a highly intelligent, well informed bunch of people (or am I mixing you up with someone else? ). I wondered if you could help me identify a few stories from my youth? These will be either from the Pan Books of Horror, or it might be the Fontana ones - the early years, most likely around the late 60s/early 70s. I'm afraid my collection vanished some time ago (probably in a house move somewhere) so I don't have them any more. There are 3 stories I'm trying to identify - title, author, and which book they came from. Here are the vaguely remembered bits of the stories:

1) The first concerned a woman - I think she was a police officer - who woke up one morning and found a pink, slug-like creature on her doorstep when she went out to take the milk in. The thrust of the story was about how she went all maternal over this horrible looking creature and took it in, treating it like an abandoned baby.

2) The second was about a young child whose mother fell and hit her head in the kitchen - either knocking herself out or killing herself. The kid proceeded to "play" with various bits of her body - I particularly remember him (I think it was a he?) poking her eyes out!

3) The final one was about a man whose friend dared him to climb up the outside of one of those old gasometers and then removed the bottom bit of ladder leaving him dangling there. I particularly remember that one as I suffer from a fear of heights so it struck a chord with me!

So, if any of you can help me identify any of those I'd be grateful - they've been nagging away in my memories for ages. Boy, if I used to read stuff like that when I was a kid, no wonder I grew up strange.

[redbrain]

Well - Caroline - all three of those stories are ones I read years ago, but there's only one I can identify off the top of my head. That's the third one, about climbing up a gasometer. I think you'll find it's The Vertical Ladder by William Sansom in The Second Pan Book of Horror Stories.

[carolinec]

Thanks, Rebrain - that's great to know! I hope someone can help me with the others too ..

[dem]

Hi Caroline

The 2nd is definitely A. G. J. Rough's Playtime from Pan Horror #8. I know because I read it a few days before Christmas.

As to the 1st, I think it's Dorothy K. Haynes The Peculiar Case of Mrs. Grimmond from Fontana Horror #8

I agree with Mr. Brain. The other one sounds very like The Vertical Ladder though I'm not sure if it's a man or a boy who winds up trapped in midair?

[carolinec]

Yes, it's all coming back to me now. You're right, Demonik, those are definitely the ones.

It's probably a boy rather than a man who get's trapped half way up the gasometer - but bear in mind I was very young when I read it (it must have been a reprint - I would have been far too young to read #2 the first time it came out!), so anyone older than me would have seemed like an adult!

Thanks, folks - you're brilliant!

[Craig Herbertson]

The vertical ladder, read it a hundred times, always sends a chill through me for reasons I have never been able to identify. Its years since I last read it but I still remember the hero trying to impress the girl and then she reluctantly walks away looking back when his 'pals' take away the steps.

Craig

[redbrain]

carolinec said:

It's probably a boy rather than a man who get's trapped half way up the gasometer - but bear in mind I was very young when I read it (it must have been a reprint - I would have been far too young to read #2 the first time it came out!), so anyone older than me would have seemed like an adult!

And there may not be a huge difference between men and boys!

[dem]

carolinec said:

1) The first concerned a woman - I think she was a police officer - who woke up one morning and found a pink, slug-like creature on her doorstep when she went out to take the milk in. The thrust of the story was about how she went all maternal over this horrible looking creature and took it in, treating it like an abandoned baby.

Sorry, Caroline. If i'm not very much mistaken (again ) it isn't the Dorothy K. Haynes' story, nor is it a Fontana or Pan. It's David Campton's Alderman Stratton's Fancy from Tandem Horror #3. I just read it!

[carolinec]

admin said:

carolinec said:

1) The first concerned a woman - I think she was a police officer - who woke up one morning and found a pink, slug-like creature on her doorstep when she went out to take the milk in. The thrust of the story was about how she went all maternal over this horrible looking creature and took it in, treating it like an abandoned baby.

Sorry, Caroline. If i'm not very much mistaken (again ) it isn't the Dorothy K. Haynes' story, nor is it a Fontana or Pan. It's David Campton's Alderman Stratton's Fancy from Tandem Horror #3. I just read it!

It's funny you should say that. As soon as I saw the cover of Tandem 3 which you'd put on the forum I knew I'd seen it before. I must have had that one too. I'm going to have to have another rummage around in the attic some time. I mean, I never throw books out, so they must be around here somewhere.
Thanks!