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Post by cauldronbrewer on Dec 25, 2012 16:51:41 GMT
Donald Dale (Mary Dale Buckner) - The Beautiful Dead (Dancing Tuatara Press, 2011) First Lady of Fear Fiction (by John Pelan)
Bride of the Red Hate (Horror Stories, June/July 1939)
Maids for the Dust Devils (Dime Mystery Magazine, July 1938)
The Beautiful Dead (Terror Tales, March/April 1937)
Art Class in Hell (Horror Stories, June/July 1937)
Bodies Born for Slaughter (Terror Tales, September 1940
The Murder Child (Dime Mystery Magazine, February 1937
Vendetta with the Dead (The Scorpion, April/May 1939
Times Dark Chapter (Dime Mystery Magazine, February 1938
Call to the Murder Girls (Dime Mystery Magazine, May 1938
I See With Dead Man’s Eyes (Dime Mystery Magazine, May 1937
Caverns of Cain (Horror Stories, April 1941)
Fear Fiction (essay, Terror Tales, March 1941)I received a copy of this today as a Christmas present from my wife. According to Pelan's introduction, Mary Dale Buckner (a.k.a. Donald Dale) wrote these stories to support herself while she was completing her Ph.D.
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Post by dem on Dec 25, 2012 18:34:01 GMT
I've read and appreciated all over Bodies Born For Slaughter, but the other Dale stories are a mystery to me. From what I remember, Bodies ... is a slightly more moderate approach to the shudder pulp than that adopted by Russell Gray and Donald Graham, but still eminently readable. A very happy Christmas to yourself and Mrs. Brewer. Let's hope we can unearth more wonderful Women Of Weird Tales in 2013! |
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Dec 25, 2012 20:59:41 GMT
I've been in a shudder pulp phase lately (thanks to the Vault Advent Calendar) so I hope to get to this one soon. Some of the titles are intriguing.
Merry Christmas to you and the Bride of Dem, as well. And the same to everyone else on the Vault.
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Dec 30, 2012 21:16:29 GMT
I enjoyed The Beautiful Dead a great deal. In the introduction, Pelan alludes to two forthcoming companion volumes; I hope they see the light of day. Dale/Buckner's essay, "Fear Fiction," is well worth a read for her unapologetic defense of the shudder pulp genre--or, as she calls it, "Gothic literature." Her literary knowledge is on display throughout the piece. It was an excellent decision on Pelan's part to include it. I've read and appreciated all over Bodies Born For Slaughter, but the other Dale stories are a mystery to me. From what I remember, Bodies ... is a slightly more moderate approach to the shudder pulp than that adopted by Russell Gray and Donald Graham, but still eminently readable. "A slightly more moderate approach" is a fair description, though "Bodies" is relatively subdued even by Dale/Buckner's standards. Some of her other stories feature a more classic shudder pulp blend of torture, sadism, implicit sex, and lurid descriptions of women's bodies. Still, nothing comes close to Gray's level (I'm not sure whether to write "heights" or "depths" here). According to Robert Kenneth Jones, Mary's specialist theme was "inescapable doom" to which i'd add a fine appreciation of arts and crafts (she had a fondness for deranged sculptors and evil artists). 'Donald Dale' was a relative latecomer to the field, but racked up over thirty Weird Menace sales from 1937, including something called The Corpse Bride (it can't be the same!) and two stories featuring the fiendish face skinner, Prince Zagoul, The Beautiful Dead and Art Class In Hell, both of which sound absolute belters from Mr. Jones' commentary, but then he had a knack for making even the most mundane weird menace sound like the second coming of Monk Lewis! Commendably, unlike many of her male counterparts, Mary didn't always opt for the soppy, supposedly "happy" ending when a perfectly grim one would suffice, and both Zagoul tales end in tears, the hero rescuing his fiance only to realise she'd be better off dead than face a life of sustained torture. The two Prince Zagoul tales are definite highlights of the collection (leaving aside some period racism). The latter, in particular, has a memorably ominous conclusion. The art theme also appears in "Bride of the Red Hate," with its sinister painting. "Caverns of Cain," in turn, draws on Beowulf for an interesting tale set in Nazi-occupied Denmark. Though some of the stories in the collection feature the typical shudder pulp "Scooby Doo" ending, others hold out the possibility of supernatural happenings and one (I won't say which) features what seemed to me to be an unambiguously supernatural phenomenon. All in all, a great Christmas present! |
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