|
|
Post by dem on Jul 9, 2013 10:15:57 GMT
"... the end point is the confirmation of your ability to turn your sleeping mind into a playground - a playground where any game played has no outer consequence. these are private games of relief, purely for your own delectation."
After yesterdays classic - M. R. James meets E. A. Poe thoroughly inadequate but best i'm capable of - a change of style with the lengthy and no less effective Case Two, again narrated by the SPR's Mr. U Reeder.
The tragic downfall of a decent man, Police Inspector Harold Baird, awaiting the gallows in Armley Jail for a murder he doesn't deny. But, as he explains to his solitary visitor, fellow officer Christopher Metcalfe, there were very mitigating circumstances ....
June 1907, and Baird of the Bradford constabulary is brought to the moorland village of Ben Rhydding to investigate the murder of fourteen-year-old Maria Bowen, her cruelly mutilated remains splayed across local landmark, 'The Swastika Stone' by killer unknown. The local force hunt a wild animal, but this theory is scotched when a second mangled corpse, that of bride-to-be Alice Manassero, is found in a stone circle known - and shunned - locally as the Twelve Apostles. There is no question that Alice had been most brutally raped.
Baird consults local academic Prof. Vincent over the origins of the Swastika stone. The Professor, hardly a man given to fancy, has a fear of the Twelve Apostles, its sacrificial altar in particular as he feels it portends "an evil waiting to happen." During the course of the interview, Baird is introduced to the Prof's stand-in housekeeper, Mabel Ellis, and very fetching she is, too, but, self-conscious around women, Baird resists his inclination to ask the pretty seventeen year old on a date.
Intuition leads Baird to the Hydropathic Institute where the surly attitudes of manager and staff - Mr. Frederick Gurdeyman ominously lets slip that he is a personal friend of the Mayor and Chief Commissioner - convince him that he's on to something. Only the most recent recruit, Dr. Deitch, a personable old duffer who runs the sleep clinic, is the least cooperative - a double stroke of luck, as he's the closest thing Baird has to a suspect. Baird, being something of a master of disguise, enrolls at the the clinic incognito. He's too late to save young John Jackson, pursued to his doom by 'The Terror of Cuckoo Woods' who carves a striking, sickle-shaped scar into his flesh, but the overnight sessions are far from a waste of time as lovely Mabel makes a special guest star appearance in his hypnotically induced dream. She is under his custody. In a lonely Police cell. Completely at the mercy of his cuffs, rope and truncheon ....
Sir Ernest Bennett's celebrated survey was never like this.
We are almost done with The Haunted Book. Just one final extract and then .... something i'm not even going to hint at, but may well make for future debating point.
|
|
|
|
Post by dem on Jul 10, 2013 10:47:16 GMT
And now we arrive at Reverend A. Tennethorer's Glimpses In The Twilight (William Blackwood & Sons, 1935), specifically Chapter V: Witchcraft And Necromancy, concerning a strange episode in the history of Ilkley, North Yorkshire, circa 1700.
When her grandmother falls ill, Ann Tennant, nine, is left to forage for both with no assistance from the villagers. Ann's mother - who died in childbirth - was despised as a witch, and the locals view the little girl with suspicion bordering on outright hostility. Until recently, Ann would visits the church to consult the Bible, but the Parson, mindful of public opinion, has since banned her. Ann's one friend is William Cowley, a shy and solitary widower, who tends the Roman well on Squire Middleton's land. Ann uses her healing powers to straighten William's crooked spine and the pair become great friends. All sweet, feelgood stuff. It doesn't last.
The catalyst is a kid with measles. The local doctor is at a loss, and Ann is prevailed upon by the boy's mother to help. The girl knows just what to do, promises the woman she'll have him cured by tonight, sets off to collect herbs and Holy water. The Parson apprehends her, locks her in the crypt for two nights with a crucifix and bowl of saltwater to "purge you of the Devil and his works." The child dies.
Egged on by the Parson - he really is a credit to the cloth - the grieving mother places the blame squarely on Ann, who flees to Cowley's cottage at White Well. An angry mob set off in pursuit ...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Am not even going to touch on the lead out unless somebody raises it at a later date. Have no idea if The Haunted Book will work its magic on everyone (anyone?), but if I have a more enjoyable reading experience in 2013 it will have been a bloody good year. But then, you see, ..... I'm still infected.
|
|
|
|
Post by Dr Strange on Jul 10, 2013 10:57:14 GMT
My copy arrived yesterday, and I am about halfway through and enjoying it a lot. I'm also avoiding reading Dem's synopses so that it all is fresh to me, but my favourite part so far is the story about the band in the old recording studio ('A Wire With Gain'), which was both creepy and moving. I think some people might find it all a bit "tame", but I think that maybe misses the point that it's deliberately modelled on the "true stories" genre and so there has to be a high degree of subtlety and ambiguity about the events described. Anyhow, I'm enjoying it a lot.
|
|
|
|
Post by dem on Jul 10, 2013 17:42:17 GMT
I so hope you continue to enjoy it, Dr S! And don't forget to visit the web page when you're done (the link is at foot of initial post on this thread). Agreed, A Wire With Gain is exceptionally sad, and an early highlight. Wonder if Stephen Jones will pick any of them up for the next-but-one Years Best Horror?
|
|
|
|
Post by Dr Strange on Jul 11, 2013 12:54:50 GMT
I've now read as far as the Library story - very impressed. The whole book has the feel of one of those old Amicus portmanteau films and is certainly one of my highlights of the year so far.
|
|
|
|
Post by Shrink Proof on Jul 11, 2013 18:38:38 GMT
This one has been in my "to be read" pile for some while. Reading this thread it's being steadily promoted up the list, leap-frogging several others that were originally earmarked for prior consumption...
|
|
|
|
Post by Dr Strange on Jul 14, 2013 11:49:46 GMT
Am not even going to touch on the lead out unless somebody raises it at a later date. Well the lead out (the black pages) didn't really work for me. But I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the book. |
|
|
|
Post by dem on Jul 14, 2013 12:31:49 GMT
Am not even going to touch on the lead out unless somebody raises it at a later date. Well the lead out (the black pages) didn't really work for me. But I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the book. I thought it was the only time he put a foot wrong in the whole book. Not sure what I was expecting, but something .... bleak. Otherwise, a modern genre classic in this reader's opinion. |
|
|
|
Post by Dr Strange on Jul 15, 2013 12:52:23 GMT
Well the lead out (the black pages) didn't really work for me. But I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the book. I thought it was the only time he put a foot wrong in the whole book. Not sure what I was expecting, but something .... bleak. Otherwise, a modern genre classic in this reader's opinion. It's a reference to e-books, innit? Maybe he just felt he had to do something with those in mind (and maybe it would have worked if I'd been reading an e-book). Maybe. |
|
|
|
Post by cauldronbrewer on Jul 16, 2013 18:13:53 GMT
My copy arrived yesterday. For now, I'm studiously avoiding reading too much of this thread.
|
|
|
|
Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Feb 11, 2014 14:09:01 GMT
Well the lead out (the black pages) didn't really work for me. But I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the book. I thought it was the only time he put a foot wrong in the whole book. Not sure what I was expecting, but something .... bleak. Otherwise, a modern genre classic in this reader's opinion. Been a while since I read the book - and I'm tempted to read it again sometime soon - but I find myself agreeing with both of you on the book's conclusion. Perhaps it will work better on a second reading, but it definitely jarred a bit first time round, interesting a concept though it was. |
|
|
|
Post by dem on Feb 22, 2017 6:47:59 GMT
Anyway, should mention Jeremy Dyson's antho, "Never Trust A Rabbit", which has touches of Aickman and Lovecraft about it and is well worth a read. (Duck Editions, 2000)  James Pyman
A slate roof in the rain
At last
Love in the time of Molyneux
City deep
A last look at the sea
A visit from Val Koran
The cash-point oracle
£250,000 electrical clearance
The maze
The engine of desire
All in the telling
AcknowledgementsBlurb: Never trust a rabbit. They may look like a children's toy, but they eat your crops" Hungarian proverb.
Jeremy Dyson's powerful collection of twelve tall tales are linked by the writer's deliciously surreal slant on everyday occurrences, sensibilities and desires. Part contemporary fables, part morality tales, these stunning stories are remarkable for their range and the lasting sting they evoke in both head and tail.
Set throughout the world, from Leeds to Eastern Europe and the Orient, we meet a flatmate who is born to save all mankind, and an 18th century automaton so beautiful men have killed in order to possess her. We are taken for a ride on London Underground's lost line which has a dark secret all of its own, and to a seemingly harmless auction of electrical goods with a devastating, hidden cost.
The metaphysical meets the mundane in a Cornish resort where the tide goes out never to return, revealing something truly extraordinary on the seabed, and in an art class where an unpromising student produces an astonishing painting, which years later proves to have a dreadful significance for his bullying teacher. Another recent charity book find, signed and dedicated, "To Linda, maybe you can read it aloud to Rhona. Love Jery X." So adored The Haunted Book I'm almost frightened to get started for fear it may disappoint. Should anyone feel inclined to give us the guided tour, please do! |
|
|
|
Post by ripper on Mar 23, 2017 10:15:32 GMT
I liked how Dyson mixed fact and fiction, real books and imaginary books, into a very satisfying reading experience. My highlight would have to be the tale of the sleep clinic and the horror that the minds of the patients unwittingly unleashes. The story of the people searching for an abandoned fairground reminded me of an account in Rickard's and Michell's "Phenomena" in which a family spent years searching for a lake they stumbled upon in a forest. In the middle of the lake was an island, and on it was a stone with a sword driven into it. The family thought it was some kind of monument to King Arthur. Actually, when I began reading Dyson's tale, I thought it was just going to be a re-telling of the Phenomena account. A very enjoyable book that I didn't want to end.
|
|
|
|
Post by Shrink Proof on Mar 25, 2021 16:41:10 GMT
Well, several years later than originally planned, I read it. It got side-lined for a bit and was then put in a box along with many others, where it remained for a few years. Two house moves, almost a year apart, followed by prolonged storage while bookshelves were gradually constructed one by one in the new house has meant that at varying intervals a box of books has been opened and the contents released, blinking, into the daylight. In simple terms, every so often I've rediscovered something I'd forgotten I owned, this book being one such...
A terrific piece of writing. Dem's reviews, earlier in this thread, are spot on. Not so sure about the playout, though to be fair I spent much of the book wondering how the hell Dyson was going to wrap it all up and end it. That said, the individual tales in the portmanteau are all marvellous creepy scenarios, sharpened for me as I have personal experience of several of the places/settings. But even without that, this is definitely worth reading if you haven't already.
|
|
