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Post by Craig Herbertson on Dec 24, 2013 8:29:12 GMT
Overcrowded Train short, 'sweet', great idea. Charles you really should write a lot more
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Post by David A. Riley on Dec 24, 2013 8:54:14 GMT
What a great ending to the advent calendar, two fabulous stories (Charles Black and Paul Finch). All these tales have got me completely in the Christmas spirit!
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Post by paulfinch on Dec 24, 2013 11:52:15 GMT
Nice to see VOE has kept up the wickedest Christmas tradition of them all. Another excellent festive calendar.
Happy Christmas to all, and a great New Year.
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Post by dem bones on Dec 24, 2013 18:19:23 GMT
Vault Advent Calendar 2014..... ..... was brought to you by; 1. Charles Lloyd Birkin The Cockroach2. Robert Leslie Bellem - I Am A Monster3. William Fairlee Clarke - The Poor Nun Of Burtisford4. Allison V. Harding - The Underbody5. Lyle Wilson Holden - The Devil Plant6. 'Flavia Richardson' - Behind The Blinds7. David H. Keller - Tiger Cat8. T. F. Powys - The Hunted Beast9. David A. Sutton - The Fetch10. Ramsey Campbell - The Childish Fear11. Michel Parry - The Last Bus12. Franklin Marsh - The Late Bus13. Thana Niveau - And May All Your Christmases . . . 14. Craig Herbertson - Any Old Iron15. Gary Power - The Road To Hell16. Anna Taborska - Fish17. David A. Riley - Soft Little Fingers18. John Llewellyn Probert - Keeping It In The Family19. Matt Crossman - One Night In A Bavarian Forest20. 'Roland Caine' - Red Christmas21. Johnny Mains - The Were-Dwarf22. Craig Herbertson - Two Weeks23. Charles Black - The Overcrowded Train24. Paul Finch - A Christmas Yet To ComeA big special THANK YOU to each and every one of our contributors. Additional big special THANK YOU's to Ro & Darroll Pardoe, Simon Marshall-Jones, Richard Ab-Staines (see Vault Stocking Thriller), Linda Lovecraft, and, most of all, Chrissie. As it turned out, this years stellar line up was very Black Book of Horror, with more than a touch of the Terror Tales series thrown in. Unlike those series' however, the male-female ratio is still woefully disproportionate (reflecting our "membership"), but if soppy girls are too busy swooning over boy bands and the X factor to send in a story, there's not a lot I can do about it short of posting a trillion of photo's of me looking lovely as usual, except that would give us an unfair advantage. Depending on what shape we're in the Calendar may return circa 27th-28th to see the month out.
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Post by mattofthespurs on Dec 26, 2013 10:31:04 GMT
Top notch. It really was. I've had the flu for the last few days so I have two or three of the final stories to catch up on, but I have thoroughly enjoyed this year's calender. Thanks to everyone that took part!
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Dec 26, 2013 18:26:18 GMT
"The Underbody" is certainly weird and disturbing. What else should I read by Harding, Harding experts? I read "The Damp Man," but while it was mildly odd, it did not entirely satisfy. It was like a "weird menace" story without much "menace."
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Dec 28, 2013 14:41:10 GMT
"The Underbody" is certainly weird and disturbing. What else should I read by Harding, Harding experts? I read "The Damp Man," but while it was mildly odd, it did not entirely satisfy. It was like a "weird menace" story without much "menace." No expert here, but I've read four of the other five stories by Harding that, to my knowledge, have been reprinted: "Death Went That Way," "The Marmot," "The House Beyond Midnight," and "Take the Z-Train" (the last of these appears to be her most anthologized story; the fifth, unread by me, is "The Guard in the Dark"). Given that none of these particularly impressed me, I'd suggest (selfishly) that you read a story of hers that hasn't been reprinted but is available on unz.org and then report back to us. Based on titles and blurbs alone, I'd go for "Night of Impossible Shadows," "The Inn by Doomsday Falls," or "The Place with Many Windows." Sadly (or perhaps not), the site doesn't seem to have a copy of "The Murderous Steam-Shovel," allegedly a knockoff of Theodore Sturgeon's "Killdozer!" Maybe none of them are worthwhile, but I thought that "The Underbody" was worthy of revival.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Dec 28, 2013 16:44:42 GMT
I am taking you up on your challenge! See here.
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Post by dem bones on Dec 29, 2013 6:15:49 GMT
"The Underbody" is certainly weird and disturbing. What else should I read by Harding, Harding experts? I read "The Damp Man," but while it was mildly odd, it did not entirely satisfy. It was like a "weird menace" story without much "menace." No expert on A.V. Harding or anything else, but will re-read those few I have. Take The Z Train left absolutely no impression whatsoever, so its probably great. I found Guard In The Dark over long, certainly no second Underbody, but have enclosed a copy below. D. A. W.'s introduction to the Avon Fantasy Stories reprint runs as follows (The James Francis Dwyer story, incidentally, is The Cave of the Invisible, as resurrected by our friend Mr. Doig in Australian Ghost Stories). What is it about toy soldiers, about miniature figurines, which made them a feature of human civilization from time immemorial? The tombs of Egypt's Pharaohs were filled with finger-sized replicas of their soldiers, slaves, and advisers. The two-inch tall household gods which perched on the utensils and tables of Greece and Rome linger on in the marching ranks of brightly painted lead soldiers which march and charge across the floors of playrooms and nurseries the world over.
These miniatures somehow embody the attributes of life; they are endowed by their owners instinctively (for who has to teach a child to recognize dolls and toy soldiers as beings?) with the qualities of life. Allison V. Harding has woven this into a remarkable and memorable story of toy soldiers who fought a war as grim and deadly in its own miniature way as any flesh-and-blood armies engaged in.Not sure I've enough stories prepared to drag this out until New Years Eve - though we've a beauty for tomorrow - so should anyone wish to send in a bonus story, please do! Guard In The Dark.pdf (204.02 KB)
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Dec 29, 2013 11:46:17 GMT
Ok, excellent! Meanwhile, forgive me if I hijack the thread for my own purposes, but here you will find a special Christmas/New Year's treat from Jojo Lapin X himself. It is based on Jim Rockhill's inspired scrambling of the title of one of E F Benson's most famous stories. It is not even remotely in the Charles Birkin tradition.
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Post by dem bones on Dec 29, 2013 14:04:45 GMT
Meanwhile, forgive me if I hijack the thread for my own purposes, but here you will find a special Christmas/New Year's treat from Jojo Lapin X himself. It is based on Jim Rockhill's inspired scrambling of the title of one of E F Benson's most famous stories. It is not even remotely in the Charles Birkin tradition. Hey mr. JoJo, If we're still around this time next year, I hope you'll consider sending us something for the calendar, because I'd certainly have run The Room In The Chair. Thank you for the semi-scoop!
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Dec 29, 2013 14:48:34 GMT
Hey mr. JoJo, If we're still around this time next year, I hope you'll consider sending us something for the calendar, because I'd certainly have run The Room In The Chair. Thank you for the semi-scoop! Thanks. I must confess I started thinking about writing and submitting something for this noble project already several years ago. But somehow the holidays are always upon us so suddenly, before I have time to do anything about it.
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Post by dem bones on Dec 30, 2013 6:51:11 GMT
Thanks. I must confess I started thinking about writing and submitting something for this noble project already several years ago. But somehow the holidays are always upon us so suddenly, before I have time to do anything about it. So true. It really didn't seem as though a year could have passed since working (sort of) on the fourth one. This time I was very tempted to scrounge the stories early, plot the thing a month in advance, but that would be to sacrifice the harum scarum nature of the enterprise. Anyway. Today's bonus is a very special recent story by David A. Riley. Forty-four years after Herbert Van Thal included The Lurkes In The Abyss in the 11th Pan Book of Horror Stories, a sequel, featuring the surviving cast of the original, Dag and his gang still glorying in their acne and filthy street thug rags, and the lurkers impatiently awaiting their next meal ....
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Post by David A. Riley on Dec 30, 2013 9:06:25 GMT
Thanks. I must confess I started thinking about writing and submitting something for this noble project already several years ago. But somehow the holidays are always upon us so suddenly, before I have time to do anything about it. So true. It really didn't seem as though a year could have passed since working (sort of) on the fourth one. This time I was very tempted to scrounge the stories early, plot the thing a month in advance, but that would be to sacrifice the harum scarum nature of the enterprise. Anyway. Today's bonus is a very special recent story by David A. Riley. Forty-four years after Herbert Van Thal included The Lurkes At The Threshold in the 11th Pan Book of Horror Stories, a sequel, featuring the surviving cast of the original, Dag and his gang still glorying in their acne and filthy street thug rags, and the lurkers impatiently awaiting their next meal .... Many thanks for those very kind words, dem. Just one slight correction. I think you meant The Lurkers in the Abyss. Lurker at the Threshold is the title of the August Derleth, H. P. Lovecraft "posthumous" collaboration. Cheers David
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Post by dem bones on Dec 30, 2013 12:27:56 GMT
Many thanks for those very kind words, dem. Just one slight correction. I think you meant The Lurkers in the Abyss. Lurker at the Threshold is the title of the August Derleth, H. P. Lovecraft "posthumous" collaboration. Cheers David Temperance, I curse thee! Have amended it now. Thank you so much for your contributions to the calendar, David, and my best for another hugely productive year. You're on a roll!
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