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Post by paulfinch on Aug 23, 2014 14:56:34 GMT
Paul Finch [ed.] - Terror Tales Of Yorkshire (Gray Friar Press, Sept. 2014)  Neil WilliamsBehold ... the next volume in the Terror Tales anthology series. This is TERROR TALES OF YORKSHIRE. We very strongly hope it will be available for perusal and purchase at FantasyCon in York in September. From that point on, it will also be obtainable by all the usual online retail outlets, including Gray Friar Press, HERE. Lots more detail on my blog, HERE. In the meantime, here is the back cover blurb and the Table of contents: Yorkshire – a rolling landscape of verdant dales and quaint country towns. But where industrial fires left hideous scars, forlorn ruins echo the shrieks of forgotten wars, and depraved killers evoke nightmare tales of ogres, trolls and wild moorland boggarts...
The stalking devil of Boroughbridge
The murder machine at Halifax
The hooded horror of Pontefract
The bloody meadow at Towton
The black tunnel of Renfield
The evil trickster of Spaldington
The shadow forms at Silverwood
And many more chilling tales by Alison Littlewood, Mark Morris, Stephen Laws, Simon Clark, Mark Chadbourn, and other award-winning masters and mistresses of the macabre.
In October We Buried The Monsters by Simon Avery; The Decapitation Device; The Coat Off His Back by Keris McDonald; Haunting Memories of the Past; They Walk As Men by Mark Morris; The Yorkshire Witches; On Ilkley Moor by Alison Littlewood; The Black Monk of Pontefract; The Crawl by Stephen Laws; The Woman in the Rain; Ragged by Gary McMahon; The Hobman; A True Yorkshireman by Christopher Harman; The Town Where Darkness Was Born; All Things Considered, I’d Rather Be In Hell by Mark Chadbourn; A Feast For Crows; The Demon of Flowers by Chico Kidd; City of the Dead; The Summer of Bradbury by Stephen Bacon; Radiant Beings; Random Flight by Rosalie Parker; Death in the Harrying; The Rhubarb Festival by Simon Clark; The Alien; The Crack by Gary Fry; The Boggart of Bunting Nook; A Story From When We Had Nothing by Jason Gould.
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Post by dem bones on Aug 23, 2014 17:43:30 GMT
Another striking cover illustration by Neil Williams, and another tasty line-up. Stephen Laws' The Crawl is not without admires on Vault! Well done, Mr. F and contributors! |
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Post by dem bones on Oct 28, 2014 11:08:42 GMT
Seventh book in this excellent series. Four stories in - five if we include Stephen Laws' super The Crawl - and every one a winner. Simon Avery – In October We Buried The Monsters: There's a Rosemary's Baby meets Dorothy K. Haynes' The Changeling vibe to this downbeat tale of the little people and their devious designs on tragic couple, Emily and Jez. Until now, Jez has endured a miserable time of it due to his mad mother's insistence that he's not her real son. Now the old harridan is dead, Emily's pregnancy is surely a sign that happier times are just around the corner? And then we remember we are reading the opening story in a collection of Terror Tales From Yorkshire ....  Gerald Gaubert: (Stuart Hughes [ed], Peeping Tom #27, 1997). The callous murder of a tramp inspires four fledgling journalists to contrive a tasty shock-horror story for the nationals while shining a spotlight on the horrors of destitution. Kinsella, Braden, Carole and Doug abduct a homeless drunk and playfully bury her alive. It's just for a little while, you understand, then they'll notify the police where to find her. What could possibly go wrong, etc? Simon Clark – The Rhubarb Festival: A game of dare. Six ten-year-olds go running through the dark, creepy rhubarb shed, but only five emerge at the other end. Only Scott knows what happened to little Daniel but he's successfully blocked the memory for fifteen years. Now Danny's ghost has returned. Can Scott finally come to terms with his perceived cowardice or will guilt destroy him? Keris McDonald - The Coat Off His Back: York Museum acquire a genuine 'Innocent coat' from the golden age of highwaymen. The legend is that, no matter the crime, the wearer will not be troubled by the police. But freedom from justice comes at a price. The coat, stitched from the skin of a hanged man, "frets leprosy." Geoffrey Leighton, textiles conservator, has just lost his mother to cancer. It's no big deal, he didn't like her, so nothing to prevent him returning to work directly after the funeral. Just Geoff's luck that the coat should become his responsibility. |
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Post by dem bones on Oct 28, 2014 20:01:21 GMT
A pair of creepies .... Mark Morris – They Walk As Men: Huddersfield & Leeds in the late 'seventies. "He's weird. He's violent. He's a perve. He lives on his own." No, not Jimmy Saville but Mr. Blanchford, the mad maths teacher. Colin Freele and his lovestruck best pal Ben Preston convince themselves that the bane of their school days is the Yorkshire Ripper. Worse - Angela, the love of Ben's life, is destined to be his next victim. But then Blanchford himself disappears, and the boys discover 'a shambling something' in what appears to be a wooden mask lurking in his garden. Maybe the sadistic brute is innocent after all, but Ben still fears for Angela. Colin reckons they should follow her home after school. Why does she head into the woods? Pop culture references aplenty, the pick being a Tony Blackburn-hosted Top Of The Pops from Feb. 1978 featuring The Adverts ( No Time To Be 21) and Althea & Donna's Up Town Top Ranking; Also The Professionals, The Pink Panther Show, Swap Shop, a Liverpool F.C. sports-bag, Golden Nuggets, and Fish fingers for tea. Alison Littlewood – On Ilkley Moor: And another teenage love triangle ends in tragedy. Warren 'Inchy' Hinchliffe and Joan Chapman, the official school beauty are an item until Inchy's best pal, Andy, comes between them. Warren laughs off Andy's opportunism, but refuses to have anything more to do with "that slag" Joan, who commits suicide. A decade on, Inchy and Andy revisit the moor to pay their respects. Inchy points out the spot where Joan cut her wrist, and Andy gets to wonder if his friend ever really forgave him? The lyrics of the famous Yorkshire folk song take on a sinister quality. The 'non-fiction' content is entertaining as ever, personal favourite entries to date include The Decapitation Device - A crude, medieval version of the guillotine, exclusive to Halifax - and The Black Monk of Pontefract, an English precursor of The Amityville Horror, sadly bereft of Warren participation but with miles better 'supernatural' props. |
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Post by dem bones on Oct 29, 2014 15:14:58 GMT
A clutch of chillers ... A. F. 'Chico' Kidd – The Demon of Flowers: Flowers Abbey, on the outskirts of Leeds. A medieval church is de-consecrated, releasing a child-killing demon from it's tomb. Despite the best efforts of a very with it female vicar, the Rev. Sam Thorne, the demon resists exorcism and instead attaches itself to our narrator, transforming her into a contemporary equivalent of Typhoid Mary. Gary Fry – The Crack: Has David forgiven Stacey her infidelity with Tony, a sexually athletic out-of-work miner? She'll know for sure by the close of their weekend break on the Yorkshire Moors at Goathland - aka Heatbeat's Aidenfield. At least Tony is no longer around to complicate matters - he was beaten to death in a drunken brawl by person or persons unknown ..... Stephen Bacon – The Summer Of Bradbury: In Simon Clark's story we briefly met six daredevil ten-year-olds, and now Mr. Bacon introduces half a dozen prepubescents with a similar lust for adventure. Shortly after World War II, the derelict village of Bowerton was partially demolished and deliberately flooded to build a reservoir. Now, during the hottest summer in decades, the water levels have receded to reveal the skeletons of the few remaining buildings, among them the church, primary school, and a bit of pub. Most exciting of all, Declan and the gang discover a tunnel in the hills, home to a mute boy with an old-fashioned haircut and vintage school uniform. We, like the narrator and his fledgling girlfriend, Fiona, are rightly wary of this kid, even if he is sitting on a treasure trove of comics, annuals and action men figures .... Stephen Laws – The Crawl. (Stephen Jones [ed.] White Of The Moon, 1997). Revisited and raved over this stalker classic very recently in Best New Horror 9 so a little too soon for a rematch. Another fruitful yield for lovers of pop-culture references - M. R. James, Nora Batty, Sean Bean and Usain Bolt in Chico Kidd, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Dandelion Wine, Beano, Dandy, Victor & Co. in Stephen Bacon. |
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Post by mcannon on Oct 29, 2014 20:59:03 GMT
Thanks for the very timely reviews, Dem - my copy of the book arrived in the post yesterday, and I'm looking forward to jumping in!
I recently finished the "Wales" volume, and overall I enjoyed it greatly. My only concern was that one or two of the stories could really have been set just about anywhere, rather than in Wales, but that's a minor quibble.
I'm looking forward to the forthcoming "Scottish Highlands" collection; I wonder if any horrible fates await canvassers for the 'Yes" and "No" votes in the recent Referendum?
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Post by dem bones on Oct 30, 2014 17:20:57 GMT
I'm looking forward to the forthcoming "Scottish Highlands" collection; I wonder if any horrible fates await canvassers for the 'Yes" and "No" votes in the recent Referendum? It might be a little too soon for the pro- anti- hostility to have filtered through to horror fiction, but I'll happily settle for plenty of trad. Sassenach bashing. Have read another couple. Aspects of Rosalie Parker's Random Flight went over my head on initial reading, so will have to come back to that. Gary McMahon's Ragged - concerning a local variation on widow's weeds - is possibly the creepiest story in the book. Also, there's a lot of dialect flying around, so yes, this collection is unmistakably made-in-Yorkshire. Do you have any particular personal stand-outs from the Welsh collection? |
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Post by mcannon on Oct 30, 2014 20:28:45 GMT
Do you have any particular personal stand-outs from the Welsh collection? Just did a quick flick-through to jog my memory, and I think my particular favourites were (in no particular order): Apple of Their Eyes - Gary Fry: As a long-ago veteran of pathetic student drinking sessions, how could I resist a tale that I've come to think of as "The Cider Out of Innsmouth"? Under the Windings of the Sea - Ray Cluley: Human tragedy as horror isn't something I'm normally attracted to, but this was a particularly well-done, sensitive example. It was hard not to empathise with the main character. Matilda of the Night - Stephen Volk: A really engrossing story with a good use of Welsh folklore (I assume it's genuine, though I've no idea). I particularly liked the folklorist's growing feelings for his interviewee, as she moved from a simple subject to somebody he truly cared for. I could see this one as a good subject for a short film or TV adaptation. The Druid's Rest - Reggie Oliver: I'm still not sure if I've quite gotten this one figured out, but it was damned creepy - particularly the endless ramblings of Mr Rhys-Griffiths - and it's certainly stayed with me. Learning the Language - John Llewellyn Probert: Possibly my favourite story in the book, and certainly a high note on which to end. "Welsh Cosmic Horror", perhaps? I'll also give a special mention to "Dialled" by Bryn Fortey, for the sheer barking-mad concept of a mash-up of a Timothy Lea "Confessions" novel / film and "Zulu". Totally mental! So overall a very strong, enjoyable collection - no real duds and only one story that I'd describe as average. On the strength of it I've placed "Yorkshire" and the other "Terror Tales" collections that I haven't yet read high up on my tottering "To Read" pile. The book also made me want to see a lot more of Wales! Though I'm actually a quarter Welsh, in two trips to the UK to date I've managed to spend a grand total of 24 hours in Wales, and most of that in transit. I've now got a hankering for some of that special cider........ |
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Post by mcannon on Oct 31, 2014 12:43:30 GMT
BTW, I was minding my two and a half year old grandson yesterday, and he was absolutely fascinated by the cover of "Terror Tales of Yorkshire" - he kept walking over to stare at it. I'm not sure if I should read a few of the stories to him; his parents might not be too keen. Still, start 'em young, I say; and it would certainly be a nice change for me from the umpteenth rereading of "The Little Tugboat That Sneezed".......
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Post by dem bones on Nov 5, 2014 9:05:52 GMT
Still, start 'em young, I say....... Terrify the small! A belated thank you for sharing your thoughts on the 'Wales' stories, Mark. Two more from 'Yorkshire ...' Christopher Harman – A True Yorkshireman: TV film-crew-in-peril chills as Rob Lime and the makers of "preposterous" supernatural series Holmwich Fears, incur the wrath of Firthford's resident ancient troll when they invade his bridge without paying the required ten sovereign toll. The white-eyed giant, as all those stupid enough to have crossed him.. Rosalie Parker – Random Flight: Handsome Patrick, forty and frisky, is a career conman with a sob story for every occasion, who preys upon lonely rich women. Forced out of Leeds by an irate and potentially litigious husband, he tries his luck in the Skelton-Gribley-Fairlees district of the Dales. Single mum Rachel Morton, thirty, proves an easy touch, but Flick, a fifty-ish widow who owns a fashion outlet, proves less inclined to hand over her cash. Rachel, catching him at it with Flick, drops the bombshell that she's pregnant, the child is his and - worse, far worse - she wants her twenty grand back. Time for Patrick to up sticks again. The crows, who've been keeping their beady black eyes on him ever since he arrived, put on a nasty performance for him by way of a send off. |
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Post by dem bones on Nov 6, 2014 14:18:27 GMT
Jason Gould – A Story From When We Had Nothing: "Some of the things that live in those cities. Makes you pray for the bomb." A new face at Black Top Farm. He's lived there only a fortnight but already Frank White has been obliged to bury the butchered remains of his wife and two little daughters, victims of the Lastingham village monster hunters, but to flee now would mean losing everything. Frank's problems began when, following a diamond theft, he double-crossed his accomplice, slipping inside the concealed entrance to the recently abandoned sweatshop with their loot. And it was within this ruin of a textile mill that he fatally encountered his 'monster', a young East European woman, manacled to her work station ....
Finally, if you like your terror tales sad, tense and creepy, this next should be right up your street;
Gary McMahon - Ragged: One year on from wife Anne's death, Wes, a factory hand and book illustrator, finds a soggy Victorian handkerchief by the lake bearing the message "I cover your grief." A Londoner by birth, Wes has no idea of the significance until girlfriend Jane explains that it's a "mourning rag" - the Putham mill workers' variation on the traditional black veil. After suffering a nightmare, Wes disposes of the rag, but it always comes back, as do the silent, shrouded figures who've taken to watching his every move .....
So ends our strange and terrible pub crawl through hideous Halifax, horrible Huddersfield, Sheffield Sin City, woebegone Whitby & Co. While my absolute stand-outs of the collection are the two reprints, there is nothing remotely 'bad' in what amounts to another strong entry in a super series.
Special thanks to Paul Finch & Gary Fry.
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Post by Shrink Proof on Nov 7, 2014 9:55:42 GMT
By 'eck, it's reet grim oop North....
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