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Post by ohthehorror on Dec 3, 2014 21:29:16 GMT
I thought it was pointing towards an S&M type relationship. Him with his whip and her(seemingly unknowingly) a slavish submissive(the dog?).
She asks what he's done with his dog, whereupon he curses and buries Darling in the sand while she repeats that she couldn't find his dog anywhere. And now he only laughs when she tells him, almost as if he's amused that she never realised he treated Darling(his slavish submissive) as a dog.
Yeah, I know. That's probably not it at all. But if anyone ever really works it out, or even finds out somehow, I'd love to know!
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Post by dem bones on Dec 4, 2014 6:32:13 GMT
Curses, Love At First Sight was so clear to me ... until you lot started. If I can find some free time, will post my interpretation of the story (God help you all). Jack Davis Meanwhile, Day four: For those who've never seen an issue, if you can imagine The Fontana Book of Horror Stories in digest format, with letters page, jack Davis illustrations and hokey editorial content, then you are some way to appreciating just how great was Winston Publications short-lived Shock: The Magazine of Terrifying Tales. Although much of the material was exhumed from the pulps, Shock also ran original fiction by, among others, Robert Bloch (as 'Will Folke'), Avram Davidson, Jim Thompson and Miriam Allen deFord, about whom I know little but, fortunately, and not for the first time, we can rely on the outstanding Tellers Of Weird Tales blog to provide a biography. Miriam A. deFord - Laughing Moths.pdf (94.77 KB)
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Post by Dr Strange on Dec 4, 2014 12:29:52 GMT
Regarding Richard Middleton's "Love At First Sight"... On the Hugh Lamb "Thrill of Horror" thread we've got: John Gawsworth - How It Happened: Surrey: Stanley Barton's handsome elder brother and Marjery are in love. They meet every evening beneath the fir tree. Stanley isn't happy about this at all because he also loves Marjery. She makes the mistake of laughing at him when his brother scorns "he ought to have more pride than to hang about where he isn't wanted." Soon he isn't the only one hanging about, as Stanley explains from the asylum. Is this another mad Stanley Barton in Surrey, or the same one? Gawsworth was a big fan of Middleton, wasn't he? And "Love At First Sight" is taken from a collection edited by Gawsworth. Unfortunately, I've not read "How It Happened" but I'm guessing it's more than coincidence.
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Post by dem bones on Dec 4, 2014 13:32:55 GMT
Regarding Richard Middleton's "Love At First Sight"... On the Hugh Lamb "Thrill of Horror" thread we've got: John Gawsworth - How It Happened: Surrey: Stanley Barton's handsome elder brother and Marjery are in love. They meet every evening beneath the fir tree. Stanley isn't happy about this at all because he also loves Marjery. She makes the mistake of laughing at him when his brother scorns "he ought to have more pride than to hang about where he isn't wanted." Soon he isn't the only one hanging about, as Stanley explains from the asylum. Is this another mad Stanley Barton in Surrey, or the same one? Gawsworth was a big fan of Middleton, wasn't he? And "Love At First Sight" is taken from a collection edited by Gawsworth. Unfortunately, I've not read "How It Happened" but I'm guessing it's more than coincidence. That is what I believe the young generation refer to as a very "good catch", Dr. S., and the connection never occured to me at all. If I remember, How It Happened (originally Thrills, 1936) is very short, so will try upload it as a stocking filler or some-such.
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Post by Dr Strange on Dec 4, 2014 14:29:19 GMT
"Pure fluke" more like. I just happened to be looking at some of the Hugh Lamb anthologies and the name jumped out at me. Anyhow, as far as "Love At First Sight" goes I also thought it was a relatively uncomplicated story - Stanley is mad and Darling seems to be just a passive victim of his madness. There is the question of how Benham knew where to find them, and what he intended to do with the whip - but it appears that by the time he arrived on the scene the job had been done for him. So, what I really want to know now is whether "How It Happened" is just a sort of tribute to Middleton, or is it intended to be a prequel or sequel to the original?
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Post by dem bones on Dec 4, 2014 14:40:29 GMT
"Pure fluke" more like. I just happened to be looking at some of the Hugh Lamb anthologies and the name jumped out at me. Anyhow, as far as "Love At First Sight" goes I also thought it was a relatively uncomplicated story - Stanley is mad and Darling seems to be just a passive victim of his madness. There is the question of how Benham knew where to find them, and what he intended to do with the whip - but it appears that by the time he arrived on the scene the job had been done for him. So, what I really want to know now is whether "How It Happened" is just a sort of tribute to Middleton, or is it intended to be a prequel or sequel to the original? You decide, my friend.
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Post by ohthehorror on Dec 4, 2014 15:47:08 GMT
I'm getting more confused the more I read it. Think I've read it 5 times at this point. I'll just put it down to madness and leave the rest of you to figure it out
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Post by Dr Strange on Dec 4, 2014 15:47:12 GMT
"How It Happened": That was horrible. Thanks!
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Dec 4, 2014 16:21:57 GMT
Anyhow, as far as "Love At First Sight" goes I also thought it was a relatively uncomplicated story - Stanley is mad and Darling seems to be just a passive victim of his madness. There is the question of how Benham knew where to find them, and what he intended to do with the whip - but it appears that by the time he arrived on the scene the job had been done for him. Sure---but what about his dog?
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Dec 4, 2014 16:25:35 GMT
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Post by Dr Strange on Dec 4, 2014 17:37:50 GMT
Anyhow, as far as "Love At First Sight" goes I also thought it was a relatively uncomplicated story - Stanley is mad and Darling seems to be just a passive victim of his madness. There is the question of how Benham knew where to find them, and what he intended to do with the whip - but it appears that by the time he arrived on the scene the job had been done for him. Sure---but what about his dog? It gets lost in the Surrey countryside, but is found by a bald man who adopts it and keeps it in his walled garden.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Dec 4, 2014 18:04:31 GMT
Sure---but what about his dog? It gets lost in the Surrey countryside, but is found by a bald man who adopts it and keeps it in his walled garden. Of course! It was the same dog! It all makes sense now.
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Post by dem bones on Dec 5, 2014 9:29:36 GMT
For what it's worth, my take on Love At First SightFirst line: "A paper found among the effects of that unhappy madman, the late Stanley Barton" tells us the narrator was not in the best of health, mentally, at time of events. It is rather odd that Benham is comfortable with Barton seating himself between he and his wife at dinner. Is he already tiring of her and seeking a way out of the marriage? Benham leaves them alone together. 'Darling' - who is either promiscuous, a bit simple, an incurable romantic, or all three - promptly enters into a suicide pact with man she's only just met and agree to run away with him. Betrayed husband - anticipating grounds for divorce - gives it a few days, comes looking for them. The dog-whip suggests he is intent on doing one or both an injury, but on finding Darling with her face half blown away, he can afford a chuckle. Fate has done the job for him. Barton thinks dog-whip must means dog, and is baffled that no such creature is in evidence. Benham finds his confusion hilarious. Alternatively, it could be that Barton was so deranged he imagined the entire episode. The dog is a red herring either way. I've seen conflicting dates for the Thrills books which went through several editions, but seems that New Tales Of Horror pre-dates Thrills by a year, so Gawsworth's How It Happened is likely in response to Love At First Sight rather than the other way around. A chilling scene from controversial biopic, Spawn of Love, aka Robin Hood Stocks His Harem, starring Tod Shayne and Mildred 'Dolly' Mandet. Illustration: H. J. Ward Day five: Chances are that you will be familiar with this next, but I'm a sucker for film star / film crew in peril stories, and August Derleth's adventure of publicity hungry Tod Shayne, Hollywood heart-throb, is typical of the unashamed disposable pop trash which kept the pulps in business for decades.
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Post by Dr Strange on Dec 5, 2014 12:15:30 GMT
Middleton/Gawsworth - it is clearly the same "unhappy madman" in both stories. So it looks like he must have got away with killing Darling - after all, Benham hides the body (and the line "a paper found among the effects..." suggests that this is revealing something that nobody else knew about). So, Stanley went on to kill again in Gawsworth's story - but this time he got caught, tried, and died in his cell. By the way, Middleton died a year before Gawsworth was born - but he had gone to the same school which, presumably, was the start of Gawsworth's interest/obsession in him.
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Post by dem bones on Dec 6, 2014 10:11:39 GMT
By the way, Middleton died a year before Gawsworth was born - but he had gone to the same school which, presumably, was the start of Gawsworth's interest/obsession in him. Ah, that goes some way to explaining how Love At First Sight came to be written first ... Chrissie Demant Day six. Sorry its a bit late (had to see a bloke in Hackney about an imitation stuffed crow). I've not found very many issues of London Mystery Magazine[/b] so have no idea whether Viola Bowker Ririe was a regular contributor or one-hit wonder; have certainly not come across her work elsewhere. It is to be hoped you find your visit to The House Of Evil far more interesting than you have this lame intro.
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