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Post by dem bones on Jan 2, 2016 7:45:05 GMT
Happy new year to all postmen, with a special thanks to my friends at E13 and E1! Thomas Maybank A. F. Kidd - Postman's Knock: ( Bell Music, A. F. Kidd, 1989). Edward Kenny, killed in the trenches during the first world war, leaves it sixty years to return and settle with lover, Harriet Blair, the vicar's daughter. Anna - Fish: Harry Tomlinson ( For Those Who Dream Monsters, Mortbury, 2013). Only when they've tortured Harry Tomlinson, postman, to death do the merciless heavies realise they've called at the wrong address. The bloated remains of Harry and pet scorpion fish are disposed of in the river, and that should be that, except .... Lord Dunsany - The Postman of Otford: ( Vanity Fair, October 1917). Amuel Sleggins wonders about the strange green envelope, postmarked China, he annually delivers to the strange occupants of the last house in the Lane. Can his nosey bride-to-be persuade him to steal a sneaky peek at the contents? Edward D. Hoch - The Village Of The Dead: ( The Judge Of Hades, Leisure, 1971). Richard Flanagan - The Postman Always ... :(Arthur H. Landis [ed.] Coven 13 #1, Sept. 1969). "A bit of gothic-surrealism guaranteed to leave the thinkers among our gentle readers both chilled to the liver and a little contemplative — of the future, that is. " Joseph Payne Brennan - The Mail For Juniper Hill: ( Nine Horrors & A Dream, Ballantine, 1958). Big Ed Hyperson may be a "hard-drinking skirt-chasing rascal" but he's also a damned good postman, never having failed to complete his collection round in ten years, so he's not about to lose his record to a snow storm. Furled on Cider and Brandy he sets off into the blizzard: "I'll have the mail back here today with Christ's help - or the Devil's. I'll bring the mail from Hell, needs be!" It is not wise to utter such a promise in a horror story. Kate Farrell - No Junk Mail: ( And Nobody Lived Happily Ever After, Parallel Universe, 2015). Mrs. Judith Webster, formidable old battleaxe, derives obscene satisfaction from persecuting Streatham's hapless leaflet distributors .... Chrissie Demant Ramsey Campbell - Calling Card: ( Dark Companions, Macmillan, 1982). Sixty years after it was posted, a crudely defaced and very soggy Christmas card arrives at it's Augburth destination, lucky recipient, Dorothy Harris, elderly widow and grandmother. The card was clearly intended for the previous owner who, it's said, had a stormy relationship with her difficult son until he drowned himself one New Years Eve. It's certainly no fault of Dorothy's, so why does she grow increasingly uneasy over the holiday? A stick-like figure watches her from the park; she's pursued across Merseyside by a stagnant reek ... According to the author's brief introduction to the story in The Gruesome Book, The Liverpool Daily Post declined to publish on the grounds that it was, well, "too gruesome." Henry Slesar - Prez: (Charles L. Grant [ed.] Terrors, 1982). Louise has worshipped Leonie for the past 16 years, ever since she saw her in something called Sing On A Rainbow. At the age of fourteen, Louise began a Leonie fan club. Now aged thirty, after years of fawning letters, she's threatening to do herself in if the soap star won't meet her. Against her better judgement, Leonie agrees to a rendezvous. Novels. Stephen King - Cujo: (Viking, 1981). George Meara, the famously flatulent mailman is on delivery in Castle Rock at the time of the formerly benign St. Bernard's encounter with the rabid bat / demonic possession by serial killer. Fortunately for him, there is no mail for the Trenton family that day. Bentley Little - The Mailman: (Signet, 1991) Blurb: "Once upon a time, waiting for the mail was filled with warm anticipation, but the suicide of the local mailman has left the residents of this tiny Arizona town shell-shocked. Nothing this bad has ever happened here. But now it has and more bad things are on the way.
Soon there's a new mail carrier in town, one who's delivering lethal letters stuffed with icy fear. He's bringing bad news and before too long the killing will begin.
Nothing — not even the most outstanding citizens or the most secret weaknesses — will be safe from The Mailman's sinister power..."
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Post by dem bones on Jan 3, 2016 20:58:52 GMT
Two more for the scrapbook and a bonus pdf A panel from Marilyn Jeffries' depiction of Lou Reed's superb postal horror story, The Gift. Lord Dunsany on The Postman At Otford, Vanity Fair, October 1917.
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Post by Shrink Proof on Jan 4, 2016 6:52:58 GMT
Didn't know there was an illustrated version of "The Gift" - you just know from the beginning that Waldo is going to be a loser, but it turns out to be in spades. I always thought it rather suited John Cale's mournful "Lad from the Valleys" accent.
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Post by dem bones on Jan 4, 2016 7:52:52 GMT
Didn't know there was an illustrated version of "The Gift" - you just know from the beginning that Waldo is going to be a loser, but it turns out to be in spades. I always thought it rather suited John Cale's mournful "Lad from the Valleys" accent. For your pleasure, Dr. Proof. To best of my knowledge it was first(?) included in Nigel Trevena's Lou Reed & The Velvets (Bantam, c. 1974). White Light, White Heat is a fabulous horror album on several levels. The Gift, Sister Ray and the sublimely disgusting Lady Godiva's Operation are nothing if not macabre, but stand out for me is the astonishing I Heard Her Call My Name, a ghost story by and for people who've maybe over-indulged in a popular recreational drug far too long.
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Post by dem bones on Nov 16, 2016 16:47:29 GMT
Conrad Williams (ed.) - Dead Letters: An Anthology of the Undelivered, the Missing, the Returned (Titan, 2016) Conrad Williams - Introduction
Steven Hall - The Green Letter Michael Marshall Smith - Over to You Joanne Harris - In Memoriam Alison Moore - Ausland Christopher Fowler - Wonders to Come Pat Cadigan - Cancer Dancer Ramsey Campbell - The Wrong Game Claire Dean - Is—and Andrew Lane - Buyer’s Remorse Muriel Gray - Gone Away Nina Allan - Astray Adam LG Nevill - The Days of Our Lives Lisa Tuttle - The Hungry Hotel Nicholas Royle - London Angela Slatter - Change Management Maria Dahvana Headley & China Miéville - Ledge Bants Kirsten Kaschock - And We, Spectators Always, EverywhereBlurb: The Dead Letters Office: the final repository of the undelivered. Love missives unread, gifts never received, lost in postal limbo. Dead Letters: An Anthology features new stories from the masters of horror, fantasy and science fiction, each inspired by an object from the Dead Letters Office Got this today, now it's just a question of finding time to read the blighter. Apparently, stories are a mix of horror, fantasy and "speculative fiction" which, I am advised, is posh for Sci-Fi.
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Post by bobby on Dec 24, 2016 15:38:06 GMT
Conrad Williams (ed.) - Dead Letters: An Anthology of the Undelivered, the Missing, the Returned (Titan, 2016) Conrad Williams - Introduction
Steven Hall - The Green Letter Michael Marshall Smith - Over to You Joanne Harris - In Memoriam Alison Moore - Ausland Christopher Fowler - Wonders to Come Pat Cadigan - Cancer Dancer Ramsey Campbell - The Wrong Game Claire Dean - Is—and Andrew Lane - Buyer’s Remorse Muriel Gray - Gone Away Nina Allan - Astray Adam LG Nevill - The Days of Our Lives Lisa Tuttle - The Hungry Hotel Nicholas Royle - London Angela Slatter - Change Management Maria Dahvana Headley & China Miéville - Ledge Bants Kirsten Kaschock - And We, Spectators Always, EverywhereBlurb: The Dead Letters Office: the final repository of the undelivered. Love missives unread, gifts never received, lost in postal limbo. Dead Letters: An Anthology features new stories from the masters of horror, fantasy and science fiction, each inspired by an object from the Dead Letters Office Got this today, now it's just a question of finding time to read the blighter. Apparently, stories are a mix of horror, fantasy and "speculative fiction" which, I am advised, is posh for Sci-Fi. Here it is marked down to nearly half price: www.hamiltonbook.com/dead-letters-an-anthology-of-the-undelivered-the-missing-the-returned
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Post by dem bones on Dec 24, 2016 16:27:14 GMT
Thanks, Bobby. Actually found a copy dirt cheap earlier this month, but have only sampled the first two stories (both good). Wonder why it's hit the bargain bins so quickly. Perhaps Titan will reissue it once they've rethought that extraordinarily bland cover.
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Post by Swampirella on Dec 24, 2016 18:53:13 GMT
Conrad Williams (ed.) - Dead Letters: An Anthology of the Undelivered, the Missing, the Returned (Titan, 2016) Conrad Williams - Introduction
Steven Hall - The Green Letter Michael Marshall Smith - Over to You Joanne Harris - In Memoriam Alison Moore - Ausland Christopher Fowler - Wonders to Come Pat Cadigan - Cancer Dancer Ramsey Campbell - The Wrong Game Claire Dean - Is—and Andrew Lane - Buyer’s Remorse Muriel Gray - Gone Away Nina Allan - Astray Adam LG Nevill - The Days of Our Lives Lisa Tuttle - The Hungry Hotel Nicholas Royle - London Angela Slatter - Change Management Maria Dahvana Headley & China Miéville - Ledge Bants Kirsten Kaschock - And We, Spectators Always, EverywhereBlurb: The Dead Letters Office: the final repository of the undelivered. Love missives unread, gifts never received, lost in postal limbo. Dead Letters: An Anthology features new stories from the masters of horror, fantasy and science fiction, each inspired by an object from the Dead Letters Office Got this today, now it's just a question of finding time to read the blighter. Apparently, stories are a mix of horror, fantasy and "speculative fiction" which, I am advised, is posh for Sci-Fi. Here it is marked down to nearly half price: www.hamiltonbook.com/dead-letters-an-anthology-of-the-undelivered-the-missing-the-returnedSounds pretty good; I've put it on my to buy list....
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Post by Swampirella on Dec 24, 2016 18:55:01 GMT
Happy new year to all postmen, with a special thanks to my friends at E13 and E1! Thomas Maybank I love the uppermost picture!
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Post by pbsplatter on Dec 31, 2022 14:25:26 GMT
Bentley Little--The Mailman: Not the same as the aforementioned novel, this is a short story which first appeared in Cemetery Dance in 1988. A man has been tormented throughout his life by figures of malign dwarves, demanding a quarter from him. The latest such apparition is in the form of his new mail-carrier--although that's news to the post office, when he confronts them.
This one contains two of Little's bugbears--little people and mailmen.
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