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Post by jamesdoig on Mar 21, 2016 9:06:35 GMT
My copy arrived in the post today - like meeting an old friend! Nice stories by favourites Mark Valentine, Jane Jakeman and David Longhorn. Still humbled to have won the Ghost Story Awards - I can't imagine a better prize than subscriptions to G&S and Supernatural Tales.
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Post by dem bones on Mar 22, 2016 21:13:31 GMT
G&SMRJ Newsletter #29. A layman's view.
Jane Jakeman - The Transmutation Of Base Metal. With its classic panto villain, murdered children, and supernatural retribution from beyond the grave, Lost Hearts is perhaps MRJ's most in-your-face trad horror story. Revisiting it for first time this century (see also A Warning To The Curious), it struck me that this masterpiece of devastating morbid wit is very much the kind of morality story you might expect from the lips of the Old Witch. So is there life in Lost Hearts after Mr. Abney?
With the failed alchemist now very dead, the young master sets to de-cluttering Aswarby Hall. That shapeless heap of lead (is the diabolist's bath-tub in there somewhere?) can go for a start! As divine providence would have it, St. Hilary's church at nearby Torkby is in need of a new porch roof but the curate, Joshua Brampton, has been struggling to raise funds. A tinker offers Mr. Brampton the scrap metal at a generous discount, the local blacksmith sets to work and St. Hilary's is restored to its former glory! Mr. Brampton is not sure a pair of hideous gargoyles are entirely appropriate, but supposes they were added as a generous gesture on the part of the craftsman. The congregation are in for a nasty surprise.
As alluded elsewhere, some of us are a long way from our Dracula And The Virgins Of The Undead comfort zone with this next.
Mark Valentine - Zabulo: Undisclosed location in ... East Anglia, presumably. A long redundant, late-nineteenth century church, built by the Rev. Mr. Callimachus Smith - motives open to question - has come under the care of the Conservation Trust. Our tour guide explores a large wooden dresser in the tower, it's seven drawers crammed with hymn card numbers. Why so many, and why do only some bear what he takes to be the manufacturer's name, ' Zabulo'? Our man feels impelled to repeat the strange word over and over until he's chanting an invocation - cue attack by disembodied numerals! All a bit deep for me. I'd hazard the key is to be found in the stain glass window, the stone tablet from the Ninevah excavation, the title, etc?
Finally for the fiction, my pick of a terrific trio.
David Longhorn - Dug Out: The terrible fate of Gunner Wemyss at Seaburgh. As punishment for skiving, Bombardier Bulstrade sets the layabout to digging a latrine at an observation post near the beach. As shovel hits dirt, Wemyss senses a shadowy presence flitting from tree to tree. Still, he should be fine just so long as he doesn't unearth any sacred Anglo-Saxon crowns ....
Had Bulstrade and Lieutenant Goldsmith only read their A Warning To The Curious, they'd have a shrewd idea what caused Wemyss to take a reckless sprint across the mined beach. They might even suspect who was responsible for the second, skeletal set of footprints he'd followed to his doom.
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Post by jamesdoig on Mar 23, 2016 8:37:22 GMT
This arrived today - nice cast of tales: Supernatural Tales #32, Spring 2016, ed David Longhorn ContentsChloe N. Clark, Even the Veins of Leaves Charles Wilkinson, The Ground of the Circuit Jeremy Schliewe, A Little Lost Thing Michael Chislett, Masdque: The Herald of the Past Kathy Stevens, The Ghost on the Hill S.M. Cashmore, Waiting For Breakfast Reviews by the Editor About the Authors
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Post by ropardoe on Mar 23, 2016 9:35:08 GMT
G&SMRJ Newsletter #29. A layman's view. Jane Jakeman - The Transmutation Of Base Metal. With its classic panto villain, murdered children, and supernatural retribution from beyond the grave, Lost Hearts is perhaps MRJ's most in-your-face trad horror story. Revisiting it for first time this century (see also A Warning To The Curious), it struck me that this masterpiece of devastating morbid wit is very much the kind of morality story you might expect from the lips of the Old Witch. So is there life to Lost Hearts after Mr. Abney? The two sequels to "Lost Hearts" in the third G&S Book of Shadows show how much variety you can get out of this tale. Clive Ward's story takes place only a few years after the event's in "Lost Hearts", while John Howard's is very, very modern both in setting and theme.
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Post by ropardoe on Mar 23, 2016 9:39:30 GMT
Supernatural Tales #32, Spring 2016, ed David Longhorn ContentsChloe N. Clark, Even the Veins of Leaves Charles Wilkinson, The Ground of the Circuit Jeremy Schliewe, A Little Lost Thing Michael Chislett, Masdque: The Herald of the Past Kathy Stevens, The Ghost on the Hill S.M. Cashmore, Waiting For Breakfast Reviews by the Editor About the Authors Readers of ST will know that David Longhorn gives a prize of 25 quid to the author of the story voted the best in the issue. As I've mentioned to him recently, the one I vote for never wins! I don't know what that says about me - probably nothing good. Last time it was Jane Jakeman's Dr Faustus story that I voted for (Dr Faustus is absolutely my favourite play), and that didn't win. I don't dare say which one I voted for this time, for fear of putting my curse on it. I'm reassured by the fact that David says it's probably his favourite in the issue too, but time will tell as to whether we're in a minority of two.
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Post by dem bones on Mar 23, 2016 17:09:07 GMT
G&SMRJ Newsletter #29. A layman's view. Jane Jakeman - The Transmutation Of Base Metal. With its classic panto villain, murdered children, and supernatural retribution from beyond the grave, Lost Hearts is perhaps MRJ's most in-your-face trad horror story. Revisiting it for first time this century (see also A Warning To The Curious), it struck me that this masterpiece of devastating morbid wit is very much the kind of morality story you might expect from the lips of the Old Witch. So is there life to Lost Hearts after Mr. Abney? The two sequels to "Lost Hearts" in the third G&S Book of Shadows show how much variety you can get out of this tale. Clive Ward's story takes place only a few years after the event's in "Lost Hearts", while John Howard's is very, very modern both in setting and theme. I think that should have read "So is there life in Lost Hearts after Mr. Abney." I've not researched this but is Lost Hearts his most anthologised story? I suppose A School Story must be in with a shout due largely to Peter Haining's obsessive exhumation of same. Back to the magazine. The non-fiction is the customary treasure trove. Agree with Mr. Connelly that Clive Dawson's article on Charles Bennett's discarded initial screenplay for Night Of The Demon warrants an outstanding, but Jim Bryant's deconstruction of the wilder claims in Shane Leslie's unpublished, perhaps overly fulsome James hagiography is no less fascinating. I find it strangely heartening that even those who knew him can't agree whether or not M.R.J. actually believed in ghosts? He definitely did, he certainly didn't, he might not but he wanted to, he kept an open mind. Speaking of enigmas, Ian Bunting is bloody good at these 'Reviews of Unwritten Books'. The chap who discovered L. T. C. Rolt's Further Disturbances: Twelve More Stories of the Supernatural for G&SMRJN #28 has come up trumps again in location a copy of Mary Ann Allen's fabled 'lost' collection, The Dead Are Still Angry, the further adventures of Jane Bradshawe. This time our phantom-finding heroine is ably hindered by a publicity hungry, decidedly amateur bogus occult sleuth, Charlie Chestnut. If Mr. Bunting is to taken at his word then The Return - which connects a 'Saintly' Nun with a sinister pub sign - is every bit the equal of Ne Resurgat, The Cambridge Beast and The Gravedigger And Death from the earlier collection, and who could resist the enticing prospect of Jane "a sixteenth century tapestry filled with eerie albino spiders"?
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Post by ropardoe on Mar 23, 2016 19:58:03 GMT
I've not researched this but is Lost Hearts his most anthologised story? I suppose A School Story must be in with a shout due largely to Peter Haining's obsessive exhumation of same. I think so. I don't know whether Mike Ashley is still working on it, but for many years he was keeping an index of anthologisations of stories. He gave me some stats at one point and, if I remember rightly, "Lost Hearts" was the most anthologised MRJ tale. "A School Story" was also high on the list, for much the same reason: both of them tend to appear in juvenile and children's collections of genre stories, as well as those for adults. Plus, of course, as you point out, there was Haining's repeated reprinting of "A School Story" which is, after all, one of MRJ's lessee tales.
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Post by ropardoe on Mar 23, 2016 20:00:11 GMT
Speaking of enigmas, Ian Bunting is bloody good at these 'Reviews of Unwritten Books'. The chap who discovered L. T. C. Rolt's Further Disturbances: Twelve More Stories of the Supernatural for G&SMRJN #28 has come up trumps again in location a copy of Mary Ann Allen's fabled 'lost' collection, The Dead Are Still Angry, the further adventures of Jane Bradshawe. This time our phantom-finding heroine is ably hindered by a publicity hungry, decidedly amateur bogus occult sleuth, Charlie Chestnut. If Mr. Bunting is to taken at his word then The Return - which connects a 'Saintly' Nun with a sinister pub sign - is every bit the equal of Ne Resurgat, The Cambridge Beast and The Gravedigger And Death from the earlier collection, and who could resist the enticing prospect of Jane "a sixteenth century tapestry filled with eerie albino spiders"? I don't know what to make of Ian Bunting's review of Mary Ann Allen's The Dead are Still Angry. Mary Ann denies all knowledge of the book, and cites, as proof that she didn't write it, the fact that her Jane Bradshawe character would actually quite like a new-age-y person like Charlie Chestnut. It's a real puzzle - I think maybe Mary Ann is hiding something, but I wouldn't dare accuse her to her face.
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Post by dem bones on Mar 24, 2016 13:44:17 GMT
I don't know what to make of Ian Bunting's review of Mary Ann Allen's The Dead are Still Angry. Mary Ann denies all knowledge of the book, and cites, as proof that she didn't write it, the fact that her Jane Bradshawe character would actually quite like a new-age-y person like Charlie Chestnut. It's a real puzzle - I think maybe Mary Ann is hiding something, but I wouldn't dare accuse her to her face. How Mysterious! Had my own eerie brush with Ms Allen late 2014 while seeking material for our diabolical Advent offering when Mary Ann, or rather, a third party acting on her behalf, graciously responded to my email requesting permission to exhume Ne Resurgat. Strange thing. Maybe her agent fed invisible ink into the print cartridge but, once read, the letters vanished from the screen ... As mentioned, I was pleasantly surprised to find an overview of Paul Finch's Terror Tales of ... series, albeit that, understandably, ...East Anglia gets the lion's share of the attention. Looks like G & S landed a scoop with regard to forthcoming titles. In past correspondence, Paul has made mention of two proposed location non-specific volumes which I dearly hope see fruition. The Black Books of Horror have featured the occasional Jamesian/ Jamesian-ish offering by Daniel McGachey, Reggie Oliver and, most recently, Edward Pearce ( East Wickenden). Would need to revisit my 'reviews' to check if there are more, but even my capacity for masochism has its limits.
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Post by ropardoe on Mar 24, 2016 16:10:03 GMT
How Mysterious! Had my own eerie brush with Ms Allen late 2014 while seeking material for our diabolical Advent offering when Mary Ann, or rather, a third party acting on her behalf, graciously responded to my email requesting permission to exhume Ne Resurgat. Strange thing. Maybe her agent fed invisible ink into the print cartridge but, once read, the letters vanished from the screen ... Mary Ann even went so far as to claim that her stories were written by said third party! Mary Ann's a very strange person indeed (picture a mixture of Lady Wardrop and Mrs Mothersole!).
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Post by ropardoe on Mar 24, 2016 16:16:17 GMT
I'm not sure where I got the information on future Terror Tales... plans. I thought it was maybe from Paul Finch's blog, but it could have been from an email. If it's the latter, I hope I wasn't passing on info which he didn't want generally known yet. I don't think that's the case, but if it is then I apologised unreservedly. I haven't heard from Paul since G&S came out, but Gary Fry is very pleased with the review (eventually - the first copy I sent him had the pages with the review missing!). That's apologise - not apologised. My typing gets worse and worse - I blame it on the fact that my new glasses haven't arrived yet.
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Post by dem bones on Mar 24, 2016 20:23:33 GMT
Mary Ann even went so far as to claim that her stories were written by said third party! Preposterous! Mr. Finch mentioned a "nice piece" on the TT series in the newsletter on tw*tter, so he's clearly aware of it. Worst thing about the top quality reviews is everything sounds so must-have. It's bad enough with books (and, damn it all, In The City Of Ghosts sounds right up my alley, even if it is set the side of the river we don't talk about), but when it spreads to compilations of silhouette film DVD's, MRJ-inspired trump cards. To think you were once concerned there'd not be enough material to warrant a second issue of G&S MK I. Am keeping Dan/ Lurkio's excellent piece well away from bride of Dem as I could see her going for puppet theatre with a paper cast in a big way. Bad enough that the flat is infested with paper mâché gargoyles.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Mar 24, 2016 20:39:31 GMT
Have you, by any chance, recently changed your user name, or am I going insane? Also, the reply button briefly disappeared. Are you playing around with things?
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Post by dem bones on Mar 24, 2016 20:49:23 GMT
Have you, by any chance, recently changed your user name, or am I going insane? Also, the reply button briefly disappeared. Are you playing around with things? Guilty of the first, innocent of the second.
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Post by ropardoe on Mar 25, 2016 9:53:58 GMT
Worst thing about the top quality reviews is everything sounds so must-have. It's bad enough with books (and, damn it all, In The City Of Ghosts sounds right up my alley, even if it is set the side of the river we don't talk about), but when it spreads to compilations of silhouette film DVD's, MRJ-inspired trump cards. To think you were once concerned there'd not be enough material to warrant a second issue of G&S MK I. Am keeping Dan/ Lurkio's excellent piece well away from bride of Dem as I could see her going for puppet theatre with a paper cast in a big way. Bad enough that the flat is infested with paper mâché gargoyles. I must admit I have had complaints from people who reckon that G&S is costing them money as everything reviewed in the magazine, and many items mentioned in the News section, look tempting. It's been interesting to get the chance to review things other than books (not so much films and TV as I rely on the wonderful Dan to cover those), but music and now card games. Those silhouette films from Mansfield Dark really are worth getting - I understand Richard Mansfield now has two more MRJ adaptations in the planning stages (including one of my three favourite MRJ tales).
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