Fantasy Adventures #9 - edited by Philip Harbottle

[severance]

Fantasy Adventures #9 edited by Philip Harbottle, Cosmos Books, 2004

Sydney Jordan

Contents:

Spawn of Jupiter (nv) by E.C. Tubb
Dreamboat (ss) by Sydney J. Bounds
The Gunman (ss) by Philip E. High
Dark Peak (ss) by Brian Ball
Stranger in our Midst (na) by John Russell Fearn

I got this mainly for the short horror piece by Brian Ball, but the rest of the anthology is eminently readable - if a little dated. The Tubb piece, in particular, is a good solid story, as you'd expect from one of the U.K.'s SF masters.

"Dark Peak" by Brian Ball - author of "Lesson for the Damned" (1971), "Devil's Peak" (1972), "The Venomous Serpent" (1974), "Witchfinder: The Mark of the Beast" (1976), "Witchfinder: The Evil at Monteine" (1977) and "Malice of the Soul" (2008) - is only 18 pages long, but it fits right into his Peak District horrors of the early 70's. Three friends - Ben, Melissa and Zara - are in the village of Grysethorpe to see the Bog Man, a mummified corpse dug up from a peat bog where he'd lain since being murdered three thousand years ago. Before finding the museum, they ask for directions from three middle-aged women, who take an especial interest in Zara, originally from Iran. After seeing the Bog Man, they decide to visit the standing stones, near where he was found - and that's where they encounter the reanimated Bog Man, accompanied by the three woman who are able, at certain times, to reanimate him.

Reading this reminds me that I've yet to have a stab at "Devil's Peak." Must correct that soon.

[dem]

Thanks for posting this, Sev. I only have the final (?) volume, Fantasy Adventures #13, and suspected the others would be outstanding. #13 is predominantly short fiction and includes the editor's incredibly touching tributes to his friends Syd Bounds and Philip High. The Brian Ball story is a cracker, if not quite a second The Venomous Serpent. Is Dreamboat a horror/ supernatural story?