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Post by ripper on Dec 22, 2016 12:00:36 GMT
Day twenty-two sees the long overdue first calendar appearance of our multi-talented friend and colleague from Vault's earliest days, Noah Brown Leeds-based musician/producer/DJ, artist, and occasional author of full-on horror shorts. The former frontman with brutally uncompromising punk combo's Normal Man and Carer, Noah currently records and performs as Ford Foster - you can sample his most recent raw techno soundscapes (and read an interview) HERE Strikes me that today's viciously pessimistic story, revived from Filthy Creations #5, would have been equally at home in Tom Johnstone & Joel Lane's heartbreaking anthology Horror Uncut! Tales of Social Insecurity & Economic Unease (Gray Friar, 2014). Thanks for letting us run it, Mr. B! View Attachment Nice one, Noah. Very punchy and with echos of EC horror comics in that a person goes crazy without it being obvious until the shocking and thoroughly nasty finale.
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Post by franklinmarsh on Dec 22, 2016 12:17:02 GMT
'Viciously pessimistic' indeed, but absolutely belting.Love the old school illo too.
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Post by jamesdoig on Dec 22, 2016 19:39:00 GMT
SPOILERS? Perhaps the best Ghost In The Machine story? Are you in computers, James? The tech jargon baffled me but rather wonderfully didn't detract from the story at all. A nice slow-burning lead-in. I must admit to being a little disappointed by the denouement at first, but the tale did it's work because it's still buzzing around in my head long after - these 'time-bomb' stories are great. Us paranoids are always looking for links that may or may nor be there, and , as with Anna and Kate's connections, I think Malware is an intriguing mirror of John Forth's Mary Kelly's Face. Both concern modern day technology being used to investigate an old murder case, one to reconstruct, one to destroy, and one features the future visiting the past, the other the past invading the future. I know Dem's denied it, but I'm convinced he's a far better anthologist than he makes out.... I'm not an IT guy but I did manage a digital preservation project at the National Arhives which forced me to take an interest in it - hardware and software obsolescence and whatnot. And of course you need to sound convincing for a reader to take it seriously - no doubt a real IT guy would see right through it. The Jack the Ripper code was based on an article in an Australian newspaper back in the 90s I think - some guy used the message left on the wall and some other things to develop a code that revealed JtR's true identity, or some such rot - it got quite a lot of coverage - front page spread and a few pages inside. Someone told me this guy had written a book-sized manuscript that he sent to the National Library, but I've never been able to find it. Yes, endings are pretty hard to pull off. It's a fact, though, that archives and libraries are selling data/information to companies like Ancestry - it's not necessarily a bad thing as the genealogy companies digitise the records, describe them and make the records and metadata available, but it's all very commercial which isn't in the spirit of public records (in my old school opinion!).
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Post by franklinmarsh on Dec 22, 2016 22:04:40 GMT
Thanks for the background James. It was convincing. And the ending is growing on me...
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vaultadventcalendar
Black Crow King
Horror chav at the controls/ weird cheerleader #arts&culture
Posts: 143
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Post by vaultadventcalendar on Dec 23, 2016 9:45:05 GMT
Chrissie Demant Day twenty-three. Christmas Eve-Eve, and Evil Santa still ain't done dispensing ghoulish gifts. Just when you think the worst much surely be over, the sack of slime groans it's terrible groan, and out pops .... a diabolically chuckling Lord John Llewellyn Probert - morning, mister yer honour, sir, morning Lady Thana, ma'am, etc. - with an unpublished shocker from the legendary pre- The Faculty Of Terror files. Before I leave you to the story (trust me, it's another cracker, but then you already suspected as much), a reminder that you can catch up on the inexhaustible Lord P.'s latest adventures at his official site, and his popular film blog, The House Of Mortal Cinema. The divine Lady Thana is still batting away stalkers at From Hell To Eternity
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Post by dem bones on Dec 23, 2016 11:26:53 GMT
Nice one, Noah. Very punchy and with echos of EC horror comics in that a person goes crazy without it being obvious until the shocking and thoroughly nasty finale. Shocking and nasty for sure, but what stays with me is that A Surprise For Sarah is such a desperately sad story. 'Viciously pessimistic' indeed, but absolutely belting. Love the old school illo too. If memory serves, I modelled for that one Not sure who the weirdo long-haired skinny guy is though. Guess the bride knew some dead ropey people before she met me.
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Post by Swampirella on Dec 23, 2016 14:13:48 GMT
Day twenty-three. Christmas Eve-Eve, and Evil Santa still ain't done dispensing ghoulish gifts. Just when you think the worst much surely be over, the sack of slime groans it's terrible groan, and out pops .... a diabolically chuckling Lord John Llewellyn Probert - morning, mister yer honour, sir, morning Lady Thana, ma'am, etc. - with an unpublished shocker from the legendary pre- The Faculty Of Terror files. Before I leave you to the story (trust me, it's another cracker, but then you already suspected as much), a reminder that you can catch up on the inexhaustible Lord P.'s latest adventures at his official site, and his popular film blog, The House Of Mortal Cinema. The divine Lady Thana is still batting away stalkers at From Hell To Eternity A thoroughly enjoyable story, as I've come to expect from "The Lord and Master" Thank you!
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Post by ripper on Dec 23, 2016 14:31:46 GMT
John has done it again. A really fine and unusual story that kept me guessing as to how it would end. I liked how he subtley changed the atmosphere from normality and by degrees to unease and finally to terror.
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Post by franklinmarsh on Dec 23, 2016 14:46:47 GMT
Bang on, Rip. When our 'hero' turns and finds the door to the auditorium locked, I was in a panic with him. Top hole, yer Lordship. Consider my forelock well and duly tugged. Aaaiiieeeee! It's come orf in me 'and!
Excellent Salome-esque illustration too.
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Post by ohthehorror on Dec 23, 2016 19:10:53 GMT
We're really getting spoilt this year. Have been playing catch-up again today. Read Lord of the Dance, Random Room Celebrity Stalker, and A Surprise for Sarah. All were fantastic reads. I particularly liked Lord of the Dance. But, yes, really enjoyed them all. I've still got Malware to get to yet. Probably be tomorrow for that one now since I'm about to indulge in some Christmas cheer. I'll try not to be rude to miss scarlett this time. Pass on my thanks to young Chrissie too Dem. Wonderfully evocative artwork. Loving it.
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Post by Swampirella on Dec 23, 2016 19:34:26 GMT
We're really getting spoilt this year. Have been playing catch-up again today. Read Lord of the Dance, Random Room Celebrity Stalker, and A Surprise for Sarah. All were fantastic reads. I particularly liked Lord of the Dance. But, yes, really enjoyed them all. I've still got Malware to get to yet. Probably be tomorrow for that one now since I'm about to indulge in some Christmas cheer. I'll try not to be rude to miss scarlett this time. Pass on my thanks to young Chrissie too Dem. Wonderfully evocative artwork. Loving it. Any unintentional rudeness by you is forgotten; Merry Christmas and enjoy Malware!
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vaultadventcalendar
Black Crow King
Horror chav at the controls/ weird cheerleader #arts&culture
Posts: 143
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Post by vaultadventcalendar on Dec 24, 2016 10:53:54 GMT
© Chrissie Demant, 2016 Day twenty-four. Modern Christmas is rubbish. Taking into account that the festive season, and this day in particular, can be a nerve-shredding experience, today surely calls for a light little seasonal something to calm the nerves and remind us what it's all about. Such a shame we couldn't provide anything remotely in that line. Instead, here's mega-selling crime novelist and master of yuletide horrors Paul Finch with a cruel tale of supernatural mayhem, as recently widowed Brenda tries to make the best of her first Xmas without Jack .... December first appeared in The Gray Friar Christmas Chapbook 2007. The story was later significantly revised for Simon Marshall-Jones' The 13 Ghosts of Christmas (Spectral, 2012), and it's this later version Paul has so generously donated to our rotten annual appeal. As an added bonus, if you'd like to revisit Mr. Finch's 2015 calendar entry, The Unreal, but this time with a decent lay-out, check his gorgeously presented Walking In The Dark blog.
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Post by dem bones on Dec 24, 2016 11:04:33 GMT
I'm still holding out for a sea monster. Alas, Mr. Horror, I bring awful tidings. In case you missed it, Auld Franklin left you a present here .... (you'll need to be logged-in) BTW, how is your Weird Tales database coming along?
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Post by ripper on Dec 24, 2016 12:28:48 GMT
I'm still holding out for a sea monster. Alas, Mr. Horror, I bring awful tidings. In case you missed it, Auld Franklin left you a present here .... (you'll need to be logged-in) BTW, how is your Weird Tales database coming along? I read FM's story earlier today and jolly good it is, too. I was very pleased to see Paul Finch's name as today's calendar writer. I always enjoy his fiction and am going to save this one for a reading later today after sunset.
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Post by ohthehorror on Dec 24, 2016 12:33:41 GMT
I'm still holding out for a sea monster. Alas, Mr. Horror, I bring awful tidings. In case you missed it, Auld Franklin left you a present here .... (you'll need to be logged-in) BTW, how is your Weird Tales database coming along? Thanks for the heads-up there Dem. I hadn't seen that. As for the good intentions regarding the database... Let's just pretend it's a new project that I've just thought of now, or something. Strangely enough, after having almost forgotten about it completely, I came across it in my 'misc.' folder on dropbox about 3 weeks ago and made a mental note to update it, which I then not only didn't do, but completely forgot about it again until now. This is one of the reasons I would rather have had an online method of keeping track. I update my goodreads lists so often that I almost do it without thinking. It's really unfortunate that there's not an online option(like goodreads) for short stories. It would solve an awful lot of problems for people like me. Of course the other option is for me to just stop being such a lazy git and make more of an effort to keep on top of things like this
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