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Post by dem bones on Jan 15, 2017 12:19:24 GMT
Marvin Kaye with Saralee Kaye (eds.) - Weird Tales (Barnes & Noble, 1996)  Richard Kriegler ( Skulls in the Stars)
Ray Bradbury - Interim
Ralph Milne Farley - The House of Ecstasy
H. G. Wells - The Stolen Body
Anthony Boucher - The Scrawny One
Lucian of Samosata - The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Robert E. Howard - Skulls in the Stars
Manly Banister - Eena
Maurice Level - The Look
L. Sprague de Camp & Fletcher Pratt - Methought I Heard a Voice
Rex Dolphin - Off the Map
Fredric Brown - The Last Train
W. J. Stamper - Ti Michel
Fritz Leiber - In the X-Ray
Henry Slesar - Speak
C. Hall Thompson - The Pale Criminal
Tanith Lee - The Sombrus Tower
Stephen Grendon - Mr. George
William Hope Hodgson - The Terror of the Water-Tank
Gustave Flaubert - The Legend of St. Julian the Hospitaller
Harry Houdini - The Hoax of the Spirit Lover
Jack Snow - Seed
Seabury Quinn - Masked Ball
Gaston Leroux - The Woman with the Velvet Collar
William Tenn - Mistress Sary
Bram Stoker - The Judge’s House
Val Lewton - The Bagheeta
H. Russell Wakefield - Ghost Hunt
Edward D. Hoch - Funeral in the Fog
Allison V. Harding - The Damp Man
Arthur Machen - The Lost Club
Richard Matheson - Wet Straw
Darrell Schweitzer - The Mysteries of the Faceless King
Dorothy Quick - More Than Shadow
F. Marion Crawford - The Dead Smile
Robert Bloch - The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Katherine MacLean & Mary Kornbluth - Chicken Soup
W. C. Morrow - The Haunted Burglar
Edgar Allan Poe - Never Bet the Devil Your Head
H. P. Lovecraft - He
Hugh B. Cave - The Brotherhood of Blood
Clark Ashton Smith - The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan
Frank Belknap Long - Men Who Walk Upon the Air
Charles Dickens - A Child’s Dream of a Star
Theodore Sturgeon - The Perfect Host
Otis Adelbert Kline - Why Weird Tales?
Marvin Kaye - Miscellaneous Notes
Marvin Kaye - Recommendations for Further Reading From the inner cover blurb: Since its first issue in March 1923, Weird Tales — "The Unique Magazine" —has provided countless readers with the most innovative and offbeat fantasy, suspense, and horror stories. Almost every important writer of fantastic fiction in the first half of this century— including H. P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, Fritz Leiber and countless other notables — have had their works showcased in its pages.
Now, in this special volume compiled by popular anthologist Marvin Kaye, some of the most memorable horrific, bizarre tales ever published are assembled, all of which have appeared in various incarnations of Weird Tales over the years.
Incredible surprises await you. Meet one of the strangest villains of all time in Allison V. Harding's "The Damp Man." Travel to the Temple of the Flower God in the Congo to discover the cause of an African explorer's horrific demise in Jack Snow's tale "Seed." Spend the night in Bram Stoker's "The Judge's House" not lived in for fifty years, unless you count its deadly inhabitant .....Ray Bradbury - Interim: (July 1947). Midnight in the cemetery. The encoffined dead discuss their new neighbour buried beneath the moss tree by the north end gate. Poor Mrs. Lattimore died tragically young, and .... pregnant. Jack Snow - Seed: (Jan. 1946). How Myra Bradshaw, fearless explorer and adventurer came to grief in a small village in the Belgian Congo. The High Priest of Leopoldville takes great exception to Myra nosing around the sacred Temple of the Flower God, and vows to learn her the error of her ways. Proper ghastly plants hate you offering featuring human sacrifice, etc. Henry Slesar - Speak: (Fall 1984. originally The Diners Club Magazine, 1965). A shaggy dog story in every sense. Manny, fired from the circus when the 'freaks' he hired are revealed as a pair of pathetically normal con-artists, takes an overdose of pills. His final action is to call his wife to say goodbye. Somebody unexpected answers the phone.
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Post by dem bones on Jan 17, 2017 16:09:20 GMT
Manly Banister - Eena: (Sept. 1947). Raised from a cub by the trapper who shot dead her mother, when Eena the white albino timber wolf escapes back into the pine woods, she takes command of the pack. But Eena can never forget Joel Cameron who, despite his profession, always treated her with kindness and protected her against the farmers who would kill and skin her. A year later and, on the night of the full moon, she changes, and returns to Joel's cabin in human form. The trapper considers the naked stranger as the most beautiful woman he has ever set eyes upon. Little can he realise that she is also the deadliest. Manly was fond of a werewolf yarn, and this love story is arguably his finest. Ralph Milne Farley - The House of Ecstasy: (April 1938). "Rescue the most desirable woman in the world from captivity - if you can. A creepy, kinky classic. Read it Here. Anthony Boucher - The Scrawny One: (May 1949). John Harker, know-it-all, summons a shapeless, scrawny, stingy demon who grudgingly offers him just the one wish. Harker has prepared for this moment. He's learned from that fool Faust's mistakes and no way will any imbecile spawn of Satan get the better of him! "You will make me the richest man in the world."
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Jan 17, 2017 17:45:52 GMT
I have been having serious problems with my Internet connection, and last night I finally bravely excavated my way to the broadband outlet---and somewhere along the way I found a copy of this very book!
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Post by dem bones on Jan 18, 2017 8:12:15 GMT
Copy I'm reading was a Christmas present from the Bride along with The Best Of Spicy Mystery Vol 1 and Lighthouse Horrors. Further proof, as if any were required, that she is the most superb person in history and a bit of a smasher. Maurice Level - The Look: (March 1933; originally Le Journal, 1906, as Le Regard). Another morbid vignette from the terminally happy-go-lucky Monsieur Level! Janville visits a close friend who has recently wed the long-term mistress he's loved all his life. By rights, they should be blissfully happy? Far from it. Janville finds the couple prematurely aged, despondent, and crushed by guilt over their complicity in her husband's death. Moral. Even when you achieve your heart's desire, life is still merde. Choose Death. Gaston Leroux - The Woman with the Velvet Collar: (Oct. 1929). As featured on our most recent Advent Calendar. If you're after a hard copy and having difficulty locating Peter Haining's Bedside Companion on the cheap, the Kayes' anthology is a better-than-decent alternative. Lucian of Samosata - The Sorcerer’s Apprentice: (Oct. 1939). Early flash fiction (Lucian's dates are 117-c.192). Eucrates the understudy ill-advisedly attempts to seal his master Pancrates' best trick. Several centuries later Goethe and Robert Bloch would afford the basic theme a horror treatment. |
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Post by dem bones on Jan 18, 2017 20:22:06 GMT
 R. M. Mally: (April 1924). The editors are of a mind that this item is autobiographical. The famous magician is prevailed upon by a Priest and his friends to expose a patently fraudulent medium. The trouble is, as much as the set up reeks of exploitation, no sceptic has yet been able to explain the spectral manifestations unique to a Madam X seance. Harry duly reveals how the "spirits" gain access to the room, but it's a supremely unlikely coincidence finally puts paid to the racket. Richard Matheson - Wet Straw: (Jan. 1953). Every cloud. It's not that he didn't love his wife, but now she's dead he can cash in that insurance policy and live a life of leisure. But recently his dreams have taken an unpleasant, claustrophobic turn, and each morning he wakes in a bed that reeks of wet straw. His terror intensifies after a visit to the museum. Among the exhibits, an innocuous painting depicting the interior of a barnyard which he vaguely remembers from the early days of their marriage. So far, as subtle and suspenseful a ghost story as one would expect from the Hell House man, which makes the ending all the more of a surprise. |
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Post by Michael Connolly on Jan 20, 2017 14:06:48 GMT
Manly Banister - Eena: (Sept. 1947). Raised from a cub by the trapper who shot dead her mother, when Eena the white albino timber wolf escapes back into the pine woods, she takes command of the pack. But Eena can never forget Joel Cameron who, despite his profession, always treated her with kindness and protected her against the farmers who would kill and skin her. A year later and, on the night of the full moon, she changes, and returns to Joel's cabin in human form. The trapper considers the naked stranger as the most beautiful woman he has ever set eyes upon. Little can he realise that she is also the deadliest. Manly was fond of a werewolf yarn, and this love story is arguably his finest. Ralph Milne Farley - The House of Ecstasy: (April 1938). "Rescue the most desirable woman in the world from captivity - if you can. A creepy, kinky classic. Read it Here. Anthony Boucher - The Scrawny One: (May 1949). John Harker, know-it-all, summons a shapeless, scrawny, stingy demon who grudgingly offers him just the one wish. Harker has prepared for this moment. He's learned from that fool Faust's mistakes and no way will any imbecile spawn of Satan get the better of him! "You will make me the richest man in the world." "The Pale Criminal" by C. Hall Thompson is a neo-gothic post-Freudian thriller which works. It's one of the only four horror stories that he wrote. "Mistress Sary" by William Tenn is one of the best voodoo stories I've ever read. "The Lost Club" by Arthur Machen is very sinister indeed. |
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Post by dem bones on Jan 20, 2017 18:06:17 GMT
"The Pale Criminal" by C. Hall Thompson is a neo-gothic post-Freudian thriller which works. It's one of the only four horror stories that he wrote. Of the stories new to me, it's The Pale Criminal, The Damp Man and The Brotherhood Of Blood am most looking forward to. I realise the Kaye's wanted to give an accurate representation of the magazine, but even so, the inclusion of the easily available and over-anthologised Stoker, Dickens, Poe and F. Marion Crawford stories is a little disappointing. |
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Post by Michael Connolly on Jan 21, 2017 13:41:41 GMT
"The Pale Criminal" by C. Hall Thompson is a neo-gothic post-Freudian thriller which works. It's one of the only four horror stories that he wrote. Of the stories new to me, it's The Pale Criminal, The Damp Man and The Brotherhood Of Blood am most looking forward to. I realise the Kaye's wanted to give an accurate representation of the magazine, but even so, the inclusion of the easily available and over-anthologised Stoker, Dickens, Poe and F. Marion Crawford stories is a little disappointing. C. Hall Thompson's "The Pale Criminal" (1947) is very close in tone to Ray Russell's "Sardonicus", written years later in 1961. Thompson's "Spawn of the Green Abyss" (1946) and "The Will of Claude Ashur" (1947) are above-average contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos. "The Damp Man" is okay (I've attached the cover for Weird Tales for May 1949 that marked his third appearance). I've always found Hugh B. Cave too pulpy for me.  |
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Post by bobby on Jan 21, 2017 16:17:06 GMT
It's actually a reprint of a book from 1988. (But the Barnes & Noble reprint is what I have.)  |
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Post by dem bones on Jan 21, 2017 18:05:47 GMT
C. Hall Thompson's "The Pale Criminal" (1947) is very close in tone to Ray Russell's "Sardonicus", written years later in 1961. Thompson's "Spawn of the Green Abyss" (1946) and "The Will of Claude Ashur" (1947) are above-average contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos. "The Damp Man" is okay (I've attached the cover for Weird Tales for May 1949 that marked his third appearance). I've always found Hugh B. Cave too pulpy for me. Different strokes. I'm a great admirer of Hugh B Cave's work, especially the depression era speedpulp. Turns out I'd read The Brotherhood Of Blood in the mighty Murgunstrumm & Others, just hadn't written about it. In the context of the Kayes' collection it makes for a decent companion story to Manly Bannister's sympathetic werewolf offering, Eena. Have read C. Hall Thompson's Clay, Spawn of the Green Abyss and The Will Of Claude Ashur. They left no impression on me whatsoever. Maybe The Pale Criminal will inspire a rematch. |
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Post by dem bones on Feb 1, 2017 20:31:23 GMT
Enjoyed this psychological thriller/ MAD SCIENTIST Gothic. Final revelation is ace.  Fred Humiston: (Sept. 1947). Dr. Luther Markheim, ONCE-SANE SCIENTIST, suffers vomit-inducing facial disfigurement in a laboratory accident at Freisburg University. Idle rich hedonist Victor Rupert, whose drunken negligence led to the disaster, offers Markheim wealth unimaginable and a lifetime's servitude if only he'll shield him from blame. Funded by Rupert's fortune, Markheim acquires the ancestral home, Castle von Zengersten in the Black Forest, and furnishes it with a state of the art laboratory. But his blindness impedes him at every turn. If only he were the beneficiary of the world's first double eyeball transplant, but who would willingly donate their sight? One night a lone traveller calls at the castle. Simon Conrad, jeweller, has lost his way in the woods and seeks directions to the nearest town. Dr. Markheim seizes the opportunity. Rupert is prevailed upon to atone for his sin. The operation is a huge success! I can see! I can see! With Rupert swiftly consigned to the family vault alongside the mutilated remains of the jeweller, Markheim is free to devote his genius to scientific advancement. All is well until he catches sight of that cruel reflection in a mirror - and his hideous doppelgänger steps out from the glass .... Incidentally, here's Robert Weinberg on the illustrator. Even G. O. Olinick gets offer lighter. |
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Post by Michael Connolly on Feb 2, 2017 15:01:29 GMT
Enjoyed this psychological thriller/ MAD SCIENTIST Gothic. Final revelation is ace. Fred Humiston C. Hall Thompson - The Pale Criminal: (Sept. 1947). Dr. Luther Markheim, ONCE-SANE SCIENTIST, suffers vomit-inducing facial disfigurement in a laboratory accident at Freisburg University. Idle rich hedonist Victor Rupert, whose drunken negligence led to the disaster, offers Markheim wealth unimaginable and a lifetime's servitude if only he'll shield him from blame. Funded by Rupert's fortune, Markheim acquires the ancestral home, Castle von Zengersten in the Black Forest, and furnishes it with a state of the art laboratory. But his blindness impedes him at every turn. If only he were the beneficiary of the world's first double eyeball transplant, but who would willingly donate their sight? One night a lone traveller calls at the castle. Simon Conrad, jeweller, has lost his way in the woods and seeks directions to the nearest town. Dr. Markheim seizes the opportunity. Rupert is prevailed upon to atone for his sin. The operation is a huge success! I can see! I can see! With Rupert swiftly consigned to the family vault alongside the mutilated remains of the jeweller, Markheim is free to devote his genius to scientific advancement. All is well until he catches sight of that cruel reflection in a mirror - and his hideous doppelgänger steps out from the glass .... Incidentally, here's Robert Weinberg on the illustrator. Even G. O. Olinick gets offer lighter. Apparently August Derleth didn't like C. Hall Thompson's having written two Cthulhu Mythos stories and put pressure on him to stop. He had no legal right to do so but this may have something to do with Thompson writing only four horror stories in total, all of them for Weird Tales. |
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Post by dem bones on Feb 2, 2017 20:05:55 GMT
Apparently August Derleth didn't like C. Hall Thompson's having written two Cthulhu Mythos stories and put pressure on him to stop. He had no legal right to do so but this may have something to do with Thompson writing only four horror stories in total, all of them for Weird Tales. Do you have a source for this? From my little reading on the subject, a vociferous element among the Lovecraft obsessives seems to regard Derleth as some kind of multi-purpose bogey figure. William Hope Hodgson - The Terror of the Water-Tank : ( Weird Tales, Winter 1973; originally Blue Book, Sept. 1907). An aquatic variation on The Adventure Of The Speckled Band, as revived for Weird Tales' short-lived first revival under Leo Marguiles and Sam Moskowitz. The tall iron water-tank which supplies a row of villas at a small East Coast resort is a popular tourist attraction due to it's panoramic view - until a retired mill-owner and a policeman are strangled up top in quick succession. Local ne'er-do-well Dufirst the tank-keeper - "what an ugly little beast" - is convicted of the murders, but diligent Dr. Tointon is convinced the guilty party is other than human. Can Tointon win a race against time and spare an innocent man from the gallows? |
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Post by mcannon on Feb 3, 2017 5:16:42 GMT
Apparently August Derleth didn't like C. Hall Thompson's having written two Cthulhu Mythos stories and put pressure on him to stop. He had no legal right to do so but this may have something to do with Thompson writing only four horror stories in total, all of them for Weird Tales. Do you have a source for this? From my little reading on the subject, a vociferous element among the Lovecraft obsessives seems to regard Derleth as some kind of multi-purpose bogey figure.>>> I've also seen that claim made several times, but couldn't remember whether any evidence had ever been cited. It certainly did sound a mite suspect particularly given, as Dem notes, the hostility towards both Derleth's fiction and the man himself among some Lovecraft fans and scholars. I did a bit of research (or, more accurately, a quick Google search.......) and found to my surprise that Edward Berglund, co-editor with Robert Weinberg of the 1970s "Reader's Guide to the Cthulhu Mythos", credits Derleth himself with the claim! "C. Hall Thompson captured the Lovecraft mood with his two excellent stories, "The Will of Claude Ashur" and "Spawn of the Green Abyss." However, the late Derleth did not think much of Thompson's stories and "put a stop to the use of Lovecraft properties by C. Hall Thompson . . ." (from a letter from Derleth to Robert Weinberg, dated November 15, 1969)." www.epberglund.com/RGttCM/intro2.htmOf course this letter was some 20 years after Thompson write the last of his Mythos stories, and Derleth's memory may well have overestimated his own influence. What he thought of a "putting a stop" to Thompson's Mythos writings could have ranged from a simple suggestion all the way through to actual threats of legal action. Whatever his actions, Hall may have simply concluded that Derleth's disapproval probably would have limited his opportunities to publish further contributions to the then-small world of Mythos fiction, and decided that it just wasn't worth the trouble. At this stage we'll almost certainly never know what exactly happened, but it would be interesting to know if Derleth ever expanded on his claim in other correspondence or articles. Mark |
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Post by Michael Connolly on Feb 3, 2017 13:48:52 GMT
Do you have a source for this? From my little reading on the subject, a vociferous element among the Lovecraft obsessives seems to regard Derleth as some kind of multi-purpose bogey figure.>>> I've also seen that claim made several times, but couldn't remember whether any evidence had ever been cited. It certainly did sound a mite suspect particularly given, as Dem notes, the hostility towards both Derleth's fiction and the man himself among some Lovecraft fans and scholars. I did a bit of research (or, more accurately, a quick Google search.......) and found to my surprise that Edward Berglund, co-editor with Robert Weinberg of the 1970s "Reader's Guide to the Cthulhu Mythos", credits Derleth himself with the claim! "C. Hall Thompson captured the Lovecraft mood with his two excellent stories, "The Will of Claude Ashur" and "Spawn of the Green Abyss." However, the late Derleth did not think much of Thompson's stories and "put a stop to the use of Lovecraft properties by C. Hall Thompson . . ." (from a letter from Derleth to Robert Weinberg, dated November 15, 1969)." www.epberglund.com/RGttCM/intro2.htmOf course this letter was some 20 years after Thompson write the last of his Mythos stories, and Derleth's memory may well have overestimated his own influence. What he thought of a "putting a stop" to Thompson's Mythos writings could have ranged from a simple suggestion all the way through to actual threats of legal action. Whatever his actions, Hall may have simply concluded that Derleth's disapproval probably would have limited his opportunities to publish further contributions to the then-small world of Mythos fiction, and decided that it just wasn't worth the trouble. At this stage we'll almost certainly never know what exactly happened, but it would be interesting to know if Derleth ever expanded on his claim in other correspondence or articles. Mark Offhand, I can't remember my source for what happened between August Derleth and C. Hall Thompson. Whatever happened, the loss is ours as he only produced Westerns after his four horror stories. |
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