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Post by Michael Connolly on May 17, 2017 12:10:50 GMT
Spooky snowmen? Yesterday I read a reference to a snowman in Barbara Roden’s introduction to The Clock Strikes Twelve by H. R. Wakefield (Ash-Tree Press, 1998). I checked the relevant story, “Lucky’s Grove”, and found this: “Gregory organised the erection of a snowman. ... He ... produced something huge and squat", which later changed. "[T]he squat, inert trunk was topped by a big wolf’s head with open jaw and ears snarlingly laid back, surprisingly well modelled. Trailing behind it was a coiled, serpentine tail.” I'm glad he doesn't describe the erection. Even though there is no thaw, the snowman disappears “and where it had stood was a circle of bare, brown grass.”
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Post by ropardoe on Jun 18, 2017 9:01:43 GMT
Here's the announcement of the new G&S/Sarob Press project from the latest G&S Newsletter: Now that the Ghosts & Scholars Book of Shadows MRJ prequels/sequels project is complete, I have some good news about the next G&S/Sarob Press collaboration. The Ghosts & Scholars Book of Folk Horror (which will probably be the subtitle, rather than the main title) is set to be published by Sarob late in 2018. The plan is to include reprints of nine or ten of my favourite folk horror stories from G&S in the first half of the book, concentrating particularly on the lesser-known ones. The second half will consist of a roughly equal number of new Jamesian folk horror tales. It's difficult to define what exactly is meant by the term "folk horror", but I especially like Stephen Gray's on his Folk Horror website (www.folkhorror.com/): "Folk horror is a sub-genre of horror fiction... characterised by reference to European, pagan traditions. Stories typically involve standing stone circles, earthworks, elaborate rituals or nature deities. While the genre is not overtly concerned with Christian ideology, frequently used terms such as 'demon' and 'devil' appear to associate folk horror with Christian demonology". Many (most?) of M.R. James's own stories fit within this category, of course, and folk horror in the James tradition covers a fair amount of ground. Everyone is welcome to submit stories for the new section of the book (regardless of whether or not you're also likely to be represented in the reprints section). If in doubt as to whether your idea comes within the scope of the book (e.g. does folk horror really need to have a European setting?), I'd be happy to discuss it with you first. The deadline for submissions is December 31st this year. Just a timely reminder of this new Ghosts & Scholars/Sarob Press project. I've started getting new submissions in, but it's very early days yet, so plenty of time for Vault members to get thinking about contributing. I've also more or less finalised the contents of the reprints section, but if you have a favourite folk horror story from G&S or the G&S Newsletter, I'd be glad to hear of it and (if it's not already included) consider adding it. I appreciate that defining what constitutes Jamesian folk horror is, if anything, even harder than defining folk horror. As some sort of guide, here's my list of stories by M.R. James himself which (in my opinion) are either solidly folk horror or at least have folk horror aspects. Some inclusions are more controversial than others, I know! "After Dark in the Playing Fields" "The Ash-Tree" "Count Magnus" "An Evening's Entertainment" "The Fenstanton Witch" "Martin's Close" "The Mezzotint" "Mr Humphreys and His Inheritance" "A Neighbour's Landmark" "Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad" "Rats" "The Residence at Whitminster" "The Rose Garden" "The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral" "Two Doctors" "A View from a Hill" "A Vignette" "Wailing Well" "A Warning to the Curious" "John Humphreys" (unfinished draft)
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Post by ropardoe on Jan 3, 2018 14:00:44 GMT
The contents of A Ghosts & Scholars Book of Folk Horror are all in now. On word count, the book is more or less equally divided between the G&S reprints and the brand new Jamesian stories (well, I think they're all Jamesian!); but on number of stories, there are ten reprints and seven new ones.
I think it's a very good line-up: Ramsey Campbell, Michael Chislett, Kay Fletcher, Chico Kidd, Terry Lamsley, Jacqueline Simpson, Philip Thompson, Carole Tyrrell, Geoffrey Warburton, C.E. Ward, Gail-Nina Anderson, Helen Grant, Tom Johnstone, Christopher Harman, John Llewellyn Probert, David A. Sutton, and S.A. Rennie. The book is scheduled to be published by Sarob around September.
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Post by ripper on Jan 9, 2018 12:27:58 GMT
The contents of A Ghosts & Scholars Book of Folk Horror are all in now. On word count, the book is more or less equally divided between the G&S reprints and the brand new Jamesian stories (well, I think they're all Jamesian!); but on number of stories, there are ten reprints and seven new ones. I think it's a very good line-up: Ramsey Campbell, Michael Chislett, Kay Fletcher, Chico Kidd, Terry Lamsley, Jacqueline Simpson, Philip Thompson, Carole Tyrrell, Geoffrey Warburton, C.E. Ward, Gail-Nina Anderson, Helen Grant, Tom Johnstone, Christopher Harman, John Llewellyn Probert, David A. Sutton, and S.A. Rennie. The book is scheduled to be published by Sarob around September. That's a strong line-up for the forthcoming book. I agree about sinister snowmen. There's something very creepy about them, even the annual screening of the animated "The Snowman" has its potentially unnerving elements.
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Post by mrhappy on Jan 30, 2018 5:51:13 GMT
The contents of A Ghosts & Scholars Book of Folk Horror are all in now. On word count, the book is more or less equally divided between the G&S reprints and the brand new Jamesian stories (well, I think they're all Jamesian!); but on number of stories, there are ten reprints and seven new ones. I think it's a very good line-up: Ramsey Campbell, Michael Chislett, Kay Fletcher, Chico Kidd, Terry Lamsley, Jacqueline Simpson, Philip Thompson, Carole Tyrrell, Geoffrey Warburton, C.E. Ward, Gail-Nina Anderson, Helen Grant, Tom Johnstone, Christopher Harman, John Llewellyn Probert, David A. Sutton, and S.A. Rennie. The book is scheduled to be published by Sarob around September. Is the C.E. Ward story an original or a reprint? The Spinney, perhaps? BTW, this is an amazing line-up. I could have already read all ten of the reprints and, with any combinations of the aforementioned authors, the seven remaining new stories would make this book worth picking up. It is that strong of a list. Mr. Happy
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Post by ropardoe on Jan 30, 2018 9:16:01 GMT
The contents of A Ghosts & Scholars Book of Folk Horror are all in now. On word count, the book is more or less equally divided between the G&S reprints and the brand new Jamesian stories (well, I think they're all Jamesian!); but on number of stories, there are ten reprints and seven new ones. I think it's a very good line-up: Ramsey Campbell, Michael Chislett, Kay Fletcher, Chico Kidd, Terry Lamsley, Jacqueline Simpson, Philip Thompson, Carole Tyrrell, Geoffrey Warburton, C.E. Ward, Gail-Nina Anderson, Helen Grant, Tom Johnstone, Christopher Harman, John Llewellyn Probert, David A. Sutton, and S.A. Rennie. The book is scheduled to be published by Sarob around September. Is the C.E. Ward story an original or a reprint? The Spinney, perhaps? BTW, this is an amazing line-up. I could have already read all ten of the reprints and, with any combinations of the aforementioned authors, the seven remaining new stories would make this book worth picking up. It is that strong of a list. Mr. Happy Yes, it is a reprint, and yes, it is "The Spinney". This was the first Jamesian story which Clive ever wrote and it was an entry for a Ghost Story Society competition. I was one of the judges and I voted it among the top tales, but the other judges disagreed so it wasn't in the winning three which got published in All Hallows. Naturally I then grabbed it for G&S and it was the start of G&S's long history with Clive. It's still a favourite of mine. I'm a sucker for a good supernatural chase, and this is a great example. The new stories in the book are by the final seven authors on the above list, starting with Gail-Nina.
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Post by jamesdoig on Jan 30, 2018 19:59:12 GMT
I think it's a very good line-up: Ramsey Campbell, Michael Chislett, Kay Fletcher, Chico Kidd, Terry Lamsley, Jacqueline Simpson, Philip Thompson, Carole Tyrrell, Geoffrey Warburton, C.E. Ward, Gail-Nina Anderson, Helen Grant, Tom Johnstone, Christopher Harman, John Llewellyn Probert, David A. Sutton, and S.A. Rennie. The book is scheduled to be published by Sarob around September. That's a stellar line up!
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Post by ropardoe on Aug 5, 2018 15:46:18 GMT
I think it's a very good line-up: Ramsey Campbell, Michael Chislett, Kay Fletcher, Chico Kidd, Terry Lamsley, Jacqueline Simpson, Philip Thompson, Carole Tyrrell, Geoffrey Warburton, C.E. Ward, Gail-Nina Anderson, Helen Grant, Tom Johnstone, Christopher Harman, John Llewellyn Probert, David A. Sutton, and S.A. Rennie. The book is scheduled to be published by Sarob around September. That's a stellar line up! The announcement for it is just up on the Sarob site (http://sarobpress.blogspot.com). I haven't actually read it yet (the announcement - not the book!). I'll be back shortly if there's anything to add!
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Post by Michael Connolly on Aug 6, 2018 11:25:17 GMT
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Post by mcannon on Aug 6, 2018 12:13:48 GMT
I'm glad that I'm not the only one with a filthy imagination. Will copies be mailed out in plain brown wrappers? Mark
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Post by ropardoe on Sept 19, 2018 15:16:53 GMT
I'm glad that I'm not the only one with a filthy imagination. Will copies be mailed out in plain brown wrappers? Mark There's announcement on the Sarob site that the book is now out and will be mailed shortly. Only a dozen copies left. I see I haven't commented on the cover yet: believe me, I was the first to note this and I did mention it to Rob but we agreed that it probably wasn't a problem (who knows - maybe it's the reason the book has sold so quickly!!).
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mauricebendrix
Crab On The Rampage
The Patron Saint of Envy and the Grocer of Despair
Posts: 40
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Post by mauricebendrix on Sept 27, 2018 3:31:14 GMT
Yes, it is a reprint, and yes, it is "The Spinney". This was the first Jamesian story which Clive ever wrote and it was an entry for a Ghost Story Society competition. I was one of the judges and I voted it among the top tales, but the other judges disagreed so it wasn't in the winning three which got published in All Hallows. Naturally I then grabbed it for G&S and it was the start of G&S's long history with Clive. It's still a favourite of mine. I'm a sucker for a good supernatural chase, and this is a great example. The new stories in the book are by the final seven authors on the above list, starting with Gail-Nina. Out of interest, do you remember the three winners, Rosemary? I read the Ward story last night and utterly loved it.
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