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Post by helrunar on Aug 16, 2017 1:05:15 GMT
Oh, the other fun thing about that dramatization is that the actress who played the old landlady (who had one scene that lasted all of maybe half a page in the original story) had such an extraordinary witch's cackle that they kept having her repeat it at random moments, while the organ swelled ominously.
Now that's entertainment.
cheers, H.
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Post by dem bones on Aug 16, 2017 7:32:26 GMT
H. You misjudge me!! D.K. Broster in on the James List for a couple of her stories including "Couching at the Door", which I consider to be a classic. None of her other tales are quite up to the same standard but several are pretty good. Clairvoyance does it for me. Just in case anyone is unaware, back in 2007, Wordsworth published a selection of her stories as Couching At The Door as part of the much appreciated, budger friendly (£2.99 a shot) Mystery & Imagination series.
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Post by ropardoe on Aug 16, 2017 8:14:41 GMT
H. You misjudge me!! D.K. Broster in on the James List for a couple of her stories including "Couching at the Door", which I consider to be a classic. None of her other tales are quite up to the same standard but several are pretty good. Clairvoyance does it for me. Just in case anyone is unaware, back in 2007, Wordsworth published a selection of her stories as Couching At The Door as part of the much appreciated, budger friendly (£2.99 a shot) Mystery & Imagination series. "Juggernaut" is the one that sticks in my mind, that and "The Pestering".
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Post by jamesdoig on Aug 16, 2017 8:55:54 GMT
that and "The Pestering".[/quote] That's a story about my bloody kids.
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Post by dem bones on Aug 16, 2017 9:21:31 GMT
"Juggernaut" is the one that sticks in my mind, that and "The Pestering". Yet another collection I have either yet to finish or didn't provide notes for - almost certainly the former as The Pestering is drawing a blank. Had a good time with Juggernaut. The James Gang annotated biblio lists The Window alongside Couching At The Door although the commentary advises "Both only very marginally Jamesian"
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Post by Swampirella on Aug 16, 2017 23:43:48 GMT
I listened to about two-thirds of the audio version on Youtube before remembering I'd read the story in some anthology . Turned out to be Mary Danby's "65 Great Tales of the Supernatural". A fine story, wherever you may find it.
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Post by helrunar on Aug 17, 2017 14:45:17 GMT
Theodore Sturgeon - "A way of thinking," in some ways is the odd tale out in this collection. It's written--very successfully--in the American "hard-boiled" style, and spends a lot of time on a character study. When the black magic angle comes in, it's chillingly plausible. But the story did not much agree with me--purely a matter of temperament; taste, after all, is subjective. Which is why I find these endless "best 10/20/50/100" lists so pointlessly wearying. I do feel obliged to mention that the Sturgeon yarn is pretty aggressively misogynistic. But this reflects the attitudes and behavior of the seamen who are the main characters. And it presents them, I think accurately, as they were in those days.
H.
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Post by helrunar on Aug 26, 2017 22:36:55 GMT
I finished up with this volume around two weeks ago now. This time around, I decided to skip the long tale from the Ingoldsby Legends, which I recall Rider Haggard mentioning somewhere as one of his favorite books. It's been more or less completely forgotten since sometime early in the 20th century.
Dennis Wheatley - "The Snake" -- interesting to me since I have read very little Wheatley. Perhaps surprising given my interests. My impression from film versions of his works is that he anticipated Miss Anne Rice in figuring nobody in the great reading public would care much if he simply made up his own occult lore rather than spending a lot of time researching the real thing. (William Hope Hodgson did this sort of invention from whole cloth with great flair, I thought, in his Carnacki tales.)
Now I had a very odd experience concerning "The Snake." I suppose it's only noteworthy from the perspective of someone tottering into later middle age monitoring the peculiarities of increasingly abbreviated short term memory. Anyhow, I remember starting this story a few months back. And what I recall from that earlier attempt was that two men were walking and one of them took fright and had a kind of attack. It was because they were about to walk through a wooded pathway and there were some hanging creepers or foliage that made the friend think that something long and thing hanging from a treat might be a snake. The other man asks why he was so alarmed and the first one offers to tell him a story... I think I put the book aside at that point because the smell of the mothballs was bothering me, and I determined to put the book into the new "stinky book box."
Well, when I finally got around to starting the story again a few weeks ago, it proved to be a completely different narrative, one involving an evil old Witch doctor in Africa who got his revenge through some unnerving juju he practiced with the aid of an elaborately carved walking-stick. The "black magic" is actually the same as a form of ancient Egyptian sorcery mentioned in the Old Testament and eventually found to occur in ancient Egyptian magical tales as well. It's an effective little yarn, and is mentioned by John Keir Cross as having been the very first story Wheatley ever published. Despite the colonial setting, I hesitate to call it racist since the whites are if anything even more disreputable than their African antagonists--but, if you read fiction in this genre published from an earlier age, you know what to expect.
My presumption is that I confused this story with one in another book but initially, the sensation I experienced was quite disconcerting... and rather creepy.
J. K. Huysmans "The Black Mass" from Là-bas - This was purportedly based upon an actual Black Mass enacted in a deconsecrated chapel in Paris witnessed by Huysmans in his adventures. One may presume that this book influenced Dennis Wheatley's Satanic confections. The behavior described is attributable to the documented reactions of people exposed to the fumes of psychotropic drugs mentioned, notably datura (thorn-apple), henbane, and deadly nightshade. I found the writing clinical and lacking in atmosphere and artistry. JKC's own "Envoi" which follows at the end of the volume actually managed to achieve a more disturbing impact with far more modest means.
JKC died in 1967, aged 52 or 53, and so far as I can determine did not do a second volume of black magic stories for Faber.
H.
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Post by Dr Strange on Aug 27, 2017 11:34:00 GMT
Dennis Wheatley - My impression from film versions of his works is that he anticipated Miss Anne Rice in figuring nobody in the great reading public would care much if he simply made up his own occult lore rather than spending a lot of time researching the real thing. H. I'm not sure that is entirely fair - he certainly claimed to have consulted "real" occultists in his research (including Crowley), and he seemed to have had a genuine friendship with Rollo Ahmed. You might find this interesting (in fact the whole site is pretty interesting, though I am not a particular fan of Wheatley either) - www.denniswheatley.info/museum/room.asp?id=7
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Post by helrunar on Aug 27, 2017 13:29:57 GMT
Thanks for that link, Dr Strange. That's very interesting. Rollo Ahmed is such an intriguing figure. And both Crowley and Summers were very complicated people, to say the least.
I just love it when I learn something along the lines of "Tom Driberg lived in Queens Gate." Sometimes, fact does nearly trump fiction.
The story about Crowley invoking Pan as told on a page linked from the reference you provided (I think it must be a passage from Dennis Wheatley's memoirs?) is complete moonshine, from my own knowledge of Crowley's life. Crowley's diaries from the period after he was expelled from Italy (in 1923) have been published. He was pretty ill at that point and spent a lot of time receiving various visitors he tried to persuade to give him money. As I recall it, he started working on his autobiography (or "autohagiography" as he fancifully titled it) at that time, and I remember references to work on the Qabalah. Crowley and his disciple Victor Neuberg did perform a celebrated series of rituals, the "Paris Working," in 1913. These were sexual rites, elaborately scripted, but from a study of the surviving MSS found among Crowley's papers (once carefully guarded--now the transcription is all over the internet) it appears that the point of the whole operation was something along the lines of: "Tell me, dear Jupiter--is the cheque really in the mail?"
I actually don't have any opinion one way or the other about Wheatley--I've read too little of his work to form an opinion. It's unfair that my views on his knowledge of the occult were based upon viewing the Hammer films The Devil Rides Out and To the Devil, a Daughter. I enjoy the films as exercises in barnstorming theatre, but as expositions of the occult, I'm afraid I laughed my head off at both.
Thanks again!
cheers, H.
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Post by Dr Strange on Aug 27, 2017 14:33:19 GMT
Yes, I think Wheatley's memoirs were called Drink and Ink. Since we are on the topic of film representations of "high magic", I watched recent Irish film A Dark Song the other week. Truth is, I will need to watch it again before deciding if it really is any good or not - but they seem to have taken their research pretty seriously. It is basically a two-hander, with most of the film taken up with conversations between the two characters, until things eventually get very weird in the last third or so. The occultist is very obviously meant to be a sort of modern-day Crowley, just at the time when it is all starting to seriously fall apart for him. Here's the trailer - www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvQ2ClKbRcU
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Post by dem bones on Aug 27, 2017 14:41:54 GMT
Dennis Wheatley - Gunmen, Gallants And Ghosts (Arrow, 1979: originally Hutchinson, 1934) A Few Words From The Author
THE GHOST HUNTER
The Case of the Thing that Whimpered The Case of the Long Dead Lord The Case of the Red-Headed Woman The Case of the Haunted Château
OTHER STORIES OF THE OCCULT
A Life for a Life In The Fog The Snake
ARTICLES ON THE OCCULT
Voodoo Black Magic
MAINLY OF CROOKS AND WAR
Orchids On Monday Special Leave In The Underground When The Reds Seized The City Of Gold The Born Actor
OTHER WRITINGS
The Deserving Poor Love Trap The Sideboard The Fugitive King (from Old Rowley. A Very Private Life Of Charles II) The Red VerDum (The First Siege Of Stalingrad: From Red EagleBlurb Demons, witches, crooks, spies and kings .... Dennis Wheatley has long been regarded as one of the most compelling authors of modern times - a reputation he owes as much to his passion for accurate detail as to his unerring instinct for plot and character. This collection is a treasury of Wheatley's genius: scholarship that rivals imagination, fiction challenged by even stranger fact.The 'Black Magic' essay in this one is a good read, not least for DW's famous account of his meeting with Montague Summers, upon whom he would later model the physical appearance of To the Devil - A Daughter's Canon Copely-Syle. "My wife and I went to stay at his house for a weekend. On the ceiling of our bedroom we found a score of enormous spiders. When I mentioned this, he replied only, 'I like spiders'; and in his garden my wife came upon the biggest toad she has ever seen. He tried to sell me a rare book. When I refused to buy it, I have never seen such malefic anger come into the eyes of any man. We made an excuse to leave on Sunday morning."It still amazes me that Wheatley and Sir Charles Birkin seemingly remained great pals throughout their lives. Wheatley was certainly responsible for persuading Sir Charles to return to the horror field after a quarter of a century's absence when he invited him to contribute to the Shafts Of Fear and Quiver Of Horror anthologies. Am very grateful to him for that! Dr Strange; just in case you were unaware, the Wheatley info site & forum were instigated by the late, great Bob 'The Duke' Rothwell, a total Vault legend.
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Post by helrunar on Aug 27, 2017 17:07:17 GMT
That's a very cool cover and selection, Dem. Thanks for this.
I was very surprised to learn, upon reading a longish review essay about a biography of Dennis Wheatley in the TLS a few years ago, that very little of DW's output was in the weird occult horror genre. I had a cousin back in the early 70s who was a Wheatley fan and I loaned her my copy of They Found Atlantis, which was the only one of Wheatley's books I ever owned (I never actually managed to read it). A couple of years later I brought up the topic of Wheatley and she looked uncomfortable and said she'd gotten rid of all the books because she had decided they "weren't good for her." I was only around 16 and I recall being very surprised at such a superstitious reaction. Even then, I had decided that Wheatley's books were just harmless if rather florid fluff. I have no idea in retrospect why I thought that, and perhaps that early prejudice has led to my lack of interest in his work subsequently.
It's well known in horror film buff circles that Christopher Lee was friendly with DW, and wanted to film The Haunting of Toby Jugg with Hammer in the Seventies. However, the studio folded before the project could ever be properly considered for production.
Montague Summers--what a peculiar account of him from Wheatley. The "Reverend" Summers cultivated a deliberately mysterious persona, walking around London in what I recall having been a rather dolled-up cassock, large black hat, while carrying with him a huge black bound folio that most probably presumed was his pet grimoire. His memoirs, The Galanty Show are worth checking out from the library. A legitimate Catholic cleric, Father Brocard Sewell, who took an interest in various obscure literary byways we favor, wrote an engaging memoir of Summers. Most found him a rather shy but lively raconteur once they penetrated his camouflage Don't know what to say about Wheatley. Maybe he mistook an annoyed pout for signs of gathering stormclouds and an imminent hex? I do not want to commit the solecism of presuming that the great author may have been something of a "nervous nellie" around occultists--maybe he just enjoyed telling a good yarn, and who can blame him for that?
Also, thanks for mentioning The Dark Song, Dr Strange. Someone posted about that movie on a Folk Horror forum I'm on. It revolves apparently around a skittish attempt to perform the Abra-Melin ritual, another of the great bogies of modern occult lore--seems in reality to be a rather demanding and LONG exercise in kabbalistic mysticism. I have read that it takes ten months to a year to do the complete Working. Of course, the notion does make a great idea for a luridly told tale. And the film does look interesting, and well acted.
cheers, H.
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Post by dem bones on Aug 27, 2017 19:02:49 GMT
A couple of years later I brought up the topic of Wheatley and she looked uncomfortable and said she'd gotten rid of all the books because she had decided they "weren't good for her." Perhaps it wasn't the "Black Magic" content upset your cousin? The Snake is a model of restraint when compared with the rabid xenophobia, racism and Reds-under-the-beds hysteria unleashed in the 'Black Magic' novels (to date the only ones I've braved), Gateway To Hell being among my top ten most enjoyable really awful books. The Wheatley forum ran a poll to decide his absolute worst novel and the science fiction excursion, Star Of Ill-Omen romped it. Made a false start on that one a few years back - I really must get in shape for a rematch. For my money, Gunmen, Gallants & Ghosts isn't the greatest collection - I'm not sure DW wrote many short stories (too compact to include the all-important party political broadcasts and state of the nation addresses). The two essays and his running commentary throughout - surprisingly self-deprecating at times - provide the interest.
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Post by helrunar on Aug 27, 2017 20:04:58 GMT
Interesting to reflect on that, Dem. What I recall of the conversation is that her change of mind about Wheatley had to do with religious concerns, but racist language might have led to a more visceral level of distaste. She was only a few years older than myself and I always reacted with disgust to displays of race hatred and animadversion. I was in the first generation, I think, to attend desegregated schools, starting 1st grade in 1964.
I was looking at Wheatley's Wikipedia entry just now to see if there was any sign of his involvement in some of the British Nationalist parties or groups of mid 20th century. I didn't see that, although there is an anti-socialist "letter to posterity" quoted. The views expressed echo those of Simon Raven, which he expressed frequently in his novels.
It states that Haunting of Toby Jugg was filmed in 2006 under the title The Haunted Airman; first I recalling having heard of this.
H.
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