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Post by dem bones on Apr 20, 2017 15:58:05 GMT
Charles L. Grant (ed.) - Shadows 7 (Berkley, 1987: originally Doubleday, 1984) Prieto Muriana Charles L. Grant - Introduction Joseph Payne Brennan - Mrs. Clendon's Place Michael Cassutt - Stillwater, 1896 Susan Casper - The Haunting Earl Godwin - Daddy Ramsey Campbell - Seeing the World Tanith Lee - Three Days Jack C. Haldeman II - Still Frame Dennis Etchison - Talking in the Dark Parke Godwin - A Matter of Taste Chelsea Quinn Yarbro - Do Not Forsake Me, O My Darlin' Jere Cunningham - Decoys Melissa Mia Hall - Rapture David Morrell - The Storm Alan Ryan - I Shall Not Leave England Now Blurb: WARNING!
You, the reader, are hereby advised that exposure to SHADOWS 7 can lead to stark, unrelenting terror. Symptoms include:
A hot, sticky rush of pulsating blood through major arteries of the body.
An electrifying chill that paralyses the spinal cord.
An all-consuming fear of unseen horrors, lurking in every shadow, preparing to dismember their victims in a single grisly embrace.
And - in extreme cases - death by fright.
The publisher assumes no responsibility for the bone-chilling effects of SHADOWS 7 .
Because we're scared, too ....
DON'T SAY WE DIDN'T WARN YOU!Not sure I've experienced death by fright reading one of these, but beginning a Shadows can be daunting. Quiet horror I can handle, but silent spot-the-terror brain-strainers drive me bats and CLG's anthologies invariably offer examples of both. Must say that volume 7 gets off on the right note with that Frankenmummy cover painting and the opening line of Charles L. Grant's introduction. "Nostalgia, by its nature being often sweet, has a way of taking the sting out of how really miserable things used to be." Then come these beauties. Alan Ryan - I Shall Not Leave England Now: "He explained quickly that all one had to do was select a book, open it at the passage desired, place the open book in the showcase and lower the glass cover into place. That was all. Instantly, one was transported to the scene described in the open pages of the book."How's that for a premise? Should you ever find such a contraption, don't tell a Ripperologist. Your life won't be worth living. Following the death of his beloved wife of forty years, the narrator quits the States to take up residence at a bed & breakfast in Bedford Way, Russell Square. Our man soon strikes up a friendship with Robert Clairthorpe, aged proprietor of a dark and dusty bookshop on Little Russell Street, who shares his passion for fantasy fiction of darker bent. Clairthorpe introduces him to the miracle showcase he inherited from the previous owner who mysteriously disappeared. He's only dared use it twice - to visit relatively innocuous scenes from The Pickwick Papers and The Monk, the latter experience proving so traumatic as to curb his his adventurous streak ... until now. The pair resolve to invade an episode of Bram Stoker's Dracula .... Ramsey Campbell - Seeing The World: Dark day for Anne and Richard. Dear Christ, but the next door neighbours are back from their fortnight in Italy. Not being unkind, but why couldn't their plane crash? Bad enough when laugh-a-minute Harry Hodge invited them over for the evening, but now he's set up a slide projector for the 'live from the Catacombs' premier. Just keep reminding yourself they're only tedious, out of focus holiday snaps .... Dennis Etchison - Talking In The Dark: MISANTHROPIC HORROR AUTHOR versus SLIMY "I'm your number one" FAN. Only one of whom will survive the meeting. You might like to get in a bag of popcorn for this one.
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Post by andydecker on Apr 20, 2017 20:31:02 GMT
Charles L. Grant - Introduction Joseph Payne Brennan - Mrs. Clendon's Place Michael Cassutt - Stillwater, 1896 Susan Casper - The Haunting Earl Godwin - Daddy Ramsey Campbell - Seeing the World Tanith Lee - Three Days Jack C. Haldeman II - Still Frame Dennis Etchison - Talking in the Dark Parke Godwin - A Matter of Taste Chelsea Quinn Yarbro - Do Not Forsake Me, O My Darlin' Jere Cunningham - Decoys Melissa Mia Hall - Rapture David Morrell - The Storm Alan Ryan - I Shall Not Leave England Now Depressing line-up. Most of these writers are either dead or not published any more.
I liked Grant, even collected him for a while. But when I tried to re-read him, I just couldn't get into the novel, one of the Oxrun series.
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Post by ohthehorror on Apr 21, 2017 23:07:56 GMT
I loved his Oxrun novels, or the three I've read anyway. This thread had me looking back at my goodreads review of them and my memory has served me well for once, I loved all three. Here's the three I've read,
The Soft Whisper of the Dead The Dark Cry of the Moon The Long Night of the Grave
I gave the first one 5 out of 5 stars, and the following two 4 out of 5. I absolutely gushed over the first one. Apparently it changed my life...
I may have to read that one again then. I've never read any of his short stories as far as I can remember though. And goodreads is no good to me here either since it discriminates against short stories. GRRRRRRrrrrrr......
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Post by dem bones on May 23, 2017 8:40:02 GMT
Graveyard ghouls, malicious death notices, and the ultimate in squelchy sex sessions. Six stories in and this is already the loudest quiet horror anthology in living memory. Earl Godwin - Daddy: Narrator is picked up by a woman in a bar who invites herself back to his apartment. After a joyless few seconds of perfunctory sex she announces herself pregnant and putrefies even as he's delivering their child. The state of those sheets ... Within hours this daughter is a fully mature, extremely attractive young woman craving her Daddy's love. Parke Godwin - A Matter of Taste: Addison Solebury, gourmet, seeks female equivalent for romance and Olympic standard fine dining. It's a tough ask, but pleasantly plump Pristine Solent ticks all his boxes ... until that fateful last date in the graveyard. Chelsea Quinn Yarbro - Do Not Forsake Me, O My Darlin': Benedict Turner's promotion to vice president coincides with the suicide of his unpopular predecessor and a string of sick obituary notices advising that he will die horribly ten days from today. Very effective. Lack of Le Comte de Saint-Germain participation is, as ever, a definite bonus. I loved his Oxrun novels, or the three I've read anyway. This thread had me looking back at my goodreads review of them and my memory has served me well for once, I loved all three. Here's the three I've read, The Soft Whisper of the DeadThe Dark Cry of the MoonThe Long Night of the GraveI gave the first one 5 out of 5 stars, and the following two 4 out of 5. I absolutely gushed over the first one. Apparently it changed my life... I may have to read that one again then. I've never read any of his short stories as far as I can remember though. And goodreads is no good to me here either since it discriminates against short stories. GRRRRRRrrrrrr...... This one should appeal. Charles L. Grant - Tales From The Nightside (Futura, 1988) Stephen King - Foreword
Tales From Oxrun Station Coin Of The Realm Old Friends Home If Damon Comes Night Of Dark Intent
Tales From Hawthorne Street The Gentle Passing Of A Hand When all Children Call my Name Needle Song Something There Is
Tales From The Nightside Come Dance With me On My Pony's Grave The Thing Of Tens Digging The Key To English From All The Fields Of Hail And Fire White Wolf CallingBlurb: Hauntings and enchantments, elegies of the macabre, dim-lit excursions beyond the bounds of reality - here are fifteen subtle tales of terror.
A toll road lures wayfarers into another dimension ..... A mysterious white wolf appears as s a portent of doom .. An aged seamstress holds, in her needle, dominion over life and death ...
A bizarre world of dark fantasy awaits, strangely, horribly compelling. From the demon-cursed town of Oxrun Station to the terrifying byways of Hawthorne Street, prepare for fear as you enter the nightside ...
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Post by dem bones on Jun 13, 2017 17:15:13 GMT
David Morrell - The Storm: Why it's never a good idea to provoke a Native American witchdoctor when he's performing a rain dance. The resulting storm defies all the laws of meteorology, follows the offending big mouthed tourist wherever he goes.
Melissa Mia Hall - Rapture: David takes to stalking the woman - Willo aka Lara aka Christine - until he's sure that she is what he hopes she is. Willo aka Lara aka Christine sure has a lot of one night stands. They're never seen again.
Jack C. Haldeman II - Still Frame: Robert Whitten has a morbid fear of the sick and elderly but without their involuntary input he'd not be a wealthy photographer of international renown. His first book, Street People, was a Christmas best seller and work is progressing on companion volume, Ancient Eyes. All is well until he photographs the dying Mr. Freeman at the Hillside Nursing Home .... Michael Cassutt - Stillwater, 1896: John Jeremy has an uncanny talent for locating and recovering the corpses of the drowned from the River St. Croix. Pa treats the ragged stranger as though he were the devil himself which is pretty much the verdict of everyone in town, but little Peter gets along with him just fine. Comes the day when Peter's big brother Dolph is thrown into the water after an accident at the sawmill ....
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