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Post by dem on Apr 23, 2017 18:08:30 GMT
Peter Haining – Supernatural Sleuths: Stories Of Occult Investigators (William Kimber, 1986) Peter Haining - Introduction
Mark Lemon – The Ghost Detective
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – Selecting a Ghost
E. and H. Heron – The Story of the Moor Road
Algernon Blackwood – A Victim of Higher Space
Sax Rohmer – Case of the Haunting of Grange
Henry A. Hering – The Telepather
Seabury Quinn – The Poltergeist
Gordon MacCreagh – The Sinister Shape
Gordon Hillman – Panic in Wild Harbor
Margery Lawrence – The Case of the Bronze Door
Dennis Wheatley – The Case of the Red-Headed Women
Joseph Payne Brennan – Apparition in the Sun Blurb: Top fantasy writers of the last one hundred years have been drawing inspiration from the bizarre experiences of people who dedicate themselves to battling against the supernatural and putting ghosts in their place. The best of these stories are now brought together in one volume.With the notable exception of Hallowe'en Hauntings, have rarely been much enthused by those of Peter Haining's William Kimber anthologies to come my way, the dreary Christmas Spirits being a particular disappointment. Impressive line-up suggests Supernatural Sleuths means business should you stick around beyond Mark Lemon's The Ghost Detective which, for all of it's historical significance - "the earliest story which has been traced featuring spirit detection" according to the editor - isn't particularly thrilling. Wheatley's The Case Of The Red Headed Woman also appears in Michel Parry's The Supernatural Solution which almost certainly provided the inspiration for this collection (Peter also cites the phenomenal box office success of Ghostbusters).
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Post by dem on Apr 28, 2017 18:41:31 GMT
Arthur Conan Doyle - Selecting A Ghost: The Ghosts of Goresthorpe Grange: ( London Society, Dec. 1883). First read this story in E. F. Bleiler's Best Supernatural Tales Of Arthur Conan Doyle during intense F*** YOUR F***ING COMEDY phase and detested the thing out of duty. Second time around and it's absolutely delightful if, admittedly, not entirely suited to a selection of Psychic Sleuth stories. Silas 'Argentine' D'odd is annoyed that his recently acquired feudal mansion is bereft of ghost, an inadequacy made all the more galling by the fact that his uncultured neighbour, Jorrocks of Havistock farm, is blessed with the most terrific, well-authenticated gibbering phantom of a beauty who sit her throat on learning of loverboy's death on the battlefield at Dettingen. Matilda D'odd hits on the solution, "We must have a ghost sent down from London," and sets her wheeler-dealer cousin, Jack Brocket, to finding a specialist in such matters. Evidently he does as a Mr. Abrahams calls at Goresthorpe Grange armed with a massive toolbag and a glowing endorsement from "the young gent in the bar at the Lame Dog." There are some in the trade might try palm the D'odd's off with any old ghost, but not this fellow. Once Mr. Abrahams has made a few necessary preparations, Silas can take his pick from a procession of the most lurid spectres outside the pages of a Penny Dreadful!  Hugh Rankin: ( Weird Tales, Oct. 1927). "Behold my work, foolish man, behold my mastery! Fool that you are, to try to take mine from me! Today I shall make this woman a scandal and disgrace, and tonight I shall require her life. Ai, ai, ai-ee!" The latest tough assignment for Jules de Grandin almost costs him his life at the very first hurdle! Beautiful cousins Julia Loudon and Anna Wassilko vie for the love of dashing young Lieutenant Robert Proudfit. When Anna loses out she drowns herself, leaving a note reminding Julia of their suicide pact. That same rainy night, Julia thoughtlessly opens a window to invite a struggling bat in from the cold ... Six months on and the physician has yet to be born can diagnose Julia's terrifying condition, let alone halt her rapid decline. The bride-to-be is frequently beset by seizures to the accompaniment of spectral laughter, flying furniture and weaponry, and an unholy din (to Dr. Trowbridge's ears "a perfect pandemonium of cacophonous dissonances, like the braying of half a dozen jazz bands suddenly gone crazy"). Fears that she is demoniacally possessed intensify when the letters D-R-A-C-U are carved into her arm by phantom claw. It's like something out of The Exorcist! Is there no hope? What can it all mean? Admittedly the final confrontation and de Grandin's Poundland anti-Poltergeist kit are a little underwhelming, but there's no question Seabury Quinn puts his all into the story - e.g., gratuitous nudity, gloating sadism, a nurse in bondage. It still wasn't enough to displace Nictzin Dyalhis from the cover.
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Post by dem on May 7, 2017 10:45:40 GMT
Joseph Payne Brennan - Apparition in the Sun: ( Macabre #13, Summer 1963). Personal pick of the stories to date. The old tower adjoining Mrs. Woolmore's house on Prospect Street is reputedly haunted by something "blind, twisted and horrible" which comes and goes with the sunlight. Lucius Leffing's research lays bare a tragic family secret. Possibly a first attempt at The Horror at Chilton Castle which was published the same year. Mark Lemon - The Ghost Detective: ( The London Journal, Christmas, 1866). Wrongly convicted of embezzlement, James Loxley is sentenced to transportation for life. As Loxley is shipped off to Australia, his spirit returns home to comfort wife Martha and seek the evidence which will clear his name. Confronted by the ghost of a living man, the guilty party crumples. Narrator Carraway's spasms of misogyny provide unintentional comic relief but otherwise very dull. Story also appears in Richard Dalby's Ghosts For Christmas.
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Post by dem on May 12, 2017 17:48:45 GMT
Sax Rohmer – Case of the Haunting of Grange: (The New Magazine, Dec. 1913). Moris Klaw, Wapping-based antique dealer by day, 'dream detective' by night, investigates a double-haunting at Sir James Leyland's ancestral home. If long term resident spook 'the Grey Monk' is fairly unobtrusive, this latest manifestation - sporadic outbursts of phantom laughter at an intolerable decibel level - is outrage too far. Klaw and regulation beautiful daughter Isis do their thing (i.e. fall asleep at various haunted hotspots about the house, better to tune into the psychic vibes), in Klaw's case all too successfully; the evil presence near kills him. Feigning defeat, Moris recommends Sir James relocate to Friar's house without delay. If his suspicions are correct, the murderous 'phantom' will follow.
Denouement is meh to a modern audience, but it's a thrill ride getting there.
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elricc
Devils Coach Horse
Posts: 100
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Post by elricc on May 12, 2017 20:45:22 GMT
I love the Morris Klaw stories, would love to see them televised! all Edwardian pomp, Ian McKellen as Morris hamming it up. I found the book when I was a kid in a junk shop in Greenwich, been a fan ever since
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Post by helrunar on May 12, 2017 22:03:31 GMT
Glad you enjoyed The Dream Detective, Elricc. I don't know why nothing by Sax Rohmer ever seems to have been adapted for series such as Rivals of Sherlock Holmes or any of the numerous mystery, thriller and supernatural themed anthology series. I'm wondering if Harry Alan Towers had bought more than just the rights to Sumuru and Fu Manchu from Mrs. Rohmer back in the early 1960s.
I first read The Dream Detective as a teenager and read it again a couple of years ago. Some changes would have to be made for film or television now due to some of the more egregiously racist material.
cheers, H.
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elricc
Devils Coach Horse
Posts: 100
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Post by elricc on May 13, 2017 8:54:27 GMT
Glad you enjoyed The Dream Detective, Elricc. I don't know why nothing by Sax Rohmer ever seems to have been adapted for series such as Rivals of Sherlock Holmes or any of the numerous mystery, thriller and supernatural themed anthology series. I'm wondering if Harry Alan Towers had bought more than just the rights to Sumuru and Fu Manchu from Mrs. Rohmer back in the early 1960s. I first read The Dream Detective as a teenager and read it again a couple of years ago. Some changes would have to be made for film or television now due to some of the more egregiously racist material. cheers, H. I think if I came to it now I wouldn't be such a fan, but I have fond memories of reading it, a dusty old book found in a junk shop about a dream detective !, and didn't see the obnoxious parts, as with many books it's a product of it's times. I imagine in the future people will read with distaste how we treat women in today's fiction. Laura |
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Post by Dr Terror on May 13, 2017 14:00:26 GMT
Please elaborate.
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elricc
Devils Coach Horse
Posts: 100
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Post by elricc on May 13, 2017 15:10:40 GMT
Fifty shades of Grey says it all really
Covers with semi naked woman etc etc
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Post by cromagnonman on May 14, 2017 9:15:30 GMT
Fifty shades of Grey says it all really Covers with semi naked woman etc etc Not saying that this isn't the ideal forum to park a feminist soapbox in. Everyone's entitled....and all that etc etc But you might want to think about giving the Phwoar thread a miss. |
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elricc
Devils Coach Horse
Posts: 100
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Post by elricc on May 14, 2017 10:49:41 GMT
Thanks for your suggestion, wouldn't want my poor little brain exercised, i need to wash the dishes and spend a few hours making myself pretty  I have a lot to do with a tattoo magazine and when we took females from the front cover sales dropped by 60%, made me feel very grubby about who was buying the mag and what happened to the front cover |
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Post by cromagnonman on May 14, 2017 15:24:53 GMT
Thanks for your suggestion, wouldn't want my poor little brain exercised, i need to wash the dishes and spend a few hours making myself pretty I have a lot to do with a tattoo magazine and when we took females from the front cover sales dropped by 60%, made me feel very grubby about who was buying the mag and what happened to the front cover Why is it that feminists automatically assume that if a man has the temerity to contest their agenda of endless grievance then, by implication, he must be an unreconstructed knuckle scraping misogynist? There was nothing in what I said to give you cause to misattribute me such patronising sentiments. If you're looking for evidence of chauvinism at work here then you could start by looking somewhat closer to home . I don't think the 50 Shades franchise is really the best example to demonstrate the supposed cultural subjection and objectification of women by an inherently sexist society, do you: a highly lucrative film made by a woman based upon a phenomenally successful book by another woman made enormously wealthy by the patronage of untold millions of female readers. Unless of course each and every one of them is somehow complicit in the betrayal of the values of the universal sorority by tailoring commercial success out of the presumed male fantasy of female self subservience. If that is the case then whom is really exploiting whom? And if it isn't then it just goes to show that commercial success isn't always commensurate with or sympathetic to personal principles. Which one you end up serving says as much about you as it does about them. |
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on May 14, 2017 15:47:40 GMT
Why is it that feminists automatically assume that if a man has the temerity to contest their agenda of endless grievance then, by implication, he must be an unreconstructed knuckle scraping misogynist? Come on! We can all see you in your avatar. |
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Post by cromagnonman on May 14, 2017 17:28:28 GMT
Why is it that feminists automatically assume that if a man has the temerity to contest their agenda of endless grievance then, by implication, he must be an unreconstructed knuckle scraping misogynist? Come on! We can all see you in your avatar. I might be from the Stone Age, but I'm no Neanderthal. Can Dem have his thread back now? |
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Post by andydecker on May 14, 2017 18:52:07 GMT
Fifty shades of Grey says it all really Covers with semi naked woman etc etc I know this is off-topic, but I really have to answer to this.  No, it doesn't. It is indeed the worst example there can be. Half-baked wannabe porn far removed from reality, written by a woman. In the last 50 years the portrayal of women in popular fiction has changed about 180 degrees. From the damsel in distress who has to be chaperoned to the ass-kicking heroine, who is the aggressor. The whole sub-genre of Paranormal Romance is virtually grounded on the concept of the heroine being as powerful or even more as Nayland Smith couldn't ever dream of. The same can be said of the crime novel. In the mainstream the concept of the male only tough cop or P.I. is as good as extinct in contemporary crime novels. And as terrible 50 Shades is, it is a good thing that erotic literature has become a part of the mainstream instead of being a reason for prosecution. As far as coverart is concerned, I have to say that there is nothing wrong with scantily clad – or nude – woman on a appropriate titel. I don't buy the dogma that each and every deciption of not clothed woman is sexist per default. On the other hand this topic is moot. You won't find those covers anymore. Not even in lesser prude european productions. Personally I think that this mindset who sees a nipple on a cover as an unspeakable thing is as hypocritical as is possible. I will never understand why parts of our society are so keen to throw bitterly fought over and hard won cultural freedoms freely in the trash. Who can seriously want to have things like the Hank Janson trial back? |
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No, it doesn't. It is indeed the worst example there can be. Half-baked wannabe porn far removed from reality, written by a woman.