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Post by helrunar on May 13, 2018 20:14:11 GMT
Nice photo, and that looks impressive to me. I had never heard of the author. From the Wikipedia entry:
John Welcome in the Irish Times praised Blackburn's Blow The House Down as a "brilliant evocation of present-day stresses...more than a thriller, a contemporary novel and good one". Blackburn's novel Bury Him Darkly was included by horror historian Robert S. Hadji in his list of "unjustly neglected" horror novels for Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone Magazine. Frank Denton described Blackburn as "undoubtedly England's best practicing novelist in the tradition of the thriller/fantasy novel."[3] Hugh Lamb lauded Our Lady of Pain as "a tour de force version of the legend of the evil eye". Don D'Ammassa described Bury Him Darkly as a "nicely crafted, often surprising, and definitely gripping thriller." Howard Waldrop wrote an appreciation of Blackburn's novel A Scent of New-Mown Hay for the book Horror: Another 100 Best Books.
A Scent of New-Mown Hay has a very Algernon Blackwood ring to it as the title of a horror novel--and other novels have titles involving apples and roses--but I think this is misleading, from what is reported about Mr. Blackburn's work in the remainder of the entry.
cheers, H.
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Post by Dr Strange on May 14, 2018 10:00:45 GMT
I've only read a handful of Blackburn's novels but he has always reminded me more of someone like John Wyndham, rather than being straight-out "horror". Definitely worth seeking out though, if you like that sort of thing.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on May 14, 2018 11:06:54 GMT
I've only read a handful of Blackburn's novels but he has always reminded me more of someone like John Wyndham, rather than being straight-out "horror". Definitely worth seeking out though, if you like that sort of thing. I have only read BROKEN BOY, because this board brainwashed me into doing it, and I am not sure I like that sort of thing. I will say it was a bit odd, though. |
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Post by cauldronbrewer on May 14, 2018 14:45:33 GMT
I've only read a handful of Blackburn's novels but he has always reminded me more of someone like John Wyndham, rather than being straight-out "horror". Definitely worth seeking out though, if you like that sort of thing. I have only read BROKEN BOY, because this board brainwashed me into doing it, and I am not sure I like that sort of thing. I will say it was a bit odd, though. I read Children of the Night a few years back (the Valancourt edition, which has a good cover). It's a serviceable "rationalized modern-day fair folk" tale, but I can't say it inspired me to go out and read any of his other works. I can see the Wyndham comparison. |
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Post by Dr Strange on May 14, 2018 16:14:28 GMT
I have only read BROKEN BOY, because this board brainwashed me into doing it, and I am not sure I like that sort of thing. I will say it was a bit odd, though. I read Children of the Night a few years back (the Valancourt edition, which has a good cover). It's a serviceable "rationalized modern-day fair folk" tale, but I can't say it inspired me to go out and read any of his other works. I can see the Wyndham comparison. Well, I've only read those two plus Bury Him Darkly - so I'm not really basing the Wyndham comparison on much data. I pretty much feel the same way though - if I happened across another I'd probably end up reading it, but I'm not actively searching him out. |
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Post by andydecker on May 15, 2018 18:44:39 GMT
Even if there were a few translations in the 60s and 70s in crime editions I never heard of Blackburn. BROKEN BOY was the first novel I read, and I liked it a lot. A curious mixture of crime and creepy horror.
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Post by jamesdoig on Jul 10, 2018 22:09:08 GMT
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Post by helrunar on Jul 13, 2018 3:01:22 GMT
James! I read this tale of yours tonight and it was a delicious interlude: a ruined castle in an obscure Welsh village, a legend regarding an unknown saint, an evil squire and a pact with the Devil; evocative descriptions of the haunted Welsh countryside. www.pardoes.info/roanddarroll/StoryFive.htmlThank you for providing me with a delightful diversion on this late Thursday night. cheers, Steve |
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Post by ropardoe on Jul 13, 2018 7:41:24 GMT
James! I read this tale of yours tonight and it was a delicious interlude: a ruined castle in an obscure Welsh village, a legend regarding an unknown saint, an evil squire and a pact with the Devil; evocative descriptions of the haunted Welsh countryside. www.pardoes.info/roanddarroll/StoryFive.htmlThank you for providing me with a delightful diversion on this late Thursday night. cheers, Steve Good one, isn't it? |
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Post by jamesdoig on Jul 13, 2018 10:39:12 GMT
Thanks Mr H and Ms R! It probably helped I'd been living in Wales for 3 or 4 years and spent far too much time exploring the Welsh countryside.
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