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Post by dem bones on May 9, 2017 19:59:23 GMT
Sydney Horler - The Screaming Skull (Hodder & Stoughton 1952: originally 1930) The Screaming Skull The White Witch Of Curzon Street The Vampire The Traitress Mr Pettiloe Cites A Case Churned Turf Black MagicBlurb Seven stories in the true Horler style, and as the critic so rightly said, "When MR. SYDNEY HORLER is at his best the seasoned thriller-reader sits up and takes hold of the arm of his chair." - Times Literary Supplement Good old Sid, I knew he wouldn't let us down! Fiendish murder in a "haunted" house, chilling Black Sorcery, secret service shenanigans, a vampire visits the Confessional box, and "a tale of modern football all in the same collection! We already met cracking melodrama Black Magic in Michel Parry's 3rd Mayflower Book of Black Magic Stories while The Vampire: Ten Minutes of Horror was revived as The Believer in Peter Haining's The Midnight People. What of the rest? Mr Pettiloe Cites A Case: A mild-mannered solicitor invites popular gadfly about town Morrison to stay at a clients remote house on the Cornish coast. Morrison, notoriously sceptical of all things "supernatural," feigns delight when the host informs him that he'll be staying in the ghost chamber. According to Pettiloe, the room is haunted by the vengeful ghost of Lady Sybil Trevillian, who confuses all who sleep therein with Lord Charles Chichester, the perverted old roué who drugged and raped her .... Churned Turf: "Holt had one of the greatest goal-keepers that had ever worn a jersey against him that day - the argus-eyed, tentacle-handed Sam Davy!"It was the most cherished dream of the late Robert Cavendish that his son, Dick, emulate him in playing centre forward for Corinthians. Unfortunately the 'Guvnor's last will & testament disappeared shortly after his death meaning eldest son Raymond, a mean-spirited cripple/ "puling invalid"/ "unnatural swine" inherits the lot. Despising Dick his healthy physique, Raymond casts him from the house with but a pittance to live on. Dick's fiancée, Elsie Winters, has long held doubts that he will ever face up to his responsibilities as a sportsman and reluctantly tosses him over. It gets worse. The young man falls in with bad eggs Michael Mostyn and his stooge, Hugh Esdaile, who are under the impression that, with his famous father dead, Dick must be worth a fortune. Together with their confederate 'the Comtesse de Lisle' they set about fleecing him of the thousands he doesn't have. When all else fails, Mostyn resorts to blackmail. Dick fakes his own death and again takes up football under assumed name Dick Holt, signing for the mighty Swifts. Under the keen encouragement of coach 'Podge' Waddington (who knew him at Oxford), the mystery striker's goals take Swifts to an FA Cup quarter final grudge match versus Hampton Villa who knocked them out of the competition at the same stage last season. Holt smashes the winner in a 2-1 victory, earning a call up to the England team for the Scotland match! There is always a downside. Dick's overnight celebrity has come to the attention of Mostyn and cronies who realise they now have him in their power. Unless he pays what he "owes" they will smear his reputation as a gentleman! Dick is in a tight spot. He knows full well that bounders don't win England caps and he's not got the cash to meet Mostyn's demand. The stalwart Podge has rescued him from several scrapes but will this latest prove beyond even him? Clearly some outrageous liberty taking is required of the author if he is to deliver Dick from his tormentors in time to rout the auld enemy. Sidney Horler duly obliges.
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Post by pulphack on May 10, 2017 5:30:03 GMT
You can always rely on Sid... For what is, of course, another matter...
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