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Post by dem bones on Aug 27, 2017 18:12:13 GMT
Anthony Rampton (ed.) - The Panther Book Of Horror (1968, originally 1965) Cover photo: Dennis Rolfe Roald Dahl - Man From The South Edgar Allan Poe - The Premature Burial Martin Armstrong - Sombrero Joan Aiken - Dead Language Master L. P. Hartley - Someone In The lift Algernon Blackwood - The Insanity Of Jones Graham Greene - A Drive In the Country J. C. Moore - Decay Bram Stoker - Dracula's Guest Hugh Walpole - The Silver Mask Charles Dickens - The Trial For Murder Amelia B. Edwards - A Night On The Borders Of The Black Forest Michael Arlen - The Gentleman From America Robert Louis Stevenson - The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. HydeBlurb: SCENES OF SPECTRAL TERROR . . . . Within these pages you will encounter the singularly FIENDISH imaginations of some of the supreme exponents of HORROR and MYSTERY, writers whose DIABOLIC purpose was to paint TERROR as well as beauty ..... So be warned. You will experience the paralysis of ultimate FEAR. You will tread dark arcades that lead to the very antechambers of HELL. You will venture, at your PERIL, into that other sunless world whence there is no escape from nightmares of infinitely HIDEOUS intensity. You will enter also that ENIGMATIC land of eerie MYSTERY where the forces of ORDER and LIGHT are suddenly invaded by the miasmal powers Of CHAOS, DARKNESS, and DEATH . . . .Another old favourite anthology acquired for 10p or thereabouts when I first started haunting the local junk shops, street markets & Co. Pretty certain The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde was the first horror story I ever attempted to read. It was a standalone hardcover in some childrens classics series, atmospheric painting on cover though can't remember of who or what (my copy is long lost). Anyway, gave up on it after however many pages defeated by combination of slow pace/ archaic language and it not being anywhere near as brilliant as Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde which this Stevenson chancer had blatantly ripped off. A decade on and I landed Anthony Rampton's anthology in a Bethnal Green junkshop and steeled myself for a rematch with this tedious The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde piece of junk and, of course, this time it was an all time masterpiece, etc, worthy of comparison with the very best shudder pulps or whatever else I was raving about at the time. Think this was my first encounter with Michael Arlen's magnificent The Gentleman From America, too.
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Post by mcannon on Aug 27, 2017 22:01:27 GMT
Anthony Rampton (ed.) - The Panther Book Of Horror (1968, originally 1965) Cover photo: Dennis Rolfe Roald Dahl - Man From The South Edgar Allan Poe - The Premature Burial Martin Armstrong - Sombrero Joan Aiken - Dead Language Master L. P. Hartley - Someone In The lift Algernon Blackwood - The Insanity Of Jones Graham Greene - A Drive In the Country J. C. Moore - Decay Bram Stoker - Dracula's Guest Hugh Walpole - The Silver Mask Charles Dickens - The Trial For Murder Amelia B. Edwards - A Night On The Borders Of The Black Forest Michael Arlen - The Gentleman From America Robert Louis Stevenson - The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. HydeBlurb: SCENES OF SPECTRAL TERROR . . . . Within these pages you will encounter the singularly FIENDISH imaginations of some of the supreme exponents of HORROR and MYSTERY, writers whose DIABOLIC purpose was to paint TERROR as well as beauty ..... So be warned. You will experience the paralysis of ultimate FEAR. You will tread dark arcades that lead to the very antechambers of HELL. You will venture, at your PERIL, into that other sunless world whence there is no escape from nightmares of infinitely HIDEOUS intensity. You will enter also that ENIGMATIC land of eerie MYSTERY where the forces of ORDER and LIGHT are suddenly invaded by the miasmal powers Of CHAOS, DARKNESS, and DEATH . . . .Another old favourite anthology acquired for 10p or thereabouts when I first started haunting the local junk shops, street markets & Co. Pretty certain The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde was the first horror story I ever attempted to read. It was a standalone hardcover in some childrens classics series, atmospheric painting on cover though can't remember of who or what (my copy is long lost). Anyway, gave up on it after however many pages defeated by combination of slow pace/ archaic language and it not being anywhere near as brilliant as Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde which this Stevenson chancer had blatantly ripped off. A decade on and I landed Anthony Rampton's anthology in a Bethnal Green junkshop and steeled myself for a rematch with this tedious The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde piece of junk and, of course, this time it was an all time masterpiece, etc, worthy of comparison with the very best shudder pulps or whatever else I was raving about at the time. Think this was my first encounter with Michael Arlen's magnificent The Gentleman From America [/i], too. [/quote] Don't think I've ever seen a copy of that particular anthology! Thanks Dem - one more to add to the "keep a look-out for..." list. I finally got around to reading "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" myself only a few years back, and greatly enjoyed it. I was surprised though to find that the connection between the two characters was only fully revealed at the end, although of course that made complete dramatic sense. It made me realise that the story's first generation of readers must have had a completely different reaction to it than those who came after - "*GASP* - They were THE SAME PERSON! Amazing!!". Whereas it's hard to imagine anyone in the last century coming to the tale without already knowing at least the bare bones of its plot; you can recognise the meaning of the term "Jekyll and Hyde" without ever having seen a single adaptation, let alone read the original, and most adaptions make the link clear from the outset. Mark
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Post by dem bones on Aug 28, 2017 10:17:27 GMT
Don't think I've ever seen a copy of that particular anthology! Thanks Dem - one more to add to the "keep a look-out for..." list. I finally got around to reading "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" myself only a few years back, and greatly enjoyed it. I was surprised though to find that the connection between the two characters was only fully revealed at the end, although of course that made complete dramatic sense. It made me realise that the story's first generation of readers must have had a completely different reaction to it than those who came after - "*GASP* - They were THE SAME PERSON! Amazing!!". Whereas it's hard to imagine anyone in the last century coming to the tale without already knowing at least the bare bones of its plot; you can recognise the meaning of the term "Jekyll and Hyde" without ever having seen a single adaptation, let alone read the original, and most adaptions make the link clear from the outset. Mark Here's a cover scan of the first edition, Mark, as provided by Nightreader way back on Vault Mk I. Have still never seen a copy in the flesh as it were. By the time I got around to The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde the second time, had already thrilled to RLS's The Body-snatcher (originally Pall Mall Gazette Christmas Extra, Dec. 1884) in The Penguin Book of Horror Stories so he was already back in my good books. When James Goodsir, a former anatomy student of Dr. Robert Knox, read the story he was moved to complain to the publication. "It will be said, of course, that 'The Body-Snatcher' is only a piece of fiction. A pleasant piece of fiction, certainly, to attach the stigma of cold-blooded deliberate murder to the name and memory of a man who has relatives and friends and admirers amongst the few still living of his many thousands of pupils .... When in the guise of fiction an author maligns in the most unmistakable terms the memories of men who have not long departed, he should recollect that some one still may live who can answer and refute his calumnies." (as quoted by Hugh Douglas in Burke & Hare: The True Story Stevenson, apparently, shared some of Mr. Goodsir's misgivings. According to Richard Dalby, he sat on his "crawler" for three years "in a justifiable disgust, the story being horrid" and even refused his £40 author's fee ("I was not able to produce my best and I will be damned if I steal with my eyes open.") Posters advertising the story were "suppressed by the police for being too lurid and shocking." His agent, assuming he had one, must have loved him.
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Post by dem bones on Mar 4, 2024 19:40:16 GMT
Joan Aiken - Dead Language Master: Exasperated at the antics of his pupils, Mr Fletcher (Lat.) tenders his resignation. Pridd, the ringleader, still has one more spiteful prank to play. L. P. Hartley - Someone in the Lift: (Cynthia Asquith [ed], The Third Ghost Book, 1955). There's a tall man in the elevator visible only to six-year-old Peter. Father assures him it's Santa Claus in training for Christmas Eve.
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