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Post by dem bones on Oct 21, 2019 5:32:44 GMT
'Sally Theobald' - I Wore the Brassiere of Doom: (Robert M. Price [ed], Lurid Confessions #1, June 1986). The Crypt of Cthulhu man presents a rare example of H. P. Lovecraft's pseudonymous hackwork for the 'twenties "True Confessions" pulps. Innocent Country girl Sally moves from Smithvale to New York to become a hot-shot businesswoman. First thing is to look the part, so Sally visits Macy's, where a spooky old hag in the lingerie department suggests she try on a particular bra: "Across each cup, radiating out from the center, was a five-pointed star with an oval or eye-shape in the center." Not only does it work wonders for Sally's love life but the black brassiere of doom is fluent in summoning tentacled monstrosities from the cosmic void.
Robert Scott - The Helpful Undertaker: (Dennis Pepper [ed.], A Book of Tall Stories, 1985: The Oxford Book of Nasty Endings, 1997). Client complains that her husband is about to be buried in wrong clothing. A version of the story which appears as The Brown Suit in Alvin Schwartz's More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, 1986.
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Post by Shrink Proof on Oct 21, 2019 7:33:50 GMT
Anon - The Sutor Of Selkirk: ( Blackwood's, May. 1827: R. Chetwynd-Hayes (ed.) 14th Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories, 1978). A cobbler resorts to grave-robbing to retrieve a pair of brand new shoes for resale. All above board, you understand - a hastily convened council have no objections to his parsimony - though the shrouded skeleton is most put out. Read on-line at Electric Scotland I'm surprised they bothered to write it down and put it on a website. This sort of thing happens every day here in Scotland....
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Post by dem bones on Oct 22, 2019 12:09:51 GMT
I. A. Watson - Mr. Begot's Bespoke Mantles: (Dave Brzeski [ed.], Shadmocks & Shivers, 2019). "Diamante Sparkle's 36-C chest had suddenly expanded to 38-D and didn't seem to intend stopping there. The young woman was having trouble breathing and her bra was trying to kill her." An exclusive Gentlemen's tailors for Monsters on London's Oxford street. Mr. Begot very seldom entertains mortals though there are rare exceptions, as in this instance of Succubus implants working instant magic on a high maintenance Grunge-hop groupie.
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Post by dem bones on Nov 5, 2019 18:08:58 GMT
Keris McDonald - The Coat Off His Back: (Paul Finch [ed.], Terror Tales of Yorkshire, 2014). York Museum acquire a genuine 'Innocent coat' from the golden age of highwaymen. The legend is that, no matter the crime, the wearer will not be troubled by the police. "You shall go blameless, though your sins be scarlet." But freedom from justice comes at a price. The coat, stitched from the skin of a hanged man, must be worn at all times, no matter that it "frets leprosy." Geoffrey Leighton, textiles conservator, has recently lost his mother to cancer. It's no big deal, he didn't like her, and spending an eternity with her at the hospice as she hung on grimly to life was too infuriating to endure. Nothing to prevent him returning to work directly after the funeral. Just Geoff's luck that the coat should become his responsibility. It likes murderers.
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Post by dem bones on Nov 8, 2019 7:36:09 GMT
.... and another from the wardrobe of the damned: it's an imaginary omnibus. Sarah Monette - The Yellow Dressing Gown: ( Weird Tales, March-April 2008: Apex, Dec. 2011: READ HERE) As brilliant as he is at his job, Michael Overton, curator of eighteenth century textiles at the Samuel Mather Parrington Museum, is deeply unpopular with colleagues for his ruthless self-interest and ghoulish pursuit of clothing worn by infamous persons or associated with tragedy. Maybe they're just jealous. After all, "Eighteenth Century Afternoon Dress was of interest only to specialists; Eighteenth Century Afternoon Dress Worn by New York Poisoner Deborah Duffy was of interest to everyone." Overton's current obsession is the dressing gown worn by the mad artist Ephraim Catesby in his unsettling Portrait of the Artist behind a Ruined Mask, completed shortly before his suicide. Everything about it - not least the ghastly odour - communicates such a soul-destroying vibe that Mr. Lucent refuses to exhibit it. Overton throws a fit. Very well, in the face of Lucent's dereliction of duty, he will purchase the dressing gown to admire in the comfort of his own palatial abode! This, as you will have gathered, might not be a great idea.
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Post by dem bones on Dec 7, 2019 14:13:11 GMT
J. B. Stamper - The Furry Collar: ( Tales for the Midnight Hour, Scholastic, 1977). Susan models her lovely new velvet night robe for possibly the first and definitely the last time. A Lady - The Parlor-car Ghost: (Bob W Holland [ed.] 25 Great Ghost Stories, 1904). "Well, we had to run to get aboard. I missed my footing, fell under the wheels, and the next thing that I knew they were holding an inquest over my remains; while I, disembowelled, was sitting on a corner of the undertaker’s table, wondering which of the coroner’s jury was likely to want a case of blue denims." Dorothy B. Bennett - "A Growing Menace": ( London Mystery Selection #87, Dec. 1970). "It's a foolish story ... it concerns secondhand-clothing; as mundane as that. Does it have a power - a power to carry on, to transmit, the aura, the personality, of the previous owner?" A ghost story for Christmas, narrated by Dr. Beatrice. Round the world sailor and impulse killer Philip Trent is haunted by the brown polo-neck sweater of his victim. Michael Marshall Smith - Diet Hell: ( What You Make It, 2000). "Its truly astounding what a man will do to avoid going jogging or giving up his Miller time." Distraught that he can no longer pour himself into a pair of 30 inch waist jeans, MMS invents a time machine to return his body to it's happier, slimline incarnation. He overshoots by several million years.
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Post by Swampirella on Dec 7, 2019 16:51:02 GMT
J. B. Stamper - The Furry Collar: ( Tales for the Midnight Hour, Scholastic, 1977). Susan models her lovely new velvet night robe for possibly the first and definitely the last time. A Lady - The Parlor-car Ghost: (Bob W Holland [ed.] 25 Great Ghost Stories, 1904). "Well, we had to run to get aboard. I missed my footing, fell under the wheels, and the next thing that I knew they were holding an inquest over my remains; while I, disembowelled, was sitting on a corner of the undertaker’s table, wondering which of the coroner’s jury was likely to want a case of blue denims." Dorothy B. Bennett - "A Growing Menace": ( London Mystery Selection #87, Dec. 1970). "It's a foolish story ... it concerns secondhand-clothing; as mundane as that. Does it have a power - a power to carry on, to transmit, the aura, the personality, of the previous owner?" A ghost story for Christmas, narrated by Dr. Beatrice. Round the world sailor and impulse killer Philip Trent is haunted by the brown polo-neck sweater of his victim. Michael Marshall Smith - Diet Hell: ( What You Make It, 2000). "Its truly astounding what a man will do to avoid going jogging or giving up his Miller time." Distraught that he can no longer pour himself into a pair of 30 inch waist jeans, MMS invents a time machine to return his body to it's happier, slimline incarnation. He overshoots by several million years. "A Growing Menace" sounded so good, I checked if the Archive have any "London Mystery Selections"; they have 4 including #87. Only available right now in pdf & text formats (without borrowing it). The story in question was great & the two previous ones not at all bad either.
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Post by dem bones on Dec 14, 2019 10:46:20 GMT
Alex Hamilton - Kiss Of Death: ( Beam of Malice, 1966). Mrs. Best has everything spick and span, awaiting her martinet of a husband's inspection on his return from work for the weekend. James is overdue, which terribly unnerves her, as, whatever the delay, she, in some unfathomable-to-women way, will most certainly have caused it. To take her mind off things - and clear the driveway - Mrs. Best helps the children next door build a life-size snowman. To dress him, she donates James' old sports coat, a hat, a tie, and, along with them, his personality .....
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Post by dem bones on Jan 13, 2020 8:37:30 GMT
George Cruikshank Ghosts of Stockings George Cruikshank - Discovery Concerning Ghosts: With a Rap at Spirit Rappers: Second edition (Routledge, Warne, & Routledge, 1864). In a 1902 newspaper item, an American author raised similar concerns in regard to phantom fabrics, undead apparel & Co. Ambrose Bierce - The Clothing of Ghosts: And again, in The Devil's Dictionary (Neale, 1911. Originally The Cynics Word Book, 1906) The indispensable Project Gutenberg has both; Discovery Concerning GhostsThe Devil's DictionaryRead The Clothing of Ghosts via Mary Moore: Lectures International
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Post by dem bones on Jan 20, 2020 9:38:20 GMT
W. B. Northrop - The Scarfed Woman: A Cloth Fair Tragedy: ( Harmsworth, April 1899). A gorilla escaped from a travelling show batters a young woman to death in a woodland grove. Her lover, who discovers the bloody corpse, is accused of murder. The scarfed woman returns from the grave to declare Charlie's innocence via Banks, a spirit medium, but can he convince the authorities they have condemned an innocent man? A graveyard ghost, disembodied voices, a dramatic reconstruction of the murder in a crystal ball, automatic handwriting, a grisly accident in a mill, premonitions of doom fulfilled, characters introduced only to be killed off within a paragraph, etc . Victorian misery porn at its finest. Admittedly, the scarf, "of light material thrown over her head and shoulders," isn't given a lot to do, though a torn strip clutched in the paw of the mangled killer is offered as proof of Charlie's innocence. Also, don't ask why because I couldn't tell you, but it somehow strikes me as classy when a woman removes the covering from her face to reveal - Death! H. H. Flere Read it via SFF Audio
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Post by dem bones on Jan 28, 2020 9:48:23 GMT
Ray Cummings - Death Lives in my Lips!: ( Terror Tales, March 1939). ..... and in her brassiere, by the look of things. Blurb: Like any normal woman, I wanted to love and be loved; to feel the sharp ecstasy of a man's hungry lips against mine. But I was forced to live apart from the joys of the world; for the curse of the Prahers was in my blood - and death for a man who dared to love me lay in the touch of my lips!The Horrible Legacy of the Cannibal Chef: (Bernhardt J. Hurwood, Monsters and Nightmares, 1967). New Orleans, 1848. Gaston Donnet (aka 'Valentin Dumestre, 'Lucien Feraud'), killer chef/ shoemaker, serves choice cuts of murdered wife, two pantry boys and several black slaves to unsuspecting patrons of his restaurant. Combining professions, Donnet recycles the skins of his victims as beautiful, high-heeled dancing slippers. Everything is going his way until a dissatisfied customer complains; It is true! The fiendish footwear is possessed by the spirit of a very vengeful, Mrs. Donnet! The slippers set about the monster, heels stabbing his throat, before jubilant wife summons gory ghosts of her fellow victims to flay him alive (!) Non-fiction.
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Post by Swampirella on Jan 28, 2020 22:13:42 GMT
Persian Mink - J. F. B. Bunting (#52 London Mystery Selection March 1962)
Ellen Shuttleworth thinks she's married beneath her when she chose George Stone. But she came of age at an awkward time "too young for the old men and too old for the young men" some time after WWI. As the years went by, she became more and more unhappy. Despite George buying her a telly for those lonely nights when he had to work, she wasn't happy and let him know it. Where was that mink he'd promised her so long ago? One night, George is talked into bringing home a kitten by a man in the pub. Ellen dislikes animals as much as George loves them, especially cats. As is often the way, the cat develops a love for Ellen and a disdain for George. Reaching the breaking point, Ellen phones a vet and demands he put the animal down & not return the remains to her. George reacts by withdrawing his savings, sending half to Ellen, and promptly disappearing. After a time Ellen gives up the lease, puts her furniture into storage, and takes up a job of residential housekeeper. But that craving for mink never goes away so one day, she goes to a local furrier to see what's available in her very limited budget. She's persuaded to take home a "Persian mink" stole for 20 guineas. Arriving home, she is annoyed to find it a bit tight around her throat. Why didn't she try it on while still in the store? And why does it look a bit familiar? I don't need to tell you how it ends...
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Post by helrunar on Jan 28, 2020 23:10:50 GMT
Sounds like a good one, Swampirella! Are these "selections" available on archive dot org or have you been collecting the original books?
Best, Hel
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Post by Swampirella on Jan 29, 2020 2:55:49 GMT
Sounds like a good one, Swampirella! Are these "selections" available on archive dot org or have you been collecting the original books? Best, Hel Hi, Steve!
Archive has 4 of them; I found about 30 on the luminist.org site in December. There may or may not be viruses on it, but so far I've been ok, knock wood. I'm getting through about one a day, and have read about 20 so far. Naturally my (digital & real) stack of full-length books is building up in the meantime!
Best back,
Swampi
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Post by dem bones on Apr 1, 2020 11:14:34 GMT
Algernon Blackwood - If The Cap Fits: (Ten Minute Stories, 1914). “Psychometry, I take it ..... is the quality possessed by everything, even by inanimate objects, of sending out vibrations which — which can put certain sensitive persons en rapport, pictorially as it were, with all the events that have ever happened within the ken of such objects —”
So pronounces the melancholy Mr. Finsen, a man who recently attempted suicide by throwing himself from the bridge by Kensington Gardens. Field-Martin, who has no time for such mumbo jumbo, storms out of the club and off toward his Chelsea flat. Unfortunately, he grabs the wrong hat - Finsen's - in the process.
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