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Post by dem on Oct 7, 2018 8:34:31 GMT
The first feature-length work by our friend, Mr. Worlds of Strangeness, is "the novelisation of a non-existent portmanteau movie." Nigel Taylor - Mystery Tour (Winton Books, 2018) Blurb: None of them knew where the coach was heading but the journey was sure to be long and tiresome. What better way to kill the time than to tell FIVE TALES OF TERROR?
GRAPHIC HORROR Why was Carla Carrington forbidden from making images?
UNDER THE KNIFE Only a fool would wager that he could spend the night in the Chamber of Horrors
DRINK TO ME ONLY WITH THINE EYES Ferris couldn't believe his luck when a Hammer starlet moved next door
NIGHT HAS VISIONS Night after night, the dream tormented Arthur Dawlish
SIEGFRIED of the SERENGETI Joe O'Leary found an unusual cure for his fear of death
Are you brave enough to travel on the MYSTERY TOUR?Available now via Am*z*n |
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Post by helrunar on Oct 7, 2018 14:16:54 GMT
What fun. I detect a sly and perhaps not-all-that-oblique reference to the infamous Hammer "comedy" film, On the Buses--which always reminds me that even my Anglomania has its limits, whenever mention is made of it.
cheers, H.
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Post by dem on Oct 20, 2018 19:17:33 GMT
What fun. I detect a sly and perhaps not-all-that-oblique reference to the infamous Hammer "comedy" film, On the Buses--which always reminds me that even my Anglomania has its limits, whenever mention is made of it. cheers, H. Actually, On The Buses does get a mention by way of the now, sadly, lost movie sequel, Jeopardy On The Buses featuring future Hammer starlet Penny Beswick in a minor role. Here's the inner cover blurb: Six centuries after Chaucer's merry folk set off on their pilgrimage to Canterbury, a group of revellers embark on the modern-day equivalent - a pub outing. But the world has changed immeasurably during those centuries. Modern man has lost his faith, his bearings, his purpose. Life is now a journey into darkness, fraught with anxiety.
WILL THE TALES TOLD ON THIS MYSTERY TOUR REFLECT THAT DARKNESS ...?Made a start on Mystery Tour this afternoon, thinking to read maybe twenty pages, ease myself in, get a feel for it, etc. Am now on p. 111 (of 182) .... |
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Post by helrunar on Oct 21, 2018 19:58:33 GMT
"Penny Beswick" (sister of Martine, perhaps?) and "Journey into darkness"--the author is most indisputably a Hammer horror fan.
I look forward to any future insights you reap from this volume!
cheers, Steve
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Post by dem on Oct 21, 2018 22:52:46 GMT
No lack of Amicus, either. Basic set up is Dr. Terror's House Of Horrors relocated from train to coach, with Professor Theodor Krantz standing in for Dr. Schreck. Otherwise Mystery Tour is seeped in '70's pop culture. One of the story-tellers, Graham, 21, is a ringer for Frankie Abbot, the mummy's boy wannabe Hells Angel from "Please, Sir!" and it's sequel, "The Fenn Street Gang." They even share a surname. The aforementioned Penny has just landed her first lead role in Dracula AD 1973 (temporary next door neighbour, Ferris, buys a copy of World Of Horror to read up on her). A popular topic of conversation is who should win The Big Match's "goal of the season" award, as best debated over a pint of Double Diamond, the discerning boozer's favoured lager (Kia-ora orange juice for the dolly birds and kids). The witchdoctor in the first story is downright alarming, a composite of every negative black stereotype the day's racist comedians saw fit to have nightmares about, right down to the bone through his nose. The stories themselves begin as traditional horrors but detour into something weirder, usually via Chaucer and/ or Greek Mythology. Will come to them if I can only deciphered my unintelligible scrawled notes!
This, and the cracking new Paperback Fanatic (which I just finished reading) in same delivery. Have so cheered up it is bordering on obscene.
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Post by andydecker on Oct 22, 2018 8:28:35 GMT
This sounds really interesting.
I ordered it.
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Post by Shrink Proof on Oct 22, 2018 9:51:37 GMT
Even has a Wallace Arnold coach on the cover...
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Post by helrunar on Oct 22, 2018 15:46:28 GMT
What fun! I ordered the book as well. I always need something sensational to read on the train.
cheers, Steve
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Post by dem on Oct 22, 2018 20:22:55 GMT
Even has a Wallace Arnold coach on the cover... ... and the pub is The Coach & Horses, Croxley Green (wouldn't be at all surprised if the photo was taken circa 1973). In other Nigel news, Worlds Of Strangeness #3, a "monster-themed" issue, is getting there, may even be ready in time for Christmas. |
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Post by dem on Oct 25, 2018 14:39:36 GMT
To best of my limited ability, have resisted spoilers, which is quite easy to do with Nigel's work as, once established, his horror plots are in the habit of detouring to a WORLD OF STRANGENESS.
Framing device. A coach load of The Horse And Crown regulars set out on a mystery coach tour. To pass the time, Professor Theodor Krantz suggests they swap spooky stories.
Graphic Horror: Bill Trescothick, co-partner in a two-man advertising agency, rashly hires a new assistant for something other than her artistic ability. By her own admission, Carla Carrington, nineteen, has never drawn or painted as much as a stick figure in her young life - her late father zealously denied her access to any and all graphic paraphernalia bar a pencil, and that only for writing purposes. And yet, "I want to be a commercial artist." Much to Bill's delight, Carla masters the airbrush in double quick time. Her flair for retouching is really quite something and no subsequent task he sets proves beyond her. Far from being a liability, Carla is an asset to the company. And lovely with it. Four short weeks later, she graciously accepts his marriage proposal. Life is bliss! ... until Bill realises his beloved's talent is inherited from her mother's side of the family ....
Under The Knife: Four pals pay a drunken visit to a wax museum. Far the most impressive of the exhibits, the model depicting a terrified Damocles sat beneath a vicious sword, his life dependent on a strand of human hair. Philip Henderson and Geoff Griffiths get to arguing over whether the museum have gone for all-out authenticity. Philip insists the cringing Damocles is in no danger whatsoever. The sword is held in place by a length of ultra-tough synthetic fishing wire. OK, challenges Geoff. If you're so sure, £150 says you'll not exchange places with the waxwork for a night. Piece of cake. Money for nothing. One placating phone call to Mrs. Susan Henderson later, Philip accepts the challenge.
To prevent cheating, the others bind him to the throne with leg-shackles of newspaper. Break them between now and 9.AM tomorrow and he loses the wager. We'll take it as a given that Philip is blessed with superhuman bladder control but even so, this night will prove an ordeal for mind and body ...
Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes: "... that exquisite, angelic form, those turquoise hot pants ...." Ferris can hardly believe his luck when Penny Beswick, Hammer Films' latest starlet, takes the flat next door for the duration of the Dracula AD 1973 shoot. Penny's temporary abode is flanked on either side by those of Ferris and old Mr. Ostrovsky, alleged Soviet defector, and self-styled former KGB agent. Ostrovsky is forever mouthing off in The Coach & Horses about Russia's superior surveillance equipment, even claims to be in possession of a pair of state-of-the-art X-Ray Specs. It's not like Ferris believes him, but just suppose the old drunk is telling the truth? Why, he could see through walls. He could see through the wall dividing Penny's flat from his own. He could watch her undress!
Ferris must have those glasses. Question is, how best to win over an old aged pensioner with a phenomenal capacity for drinking Vodka?
Of the five episodes, Drink To Me is the most liberally sprinkled in pop culture references, but my overall favourite is Under The Knife. A clue to where that one's heading is in the dedication at front of book.
More to follow.
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Post by helrunar on Oct 31, 2018 4:33:21 GMT
The book arrived and I love the cover layout and back cover blurb so much, I had to dive right in. The tone thus far (am towards the end of the first tale, "Graphic horror"--the story titles aren't included in the chapter headings, btw) is note-perfect.
I am sure I've spotted Robin Askwith and Peter Cushing in the "cast" and will no doubt figure out more "possible suspects" as I go along.
Thanks again for recommending it!
cheers, H.
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Post by dem on Oct 31, 2018 11:27:46 GMT
Am so glad you're enjoying it, Steve! The 'pre-abused' presentation has already claimed at least two innocent victims. "I thought you said it was a new book ...." Finished these synopses last night so best you don't read on past this point!
Night Has Visions: In the dream, Arthur Dawlish is a circus knife-thrower. An extremely nervous circus knife-thrower. His glamorous assistant is strapped to a revolving wheel. Bury these last six blades and it is show over for another night. He's doing well, until ...
Arthur wakes up screaming. It's been the same every night for the past three months since he married Edith, and now he knows why. The girl in the dream represents his bride. He is predestined to kill her! Insomniac and increasingly aichmophobic, Arthur can take no more. It breaks his heart to do so, but choice does he have but to leave his beloved?
Arthur moves in with his parents, but the dreams nightmare persists. Maybe he had it wrong, because the doomed assistant passes more than a passing likeness to his sister, Joan.
In desperation, Arthur crosses the channel to meet Dr. Gruzzman, the crack Swiss psychologist. Unfortunately, his European jaunt coincides with the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand - funny enough, I didn't see that coming either - and we're off on another tangent. As war is declared, Arthur returns home to join the air-force. The prospect of scrapping it out with Jerry should help take his mind off things ...
Siegfried of the Serengeti: A school misfit's progress, as rudderless Joe O'Brien drifts into a life of crime. His father's morbid streak left a scar that won't heal. The old man kept a paperweight on his desk inscribed with the legend "Remember you will die." Consequently, Joe has lived in dread that Death will claim him at any moment. Despite this, Jim somehow makes a success of his underworld career, rising in the ranks of Luigi Rattigam's organisation, until it all goes wrong when he kills the mobster's unstable son, Luigi. Fearful of retribution, Joe flees to Tasmania to takes up with a safari, and chances upon the elixir of life. If he could only steal the bowl of lumpen gloop from that scary Witch-doctor bloke, he need fear Death no longer!
But ....
The stories told, the coach arrives at its destination.
Even Robert Bloch wouldn't have dared ...
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Post by helrunar on Oct 31, 2018 14:51:22 GMT
I was quite absorbed in reading Mystery Tour on my morning commute. I actually was unaware that such a custom as a "mystery tour" where one boarded a bus for a destination unknown existed. Presumably that is what the old Beatles album was referring to. I'm not sure we ever had that custom over here. I'm not sure I ever thought about what a "mystery tour" or, for that matter, a "mystery train" would involve.
The book is proving to be rather different from what I had expected, but in a good way. The stories explore psychological situations and inner worlds (often quite impoverished ones) of the characters. While the scenarios may remind one of episodes of The House that Dripped Blood, Dr Terror's House of Horrors, or From Beyond the Grave, the way the stories are structured reminds me a little of Asylum, only with much better writing.
It is a very unusual book, and I am enjoying it very much. (And obviously, Kev, I'm avoiding your review posts about it at this point.)
cheers, Steve
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Post by dem on Oct 31, 2018 19:56:35 GMT
Really appreciate your perspective on this one, Steve - was curious if/ how the book would travel. Think you may well be right about Mike Ashbury = Robin Askwith (I missed that one).
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Post by helrunar on Nov 1, 2018 17:30:52 GMT
I would say the book is definitely more focused on character psychology, with introspective passages that reflect how the characters are experiencing or dealing with the situations in the stories. So it makes sense that instead of Dr Schreck, the Peter Cushing character is a professor of comparative literature with a well-stocked arsenal of archetypal insights on the various tales.
The more traditional horror elements, though somewhat austerely rationed in the book, are deployed, for the most part, with deftness and care. The kind of word-play I associate with the Dr Phibes films is involved in some of the stories. The shock ending of one tale reminded me of an episode in The Vault of Horror (the Amicus film). And I spotted Christopher Lee in a surprise cameo appearance at the end of the book.
The Amicus film that it reminded me of most strongly, at the end of the day, was Tales from the Crypt, specifically Peter Cushing's marvelous episode Grimsdyke ("Poetic Justice").
cheers, H.
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