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Post by dem on May 22, 2019 13:29:02 GMT
From Glimpses of the Unknown:
Firth Scott - The Wraith of the Rapier: (The Red Magazine, 15 Jan. 1911). A duel to the death with a formidable phantom swordsman whose name implies "something unspeakable."
Huan Mee (Charles & Walter Mansfield) - Phantom Death: (Cassell's, March 1900). When a deeply unpleasant painting, "The Last Moments of Yevan Lestoki," is exhibited on Bond Street, two visitors to the gallery bear such striking physical similarities to Yevan and his torture-murderer, as to have modelled for them. The strangers meet for dinner. Bizarre retribution from beyond the grave ensues - or does it?
Austen Philips - The Missing Word: (Pall Mall, Nov. 1907). Fifteen years on from the brutal murder of postmaster Jacky Soames at neighbouring Bromyard, a dozen reporters man the telegraph wires at Murcester awaiting an update on the ailing Prime Minister who is "a long time in pegging out." To pass the time, they exchange ghost stories. Shayler is of a mind that Soames was slain by one he knew well: the murderer may even sit among them! The wire fizzes to life ....
On The Embankment remains far my favourite, but early days yet.
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Post by Dr Strange on May 22, 2019 14:48:33 GMT
More from From The Depths & Other Strange Tales of the Sea - Sargasso by Ward Muir ( Pearson's Magazine, Oct 1908) - a ship carrying out scientific research comes across the derelict tramp steamer Wellington, missing for 4 years. On board they find a diary written by one of the passengers, detailing what happened after the Wellington got trapped in the Sargasso weeds. Can't help but think this might have been a much better story if it had just been told in a more straight-forward manner, rather than using the "found document" approach. Held by the Sargasso Sea by Frank Shaw ( The Story-teller, Oct 1908) - how an old sea captain lost the love of his life (his ship), and how she came back to him. The Floating Forest by Herman Scheffauer ( Pall Mall Magazine, Aug 1909) - a derelict ship is transformed into a "floating forest" after its captain sets fire to it for the insurance. Tracked: A Mystery of the Sea by C.N. Barham ( Cassell's Family Magazine, May 1891) - a clergyman hypnotises his clairvoyant maid-servant to find out what happened to a missing ship. According to the author notes, Barham actually was a clergyman and "amateur hypnotist" who reported clairvoyant powers in his hypnotised subjects (including his maid-servant). The Mystery of the Water-Logged Ship by William Hope Hodgson ( The Grand Magazine, May 1911) - fairly standard Hodgson tale involving another mysterious derelict... {Spoiler}this time with disappointing "Scooby-Do" ending. Can't say any of these did it for me - but I have high hopes for the title story by F. Britten Austin, which is up next. |
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Post by Dr Strange on May 23, 2019 12:58:28 GMT
Some more from From The Depths & Other Strange Tales of the Sea -
From the Depths by F. Britten Austin (The Strand Magazine, Feb 1920) - set just after the end of WW1, on board a Swedish ship that has been chartered by a salvage company to locate the wrecks of ships sunk by German U-boats off the British coast. The two salvage engineers on board discover that the ship's captain knows more about the locations of these wrecks than he should - and then a poltergeist starts communicating with them in Morse code.
The Murdered Ships by James Francis Dwyer (The Premier Magazine, June 1918) - the story of a ghost ship that hunted down it's "murderers".
The Ship That Died by John Gilbert (The Argosy, May 1917) - weird tale about a ship that (for unknown reasons) rapidly disintegrates, and eventually becomes a ghost.
Devereaux's Last Smoke by Izola Forrester (The Ocean, March 1907) - story featuring a ghostly cigar tip glowing in the fog on the deck of a ship. According to the author notes, Izola Forrester may have been the granddaughter of John Wilkes Booth and wrote a novel (This One Mad Act, 1937) in which Booth survives after assassinating Abraham Lincoln.
I'd say I liked all of these a bit more than the previous stories, though maybe I have lowered my expectations a little.
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Post by dem on May 24, 2019 11:00:58 GMT
More Glimpses of the Unknown
Guy Thorne (Cyril Ranger Gull) - A Regent of Love Rhymes: (Lady's Realm, Dec. 1905). "Death ... is simply a cessation of correspondence with environment ... We live again in nature, but that is all ... We inform ourselves into all sensual life. When we die our personality ceases." So argues the Doctor. His author friend, Cyril Glendinning, passionately believes in the survival of the soul - and proves it. Fatally gored by a bull on a trip to town, Cyril completes his final composition from beyond Death's door.
Now seems a good time to caution any fellow gloom merchants that many of the Glimpses ... selections end on a note of optimism.
James Barr - The Soul of Maddalina Tonelli: (The Red Magazine, Dec. 1909). Herman Yorke of the Amateur Orchestra Society lands an original 'Stradivari' for a pittance from a pawn shop on Radcliff Highway. He debuts the instrument at the Society's next performance. Avidly watching from the audience, a dark-eyed woman only he can see, frantically indicating the 'E'-string peg as though her very soul depended on it. What can it all mean?
Another 'puzzle story' from beyond the Doorway to Dilemma:
Madeline Yale Wynne - The Little Room: (Harper's New Monthly, Aug. 1895). Vermont, New England. A room on the Miss Keys' farm seemingly alternates between furnished chamber and china-closet as the mood takes it. Their newly-wed niece is determined to solve the mind-boggling mystery once and for all .....
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Post by Dr Strange on May 24, 2019 14:40:44 GMT
Two more From The Depths -
The Black Bell Buoy by Rupert Chesterton (The Novel Magazine, Feb 1907) - two men are left to fix the Black Bell Buoy, but when their ship returns 12 hours later to pick them up only one remains; he claims the other man was taken by a giant octopus, though it is known that the two men were rivals in love. Some months later, the Black Bell Buoy somehow comes adrift... An OK story, this one, but it feels quite familiar.
The High Seas by Elinor Mordaunt (The Century Magazine, Oct 1918) - I think this one can be called a conte cruel, as misery after misery is piled on in a story about sea-faring twin brothers, one a cruel bully, and the other his main victim of choice. Gets a bit bogged down in "dialect", sea shanties and nautical terminology, but has a horribly cruel ending.
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Post by Dr Strange on May 26, 2019 10:27:56 GMT
Here's the last two stories From The Depths -
The Soul-Saver by Morgan Burke (The Blue Book Magazine, Feb 1926) - a violent captain mysteriously acquires a white mouse after beating a sailor to death; the captain claims the mouse is the dead man's soul.
No Ships Pass by Lady Eleanor Smith (The Story-teller, May 1932) - a man who escapes from a sinking yacht finds himself marooned on a strange island with four castaways who claim there is no possibility of escape, and also no death on the island. I've read this one before, and it still doesn't really make much sense to me. Mike Ashley suggests it might have been the inspiration for the TV series Lost, which I gave up on after a couple of seasons.
Can't say there is much in this collection I'd really recommend - apart from the title story and The Black Bell Buoy, the others are mostly forgettable, or else just bizarre (which is how I think I'd describe both of these last two).
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Post by cauldronbrewer on May 26, 2019 13:11:33 GMT
No Ships Pass by Lady Eleanor Smith ( The Story-teller, May 1932) - a man who escapes from a sinking yacht finds himself marooned on a strange island with four castaways who claim there is no possibility of escape, and also no death on the island. I've read this one before, and it still doesn't really make much sense to me. Mike Ashley suggests it might have been the inspiration for the TV series Lost, which I gave up on after a couple of seasons. Can't say there is much in this collection I'd really recommend - apart from the title story and The Black Bell Buoy, the others are mostly forgettable, or else just bizarre (which is how I think I'd describe both of these last two). I like "No Ships Pass" in no small part because it's so bizarre: the castaways are a colorful bunch--especially the pirate--and the ending is less conventional, and more darkly humorous, than the one I was expecting. I first ran across it in Pirate Ghosts of the American Coast: Stories of Hauntings at Sea (edited by Martin H. Greenberg, Frank D. McSherry, Jr., and Charles G. Waugh). As for Lost, I stuck it out through all six seasons but wish I'd left off after season five. There's an edition of A. Merritt's The Moon Pool with a blurb calling it the inspiration for Lost. I think that's BS, but I was intrigued that the show included a ship captain named Gault--evidently a reference to an identically-named character in a series of William Hope Hodgson stories. |
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Post by andydecker on May 26, 2019 15:08:16 GMT
As for Lost, I stuck it out through all six seasons but wish I'd left off after season five. There's an edition of A. Merritt's The Moon Pool with a blurb calling it the inspiration for Lost. I think that's BS, but I was intrigued that the show included a ship captain named Gault--evidently a reference to an identically-named character in a series of William Hope Hodgson stories. Who doesn't? :-) One should have been warned after the whole season with the timetravel back was absolutly redundant. To be fair, it was a story where any ending would have been lame. But this was especially lazy. I only liked the actor Mark Pellegrino, who later gave a terrific Lucifer on Supernatural. Seems history repeats itself. I watched a few glimpse of the end of Game of Thrones, I lost interest when the series overtook the novels and just watched a few minutes here and there. But I can understand the disappointment. The end of the Winter King, which I accidently watched, was the most anticlimatic scene I saw in a long time, a lame fantasy cliché done bad. |
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on May 26, 2019 17:18:58 GMT
I only liked the actor Mark Pellegrino What? What about Michael Emerson? He was outstanding. |
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Post by andydecker on May 26, 2019 19:48:01 GMT
I only liked the actor Mark Pellegrino What? What about Michael Emerson? He was outstanding. I meant the last season. Emerson was indeed outstanding. He is the only one alongside Jorge Garcia I look out for in new productions. I followed him into Person of Interest, until the story lost me (I have come to hate KI stories). I am curious how he will be in the new version of The Name of the Rose. |
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on May 26, 2019 20:08:43 GMT
I followed him into Person of Interest, until the story lost me My case is similar. They lost me after about two episodes. |
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Post by cauldronbrewer on May 27, 2019 14:47:16 GMT
I'd add a third vote on Emerson being outstanding. He made any scene he was in compelling. For example:
I never did watch Person of Interest. My father liked it at first, but I think he gave up on it after a while, too. Looking back, I think I prefer Fringe (the other paranormal-themed series J.J. Abrams helped create) to Lost. Though Fringe was never as popular, it benefited from a tighter focus and more coherent storytelling. The first two seasons of Alias were entertaining, as well (then it went off the rails). Back to the topic of the thread: I saw Glimpses on the Unknown and From the Depths at a bookstore the other day and was sorely tempted to buy them, but I didn't. Yet. |
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Post by dem on May 27, 2019 16:24:00 GMT
Thanks for the From The Depths commentary, Dr. Strange; wasn't particularly desperate to investigate this one TBH, but you got me with the entries on Elinor Mordaunt and Morgan Robertson.
Two from Glimpses Of The Unknown: they'd have been equally at home in Doorways to Dilemma.
Eric Purves - The House of Black Evil: (Pearson's, May 1929). Grainer the Detective, Holt the plucky postman and various locals investigate the house of the late spiritualist, Madame Seulon, whose front door now opens upon pitch black, blank empty space!
Philippa Forest (Marion Holmes) - When Spirits Steal: (Pearson's, May 1920). Chigley Highfield, Somerset. When a locally despised invalid is found smothered in his bed, suspicion falls upon Mary Amherst, a waitress at The Green Dragon Inn. The victim, Hogson, is popularly believed to have killed his wife, but it is surely inconceivable that Mary, "a frightened gormy, terrified of her own shadder," has it in her to play avenging angel. Featuring Peter Carwell, psychic investigator, and his personal Dr. Watson, Mr. Wilton. Mentioning that I liked the ending probably qualifies as a spoiler, so I won't.
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Post by Dr Strange on May 28, 2019 14:45:21 GMT
I think that if you liked On The Embankment, then you'd probably also like The High Seas - there's a certain similarity in style (I think) and, if anything, the latter is even more miserable than the former. Had a quick look, and I found a downloadable pdf online - I hope it doesn't depress too much. Elinor Mordaunt - The High Seas |
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Post by dem on May 29, 2019 6:10:37 GMT
Thanks very much, Dr. S. Seeing as this has developed into a general 'Tales of the weird' thread, I'll include the details of this pair from series. Tanya Kirk [ed] - Spirits of the Season: Christmas Hauntings (British Library, 2018) Tanya Kirk - Introduction
Amelia B. Edwards - The Four-Fifteen Express
F. Anstey - The Curse of the Catafalques
Frank Cowper - Christmas Eve on a Haunted Hulk
Frank R. Stockton - The Christmas Shadrach
B. M. Crokey - Number Ninety
E. Nesbit - The Shadow
Algernon Blackwood - The Kit-Bag
M. R. James - The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance
E. F. Benson - Boxing Night
Marjorie Bowen - The Prescription
Hugh Walpole - The Snow
A. M. Burrage - Smee
J. B. Priestley - The Demon King
H. Russell Wakefield - Lucky's Grove Blurb: Festive cheer turns to maddening fear in this new collection of seasonal hauntings, presenting the best Christmas ghost stories from the 1850s to the 1960s. The traditional trappings of the holiday are turned upside down as restless spirits disrupt the merry games of the living, Christmas trees teem with spiteful pagan presences, and the Devil himself treads the boards at the village pantomime. As the cold night of winter closes in and the glow of the hearth begins to flicker and fade, the uninvited visitors gather in the dark in this distinctive assortment of haunting tales. Greg Buzwell [ed.] - Mortal Echoes: Encounters with the End (British Library 2018) Greg Buzwell - Introduction
J. S. Le Fanu - Strange Event in the Life of Shalken the Painter
Edgar Allan Poe - The Masque of the Red Death
Nathaniel Hawthorne - Rappaccini's Daughter
Charles Dickens - The Signal-Man
Ambrose Bierce - An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge
Mary Elizabeth Coleridge - The King is Dead, Long Live the King
H. G. Wells - Under the Knife
Hector Hugh Munro [Saki] - Laura
May Sinclair - Where Their Fire is not Quenched
Marjorie Bowen - Kecksies
Graham Greene - A Little Place off the Edgware Road
Robert Aickman - Your Tiny Hand is Frozen
Daphne du Maurier - Kiss me Again, Stranger
Donald Barthelme - The School
Charlie Fish - Death by ScrabbleBlurb: A strange figure foretells tragedy on the railway tracks. A plague threatens to encroach upon an isolated castle. The daughter of an eccentric scientist falls victim to a poisonous curse.
Yet for all its certainty and finality, death remains an infinitely mysterious subject to us all. The stories in this anthology depict that haunting moment when characters come face to face with their own mortality.
Spanning two centuries, Mortal Echoes features some of the finest writers in the English language – including Daphne du Maurier, Edgar Allan Poe, Graham Greene and H. G. Wells. Intriguing, unsettling and often darkly humorous, this collection explores humanity’s transient existence, and what it means to be alive.Will likely give Tanya Kirk's Spirits Of The Season a miss. A decent selection for sure but nothing much for old lags to get worked up about: it's pretty much a sampler for Richard Dalby's Ghosts/ Chillers/ Horror/ Mystery for Christmas series. Further Glimpses of the Unknown; Percy James Brebner - Our Strange Traveller: ( Weekly Story Teller #105, 6 May 1911 ). Hotel du Nord, St. Chade. A remote hotel in the French countryside where proprietor and wife murder guests for their valuables. The English tourists who expose the killers do so with considerable assistance from the little fat ghost of most recent victim. Francis Xavier - Amid the Trees: ( Weekly Story Teller #110, 10 June 1911). Essart, a young English tourist, falls for a woman he takes for a Dryad summoned by his love from a glade in the Portuguese countryside. To date this, along with On The Embankment, Spirits That Steal, House of the Black Evil and the slightly belated Victorian melodrama The Soul of Maddalina Tonelli have been personal pick of the bunch. |
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