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Post by andydecker on Dec 2, 2019 16:30:39 GMT
I never saw the twist coming. What a gem! What was Drogheda Argus and Leinster Journal? I know it is a city in Ireland, but it is hard to imagine such a story between ... what? Advertising and tourist infos?
It was a weekly newspaper for the province of Leinster in the south western corner of Ireland. Leinster contains Dublin but the paper seems to have been based in Drogheda, one of the other major places. Why they printed this, with no other information at all, is beyond me. You're right, it's a fine creepy tale (and nothing whatsoever to do with Ireland, either). Ah, thanks. An absolute different culture that was when people were still reading. Our regional papers never did things like that. But in my youth they did at least syndicated comics and serialized books like Jaws. In the early 70s they printed Jeff Hawke for a while, a series which is still uncollected for reasons unknown. One of the first sf I ever read, I cut it out and collected it. I still love Hawke. And there was a western which I never could identify later thanks to my hazy recollection. |
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Post by dem on Dec 2, 2019 17:28:56 GMT
Dr. Proof very kindly provided us with a further selection of his wonderful photo's - you'll be meeting a number over coming weeks - including this beauty, which we've adopted as this year's Calendar promo mini-poster. Shrinkproof writes: This picture was taken in Las Ramblas, the best known street in Barcelona, in 2014. A guy in a dragon suit was wandering up and down, then stopping for periods of 5 minutes at a time, like a wandering statue. The fact that one of his stops was in front of a poster advertising a horror show at the local waxworks was a coincidence. I hope. |
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Post by helrunar on Dec 2, 2019 20:25:49 GMT
Stunning photo! Absolutely gorgeous!
My hat, if I were wearing one, would be off to Dr Shrink Proof!
cheers, H.
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vaultadventcalendar
Black Crow King
Horror chav at the controls/ weird cheerleader #arts&culture
Posts: 143
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Post by vaultadventcalendar on Dec 3, 2019 6:52:21 GMT
Day ThreeThis being a tribute to Charles, thought it would be appropriate to include a selection from his beloved Pan Books of Horror beginning with this almost haunted bench story - but worse - from #9. Have no idea who Lindsay Stewart was, but she sure wrote a mean horror story on the evidence of that same collection's Jolly Uncle and, especially, today's ghastly selection;
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Post by Middoth on Dec 3, 2019 8:56:07 GMT
It is one of those memorable stories, thinking about which you are involuntary shivering.
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Post by ripper on Dec 3, 2019 20:07:06 GMT
I can't have read this one before as it would surely have stuck in my mind. It didn't go quite where I was expecting--I thought it was going to be an animals attack story. Very nasty. Three stories so far and all winners.
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Post by Swampirella on Dec 3, 2019 20:51:45 GMT
I knew I'd read it in Pan #9 but of course didn't let that stop me reading it again. Vilely good!
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vaultadventcalendar
Black Crow King
Horror chav at the controls/ weird cheerleader #arts&culture
Posts: 143
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Post by vaultadventcalendar on Dec 4, 2019 7:40:38 GMT
Day FourAnother day, another (as far as I'm aware) great mystery Pan Horrorist. Uniquely, W. Baker-Evans doesn't even make the Acknowledgements in the Eighth volume - bloody scandalous! Whoever he or she was, W. B-E's solitary contribution to the series has haunted this reader for most of his adult life. Keep away from the clearing!
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vaultadventcalendar
Black Crow King
Horror chav at the controls/ weird cheerleader #arts&culture
Posts: 143
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Post by vaultadventcalendar on Dec 4, 2019 14:30:08 GMT
The most tenuous link to the above story, I realise - it's very unlikely that any of these lovely kids are ghouls - but simply had to share another gem from the Shrinkproof collection. A picture of an old photograph I came across in a disused church in York during the M R James conference there in September 2018. It showed a group of kids at a street party to celebrate the end of the Great War in 1918. Zooming in, I found this creepy character at the back of the group; supposedly a clown or other kids entertainer…
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Post by Swampirella on Dec 4, 2019 14:59:04 GMT
Another great selection, thanks!
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Post by ripper on Dec 4, 2019 16:50:51 GMT
A cautionary tale about the dangers of foreign travel and ignoring your driver. Don't think I have read this one before, and it kept up the high quality of the previous stories.
I'm sure a story could be written around Shrinkproof's photo---how odd to find it in a disused church.
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Post by Shrink Proof on Dec 4, 2019 17:14:58 GMT
I'm sure a story could be written around Shrinkproof's photo---how odd to find it in a disused church. Part of the conference/gathering included walking tours around York visiting a couple of the churches M R James had visited during his stay in York 120 years previously. We saw some of the weird medieval stained glass he studied, featuring various monsters and freaky scenes that some think might've inspired a few of his tales, and were addressed in each church by a local historian who explained what the images symbolised, etc. In one of the churches there was a collection of old photographs of the place and its immediate vicinity, including the one of the street party to celebrate peace in 1918. The historian explained that it was taken very nearby (not more than a street or two away) and that Mr Creepy was some sort of clown or kids entertainer. The full picture had about 20 or so kids, arranged in rows rather like one of those photographs of the class they take every year at school, with the guy at the back. It got a bit blurred with zooming in so closely but I tinkered with it on the computer to compensate. The sepia is the original colour. In retrospect I can't be 100% certain that the church was disused, but it was full of dust and a thousand pieces of the ancient organ that they'd removed in bits - pipes, strange mechanisms and the like. They were sorting it all out to be shipped to France where it was going to be reassembled in another church. They'd given it away for free rather than send it for scrap (yes, I know, they were organ donors...). The point is that all of this made the place look very disused and out of commission but maybe it'll be used again once they've had a new organ installed (an organ transplant - ah, my coat, how kind...). |
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Post by helrunar on Dec 4, 2019 17:29:05 GMT
Dr Shrink Proof, I just want to say that I love your posts.
Thanks for providing some cheer on a rather bleak day over here in Boston, Mass.
cheers, Steve
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Post by Swampirella on Dec 4, 2019 18:06:28 GMT
I too must thank you for the detailed (and witty) explanation!
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Post by ripper on Dec 4, 2019 21:14:48 GMT
I'm sure a story could be written around Shrinkproof's photo---how odd to find it in a disused church. Part of the conference/gathering included walking tours around York visiting a couple of the churches M R James had visited during his stay in York 120 years previously. We saw some of the weird medieval stained glass he studied, featuring various monsters and freaky scenes that some think might've inspired a few of his tales, and were addressed in each church by a local historian who explained what the images symbolised, etc. In one of the churches there was a collection of old photographs of the place and its immediate vicinity, including the one of the street party to celebrate peace in 1918. The historian explained that it was taken very nearby (not more than a street or two away) and that Mr Creepy was some sort of clown or kids entertainer. The full picture had about 20 or so kids, arranged in rows rather like one of those photographs of the class they take every year at school, with the guy at the back. It got a bit blurred with zooming in so closely but I tinkered with it on the computer to compensate. The sepia is the original colour. In retrospect I can't be 100% certain that the church was disused, but it was full of dust and a thousand pieces of the ancient organ that they'd removed in bits - pipes, strange mechanisms and the like. They were sorting it all out to be shipped to France where it was going to be reassembled in another church. They'd given it away for free rather than send it for scrap (yes, I know, they were organ donors...). The point is that all of this made the place look very disused and out of commission but maybe it'll be used again once they've had a new organ installed (an organ transplant - ah, my coat, how kind...). What a lovely anecdote. That must have been a fascinating tour. Thank you for letting us know the picture's background. |
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