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Post by cauldronbrewer on Dec 5, 2019 1:37:01 GMT
It didn't go quite where I was expecting--I thought it was going to be an animals attack story. Same here. Then the passage about "the rite" threw me on another wrong track. 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! I found this one particularly disturbing. The lack of explanation works to the story's advantage. |
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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 5, 2019 6:25:05 GMT
Day fiveDoubtless most of our reader will be familiar with today's cult sado-horror story, but in the circumstances it kind of had to be included. Yet another mystery author in that, for all the wild guesswork, it doesn't appear as though anybody has yet unmasked the version of 'Alex White' wrote The Clinic? Those interested might like to compare and contrast with Charles Birkin's Marjorie's on Starlight as featured on our 2014 calendar. Then again, they might not! Thanks to Johnny Mains for providing the text file. Attachments:alex white clinic.pdf (189.51 KB)
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Post by Middoth on Dec 5, 2019 7:10:42 GMT
very inspiring and life-asserting story.
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Post by mattofthespurs on Dec 5, 2019 8:43:07 GMT
Superb start to this years advent calender.  |
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Dec 5, 2019 11:00:09 GMT
Simply bursting with Christmas spirit!
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Post by ripper on Dec 5, 2019 13:07:01 GMT
This is a grim one, once read never forgotten. Glad that Dem has pointed out that other dispenser of cheer Sir Charles Birkin and his classic of girls and horses; Alex White is well up there with him in always seeing the good in people.
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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 6, 2019 6:21:41 GMT
Day SixA fourth and final (for time being) Pan Mystery author. Of course, it's entirely possible that ' Fay Woolf' really was Fay Woolf and not another pseudonymous Van Thal regular *. Whatever, her short career as a horror author comprises the Charity fete shocker Sideshow ( 22nd Pan Book Of Horror Stories, 1981) and the decidedly not-for-softies conte cruel, Sideshow. * Charles Black wondered on this thread if Fay Woolf and Ken 'Mumsy and Sonny'/'Waste Nothing' Johns were one and the same person. Attachments:Fay Woolf - Slowly.pdf (134.43 KB)
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Post by johnnymains on Dec 6, 2019 8:56:30 GMT
Alan Kitch aka Ken Johns aka Ken Alden only used those two names, as far as he's letting on. I used 'The Moment of Death' in Back From The Dead and interviewed him for the van Thal bio and asked him about other pen names. He was really friendly and open, so have no reason to wonder why he wouldn't own up to it.
I remember hating 'Slowly', absolutely bloody despised it - cruelty for cruelty's sake, but I suppose I've mellowed to it somewhat. Real life is much more horrid.
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Dec 6, 2019 16:20:16 GMT
I remember hating 'Slowly', absolutely bloody despised it - cruelty for cruelty's sake, but I suppose I've mellowed to it somewhat. I admit to struggling with contes cruels, even though I'm often fine with bleak supernatural horror stories such as "Up, Like a Good Girl" or The Ritual. I did appreciate "Marjorie's on Starlight," maybe because it's almost like pitch dark slapstick. |
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Post by ripper on Dec 6, 2019 20:04:45 GMT
Horrible things happening to children and animals in stories make me squirm, and this one certainly did. I agree with CB about Charles Birkin's little nasties being almost black comedy at times, but 'Slowly' was straight up horrific. I am sure Birkin had a twinkle in his eye when writing his tales, but perhaps not so much the author of this story. Don't think I could read too many of these in one go, but it certainly horrified and shocked, so Ms Woolf probably got the reaction she wanted, and it illustrates the direction the Pans were going as they moved out of their teens. Well written and suspenseful, but phew!
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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 7, 2019 8:32:51 GMT
Day seven brings ....  H. Granville Fell Thanks to J. A. Mains for providing todays terror tale of the girl who plucked a flower from a miser's grave, as recently exhumed in his Remember the Dead at Halloween & Christmas (Black Shuck, 2019). It might almost be a dry run for this year's opener, The Three D's, which it pre-dates by four decades. For background on the life and tragic death of Alphonse Courlander, see Steve Holland's biography on Bear Alley Chrissie Demant
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Post by helrunar on Dec 7, 2019 14:02:27 GMT
What a gorgeous drawing by Chrissie!
I look forward very much to catching up with all these. Magisterial work as always from Mr & Mrs D!
cheers, H.
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Post by Middoth on Dec 7, 2019 15:02:54 GMT
I like how the branches of the tree are drawn.
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Post by johnnymains on Dec 7, 2019 16:30:04 GMT
Wow, Chrissie has knocked it out of the fucking park with that illustration. And thanks for the link to the book - makes a great Xmas present for the etc etc etc
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Post by ripper on Dec 7, 2019 19:44:21 GMT
Nice little chiller with good description of the graveyard, and really fine artwork from Chrissie.
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