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Post by andydecker on Mar 24, 2020 11:18:37 GMT
Michael T. Hinkemeyer - Summer Solstice (Berkley, 1976) German edition as Der Sommer der Toten - Summer of the Dead, Bastei Publishing 1978 Katie Ellenwood came back home to the tiny village in the country. Here nothing changes. Ever. But Katie doesn't feel comfortable any longer. Why they strange looks from the other citizens? Why the strange suggestions of the priest, why does he remove the cross from the church? Summer solstice is coming. People from the farms flock into the village. Like every year they want to celebrate the feast – the feast, when Katie will learn the terrible truth …Hinkemeyer only wrote a few novels. This is a riff of Tom Tryon's Harvest Home. It is hard to say if this translation is cut in length or not, Bastei's Horror-Bibliothek is notorious for editing content for violence and shrinking content to match the length. But the novel is for once not listed on the Isfdb. Some further research shows that the original hardcover was 250 pages, but without a comparison of the texts you never know. So it is hard to say if this version really captured the original.
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Post by helrunar on Mar 24, 2020 12:15:17 GMT
That sounds potentially interesting. Thanks, Andreas!
Best wishes, Steve
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Post by andydecker on Aug 15, 2023 8:13:47 GMT
Michael T. Hinkemeyer - Summer Solstice (Berkley, 1976) Cover found on the net. Thanks to the original scanner.
This is the original edition of Summer Solstice from 1976. Today it would be classified as Folk Horror.
It is slow, and for a long time this just comes aross as a quick rip-off of Thomas Tryon's Harvest Home. But the ending is quite different, even if it is a bit difficult to understand. I guess it is a matter of taste if it will work for you and makes any sense or seems to be just rubbish. As far as the atmosphere is concerned, this works and is competently written.
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Post by 𝘗rincess 𝘵uvstarr on Aug 15, 2023 10:38:44 GMT
Michael T. Hinkemeyer - Summer Solstice (Berkley, 1976) Cover found on the net. Thanks to the original scanner.
I like this cover, however, as (like Swampirella) I am a bit of an expert on the woman running away from a scary house genre, I feel it could be improved by a light in an upstairs window. Of course being the American Deep South I don't suppose they have mains electricity, but a candle would suffice. Edit: I just looked the author up and it is possible the setting is not the Deep South, but I'd guess it is still some backwoods America (Minnesota, where he was brought up on a farm?). There is a German connection, as while serving with the U.S. Army he was stationed in Germany. He wrote historic romance books under the name Vanessa Royall.
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Post by 𝘗rincess 𝘵uvstarr on Aug 15, 2023 11:10:58 GMT
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Post by Swampirella on Aug 15, 2023 14:46:31 GMT
Michael T. Hinkemeyer - Summer Solstice (Berkley, 1976) Cover found on the net. Thanks to the original scanner.
I like this cover, however, as (like Swampirella) I am a bit of an expert on the woman running away from a scary house genre, I feel it could be improved by a light in an upstairs window. Of course being the American Deep South I don't suppose they have mains electricity, but a candle would suffice. Edit: I just looked the author up and it is possible the setting is not the Deep South, but I'd guess it is still some backwoods America (Minnesota, where he was brought up on a farm?). There is a German connection, as while serving with the U.S. Army he was stationed in Germany. He wrote historic romance books under the name Vanessa Royall. I totally agree, Princess. It definitely needs some kind of light in the upstairs window. An oil lamp, or as you say, a candle.
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