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Post by dem bones on Apr 7, 2020 16:06:03 GMT
Peter Haining [ed.] - Greasepaint and Ghosts (William Kimber, 1982)  Ionicus
Elliott O'Donnell - The Dressing Room
Abraham Lincoln - The Trailor Murder Mystery
Bram Stoker - The Star Trap
Sarah Bernhardt - The Last Drop
Gaston Leroux - The Ghost of the Opera
John Willard - The Cat and the Canary
W. S. Gilbert - The Triumph of Vice: A Fairy Tale
John Galsworthy - The Voice of ...!
J. B. Priestley - The Demon King
Basil Rathbone - The Spirit of Baker Street
Orson Welles - Diplomatic Crisis
Tennessee Williams - The Vengeance of Nitocris
Fritz Leiber - Four Ghosts in Hamlet
Charles Chaplin - Rhythm Blurb: Up with the curtain on a spine-chilling collection of tales of the supernatural, the mysterious and the macabre. And what better setting than the world of theatre, where illusion is king? Many of the stories are set in the theatre and on the stage itself — like J. B. Priestley’s contribution; others are written by the players, such as Charlie Chaplin’s masterly tale of the macabre, and Basil Rathbone’s; still others come from the pens of famous playwrights — Tennessee Williams for example.
So here is the programme — let the curtain rise on ....Subtitled 'An Anthology of Strange and Supernatural Stories from the World of Theatre,' dedicated to 'Vincent Price - for many a supernatural moment!' An all star line-up, but can showbiz luvvies and lit types compose decent ghost stories? Elliott O'Donnell - The Dressing Room: ( Haunted Places in England, 1919). "Hunt up the records of eighty and ninety years ago, and you will find that more than one dressing-room witnessed the tragic ending of some lesser star, some member of the crowd, a mere “walker on”; that duels were not infrequently fought in grim earnest on the boards; and that more than one poor super has been found hanging from a cobwebby beam in a remote corner of the great maze-like basement of the building."London's Haunted theatre land. The Prince Regent, Autumn 1897. John W. Mayhewe, who has a minor role in a performance of The Merciful Pirate, shares the unlucky room 25 with an elemental, allegedly the ghost of an actor who reputedly went insane. It tries on his frock coat and gloves. Non-fiction/ "non-fiction." Sarah Bernhardt - The Last Drop: ( The Strand, Dec. 1893, as A Christmas Story). The cheerless Château de Ploerneuf, Brittany. Confession of the Duc de Keberzoff, breaking a self-imposed silence of two decades duration. Twenty year s ago he forbade only son to marry his "low-born" fiancée. When the boy's love proved unshakable, the Duc arranged for the girl to suffer a fatal "accident "- and succeeded only to well. Special guest star is none other than baby Jesus, who appears to the dying man with an assurance that, as his repentance is sincere, his sin is forgiven. The Duc ascends to Paradise. Basil Rathbone - The Spirit of Baker Street: Summer, 1946. A Detective Inspector, holidaying in Heathfield, Sussex, meets a reclusive bee-keeper who was once a big noise in crime-fighting circles ... John Galsworthy - The Voice of ...!: ( Metropolitan Magazine, Feb. 1912). "Ladies and Gentlemen, I will dance for you the latest Gollywog Brazilian caterpillar crawl." La Bellisinna's début performance at the Paradise is a huge sensation, but not everyone is happy. "Woman! Blasphemous creature! You have profaned Beauty!" A phantom heckler screams abuse at her - from the .... Gods. Charles Chaplin - Rhythm: A Story of Men in Macabre Movement: ( Rob Wagner's Script, 15 Jan. 1938). A brief conte cruel. At close of the Spanish Civil war, two lifelong friends find themselves on opposite sides of a firing squad. The one facing the bullets is a brilliant, very popular humorist; the other, the officer in command. Fritz Leiber - Four Ghosts In Hamlet: (MF&SF, Jan. 1965). An old trouper bows out to career best notices at Wolverton theatre, yet the doctor confirms Guthrie Boyd's alcoholism had taken it's toll hours before the first curtain. Monica, who has been dabbling with a ouija board, swears the show-stealing phantom was Shakespeare himself, but perhaps Bill 'Props' Simpson knows more about the ghost-Ghost than he cares to admit.
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Post by andydecker on Apr 7, 2020 17:15:37 GMT
The Kimber edition must have been nice.
The cover art reminds me of Gahan Willson.
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Post by cromagnonman on Apr 8, 2020 1:43:49 GMT
PH make any mention of the ghostly cackle of Sid James at the Sunderland Empire by any chance?
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Post by dem bones on Apr 8, 2020 8:13:50 GMT
PH make any mention of the ghostly cackle of Sid James at the Sunderland Empire by any chance? Alas, no Sid. We have to make do with Sir Alec Guinness modestly letting slip that the ghost of William Shakespeare once came to watch him in rehearsal at the Old Vic. Bram Stoker - The Star Trap: ( Snowbound: The Record of a Theatrical Touring Party, 1908). Pantomime season at the Victoria theatre, Hulme. Henry Mortimer, who plays Harlequin, is killed in a tragic on-stage 'accident' when Jack Haliday, master carpenter, sabotages the 'star trap.' Mortimer had been sleeping with his wife. A so-so revenge story, long-winded in the telling and, for this reader, not a patch on The Dualists. Haining claims the story first appeared in Collier's Magazine for Nov. 1888 as Death in the Wings, but Bram Stoker.org are adamant it did not. Abraham Lincoln - The Trailor Murder Mystery: ( Quincy, Illinois Whig, 15 April 1846, as A Remarkable Case of Arrest for Murder). Springfield, Illinois, 1941. By their own conflicting, self-incriminating evidence, it's clear that at least one of the Trailor brothers murdered Fisher, a reputed miser, for his fortune. Yet as they await sentence, the 'dead' man arrives at the court house all hale and hearty. Tennessee Williams - The Vengeance of Nitocris: ( Weird Tales, Aug. 1928). The Pharaoh is butchered for an act of sacrilege and his popular sister proclaimed Empress. Her subjects gravely miscalculate their beloved monarch's capacity for forgiveness. As feared, and in common with many of Haining's Kimber anthologies, Greasepaint and Ghosts lacks the sparkle of his 'seventies efforts, though I'm sure he had fun compiling the thing. Perhaps 70 plus pages of The Cat and the Canary will save the day. |
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Post by cromagnonman on Apr 8, 2020 8:25:35 GMT
Aw, that's disappointing to hear. Especially as Sid's ghost is supposed to be a manifestation so bowel emptyingly terrifying that having seen it Les Dawson refused point blank to ever play the venue again. I'm sure RCH could have had Fred and Francis lay the ghost - literally in Fred's case.
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Post by helrunar on Apr 8, 2020 18:34:41 GMT
Richard, that story about Sid James's ghost haunting that theatre is mentioned in Sid's Wikipedia entry: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_JamesSid is one of those people where I just don't get what he had that made so many ladies jump into bed with him. One of the unsolved mysteries of the past. I doubt it is of that much interest to anyone, but if the haunting consists of somebody unexpectedly hearing Sid's laugh at a sudden moment, it would be of a very familiar type known to investigators as "a recording" or other variant terms. I read a couple of stories by E. F. Benson, who must have actually studied psychic phenomena or talked a lot to occultists at some point, which were constructed around this type of manifestation. Hope you and yours are keeping well during this difficult time. All the best, Steve |
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Post by cromagnonman on Apr 9, 2020 0:45:03 GMT
Richard, that story about Sid James's ghost haunting that theatre is mentioned in Sid's Wikipedia entry: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_JamesSid is one of those people where I just don't get what he had that made so many ladies jump into bed with him. One of the unsolved mysteries of the past. I doubt it is of that much interest to anyone, but if the haunting consists of somebody unexpectedly hearing Sid's laugh at a sudden moment, it would be of a very familiar type known to investigators as "a recording" or other variant terms. I read a couple of stories by E. F. Benson, who must have actually studied psychic phenomena or talked a lot to occultists at some point, which were constructed around this type of manifestation. Hope you and yours are keeping well during this difficult time. All the best, Steve Well Steve, as the tag line from Carry On Henry would have us know he was "a great guy with his chopper." Sid starred in a long running sit-com (which you may or may not be familiar with) called Bless This House. In the show his daughter was played by the lovely Sally Geeson (Judy's sister). I only bring it up [cue Sid's dirty cackle] because so far as I'm aware she's the only actress to ever film a bed scene with Norman Wisdom. Truly the sexual chemistry shared by nymphettes and middle aged comedians defies explanation. |
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Post by dem bones on Apr 9, 2020 17:04:04 GMT
John Willard - The Cat and the Canary: 27 August 1927. On the twentieth anniversary of his death, six expectant relatives gather at Grencliff Manor on the Hudson River for the reading of Cyrus West's last will and testament. The misanthropic millionaire took great comfort in pondering the crushing disappointment of his gold-digging relatives who each believe they will benefit handsomely from his death.
As per the dead man's wishes, Crosby, the lawyer, reads the will on the stroke of midnight. It doesn't take long. West has left his entire estate to a young woman he never met - Annabelle West, blonde "picture of loveliness," etc. - provided Crosby is satisfied that she is sane and competent. Of course, it is in the mutual interest of the others to either prove her gaga or scare her to death.
As the clock strikes the hour for the first time in two decades, the life-size canvas of West falls from its frame. Manny Pleasant, the sinister housekeeper predicts the worst. "It is a sign that someone in the house will die tonight."
A stranger arrives, clutching a straitjacket. Hendricks, a warden at neighbouring Fairview Asylum advises the party to batten down the hatches as a dangerous lunatic has escaped ....
Murder, secret passages, hidden jewels, a slashed telephone line, a homicidal wandering hand, a hirsute, tusked man-beast in a dress suit .....
The editor provides no date of publication for this novella, and, far as I've been able to establish, it doesn't seem to have appeared elsewhere prior to it's appearance in Greasepaint & Ghosts (though as ever, I'm happy to be corrected). Makes me wonder who actually adapted it from the play. John Willard himself, A. N. Other, or ... Peter Haining?
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Post by dem bones on Apr 10, 2020 15:40:42 GMT
W. S. Gilbert - The Triumph of Vice: A Fairy Tale: (Savage Club Papers, 1867). A rich but hideously deformed gnome is temporarily transformed into a handsome hunk. Can he persuade Lady Bertha von Klauffenback, obligatory most beautiful girl in the kingdom, to marry him before the spell is lifted?
Orson Welles - Diplomatic Crisis: (Evening Standard, 18 March 1955, as Fifi and the Chilean Truffle). A French minister entertains sixteen high-ranking Soviet dignitaries. The waiter passes on the sad news that the host's dog, who pilfered a truffle, is dead. Nicely told but lacks both ghost and greasepaint.
Gaston Leroux - The Ghost of the Opera: Extract from the opening chapter of The Phantom of the Opera. The Corps de Ballet and the doomed chief scenery-shifter all claim to have seen the deaths head in a dress coat said to haunt a box in the grand tier of the Paris Opera. Giry the ballet-girl's mum even gave him a programme.
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