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Post by johnnymains on Apr 12, 2021 17:32:30 GMT
News coming in that John Pelan has passed away at the age of 63. He published a few British authors, Charles Birkin and R.R. Ryan - and also Tod Robbins' work, keeping the latter's name alive though his imprint Midnight House. He did get it wrong on occassion and James Doig tastefully and carefully dismantled his "research" at pinning down who R.R. Ryan was - but he's to be commended for what he got right. Vale.
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Post by dem bones on Apr 12, 2021 18:04:52 GMT
That's sad news. He popped up on here occasionally, always seemed a cheerful, knowledgeable fellow.
"He did get it wrong on occasion." You ever met anyone who hasn't?
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Post by johnnymains on Apr 12, 2021 18:17:59 GMT
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Apr 12, 2021 19:28:51 GMT
"He did get it wrong on occasion." You ever met anyone who hasn't? And yet there is a simple technique for always being right that anyone can apply. Just never say anything unless you know exactly what you are talking about.
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Post by Dr Strange on Apr 12, 2021 19:36:06 GMT
"He did get it wrong on occasion." You ever met anyone who hasn't? And yet there is a simple technique for always being right that anyone can apply. Just never say anything unless you know exactly what you are talking about. This may not work, because of the Dunning-Kruger effect. If you don't know what you are talking about, you might also not know that you don't know what you are talking about.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Apr 12, 2021 19:43:57 GMT
And yet there is a simple technique for always being right that anyone can apply. Just never say anything unless you know exactly what you are talking about. This may not work, because of the Dunning-Kruger effect. If you don't know what you are talking about, you might also not know that you don't know what you are talking about. What an offensive suggestion! I always know what I am talking about!
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Post by andydecker on Apr 12, 2021 19:52:40 GMT
This is sad. I liked his work.
I seem to remember that he was stalked online back when there still were the rec-arts newsgroups. I don't know any longer what it was about.
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Apr 12, 2021 20:24:12 GMT
News coming in that John Pelan has passed away at the age of 63. He published a few British authors, Charles Birkin and R.R. Ryan - and also Tod Robbins' work, keeping the latter's name alive though his imprint Midnight House. Sad news. Those Midnight House books are pretty, if you can find copies at reasonable prices. His Century's Best Horror anthology was monumental.
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Post by jamesdoig on Apr 13, 2021 0:19:40 GMT
News coming in that John Pelan has passed away at the age of 63. He published a few British authors, Charles Birkin and R.R. Ryan - and also Tod Robbins' work, keeping the latter's name alive though his imprint Midnight House. He did get it wrong on occassion and James Doig tastefully and carefully dismantled his "research" at pinning down who R.R. Ryan was - but he's to be commended for what he got right. Vale. That's sad news - he was a nice bloke. I only knew him online and bought Midnight House books from him and talked to him about obscure horror writers. I think he was a devotee of Karl Edward Wagner and was keen to get into print the books and authors Wagner published in those Twilight Zone lists. About R.R. Ryan (an actor, theatre manager, playwright and novelist named Rex Ryan who lived in Hove): the copyright holder of his books was R.R. Ryan's grandson, who was the son of another obscure crime writer, Denise Bradley-Ryan who used the pseudonym Kay Seaton. The son/grandson became convinced that his mother, Denise, wrote the R.R. Ryan books, and he wouldn't agree or even talk to anyone who thought differently, so in order to publish the R.R. Ryan books with Ramble House, John pretty much had to agree with him. Although a storm in a teacup, it annoyed me that John would argue a case that patently wasn't true, but of course if he wanted to publish the R.R. Ryan novels, he really had no choice - and he was very eager to publish them because Ryan was the writer who appeared the most in Wagner's lists, and people at the time thought Wagner made up the name and titles because they were so rare! Anyway, that was my take on it, and I'm sure other people involved had different views on it. That said, I always got on fine with John - there were so few people interested in researching and publishing obscure British thriller writers that we always got on well.
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Post by helrunar on Apr 13, 2021 1:13:44 GMT
That's a fabulous story, James. I am sorry to hear of Mr. Pelan's death. When one is but a few months away from one's own 63rd birthday, it feels like an unwontedly young age! May his spirit know peace.
Steve
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Post by David A. Riley on Apr 13, 2021 8:19:02 GMT
I was shocked and saddened to hear this. John Pelan was instrumental in getting me involved once more in writing after I had more or less given it up till he contacted me about including the very first story I ever had published (in the 11th Pan Books of Horror back in 1970) in his two-volume anthology The Century's Best Horror Fiction, published by Cemetary Dance. He also included a new story of mine in his last anthology for Roc Books, Alone on the Darkside. We remained in steady contact for quite some time after this, as he was looking forward to publishing my first collection of short stories in his Midmight House Press imprint, but unfortunately his fortunes deteriorated at this time and, sadly, Midnight House and his other imprint, Silver Salamander Press closed down and he moved from Seattle to New Mexico, after which our contact became sporadic. I will never forget the encouragement he gave me at a time when I needed it.
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Post by Dr Strange on Apr 13, 2021 10:32:48 GMT
About R.R. Ryan (an actor, theatre manager, playwright and novelist named Rex Ryan who lived in Hove): the copyright holder of his books was R.R. Ryan's grandson, who was the son of another obscure crime writer, Denise Bradley-Ryan who used the pseudonym Kay Seaton. The son/grandson became convinced that his mother, Denise, wrote the R.R. Ryan books, and he wouldn't agree or even talk to anyone who thought differently, so in order to publish the R.R. Ryan books with Ramble House, John pretty much had to agree with him. I read the Introduction to one of those Ramble House books here - ramblehouse.com/freakmuseumchapter.htmIt does make for very odd reading, when you know the background. I can confidently say I'd never heard of R.R. Ryan before I found the Vault.
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Post by helrunar on Apr 13, 2021 12:50:19 GMT
I'd never heard of R. R. Ryan at all prior to this thread. I guess Mr. Pelan's reprints of his books are now rare collector's items themselves.
I think there was a thread here about Karl E. Wagner's lists a few years ago, but maybe I'm thinking of some other fellow's lists? The thread I recall mentioned four lists, I believe.
Thanks to the kindness of another regular here, I read a very interesting memoir of Wagner a few months ago. It had a sad ending.
H.
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Post by helrunar on Apr 13, 2021 12:56:52 GMT
Thanks, Dr Strange, for the link to that introduction. This snippet was helpful to me; the author mentions a list of "the 39 best horror novels" compiled by Wagner:
Ryan pulls off the hat trick of being listed in all three categories; best supernatural novel with Echo of a Curse, best non-supernatural novel with The Subjugated Beast and finally, best science fictional horror with Freak Museum. Several other authors, (Nigel Kneale, Walter S. Masterman, Fredric Brown, and John Dickson Carr) are honored with two entries, but Ryan and Ewers are the only ones with three. In all fairness, the list was never intended to be a real “best of”; rather it was a bully pulpit that Karl used to call attention to authors that he felt might well be unknown to modern readers. In that capacity it succeeded wondrously well and not only rekindled an interest in authors such as R.R. Ryan, Mark Hansom and Walter S. Masterman but stimulated scholars and collectors to seek out other authors who might have been overlooked . . .
I see that Ramble House reprinted six of the Ryan novels. Quite an interesting list from them... something called The Fangs of Suet Pudding figures. Just when you think you've seen it all...
Hans Heinz Ewers is not a name known to me at all. I wonder how well remembered he is in the German-speaking and -reading world.
I never thought of Carr as a horror author, but I think this came up recently somewhere or other in another thread here. Once I had a brain...
cheers, H.
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Post by andydecker on Apr 13, 2021 17:55:30 GMT
. Hans Heinz Ewers is not a name known to me at all. I wonder how well remembered he is in the German-speaking and -reading world. Ewers was something of a scandal as his work was thought immoral and even pornographic. We are talking about pre WWI. He was quite successful, but he always managed to piss the wrong people off. During the war he traveled to America to do propaganda for the Kaiser. This got him a lot of problems. After his return to Germany his career was in shambles. He proved to be a career opportunist and sucked up to the Nazis. He became a part of their propaganda machine. But finally his work and his person fell out of favour, the Nazis put him on the list, his novels on the index and barred him from publication. He spent the rest of his life to overturn the edict, what he finally managed in parts, but died with 73 in 1943. His work is still avaiable but at best obscure. I tried to read his "Alraune" but never could get into it.
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