|
Post by helrunar on Aug 6, 2021 15:28:16 GMT
Starting a thread not because I'm an egomaniac but because I don't want to step on anybody else's train... This was posted by John Linwood Grant (author of the excellent www.greydogtales.com/ blog) on social media today. Always thought that Agatha’s Christie’s village of St Mary Mead should be full of folk horror. So here’s that popular couple, Elric, Last Emperor of Melnibone, and Miss Marple… 😉 ELRIC (sobbing as he shrinks from his blood-stained sword): Once again have I slaughtered the ones I love! Arioch, Prince of Chaos, you have bound me to this wicked blade! MISS MARPLE (squints at her crochet work): Oh, I don’t know, dear. I remember last year, when Dolly Bantry’s cousin put laxative powder in the chicken feed, and none of the hens could stop doing their ‘business’ for days. That WAS wicked. He was vegetarian, of course, and a Socialist. Miss Chumley had warned Dolly, but she wouldn’t listen. ELRIC (dubious): You think making livestock slightly ill is comparable to a soul-eating black rune-sword possessing you and causing a frenzy of uncontrollable slaughter? MISS MARPLE: Well, dear, she was very upset. ELRIC: Miss Chumley?MISS MARPLE: No, Dolly Bantry. They needed the eggs for the vicar’s garden party. How else could the guests have custard on their rhubarb crumble, do you see? And they said he was an albino as well, you know – either that or he was rather too fond of dressing up as a geisha. Such nice girls, geishas, my nephew Raymond tells me… ELRIC: Er, wait a minute. Dolly Bantry’s cousin was an albino? The vegetarian? MISS MARPLE: Dear me, no. The vicar. In the end the postmistress lent him some beige foundation, to keep the gossip down. ELRIC (confused): So what happened to the cousin? MISS MARPLE: Oh, the police were told, but I’m afraid they weren’t very interested. Sergeant Merriweather considered it to be high spirits, and wanted to let him off with a warning. Unfortunately, the rest of the village were less forgiving. They took Dolly’s cousin to the old smithy, where they blinded him with red hot pokers and then tore out his entrails. Such a messy business, and right before Harvest Festival, as well. ELRIC (edging towards cottage door): I… I think I better be going now. MISS MARPLE (smiling): Yes, you run along dear. Or I’ll never have this doily finished for tea-time...
|
|
|
Post by andydecker on Aug 6, 2021 18:23:41 GMT
While I restrict my browsing of blogs - life is too short - and think a lot are a waste of time or disagreeing violently is not good for my health, I have to say that this one is genuine funny. He catches Agatha Christie quite good, and the idea of St Mary Mead as a hot spot for folk horror is novel.
Now that would have been the perfect background for an episode of Midsummer Murder back when it was good. Come to think of it, a few early episodes were not that far from it.
|
|
|
Post by pulphack on Aug 7, 2021 8:32:10 GMT
Dame Ag and the sainted Moorcock in one? Well, MM might splutter in his tea about that, but it made me laugh. Splendid find, Steve. The idea that Elric might edge away from a red hot poker is also a nice touch, seeing as casual observers may forget that the point of him (so to speak) is that he is an unwilling hero...
Few more things like this may not go amiss... get weaving, Steve. (I'm far too lazy to do this, I admit)
|
|
|
Post by helrunar on Aug 18, 2021 15:18:37 GMT
|
|
|
Post by helrunar on Aug 19, 2021 13:15:59 GMT
The latest from Professor John Linwood Grant. There's a theme... perhaps you will surmise it?
A WARNING TO THE CREDULOUS In the quiet of the Senior Common Room, Montague poured out two sherries and handed one to his guest, a nervous-looking young man in worn tweeds. “And what have you been up to recently, Eldred? You took a short sabbatical after cataloguing those Sumerian tablets, did you not?” The young man flinched. “Well, there’s a tale! I did go away, yes, and found a nice room in this Danish hotel, but I had the most terrible dreams where I was all tangled up in the sheets, and hardly had any sleep. The next morning I decided to skip breakfast, and went out with those old, heavy binoculars of mine, but the beach was crowded with Punch and Judy shows, whistle salesmen, and chaps digging for all sorts of things – fishing bait, I suppose. “So I went back into town, and tried to get some peace and quiet in the local cathedral. That was worse – they were renovating it, ripping out tombs, throwing away old books, and replacing the carvings in the stalls. You can imagine the noise. Eventually, I called the whole darned tour off, and came home to carry on making that dolls-house I told you about. For the neighbour’s child, you remember – the poor little soul covered in hair? The doctors are still puzzled by him.” “Goodness me.” Montague sipped his sherry, finding it a little dry. “And after your last unfortunate trip...” “Oh, don’t speak of that disaster! I swear, no other man could have a burning ash tree fall on him whilst he was in the middle of trying to retrieve his spectacles from a well full of toads. Worse, I hear that a local artist saw the whole ridiculous thing, and is making a mezzotint of it to sell to tourists. Honestly, James, you couldn’t make this sort of thing up!” “No,” said his friend, thoughtfully. “I suppose not. But then again...”
|
|
|
Post by helrunar on Aug 25, 2021 15:09:34 GMT
Announcement pasted in from the Interwebs... the "Windy City" is Chicago, Illinois, a metropolis in the United States of Mordor.
cheers, Hel (I did not write the text below)
This year's Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention is now just over two weeks away! It will be held September 10-12, 2021 at the Westin Lombard Yorktown Center. In addition to the 180 tables of pulps, paperbacks and other vintage material for sale in our dealer room, our Friday and Saturday night auctions feature many Robert E. Howard items. Friday night's auction contains 200 lots from the estate of Robert Weinberg, including many beautiful Weird Tales issues. Saturday night's auction contains material from the estates of Glenn Lord (for many decades the literary executor for REH's estate) and August Derleth. Among the rare REH material Saturday night is a copy of REH's first book, "A Gent From Bear Creek" (published in 1937 by Herbert Jenkins), as well as a copy of Clark Ashton Smith's "Ebony and Crystal" (published in 1922 in an edition of 500, with this copy being inscribed by Smith to REH!). But perhaps even scarcer than "A Gent From Bear Creek" are approximately 210 issues of "The Summit County Journal" from June 23, 1967 to December 31, 1971. This newspaper serialized many of the Breckinridge Elkins stories in the late 1960's and early 1970's. I've never seen a single issue before, let alone over 200 at once!
|
|
|
Post by helrunar on Aug 26, 2021 14:45:00 GMT
Latest from the Hon John Linwood Grant, FRS:
MR BUBBLES AND PSYCHOGEOGRAPHY A thrilling tale by J Linseed Grant “I say, Mr Bubbles.” Sandra was leafing through her comic, ‘Barbed Wire for Girls’, one crisp November morning. “There’s a jolly good article in here about scary stories. And it says that something called ‘Folk Horror’ is very popular these days, especially with townies.” “Huh.” Her slightly psychotic pony kicked an over-cheerful robin, which limped away with a look of malignity usually only found in Jacobean assassins. “I mean, what is ‘Folk Horror’, boy?” Sandra frowned. “What do you think?” The pony looked down at the insular village of St Botolph-in-the-Wolds, a shambolic mess of ill-matched old houses crouched in the chill lee of Whateley Wood, its inhabitants ruled by inexplicable prejudices and customs outlawed elsewhere around the fourteenth century. He watched Mr Quilling, the Village Pervert, trying to re-tile his roof with discarded shin-bones, and the Children of the Empty Furrow out on the village green, practising their latest song, Lament for an Incontinent Vole. In the distance, a pack of intoxicated Girl Guides sacrificed a nail beautician to an un-named goddess with a face like a bag of dead rats. “No idea,” he said, and wandered off to see if there were any turnips left in his barn. (end)
cheers, Hel
|
|
|
Post by helrunar on Aug 26, 2021 14:51:13 GMT
An item in the auction from Glenn Lord's personal library is a copy of Clark Ashton Smith's poetry volume, Ebony and Crystal, published in 1922 in an edition of 500. The copy was inscribed to Robert E. Howard by the author:
For Robert E. Howard, these litanies to Astarte and Hecate and Dagon and Demogorgon. With fraternal good wishes, Clark Ashton Smith, July 4, 1933.
H.
|
|
|
Post by helrunar on Aug 27, 2021 19:26:26 GMT
Cool portrait of Linda Thorson, shot when some people were convinced she was slated to become an international star as Diana Rigg's replacement on THE AVENGERS. Great footage of Linda biking around London in 1967, running, swimming and just generally showing herself an all-round action girl, counterpointed with a rather ridiculous romantic scene with an older man, and some much more interesting interview moments. Ends with Linda visiting one of the ultra-hip Carnaby Street boutiques. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztAcy86cv5UI enjoy Thorson's Avengers stories a lot--mostly because I don't bother comparing them to the work done before her time by Honor Blackman and Diana Rigg on the series. H.
|
|
|
Post by helrunar on Aug 27, 2021 20:08:10 GMT
|
|
|
Post by andydecker on Aug 28, 2021 12:28:00 GMT
Cool portrait of Linda Thorson, shot when some people were convinced she was slated to become an international star as Diana Rigg's replacement on THE AVENGERS. Great footage of Linda biking around London in 1967, running, swimming and just generally showing herself an all-round action girl, counterpointed with a rather ridiculous romantic scene with an older man, and some much more interesting interview moments. Ends with Linda visiting one of the ultra-hip Carnaby Street boutiques. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztAcy86cv5UI enjoy Thorson's Avengers stories a lot--mostly because I don't bother comparing them to the work done before her time by Honor Blackman and Diana Rigg on the series. H. Really? But the scripts are so ... I don't know, forced? Running on fumes? This is not about Thorson's work, basically it doesn't matter if she or Rigg gets kidnapped to generate drama, but the stories are so forgettable. The one stroke of genius in this last season which is unforgettable though is Patrick Newell in his role as "Mother". This is inspired weirdness at its best, a bit like Dr Who when it works. It really left an impression on me, and I had a hard time taking British spy drama seriously after this, especially things like Smiley's People with its "Control".
|
|
|
Post by helrunar on Aug 28, 2021 14:46:28 GMT
Hi Andreas,
My original viewing of the Thorson series was in Seventies syndication and the shows were less than inspiring. The same handful of episodes seemed to be repeated frequently. It wasn't until years later that I got to see "Take-over" from her series, and I rate that one of the best episodes of The Avengers. Great guest cast headed by Tom Adams, a British classical actor nobody now remembers who did the occasional horror or other genre item to pay the bills. He had a fabulous voice and presence.
There are a few good stories in Thorson's series, several middle of the road ones, and others that are simply unfortunate. Nevertheless by and large I enjoy revisiting her series from time to time. Bob Fuest's art direction often has a lot to do with this.
Glad to hear you say you liked the Mother character and concept. A lot of Avengers fans don't have any time at all for the character, but I agree with what you say. His segments sometimes introduced a Dada element to the proceedings, such as the story where his office was at the bottom of a river (of course, the logistics of this went blithely unacknowledged and unexplained).
Best, Steve
|
|
|
Post by helrunar on Aug 29, 2021 22:07:25 GMT
|
|
|
Post by samdawson on Aug 30, 2021 11:00:08 GMT
Hi Andreas, My original viewing of the Thorson series was in Seventies syndication and the shows were less than inspiring. The same handful of episodes seemed to be repeated frequently. It wasn't until years later that I got to see "Take-over" from her series, and I rate that one of the best episodes of The Avengers. Great guest cast headed by Tom Adams, a British classical actor nobody now remembers who did the occasional horror or other genre item to pay the bills. He had a fabulous voice and presence. There are a few good stories in Thorson's series, several middle of the road ones, and others that are simply unfortunate. Nevertheless by and large I enjoy revisiting her series from time to time. Bob Fuest's art direction often has a lot to do with this. Glad to hear you say you liked the Mother character and concept. A lot of Avengers fans don't have any time at all for the character, but I agree with what you say. His segments sometimes introduced a Dada element to the proceedings, such as the story where his office was at the bottom of a river (of course, the logistics of this went blithely unacknowledged and unexplained). Best, Steve I got into trouble once on a board for saying how little I liked Thorson; like George Lazenby she has her (to me inexplicably) stout defenders. Whether it's true or not I can't confirm (and this is what the other guy challenged) but I have read that she was recommended by John Huston, that Mother (one of the best things of that season) was added because, unlike Diana Rigg, Thorson couldn't do humour and so the need arose for that character to introduce some, and that her first two attempted episodes were so bad that they were unusable, except to fill out the awful dog's dinner episode where Steed is telling a story to his aunts. The shame is there were some decent stories in her season, and some great set design and it's not her fault as such. She's just too inexperienced and lacks Rigg's acting ability. This is painfully evident in the handover episode, where Rigg acts her socks off and Thorson just gives a wide eyed simper. Later in the series she finds her feet more, but it feels like a bit of an ordeal getting there. There is also something slighly askew about her suggested relationship with Steed, and the way she looks at him in the opening credits. There was a certain magic about Macnee and Rigg when together, and you could believe they were colleagues who had once had a liaision, and stayed friends. You don't want any similar suggestion with Thorson; the age difference is just too obvious.
|
|
|
Post by helrunar on Sept 6, 2021 2:04:58 GMT
Hi Sam, I've read that Mother was meant to be a one-off in "The Forget-me-knot" handover story. The show was screened at a meeting of US ABC network suits and they liked the character so much they demanded he be made recurring. For me, Mother is one of the inarguable joys of that final series.
There was a LOT of production chaos going on during the work on Linda Thorson's series. I could write more but there's plenty to read about this topic on various websites for those interested... Macnee, who was having some personal problems during the period of the Thorson stories, reportedly liked working with her but was increasingly burnt out on the series schedule. And on THE AVENGERS in general. During the initial block of Thorson's series, they were filming 3 or 4 stories simultaneously and to say the least, it was chaotic.
I was offline in a tent in a big field on a friend's sheep farm for the past week--I recommend the experience.
cheers, Hel.
|
|