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Post by šrincess šµuvstarr on Dec 21, 2021 14:49:40 GMT
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Post by Dr Strange on Dec 21, 2021 15:24:15 GMT
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Post by šrincess šµuvstarr on Dec 22, 2021 12:44:44 GMT
helrunar do you like my profile photo? I put it up for Christmas just for you!
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Post by helrunar on Dec 22, 2021 23:50:05 GMT
Is it a photo of Jacqueline Pearce? I adore her (I think I'm repeating myself, but you know I am a doddering old thing).
cheers, Hel.
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Post by helrunar on Dec 23, 2021 15:15:11 GMT
As seen on the interwebs today--from my friend Chris Raven, who used to have a bookshop up in Yorkshire (I guess she still does mail order).
A friend advises that "Mousehole" is pronounced "MOWZ-el." (Who knows how "Bawcock" is pronounced--the word gives rise to lewd and lascivious thoughts here.)
23rd of December in Mousehole, Cornwall is Tom Bawcock's Eve. According to legend, the village was suffering a famine because the weather was so bad that no-one dared go out fishing. Until Tom Bawcock went out into the storm and fished up a giant catch, enough to feed all the villagers. The villagers celebrate this by eating Stargazey Pie, a pie of eggs, potatoes and fish, where the fish heads poke out of the crust of the pie. There may also be a procession of lanterns to the quay side. The name Bawcock, is an old nickname meaning 'Fine Fellow' or literally 'Brave Cock'. It has been speculated that this is a continuation of a pre-christian festival, celebrating both the Winter Solstice (with its torches and lanterns) and also the bounty of the sea deities.
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Post by šrincess šµuvstarr on Dec 23, 2021 16:14:49 GMT
As seen on the interwebs today--from my friend Chris Raven, who used to have a bookshop up in Yorkshire (I guess she still does mail order). A friend advises that "Mousehole" is pronounced "MOWZ-el." (Who knows how "Bawcock" is pronounced--the word gives rise to lewd and lascivious thoughts here.) 23rd of December in Mousehole, Cornwall is Tom Bawcock's Eve. According to legend, the village was suffering a famine because the weather was so bad that no-one dared go out fishing. Until Tom Bawcock went out into the storm and fished up a giant catch, enough to feed all the villagers. The villagers celebrate this by eating Stargazey Pie, a pie of eggs, potatoes and fish, where the fish heads poke out of the crust of the pie. There may also be a procession of lanterns to the quay side. The name Bawcock, is an old nickname meaning 'Fine Fellow' or literally 'Brave Cock'. It has been speculated that this is a continuation of a pre-christian festival, celebrating both the Winter Solstice (with its torches and lanterns) and also the bounty of the sea deities.
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Post by helrunar on Dec 26, 2021 16:19:05 GMT
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Post by helrunar on Dec 28, 2021 21:22:09 GMT
Beautiful recording of a cycle of Vedic hymns translated by composer Gustav Holst and set for women's choir and harp accompaniment. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct9VY4XIDDIThe situation of a British composer learning Sanskrit to translate sacred texts from ancient India could have been the jumping-off point for a classic horror yarn--but it wasn't. Unless of course you consider the onset of World War I to be one of the most tremendous instances of horror in the 20th century. That could certainly be argued. H.
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Post by helrunar on Dec 28, 2021 23:44:55 GMT
The latest from John Linwood Grant:
Some here will already be aware that Canon Foxthrupās later years were troubled ā haunted, we might almost say ā by his encounter with a rather curious engraving, gifted to him by a fellow antiquarian. As to why the good canon was so affected, we might have known no more, excepting that the item in question later passed into the possession of his friend Mr Bettleworth, who was of a more garrulous nature. āAh, THAT engraving,ā he was prompted to exclaim after dinner one night in the Senior Common Room. āShall you tell us, sir,ā asked a young guest at the table. āAt least a little of its nature, or why the canon was so dismayed by it?ā āA little, certainly.ā Mr Bettleworth, gesturing for the nearest lamps to be extinguished, leaned forward. āI should say, imprimis, that the engraving itself was indifferently achieved, limning out a substantial building by moonlight but offering nothing of obvious interest. However, as the good canon discovered, each viewing wrought a change upon the scene ā a change which followed an unvarying progression. āSuffice it to say that the picture entertained at times a most horrible presence ā a figure, ragged and mendacious in appearance, seeming to creep slowly towards the building portrayed. With each change of position from one viewing to another, so shifted the moon above, lending the most uncomfortable shadows to the entire engraving.ā Anstripple, Senior Fellow in Posturological Negativism, waved one hand dismissively. āDamnably odd, but hardly informative, Bettleworth.ā āAh, but listen. Foxthrup and I, after many weeks of examining gazetteers, came to the conclusion that the building portrayed was no country seat or manorial relic, but none other than the recently-constructed Broadcasting House. And from the aged porter at the same establishment, we learned the entire tragic story ā for the creeping figure was surely one of the least regarded wretches in society ā a scriptwriter!ā āGood heavens!ā cried the young guest. āA word-poacher!ā Mr Bettleworth nodded. āJust so. And thus was explained the final ghastly sight which ended the aforementioned progression. For in its last act, the engraving showed that same ill-faced, crook-backed figure, slinking from the building, but this time he bore a most horrid burden āā āNot...ā āYes.ā And we must acknowledge that at this point Mr Bettleworth revelled in his moment, his voice bright across the entire room. āA cheque, no less. A CHEQUE FOR WRITING AN M R JAMESā ADAPTATION!ā
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Post by helrunar on Dec 30, 2021 13:08:13 GMT
There was a thread on here a few months ago about women authors of gothic horror (etc) fiction. This morning I stumbled upon this interesting-sounding work, Monster she wrote, penned by Lisa Kroger and Melanie R. Anderson. Have no idea whether the book is any good--the whimsy of the illustrations by Natalya Balnova suggests a volume aimed at readers looking for a bit of fancy and diversion: natalyabalnova.com/Monster-She-WroteI quite like the portrait of Medusa. The drawings are very cartoon-like, somewhere between Ronald Searle and Edward Gorey. cheers, Hel.
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Post by Swampirella on Dec 30, 2021 13:20:05 GMT
There was a thread on here a few months ago about women authors of gothic horror (etc) fiction. This morning I stumbled upon this interesting-sounding work, Monster she wrote, penned by Lisa Kroger and Melanie R. Anderson. Have no idea whether the book is any good--the whimsy of the illustrations by Natalya Balnova suggests a volume aimed at readers looking for a bit of fancy and diversion: natalyabalnova.com/Monster-She-WroteI quite like the portrait of Medusa. The drawings are very cartoon-like, somewhere between Ronald Searle and Edward Gorey. cheers, Hel. Thanks for the details; Since you mention "women authors of gothic horror fiction", I came across this last night via social media; on sale until Saturday. An easy read at only 100pgs.
From Am*z*n:
A clerk encounters Black Shuck while taking a shortcut. Young men vie to join a shadowy Order by hunting an ancient being through the streets of Venice. A young man accepts a bet to spend the night in a haunted tube station. Within these pages, encounter body-swapping mummies, Egyptian princess ghosts, lonely creatures hiding among us, spectral doubles, and even Death himself. Let these stories be your guide to the weird, the fantastic, and the downright Gothic.
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peedeel
Crab On The Rampage
Posts: 61
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Post by peedeel on Dec 30, 2021 15:05:57 GMT
There was a thread on here a few months ago about women authors of gothic horror (etc) fiction. This morning I stumbled upon this interesting-sounding work, Monster she wrote, penned by Lisa Kroger and Melanie R. Anderson. Have no idea whether the book is any good--the whimsy of the illustrations by Natalya Balnova suggests a volume aimed at readers looking for a bit of fancy and diversion: natalyabalnova.com/Monster-She-WroteI quite like the portrait of Medusa. The drawings are very cartoon-like, somewhere between Ronald Searle and Edward Gorey. cheers, Hel. Monster she wrote, penned by Lisa Kroger and Melanie R. Anderson is very good. I read it shortly after publication and, considering its compact size, I was impressed by what the authors managed to include.
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Post by šrincess šµuvstarr on Dec 30, 2021 16:39:16 GMT
Thanks for the details; Since you mention "women authors of gothic horror fiction", I came across this last night via social media; on sale until Saturday. An easy read at only 100pgs.
From Am*z*n:
A clerk encounters Black Shuck while taking a shortcut. Young men vie to join a shadowy Order by hunting an ancient being through the streets of Venice. A young man accepts a bet to spend the night in a haunted tube station. Within these pages, encounter body-swapping mummies, Egyptian princess ghosts, lonely creatures hiding among us, spectral doubles, and even Death himself. Let these stories be your guide to the weird, the fantastic, and the downright Gothic. This is on my ebook site, so I looked at it. The first story was very short and was written in a very artificial mock 19th-century style (not necessarily a negative or meant as a criticism), most seem period pieces with at least two set in London; a dingy Victorian setting and the 1930s. The author comes from the North East, and because of her last name I keep thinking of Warhol's Factory.
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Post by šrincess šµuvstarr on Dec 30, 2021 16:54:50 GMT
This is on my ebook site, so I looked at it. The first story was very short and was written in a very artificial mock 19th-century style (not necessarily a negative or meant as a criticism), most seem period pieces with at least two set in London; a dingy Victorian setting and the 1930s. The author comes from the North East, and because of her last name I keep thinking of Warhol's Factory. helrunar will know more than me, but the Warhol Factory seemed for all the talk of fifteen minutes of fame and partying, to be a grim, destructive place, and people came to a sad end who were associated with it, even Warhol was shot by one of his hangers-on, a radical feminist who thought he was stealing her work.
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Post by šrincess šµuvstarr on Dec 30, 2021 23:30:51 GMT
From Am*z*n:
A clerk encounters Black Shuck while taking a shortcut. Young men vie to join a shadowy Order by hunting an ancient being through the streets of Venice. A young man accepts a bet to spend the night in a haunted tube station. Within these pages, encounter body-swapping mummies, Egyptian princess ghosts, lonely creatures hiding among us, spectral doubles, and even Death himself. Let these stories be your guide to the weird, the fantastic, and the downright Gothic. This is on my ebook site, so I looked at it. The first story was very short and was written in a very artificial mock 19th-century style (not necessarily a negative or meant as a criticism), most seem period pieces with at least two set in London; a dingy Victorian setting and the 1930s. The author comes from the North East, and because of her last name I keep thinking of Warhol's Factory. I read this as it was very short, but have to say I wasn't taken with the stories at all. A couple had such stupid plot elements that I assumed they were comedies, also ideas weren't developed properly. But each to their own.
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