Paul Finch - Ill Met by Darkness

[dem bones]

Paul Finch - Ill Met by Darkness (Sarob, 2020)

Paul Lowe

Acknowledgements

Snicker-Snack
Down to a Sunless Sea
The Hell Wain
Spirit of the Season

Blurb:

‘Beyond the rectangle lay another vaulted stone chamber, this one was narrow and low-roofed, and richly redolent of bare earth. In it lay a double-sized sarcophagus, covered by a granite slab on which two images reposed.
from "Spirit of the Season"

ILL MET BY DARKNESS comprises four original chilling tales written especially for this volume.

“Snicker-Snack” is a darkly disturbing study of art, monsters and guilt ... beware the jabberwock, "the claws that catch”

“Down to a Sunless Sea” features a weird Cretan objet d'art, an archaeological find, a legendary queen and a fiend of the Ancient World

“The Hell Wain” takes us to a sleepy Lancashire village on Guy Fawkes Night, and introduces the horrific tradition of 'The Bonfire Boys'

“Spirit of the Season” explores the idea of old Christmas, strange ritual, ancient powers and age-old winter terrors



Snicker-Snack: Horace Gilpin, a career book-finder hounded out of the game following a shameful conviction, is blackmailed into stealing a painting from the house of a reclusive old dear. Miss Sheila Hollowbrook, seventy, is the surviving sister of a comic artist who achieved huge popularity, and much notoriety, during the early 'seventies for his gory, 'Terry's Terrors' series on the back page of Kreature Features. Sir Hugh Denton, who funded the publication, was so disgusted by Hollowbrook's nightmarish depiction of 'the Jabberwock' for what would have been the hundredth issue that he cancelled the publication on #99. Denton was committed to a mental institution shortly afterward, having suffered a breakdown. Terry Hollowbrook was not long in joining him. The legendary "banned" painting has yet to be shared with the public. Hanlock, the bastard whose quiet word to the authorities would see Gilpin back behind bars, is determined to cash-in.

Gilpin's sucking up to Miss Hollowbrook is wasted. She'll not even allow him to see 'The Jabberwock,' let alone borrow it. Her brother's work is already promised to a Soho gallery for exhibition on the understanding it remain a mystery until the grand public unveiling. Gilpin can't afford to be thwarted. Under pretence of visiting the bathroom, he slips into a foul smelling room, fortuitously (?) locates the precious canvas, flees downstairs and out the door. A panicked dash to Canons Park Station, and the tube home to Wandsworth. He should be relieved, but the journey is miserable. Hanlock's assurance that this is his last demand means nothing, and, worse, Gilpin can't help but feel he's being watched ...

Super start. Shades of a contemporary Night of the Demon in North and South London, though, but for a 'scarecrow' scene on the golf course, not especially MR James-ey. The readers sympathy for Gilpin comes under strain when we learn just what info Hanlock is holding over him. Those nasty innuendoes re Lewis Carroll's love of children just won't go away ...

[dem bones]

Down to a Sunless Sea: "Whose were those ashes I'd shed from that broken urn? What sin of desecration had I committed?"

Ex-para's Donald Crowfoot and Jamie McCullister, both accomplished divers, are waylaid by Russian femme fatale's to participate - at harpoon point - in the looting of an ancient tomb. The monument is located beneath the coast of an abandoned Greek island, formerly home to a fortress prison of some notoriety. In what is perhaps the most important archaeological discovery in modern history, the Red crims have located the shrine of Europa. The para's help cut free the golden bejewelled replica of the Goddess, and it seems they will succeed in winching the priceless monument aboard ship, until, a development the Russians not anticipated. The Guardian of the tomb awakens .....

In total contrast to the opener which, largely due to it's location - two relatively leafy and even tranquil (if you know where to look) suburban districts - feels like it should have been a Hammer House of Horror episode. This one's more a mega-budget, all action supernatural buddy movie. Ray Harryhausen fans likely to have a blast with it, too.

Two novella's in and already of a mind that this book badly needs a paperback edition which, I'm sure, is the case with all Sarob Press publications (it's the first I've ever seen up close).

[paulfinch]

Glad you're enjoying, DB.

Sarob have done some fabulous books. I agree, it would be marvellous to see some pb editions.

[dem bones]

The Hell Wain: Jack Sowerby, London crime lord, despatches right hand man Lassiter to Lancashire to bring home Anton Carmichael, a drug-dealing pimp turned super-grass, now relocated to a small town in the Bowland Forest, under witness protection. To explain his presence in the locality — Hackenworth folk not being particularly sweet on outsiders — Carmichael has taken work as an assistant in an antiquarian bookshop.

Lassiter is not best pleased to have Sowerby's son and heir as a sidekick. With huge shoes to fill, Milo is desperate to impress, and his impatience to get murdering is a major concern. That said, Carmichael is strictly small time and unlikely to cause them grief. But the snitch has two advantages over the cockneys; his woman is a local lass, familiar with Hackenworth tradition, and tonight is Guy Fawkes night, when the Bonfire Boys walk again ...

Perhaps the nastiest so far; the horror has it's roots in sectarianism dating back to 1555 when a Protestant couple were burnt alive as heretics, though the hooligan spawn of inferno are of recent vintage. From the definition of "Folk Horror" provided us by Dr. Strange, this story most certainly qualifies.

[helrunar]

That sounds amazing, Dem. I'll have to look for this book. 

Halloween cheer,

Hel

[Swampirella]

Oct 30, 2021 14:16:42 GMT helrunar said:

That sounds amazing, Dem. I'll have to look for this book. 

Halloween cheer,

Hel

I've looked & it's hard to find & pricey when you can find it. I demand an inexpensive paperback &r ebook be published without delay!!

[helrunar]

Hi Scarlett, yes, $70 on Abebooks. I think that's the actual retail price of the book, or close to it. Their books seem to be expensive and always published in very limited editions.

Paul Finch is really one of the more craftsmanly writers around now... thankfully, a lot of his books are readily available at reasonable prices.

cheers, Hel.

[mrhappy]

Just a wonderful collection. And, IMHO, he saved the best for last as "Spirit of the Season" is a gem!

Speaking of paperback reissues, I would LOVE to see a new edition of Walkers in the Dark. If the rest of it is even half as good as Season of Mist (released as a a stand-alone novella and perfect reading for this time of year) then I know I'll love it.

Mr Happy

[dem bones]

Nov 1, 2021 13:17:33 GMT mrhappy said:

Just a wonderful collection. And, IMHO, he saved the best for last as "Spirit of the Season" is a gem!
Mr Happy

Spirit of the Season: Phil Percival, professional author of folklore and fantasy, self-funds an extravagant promotion drive for his work-in-progess, The Quest For Father Christmas. Percival has hired the medieval manor house, Wenlock Castle, for the family and friends Christmas banquet. Special guest on the 24th is Miss Scrivener, a medium whose expertise is regression. "But I warn you, Mr. Perceval, as I told you on the phone, I don't do battles, murders or executions. Not anymore." Miss Scrivener has learned her lesson the hard way — obliging Ripperologist ghouls and Black Death obsessives takes a toll.

Perceval believes he has found the first reference to 'Old Christmas' in English literature. It seems that, during the winter of 1415, 'the spirit of the season' gatecrashed the Wenlock's Yuletide feast and cursed Sir Hugh for using the Lord's feast to celebrate the bloody slaughter of Agincourt. Sir Hugh and Alicia Wenlock - our cover stars - fell victim to fever and died soon afterward. Their twin sarcophagus lies in the vault beneath the kitchen. A son, Simon, last of the line, was slain in battle five years later.

Perceval has little confidence in Miss Scrivener's abilities, but an account of her performance should be good for a chapter or two; he can easily manufacture a haunting if required to do so.

The intervention of Old Christmas deems fabrication unnecessary.

As Mr. Happy enthuses above, this is a cracker of a novella to end on. Vault isn't really about numbered, limited editions, even those as beautiful as this one, and we can only hope that, in the not too distant, this and other Sarobs become available to a wider audience.

[paulfinch]

Glad you enjoyed, DB, and everyone else who's had a say.

Thanks all, for this very generous write-up.