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Post by dem on Sept 27, 2022 18:16:00 GMT
Lionel & Patricia Fanthorpe - New Supernatural Stories (Drugstore Indian Press, May 2022) Stephen Jones - Foreword: Britain’s Last Pulp Writer
Lionel & Patricia Fanthorpe - Introduction
The Trail of the Werebeast
The Mystery of Westonford Hall
The Conqueror of Evil
The Lamp of Power
The Inhabitant of the Mill Pool
Out of the Fiery Depths
The Terror Below the Sea
Meh-Teh in the Mountain
The Poltergeist Peril
The Shadow of Endor
Roman Remains
The Secret of the Stone
The Way of the Warlock
Below the Coffin Lid
On Silent Wings
Justin Marriott - Afterword: An Interview with Lionel Fanthorpe
About the Author
About the Artist
Blurb: Fear. Stark gripping, unreasonable fear is one of the primitive, basic human emotions. Fear. It distorts the mind, destroys the soul, paralyses the body.
Fear? What makes men afraid?
Darkness ... death ... hideous monstrosities ... weird supernatural beings ... what makes you afraid?
Why are we drawn towards the things that terrify us? Horror pulls humanity like a magnet.
Involved in the ghost story we cannot put down, we wish the lights were brighter. We long for morning. Was that a footstep? Is that a face peering over your shoulder? What did you see then out of the corner of your eye disappearing just beyond the edge of reality?
If you enjoy weird fantasy you must read NEW SUPERNATURAL STORIES containing fifteen nerve-chilling original stories by leading supernatural authors Lionel and Patricia Fanthorpe.
Edited by Stephen Jones
Illustrated by Randy Broecker Can these new Supernatural Stories match such past glories as The Drud, The Reluctant Corpse, Curse of the Khan, Return of the Hag and Midnight Ghoul? I am so looking forward to finding out.
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Post by helrunar on Sept 28, 2022 1:04:36 GMT
Gorgeous cover. The sinister soul of 1965. Yet inexplicably the date says 2022.
I doubt anything in the contents comes at all close to matching the eerie fascination of the cover painting. But hope springs eternal.
H.
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Post by dem on Sept 28, 2022 6:12:50 GMT
Gorgeous cover. The sinister soul of 1965. Yet inexplicably the date says 2022. You're very close. It mentions in the acknowledgements that Rainey's painting is reproduced from Supernatural Stories #43, July 1961. Michael [Marshall] Smith has made a lovely job of the cover design - all that's missing are the Reverend's trademark back cover blurbs: " Bitter Reflections by R. Lionel Fanthorpe, whose work ranks with that of Poe, Blackwood and Lovecraft, is a new variation on the classic theme of a man who tries to escape life's consequences by invoking occult means ..... Lee Barton — author of the epoch-making horror novel, The Unseen — has returned with a nerve chilling fantasy ..." & Co. |
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Post by helrunar on Sept 28, 2022 12:53:21 GMT
His work ranks with Poe, Blackwood and Lovecraft .... hahahaha! Thanks for the laugh, Dem. Excellent choice of painting! '61 was a good year for art.
cheers, Hel.
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Post by Michael Connolly on Sept 28, 2022 13:11:09 GMT
His work ranks with Poe, Blackwood and Lovecraft .... hahahaha! Thanks for the laugh, Dem. Excellent choice of painting! '61 was a good year for art. cheers, Hel. More like '60, the year The City of the Dead was released. I recognised it immediately when I saw the cover of the book.  ![]()  It is worth watching: m.ok.ru/video/1271708388080 |
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Sept 28, 2022 15:38:15 GMT
His work ranks with Poe, Blackwood and Lovecraft .... hahahaha! Thanks for the laugh, Dem. Excellent choice of painting! '61 was a good year for art. cheers, Hel. More like '60, the year The City of the Dead was released. I recognised it immediately when I saw the cover of the book. ![]() It is worth watching: m.ok.ru/video/1271708388080In related news, Venetia Stevenson died on Monday. Jung was right! Synchronicity is real. |
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Post by helrunar on Sept 28, 2022 18:04:20 GMT
Oh, I love City of the Dead and I must have seen it at least ten times--or maybe closer to twenty. Dig that crazy beat, man!
I do prefer the US release title Horror Hotel because it sounds so pulpy. City of the Dead has such a dull ring to it. Village of the Undead might have been better.
H.
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Post by andydecker on Sept 28, 2022 18:08:04 GMT
Indeed. It is a good movie. The plot elements have been done again and again. George Baxt and Desmond Dickinso should have gotten royalties. |
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Post by dem on Oct 28, 2022 18:52:42 GMT
The Trail of the Werebeast: "In that ancient book of legends, there was a very sad story about a girl who resisted a wicked magician's advances, and in revenge he turned her into a were-gazelle. Think of the name Zella. It sounds almost like gazelle. Could the legend be true? Could Zella be a were-gazelle, and could Siarc be controlling her?"
Brian and Sophie Carruthers holiday at the Wystfil Castle Hotel, near Colwyn Bay, N. Wales, for its proximity to Wyrddach Forest, Brian in the slim hope of finding a rare whitebeam flower to photograph for a magazine article. The couple take instinctive dislike to the proprietor, Peryglus Siarc — his name translates as "Dangerous Shark" — for his constant bullying of a particular barmaid. Could this objectionable fellow be connected with a spate of brutal murders in the forest, the victims ripped and torn as though by a wild animal? Who or what is responsible for the eerie howls in the night? While exploring the forest, the Carruthers befriend Caron Ceri, mushroom hunter, local historian, folklorist & Co., who shares their sentiments in regard to the abominable Siarc. Mr. Ceri loans them a book on local legends concerning the angel warrior of the whitebeam, the were-gazelle of the forest and other preposterous fairy tales. Nevertheless, Sophie, a leading sporting personality and world champion pistol shooter, tips six bullets with silver just in case.
Slicker than the Supernatural Stories of old, but certainly true to the spirit of the originals. Unerringly polite dialogue is sheer essence of 'fifties.
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Post by dem on Oct 31, 2022 12:32:20 GMT
The Mystery of Westonford Hall: A suicidal tramp finds new purpose in life after witnessing the spectral re-enactment of a seventeenth century murder. Impatient to inherit his aunt's estate, Silas Merrick slew Lady Monica Lewis, drowned her faithful dog, then set to a marathon molestation of the serving maids. On discovering that he can slip between past and present at will, our down at heel hero, Cole Egan, joins forces with the local vicar, Rev. Nelson Russell, to finally rid Westonford Hall of it's unspeakably evil tenant. You too will believe that, Silas Merrick aside, Devon folk are even more welcoming to outsiders than their pathologically friendly Cornish neighbours.
The Conqueror of Evil: Benedict Asher, a mature uni student, befriends Lara Adare, a (seemingly) young woman who is taking the same course on historical vampire cases. One night after class, Ben jumps to the rescue of Jacinda Wilson, a homeless fifteen-year-old, driven to prostitution and preyed upon by a brutal pimp. Benedict, who, like Rev. Fanthorpe, knows his wrestling holds, gives this Jack Kerrison character a deserved thorough bashing and introduces Jacinda to Lara. It transpires that among the girl's clients is one, Jim Paver - a vampire who nightly dines on her blood! This is all very good news for Lara, for she is AKA, Develdra, an ancient Egyptian drud "with an insatiable thirst for the blood of Lamia's"! The ensuing showdown with the undead and Kerrison's hired thugs sees Lara come into her own. These are supernatural horror stories for sure, but as should be glaringly apparent, the Fanthorpe's don't do the triumph of evil, unrelenting misery & Co., so fans of same possibly best advised to look elsewhere.
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Post by dem on Nov 2, 2022 19:28:43 GMT
The Lamp of Power: Pedro Bryce is hired by the council to empty Tenebris Cottage, Malum Magna, home of the late Nimue Hecate, a witch of terrible repute. Among her macabre effects, a Mesopotamian lamp dating from circa 1000 B.C. When Pedro somehow releases its resident evil genie, he is cast back several centuries, caught in a power struggle between Queen Morgana, Circe, and Ereshkigal, ruler of the dead, on the one side, Merlin and Tapio, God of the forest, on the other.
The Inhabitant of the Mill Pool: Following another grisly death in the water near the derelict Archaois Mill, Prof. Valentine Barrett and Kano Griffin, powerful magician, join forces to combat Vodyanoy, the giant, man-eating amphibian monster haunting the River Stour. For years the villagers have placated Vodyanoy by throwing it meat by the bucket load every full moon, far better than having it make off with one of their own. Kano, sworn to decapitate the monster, straps on Mech-Kladenets, invisible Russian sword of justice. Come back, you young fool! I'm sorry, it is all too much. I can't bear to watch!
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gloomy sundae
Crab On The Rampage
dem in disguise; looking for something to suck
Posts: 26
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Post by gloomy sundae on Nov 7, 2022 17:35:18 GMT
 Randy Broecker The Terror Below the Sea: Alan Barlow, bankrupt, destitute, drinking himself into oblivion, falls into the flame-grilled clutches of a friendly stranger. The demon Malphus bestows a large amount of money, a self-refuelling hip flask, and the ability to bring down terrible misfortune on others, just by thinking them ill. Alas for the reader, a busybody priest, Father Niall O'Rouke can't keep his nose out of matters that don't concern him, promptly ruins everything by joining forces with the ghost of Ursula Awen, a powerful medieval white witch, to banish the demon back from whence he came. A grateful Alan devotes the rest of his life to performing good works - as the protagonists tend to. It is not difficult to see why Rev. Fanthorpe and his multiple pseudonyms would never see print in, say, the Pan Book of Horror Stories (not that I should imagine they'd have wished to). The Terror Below the Sea: When the wreck of a Roman Trireme is discovered off the South of Naples, Miklo Miklo and Crayden Crayden, Pumeda's two most ruthless protection racketeers, swiftly procure a boat; should any riches have gone down with the Aguila, they intend to have them! Having survived the mandatory attack by giant octopus, the pair reach the sunken vessel where it's their ill luck to find a baetylus, a sacred stone empowered to reanimate the dead and a whole lot worse. They're transported to a parallel universe to face a Kraken, an enormous merman, a pack of dinosaurs, and a phantom barque manned by the vengeful ghosts of their many victims. A full-on all-action pulp throwback, great fun even if, for those of miserable disposition, the ending again disappoints. - dem (couldn't be bothered switching accounts) |
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Post by helrunar on Nov 7, 2022 18:44:43 GMT
That second one sounds an awful lot like the plot of Hellstone, a novelette by one Steven Spruill Cheong found and posted about elsewhere here recently--does sound like one of the Rev's livelier afternoons babbling under the blankies until Missus barked out "only 500 words left to go, chuck!" and brought the proceedings to the usual flop finale.
H.
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Post by dem on Nov 9, 2022 13:44:39 GMT
That second one sounds an awful lot like the plot of Hellstone, a novelette by one Steven Spruill Cheong found and posted about elsewhere here recently--does sound like one of the Rev's livelier afternoons babbling under the blankies until Missus barked out "only 500 words left to go, chuck!" and brought the proceedings to the usual flop finale. Results suggest a more professional operation these days, mores the pity. To be truthful, I'd have preferred a filler 'n all 'best' of the Badger years compilation rather than an all-new selection. The co-authors do "horror" stories like no others I can think of — they don't appear to share a negative bone between them and it shows in their work. As with the Val Stearman and La Noire adventures, each story is both a celebration of the Fanthorpes' adulation of one another (barely disguised versions of themselves take the leads in every story) and their indomitable faith in the ultimate triumph of good. Meh-Teh in the Mountain: Himalayan adventure of husband and wife photography-design team, Tom and Elsia Rogers, who are first alerted to the ruthless band of yeti-hunters by the cries of a baby abominable snowman caught in a spring-trap. It takes all of Tom's considerable strength to free the infant, whose grateful parents return the favour when, shortly afterward, the pair fall over a precipice. Returning to camp, the Rogers' hire a Sherpa team to hunt down the hunters, who can expect no mercy. The Poltergeist Peril: A subterranean skeleton hunt fraught with danger for the newly appointed Parish priest of Kingsworth, Norfolk! Rev. Michael Newton has hardly set foot inside the rectory before items of furniture set to rearranging themselves. Mrs. Rose Simmons, the housekeeper, confirms that the property has long been troubled by poltergeist activity. The reverend consults Dr. Peter Quarrey, local historian, who believes the phenomena has its origin in an act of barbarity committed prior to the Roman Invasion. Much against her will, young Ayla of the Iceni was promised to Baraz, the local ruler. On the eve of the wedding, she eloped with her lover, Gort. They didn't get far. Baraz had his men drag the couple down into the labyrinth, where Ayla was forced to witness the torture-murder of her beloved before facing same. Their souls can't rest until their remains are granted burial. Fortunately, Mrs. Simmons knows the location of a "forbidden door" in the wine cellar, which opens directly into the tunnels. Rev. Newton, and his friends Tanya Valante, a gifted medium, and Prof. Edwards, a former marine turned psychic investigator, descend into the darkness .... |
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Post by humgoo on Nov 9, 2022 13:52:13 GMT
their indomitable faith in the ultimate triumph of good. This is a big problem. Very big! |
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