iant
Crab On The Rampage
Posts: 59
|
Post by iant on Dec 24, 2023 17:53:32 GMT
|
|
iant
Crab On The Rampage
Posts: 59
|
Post by iant on Jan 13, 2024 14:05:18 GMT
Here is the full running order of BHF10: Advent of Doom...
Prologue: In the Spirit of Family Tradition – Ian Talbot Taylor
1 Madvent Calendar – Arthur Peter Chappell
2 Hark! The Herald Angels Sing – Michael S Collins
3 A Christmas Story – David Quantick
4 Retirement Party – Andy Allard
5 The Grotto – Ian Morgan
6 The Christmas and New Year Double Issue – Jon Charles
7 Beast of Stephen – Daniel Gooding
8 Something in the Attic Likes Me – Andy Bark
9 Death Wrapped for Christmas – Simon J. Ballard
10 Faith – Darrell Buxton
11 Number 53 – Martin Parsons
12 Christmas Steve – David Huckvale
13 Santacide – Chris Tighe
14 Silent Night – Samantha Jayne Crosby
15 The Snowman – Ben Lovegrove
16 Christmas: A Time for the Family – Francis Malaprop
17 Blood on Santa’s Claw – Richard Freeman
18 Stabby Stabby Dead Dead – Tony Earnshaw
19 Cut Out and Keep – Jez Conolly
20 Kill the Midwife – Stephen Lang
21 Proof of the Pudding – Ken Shinn
22 Who’s Been Naughty? – James Stanger
23 The Sigil – Jason D. Brawn
24 Oh Christmas Tree – Iseult Murphy
25 Candy Cane - R J Ren
Extra Stocking Filler - Christmas 1917 - Sam Dawson
|
|
|
|
Post by michaelscollins on Jan 17, 2024 15:37:23 GMT
I believe that's the first time my ghost stories have got a mention on Vault of Evil. Exciting!
Many good writers in this one and all for a good cause too.
|
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Jan 28, 2024 12:53:09 GMT
Arrived today. Plan to make a start in a week or so once I've completed a few of the too many on the go. Contents as above; here's the macabre Moody cover. Andrew Llewellyn & Ian Talbot Taylor [eds] - The Tenth BHF Book of Horror Stories (BHF, Dec 2023) Happy Holiday? Or Nightmare Noel? We shall see...
A fresh Hell, each more horrible than the last, unleashed on the same poor and wretched soul with every door opened. Surely the author can't keep this up for 24 days straight? Oh, he can!
Becky dreads spending Christmas in the wilds of Donegal with her mum Carla, and Carla's new beau, Adam. Carla knows just how to needle Becky, by ignoring the new branch to the family tree - Becky's son Paul. As Christmas Eve turns into Christmas Day, it's not Santa who comes calling. Becky is about to find out if sap is thicker than blood...
A White Christmas, or one filled with deathly black? A Silent Night, or one filled with the anguished screams of the dying? Welcome, all ye merry lads and lasses, to a festive apocalypse where Santa's gifts are dark, hard and sharp!
Ever been addicted to Christmas-themed porn? So is Ewan, and that's the most endearing thing about him. Ever wondered what the man behind the beard - upon whose lap your snot-nosed little darling is perched - does when he is not playing Santa Claus? Well why not make some cocoa, grab the goose fat, and be sure to have your Christmas stocking close at hand. Settle in, and enjoy Christmas in a way nobody was ever meant to... you sick fuck!
Time to climb on board our sleigh (or should that be 'slay'?) of horrific yuletide yarns, find out what terrors are lurking at the bottoms of your once harmless-looking stockings, and witness what sick and twisted surprises might be waiting to emerge from our bulging, festive sack! |
|
|
|
Post by corpsecandle on Jan 31, 2024 6:11:53 GMT
It's great that you do a review for every edition of this Dem. I always look forward to seeing what you make of the work in the BHF books.
|
|
iant
Crab On The Rampage
Posts: 59
|
Post by iant on Feb 2, 2024 18:06:14 GMT
We're very grateful for the feedback and coverage.
|
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Feb 24, 2024 13:39:17 GMT
Made a start last night. Contents as above, with illo's by Simon J Ballard, Sarah Butler, Jez Conolly, Sam Dawson, Iseult Murphy, RJ Ren, 'Smuzz,' Sam Trafford, Justell Vonk. Ian Talbot Taylor - Prologue: In the Spirit of Family Tradition: Introduction prepares us for the gentlest of ghost stories, so we can safely anticipate something gory and unspeakable - can't we? Arthur Peter Chappell - Madvent Calendar: Preston, Lancs. The late Gail Davies, a Cthulhu Mythos obsessive, posthumously gifts her live-in lover a black magically enhanced Christmas present via Necronom.Icon Distributors. Dan Thane sure picked the wrong wealthy girlfriend to murder for her money. Michael S Collins - Hark! The Herald Angels Sing: Jo King is haunted by the blood-splattered ghost of Jane, her sister and bitter love rival, who plunged to her death from the church roof on Christmas Eve. Jane is adamant she was murdered by one close by. Has the parish priest switched sides? Is there a killer in the family? Where was Jo when Jane went over the edge? David Quantick - A Christmas Story: Christmas in bedsit land, "No celebrations, no fuss ... and absolutely no decorations" — save for the decrepit life-size excuse for a Santa the recluse upstairs insists on dangling beneath his window. Andy Allard - Retirement Party: Xmas leaving do for Jasper Nesbitt, Stead & Co's resident rapist. Nesbitt is resentful at being forced to accept early retirement on a tiny pension. After all, it's not like his colleagues lead spotless lives. A kindred spirit of Michael Gilbert's Office Party — only nastier. TBC |
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Feb 25, 2024 14:55:39 GMT
Ian Morgan - The Grotto: A maximum security subterranean hospital for the criminally insane whose inmates include a "Uncle Holly," the chilled man-eating goblin, and a murderer tormented to madness by Grizabella, the vengeful Christmas tree fairy.
Jon Charles - The Christmas and New Year Double Issue: Danbury, 1982. An Essex farmhouse is haunted by the ghost of ten-year-old beaten to death by his father on New Years Day 1935 for wetting his bed one time too many. The narrator, 17 at the time, locates a rough memorial beneath a woodpile in the garden. My pick of the stories so far.
Daniel Gooding - Beast of Stephen: The boys' Ricky and Steve must-have Christmas presents don't pay for themselves. If Dad wants to play Santa Claus, he'll have to pay another visit to the log cabin in the wood. Nastiest story after the opening Madvent Calendar torture extravaganza.
Andy Bark - Something in the Attic Likes Me : A cancer-stricken cabaret entertainer invites the obscene slug-like killer in the attic to what may be his last Christmas Dinner.
A third of the way through, and already prefer #10 to its immediate predecessor.
|
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Feb 27, 2024 18:10:49 GMT
Simon J. Ballard - Death Wrapped for Christmas: Garry and Sam book an Ayrbnb for a quiet, stress-free Christmas - until Sam brings back a half dead amnesiac he found wandering the moors. Meanwhile, a violent homophobe has escaped from the local prison ....
Darrell Buxton - Faith: A George Michael composed Christmas smash hit stirs the geists of Bannockburn to defend a Stirling shopping centre from English invaders — specifically, an old woman and her granddaughter. Guest starring a spectral Willy McFaul and his witch-cursed boar-bladder bag 'o pipes.
Martin Parsons - Number 53: Sandra Dennis calls door to door on Linden Grove collecting for the annual Christmas event. This year it's the turn of single mum Annie Coles to make the especially generous donation ....
David Huckvale - Christmas Steve: Dilemma for a destitute young man on a cold, wet Christmas Eve. Should he try sleep a few hours in his regular shop doorway, or accept an old queen's offer of a fry up and a bed for the night?
|
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Feb 29, 2024 8:21:44 GMT
Victorian ghost boy returns; Sally tears a strip off her obnoxious flatmates; performance enhancer doesn't; Damien Fallowfield vs a festive jumper epidemic, etc. Chris Tighe - Santacide: Satan has little Lola murder Santa Claus so he can take over as Father Christmas. Hold on tight for a night of gore, sick fun and magnificently deplorable Christmas songs. Samantha Jayne Crosby - Silent Night: Office drudge Sally overcomes tiredness to decorate the tree with her housemates ... Ben Lovegrove - The Snowman: Oliver is befriended by the ghost of a little boy who froze to death in the hills. Henry craves companionship. Francis Malaprop - Christmas: A Time for the Family: What's this? Since last we met, Fritz Maitland (the artist formerly known as Franklin Marsh) has undergone a third (?) regeneration. The tragic fate of Mervyn and Myra, as previously featured on the Vault Advent Calendar for 2017. Why you should never drop a Viagra tablet before confronting the resident beast in the attic. Richard Freeman - Blood on Santa’s Claw: A Santa Egg masquerading as a plum pudding hatches in Smedley & Sons department store, unleashing the season to be jolly at Halloween. Can nobody save us from a Christmas without end? |
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Mar 1, 2024 11:29:02 GMT
Tony Earnshaw - Stabby Stabby Dead Dead: The New head of programming callously informs 79-year-old presenter Maurice Morris that his award-winning children's show Happy Head is cancelled, that tonight's Christmas special will be the final episode. Maurice, who has hosted the show since 1958, takes the news badly.
Jez Conolly - Cut Out and Keep: When John dies, his loving wife has Quickprint knock up a life-size cardboard cut-out from his favourite photo so he can enjoy his own wake - and much else besides.
Stephen Lang - Kill the Midwife: Balham, December 1967. Nurse Annie Best and colleagues under threat from a homicidal social crusader resolved to spare the newly born from a life of abject poverty.
Ken Shinn - Proof of the Pudding: Calamity during the Jolly Boffin's 2023 Xmas Shindig 2023 as the new lab boy mistakes a recently acquired tiny planet for a Christmas pudding. Only the intervention of Dr. Benjamin Fourmile prevents a holocaust.
|
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Mar 3, 2024 17:51:24 GMT
James Stanger - Who’s Been Naughty?: It was the night before Christmas — the first since the world and almost every living thing on it turned to coal. A deranged and terrible Santa Claus comes for the last little children.
Jason D. Brawn - The Sigil: Faced with astronomical gas and electric bills, Chris seeks help from the proprietor of the Witches Delight bookshop. Patricia designs a sigil advising that, although it will surely improve his finances, these things are not without monkey's paw tendencies ...
Iseult Murphy - Oh Christmas Tree: "Look Paul, it’s a mammy tree and a daddy tree and a baby tree!" Teenage single parent Becky and infant Paul spend Christmas with her mother in the backwoods of Donegal. Mother has now taken up with Adam, a townie-loathing lumberjack, who Becky despises on sight and vice versa. Despite Becky's protest, Adam hacks down a sapling stood between two tall Spruce to use for their Christmas tree. The Spruce pay a revenge visit in the small hours on Christmas Day.
R. J. Ren - Candy Cane: Ewan the department store Santa is as obsessed with Christmas as he is with Candy Cane, the late adult movie veteran who specialized in festive themed porn. Two weeks ago, Miss Cane was decapitated on the shoot of her 200th film. The police, who suspect a black magic slaying, have yet to recover her head ...
Sam Dawson - Christmas 1917: A Tommy recalls the football match with German lads during the Christmas Day truce in 1914, most of the participants now rotting in no mans land ....
All done now. Particularly liked Number 53, The Christmas and New Year Double Issue, Beast of Stephen, Madvent Calendar, Oh Christmas Tree, and Candy Cane, but all very enjoyable in their own ghastly way. Looking back, it's the quieter stories most impressed me this time around.
|
|
