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Post by paulfinch on Jan 6, 2012 14:03:54 GMT
Roger Johnson - A Ghostly Crew: Tales from the Endeavour (Sarob Press, 2001) The Scarecrow: Related by George Cobbett as an old man by way of explaining his refusal ever to return to a certain Oxfordshire village. George and his friend Lionel Ager of the Folklore Society were Cambridge undergraduates when they visited the village of Saxton Lovell on the outskirts of Banbury for the first and last time. At The Belchamp Arms they heard the charming story of the Squire Richard Belchamp, rake, reputed necromancer and total bastard who, a century ago, was done to death on the standing stones in Nick's Meadow, known locally as Hell's Gate. Belchamp had been surprised by the father of a girl he was in the process of molesting (he was caught committing "a rather horrid act" as jolly farmer Harry Arnold puts it) who beat him to death on the spot. The dying man uttered a curse. "Hell shall lie within your farm, and your filthy scarecrow shall be it's gate man." The father received a surprisingly lenient sentence for the murder and was soon back tending his farm, though maybe he'd have been better hanged. one morning his body was found burned to death before the stones, the scarecrow seemingly having uprooted itself and crossed the field to get a better look at the corpse. Lionel Ager found Farmer Arnold's story delightful and resolved to camp the night in the field on Midsummers Eve. George, who didn't much care for the look on the demon scarecrow's turnip face, cried off and the Farmer only granted Lionel access to his land on condition he keep a rifle at his side. While the young man kept vigil at the stones. back in his bed at The Balchamp Arms, George Cobbett suffered the most appalling nightmare ... As was the case with Ramsey Campbell's In The Bag, the judges of The Times Ghost Story Competition didn't consider this story worthy a place in the resulting anthology. No disrespect to Sir Christopher Lee, Patricia Highsmith and Kingsley Amis but they are mad! I totally agree. When I first heard about this, I thought it was a joke. The Times Anthology contains some quite decent tales, but none are as good as either The Scarecrow or In The Bag. And it wouldn't even have been a difficult decision. Those judges got it completley and utterly wrong - and that's not just my opinion, that's a fact. |
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Post by paulfinch on Jan 5, 2012 11:39:31 GMT
Glad to be able to report that Simon Bestwick's contribution to this antho - THE MORAINE - has been chosen for Ellen Datlow's BEST HORROR OF THE YEAR #4. In addition, Anna Taborska, whose story, NIGHT OF THE CRONE, also appeared in TERROR TALES OF THE LAKE DISTRICT, gets the nod with her excllent and hideous LITTLE PIG from BLACK BOOK OF HORROR #8. More details on my blog - paulfinch-writer.blogspot.com/ |
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Post by paulfinch on Dec 12, 2011 12:36:53 GMT
The overall plan is to commission as much original material as possible. However, as we did with the Lakes, I'd like to use a couple of classic reprints in each volume - so long as they fulfill the geographic critera. That doesn't just give you good, solid benchmark stories with which to balance the book, but it also adds heavyweight names to the TOC, which always helps with sales.
This will definitely happen with the Cotswolds, and the book to follow that. But I don't want to be in a situation where there is a lot of reprint material. The challenge and the fun of editing horror anthologies - at least for me - is adding new tales to the lexicon, and, if possible. giving new authors an opportunity to showcase their talent.
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Post by paulfinch on Dec 10, 2011 17:10:07 GMT
Thanks for that, D.
I've realised that there's no reason whatsoever for me to keep being a tease - not now the book is sorted in terms of its TOC and cover - so, and here's a small exclusive for you, the next book in the series will be TERROR TALES OF THE COTSWOLDS.
Feel free to tell everyone.
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Post by paulfinch on Dec 9, 2011 21:18:57 GMT
Interesting to learn about that, Demonik.
I've now been alerted to enough material to start thinking about a Lake District II antho, but at present we're firmly concentrating on other areas of the country.
Next book is due out around Easter. Most of the stories are now in, and the anecdote material is written and proofed. I'll keep dropping hints on my blog about where it's set.
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Post by paulfinch on Dec 9, 2011 13:53:36 GMT
Interesting to see another Guy Preston story there. Despite all my researches, he remains an elusive author.
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Post by paulfinch on Nov 5, 2011 21:22:21 GMT
As always, I found this King collection incredibly readable - it's the size of the Bible, and I think I got through it in about 6 days.
But on reflection, when 4 stories out of 5 - or whatever it is - are about serial killers, I'm a bit concerned that his imagination may be running out of gas. I still regard SK as the modern master of masters, but tell the truth, I long for the days of NIGHTSHIFT and SKELETON CREW.
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Post by paulfinch on Oct 31, 2011 12:16:10 GMT
Possibly it has, D.
I've been chatting with Johnny about this over the last couple of days. There are of course contingencies in the event of owernship being untraceable. I guess it boils down to how much time you have available to spend looking for it.
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Post by paulfinch on Oct 30, 2011 13:57:42 GMT
I so wanted to reprint THE INN in TERROR TALES OF THE LAKE DISTRICT, but Guy Preston and/or whoever his literary executor is - if indeed any such person exists - appear to be completely untraceable.
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Post by paulfinch on Oct 23, 2011 21:46:39 GMT
You are correct, Mr. Happy. Thanks very much.
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Post by paulfinch on Oct 12, 2011 11:06:37 GMT
We're already well under way with it, D.
So long as we don't lose money on these titles, we'll keep doing more.
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Post by paulfinch on Oct 8, 2011 23:07:53 GMT
The great thing about having facilties like Wikipedia now, as oppose to back in the 1970s when these first appeared, is that you can look up those writers whose names were otherwise unknown in horror fiction. For example, Glyn Jones - who I think wrote two of the stories in WELSH TALES OF TERROR - made a lasting impression on me. JORDAN was a particularly disturbing story, but nobody I spoke to at the time seemed to know who the author was. Now, thanks to Wiki, I've learned that he was actually a very important poet in Anglo-Welsh literature (and only died in 1995). Ron Hayes did an amazing with some of the writers he unearthed for this series, and some of those he persuaded to try their hand at scary fiction. This series deifnitely needs a new airing, though not at the present preferably as I'm currently trying to ape it and don't need my thunder stolen.  |
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Post by paulfinch on Oct 7, 2011 8:10:44 GMT
Thanks for that positive round-up, D.
At this stage, it's doing very well indeed. But more publicity is always welcome.
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Post by paulfinch on Oct 5, 2011 21:02:18 GMT
on the strength of ... Lake District, i hope you get your wish. Great fun so far (only two to go) and you've done a fine job of capturing the spirit of the Fontana series. i'm taking it you wrote up all the true ghost stories, folklore material, etc? Gary McMahon - Along Life’s Trail: A weekend at the Lakes for Murray and Polly, ruined somewhat by last nights heated argument in the bar of The Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel. Polly has set off across the Bowfell wilds alone leaving her hungover husband to catch up. Caught in a downpour, he shelters at a derelict pub. The Fellwatch Inn was the scene of a gruesome mutilation murder in 1806 and, according to a memorial plaque, the dark deed was the handiwork of a giant winged cat with the face of a young woman! These simpleton country folk and their ludicrous superstitions, eh? A trail of fresh blood leads down to the cellar ..... A couple of new names on me: Peter Bell - Framed: A neat E.C. comic feel to this one. Grange-over-Sands. Jake Banks, 25, and his low-wattage brother Joe, 17, steal two priceless Turner sketches from Helton Hall. To dispose of the huge gilt frames they remove a slab from a tomb in St. Bedes churchyard. Unlucky for them, its occupant is the Aloysious Slee, the fearsome verger of St. Bedes who is as down on grave desecration in death as he was in life. Steven Savile - Walk the Last Mile: Beetham. Two young lovers make their way to the waterfall. She's a pub landlord's daughter, he's a wannabe goth, all inverted cross, Jesus & Mary Chain album and trendy death fixation. The latter, at least is no pose and a grisly murder gains him admittance to the evil fairy realm. Very mid-period Pan Book Of Horror Stories. That's correct, D. All the connecting material was researched and written up by moi. |
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Post by paulfinch on Oct 4, 2011 11:39:14 GMT
Gad you're enjoying it, D.
We're aiming to please - hopefully on a regular basis.
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