| Author | Message | ||
     Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
After several years, and not without a twinge of poignancy, I've just finished re-reading all 37 of 'The Fontana Books Of Great Ghost & Horror Stories' (1964-1983). All too often overshadowed by 'The Pan Books Of Horror Stories' these series deserve to be better known imo. While the Pans undeniably went off the boil in the later years, the Fontanas, with their unmatched mix of old and new stories, maintained a very high standard right to the end of their runs. Here's my ranking and pick of the best stories from each volume: 1st Fontana Ghost (Robert Aickman) : 96% (1) 'The Wendigo’ by Algernon Blackwood (2) 'The Old Nurse’s Story’ by Elizabeth Gaskell (3) 'Seaton’s Aunt' by Walter de la Mare 2nd Fontana Ghost (Robert Aickman) : 96% (1) 'The Inner Room’ by Robert Aickman (2) 'How Love Came To Professor Guildea’ by Robert Hichens (3) 'Nightmare Jack’ by John Metcalfe 3rd Fontana Ghost (Robert Aickman) : 90% (1) 'The Beckoning Fair One’ by Oliver Onions (2) 'The Visiting Star’ by Robert Aickman (3) 'The Case Of Mr Lucraft’ by Sir Walter Besant & James Rice 4th Fontana Ghost (Robert Aickman) : 96% (1) 'The Queen Of Spades’ by Alexander Pushkin (2) 'Mad Monkton’ by Wilkie Collins (3) 'A School Story’ by M.R. James 5th Fontana Ghost (Robert Aickman) : 97% (1) 'The Mysterious Stranger’ - Anonymous (2) ‘The Library Window’ by Mrs Oliphant (3) 'The Great Return’ by Arthur Machen 6th Fontana Ghost (Robert Aickman) : 100% !! (1) 'The Grey Ones’ by J.B. Priestley (2) 'Oke Of Okehurst’ by Vernon Lee (3) 'Clarimonde’ by Théophile Gautier 7th Fontana Ghost (Robert Aickman) : 98% (1) 'Esmeralda’ by John Keir Cross (2) 'The Cicerones’ by Robert Aickman (3) 'Old Mrs Jones’ by Mrs J.H. Riddell 8th Fontana Ghost (Robert Aickman) : 94% (1) 'The Red Lodge’ by H.R. Wakefield (2) 'Meeting Mr Millar’ by Robert Aickman (3) 'The Haunted And The Haunters’ by Edward Bulwer-Lytton 9th Fontana Ghost (R. Chetwynd-Hayes) : 94% (1) 'The Sweeper’ by A.M. Burrage (2) 'The Lady’s Maid’s Bell’ by Edith Wharton (3) 'The Return Of Imray’ by Rudyard Kipling 10th Fontana Ghost (R. Chetwynd-Hayes) : 94% (1) 'Smee’ by A.M. Burrage (2) 'Monkshood Manor’ by L.P. Hartley (3) 'The House In The Wood’ by John Hastings Turner 11th Fontana Ghost (R. Chetwynd-Hayes) : 91% (1) 'The Green Scarf’ by A.M. Burrage (2) 'The House Of Desolation’ by Alan Griff (3) 'The Lonely Inn’ by Thomas Burke 12th Fontana Ghost (R. Chetwynd-Hayes) : 85% (1) 'Ghost Stories Of The Tiled House’ by J. Sheridan Le Fanu (2) 'The Tapestried Chamber’ by Sir Walter Scott (3) 'Cold Fingers’ by R. Chetwynd-Hayes 13th Fontana Ghost (R. Chetwynd-Hayes) : 84% (1) 'The Hostelry’ by Guy de Maupassant (2) 'The Rocker’ by Oliver Onions (3) '28 Tower Street’ by Duncan Forbes 14th Fontana Ghost (R. Chetwynd-Hayes) : 87% (1) 'One Who Saw’ by A.M. Burrage (2) 'The Doll’s Ghost’ by F. Marion Crawford (3) 'Madam Crowl’s Ghost’ by J. Sheridan Le Fanu 15th Fontana Ghost (R. Chetwynd-Hayes) : 83% (1) 'The Dead Man Of Varley Grange’ - Anonymous (2) 'The Man From Glasgow’ by W. Somerset Maugham (3) 'The Business Of Madame Jahn’ by Vincent O’Sullivan 16th Fontana Ghost (R. Chetwynd-Hayes) : 87% (1) 'Canon Alberic’s Scrapbook’ by M.R. James (2) 'Brickett Bottom’ by Amyas Northcote (3) 'The Swan’ by Pamela Hansford Johnson 17th Fontana Ghost (R. Chetwynd-Hayes) : 85% (1) 'The Cupboard’ by Jeffery Farnol (2) 'The Bed’ by Terry Tapp (3) 'Which One?’ by R. Chetwynd-Hayes 18th Fontana Ghost (R. Chetwynd-Hayes) : 84% (1) 'Bad Company’ by Walter de la Mare (2) 'The Ferries’ by Ramsey Campbell (3) 'The Empty Schoolroom’ by Pamela Hansford Johnson 19th Fontana Ghost (R. Chetwynd-Hayes) : 82% (1) 'An Apparition’ by Guy de Maupassant (2) 'Guests From Gibbet Island’ by Washington Irving (3) 'The Way Shadows Fall’ by James Turner 20th Fontana Ghost (R. Chetwynd-Hayes) : 89% (1) 'Our Lady Of The Shadows’ by Tony Richards (2) 'The Villa Désirée’ by May Sinclair (3) 'A Lady In The Night’ by Dorothy K. Haynes & 1st Fontana Horror (Christine Bernard) : 90% (1) 'The Next In Line’ by Ray Bradbury (2) 'Tarnhelm’ by Hugh Walpole (3) 'A Case Of Eavesdropping’ by Algernon Blackwood 2nd Fontana Horror (Christine Bernard) : 92% (1) 'The Beast With Five Fingers’ by William F. Harvey (2) 'Something Strange’ by Kingsley Amis (3) 'The Victim’ by May Sinclair 3rd Fontana Horror (Christine Bernard) : 95% (1) 'The Speciality Of The House’ by Stanley Ellin (2) 'Green Fingers’ by R.C. Cook (3) 'The Shuttered Room’ by H.P. Lovecraft & August Derleth 4th Fontana Horror (Christine Bernard) : 85% (1) 'Seven Floors’ by Dino Buzzati (2) 'Mateo Falcone’ by Prosper Mérimée (3) 'The Idiots’ by Joseph Conrad 5th Fontana Horror (Mary Danby) : 93% (1) 'The Blue Lenses’ by Daphne du Maurier (2) ‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson (3) 'The Hand’ by Guy de Maupassant 6th Fontana Horror (Mary Danby) : 96% (1) 'Close Behind Him’ by John Wyndham (2) 'The Cocoon’ by John B.L. Goodwin (3) 'Miriam’ by Truman Capote 7th Fontana Horror (Mary Danby) : 94% (1) 'Florence Flannery’ by Marjorie Bowen (2) 'A View From A Hill’ by M.R. James (3) 'The Mannikin’ by Robert Bloch 8th Fontana Horror (Mary Danby) : 89% (1) 'The Tell-Tale Heart’ by Edgar Allan Poe (2) 'The Pit’ by Gwyn Jones (3) 'Royal Jelly’ by Roald Dahl 9th Fontana Horror (Mary Danby) : 83% (1) 'The Yellow Wallpaper’ by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (2) 'The Silver Mask’ by Hugh Walpole (3) 'The Hollow Man’ by Thomas Burke 10th Fontana Horror (Mary Danby) : 89% (1) 'The Smiling People’ by Ray Bradbury (2) 'A Little Knowledge’ by Roger Malisson (3) 'The Thing In The Hall’ by E.F. Benson 11th Fontana Horror (Mary Danby) : 81% (1) 'Mary’ by Rog Pile (2) 'The Salesman’ by Roger Malisson (3) 'The Moon Web’ by Adrian Cole 12th Fontana Horror (Mary Danby) : 91% (1) 'Monsieur Seeks A Wife’ by Margaret Irwin (2) 'The Other Celia’ by Theodore Sturgeon (3) 'The Well’ by W.W. Jacobs 13th Fontana Horror (Mary Danby) : 89% (1) 'The White Wolf Of The Hartz Mountains’ by Frederick Marryat (2) 'One Of The Dead’ by William Wood (3) 'Herbert West : Reanimator’ by H.P. Lovecraft 14th Fontana Horror (Mary Danby) : 92% (1) 'Lot No. 249’ by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (2) 'Thanatos Palace Hotel’ by André Maurois (3) 'The Ghoul’ by Sir Hugh Clifford 15th Fontana Horror (Mary Danby) : 90% (1) 'They Bite’ by Anthony Boucher (2) 'The Black Druid’ by Frank Belknap Long (3) 'The Lodger In Room 16’ by David Dixon 16th Fontana Horror (Mary Danby) : 86% (1) 'The Burial Of The Rats’ by Bram Stoker (2) 'Blackberries’ by Roger Clarke (3) 'The Horror Of Abbot’s Grange’ by Frederick Cowles 17th Fontana Horror (Mary Danby) : 89% (1) 'The Yellow Sign’ by Robert W. Chambers (2) 'The Laocoön Complex’ by J.C. Furnas (3) 'The Leather Funnel’ by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle The 8 Ghost Books edited and brilliantly introduced by Robert Aickman were by far the peak of Fontana's horror anthologies with Volume 6 particularly standing out - a perfect collection! While Mary Danby's 6th Horror Book was the finest in that series imo. If I had to pick my favourite story from each series they would be ‘The Grey Ones’ by J.B. Priestley & ‘Monsieur Seeks A Wife’ by Margaret Irwin. Meanwhile I’ve started into the ‘Fontana Tales Of Terror’ series to be followed by re-reads of ‘Tales Of The Cthulhu Mythos’ & Ramsey’s ‘New Tales…’, then the ‘Star Books Of Horror’, Kirby McCauley’s classic anthologies and Alberto Manguel’s ‘Black Water’ & ‘White Fire’, before wading into the ‘Best New Horror’ series, finally bringing me up-to-date, phew… | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.209.217 |
Some very, very fine material there, Stevie. I'm inclined to agree the overall quality of the series remained pretty high throughout. R. Chetwynd-Hayes was a very good editor, underrated I think. He was also underrated as a writer- his reputation for comedy horror overshadows the darker material he also produced. If you can lay hands on his collection 'A Quiver Of Ghosts', it's well worth getting. Stories like 'The Coloured Transmission' have elements of humour that turn black and cold by the end- the close of that story, in fact, is utterly chilling. And A.M. Burrage- he, I think, has to be one of the most underrated of the 'classic' ghost story writers. You might find the Ash-Tree edition of 'Warning Whispers' hard to come by (or at least quite expensive) but the earlier Equation Chillers edition, although it doesn't have quite as many stories, is worth tracking down to whet your appetite. He was very prolific too, and rarely wrote a dud. One of the pleasures of discovering Burrage is finding out just how many of his stories you have in fat old anthologies, that you'd overlooked. | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.122.209.76 |
Stevie that's impressive. I'm currently working my way through the Fontana Ghost Books, reviewing them as I go, and all my thoughts are up on the relevant sections of the Vault of Evil site. Maybe when I've done the lot I'll put up a comparable list to yours. I can already see we could have some fun - I thought Priestly's story in GGS 6 was poor and far preferred the May Sinclair or the Henry S Whitehead. Simon - I've always been a big fan of Chetwynd-Hayes and I'm with you all the way re: A Quiver of Ghosts. His earlier paperback collections for Tandem have a lot nastier stories in them as well - I've always suspected William Kimber asked him to tone them down for the 'library lending crowd' which Kimber thought consisted mainly of old ladies who liked genteel ghost stories. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
I loved 'The Grey Ones'! I thought it worked perfectly as a knowing dark parody of Lovecraft and had a cracking narrative drive with a thoroughly satisfying pay-off. I have (possibly imagined) subliminal memories of seeing a great B&W adaptation of it in either the old 'Twilight Zone' or 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' (I think). One of my very favourite horror stories but then there's no accounting for taste (my own included). I've just been reviewing the books on my Facebook site, giving the old star ratings and brief write-up of each story, and working out the "overall percentage score" that way - it works for me. It was a fun project. Currently reading 'Irish Tales Of Terror' with 'The 21st Pan Book Of Horror Stories' to follow...  | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.227.106 |
You've read ALL of the Fontanas as well as the Pans? That is indeed an achievement of the first order. I'm still plowing through Hamlyn's thick The Best Horror Stories. Not as great a book as its companion The Best Ghost Stories, I'm afraid. Some of the stories are awful or just plain tedious. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 61.216.203.34 |
Hubert, the Hamlyn 'Best Ghost Stories' anthology was the first big book of supernatural fiction I read, and it introduced me to many of the great writers in the genre - Machen, Le Fanu, Lovecraft, Blackwood, James and the rest (I'd read some Poe before that, but I was unfamiliar with most of the other writers). It was given to me when I was a teenager, and I still have it somewhere on one of my bookshelves, yellowed pages and all... | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.227.106 |
Yep, I too got it sometime in the mid-seventies and I didn't realize a companion volume existed until last week. Got it for the incredible amount of 1 euro and it's never even been read (I can tell)! Both are first editions, btw. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Hubert, it took me about three years alternating between the Pans, Fontana Ghost & Fontana Horrors and I've still another 10 Pans to go. This is my second time of reading them all since my teens. I'd recommend it - great fun and the perfect education in weird fiction! What I'd really like to get my hands on is a set of the 'Not At Night' books from the 1930s, but that will never happen. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.37.199.45 |
Stevie, they're not great. Interesting, and with the odd wonderful story, but you have to be a Weird Tales anorak to plough through them. | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.253.174.81 |
I've ploughed through them  What I really want to find now is a reasonably priced 'Creeps' omnibus | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.209.217 |
John- was interested to read your comments about Chetwynd-Hayes' earlier Tandem collections. can you recommend any in particular? There are so many to pick from... | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
John, you mean you've ploughed through the 'Not At Night' series?! And what do you mean by 'Creeps'? Never heard of it. These tantalising glimpses into a world of quality horror, forever beyond my reach, will haunt me to the grave unless someone tells me how to find, and finally read, these wonderful books! | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.122.209.76 |
Stevie - I've got the Arrow paperback reprints from the 1960s. The 'Creeps' were the 1920s forerunners of the Pan Books and had stories by Charles Birkin, Elliot O'Donnell et al. I found a very tatty omnibus copy in Hay On Wye on Saturday but it was £25-00 & I've seen it around for much more. Simon - The Unbidden is the best RCH Tandem collection by far, and it was his first. He had yet to develop such a sense of 'it's all a bit silly isn't it, this horror lark?' and while there are some funny stories in the book some of them are genuinely disturbing. Stories that I love in it include: The House No-one Lived There Why Don't You Wash? Said the Girl with a Hundred Thousand Pounds and No Relatives The Playmate I Know What You Need Don't Go Up Them Stairs The Head of the Firm Pussy Cat Pussy Cat One of the Family | ||
| Johnny_mains (Johnny_mains) Username: Johnny_mains Registered: 04-2010 Posted From: 82.22.75.99 |
I quite like COLD TERROR - it's the first collection I ever read of his. And I hope you picked up that CREEPS John - even a crappy copy is better than no copy at all! | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.253.174.81 |
COLD TERROR has The Door and An Act of Kindness, both of which were filmed in From Beyond the Grave and both of which are worth reading, but I found most of the other stories in that book to be a bit lacking - almost as if they were rejects from the first book. Johnny - I didn't buy that CREEPS, mainly because I have some of the stories (the Birkin & the O'Donnell in particular) in other collections. | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.228.117 |
A mild bit of ploughing through my chaotic library revealed that I actually own two RCH collections, Terror by Night (Pyramid, 1974) and Tales of Fear and Fantasy (Fontana, 1977). I've always been fond of "The Throwback", "Manderville" and "The Monster", even if the latter takes more than a perfunctory bow to Wyndham's The Chrysalids. I recall buying the books on the strength of the impressive "It Came to Dinner" and being slightly disappointed. | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.253.174.81 |
'It Came to Dinner' was written by RCH "to prove he could do it" - ie write a gory nasty Pan Horror. van Thal wanted more but RCH didn't want to write any. 'Tales of Fear & Fantasy' was my first RCH and so it holds a special place in my heart. Manderville is fun, and The Headless Footman of Hadleigh is a great Fred & Francis adventure. I also like The Resurrectionist in that one | ||
| Paul_finch (Paul_finch) Username: Paul_finch Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 92.6.209.195 |
All these wonderful story titles are so evocative of my long journeys to and from college in London, circa 1980. I'd happily spend what was then a 5-hour-long train journey reading Pan and Fontana horror collections, any one of which you could pick up for about 45p from one of the numerous book stalls that used to dot Euston Station forecourt. It started me compiling a list of my favourite horror tales - I planned, at some point, to edit the ultimate collection - but sadly that's become less and less likely. The list alone (and all it contains is the title of each story and the author) is now nearly 200 pages long. Where to start there? Anyone in the market to publish a 500,000 page antho? | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
You and me both, Paul. I've got a list of all the ***** horror stories I've read that would fill several volumes! I find Chetwynd-Hayes rather hit-and-miss but when he's on form, as with 'It Came To Dinner', 'Non-Paying Passengers' or 'Cold Fingers', he's right up there with the best of 'em. I do like some of his more humorous stories but all too often he overbalances into self-parody - to write comedy horror that works (i.e. is both laugh-out-loud funny AND seriously scary) is perhaps the most difficult task any author could take on. | ||
| Paul_finch (Paul_finch) Username: Paul_finch Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 92.6.209.195 |
I always thought Chetwynd-Hayes was best realised in THE MONSTER CLUB's adaptation of THE HUMGOO. What seemed like a ridiculous notion in concept - a monster that melts you when he whistles - was taken totally seriously and served up as a Gothic celluloid treat. It still sticks in my mind as one of the best of all the Amicus segments; the masked ball and then the final ghastly moment when the bride returns home are moments of high horror movie as far as I'm concerned. I also owe RCH a big thankyou for the wonderful TALES OF TERROR series (Scottish, Cornish, Irish, Welsh etc), that he was at least partly involved in editing, and of which I'm the proud owner of a complete set. Another of his own genuinely chilling tales - THE BODMIN TERROR - concludes the Cornish collection. | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.122.209.76 |
I've wittered on about this before, but THE SHADMOCK segment in Subotsky's THE MONSTER CLUB is poignant for all sorts of reasons. It signified the death knell of a certain type of British horror that so many of us grew up loving, it's got one of Douglas Gamley's best scores (shamefully absent on the soundtrack album), and it's actually a really good story in its own right, with a cracker of an ending that's very different from RCH's original tale. You...could...still...love...me... | ||
| Paul_finch (Paul_finch) Username: Paul_finch Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 92.6.209.195 |
Oh shit ... Shadmock, not Humgoo. I'm getting my monster hybrids mixed up. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Paul, I'm half-way through 'Irish Tales Of Terror' as we speak. 'Cornish Tales Of Terror' was a great collection ('The Birds', 'Mrs Lunt' & 'The Narrow Way' stood out) but I really didn't like 'The Bodmin Terror' at all - one of those where RCH just got too silly and far-fetched for his own good imo. 'The Monster Club' is one of those rare horror-comedies that works perfectly, getting the balance between nervous laughs and genuine scares just right - an underrated classic, as we all seem to agree on here. | ||
| Paul_finch (Paul_finch) Username: Paul_finch Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 92.9.155.123 |
Steve ... each to his own on RCH, I suppose. But those TALES OF TERROR were a special series. Again, they bring back endless happy memories for me as a youngster: sitting in a Lake District hotel lounge, reading them one after another while older family members, mum, dad, aunties, uncles, sisters, etc, all got roaringly drunk in the restaurant and bar. I loved the regionalisation of the horror in this series. If memory serves, it consisted of: CORNISH TALES OF TERROR, SCOTTISH TALES OF TERROR, IRISH TALES OF TERROR, WELSH TALES OF TERROR, LONDON TALES OF TERROR, EUROPEAN TALES OF TERROR, OCEANIC TALES OF TERROR, GASLIT TALES OF TERROR, and TALES OF TERROR FROM OUTER SPACE. (I may have missed one or two titles there, but I know I've got the entire lot somewhere). The way the stories were interspersed with works of terrifying non-fiction associated with that particular place was fascinating - THE ISLAND MAGEE TERROR and THE CLOMNEL WITCH-BURNING were as frightening as any of the fictional tales. I absolutely loved those collections, and it's long been an ambition of mine to do or participate in something similar again. Here's hoping one of our friendly neighbourhood publishers might go for it ... | ||
| Johnny_mains (Johnny_mains) Username: Johnny_mains Registered: 04-2010 Posted From: 82.22.75.99 |
Paul, it was SEA TALES OF TERROR, and you forgot ORIENTAL TALES OF TERROR. As an aside I own the original painting to the EUROPEAN TALES OF TERROR - one of the best bits of my collection: http://www.allthingshorror.co.uk/#/justin-todd/4532923783 cheers J | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 129.11.77.198 |
Yes, but do you have any Rolf Harrises? Well, do you? Thought not. Call yourself a connoisseur! | ||
| Johnny_mains (Johnny_mains) Username: Johnny_mains Registered: 04-2010 Posted From: 82.22.75.99 |
of course I do! Got it at Glastonbury.. http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://sketchfu.com/images/drawings/21632. png&imgrefurl=http://sketchfu.com/drawing/21632-crazy-hamster&usg=__Me4g-NmeYZOX UBCIYif6RTEmLGs=&h=360&w=600&sz=64&hl=en&start=54&tbnid=iXp016-0sWLieM:&tbnh=167 &tbnw=263&prev=/images%3Fq%3Drubbish%2Bdrawing%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1280%2 6bih%3D641%26tbs%3Disch:10,1600&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=566&ei=OKBiTITDMdGSjAfRl 6jACQ&oei=AKBiTPC8J6GiOMq23KsJ&esq=5&page=4&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:54&tx=131&t y=116&biw=1280&bih=641 You can add to it if you like! | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 129.11.77.198 |
I am in awe of you. You own something by the great man himself. Wow. | ||
| Paul_finch (Paul_finch) Username: Paul_finch Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 92.9.155.123 |
Johnny ... you've ruined my day and made it both at the same time. I didn't know about ORIENTAL TALES OF TERROR, so my collection is not complete. But that means I've now got something else to go and eagerly look for. Cheers my man, and well done on that painting. The original artwork on those books was superb. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 129.11.76.229 |
Paul, I may have a copy of this . . . I can check if you like. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
'European Tales Of Terror' will take some beating imo. There wasn't one weak story in that collection - as near perfect as makes no difference. Unlike the Pans & other Fontanas, I collected these recently (insisting on the painted cover editions, I'm fussy that way) and I'm reading them all for the first time. The geographical theme fits itself really well to tales of the supernatural and I'm surprised no one else has tried this since. | ||
| Nathaniel Tapley (Natt) Username: Natt Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 78.151.127.180 |
Recently cleared out a lot of my children's books, and found some old horror-ish anthologies. So, once I've waded my way through the mawkish, dull J.H. Riddell collection that has bogged me down for weeks now, I can look forward to: BEST HORROR STORIES (FABER) ed. John Keir Cross THE BUMPER BOOK OF GHOST STORIES (SCHOOL BOOK FAIR) ed. Mary Danby (This 'bumper' book contains six short stories...) GHOSTS, SPOOKS & SPECTRES (PUFFIN) ed. Charles Molin GHOSTLY AND GHASTLY (BEAVER) ed. Barbara Ireson GREAT GHOST STORIES (DOVER) ed. John Grafton Lots of good stuff that I haven't read for at least 20 years in there, I hope... | ||
| Paul_finch (Paul_finch) Username: Paul_finch Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 92.9.155.123 |
Gary ... How much do you want for it? Steve ... I'm going to be pressing certain people at Fantasycon to see if I can interest them in something similar. | ||
| Johnny_mains (Johnny_mains) Username: Johnny_mains Registered: 04-2010 Posted From: 82.22.75.99 |
Paul, if Gary doesn't have - I do, and I'll gladly give you it. cheers J. | ||
| Paul_finch (Paul_finch) Username: Paul_finch Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 92.9.155.123 |
Shucks fellas, I'm speechless. Thanks very much to both you. It's really appreciated. I guess it now boils down to which of you is least worried about losing his copy ???? | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.31.8.83 |
Paul, I'll give my copy and £50. Anything to get one over on that Mains bastard. | ||
| Paul_finch (Paul_finch) Username: Paul_finch Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 92.9.155.123 |
Now now, guys ... let's not fight about it. ;> | ||
| Johnny_mains (Johnny_mains) Username: Johnny_mains Registered: 04-2010 Posted From: 82.22.75.99 |
I can't compete with Brewsters Millions - you can have his!  | ||
| Paul_finch (Paul_finch) Username: Paul_finch Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 92.9.155.123 |
Okay John ... thanks for the kind offer, it was much appreciated. But as Gaz owes me BIG TIME, I'll take his. Over to you, Gary ... | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.31.8.83 |
Fuck it, can't find it! Must have given it away during my house move. You'll just have to get back in Johnny's good books and hope he doesn't Pan you. | ||
| Johnny_mains (Johnny_mains) Username: Johnny_mains Registered: 04-2010 Posted From: 82.22.75.99 |
Well, as a gesture of goodwill, I think you should give him the £50... Paul, email me your address to panbookofhorrorstories@gmail.com and I'll get the book out to you in the next few days. cheers j | ||
| Paul_finch (Paul_finch) Username: Paul_finch Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 92.9.155.123 |
Thanks chaps. Sorted. | ||
| Patrick Walker (Patrick_walker) Username: Patrick_walker Registered: 01-2010 Posted From: 92.40.236.49 |
I've been poking through my collection of old anthologies. The Tales of Terror series is indeed fab and I agree European Tales of Terror is probably the best of the bunch. I've got the Mayflower Books of Black Magic Stories collection (1 - 5) and vol. 4 has a Ramsey story called Dolls which as far as I can see hasn't been included in any other anthology; at least none that I have. Or is it?  John Burke's Tales of Unease series was also pretty good with Volume 2 (More Tales of Unease) featuring what is surely one of the best book covers of all time!  | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
Patrick - your images aren't displaying for me (at the moment, anyway), but I know which cover you're referring to. That "More Tales of Unease" cover gives many people (myself included) nightmares. It's such a simple image - but oh so effective and scary! | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
As if by magic, the images appeared once I'd posted the above. Scary!!! | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.209.217 |
Patrick- I doin't know if Dolls has been reprinted in other anthologies, but it appeared in Ramsey's collection SCARED STIFF. Along with numerous other excellent stories, reread recently. | ||
| Patrick Walker (Patrick_walker) Username: Patrick_walker Registered: 01-2010 Posted From: 92.40.236.49 |
Doh. I have Scared Stiff and didn't even check in there! Funny thing is I must have read it at some point and didn't realise. Funny thing is I think another story from Scared Stiff (Lilith's) appears in another of the anthologies; Black Magic Stories 5, I think... | ||
| Patrick Walker (Patrick_walker) Username: Patrick_walker Registered: 01-2010 Posted From: 92.40.236.49 |
Caroline, it's certainly given me a nightmarish dream or two. I'm guessing most people would scoff at such an image now but, you know, it's incredible what you can do with a small child and some papier mache...  | ||
| Patrick Walker (Patrick_walker) Username: Patrick_walker Registered: 01-2010 Posted From: 92.40.236.49 |
...and a wig. | ||
| Degsy (Degsy) Username: Degsy Registered: 08-2010 Posted From: 86.134.93.9 |
The 12th Fontana Book of Great Horror Stories was my first introduction to the world of weird as a kid. Even now, twenty-odd years later, 'The Other Celia' by Theodore Sturgeon still freaks me out. | ||
| Patrick Walker (Patrick_walker) Username: Patrick_walker Registered: 01-2010 Posted From: 188.28.92.100 |
I just read The Other Celia on your recommendation and I'm really quite blown away. After reading Some of Your Blood a few months back I'm desperate to know which Sturgeon I should track down next. Does anyone have any suggestions? | ||
| Degsy (Degsy) Username: Degsy Registered: 08-2010 Posted From: 86.134.93.9 |
Voyeurism, burglary, ultraterrestrials - 'The Other Celia' was pretty potent stuff for a ten year-old to find in his local library. I've got a copy of 'A Touch of Strange' which is a Hamlyn Books reissue of an anthology from the 1950's which has a good selection of Sturgeon's early short stories (including 'Celia')though there are a couple of them that seem a bit dated now - you can probably find this very cheaply online. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.238.222 |
Patrick, look for the collections Without Sorcery (or its abridged paperback version, Not Without Sorcery) and E Pluribus Unicorn. Also his great weird SF novel More Than Human. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
On the strength of reading that one story I've been on the lookout for anything by Sturgeon in the second hand shops ever since. So far all I've come across is the novel 'The Dreaming Jewels' (1950), which I may well read next. | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 213.122.209.76 |
More Than Human is a great Sturgeon novel, as is The Dreaming Jewels. I seem to remember one of his more famous stories having the title 'It'. And of course for those who want film adaptations of Sturgeon's work there's the 1973 TV Movie 'Killdozer' starring Clint Walker, about a killer bulldozer. | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.55 |
There's a secondhand shop in manchester that consistantly has half a dozen different Sturgeon collections if you want me to pick a couple up for you Stevie. email me on the usual address if you're interested. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
E Pluribus Unicorn is a great collection. I love Sturgeon, me. | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.209.217 |
Which shop's that, Marc? The Paramount on Shudehill? Must pop in there. | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.55 |
That's the one. Great little shop. Shame it's only open Fridays and Saturdays. They now have a larger Sci Fi section than Waterstone. | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.55 |
"It" is a fantastic story. I can still quote the opening lines twenty five years after I first read it. | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.237.21 |
"It" is in the collection Who Knocks? edited by Derleth. A classic tale, mostly written (if I remember rightly) from the viewpoint of the 'monster'. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
"It" is a great story So is "Bianca's Hands". | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Thanks for the offer, Marc! I've emailed you and can return the favour if there's anything you're desperate to find. | ||
| Patrick Walker (Patrick_walker) Username: Patrick_walker Registered: 01-2010 Posted From: 188.28.128.138 |
Oh yes, I have the story It in Christopher Lee's Archives of Evil anthology.  | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
I have a question for Johnny Mains: why was Justin Todd's cover for 'Oriental Tales Of Terror' (1971) never used, and was there any alternative cover edition of the book, other than the only one I've been able to find with the photo of the chinese doll-thing and the gecko? | ||
| Johnny_mains (Johnny_mains) Username: Johnny_mains Registered: 04-2010 Posted From: 86.31.118.252 |
Justin said he was paid for it - but they never used it (sometimes this just happens) and the photo cover is the only one in existence. There were no other variant covers. If you want to know what the painted cover looks like try and pick up a book called 'The Magical Paintings of Justin Todd'. I did interview him, it's quite a small interview but here it is: http://allthingshorror.co.uk/#/justin-todd/4532923783 | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Thanks, Johnny! I have the whole collection and it always sort of bothered me that I'd never been able to find a painted cover edition of 'Oriental Tales' but now I needn't worry. | ||
| Johnny_mains (Johnny_mains) Username: Johnny_mains Registered: 04-2010 Posted From: 86.31.118.252 |
I have the original painting to European Tales of Terror hanging up on my office wall. My favourite cover from the series. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
That's some trophy! My favourite is the 'Outer Space' cover but I love them all. I'm a big fan of René Magritte so these covers always drew my attention. I also have both volumes of Montague Summers' 'Supernatural Omnibus', maybe Justin's best work? | ||
| Paul_finch (Paul_finch) Username: Paul_finch Registered: 11-2009 Posted From: 92.2.153.217 |
Those were masterly covers, and really gave the series a strong identity. |