"THE MIDNIGHT PEOPLE" Edited by Peter Haining

"THE MIDNIGHT PEOPLE"

Edited by Peter Haining.

Ensign Books, Manchester 1968. 30p (how much is this?).

                                               (Front and back cover scans of my copy.)

Contents:

Introduction – Peter Haining II

Fritz Haarmann‘The Hanover Vampire’- MontagueSummers   -Page15

Augustus Hare- The Vampire of Croglin Grange                   -Page21

John Polidori – The Vampyre                                                 -Page26

Thomas Preskett Prest – The Storm Visitor                           -Page50

Bram Stoker – Three Young Ladies                                       -Page57

M. R. James – An Episode of Cathedral History                   -Page62

August Derleth – Bat’s Belfry                                               -Page82

E. F. Benson – ‘And No Bird Sings’                                     - Page93

Sydney Horler – The Believer                                               -Page109

‘Stephen Grendon’ (August Derleth) – The Drifting Snow   -Page116

Manly Wade Wellman – When It Was Moonlight                -Page129

P. Schuyler Miller – Over the River                                     -Page147

Richard Matheson – Drink My Blood                                   -Page162

Ray Bradbury – Pillar of Fire                                                -Page172

Basil Copper – Dr Porthos                                                    -Page218

Robert Bloch – The Living Dead                                           -Page226

Fritz Leiber – The Girl with the Hungry Eyes                       -Page234

Postcript – Montague Summers 

-Page253

                                                    

„The Midnight People“is a superb collection of Vampire stories edited by the late PeterHaining (1940-2007). Mr. Haining is/was one of the all time great anthologist, if not the greatest. He put together more than 130 (139?) anthologies! He was a very busy man. To be honest I have only a dozen or so of his anthologies in my possession and “The Midnight People” is my favourite one.

 It’s my opinion that “The Midnight People” was the best of the “best Vampire stories” anthologies that have been published before “Otto Penzler’s The Vampire Archives”. Even though most of these stories have been frequently reprinted over the past 44 years since this anthology first appeared, it’s nice to have them all in one volume. It’s also nice the forward and afterward are taken from “Montague Summers” who was the greatest believer and researcher in the supernatural threats faced by mankind. His books on demonology, witchcraft, vampirism and werewolves are still available in affordable edition and are well worth reading for their informative/entertainment value.

Now let’s take a look at some of the stories.

“The Vampire of Croglin Grange” by Augustus Hare.

     This is probably one of the most famous “true and relatively modern” vampire accounts on record. Even though it has been repeatedly “disproved” it is still a great tale that I first heard about in the pages of an old “Ripley’s Believe it or not: True Demons and Monsters” comic back at the end of the 1960s when I was a kid.

 “An Episode of Cathedral History” by M. R. James.     

     This is a real goody by M. R. James. Mr. James has to be the best Ghost Story author that I’ve ever read. His stories are truly frightening and entertaining. His stories are so unique that the term “Jamesian” has been coined to describe his style and type of story. He was the true master of the “less is more” school of story telling. All of his stories are still available in affordable editions. Check out the 2Wordsworth Books library of the “Mystery and supernatural”. The folks at “Wordsworth Editions” are a true God send!  And for more things “Jamesian” go to “The Vault of Evil”. They know everything.

Anyways, “An Episode of…” is a  nice “Vampire” tale   about what happens when an old British church is renovated and something that has been resting/imprisoned under the altar gets “disturbed” and starts to visit the neighbourhood at night. Good stuff!

"The Drifting Snow” by August Derleth.“

    This is another of my all time favourite stories. It is also in my opinion, Mr. Derleth’s 2^nd greatest stories after “The Lonesome Place”.  Even though Mr. Derleth (admittedly) wrote mostly filler for “Weird Tales”, he could really shine when he put his shoulder to the stone.

This is a creepy little “weekend at the country estate during a snowstorm” story. It’s one of those “DON’T GO OUT THERE TO INVESTIGATED YOU #ß’%§ FOOL!” kind of stories.

The concept of wronged persons returning from the dead as vampires to get revenge on the descendents of those who mistreated them works very well here. You like the characters, but it soon clear that because of “the sins of our fathers” they are doomed. I won’t give too much away, but just remember that it is not a good idea to throw out young serving girls into a blizzard just because they have gotten pregnant out of wedlock. It’s just not a very nice thing to do! Ok? Nuff said.

“When It Was Moonlight” by Manley Wade Wellman.

     This is one of the horror stories that show how much of a master craftsman Mr. Wellman was. This originally appeared in “John W. Campbell's”, sister magazine to “Astounding”, “Unknown(worlds)”. Unknown was supposed to do to fantasy what “Astounding” did to SF. Which was to bring a new level of logic, sophistication, characterisation and intelligence to the genre that Campbell thought was missing up to then. This vision worked so well in “Astounding” that SF was never the same again. I think it’s arguable though as to how much this helped the Fantasy genre. I personally have never been all that big of a fan of the stories that appeared in “Unknown”. It only ran a few years, so I guess that the readers weren’t all that impressed either. Many of the stories that appeared in “Unknown” are well remembered and frequently reprinted though. So to be honest, quite a few of them were very good. What’s so funny is that the stories that Mr. Wellman wrote for “Unknown” were pure over the top supernatural horror that would have been more at home in “Weird Tales”. Lucky for us, Mr. Campbell knew quality stories when he saw them and published them in “Unknown” anyways.

“When it was Moonlight” tries to answer the age old question of “where do you get your ideas?”  . We find out where “EdgarAllan Poe” received some of his. Mr. Poe hears about a case of “PrematureBurial” in town and sets out to investigate for a local newspaper. What he discovers is not a case of a living person who was too hurriedly buried, but a case of someone who was buried and no one took the appropriate measures to make sure that they stay buried. This is another wonderful story.

“Over the River” by P. Schuyler Miller.

     I hate to over use the expression “classic”, but this is the only appropriate term to describe most of the stories in this anthology.  “Over the River” is the first “1^st person” vampire tale that I ever read. It’s an amazing story. It’s told through the eyes of a man is killed while deep in the woods by a vampire and who then arises from the dead and makes his way home never truly realizing that he is now on of the undead. This story is simply amazing. It’s simultaneously bloody, frightening and tragically sad.

                               Here’s the story online. Please check it out!!

“Drink My Blood” by Richard Matheson.

      This is one of those rare Richard Matheson stories that actually have a (sort of) happy end.

“Jules” is a misunderstood little psychopath who wants nothing more than to be a vampire.

This is one grim nasty little story. And that’s exactly what you expect from Mr. Matheson! Read it an you’ll never forget.

“Pillar of fire” by Ray Bradbury.

This is my favourite anti-censorship/anti-fantasy/anti-PC from Mr. Bradbury.  “Pillar of Fire” originally appeared in the September 1948 issue of “Planet Stories” and contains the core philosophy that he completely fleshed out later on in “Fahrenheit 451”. After a centurys long sleep a vampire wakes up into a future where all fear of death and the darkness has been eradicated. No one knows of ghosts, devils, monsters or any of the things that go bump in the night. Society/the govt. has decided that these concepts are unhealthy for young minds and all fantasy has been removed from society and our culture. Fear of the dark is totally unknown.

This makes it hard for a vampire’s existential existence. So our (anti)hero decides to reintroduce these concepts to the world. Sadly he fails and voluntarily pays a visit to one of the “Pillars of Fire”. I won’t say more!

“The Girl with the Hungry Eyes” by Fritz Leiber.

     This is Mr. Leiber’s  take on the concept of “vampirism”. Here we get to see psychic/emotional vampirism at work in the advertising industry. This is a famous story that has been constantly reprinted and even though I’m a huge fan of Mr. Leiber, I don’t care much for this story.

Well that’s it for today’s post!  I just want to explain how good this anthology truly is. I haven’t read a single on of these stories since the early 1980s and I can still write about them today without having to reread any of them. That’s how damned good most of the stories in this anthology are. Buy it f you can find it! It’s been reprinted several times in both the UK and the US, so there are plenty of cheap copies on EBay and Abebooks.

Here are some other editions!

                         (Vampires at midnight is the US title)
(The wonderful US cover was painted by the amazing  "Jeff"Jeffrey  Catherine Jones. One of the great all time cover painter/illustrators! Ms. jones was able to give the most masculine covers an air of feminine beauty like no one else. She did many wonderful covers back in the 1970s!! Sadly she passed away last year on May the 19th. As sad as this is, at least Frank Frazetrta has some company now.

"Jeff Jones" gallery

Another "Jeff Jones" gallery

And some more "Jeff Jones"

Take care and thanks for taking the time to stop by.

 Doug

   

P.S.

"Wordsworth Editions" will be bringing out 2 long awaited AFFORDABLE COLLECTIONS THIS YEAR!!!

Voodoo Tales: The Ghost Stories of Henry S. Whitehead

 Night Terrors: The Ghost Stories of E.F. Benson

Check out also their collections from H. P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard and M.R. James!!

These are affordable and attractive books! check out their entire selection of horror stories!

 Take care.

Doug

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories not for the Nervous

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories not for the Nervous

Dell Publishing. October 1966. $0.50 Cover Price

Dell Publishing. September 1971. $0.75 Cover Price

 Scans of my two copies

EDITED/SELECTED by Robert J. Arthur.

Contents:

• 8 · A Brief Message from Our Sponsor · Alfred Hitchcock · in
• 9 · To the Future · Ray Bradbury · ss Colliers May 13 ’50
• 24 · River of Riches · Gerald Kersh · ss The Saturday Evening Post Mar 8 ’58
• 37 · The Man with Copper Fingers [“The Abominable History of the Man with Copper Fingers”; Lord Peter Wimsey] · Dorothy L. Sayers · ss Lord Peter Views the Body, London: Gollancz, 1928
• 56 · Levitation · Joseph Payne Brennan · ss Nine Horrors and a Dream, Arkham, 1958
• 61 · Miss Winters and the Wind · Christine N. Govan · ss Tomorrow May ’46
• 67 · The Dog Died First · Bruno Fischer · nv Mystery Book Magazine Fll ’49
• 89 · The Twenty Friends of William Shaw · Raymond E. Banks · ss Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine Mar ’60
• 98 · The Other Hangman · Carter Dickson · ss A Century of Detective Stories, ed. Anon., London: Hutchinson, 1935
• 112 · Dune Roller · Julian May · nv Astounding Dec ’51
• 154 · No Bath for the Browns · Margot Bennett · ss Lilliput Nov ’45
• 157 · The Uninvited [“A Prince of Abyssinia”; Daniel John Calder; Samuel Behrens] · Michael Gilbert · ss Argosy (UK) Mar ’62
• 168 · The Substance of Martyrs · William Sambrot · ss Rogue Dec ’63
• 176 · Don’t Look Behind You · Fredric Brown · ss EQMM May ’47

Hey All!

I’m going to start out today by misquoting Bill Murray in “Groundhog Day”.

Robert J. Arthur is not GOD, but he is a god!

Robert Jay Arthur memorial page (from his daughter) 

List of Alfred Hitchcock Anthologies.

Mr. Arthur is probably more responsible than any other person back in the 1950s, 60s and 70s for introducing more American children to quality horror/supernatural fiction than anyone else during this era. “Alfred Hitchcock” might be one the cover, but the choice of contents is pure “Robert J. Arthur. Mr. Arthur was a true multi talent. He wrote for the magazines, TV and Radio. He was also a meister anthologist. He is the man responsible for the classic “Alfred Hitchcock” young reader’s horror anthologies “Haunted Houseful”, “Ghostly Gallery” and “Monster Museum”.  Mr. Arthur was also the creature and original author of the “Three Investigators” series. These are all listed in one of my earliest posts if anyone is interested. Even though Mr. Arthur showed amazingly good taste in the stories he selected, his own horror stories are just a good as those anthologized. If you want a great sampling of his stories go and dig up a copy of his horror anthology “Ghosts and More ghosts”. It’s well worth it.

He was also the man who selected all of the stories in “ A Red Skel(e)ton In Your Closet - ghost stories gay and grim selected by the master of comedy, Red Skelton”.

(Correction! "Zybahn from "Casual Debris" pointed out that Mr. Arthur, to his knowledge, didn't edit "A Red skelton in your closet". This bears up. I went to the Robert Arthur listing at the "ISFDB" and it not listed under his anthologies. Neither does Mr. Arthurs daughter list it on her page. This is what happens when you read something on 2 different boards and take it a face value. MII CULPA!!)

(2nd Correction: Mr. Arthur was't the editor for "Haunted Houseful either! :-( THANKS ZYBAHN!!)

All of these are anthologies that I loved dearly back when I was in grade school. I had loaned out all of these from the “Johhny Clem Elementary School” library so often that I almost thought of them as my own property. I remember having to argue with the librarian to be allowed to borrow them. She didn’t think they were fitting for 3rd graders. Luckily I was able to convince her otherwise. I still have copies to this day of all of these books! The scans can be found in an earlier posting.

So like I said at the beginning, even though Mr. Arthur wasn’t GOD, he was a god.

And now back to “Stories not for the Nervous”

I don’t know how many “Alfred Hitchcock” anthologies there are, but it must be dozens. But Mr Arthur edited all of the early ones from the 50 and 60s. The stories are all over the place. What I mean is that so far I never seen a “pure” horror” anthology. Even though several are heavy in horror stories they usually have an even mixture of horror and suspense. “Stories not for the Nervous” is one of those horror heavy collections. I haven’t read many of the AH paperbacks, but from the few I own this one is a doozy.

Now let’s take a look at some of the stories……

“THE MAN WITH COPPER FINGERS” by Dorothy L. Sayers

     This is the ONLY “Lord Peter Wimsey” story that I’ve ever read and it is a good one though. I have no idea if the others are as wicked as this one, but I’ve never forgotten it.  It’s basically a story of a missing wife and a “new” piece of sculpted furniture that shows up after the disappearance. There’s also a hidden “galvanization/metal plating” workshop in the basement. It’s fun stuff.

“LEVITATION” by Joseph Payne Brennan.

     Joseph Payne Brennan is one of my all time favourite horror writers. He is also one of the last “new” writers to appear in the original “Weird Tales” magazine. I won’t give too much away on this one. All I’ll say is that you should just remember that if you ever let yourself get hypnotized at the County Fair, make sure that the Hypnotist is still around to wake you back up at the end of the demonstration. This one creeped the hell out of me as a kid when I first read it in “Hauntings: Tales of the Supernatural”. This is another anthology I constantly loaned out as a kid.

“The Dune Roller” by Julian May.

     Julian May is most famous for her SF/Fantasy series “The Saga of the Pliocene Exiles“ which came out in back in early 1980s. “Dune Roller” is a suspenseful “monster” story that takes place up on the shores of Lake Michigan. This is one of the most interesting monster threats that I’ve ever read and it also has a fantastic “sense of place”.  After reading this you’ll actually believe that you’ve spent time on Lake Michigan! It was also filmed as “The Cremators” in 1972.

“To the Future” by Ray Bradbury.

     “To the Future” starts out as one of Mr. Bradbury’s romanticized Mexico stories and ends up as a terribly depressing dystopian time travel story. It’s well worth reading even though it’s not your typical Bradburyesque whimsy. 

Don't look behind you" by Frederic Brown.. 

     This has to be the grand daddy of of "don't look behind you" stories.  it didn't work for me, even though I'm a Frederic Brown fan.

     

“The Dog Died First” By Bruno Fischer.

     “The Dog Died First” is a nice little “noir” story about a guy trying to prove that his wife didn’t kill her (possible) lover. This would have made a good extended episode in “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”. What is so fascinating with this story though is its restraint. “Bruno Fischer” was an old pulp magazine “schlock meister” who wrote under several pen names. The most infamous of these pen names was “Russell Gray”.  Now here comes a little history lesson. There were dozen of pulp genres and subgenres. One of these was the “Shudder/Weird Menace” pulps. These were an odd mixture of horror and mystery. We all know “Scooby Doo”, or even “The 3 Investigators”.  The monster never turns out to be real, “It’s not a zombie! It’s old Mr. McCreedy from the abandoned amusement park!”.  Yep, that’s weird menace in a nut shell. Some apparently supernatural threat gets exposed at the end as a ploy to scare people off or to cover up another crime. In the earlier "Weird Menace” stories the girl always gets rescued before the worst happens. In the later “Weird Menace” pulps the girl, if she even gets rescued, get rescued only after the worst happens. And by worst I mean imagine Daphny and Velma getting first tortured, maimed and then gang raped by leprous Orangutans before Fred, Shaggy and Scooby save the day. No shit, I’m not making this up. These stories ended up getting banned in the early 40s. Imagine the “3 Investigators” getting caught up with the villains from the film “Hostel”.  I don’t get a stiffy from this stuff, but it does have to be read to be believed. It’s basically your grandpa’s torture porn to be brutally honest. “Russell Gray” was the most infamous author of such stories. Lots of writers in this genre such as “Hugh B. Cave” and “Henry Kuttner” refused to crank up the misogyny and sexual violence and left the genre. Bruno Fischer writing as Russell Gray had no such qualms. If your curios, John Pelan over at “Dancing Tuatara Press” has recently released “Hostesses in Hell: The selected stories of Russell Gray”.  These stories are a truly guilty pleasure. They are so awful that it helps to take the edge off of the terrible things that happen in the stories. It also helps to only read one story a month. Santa Claus brought me a copy and so far I’ve only made it through 4 of the stories. Think “Richard Laymon”, but in the 1930s.

Here are a few “Shudder Pulps” in .pdf format. Don’t say that I didn’t warn you.

THE MOLEMEN WANT YOUR EYES 

FRESH FIANCE´S FOR THE DEVILS DAUGHTER

 

Well, that’s it for this week.

Take care.

Doug

Darker Than You Think by Jack Williamson

„Darker than you Think“

 (or “Schrödinger’s Werewolf")

 by Jack Williamson.

Lancer Books. 1963. $0.50

 My copy Front and Back.

Hey everyone!

I have a little bit of time on my hands so I thought I’d do a mini-post.

I want to present my own personal favourite Werewolf novel.

It’s not too difficult to choose a favourite Werewolf novel since the market for Werewolf novels isn’t exactly saturated!

“Darker than you Think” by “Jack Williamson” (1908-2006) first appeared as a novella in “Unknown(Worlds)”, “John W. Campbell’s” companion magazine to “Astounding Science Fiction”

It was later expanded into a full novel in 1948.

This is the first Werewolf novel that I can first remember reading. To be fair this isn’t as much of a “Werewolf” novel as it is a “Were-Beast” novel.

     Jack Williamson was one of the pioneers of modern SF with a writing career that spanned from 1928 all the way through to 2005!!!!!!! 

That’s correct!

The MAN was pounding a typewriter 78 years!!!!

Think about it!

This is a man who as a child travelled from Oklahoma to Arizona by covered wagon and ended up still writing SF into the 21^st century. Respect Jack!

And he sure as hell enriched my life by doing so!

He also won the HUGO, Nebula Grand Master and world Fantasy Awards.

     Anyways, Mr. Williamson who was famous for a list of SF Short Stories and novels longer than my arm could also write a mean Horror story. If you don’t believe me, then get hold of an E-Book or old printed edition of “Wolves of Darkness” to read. It’ll knock you on your ass. I have it in an old hardback anthology called “Rivals of Weird Tales”.

     And now to the book, don’t let the fairly lame cover scare you off. The story has aged “fairly” well and is still quite a bit of fun. It starts out at the press conference of an expedition just returned from Mongolia. The expedition leader announces the discovery of a forgotten shadow race which threatens mankind. He dies during the press conference before he can give any details though. It turns out that mankind was once ruled by a race of shape shifters who were defeated by our distant ancestors. It turns out the witch hunts during the middle ages were actually an attempt to protect humanity from the “were wolves” who were trying to rise up again at the time. These “werewolves” are all over the globe and assume the shape of whatever creature is feared the most in the dominant human culture of where the live. It seems that they have psychic powers that let them manipulate their own physical reality and take on another form. They don’t grow into their “were-form” ala “The Howling” or “American Werewolf”. They recreate themselves. This does come across as “quantum physics” mumbo jumbo and does more harm to the story than good. You have to understand that this was written for the magazine “Unknown” that was edited by John W. Campbell. Campbell was the talented and demanding editor who took SF to new heights of maturity, sophistication and “realism” during his editorship of “Astounding Science Fiction”. He tried to apply this philosophy to Fantasy and Horror. It’s my opinion that this had mixed results. I personally don’t like “rational/logical” Fantasy or Horror. Also most of the stories from “Unknown” that have been anthologized just aren’t all the memorable for the most part. There a few exceptions though like DeCamp’s andPratt’s “Harold Shea” stories or the first “Fafhrd and Gray Mouser” adventure by Fritz Leiber. Manly WadeWellman also wrote quite a bit for “Unknown”. So it’s probably (it appears to be at least) an attempt to fit into the “Unknown” house style. 

Now back to the book. A young student of the dead explorer seems to be of mixed blood. He soon learns that he also has the shape shifter talent. What it ensues is a man torn between two races. Does he want to eat humanity or eat them? Save them or enslave them. His friends who are working against the shape shifters don’t trust him. The shape shifters don’t trust him all the much either, but still do their best to seduce him and win over his loyalty. William Barbee the protagonist who likes assuming the form of a huge sabre tooth tiger and carrying a naked lady around on his back might also be the “Night Child” who is the prophesied messiah who will lead the shape shifters back to their former supremacy and glory.

This all makes for a fun, exciting and tense story. If you can find a copy you should get it.

Here are some other paperback editions. 

As a closing note, what impresses me the most about Jack Williamson is that he managed to keep up with the times and stay relevant. Even “The Stonehenge Gate” that came out in 2005 and was written when he was over 90 years old was a thoroughly “modern written by a man who continued to grow and improve his entire career. That’s a hard  act to follow.

Take care and thanks for stopping by!

Doug

P.S.

This didn't turn out to be a "mini post" after all. Sorry.

Frank Belknap Long

Frank Belknap Long, Pulp Meister Extraordinaire!

Hi Everybody!

In this weeks instalment we’ll be taking a look at 4 anthologies from the late great Frank Belknap Long. Mr. Long was big in the Horror/SF pulps back in the 30 and 40s.

I’ve enjoyed Mr. Long’s stories since the middle 70s when I first read “The Space Eaters” in “Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos vol. 1”. He was a correspondent of Lovecraft’s and wrote several stories incorporating HPL’s “Cthulhu Mythos”. His attempts at “Mythos” writing were successful enough that his “Hounds of Tindalos” are more or less accepted as “canon”. His stories are pure pulp and crazy enough to stand above the normal horror fare of the 30s and 40s. I find “The Space Eaters” to be one of the very best non-HPL penned “Mythos” tales ever. It tells of an invasion from beyond (actually from outside and between.) in such a cold hearted and nonchalant manner without any of HPL’s typical histrionics that it is truly unsettling without ever being “over the top”. Hats off to the man! But as far as craziness goes, how can you not love such titles as “The Flame Midget”, “The Man with a Thousand Legs” or “The Horror from the Hills”?

Odd Science Fiction.

Belmont future Series. 1964. $0.50

Contents:

• · The Horror from the Hills · na Weird Tales Jan ’31 (+1)
• · The Flame of Life · ss Future Jun ’59
• · Giant in the Forest · ss Science Fiction Quarterly Feb ’55

The Hounds of Tindalos

Belmont Books. August 1963. $0.50

Contents:

·  Dark Vision · ss Unknown Mar ’39

·  · The Black Druid · ss Weird Tales Jul ’30

·  · The Space-Eaters · nv Weird Tales Jul ’28

·  · Grab Bags Are Dangerous · ss Unknown Jun ’42

·  · Fisherman’s Luck · ss Unknown Jul ’40

·  · The Elemental · ss Unknown Jul ’39

·  · Golden Child [“The Sculp” as by Leslie Northern] · nv Thrilling Wonder Stories Win ’45

·  · The Peeper · ss Weird Tales Mar ’44

·  · The Hounds of Tindalos · ss Weird Tales Mar ’29

 (Frank Belknap Long’s) The Dark Beasts

and eight other spine-chilling tales from his science-fiction masterwork THE HOUNDS OF TINDALOS

Belmont Books. January 1964. $0.50

Contents:

·  The Dark Beasts · ss Marvel Tales Jul/Aug ’34

·  · A Stitch in Time · ss Super Science Stories Mar ’40

·  · Death-Waters · ss Weird Tales Dec ’24

·  · Step Into My Garden · ss Unknown Aug ’42

·  · The Flame Midget · ss Astounding Dec ’36

·  · It Will Come to You · ss Unknown Dec ’42

·  · The Ocean Leech · ss Weird Tales Jan ’25

·  · The Census Taker · ss Unknown Apr ’42

·  · The Refugees · ss Unknown Feb ’42

The Rim of the Unknown :Haunting Fantasies by a master of horror

Condor Books. 1978. $1.95

Contents:

• · The Spiral Intelligence · ss Science Fiction Plus Jun ’53
• · The World of Wulkins · nv Thrilling Wonder Stories Apr ’48
• · The Man with a Thousand Legs · nv Weird Tales Aug ’27
• · Guest in the House · ss Astounding Mar ’46
• · The Trap · ss Astounding May ’45
• · Fuzzy Head · ss Thrilling Wonder Stories Dec ’48
• · The House of Rising Winds · ss Startling Stories May ’48
• · Mr. Caxton Draws a Martian Bird · ss Fantastic Universe Jul ’54
• · · The Cottage · ss Fantastic Universe Sep ’54
• · The Man from Time · ss Fantastic Universe Mar ’54
• ·
• · Preview · vi Fantastic Universe Jan ’56
• · Lesson in Survival · ss Thrilling Wonder Stories Dec ’52
• · Good to Be a Martian · ss Fantastic Universe Feb ’55
• · Filch · ss Astounding Mar ’45
• · The Spectacles · vi Fantastic Universe Apr ’56
• · Man of Distinction · ss Fantastic Universe Nov ’54
• · The Great Cold · ss Astounding Feb ’35
• · Green Glory · ss Astounding Jan ’35
• · The Last Men · ss Astounding Aug ’34

Mr. Long was 94 when he passed away in poverty.

From the Wikipedia article on Long:

Long died on January 3, 1994 at the age of 92, survived by his wife, Lyda. Due to his poverty, he was interred in a potter's field for indigents. Friends and colleagues, on learning of this indignity, had his remains moved and reinterred at New York City's Woodlawn Cemetery, in a family plot near that of Lovecraft's grandparents. Despite a seven-decade career as a writer, he had died impoverished after many years living in the Chelsea District of Manhattan; Long's fans contributed over $3000 to have his name engraved upon the tombstone of his family plot.

"The Hounds of Tindalos!" he muttered. "Thev can only reach us through angles. We must eliminate all angles from this room. I shall plaster up all of the corners, all of the crevices. We must make this room resemble the interior of a sphere."

"Forgive me." he cried. "I did not mean to offend you. You have a superlative intellect, but I—I have a superhuman one. It is only natural that I should be aware of your limitations."

"They are lean and athirst!" he shrieked. "The Hounds of Tindalos!"

"When I awake I may be able to supply the key to whatever is mysterious or incredible. I am not sure that I shall succeed, but if I do succeed"- his eyes were strangely luminous- "time will exist for me no longer!"


"It is growing dark in the room. I must phone Frank. But can he get here in time? I will try. I will recite the Einstein formula. I will—God. they are breaking through! They are breaking through! Smoke is pouring from the coiners of the wall 'Their tongues—ahhhhh—"

                                                                         The Hounds of Tindalos

“I knew that something unspeakably malign was crouching on the ground beside me. I could hear it breathing in the darkness and the stench of it strangles the breath in my throat.

     Then an unsurpassably ponderous weight descended upon my chest and hurled me to the ground. A solid wall of something cold, slimy and implacable rose up in the darkness.

     The thing pinioned my arms and the more I twisted and squirmed the more agonizingly it tightened about me. The constriction increased until breathing became a torture, until all my flesh palpitated with pain.

    Then abruptly , the pressure ceased and I became aware of two unblinking fish white eyes glaring truculently  at me through the darkness. Agonizingly I sat up and ran my hands over my chest and arms. My fingers encountered a warm wetness and with a hideous clarity it was borne in on me that THE THING HAD BEEN FEATING ON MY BLOOD!

                                                           The Horror from the Hills

Slowly we moved among the trees. They towered above us, and the thick fog so distorted them and merged them together that they seemed to move forward with us. From their twisted branches the fog hung in ribbons. Ribbons, did I say? Rather were they snakes of fog— writhing snakes with venomous tongues and leering eyes. Through swirling clouds of fog we saw the scaly, gnarled boles of the trees, and every bole resembled the twisted body of an evil old man. Only the small oblong of light cast by my electric torch protected us against their malevolence.
    Through great banks of fog we moved, and every moment the screams grew louder. Soon we were catching fragments of sentences, hysterical shoutings that merged into prolonged wails. "Colder and colder and colder . . . they are eating up my brain. Colder! Ah-h-h!"
    Howard gripped my arm. "We'll find him," he said. "We can't turn back now."
    When we found him he was lying on his side. His hands were clasped about his head, and his body was bent double, the knees drawn up so tightly that they almost touched his chest. He was silent. We bent and shook him, but he made no sound.
    "Is he dead?" I choked out. I wanted desperately to turn and run. The trees were very close to us.
    "I don't know," said Howard. "I don't know. I hope that he is dead."

    

     As I spoke, the body that we were carrying squirmed, and from its cracked lips issued a torrent of gibberish: "I was walking between the trees looking up. I couldn't see their tops. I was looking up, and then suddenly I looked down and the thing landed on my shoulders. It was all legs—all long, crawling legs. It went right into my head. I wanted to get away from the trees, but I couldn't. I was alone in the forest with the thing on my back, in my head, and when I tried to run, the trees reached out and tripped me. It made a hole so it could get in. It's my brain it wants. Today it made a hole, and now it's crawled in and it's sucking and sucking and sucking. It's as cold as ice and it makes a noise like a great big fly. But it isn't a fly. And it isn't a hand. I was wrong when I called it a hand. You can't see it. I wouldn't have seen or felt it if it hadn't made a hole and got in. You almost see it, you almost feel it, and that means that it's getting ready to go in."
    "Can you walk, Wells? Can you walk?"
    Howard had dropped Wells's legs, and I could hear the harsh intake of his breath as he struggled to rid himself of his slicker.
    "I think so," Wells sobbed. "But it doesn't matter. It's got me now. Put me down and save yourselves."
    "We've got to run!" I yelled.
    "It's our one chance," cried Howard. "Wells, you follow us. Follow us, do you understand? They'll burn up your brain if they catch you. We're going to run, lad. Follow us!"

                                                                                The Space Eaters

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Doug