General Weird discusion thread

[AE35Unit]

Thanks JD. What would we do without you!

 

[j d worthington]

In fact,id prefer if there wasnt.Some of history's best weird tales came out before.

In many ways (not all, but many) I think I'd tend to agree with you.

Hmm.So,if we disregard that,the colection has theese other tales

No. 252 Rue M. Le Prince
In Kropfsberg KeepSister MaddelenaNotre Dame des Eaux

Which one of those would be good to read? (and is "White villa" realy that bad?)

It's not that it's bad -- Cram was a good writer, and it's well written. It's just not particularly memorable or eerie. As for the others... the best would be "No. 252 Rue M. Le Prince", which is certainly one of the most powerful haunted house tales I've encountered. It has some similarities to Bulwer's "The Haunters and the Haunted; or, the House and the Brain", but also quite enough differences to be its very own story... and some immensely powerful stuff is in there. "In Kropfsberg Keep" is a lesser tale, but still quite memorable. The others tend toward a more benign sort of ghostly tale. Good in their way, but they stay with the reader less, I tend to think....

Incidentally, have you seen this collection?

The Haunters & The Haunted by Various - Project Gutenberg

You may find some worthwhile things to keep you busy there (it's a new one on me, too, but the TOC looks quite impressive....)

To "The Palle Ape"-hmm,well,I thought it was just a tad rushed.But stil,very good.

I think I'd agree with that.

On a related note-
how about "The Place Called Dagon"-you read that yet?

Yes. Some time back, though. However, I recall that it was an interesting novel, and a fairly quick read, but the actual eerie elements were exceptionally subtle, and left ambiguous enough to fit within the Gothic school in many ways....

Thanks JD. What would we do without you!

*ahem* I always feel more than a little awkward when people say things like this.... *blush*

 

[Lobolover]

My favourite moment is Westcott's "chambersian" speach:"He walks th ehills-he whistles to the sacred goat and snaps his fingers at the moon and stars.In the dark palms of his hands is all the power of the earth.He stands at the place called Dagon and his feat are routed like mountains."

Dont know the colection-but thanks,I also found ,finaly,a e-text of "The house and the brain"-I also downloaded theese stories from it:

TEIG O'KANE AND THE CORPSE (the tales flavour will be abit sour cause of it being the souce of a Hellboy tale I read

7. THE BOTATHEN GHOST (the words "pestilential disease" and dates in the 1600's got my atention)

9. DR DUTHOIT'S VISION

10. THE SEVEN LIGHTS by Machen

11. THE SPECTRAL COACH OF BLACKADON
And "The Pool in the graveyard" for which I have high hopes.

Thanks for the references,downloaded Kopfsberg,now only need to do number 252.

Apart from that-what do you think about Buchan?

 

[j d worthington]

All I believe I've ever read by Buchan were: The 39 Steps (a veeerrrrry long time ago); The Runagate's Club, Grey Weather, and Witch Wood. I quite liked each of them, though R.C. only has 3 tales which even have an eerie atmosphere at all, and one of them has a naturalistic ending, while "The Green Wildebeeste" failed to capture my imagination -- not enough emotional prepration, I thought. Witch Wood, though, remains my favorite. Grey Weather has some lovely stuff in it, but I certainly wouldn't class it as "weird"....

 

[Lobolover]

Realy?I actualy was positively enthraled by "The green wildebeast".Very imaginative.

Skulle Skerry couldve become a classic of modern horror,with just the FINAL LINE being diferent-A true letdown.I think you could give "the wildebeast" another chance.

Witch wood-havent read it,but its the only thing HPL remoneds left.

PS:Made a thread about Auriol and Stoker's "The lair of the white worm", Id apreciate a coment of yours.

Geting to HPL-we talked abot him being mad about what Derleth did to his creations-well I think he WOULD mind ,if he re-inteprates his characters,in a "postuhunous colaboration" adoring Lovecraft's name PRIMARILY.

HPL-Bierce-I wonder if he ever comented on "An inhabitant of Carcossa", when he did on Haita the shepherd,a purely fantastical tale.

Also-to Ewers-theres been a more recent edition of "Sorcerers aprentice" and antiquebook has Alraune for ca. 15.70 US !

Moving along the list:you read "[FONT=&quot]The Dyhbuk"?[/FONT]

 

[j d worthington]

Realy?I actualy was positively enthraled by "The green wildebeast".Very imaginative.

Skulle Skerry couldve become a classic of modern horror,with just the FINAL LINE being diferent-A true letdown.I think you could give "the wildebeast" another chance.

I plan on doing so eventually; but I've so much else to read before that point, that it's going to be quite a long time....

Witch wood-havent read it,but its the only thing HPL remoneds left.

Subtle, understated, and ambiguous. Also (as HPL notes) stuffed full of dialect, which may be off-putting to some (though I personally found it enhanced the novel).

PS:Made a thread about Auriol and Stoker's "The lair of the white worm", Id apreciate a coment of yours.

I'll take a look and see if I've anything to contribute to the discussion.

Geting to HPL-we talked abot him being mad about what Derleth did to his creations-well I think he WOULD mind ,if he re-inteprates his characters,in a "postuhunous colaboration" adoring Lovecraft's name PRIMARILY.

First... where does Derleth reinterpret any of Lovecraft's characters? His alien beings/concepts, yes (to some degree), but those are by no means characters in his stories. And on that point... he'd seen that done by quite a few, and showed no sign of being at the least riled -- gave suggestions on how they could improve stories, sometimes, but never took exception to any of these concepts being manipulated. This is in large part, I'd say, because of several things:

1) it wasn't his own original material that was being changed (something he would have had a fit about)

2) he himself noted that he thought it rather a good idea (not to mention entertaining) to have several different people contributing to these myth-patterns, as it gave them more the flavor of the real thing ... and real myths themselves often have widely divergent views of the same concepts

3) he always supported a writer following their own muse in their writing; even where they were basing work on some of his ideas, if their particular muse took them in a different direction with it, he seemed to prefer them honestly following their tack with such concepts rather than "towing the line" of his.

4) he himself altered different things between his own original work and the "collaborations" or ghost-written tales he did which involved these concepts; sometimes quite radically; so he was hardly likely to complain when someone else -- whom he had encouraged to use these things if they found them inspiring a tale -- did the same.

While Lovecraft was extremely protective of his own original prose works, his concepts he was much more generous with, even volunteering story ideas to colleagues when he found himself not moved to write about them. (A very intriguing example of this is his sending the suggestion that CAS utilize the very story germ he had in his Commonplace Book concerning mental time travel and a man finding a document written in his own hand; which, of course, he later used for his own "The Shadow Out of Time"....) The above is based on things stated in his letters -- not always to the writer involved, and (given that he wasn't one to hold back on his opinion concerning such things) even more likely to be an honest representation of his feelings than those directed to said writers might have been.

HPL-Bierce-I wonder if he ever comented on "An inhabitant of Carcossa", when he did on Haita the shepherd,a purely fantastical tale.

Not in his public utterances, that I recall. I do remember, though, something in his letters, but I'd have to go through the various indexes and track that down....

Also-to Ewers-theres been a more recent edition of "Sorcerers aprentice" and antiquebook has Alraune for ca. 15.70 US !

Moving along the list:you read "[FONT=&quot]The Dyhbuk"?[/FONT]

I've not seen any recent editions of either of the Ewers so far (though a friend of mine picked up a recent edition of the latter. I have the earlier American printings, with the illustrations by Mahlon Blaine, though....

Yes, I did read The Dybbuk, a very long time ago. Most of these that I read (except for the more famous names, which have been fairly easy to find) were around a quarter of a century ago, which is why my memory of them is sometimes a bit vague....

 

[Lobolover]

I didnt,so im only asking if its good.

I inted to read Witch Wood,but ive got lots on my list too.

Ps:Thanks for the recomendation,finished "In Kopfsber Keep" (though I honestly dont know about Cram's idea of German),realy good (inspired me to write my own story,though similar in spirit only) -though you notice that anytime some people resolve to go to a haunted house-practicaly the WHOLE villiage goes with them?

Im yet to do the other one,just geting into "All hallows" on the comp,plus reading "The house of sounds" by Shiel in book form AND listening to "The turn of the screw" by Henry James (similar to "the lair of the w.worm in chapter number and length)

Pps:Ive found a german edition (new) of BOTH Alraune and Sorcerers aprentice in ONE book for 9.50 euro-but I dont got a credit card that works now and they only have one-keep on hoping that Ewers is obscure enough.

 

[j d worthington]

Glad you enjoyed the tale, and I would imagine you'll not be disappointed in the other. Good luck, also, with the Ewers. Keep me posted on that one...

By the way... HPL mentions Mrs. H. D. Everett's collection The Death Mask in his SHiL; in case you haven't found this elsewhere, it has been reprinted in both a rather scarce edition through Ghost Story Press in 1995, and also (under the title The Crimson Blind and Other Stories) through Wordsworth Editions -- both of the latter include two tales not in the original edition, iirc....

 

[Lobolover]

Hmm.Havent realy checked it out,ill try to see .

Ps:im going through said ghost stories colection and Ive found a certan story I have high hopes for-but ill give definite judgmenet when I finish it.

 

[Lobolover]

Which reminds me-youve ever read any Chambers pastiches,like "Rehersals for oblivion" collection?

 

[j d worthington]

Hmmm.... in a sense, yes. I've not read that particular anthology, though I have it; but one could call James Blish's "More Light" something of a Chambers pastiche, I suppose, as the central portion of the tale is the play The King in Yellow.... A very odd piece, that; manages to both critique Chambers and Lovecraft and yet to attain an eerie ambiguity quite in line with Chambers at his best. There's also Karl Edward Wagner's "The River of Night's Dreaming", which brings a modern sensibility to Chambers' milieu, and does quite well....

 

[Lobolover]

Shiflet's "Yellow is the color of tommorow" is not so bad,but I kinda dont like the way he "critisizes" "Lovejoy".

Anyway-two questions-which would be your most favourite "King in yellow" story-

and have you read Shiel's "The lord of the sea" ?

 

[j d worthington]

Shiflet's "Yellow is the color of tommorow" is not so bad,but I kinda dont like the way he "critisizes" "Lovejoy".

Anyway-two questions-which would be your most favourite "King in yellow" story-

and have you read Shiel's "The lord of the sea" ?

I'll keep the first in mind. On which is my favorite.... That varies, I suppose. Originally, "The Yellow Sign"; but that one has fallen in my estimation since. (I still like it, but I'm much more conscious of its flaws than when I originally read it some 30+ years ago.) Actually, "The Repairer of Reputations" has grown enormously in my view. It's much more subtle than it at first appears, especially in the way it hints at how the very existence of the play has perverted the reality of the world in which it exists....

As for the Shiel... yes, though again a VERY long time ago, and my memory on that one is basically nonexistent....

 

[Lobolover]

Yes.Yes thats EXACTLY what I think-"Repairer of Reputations" is my most favourite story of all time.

I could link you to an e-text of it,if you dont have it.HPL DID say it had a "curious power" to atract.

Also:to the colection-they called it "Volume 1"-is any other volume being preapared?

To Hippocampus Press-the Young/Hall book is in my online bookstore,so after I get enough money to pay for "An exchange of Souls/Lazarus" thats already on the way,ill order it.

And:they said they plan another book in the Lovecraft's library series this year,but their site has nothing on it anymore.

 

[j d worthington]

As with so many small presses, things frequently get rearranged depending on circumstances. Some of these presses are having a rough time of it; I don't know that H.P. is, but it wouldn't terribly surprise me, given the way the economy has had people running hot-and-cold....

And, to be frank, even without the current situation, this sort of thing was by no means uncommon. Looking back at Arkham House's catalogues over the years, there were many volumes that were promised that never appeared (or never appeared under their ausipices) or which were years or even decades later than originally planned; and quite often this was due to things beyond the control of those running the operation....

I'm hoping they'll be doing the Ransome, as well as other volumes mentioned in previous periods, but only time will tell....

 

[Lobolover]

They have other issues for this year.Id realy like to see that volume too.

 

[Lobolover]

Oh,after going through HPL's corespondence-he mentions Atlantida by Piere Benoit and the Worm of Ouroboros-what is your opinion on theese ?

 

[AE35Unit]

the Worm of Ouroboros-what is your opinion on theese ?

Oh my sister had that book,said it was too weird to read. I tried the first chapter and was like Woa! What was this guy on when he wrote this?
(can't remember the author's name now)

 

[Lobolover]

Hmm.So I guess I WILL read it.Thanks

 

[AE35Unit]

Good luck Lobo! BTW what is a Lobo?