Plot: Some twenty years earlier, Mr. Humphrey Orford moved to Covent Garden with his young wife. The understanding is that his family was from Suffolk, where he had considerable estates that he never visited. Only a few weeks after they arrived, his wife, Flora, fell ill and passed away. He erected a small plaque: Flora,Continue reading “Review of “Scoured Silk” by Marjorie Bowen: Halloween Countdown”
Category Archives: horror
Review of “Negotium Perambulans” by E. F. Benson: Halloween Countdown
Plot: The narrator describes an isolated fishing village he was sent to when he was ten, “a small boy, weak and sickly and threatened with pulmonary trouble.” He slept not in the house but in a “shelter” in the backyard of his uncle, the local vicar, and spent his days wandering. His uncle taught himContinue reading “Review of “Negotium Perambulans” by E. F. Benson: Halloween Countdown”
Review of “Master of Fallen Years” by Vincent O’Sullivan: Halloween Countdown
Plot:Augustus Barber works in a paper-box manufacturing business in London. The narrator is at pains to tell the reader how ordinary, if commonplace, Augustus is. He doesn’t read anything outside of newspapers and shows no interest in anything spiritual or metaphysical. After falling ill to the point that he was expected not to recover, BarberContinue reading “Review of “Master of Fallen Years” by Vincent O’Sullivan: Halloween Countdown”
Review of “The Dead Woman” by David H. Keller: Halloween Countdown
Plot:The authorities find Mr. Thompson, a bookkeeper, “slightly confused, a trifle bewildered, but otherwise apparently normal.” He makes no effort to conceal his conduct, the knife in his hand, or “the pieces in the trunk.” Rather than taking him directly to the slammer, the police bring him to a psychiatrist. Mr. Thompson tells the psychiatristContinue reading “Review of “The Dead Woman” by David H. Keller: Halloween Countdown”
Review of “The Maze” (1953)
This black-and-white horror flick was a recommendation from my friend Tracy. She has yet to steer me wrong. Plot:Kitty Murray (Veronica Hurst) and Gerald MacTeam (Richard Carlson) are enjoying a vacation in the south of France. They expect to be married in two weeks. With them are Kitty’s Aunt Edith (Katherine Emery) and the about-to-beContinue reading “Review of “The Maze” (1953)”
Review of “House of Frankenstein” (1944)
This is this week’s Saturday pizza and bad movie offering. We watched it with Svengoolie and just about every frigging Universal monster. Plot: From the slot in his jail cell in Neustadt Prison, Doctor Gustav Niemann (Boris Karloff) grabs the throat of a jailer (an uncredited Charles Wagenheim) and demands chalk. From inside, the viewerContinue reading “Review of “House of Frankenstein” (1944)”
Review of “Contamination” (1980)
Plot: A cargo ship speeds toward New York Harbor. The crew is not aboard, although the life rafts remain. Half-eaten meals sit on tables. The log book reveals nothing. But the investigators find corpse after bloody corpse looking as if they’ve exploded from inside. Spilling out of boxes marked “café” (coffee) are what look likeContinue reading “Review of “Contamination” (1980)”
Review of “The Sandman” by E. T. A. Hoffmann
This is a classic horror story, first published in 1816 in a collection titled “Nachtstücke” (“Night Pieces”) by E. T. A. Hoffmann, a writer, composer, and caricaturist with a day job as a jurist. It remains one of his most often anthologized works in English—and little wonder. Even if the language is a bit thickContinue reading “Review of “The Sandman” by E. T. A. Hoffmann”
Review of “No. 252 Rue M. le Prince” by Ralph Adams Cram
Upon finding himself in Paris in May 1886, the narrator of this story wishes to impose himself on an old friend, Eugene Marie d’Ardeche. D’Ardeche deserted Boston after learning that an aunt had died and willed him property in Paris. This puzzled his old friend since he and he aunt were not on good terms.Continue reading “Review of “No. 252 Rue M. le Prince” by Ralph Adams Cram”
Review of “The Feather Pillow” by Horacio Quiroga: Halloween Countdown
Alicia and Jordan return from their three-month honeymoon deeply in love, but Alicia never feels at home in the new house. She is young, “angelic” and timid. She loves her husband who loves her in return. He just never shows it. She never complains about the house or the white patio with its friezes, columnsContinue reading “Review of “The Feather Pillow” by Horacio Quiroga: Halloween Countdown”
Reviews of Old and New Stories. Mostly Old 