Well, not bad but dated. I'm planning to read it again as it didn't really hold my interest. Could be the slightly older style that failed to pull me Well, not bad but dated. I'm planning to read it again as it didn't really hold my interest. Could be the slightly older style that failed to pull me into the terror of the story....more
This IS a book of CLASSIC horror stories. They don't depend nor do they need buckets of blood slung against a wall or descriptions of disembowelments This IS a book of CLASSIC horror stories. They don't depend nor do they need buckets of blood slung against a wall or descriptions of disembowelments or decapitations. James can achieve a creeping sense of horror and/or terror that will slip up your spine and tap on your shoulder when (if) you turn off the lights to go to sleep at night. It is of course possible not get into the stories, these are stories that you think about and if you do...the shivers and subtle looks over your shoulder when your alone will follow.
There are several well known stories by James in this collection. Notable for me are (of course) "Oh Whistle and I'll Come to You my Lad", a story that in some ways may be sort the "quintessential ghost story", only....is it a ghost? There is that sense of creeping unsureness about exactly what "it" was that adds to this story which you will see has influenced other writers over the years. Also "The Mezzotint" is one of my favorite stories in the collection. It needs to hit you just right I suppose, but again, you'll probably recognize it's influence on and in other books, stories, and even movies.
M.R.James assumes a certain level of education and the ability to think, he doesn't spoon feed his readers nor take them by the hand as he tells his story. He leads and if you follow into the moonlit landscapes he constructs, you'll traverse interesting lands, territories, fields and some very dark countries.
One of my few 5 star ratings...and I'm not a big short story fan.
Update: 8/25/18
This is an update or an add on. I just wondered if anyone had seen the old movie Curse of the Demon? In England it was (originally) longer and titled Night ot the Demon. I'd like to see the English version but apparently the only one ever to appear on TV is the edioted American version.
It's based on Casting the Runes and really not too bad. The poorest thing is the "Demon figure". Due to 1957 special effects it's more stuffed mock-up than fright. Apparently the Writer didn't want to show a literal demon in the film but the producer inserted the demon. It's a sort of large winged wolf like creature with claws. I think the picture would have been far more effective without it.
Possibly just me. Still as far as it goes it's a fairly well done adaption of the story. Not great but pretty good. It was on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) recently. As we're closing on Oct. it may be on again if anyone's interested....more
I have been meaning to read this book for...maybe 40 or 50 years, closer to 40 I suppose. It's one of those classics that you always mean to get to. II have been meaning to read this book for...maybe 40 or 50 years, closer to 40 I suppose. It's one of those classics that you always mean to get to. I just never had.
Like many people (I suppose) my knowledge of Oscar Wilde is fairly sketchy and mostly surface. It's the kind of thing you get from quotes and literary sketches. This book made me a little more curious about the famous rebel.
Most people, even those who haven't read the novel will be aware of the background story here. Dorian Gray in the "glory" of youth and being an exceptionally attractive young man anyway looks on his own visage in a portrait painted by his "friend" Basil Hallward. Having been influenced (it is supposed) by his new acquaintance Lord Henry Wotton, Dorian dreads the loss of such youth and beauty and "wishes" the portrait could suffer the ravages of time and life while sparing him such...he says he'd go so far as to give his soul for this.
This book is a product of it's time, maybe a little more florid in some ways than we'd find now. Wilde takes his time introducing us to the characters and laying the ground work before he introduces the fantastic and horrific elements of the story which creep up on us a bit at a time. Sir Henry is usually taken as the background villain of the piece, Mephistopheles to Dorian's Faust... but to an extent I think that's a bit misleading and I don't think Wilde saw it that way.
This is an excellent work and I think most will find it enjoyable. It is not only a well written and deeply characterized book...it carries an understated and pervasive type of horror that might just require the reader to think.
5 stars.
(view spoiler)[The description of Dorian as "innocent" and "good" when he's young and when his portrait is painted is to an extent, only the description Dorian accepts about himself. Even when we first meet Dorian he is quite willing to manipulate Basil.
Henry who is thought of as the Villain of the piece, is basically a fool. He knows not nearly so much as he thinks he does in spite of his self assurance. I think that Wilde showed us the flaws in Henry's ideas...just as he showed us the shallowness of Dorian. Dorian is constantly making vows to reform, decisions "to be better". Wilde "probably" didn't think much of this sort of thing as he pokes fun at it throughout his life. Dorian is a bit more serious in his failures as he graduates from manipulation, to destruction of life, to murder and so on. It's interesting to follow Dorian as he bemoans how these tragedies "effect him".
So..my take... Lord Henry is a fool, Dorian is shallow and evil.
By the way, I love the sort of "abrupt" ending with no cometary at all...just the final scene. (hide spoiler)]...more
I've read several collections of Lovecraft. Often I've read the same story as he was mortal and had to stop writing at his death...though if anyone miI've read several collections of Lovecraft. Often I've read the same story as he was mortal and had to stop writing at his death...though if anyone might have continued on it would probably have been H. P. Lovecraft or Poe.
Oddly (I suppose) I'm not a "died in the wool" horror fan, but something about Lovecraft and his original twist on "it" (which has been copied often since) caught my interest. I've since looked up books Lovecraft himself listed as influences and read many of his "pulp era" peers and successors.
Lovecraft's voice frankly dancing along the borders of madness in some of his stories contrasts with others of the time and since. He gives us stories where "normalcy" gives way to the strangeness beneath. They are well done and often stick with you.
This is sort of a "what more can you say" book, it's Poe. I was introduced to Poe when I was around 11 by a (young) school teacher. I suppose I never This is sort of a "what more can you say" book, it's Poe. I was introduced to Poe when I was around 11 by a (young) school teacher. I suppose I never looked back and in a way it effected my taste in literature as I still like most types of fantasy reads and enjoy what is usually (somewhat loosely) called "weird" literature.
Edgar Allan Poe, a man who carved out the classic short story, the classic detective story all the while telling blood chilling stories that have been copied ever since. I have read that a good deal of the "character assassination" of Poe was exaggerated. We know that he was at least emotionally fragile and was shattered by the loss of his wife. More than that and that he was an extraordinary writer I'm not sure of. BUT if you like horror, try. It all started here. ...more
I'm not sure how screwed up Mr. Poe really was as I have read that a lot of the criticisms of him were exaggerated. But screwed up or not the man coulI'm not sure how screwed up Mr. Poe really was as I have read that a lot of the criticisms of him were exaggerated. But screwed up or not the man could write. Fears and tears all are here for the reader.
I love Poe's writing. He's a voice that edges at times on madness (The Fall of the House of Usher) and sometimes IS the voice of madness (The Tell Tail Heart). Unlike the madness we find in H.P.Lovecraft Poe writes the actual man's madness. The madness of revenge for what may be a real or imagined slight (The Cask of Amontillado) or the madness of obsession (The Premature Burial). Then again the madness may be in the situation or the act that the protagonist has to deal with. Here Poe originates the detective story (The Murders in the Rue Morgue) and his detective C. Auguste Dupin reappears later (in The Mystery of Marie Rogêt). Poe originated plots and plot points that were used and reused across the years (The Purloined Letter).
I was introduced to Edgar Allen Poe when I was around 11 or 12 years old by a teacher at a small school in Tennessee (thank you Ms. Arnold) and have read him often ever since. If you haven't met Mr. Poe and his characters you have a great treat ahead.
Edgar Allen Poe: "I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity."...more
I believe this may be the edition I read "first". This is an amazing book. I've read reviews by those who disagree and reviews by those who hated the I believe this may be the edition I read "first". This is an amazing book. I've read reviews by those who disagree and reviews by those who hated the format. But I was swept up in it the first time I read it as a teen and have been every time since.
My advice is don't worry about all the psychological baggage that has been tacked on over the years...and please don't confuse the movie "Bram Stoker's Dracula" with the actual plot, story, and characters in the book. It doesn't remotely resemble the book and the title has galled me since that movie came out. The book is far, far better. I believe it's worth noting that a lot of the psychological baggage that has been attached to this volume probably tells you more about the ones attaching it than the book.
This book creates a horror atmosphere that has been copied constantly over the years but never quite captured again. You'll be experiencing with Harker the castle and what he faces there. Battling the Count in England...and the terror of the ship's crew that carried his earth boxes across the sea, all will stay with you. Again let me urge you no matter how well any movie has been done, if the movie Dracula is the only one you know, you haven't met the proto-vampire who resides in this book. He/it still walks through literature and even more in the dark fears that lurk in the back of our minds when we're alone on a stormy night or we have to walk alone past that old rundown graveyard (not cemetery) where the city has never gotten around to installing those street lights.
This isn't Twilight, nor is it Buffy the vampire Slayer, there aren't any friendly, helpful, romantic vampires here. (None sparkle either) There is quite probably a reason (or maybe more than one) why we wish so badly to laugh at this book. It does what it does very, very well...and that's be frightening.
This book is a classic that has been around for over a hundred years..there's a reason for that.
"We" just read this in the Supernatural Readers group...and I still like it. LOL...more
Mike (the Paladin)
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