David A. Riley's Blog, page 98

Robert Aickman: A Centenary Tribute

Just delivered my article for Robert Aickman: A Centenary Tribute. It's a brief article titled Robert Aickman Comes to FantasyCon. Included in it is a scanned copy of the letter of acceptance from Robert Aickman to be Guest of Honour at 1976's FantasyCon 2 in Birmingham. We are trying to find any photographs of him at this convention, though so far without success.






The contents for the volume will be:

Introduction by S.T. Joshi
Foreword by Johnny Mains 
ESSAYS T.E.D. Klein - On Meeting Aickman
Lisa Tuttle - On Nearly Meeting Aickman
John L. Probert - The Adaptations
Hugh Lamb - Obituaries and Waterways
Jeremy Dyson - *untitled*
Roger Clarke - 'The Cicerones'
Reece Shearsmith - Reading Aickman
Philip Challinor- "Meeting Mr Millar" and "Letters from the Postman"
Richard Dalby - My friend, Robert Aickman
Sonia Rolt - Corrosion of a Friendship (about her husband L.T.C. Rolt)
David A. Riley - Robert Aickman Comes to Fantasycon
Douglas A. Anderson - The Film Reviewer
Johnny Mains - The Editor's Editor: Aickman and Fontana GhostsSTORIESOriginal Stories by:
Adam Nevill
Pete Crowther
Lynda E. Rucker
Simon Stranzas
Robert Shearman
Conrad Williams
Mark Morris
Stephen Volk
Reggie Oliver

Ripper Street might have been saved

Further to what I wrote several days ago, it now looks as if Ripper Street may stay with us for at least two more series thanks to a co-production deal with Lovefilm/Amazon.

Check this link with an article in the Guardian newspaper.

If this is correct that's great news for those of us who have grown to love this quirky Victorian crime series.

Scrap

My story Scrap in Dark Visions 1 seems to have got more positive reviews than any story I've written for a while. What pleases me more than anything is that I put a lot of heart and soul into this story, which I think is one of the best I have ever done.

A brief description of it on the Grey Matter Press website:

Scrap by David A. Riley
Childhood should be a time for leisurely days spent playing in the sun. But for two abused brothers coming to grips with life on their new English estate, a day of adventure opens the door into a world of evil and sets in motion a chain of events from which there seems little hope of escape.




From one reviewer on Amazon:

"could easily have been a kitchen sink drama, depicting the lives of two brothers growing up in a poverty-stricken council estate in England", adding "Riley chooses to inject a healthy dose of horror, elevating his story to a different, altogether more gruesome level."

From Horror Honeys:

"David A. Riley's "Scrap" had a gritty cinematic feel - the story of two down-and-out brothers looking for scrap metal to steal and sell, until they venture into a part of town best left untouched."

From Hellnotes:

"David A. Riley’s “Scrap,” concerns two brothers living in England who have been abused at the hands of those who should be caring for them. What they see as a new opportunity to turn their lives around turns out to be anything but. David lures readers into the plot and shocks with the greatest of ease."

From The Horror News Network:

"SCRAP by David A. Riley is in my top two for this collection. It's just so, so good. It's sad and terrifying and just very well written. I would like to read more of Riley's work as well. It seems the words and the stories come easy to him."

Dark Visions 1

Further to my last post about the anthology, there's been another great review for Dark Visions 1, this time on The Horror News Network.

Of my story, Scrap, the reviewer, Alicia Banks, had this to say: "SCRAP by David A. Riley is in my top two for this collection. It's just so, so good. It's sad and terrifying and just very well written. I would like to read more of Riley's work as well. It seems the words and the stories come easy to him."

I wish the last sentence was true!

Christmas Movies

What are your favourite movies to get you in the Christmas mood?

I know that my daughter, Cassie, normally likes to re-watch Home Alone, The Muppet Christmas Carol and The Santa Clause (and perhaps Santa Clause 2 as well). Gremlins is another and, of course, Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. Perhaps more traditionally, there's always a bit of space for White Christmas and It's a Wonderful Life. As an extra, I very much like an overlooked Hammer film starring Peter Cushing and Andre Morell, Cash on Demand, a brilliant seasonal story.

RIP Colin Wilson (26 June 1931-5 December 2013)

Colin Wilson died today. He was 82 and had been seriously ill ever since he suffered a stroke last year.

I first came across his books in the 60s when I borrowed The Outsider and The Strength to Dream from the library. In The Strength to Dream he wrote a scathing article on H. P. Lovecraft, only for August Derleth to contact him and for him to re-evaluate his assessment - and later to write some Lovecraftian fiction of his own, some of which was published by Arkham House! These included the novels The Philosopher's Stone and The Mind Parasites. He also wrote books on true crime, history, the occult, UFOs, literature and philosophy, as well as crime novels and even SF.

Along with the likes of Kingsley Amis, John Wain, Bill Hopkins, Harold Pinter and John Osborne, he was one of a group known as the Angry Young Men back in the 1950s.

For more details about Colin Wilson.

Another great review for Dark Visions 1

Hellnotes have just published another great review for Dark Visions 1 from Grey Matter Press, edited by Anthony Rivera and Sharon Lawson. My own story Scrap came in for some pleasing praise: "David A. Riley’s “Scrap,” concerns two brothers living in England who have been abused at the hands of those who should be caring for them. What they see as a new opportunity to turn their lives around turns out to be anything but. David lures readers into the plot and shocks with the greatest of ease."

Whew!

My earliest copies of Famous Monsters of Filmland and Spacemen

The Aurora Monster Kits

When I was a kid and first came across the American magazine, Famous Monsters of Filmland, one of the most fascinating things in it were the adverts. Amongst these would be full page spreads for the Aurora monster kits, which included detailed models of Lugosi's Dracula, Karloff's Frankenstein's creature, the Wolf Man, the Phantom of the Opera (Chaney's, of course), the Mummy. As soon as these became available in the UK I managed to get one as a Christmas present - the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Over the course of the next few years I got most of the others, though they have all long gone; I can't remember where.

This picture, picked off facebook, reminded me of them:

The Lovecraft eZine - Seasonal Banner

I love the Lovecraft eZine's "seasonal" banner. It says so much!