Two Envelopes And A Phone > Recent Status Updates

Courtney, at work, likes this. She says a later book by the author is even better. One thing at a time. I did read Lockwood & Co. on her recommendation, and that went well.

So I have this one, and Nightmare in Darkness, left to read (for the fabulous first time) in the Fredric Brown and the Detective Pulps series. All of them will get re-read, as time passes and I forget the stories. This book contains a novella, and an unfinished attempt to turn the novella into a novel. I have no idea what I’m in for, specifically - I just know, with this author, the premise will be on the wild side.

'Creatures of the Light' by Sophie Wenzel Ellis was so bonkers and melodramatic that it couldn't be less than a blast. Next is 'Bride of the Antarctic' by Mordred Weir. Turns out that was a pseudonym used by Amelia Reynolds Long...and seeing that name in the short Intro to the story threw me for a sec. But the Intro went on to explain (remind me) that Long wrote what became the film Fiend Without A Face.

I suppose at this late juncture, I could list all kinds of reasons I could dislike this book. But it’s just not happening. Okay now, I don’t say I love it. I’m having a unique and fascinating experience that I am totally sure is not for everyone. It’s not scary, that should be said. But I get immersed in it every time I pick it up. I mean I did love The Confidence-Man by Melville, I enjoy being a bit mystified…

I’m still dealing with the fact that the average rating for this novel from a major and highly respected Horror author has an average rating of 2.98 stars. That’s different even than the Ramsey Campbell situation, where scads of the novels I love from him sit at 3.20, 3.34, 3.16. That’s the Ramsey Campbell pattern; he’s divisive, an acquired taste. But Straub, here, can’t snag a 3.00. Hmmm…

I’m enjoying it, and am seeing quite easily why some readers would be bored beyond tolerance. But I like it.

Having a lot of fun with (most of) these stories. I had low expectations for this collection, thinking that the offerings were from the later Shaw period, when the energy and spark had perhaps dimmed a bit. But actually the copyright dates range from 1960 to 1988. And the variety is wonderful. Perhaps too much reliance on “person (or…thing) killed by mistake in a fight”, but OK.

I love the title of the book - and I've just read the Intro, and the first short story, which happened to be 'Dark Night in Toyland'. It seems I might be in for some SF/Horror hybrids, or maybe even some pure Horror. Fantasy? Meanwhile, reading the Introduction by Bob Shaw made me a little sad - what I read by him years ago featured no Intros or essays, so it was like hearing him 'talk' to me. RIP, Mr. Shaw.

Wow, this is not well-rated around these here parts. I’ll just be hopeful. A Horror reading guide suggested it, so, who knows.

A long time ago - when there were actual used bookstores all over my city, and when I had become aware that this book existed - I soon came to realize that this book was not going to suddenly turn up, like most other Bob Shaw books. And it never did - did it even make it to the Canadian market? I think not. But finally I ordered it, and I’m thrilled to finally have something fresh from my favourite SF author.

As characters show up in a novel, I assign an actor to play them, see them in my head as that character. Helps keep everyone sorted. Of course I try to base it on any description, and imagine the character looking like an actor. Anyway, I decided a character would look like Kim Coates, but as he got described more, I switched to Robert Culp. But then the character's name turned out to be Mr. Coates!

Ha, I knew that as crazy as things had been in the North Pole section, as soon as we switched to the South Pole tales, it was going to get wilder than ever. I just finished ‘In Amundsen’s Tent’ by John Martin Leahy, and loved it. Great for fans of Who Goes There?/The Thing, though not quite as sophisticated. But very creepy. Next is ‘Creatures of the Light’ by Sophie Wenzel Ellis - premise sounds bonkers.

At 131 pages, this is gonna zoom along. I do tend to like short Crime novels; and around this length, they do not have one single ounce of bloat. And Whittington has been good to me recently.

It’s funny to me that the cover of my edition sells it with ‘America’s Agatha Christie’, because I’m not getting that vibe at all; if anything, this feels like an Erie Stanley Gardner book. If I’m reminded of anything British, it would be Michael Innes. This is a complicated mystery that went from a complicated theft of money in transit that did not get to where it should have, followed by a corpse.

Some chilling nightmare scenarios in the later tales - what happened to happy Mars?

Well, I guess this is the wrap-up. I’m expecting it to be somewhat emotional.