Tag Archives: birthday

Firing the Canon: An Appreciation of H. P. Lovecraft

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I was going to do a review in honor of H. P. Lovecraft’s birthday (August 20, 1890-1937) , but then one of the usual suspects, a writer noted for ripping off writing in the styles of better writers from a previous generation ignited a small tempest in a teapot about the need of having a canon, or in his case, not having one. No, that’s not a typo in the title of this post. He wants to fire the canon, as in “You’re fired”. Those are my terms, not his, just to be clear.

So here are my thoughts, using the Gentleman From Providence as a key example since it’s become so fashionable to hate on him. And John W. Campbell, Jr., and Issac Asimov, and Robert E. Howard, and… Continue reading →

F. Marion Crawford’s “For the Blood is the Life”

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F. Marion Crawford

Today, August 2, marks the birth of Francis Marion Crawford (1854-1909). Although he wrote only a handful of short stories dealing with the supernatural and horror, he is still considered one of the best writers of ghost stories. If he had only written “The Upper Berth”, is place in the literature of the fantastic would be assured. The story was highly regarded by none other than H. P. Lovecraft, M. R. James, and H. Russell Wakefield. Highly regarded.

I’m going to look at one of my personal favorites, “For the Blood is the Life”.

Crawford uses the familiar technique of a tale within a tale. The story opens with an unnamed narrator (presumably Crawford) and an artist friend having dinner and enjoying a smoke on the roof a tower the narrator owns. It’s summer, and they are on the roof to escape the heat.

The artist is looking out over the land, and he sees a mound with what appears to be something on it. When the artist says the mound looks like a grave, the narrator confirms it is. He decides to go down and have a closer look at what’s on it. Continue reading →

Cave’s “Black Gargoyle”

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Pulpster Hugh B. Cave (1910-2004)  was born on this date, July 11. Cave wrote for a variety of pulps in the 1930s, including Black Mask and Weird Tales. He was prolific enough that he used multiple pen names, the most famous being Justin Case. He was a war correspondent during WWII. After the war he bought a coffee plantation in Jamaica. During this period his writing shifted from the pulps, which were fast on their way out, to writing for the slicks, primarily what would be called “women’s fiction” today and was considered romance at the time.

Karl Edward Wagner’s Carcosa published some of Cave’s stories from the horror and fantasy in Murgunstrumm and Others in the 1970’s. This opened the door to him returning to weird fiction. Cave was experiencing something of a renaissance in the early 2000’s, with collections of his pulp stories from Fedogan and Bremer and Ash-Tree Press, among others, in addition to a steady output of novels. He passed away shortly after his autobiography, Cave of a Thousand Tales, was published.

For his birthday, I read “The Black Gargoyle”. It was the cover story for the March 1934 issue of Weird Tales.   It is available in the collection of the same name. Continue reading →

Belated Birthday Wishes for Glen Cook

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Glen Cook

I’m not sure how I missed it, but yesterday, July 9, was the birthday of Glen Cook (b. 1944). His books include the Black Company series, the Dread Empire Series, and the Garrett, PI series.

Back when Conestoga was an active convention, and held at a time of year I could attend, he was always there. He had a booth in the dealer’s room, right on the left as you walked in the door. He was always friendly and approachable and ready to sign some books. I ended up with signed copies of most everything that was in print at the time.  Talking with him, buying books from him, and listening to what he had to say on panels was one of the highlights of the convention each year.

His series of novels about the Black Company, a band of mercenaries caught in a war between two evil sorcerers, was one of the first grimdark fantasies. I loved it. In fact, I’m reading one of the later ones, She Is the Darkness, right now.

If you’ve not read Cook, you should really give him a try. Start with, what else, The Black Company.

W. C. Morrow

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W. C. Morrow (1854-1923) was born on this date, July 7.  At one time a protege of Ambrose Bierce, Morrow wrote a handful of horror stories. The one he is best remembered for is “His Unconquerable Enemy”.

I remember the first time I read it: sitting in the middle of a gravel road out in the country.

Perhaps I should explain that. Continue reading →

A Pair by Price

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E. Hoffman Price

Pulpster E. Hoffman Price (1898-1998) was born on this date, July 3. Hoffman wrote in multiple genres. Wildside Press has published multiple Megapacks of his work. We’ll look at two stories from The 11th Golden Age of Weird Fiction Megapack: E. Hoffman Price.

Before I get to the stories, I want to gloat for a bit. Price was one of the authors published by Carcosa Press back in the 1970s.  Far Lands, Other Days was one of four published before Carcosa folded.

L. Sprague de Camp moved to Plano, a suburb of Dallas, a few years before he died. Upon his death, many of his books ended up in a the flagship location of Half Price Books. This was a big deal that was promoted by the bookstore.

Of course I went.  Most of the really desirable items were locked under glass, such as volumes inscribed to de Camp by people like Heinlein. Others, books that de Camp had owned, many with a signed bookplate, were on a set of shelves. Among them was a copy of Far Lands, Other Days. I had been wanting a copy and grabbed it.

After I got it home (I paid for it.), I was looking through it a bit more carefully than I had in the store and saw something I’d missed. The employee who had processed and priced the book had missed it, too. Understandable since it wasn’t on the title page. But there was a full page inscription to de Camp signed by Price. Continue reading →

We Need a Cold Wind in July

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Unfortunately the only wind we have around here is hot. Which is too bad, because I am getting tired of the triple digit days. They’re killing my garden.

So if I can’t have the real thing, at least I can have a substitute. Today, July 2, marks the birth of Hannes Bok (1914-1964) and Craig Shaw Gardner (b. 1949). I’m going to hold off looking at Bok because I hope to take a closer look at some of his novels at a later date.

Craig Shaw Gardner

Craig Shaw Gardner is still alive, AFAIK, but he his productivity has dropped off in recent years. He doesn’t have an active website. The one I found listed for him in multiple places isn’t him. Gardner is best known for writing humorous fantasy novels in the 1980s. His short fiction, however, tends to be horror.

A Cold Wind in July was originally published as part of the Necon Classic Horror series; it was number 16. It is currently available in ebook for $3.99. Continue reading →

In the Room with A. M. Burrage

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A. M. Burrage (1889-1956) was born on this date, July 1. Burrage was a prolific author of ghost stories, including tales of the occult detective Francis Chard.

Ash-Tree Press published Burrage’s complete (I think) ghost stories in the late 1990’s. Getting  your hands on any of them today will cost you a pretty farthing. Much of Ash-Tree’s catalogue was reissued in electronic format. Sadly the Burrage volumes weren’t.  Or rather they were, but Ash-Tree appears to have lost the rights. Burrage’s work is available in electronic, print, and audio editions from another publisher, but I not sure all of his stories are. One of the ones I read for this post, “The Oak Saplings”, doesn’t appear to be, although there are some listed in the ISFDB but the contents are listed. A tale of two murdered lovers, it’s a chilling story. I read it and “Someone in the Room” in the Ash-Tree ebook Someone in the Room and Other Stories.

“Someone in the Room” is in print and is the story of a professional poor relation, meaning the central character is a woman who takes advantage of wealthier relatives and makes the most of their hospitality. Where I come from we call these people bums.  Continue reading →