Reviews8

The second volume in the reborn ‘Terror Tales’ series is the latest product by the prolific duo John B Ford & Paul Kane, whose unflattering portrait appears as a two-headed monster on the book cover . Experienced editors as they are, Ford and Kane have managed to assemble a rather impressive line-up of contemporary horror writers in the attempt to maintain the quality or their previous work.

The blurb on the back cover “…an enjoyable book featuring many good stories by a bunch of fine writers”taken from my own review of ‘TerrorTales # 1’ for The Alien Online, aptly describes in a few words the first volume. But, alas, never take anything for granted. To ask a group of renowned writers to send in their contributions doesn’t necessarily mean you produce an outstanding anthology. Let me say quite frankly that some of the authors included have betrayed the editors’ trust by submitting material which is not up to their fame. For instance neither Paul Finch (‘The Other One’) nor Peggy Jo Shumate a.k.a. Brutal Dreamer (‘Time To Scare Gramma’) are at their best and David Price (‘The Spirit of Rock and Roll’) can certainly do better.

Even the story by Michael Marshall Smith, one of my favourite writers, turns out to be a bit disappointing. ‘Victoria’s Secret’ is a semi-humorous tale with a kafkian touch about a girl who wakes up to find a familiar body - quite dead - in her own bed. Despite Smith’s notorious writing ability, the tale remains somehow unconvincing and can hardly be listed among his most memorable productions.

Tim Meads and Marie O’Regan’s contributions are so short to defy a proper judgement. So much for the wrong notes. Fortunately, there is good fiction in this volume and here it comes. Sarah Crabtree’s ‘Drop Dead Gorgeous’ is a nasty short tale describing quite effectively the pros and cons of being a beautiful woman. With ‘Blue Skin,’ Lisa Negus provides an odd mix of horror, mystery and science fiction. To tell you the truth I’m not sure I got the plot all clearly, so I won’t try to explain the content in detail. It’s a like one of those detective movies which in the end leaves you wondering what exactly has happened and why, but manages to keep you pleasantly entertained while you’re watching it.

In ‘Sent Down’ by Gemma Files, foreign gods are not merciful to the Roman legions deployed at the outskirts of the Empire. Files’ writing style is nervous and vivid, gripping the reader’s attention throughout the story.

‘Sermon,’ a co-operative work by F. Paul Wilson and John B Ford, is a moving tale concerning an autistic child and his strange relationship with the animal world. A strong, compelling tale, told in a subdued but effective fashion.

In Jeffrey Thomas’ ‘The Tripod,’ a photographer working for the police and facing day after day of gruesome crime scenes, becomes capable of scanning reality more in depth than the detectives themselves. This atmospheric, dark tale, which seems to be taken from a film noir of the black-and-white era, results in a stunning performance by an author who appears ready to express all his enormous potential.

The final praise is for ‘Comparative anatomy’ by Stephen Gallagher, by far the best piece of fiction in TT #2. The story- which is worth alone the price of the book - is certainly one of the greatest tales published in the English language during the year. Two lovers on a trip abroad end up being the only passengers on a mysterious ferry-boat bound to…where? A truly terrific and chilling story, conveying an increasing sense of dread as the narration goes on. Gallagher provides convincing evidence of how horrifying a good story can be without resorting to the usual paraphernalia (freaks, gore, gallons of blood) of certain cheap horror fiction.

As in the first volume, to make the dish more meaty, the Editors have included an interesting non-fiction section, mostly compiled by Paul Kane, featuring an article about zombies, interviews, film and book reviews. One more reason for continuing to collect the ‘Terror Tales’ series

From "Holding Together" issue 35 August 2006 :-

With the perspective of twenty years - can it really be that long? - our good friend Clive has put together this splendid conpendium of reviews, features and interviews of nine leading bands from that second wave of US psychedelia which so captivated us in the early to mid eighties. Crucially, he has invited nine writers to pen their thoughts today on the respective bands, which saves the book from being a mere compilation - though, having said that, the writing being complied is of a very high order, and must have persuaded many "Unhinged", "Bucketfull" and "BOB" readers to investigate the music at the time. In addition, the excellent Pat Thomas has contributed a Foreward, and the other esteemed scribblers include Nigel Cross, Jon Storey, Paul Ricketts and Jud Cost.

Naturally, definitions may differ on which bands actually comprised the "Paisley Underground", a phrase coined by Michael Quercio of the Three O'Clock, but this is Clive's book, and his judgment is the arbiter here. So those included are the Dream Syndicate, Three O'Clock, True West, the Long Ryders, Green On Red, Wednesday Week, 28th Day, the Rain Parade and the Clay Allison family of bands; excluded are the Bangles, Alternate Learning / Game Theory, the Eyes of Mind, the Things and everybody else - but that's okay. Pat even quotes the chorus of "Garden Party" in his intro by way of acceptance ...

As a reader who digested most of the original articles when they were first published, this reviewer is reminded of how the vibrancy of the prose captured his imagination and made him hungry to hear any music not yet in his collection. Indeed, the capacity of the best rock writing to inspire its readership to investigate the subject matter was the main spur behind both TAR and HT, so Steve and I are both indebted to these fine penmen in any number of ways. Particularly exciting were Pat and Nigel's urgent notes on the Syndicate, Colin Hill's dynamic essay on True West and Nigel's brilliant work in communicating the essence of the Rain Parade, but it's all terrific stuff which has - despite the reservations expressed in some of the updates - stood the test of time exceptionally well.

Amongst those specially commissioned pieces, Paul's overview of Wednesday Week is spectacularly good - a superb effort to really get to grips with both the mechanics and the emotional resonance of the music. As it happens, this band is one your scribe never truly cracked at the time - but Mr Ricketts' incredibly honest evaluation has made Eddie desperate to catch up. In fact, a forty pound box set would be a snip on the strength of the article, though the immediate chance of this would seem remote. Elsewhere, Clive has produced an atmospheric introduction to the highly underrated 28th Day, which is followed by an agonisingly naked letter (to Paul R) from Barbara Manning dated 1989. In fact, so visceral did it seem to her when she re-read it last year - presumably to authorise its republishing - that she insisted on an update to add the balm of hindsight. Riveting stuff.

Sadly, there isn't space to praise all the articles in the book, so we'll just conclude with the heartiest recommendations for the whole thing, which runs in total to 289 pages with eight full page b&w photos. The front cover is a delightful pastiche of the artwork for "Loaded", and there are more great bandshots on the reverse. Get your ticket now and ride that emergency third rail all over again!