Thunderclap

The first time Britt saw the girl in the tight, thin dress he knew damn well he was going to have her, or go to hell trying. But he hadn’t reckoned then on the girl’s husband, a sadistic runt of a guy who’d smash in a man’s skull as happily as blink at him. He hadn’t reckoned on Newt, the lecherous, broken man who couldn’t bear to see other men whole. Worst of all he hadn’t reckoned on Ruby, the two-bit floozy who knew every conniving trick of her trade.

By the time he discovered the trap these people were building for themselves – and for him – it was too late, way too late, to get out…

Copyright 1951 by Jack Sheridan. Third Printing, November 1959.

In celebration of the glorious British summer we’ve been having this year, here’s my Gold Medal contribution. I love this cover – as dramatic and storm-tossed as any I’ve seen.

Safer Dead

The editor of a monthly crime and detective magazine assigns to two of his staff writers, Sladen and Low, the investigation of the strange disappearance of an unknown showgirl. The disappearance was reported fourteen months earlier, but the trail is cold. The police, with nothing to work on, have lost interest. The assignment doesn’t look hopeful.

However, the investigators start asking questions and almost immediately things begin to happen. Witnesses are murdered, an attempt is made to do away with the investigators. The police once more open the case. The disappearance of the showgirl is found to be only a minor part of a ruthless plot.

Safer Dead has the authentic James Hadley Chase touch, which has deservedly earned him the title ‘Master of the Art of Deception’. It moves with the pace and power of forked lightening.

Robert Hale Ltd. Made and printed in Great Britain by John Gardner (Printers) Ltd. First published 1954. This edition reprinted December 1956.

Another gorgeous James Hadley Chase paperback to compliment  I’ll Bury My Dead, included in an earlier post. This cover is illustrated by James Pollack who did the cover on Harley Street Hypnotist, below. 

Related articles

• Harley Street Hypnotist (housefulofsecrets.wordpress.com)

Frighten Brighton

Another great day out for us and our books at Frighten Brighton yesterday! Thank you Scare Sarah and Cyberschizoid for hosting such a fab event!

And if Classic Horror is your thing, check out their next film event at London’s Roxy Bar and Screen this March:

Harley Street Hypnotist

Harley Street Hypnotist

How do you hypnotize a patient? How are mental and emotional problems solved by hypnosis?

This quite remarkable and dramatic book debunks the myths attached to the science – for instance that people can be hypnotized against their will, or if hypnotized can be made to perform actions inconsistent with their character.

It tells of the remarkable use of hypnosis in relieving pain during childbirth, so that now the Ministry of Health has ruled that doctors using hypnosis on such occasions may receive the same fee as an anaesthetist…

This one’s for all you budding Peter Powers out there – I must say, I love the cover art on this one.

Frighten Brighton

We’re dusting down our unholy grimoires and wormy tomes in preparation for 2012’s first FRIGHTEN BRIGHTON at the Rock Inn this February.

Last year’s Frighten Brighton was a great success and this one promises to be another fun-filled, horror fuelled event – with more films, quizzes, giveaways, book signings and even a ghost story in the haunted basement.

Brighton’s very own Macabre Market will be onsite, featuring loads of stalls selling a variety of horror-themed loveliness, so please pop by to our very own House of Secrets stall to say hi! And of course, we promise to bring lots of great classic horror books for your delight and delectation!

The event starts at 12pm Saturday 25^th February. Tickets are £6 for the double bill starting at 5pm – everything else, including the 2pm screening of Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell – is free!

Facebook event page – http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/207184382708517/

Facebook Brighton Horror Posse Page – http://www.facebook.com/#!/BrightonHorrorPosse

Frighten Brighton Website – http://frightenbrighton.wordpress.com/

Happy Birthday Poe

This superb selection from an unrivalled classic brilliantly reflects the two-sided genius of…

Edgar Allan Poe.

The nightmare terror of
The Pit and the Pendulum

The gruesome horror of
The Fall of the House of Usher

The devilish logic of
The Murders in the Rue Morgue

The fiendish mystery of
The Purloined Letter etc.

These Flawless stories are the work of a master who has chilled the spines of readers for over a century.

First published 1960 by Pan Books Ltd. Tenth printing 1965.

The Haploids

The Haploids..

It began in Union City when they brought in the man who screamed before he died, his flesh a mottled gray. Then it spread. The disease hit South Bend. Then Chicago. Men dying. Their skin a lead gray, their lips browned, and screams tearing their way up through throats that leaked blood. Always men. Never women.

And then it was all so fantastically clear. Men were being exterminated, and a master race of haploid women were going to rule the world. And nobody could stop them.

Copyright 1952 Jerry Sohl. First Lion Edition January 1953.

Dedicated to Dr Wayne Wantland, who created the first Haploid.

And nobody could stop them…. Well, my money’s on Travis, the hardbitten news-man laid up in Union City hospital the night they brought the first haploid victim in. Maybe it was the horrible death he just witnessed or the oh-so peachy blonde with a syringe seen skulking around the dead guy’s room, but his curiosity has been aroused and he’s not letting go.

I started reading this on Sunday and I must say, I’m enjoying the ride! I haven’t quite found out who or what Haploids are yet, though there are some useful pointers on the inside cover –

You have been warned!!!

Frankenstein

“It proved a wet, ungenial summer, and incessant rain often confined us for days to the house… In the evenings we crowded around a blazing wood fire, and occasionally amused ourselves with some German stories of ghosts, which happened to fall into our hands. These tales excited in us a playful desire of imitation… ‘We will each write a ghost story,’ said Lord Byron; and his proposition was acceded to.”

Collier Books 1961

At this challenge Mary Shelley began work on the “ghost story” that was to  evolve into the most celebrated horror novel in literary history. Frankenstein was published the next year and became the rage of London. In generations since, the story of Victor Frankenstein and the monster he created has been read by millions all over the world. It inspired hundreds of imitations, but it has never been equalled for its masterful manipulation of the elements of horror and suspense.

You’ve read the book (haven’t you?!) now watch the film! Tomorrow, 3rd December, those lovely people behind the Classic Horror Campaign are holding an all day horror fest at the Rock Inn, Brighton, with book signings, stalls, loads of giveaways and of course some great films! We are going to be there with a few nice books so stop by and say Hi. More details below and over at: Frighten Brighton.

Pan Books 1979

The Birds

Pan Books 1977.

Daphne du Maurier has a rare gift for dragging up those irrational fears that lurk just behind the smooth plaster of existence. In ‘The Birds’ she somehow lends probability to an impossibility which is nearly too fearful to imagine. United by mad hatred the birds – the gulls, finches, crows and tits – have combined to wipe out humanity. This strange haunting fantasy has been chosen by Alfred Hitchcock for the making of a horror film.

I’m posting this because I got bitten by  a seagull today (don’t ask – it’s a long and bloody story, though not as long or as bloody as this one).

Below is the Penquin 1963 edition with cover art by Virgil Burnett.

Bewitched

They were young, married and doing what comes supernaturally!

For the first time in book form – the hilarious extra-sensory relations between America’s most over-hexed husband and his all too enchanting wife…

Samantha –

A witch in wife’s clothing.

A perfectly charming lady with earthbound tastes, magical twitches, and some ideas about love that are out of this world.

Bewitched. A novel by Al Hine.

First Dell printing February 1965.

Over-hexed? Extra-sensory relations?! Whoever wrote the back copy sure earned their money for this one! Bewitched was one of my favourite TV shows growing up. One of the funniest characters was Samantha’s mum, Endora. A quick flick through the pages of this book and I’m pleased to see she makes an appearance! So my Halloween reading is sorted!