The Horror of Man-Eating Horses

Abbott and Costello:
“The horse eats its fodder”.
“The Horse eats its father?”
“Yes.”

Confused? Don’t be confused, be very afraid. Yes, it seems that according to oft hid but arcane knowledge, horses are and were meat eaters, and indeed, consumed and were often fond of human flesh.

A new book by CuChullaine O’Reilly reveals what has been swept under the rug by historians. In several well known, but recently obscured cases, horses were known to be fierce and flesh eating.

In a case from the late 1820′s, a horse was so fierce that it killed several people, terrorized a small village, and when captured and challenged to fight a tiger, whipped it as if it were a kitten, including breaking its jaw. It became known as the “Man Eater of Lucknow”.

Tales also came from the historical Swedish Long Rider Sven Hedin who had encountered meat-eating horses in Tibet during the late 19th century. Indeed, a 1954 National Geographic magazine documented how a Kazakh chief (Qali Beg) led his tribe 3000 miles from Sinkiang, China to safety in Kashmir, India on specially trained meat-eating horses, who were therefore able to survive in the grassless Takla Makan desert. In 1908 Sir Ernest Shackleton shared a meat-based diet with the horses he employed to reach the South Pole.

In Greek legends, The Mares of Diomedes were four man-eating horses in Greek mythology. Magnificent, wild, and uncontrollable, they belonged to the giant Diomedes of Thrace. The very real Bucephalus, Alexander the Great’s horse, was said to be descended from these mares.

There have even been recent anecdotal reports of random horses eating flesh. At Horse.Com Sue McDonnell, PhD reported that, “Last October, we shared letters from three readers describing horses killing and/or eating small mammals and birds …”.  Apparently this opened up a firestorm of emails on attacks, and horses caught devouring all sorts of flesh from birds, to biting chunks from people and other horses.

So did prehistoric untamed horses have an omnivorous diet? Are they still capable of going insane and killing and maiming? It’s unclear, but one thing is sure … horror comes in many guises!

Book Collecting

… it is no modish thing,
The bookman’s tribute that I bring;
A talk of antiquaries grey,
Dust unto dust this many a day,
Gossip of texts and bindings old,
Of faded type, and tarnish’d gold!
-To the Viscountess Woleseley, Andrew Lang (1844-1912)

Keep me, I pray, in wisdom’s way
That I may truths eternal seek;
I need protecting care to-day,–
My purse is light, my flesh is weak.
So banish from my erring heart
All baleful appetites and hints
Of Satan’s fascinating art,
Of first editions, and of prints.
Direct me in some godly walk
Which leads away from bookish strife,
That I with pious deed and talk
May extra-illustrate my life.
-The Bibliomaniac’s Prayer, Eugene Field (1850 – 1895)

Field once described three kinds of book collectors: Those who collect from vanity; those who collect for the benefits of learning; those who collect through a veneration and love for books.
You’re reading this blog today probably because you love horror books, and especially old ones. You are in good company, because many do.

However, at some point you will have to make some decisions based on (1) how much money you have, (2) how much space you have, (3) what is your primary purpose to collect.

Field himself fell into a common trap. “{His} mania exhibited itself first in an affectation for old books; it mattered not what the book itself was—so long as it bore an ancient date upon its title-page or in its colophon I pined to possess it. … In a month’s time I had got together a large number of these old tomes, many of them folios, and nearly all badly worm-eaten, and sadly shaken. “

However, he realized soon enough that he was collecting without a purpose. He felt that because he had old books, it made him somehow a good person, or gave him some odd and desirable quality. In a sense it may have, but he wasn’t doing it to preserve history, or share with those less fortunate, or to write a history. He was doing it just to be doing it.

Some books you collect because they have sentimental memories. Some books you collect because you are fascinated by the subject matter. But if you are going to be an investor in books, you need to go into it with a reason and purpose.

Like investing in stocks, or coins, or stamps, once you get past the fun part of collecting and become a serious investor, you must choose wisely after lengthy discussions with a trusted advisor. You must preserve your investment with special treatment.

Hopefully Miskatonic Books will have choices you wish to add to your collection. Feel free to contact us at …  miskatonicbooks@me.com

Two New Fritz Leiber Limited Editions Coming in December!

You can preorder your copies of these two new Fritz Leiber limited edition hardcovers published by Centipede Press. Both edition are scheduled to ship in Mid December.

Click on the cover art to get more information and to reserve your copy.

CONJURE WIFE by Fritz Leiber (Signed Limited Edition Hardcover

Published in 1953, Conjure Wife was Fritz Leiber’s first major horror novel, and one of the first novels to deal with witchcraft and feminism, as a college professor learns that his wife is part of a secret network of wives using magic. A frank and provocative novel in a handsome hardcover edition gorgeously illustrated and designed.
This edition has artwork by Columbian artist Marcela Bolivar, a new introduction by Ramsey Campbell, color reproductions of old editions, comics, and film posters, and a lengthy autobiography.
Each numbered copy signed by Ramsey Campbell. The edition is limited to 150 copies for sale.

• Limited to 150 copies, each signed by Ramsey Campbell.
• Bonus biography by Fritz Leiber.
• Printed cloth front cover.
• Duotone endpapers.
• Head and tail bands, ribbon marker, clear Mylar dustjacket.

 

OUR LADY OF DARKNESS by Fritz Leiber (Signed Limited Edition Hardcover)

Leiber has often written of the Dark Lady, and the culmination of this work is this superb novel, originally published in 1977. In the concept of “paramentals,” Leiber makes his definitive statement on alienation within the urban environment and the capacity of concrete, steel, and glass to suck up miseries and spew forth monsters. This edition includes a dozen black & white illustrations by British artist John Stewart.
This edition has a fine introduction by Michael Shea. Also appearing for the first time in hardcover, and the first time in an English language edition, is the full suite of magnificent artwork by British artist John Stewart. These illustrations were previously only available in an obscure and hard-to-find German paperback.
Each numbered copy signed by Michael Shea. The edition is limited to 300 copies for sale.

• Limited to 150 copies, each signed by Michael Shea.
• Four bonus essays by Fritz Leiber.
• Printed cloth front cover.
• Illustrated, duotone endpapers.
• Top-edge stain.
• Head and tail bands, ribbon marker, clear Mylar dustjacket.

 

Review: The Light Is the Darkness by Laird Barron by Alex Lugo

Although I haven’t spent too much time on this mortal plane, I’ve spent most of it reading. Usually, I read horror, but I tend try to read a bit of everything. I just want the reader to keep in mind that I’ve read a great many books, and as such, I feel that I know what I am talking about. Having said that, I have just recently come to a conclusion that Laird Barron’s first novel, The Light is the Darkness, is a modern day classic. It’s up there with Frankenstein, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, and The Road. Why, you ask? I have a simple answer: the book is perfect. The characters are perfect. The story is perfect. Everything is perfect. Its only flaw is that it ended! The Light is the Darkness can be considered a mix of Lovecraftian horror, philosophy, science, existentialism, gritty-action, and blunt prose, but I’ll just call the book art.

There is no easy way to provide a synopsis of the story, but here goes nothing. Conrad, a champion of a modern-day, underground blood-sport competition whose matches are held across the globe, is traveling around the world in search of his sister Imogene, an F.B.I. agent who goes searching after the mysterious Dr. Drake, who killed their brother Ezra in some foul experiment. Along the way, Conrad learns the meaning of life, and begins a transition into something much more than human, which is a theme present in a couple other stories from Laird Barron, but never on such a grand scale as in The Light is the Darkness.

            The book’s prose is very blunt, elegantly simplistic, almost brutish, but the words themselves sing of a bleak, gritty world, with much bleaker, grittier themes. Barron makes you feel so small and insignificant, as if the cosmos and all the horrors within them are looking directly at you. The Light is the Darkness forces you to look right into the abyss, to jump in it, swim around, and come out realizing that what looked back at you may have been some mangled portrait of your own, alien self. There are scenes in this book that will haunt and scar the reader. There was one particular incident that gave me such chills, my eyes nearly watered. The book will not give you cheap thrills from the occasional gory episode. Instead, Laird Barron describes some of the most complex and primal actions in ways that scare the living daylights out of you, or make you recline in your chair and think for awhile.  

           The Light is the Darkness is as smart, scientific, and philosophical as it is eerie, horrifying, and downright disturbing. Think of it as a combination of Friedrich Nietzsche, Ernest Hemmingway, and H.P. Lovecraft, and mix that with the bold, blunt, and tough style Laird Barron is known for. I won’t be surprised if there will be a Penguin Classics edition in a strange aeon or two.

            If you’re a fan of Laird Barron, you need this book. Barron fans will appreciate his references to his past tales, such as “The Imago Sequence”, “Six Six Six”, “Hallucigenia”, “Old Virginia”, and perhaps even “Shiva, Open your Eye”. I can also recommend this to honestly anyone interested in fine, complex, dark fiction. I cannot recommend this to lovers of a specific genre because it is a combination of so many genres. If you truly love literature, you will love this book. Not only is the books simply immaculate, but the design is impeccable. The book is published by Infernal House, which is run by one of the best publishers on this plane of existence, Larry Roberts. The book is bond in the most exquisite leather, and comes in a luxurious traycase. David Ho drew some fine illustrations for the book, my personal favorite being a mouth eating the universe. I could probably write an entire other review on the design of the book! Hopefully Larry Roberts and Laird Barron will work on another project in the future.

            The Light is the Darkness shows how insanely godlike Laird Barron is as a writer. As noted above, this book ranks among some of the best books ever written, in my opinion. If you want a real treat for all of your senses, go pick up a copy of the Infernal House edition and immerse yourself. It is worth every single penny. For the design, the book is a ten out of ten, and for the actual story itself, I honestly cannot give it a number. It is that incredible. The Light is the Darkness will take you to the darkest corners of the earth, and when you come back from this adventure, you will go through a metamorphosis of your own.

The caterpillar enters the cocoon. Ouroboros bites its tail.

You can read the entire article here THE COSMICOMICON

Marion Bradley: Feisty Utopian, 1953

Marion Zimmer Bradley (1930-1999) started as many did in fandom, she posted stories and poems in other people’s amateur hectographed or mimeographed fanzines. One of the earliest was in Lin Carter’s short run ‘zine. These nascent writers strove to get “face time” in the letter columns of the prozines, or mass-circulating pulp magazines. Through this, they attracted local fans and sometimes created a group that did activities, or traded magazines, and attended local, regional, or national conventions. This was the progenitor of today’s Facebook.

Then 23, Marion took Starling Stories and editor Sam Mines to task on numerous matters in the March 1953 letter column.

“Mine Dear Sam: No, it’s me that will have your scalp! MariOn. MARION! NOT Marian, but MariOn, PLEASE. Marion, Marion, Marion, boo-hoo, hoo, hoo, won’t ANYBODY PLEASE SPELL MY NAME RIGHT? The next person who calls me Marian will receive a stink-bomb in the mail, collect.”

“Marion” went on to explain the origins and differences of Marion and Marian, and then into her version of contemporary utopianism tackling numerous taboo subjects to the editor’s chagrin. Of course the controversial nature was a delight to the editor, as it would generate even more word of mouth sales, but his reply is standard pshaw.

Bradley felt that birth control should be discussed publicly, used to prevent pregnancy, and used often by well-educated. She felt that it was only being used for eugenics (not her term) and applied to those felt inferior, or backward. Over population was a concern, and she felt that women had a right to choose just how many children they wanted as long as they stayed healthy. Religious advocates against contraception should be silenced. She also advocated children’s rights, and that any one over the age of twelve could act independently of parents strictures, and that parents had to work hard to attain their children’s respect.

A half-century distant, we see that many of her ideas have now been adopted to some extent. Big city public schools regularly distribute sex-education, condoms, and many U.S. states have abortion rights clauses that exclude parents from interfering. It is still highly controversial. Internationally, there are rigidly repressed societies, and libertine societies. Both polarities are fodder for horror fiction.

Bradley had, apparently, a story either written, outlined, or conceptualized and asked if the editor was open to it.

The editor brought her soundly to ground. He accused her of bad utopianism, weak argumentation, and financial repercussions of the worst kind if her ideas were implemented en masse.

This letter may have led to her later boldness in exploring highly controversial subjects, such as lesbianism, and writing fantasy fiction that sometimes was labeled pornographic. Her boldness then, along with others, allow today’s horror writers to explore even darker subjects.

[Marian Zimmer was born in New York, baptized Episcopalian in 1947, and by 1953 was married to Robert Bradley (m. 1949) and had a son, David R. Bradley (b. 1950). She would be divorced by 1964.]

(Click on image to make it full size).

Ultra Low Limited Edition of Richard Matheson’s Classic HELL HOUSE

HELL HOUSE by Richard Matheson (Signed Limited Edition Hardcover)

With only 100 of this deluxe edition being published they won’t last long. One only have a handful of this title and we are offering a discount on preorders of this item so reserve you copy soon.

Just click on the cover art below to get more information and to reserve your copy.

A shining exemplar of the haunted house genre, Hell House is a terrifying classic. Now in a new edition with a a fine front cover image cover gallery and from old editions, a movie poster, and a lengthy, 30-page interview with Matheson by James H. Burns. William F. Nolan has written a insightful introduction to the book wherein he talks about the novel and his long relationship with Matheson.

This edition is oversize at 7 x 10 inches with a printed cloth front panel, and luxurious velvety cloth spine and back panels. The book is enclosed in a cloth-bound slipcase lined with black on the inside. The book also has a top-edge stain and ribbon marker. There are color endpapers and a cover gallery inside, along with a handsome photograph of Matheson. This classic novel has finally received the deluxe treatment it deserves. At only 100 copies for sale, it will sell out quickly.

Each numbered copy is signed by William F. Nolan, Harry O. Morris, and James H. Burns. There is a facsimile signature by Richard Matheson which Mr Matheson and his representative authorized. The edition is limited to 100 copies for sale. Sample page spreads appear below.

King Kong Kontroversy: The “Spider Pit” Scene.

King Kong was unlike any movie before it.  Yes, O’Brien had done several movies of stop action, and Merian Cooper had made thrilling shorts with intense “realism”.  However RKO (Radio-Keith-Orpheum*) Pictures released a shocker.  What many did not realize is that some of the most “intense” scenes were cut and most likely burned.  It is alleged that Kong stripped Fay Wray nude, and there was supposedly a “spider scene” where the men were attacked and eaten by ten foot spiders and crab monsters.  [*Keith-Orpheum were the vaudeville circuits that were still powerful and were the outlets for motion pictures even into the 1930's].

Even the scenes that remained were quite gruesome.  Men were crushed, stomped by Kong**, or chomped whole or in pieces by dinosaurs or other creatures.  We may think Kong crude and a bit like “Bumbles” the Rudolph abominable snowman, but in 1933 people were stunned.  [**In one scene it is hard to know if it was intended to be funny.  Kong scrapes the gore of a crushed man off his foot.)

There are a number of anecdotes on the internet from film students who saw the spider scene in UCLA (in the 1960′s) or other archived footage (1980′s?).  If so, they were not circulated films and none can now be found.  Evidence shows that when test audiences saw the spider scene, it was so vivid and intense they forgot all about Kong and the continuity of the film.  In other words, it removed the audience’s attention from rescuing Fay Wray which was they key plot element.  It had to go no matter how historic and wonderful it was.

A mock-up of the scene was spliced into the real film based on script fragments, O’Brien props still in existence, and recollections of those rare individuals who either saw the original, or vividly imagined they saw it.  It is on YouTube, and is featured below.  This recreation proves that it does indeed kill the movie’s plot and it was a wise choice to remove it.  However, you be the judge.

An e-clipping of the movie review from 28 April 1933 (click to expand).

November Sale at Miskatonic Books. Everything is 10% Off!

Now until November 30th use the coupon code “nov10″ in the coupon code section at checkout and receive 10% off your entire purchase price regardless of the size or the order!

At Miskatonic Books every order shipped in the US will pay only $5 shipping on any size order and you will also receive 5% back in points towards future purchases.

Click the banner below to go directly to site.

On a side note we just got in our Lettered Editions of THE LIGHT IS THE DARKNESS by Laird Barron. These turned out fantastic and we think it is the best Infernal House title to date.  These are all hand made. The boards of this book are real wood covered by leather, metallic endpapers, brass studs for closure and corners. Signed and lettered to only 26 copies.

See the pictures below.

 

Where Has All the Horror Gone?

With apologies to the great Pete Seger and his co-writer Tao Rodriguez-Seeger:

Long time passing
Where has all the Horror gone??
Long time ago
Where has all the Horror gone?
Borders gone, Paperbacks gone, even Keene – gone?
When will they ever return?
When will they ever return?

Well, we at Miskatonic books have no crystal ball – but wouldn’t that be cool if we did? However, just as “horror” morphed from pulp paper to paperbacks in the late 1950′s, and from paperbacks to movie screens in the 1970′s, so we think we have found traces of what New Horror may look like.

Before discussing it, let’s look at a corollary. Country music – that twangy stuff your great-grandpa listened too when he shouted, “Ring of Fire! Johnny Cash!”, has completely morphed and eaten much of rock and roll and pop music. In many cases it is the only music in town. CMA award shows have featured everyone from Bon Jovi to Sheryl Crowe to James Taylor. Lady GaGa has done a country version of one of her recent hits.

So where is horror? Just as paper and words went to celluloid in the 20th century, Horror is finding its way into the internet New Media. Let’s face it, television as a medium is dead, but like the last living cells in a dying body does not yet acknowledge it. CNN, Fox, and BBC has completely lost credibility as it has been absorbed into the military-industrial-banking-drug cartel complex. Television is so, well, 20th century. So, too, the concept of the “Nation State” which began to vanish after WWII.

Horror is mixed into the concept of “talk radio”. For those of you who were not alive at the time, Amplitude modulated (AM) radio ruled. From Al Jolson to Jack Benny, radio commanded 80% of media in the 1920′s and 1930′s. Then, TV killed it, and it morphed into “disc jockeys” who pushed sped-up blues records covered by young white kids with somewhat twangy accents either from the mid-south USA or from obscure areas of the UK. That accentuated with long playing vinyl albums and moved to the clearer signals on FM (Frequency modulated) radio. That pretty much died when Rock and Roll lost its way and the Cold War ended. But an obscured fellow from Missouri with the odd sounding name of Rush Limbaugh came roaring out with a new loud-mouthed format called “Talk Radio” and filled up the dead air of the old scratchy radio. As Limbaugh grabbed the day light hours, an aging Nevada disc jockey-cum-late night, political show host named Art Bell revolutionized the midnight hour with a paranormal show called Coast to Coast. Bell was never particularly right-wing, but he was always after controversial, and well-articulated guests, and cared little what they wished to discuss, as long as they were great story-tellers – of fact, fiction, fantasy, or delusions. Today, Limbaugh, and Bell’s successor George Noory push toward 600 affiliates each and dominate with more than a 50% share of the listening audience. With the coming of the Internet 2.0, they may actually have more listeners online and via satellite than on air.

With Internet 1.0 and moving toward internet 2.0, podcasts on I-tunes, or in mp3 format proliferated. Some of our favorites involve Lovecraft! The number of horror podcasts has grown past counting.

Now, take that and flash forward to today. A name you may never have heard of, as obscure as “Limbaugh” is mixing paranormal, right wing politics, conspiratorialism, and doing it with a Texas drawl. His name is Alex Jones, and he is the most significant to use blatant images of horror in his radio and visual broadcasts, frequently getting banned from the internet for explicitly gory or violence-suggestive talk and visuals. Absolutely unapologetic, and fervently red, white, and blue – um, well, at least very red state – he is beyond workaholic, and knows his science fiction, horror, and conspiratorialism inside and out. He frequently refers to H. G. Wells and George Orwell, and compares contemporary fascism to B-movie science fiction plots. Like many

GHOSTS KNOW and THE INHABITANT OF THE LAKE In Stock.

We have two new titles in stock by master of the genre Ramsey Campbell. A must have for the genre collector’s library.

GHOSTS KNOW by Ramsey Campbell (Signed Limited Hardcover) 

or

GHOSTS KNOW first edition trade hardcover.

Before I can retreat a youth runs up the steps behind me. I haven’t time to think—I feel as if my clenched fists are swinging me around to punch him in the face. His lips split and squash wetly against my fist, and his chin bruises a knuckle. I would hit him again, but he flounders down a couple of steps until Si thumps his shoulders with an arm to steady him. They’re blocking my retreat, and Si lifts his knife as if I’ve given him another reason to use it. Jay’s helper has run to prevent me from jumping down onto the towpath, even if I could without breaking a leg. My only chance is to take Jay on. As I start along the walkway he jerks up his knife . . .

How did I get here? I’m Graham Wilde, the presenter of Wilde Card on Waves Radio. A few weeks ago I interviewed a psychic who was helping the police search for a missing girl. He seemed to know more about me than he should, but I knew more about him than he expected, and perhaps that’s where all my troubles began. He kept after me, first of all on my show and then at a funeral, and he wasn’t the only one there who did. What else could I do except find out who was responsible for what people seemed to think I’d done? But I didn’t realise how much danger I was putting myself in until it was too late . . .

Since Needing Ghosts Ramsey Campbell has been developing his own brand of comedy of paranoia. Is it humour so dark that it shades into horror, or horror that grins like a skull? You can find it in The Count of Eleven and Secret Stories and The Grin of the Dark, and now Ghosts Know joins his macabre circus.

THE INHABITANT OF THE LAKE & OTHER UNWELCOME TENANTS by Ramsey Campbell (trade hardcover)

Click on the cover art above to secure your copy.

The influence of H. P. Lovecraft spans the centuries. Several of his correspondents who were writers learned by imitating him. The early tales of Robert Bloch and Henry Kuttner read very much like Lovecraft, while others of his friends—Donald Wandrei, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard and August Derleth among them—incorporated his ideas and myths into their fiction. Bloch and Frank Belknap Long even wrote tributes to him that used him, barely disguised, as a character.

After Lovecraft’s death August Derleth took control of his mythos, adding to and organising it more systematically than its creator ever had. Derleth was a jealous guardian of Lovecraft’s reputation, and insisted on vetting any stories by new writers that used the mythos. Few found his favour until 1961, when a Liverpudlian fifteen-year-old sent him the first drafts of several Lovecraftian tales. The outcome was a ten-year professional relationship and the appearance in 1964 of the first book of previously unpublished Lovecraftian fiction for five years. It was The Inhabitant of the Lake.

This fiftieth anniversary edition reprints that book in full, including the original introduction. It also includes the first drafts of all the tales that were rewritten before publication and reproduces Derleth’s editorial responses to the stories. This edition is superbly illustrated by Randy Broecker in the great tradition of Weird Tales.