WEDNESDAY’S SHORT STORIES #276: THE VAMPIRE STORIES OF ROBERT BLOCH

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Haffner Press has just published The Vampire Stories of Robert Bloch. I first read ROBERT BLOCH back in the 1960s when Pyramid Books published several paperback short story collections featuring some of Bloch’s best stories.

Of course, Robert Bloch is best known for Psycho but the 28 stories in The Vampire Stories of Robert Bloch show the range of his work. Bloch wrote several stories in H.P. Lovecraft mode. This collection includes the classic “The Shambler from the Stars.” Just great!

I’ve reread several of the stories in this collection: “The Opener of the Way” is a story that really stays with me! And, who can forget “The Skull of the Marquis de Sade” or “Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper”!

“Tooth or Consequences” was a new Bloch story for me…and extremely silly. A great contrast to the other, darker stories in this wonderful volume!

If you’re a Robert Bloch fan, The Vampire Stories of Robert Bloch is a must-buy! GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

“Foreword” by Paul Winters
“Introduction” by Robert Eighteen-Bisang
“The Shambler from the Stars”
“The Opener of the Way”
“The Mannikin”
“A Question of Identity”
“The Cloak”
“Unheavenly Twin”
“Nursemaid to Nightmares”
“The Fear Planet”
“Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper”
“Black Barter”
“Death Is a Vampire”
“The Bat Is My Brother”
“The Skull of the Marquis de Sade”
“The Bogey Man Will Get You”
“The Girl from Mars”
“Tooth or Consequences”
“The Hungry House”
“The Man Who Collected Poe”
“The Light-House”
“I Kiss Your Shadow—”
“Dig That Crazy Grave”
“Sleeping Beauty”
“Hungarian Rhapsody”
“Underground”
“The Undead”
“The Yougoslaves”
“The Bedposts of Life”
“The Scent of Vinegar”
“Afterword” by Gahan Wilson

BAD SISTERS [Apple TV+]

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I don’t know about you, but I’m in the mood for some comedy during these Trying Times. My sister in Arizona recommend Bad Sisters to me and it was exactly the kind of fun medicine I needed.

“Bad Sisters is an Irish black comedy television series developed by Sharon Horgan, Dave Finkel, and Brett Baer. Set in Dublin and filmed on location in Ireland, it is based on the Belgian series Clan, which was created by Malin-Sarah Gozin.”

“The five Garvey sisters—Eva, Grace, Ursula, Bibi, and Becka—live in Dublin. After Grace’s abusive, controlling husband John Paul dies unexpectedly, the sisters find themselves at the centre of a life insurance investigation. The series flips between timelines, one before John Paul’s death, in which Grace’s sisters plot to murder their repulsive brother-in-law and another after his death, in which a determined insurance agent tries to prove the sisters’ malicious involvement to save his struggling business.”

The interactions among the sisters is saucy and hilarious. If you want to laugh, give Bad Sisters a try. GRADE: Incomplete but trending towards a B+


STRANGERS: A MEMOIR OF MARRIAGE By Belle Burden

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Belle Burden gets a phone call: “Your husband is having an affair with my wife.”

Belle confronts her husband, James. “He said: I thought I was happy but I’m not. I thought I wanted our life, but I don’t…. I feel like a switch has flipped. I’m done…. You can have the house and the apartment. You can have custody of the kids. I don’t want it, I don’t want any of it.” (p. 14-15)

After 20 years of a seemingly happy marriage and three kids, James–a hedge fund manager–opts out of everything. Belle–a pro bono lawyer–is stunned and tries to understand how her Life just got completely upended. She asks James to tell her what she did wrong. “You didn’t do anything wrong.” (p. 16). Belle begs Hames to do therapy with her on Zoom. He refuses and stops answering Belle’s phone calls.

Strangers chronicles Belle Burden’s struggle to understand how her happy marriage to a man she loves…blew up. Belle, who should have known better, gets burned when James brings out the prenuptial agreement she signed before she married him. James considers completely ruining Belle financially.

“I fell into a deep well of despair and shame. I could no longer see the road ahead of me. I couldn’t leave the house. I couldn’t get out of bed. It was the same paralysis I felt in the first weeks after James left, but it felt much darker. When I closed my eyes, I saw myself hanging from the rafter in my bedroom.” (p. 227)

I was drawn into Belle Burden’s nightmare. The husband Belle loved and thought she knew turns out to be a complete stranger who rejects the 20 year marriage–and the three children–Belle and he shared. This is a harrowing memoir shows how strange Life can be. GRADE: A

MY LIFE IS MURDER (PBS)

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 Lucy Lawless (aka, Xena: Warrior Princess) plays a former detective, now a Private Investigator, Alexa Crowe. She assists DI Kieran Hussey (Season 1) and Detective Harry Henare (Season 2—) in solving a variety of complex homicides with the help of tech-savvy assistant Madison, convicted felon brother Will, and café owner and friend Reuben Wulf.

My Life Is Murder is an Australian–New Zealand murder mystery crime comedy-drama television series. The ten part series premiered inJuly 2019. In the United States, the series began streaming on Acorn TV in August 2019. Now PBS is running the series. I caught it by accident the other day and I just wanted to give you a heads up.

My Life Is Murder would qualify as “Summer viewing” since so many of the series we watch won’t return until the Fall. My Life Is Murder is nothing special, but I’m a Lucy Lawless fan so I’ll watch anything with her in it. GRADE: B

FRIDAY’S FORGOTTEN BOOKS #912: A QUEST FOR SIMBILIS By Michael Shea

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I’m a huge Jack Vance fan. And, I very much like the pastiches Matthew Hughes has written to emulate Vance. But back in 1974, DAW books published Michael Shea’s pastiche of Vance’s classic, Dying Earth.

In the early 70s, Michael Shea found a copy of Jack Vance’s Dying Earth novel The Eyes of the Overworld in the lobby of a hotel in Juneau, Alaska. Shea wrote to Jack Vance, asking if he could write a sequel…and shockingly, Vance gave Shea permission to write a novel.

A Quest for Simbilis is an early work of Michael Shea. He produced better fiction over the years. But Shea did capture the essence of Vance’s Dying Earth in this book. The Sun is about to fail. The Earth is a mish-mash of cultures featuring demons, aliens, and a variety of humans living on a planet in decline. Shea takes one of Vance’s most famous characters, Cugel the Clever, and sends him on a quest to find an arch-wizard missing for long, long time. Mumber Sull, the exiled Thane of Icthyll, makes Cugel his partner in the journey to find Simbilis.

Rumors allege that Simbilis is locked in battle with the hordes of the subwords league. Sull and Cugel travel the wastelands to reach Simbilis and gain his favor.

While A Quest for Simbilis is not equal to Jack Vance’s Dying Earth stories, it manages to foreshadow Michael Shea’s superior works like Nifft the Lean while still providing entertaining adventures. GRADE: B

ALWAYS (2-CD Set)

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Here’s a 2-CD set of hit songs with plenty of Big Names. I’ve always liked James Taylor’s version of “Handy Man.” “Don’t Know Much” is a Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville classic. And who can resist Natalie Cole’s “Miss You Like Crazy”!

Brook Benton’s “Rainy Night in Georgia” is seldom played on our local Oldies station, but it’s great! I’m a big fan of Brenda Russell’s “Piano in the Dark.” And TOP GUN was improved by Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away.”

Do you remember these songs? Any favorites here? GRADE: B+

TRACKLIST:

1-1Atlantic Starr–Always Written-By – Lewis*, Lewis*, Lewis*3:59
1-2James Taylor (2)–Handy Man Written-By – Otis Blackwell3:16
1-3Kenny G (2)–Songbird Written-By – Kenny G (2)3:41
1-4Christopher Cross–Sailing Written-By – Christopher Cross4:16
1-5Smokey Robinson–Being With You Written-By – William Robinson Jr.*4:00
1-6Linda Ronstadt And Aaron Neville–Don’t Know Much Written-By – Mann*, Weil*, Snow*3:35
1-7Frankie Valli–My Eyes Adored You Written-By – Crewe*, Nolan*3:33
1-8Anne Murray–Danny’s Song Written-By – Kenny Loggins3:06
1-9Orleans–Dance With Me Written-By – Hall-Hall*2:59
1-10Genesis–In Too Deep Written-By – Rutherford*, Collins*, Banks*4:57
1-11The Doobie Brothers–Real Love Written-By – McDonald*, Henderson*4:20
1-12Natalie Cole–Miss You Like Crazy Written-By – Goffin*, Masser*, Glass*3:49
1-13The Hollies–The Air That I Breathe Written-By – Hammond-Hazlewood4:11
1-14Gordon Lightfoot–If You Could Read My Mind Written-By – Gordon Lightfoot3:48
1-15Carly Simon–You Belong To Me Written-By – Simon*, McDonald*3:51
1-16Air Supply–The One That You Love Written-By – Graham Russell (2)4:17
1-17The Temptations–Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me) Written-By – Whitfield-Strong3:51
1-18England Dan And John Ford Coley*–I’d Really Love To See You Tonight Written-By – Parker McGee2:39
1-19Rita Coolidge–We’re All Alone Written-By – Boz Scaggs3:36
1-20The Commodores*–Still Written-By – Lionel Richie, Jr.*3:40
2-1Mike & The Mechanics–The Living Years Written-By – Robertson*, Rutherford*5:30
2-2Jim Croce–Time In A Bottle Written-By – Jim Croce2:24
2-3Roberta Flack–First Time Ever I Saw Your Face Written-By – Ewan MacColl4:16
2-4Brook Benton–Rainy Night In Georgia Written-By – Tony Joe White3:49
2-5Dan Hill–Can’t We Try Written-By – Hill*, Hill*4:02
2-6Taylor Dayne–I’ll Always Love You Written-By – Jimmy George4:18
2-7Chi-Lites*–Oh Girl Written-By – Eugene Record3:28
2-8Randy Vanwarmer–Just When I Needed You MostWritten-By – Randy Vanwarmer3:59
2-9Crystal Gayle–Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue Written-By – Rick Leigh*2:32
2-10Neil Sedaka–Laughter In The Rain Written-By – Sedaka-Cody*2:51
2-11Brenda Russell (2)–Piano In The Dark Written-By – Russell*, Hull*, Cutler*4:22
2-12Michael Johnson (5)–Bluer Than Blue Written-By – Rich Goodrum*2:54
2-13James Taylor (2)–Shower The People Written-By – James Taylor (2)4:00
2-14The Spinners*–Could It Be I’m Falling In Love Written-By – Steals-Steals*4:10
2-15Dolly Parton–Here You Come Again Written-By – Mann-Weil*2:57
2-16Bread–Baby I’m A Want YouWritten-By – David Gates2:28
2-17Charlie Rich–The Most Beautiful Girl Written-By – Sherril*, Wilson*, Bourke*2:42
2-18Laura Branigan–How Am I Supposed To Live Without You Written-By – James*, Bolton*4:29
2-19Elton John–Daniel Written-By – John-Taupin*3:52
2-20Berlin–Take My Breath Away (Love Theme From “Top Gun”) Written-By – Moroder*, Whitlock*4:12

WEDNESDAY’S SHORT STORIES #275: THE CASE OF THE FLYING GRAVEYARD AND OTHER STORIES By Edward D. Hoch

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I bought and read all 15 Edward D. Hoch collections published by Crippen & Landru. Their new collection, The Case of the Flying Graveyard and Other Stories, brings all of Hoch’s Sebastian Blue and Laura Charmes–two investigators for Interpol–together in one satisfying volume. Sebastian Blue is a former Scotland Yard detective who joins Interpol after his wife divorces him. Blue is paired with a young woman skilled in martial arts and languages, Laura Charmes. Together they crack some baffling cases.

I enjoyed all the stories in The Case of the Flying Graveyard and Other Stories but a few really stand out. “The Case of the Musical Bullet” features a murder on an airliner. A government official is shot and killed in his seat in First Class. No one heard the shot, no one saw a gun. And, how could a gun make it past the high Airport Security? Blue figures it out.

Another clever mystery is “The Case of the November Club” where a number of people die while skydiving–more than normal. The resolution is both logical and scary!

The Introduction by Martin Edwards is special because Edwards writes about how he first met Edward D. Hoch after years of admiring his stories. Edwards and Hoch become friends and eventually work together. If you’re looking for a collection of wonderful mystery stories, I recommend The Case of the Flying Graveyard and Other Stories. GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction: By Martin Edwards — 2

The Case of the Third Apostle — 13
The Case of the November Club –29
The Case of the Modern Medusa — 46
The Case of the Musical Bullet — 63
The Case of the Lapitated Man — 83
The Case of the Broken Wings — 99

The Case of the Terrorists — 114

The Case of the Flying Graveyard — 132

The Case of the Devil’s Triangle — 149

The Case of the Battered Wives — 172

The Case of the Five Coffins — 186

The Case of the Chloroformed Clerics — 203

The Case of the Straw Serpent — 220

The Case of the Drowned Coroner — 236

Sources — 251

PATIENCE, SEASON 2 (PBS)

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I enjoyed Season 1 of Patience (you can read my review here) and started watching Season 2. Patience is a British–Belgian detective drama television series starring Ella Maisy Purvis as autistic police archivist Patience Evans. Set in York, England, Patience was adapted from the critically acclaimed French television series, Astrid.

While Season 1 of Patience had six episodes, Season 2 has eight. The big change is that Patience’s mentor, Laura Fraser as DI Bea Metcalf, has left the series and her replacement is the surly Jessica Hynes as DI Frankie Monroe. DI Monroe does not welcome Patience’s insights–even when those insights solve the murder case.

A third season has been given the Green Light so we’ll have more of crime solving by a brilliant young woman to look forward to. GRADE: Incomplete but treading towards a B+