Since it's August...

[LeilaniOtter]

I first read "August Heat" in high school, as part of my Literature classes. W. F. Harvey, a master horror writer, tells this 1910 gem of two men who don't know each other at all, and yet, though a strange future projection, we learn one of them will kill the other. it's really well-written, and a great example of masterful dialogue and pacing in a very short space, less than 1000 words I think, all told. It flows perfectly, like a short story should. ?

Anyway, give it a read. The ending is still haunting today for the times.

August Heat by William Fryer Harvey

A well-known and popular horror story by the English author William Fryer Harvey, first published in 1910.

www.101bananas.com

 

[AstreiaNyx]

Thanks for sharing. It’s unsettling in a good way.

 

[LeilaniOtter]

Thanks for sharing. It’s unsettling in a good way.

Would I steer you guys wrong? *^^*

It's your classic ghost story in a way.

 

[AnonUnlimited]

Would I steer you guys wrong? *^^*

Yes.

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

I though this would be an "August please be kind to me" post; happy to know it isn't.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

I first read "August Heat" in high school, as part of my Literature classes. W. F. Harvey, a master horror writer, tells this 1910 gem of two men who don't know each other at all, and yet, though a strange future projection, we learn one of them will kill the other. it's really well-written, and a great example of masterful dialogue and pacing in a very short space, less than 1000 words I think, all told. It flows perfectly, like a short story should. ?

Anyway, give it a read. The ending is still haunting today for the times.

August Heat by William Fryer Harvey

A well-known and popular horror story by the English author William Fryer Harvey, first published in 1910.

www.101bananas.com

Never heard of the story or the author before. Interesting.

 

[LeilaniOtter]

Never heard of the story or the author before. Interesting.

F.W. might be the first real rising up of macabre in writing. His horror was so unsettling and psychological. A lot like Poe in some aspects. I admired his work. His other really good story is "The Beast with Five Fingers". It should be available someplace.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

F.W. might be the first real rising up of macabre in writing. His horror was so unsettling and psychological. A lot like Poe in some aspects. I admired his work. His other really good story is "The Beast with Five Fingers". It should be available someplace.

It was made into a movie...
I think I did read one of his collections, a long time ago, but just vaguely remember the title and not much else: The Misadventures of Athelstan Digby

 

[LeilaniOtter]

It was made into a movie...
I think I did read one of his collections, a long time ago, but just vaguely remember the title and not much else: The Misadventures of Athelstan Digby

If you can find it, there's a great book called "Masterpieces of Terror and the Supernatural", edited by Marvin Kaye. It's a group of some of the best stories ever written, from the 18th-19th-20th centuries. It really helped me in my horror-writing. I love horror, from the silents to today. *^^* Among my favorites is "The Professor's Teddy Bear" by Theodore Sturgeon, and it might be one of the most unsettling I've ever read.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

If you can find it, there's a great book called "Masterpieces of Terror and the Supernatural", edited by Marvin Kaye. It's a group of some of the best stories ever written, from the 18th-19th-20th centuries. It really helped me in my horror-writing. I love horror, from the silents to today. *^^* Among my favorites is "The Professor's Teddy Bear" by Theodore Sturgeon, and it might be one of the most unsettling I've ever read.

Pretty sure I read that one a long time ago. If not, I've read most of the stories in it in other collections (though I've also read every Craig Shaw Garnder book I could find except his novelization of the Catwoman movie).

 

[Fox-Trot-9]

Oh, wow, I haven't read that one in years. A good quick little read.

 

[LeilaniOtter]

Oh, wow, I haven't read that one in years. A good quick little read.

I do love those tiny bites of horror. ???

 

[Fox-Trot-9]

I do love those tiny bites of horror. ???

Yep. Which is why I'm collecting them into my reading list and writing a collection of them.

 

[LeilaniOtter]

Yep. Which is why I'm collecting them into my reading list and writing a collection of them.

I do recommend "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs as well.
The Monkey's Paw
This is the ultimate in "Be careful what you wish for" stories.

Sorry, one more memorable shocker, "Graveyard Shift" by Richard Matheson, a storyteller legend from "The Twilight Zone"
Have a care: it is one of the most twisted stories of a sadistic mother's revenge I've ever come across. Chills me to think about it, brrrrr.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Sorry, one more memorable shocker, "Graveyard Shift" by Richard Matheson, a storyteller legend from "The Twilight Zone"
Have a care: it is one of the most twisted stories of a sadistic mother's revenge I've ever come across. Chills me to think about it, brrrrr.

Matheson is a legend for more than just that - he wrote a TON of stuff. Off the top of my head, "I Am Legend" (filmed under that name, as well as "Last Man on Earth" and "The Omega Man"), most of the alleged adaptions of Poe directed by Roger Corman for AIP, The Shrinking Man (filmed as The Incredible Shrinking Man), Hell House (filmed as The Legend of Hell House), What Dreams May Come, Bid Time Return (filmed as Somewhere in Time), A Stir of Echoes, "Steel" (filmed as Real Steel), and "Button, Button" (filmed as The Box). The movie Cold Sweat was based on his novel Ride the Nightmare, and Les seins de glace (Icy Breasts) was based on his novel Someone Is Bleeding. Both "Steel" and "Button" had previously been episodes of The Twilight Zone. He also was involved with a number of Westerns, and wrote an episode of Star Trek (The Enemy Within), and created Investigative Reporter Karl Kolchak in The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler, though he had little to do with the series.
He also wrote a short story called "Bid Time Return" that I had friends who were almost in the film version of (they were part of the group of Extras - who actually got a free meal, free trip to Mackinac Island, and got to meet one of the two stars, though I don't recall if it was Reeve or Seymour, who made sure to greet every potential extra ... sadly, only four or five of the extras, not including my friends, appeared in the final film, their segment and several others being cut) - Somewhere in Time.

 

[LeilaniOtter]

The man was the master of horror before King took the gauntlet away. And not just horror, he could write anything, for any genre, and make it memorable. I think I take after Richard and King quite a lot in that I can write for virtually any genre when it comes to horror and the supernatural, because there is just so diverse a world for it. Horror isn't just monsters and ghosts, and they don't just come from cemeteries and creepy castles.

The mindset of modern horror should still be the same: horror can come from anywhere and it can affect anyone. Any setting, any person, and world, anything you can think of can be horror, with the right touch. *^^* Above all else, it doesn't just scare people but it's going to make them think.

I was rather blessed to be an extra as well - as a zombie in the original "Dawn of the Dead" (there's a hilarious story I'll share sometime too) I had makeup done by the master Tom Savini, and while I was being worked on, he was regaling me with his own stories, and we chatted about horror movies of the 70s, and how they were evolving by leaps and bounds. Very sweet, kind man. Nothing at all like Hollywood portrays him. *^^*

 

[CharlesEBrown]

The man was the master of horror before King took the gauntlet away. And not just horror, he could write anything, for any genre, and make it memorable.

Absolutely - found out some of my favorite comedies were his scripts (especially the sillier, but still dark and sometimes scary, AIP stuff), his final (non-posthumous) published work was an illustrated children's book, and his last script was a standard comedy.
He was also part of an informal writing group that included Ray Bradbury (and was one of the "voices" that convinced publishers to take a chance on Ray).

The mindset of modern horror should still be the same: horror can come from anywhere and it can affect anyone. Any setting, any person, and world, anything you can think of can be horror, with the right touch. *^^* Above all else, it doesn't just scare people but it's going to make them think.

Absolutely.

I was rather blessed to be an extra as well - as a zombie in the original "Dawn of the Dead" (there's a hilarious story I'll share sometime too) I had makeup done by the master Tom Savini, and while I was being worked on, he was regaling me with his own stories, and we chatted about horror movies of the 70s, and how they were evolving by leaps and bounds. Very sweet, kind man. Nothing at all like Hollywood portrays him. *^^*

Nice!