Re: Robert Aickman
 

We have made our documentary, Robert Aickman, Author of Strange Stories, available in full on youtube:

For those who haven't yet seen it, we hope you like it!

Re: Robert Aickman
 

I did indeed. Nice to see Reggie Oliver, whose stories I am currently enjoying.

Are those Aickman TV adaptations any good? The 90s version of The Swords seems to have missed the point (a shame as Tony Scott was a good director), but I am curious about the other surviving ones.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

I thought Night Voices - The Hospice was good, and surprisingly faithful to the story.
It's a shame the other adaptations in the series (Hand In Glove, The Trains and The Inner Room) are so elusive.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

The Aickman documentary Tartarus did is outstanding. Flat out.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

In a goodreads group, I put forth an interpretation of Aickman's story "The School Friend" and comments from goodreads members on my interpretation were along the lines of "You might be on to something." So I'll throw out the interpretation here and I'd like to know what others think. What follows will have "spoilers".

I think that Sally was raped and impregnated by a supernatural being. Sally inherited the house from her father. There were occult books in the house. Sally's friend Mel saw a specter in the house.

Some details early in the story might lead one to think that Sally is a lesbian. So she didn't get pregnant by a boyfriend or from a casual fling, for she is not interested in men.

Mel hears a creature upstairs that is scampering about like a pig. Sally also makes interesting comments about her offspring.

There is another horror, at the very end of story. Sally meets Mel and tells Mel that she sold the house. OK, I'm wondering "What about her offspring?"

Robert Aickman showed good taste in how he wrote this story. A much lesser writer of the splatterpunk variety might have gone into details about the rape and given a visual description of the creature that Sally gave birth to. Well, splatterpunk is a movement that is long dead, while Aickman's stories are read long after his death.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

That is my interpretation of the story also. It fits with how the narrator doesn't believe the spectre is Sally's father. Aickman's decision to leave the easy visceral shock of the rape out of the narrative and to instead focus on the dinginess of the house and the aloofness of the character in order to create unease in the reader is to be commended. Such scenes of explicit repulsion wouldn't fit the misty style of his stories.

The School Friend is one of the few Aickman stories that can be decoded in to a typical supernatural narrative that works on a literal level. I don't even bother offering my interpretations of certain stories, as Aickman seemed to withhold several pieces of the narrative. The important thing is that in doing so he often achieved a desired effect.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

The Robert Aickman documentary is fascinating. I especially like the point made that we should not judge a writer by his or her personal life, but only by their works. This applies to Aickman, Lovecraft, and other artists whose personal foibles are given more copy than the works they put together.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

Here's an interpretation of another Aickman story, "My Poor Friend".

The narrator is employed by an organization which advocates the use of rivers and streams for the generation of local electricity. The narrator finds someone in Parliament, named Enright, who support's our narrator's cause. At the end of the story, the MP who supported our narrator's cause is horribly killed.

There are curious things related in the story. For example, another MP tells our narrator, "Well, you'll do no good with Enright...I advise you to make a change..." . Another curious thing is a comment made by Enright about his children.

I think there is something beneath the surface of this story.

Robert Aickman, who co-founded the Inland Waterways Association, must have had experience dealing with the government and the media. Aickman probably drew upon his experience in writing this story. Also, being in contact with the government and media, Aickman might have heard rumors about child sexual abuse by media and government officials.
Extensive U.K. Child Abuse Probe Includes High-Profile Figures
Perhaps what happened to Enright in the story is something that Aickman would have liked to see happen to the pedophiles he heard about.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

It's a given that there's "something" beneath the surface of the story, but I think you've taken the wrong tack with this interpretation. If I recall correctly, there are strong hints that the children are... well, I'll just suggest that you consider the Gorey image for the cover of Painted Devils.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

Hi cannibal cop, thanks the reply. I'm agree that Enright's kids are apparently shapeshifters. But I wonder why the kids would attack their father, and not someone else?