Re: Robert Aickman
 

At the same time, monsters are a thing of fantasy, the fantastic, and of myth. If you can't appreciate a good monster (like a dragon, or a werewolf, or vampire), then you must lack something of imagination, and be rather mundane - and, I would say, have your thinking hampered by real fears.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

I don't think genre labels are terribly important outside of conversation shorthand and marketing gimmickery, and I don't think people who like fiction with monsters are more imaginative than those who don't. My experiences with Lovecraft fanboys have proven that well enough.

Aickman is somebody I would describe as my favourite horror writer if asked, but he himself drew different distinctions than I do when it comes to genre, likely feeling put off by the indulgences of most horror writers. I'm not really arsed. Depends what mood I'm in.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

Okay, but I don't necessarily agree. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, as they say, and not in whatever rules were applied in making it. And there's more than one way to skin a cat, as they are also known to say.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

There be bad and good, as the pirates say.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

I can't find anything about a cat named Jezebel, but the archive turns up another interesting entry labelled Unfinished Stories:

Some of these might be interesting. Most of them are over 10 pages, and some of Aickman's complete stories have an intriguing fragmentary quality anyway. The first time I read "Just a Song at Twilight" I had to check the ground to make sure a page with the final paragraph or coda hadn't slipped out, the ending felt so oddly abrupt.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

From 06-10-2007 by Nemonymous
Re: Robert Aickman
Who agrees with me that 'Residents Only' is possibly Aickman's masterpiece?

It is one of his longest stories. Which is sort of relevant. When I started reading it, the glanced-at length seemed about average for Aickman - but as I continued reading it, and looking, from time to time, at the pages still to read, it seemed bodily to grow, as if the act of reading made it longer. A bit like the very British committee system embodied in its plot, the cemetery committee itself that is the centrepiece, reminding me of Jarndyce & Jarndyce or of a meal at Aickman's own Hospice. I mean this quite seriously ... and this seemed to be confirmed by the story's coda with these words: "Everyone perceived that the past should be allowed to merge into the future, with no official recognition given to an interregnum."

I found this old post by Nemonymous after having just finished "Residents Only," as I work my way through the new Aickman collection "Uncommon Games." Since this is my only exposure to Aickman (that I can recall), I would not feel right calling it his masterpiece but it is to me a shockingly great story (and has special resonance to me - see paragraph below). My main reason for this post is to note that I also felt the story growing in length as I read - every few pages I would flip to the end of the story page number to confirm that I was really making progress. Needless to say, I was quite delighted to find the referenced old post.

I had the great pleasure many years ago of coming across a large completely overgrown cemetery in the shadows of the skyscrapers of a major urban city center. By large cemetery, I mean acres and acres of dense overgrowth fully obscuring the cast-iron fencing, the headstones, statues, animal statues, obelisks and granite balls adorning scores of graves. The overgrowth made exploration of the cemetery a strenuous and time-consuming endeavor. It would often take me several re-explorations to relocate a point of interest earlier noted. Thousands of, as Aickman says, "coffin-rope vines."

Fortunately, over the years I was able to document the overgrown cemetery on 16mm and 35mm film, because later (and I say this only somewhat tongue-in-cheek) do-gooders came and as ultimately in "Residents Only," did the full restoration, although retaining the original grave adornments. It has been several years since I visited the area and the hope for decay springs eternal. I will post footage of the cemetery within a couple of months for anyone interested.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

Fascinating! Thanks, cnpappas. :)

I have not thought about this for ages, and I now wonder if this was the start of an obsession with Zeno’s Paradox in #GestaltRealTimeReviewing.

Re: Robert Aickman
 

I see that Centipede has announced the two-volume Robert Aickman Masters of the Weird Tale set. It appears to be an attractive set.

http://www.centipedepress.com/images...aickmanmwt.gif

"This collection will be the main 48 stories, with an introduction by S.T. Joshi, an essay on Robert Aickman by T.E.D. Klein, and 12 full page illustrations by Danish artist John Kenn Mortensen. It is signed by Joshi and Mortensen. This should be up for order next Sunday, July 22."

I couldn't copy the text of the TOC from the email that I received, and it is not yet listed on Centipede's own page, but FYI here are links to graphics showing Contents Vols. 1 and 2.

http://www.centipedepress.com/master...ncontents1.jpg

http://www.centipedepress.com/master...ncontents2.jpg

Re: Robert Aickman
 

I just read about this in the Centipede Press Newsletter. This set looks wonderful. It even has John Kenn Mortensen illustrations! Would love to get these but they are probably too expensive. (he said, looking for things to sell on eBay.)

Re: Robert Aickman
 

"This set looks wonderful. It even has John Kenn Mortensen illustrations!"

I'm also a fan, and loved Mortensen's illustrations for Steve Rasnic Tem's "Deadfall Hotel" (Centipede).

Deadfall Hotel

EDIT: There's a lot of John Kenn Mortensen illustrations on google. Very Goreyesque. I'd like to see what he does with Aickman.

John Kenn Mortensen - Google Search