FORGOTTEN BOOK: A LITTLE LESS THAN KIND

 A Little Less Than Kind by Charlotte Armstrong  (1963)

Hob Cummingham was a large and powerful man:  well-liked, determined, successful, the sort of man who made the world conform to his wishes...married to a beautiful and sensitive woman who loved him, with a handsome and smart son going to Stamford, living in a luxurious mansion that he had designed himself, and the president of a large and very profitable company.  Then Cunningham came down with cancer.  He fought it as best he could, still making all the day-to-day decisions to run his company, but finally he decided to bring in his best friend since childhood, David Crown, a principled widower with adult children, to help him run the company.  As Hob grew weaker, he ceded more and more of the company's management to David, instructing him to run the company after his death in order to provide for his wife Abby, and to train his son Ladd to take over the company if he should want to; Hob wanted Ladd to make his own future and not be forced into running a company if he had other dreams.  Hob also told David, who had dated Abby back in the distant past, that he should marry Abby if that was what she wanted.  Then Hob died.

Although David and Abby both loved their original spouses, they found they still loved and needed each other.  Six months after Hob's death, the two married.  Hob's death had a profound effect on Ladd.  Uncertain whether he actually loved or hated his father, Ladd was resentful of the man who swept in and married his mother so soon after Hob's death.  Also uncertain whether he now loved or hated his mother, he viewed her marriage as a betrayal.  In this replay of Hamlet, Ladd became suspicious of David, who may or may not have engineered his father's early death.  Ladd became obsessed with the idea until one day he found one of his father's old date books, markd up with his father's old short hand notes.  One cryptic entry convinced Ladd that David had murdered Hob.  This compulsion pushed Ladd into unstable country as he became increasingly obsessed with the imagined thought of his fther's murder.  Ladd vowed to avenge his father.

Ladd's actions became more and more erractic as he worked to push David out of his and his mother's life.  David meanwhile was desperate to help his best friend's son and to protect Abby at all costs.  Ladd's single-minded obsession became paramount, closing his mind to the feelings of others. Ladd blithely accused a neightbor of molesting his teen-aged daughter agter she had tried to find out what was bothering him,  Finally, a frustrated Ladd decided that his only recourse was to kill David.  An attempot to purchase a gun failed, but Ladd was able to obtain a switchblade, setting the stge for a vilent showdown.

The paperback edition I read (with a semi-Gothicky cover painting that had nothing to do with the novel) proclaimed Charlotte Armstrong as the "Mistress of Romantic Suspense."  Armstrong, a best-selling author, was more the Queen of Domestic Suspense -- something that set her a bit apart from other top female suspense writers of the time, such as Mary Stewart and Victoria Holt.  Armstrong's writing was powerful and her ability to capture the day-to-day tension between her characters was top notch.  She had a razor-sharp ability to bring suspense into true focus without descending into bambastic overkill.  Armstrong was "One of the few authentic spell-casting witches of modern times," according to Anthony Boucher, a noted champion of her works.  And the New York Telegraph stated, "Charlotte Armstrong is the queen of suspense novelists."

Although she still has many fans, Charlotte Armstrong has become a forgotten writer to the general public since her early death in 1969.  A shame, really.  Her novels, stories, and plays still resonate with the same power and magic it always had.

BEYOND MIDNIGHT: THE EVIL FACE (APRIL 14, 1969)

Beyond Midnight was a South African radio horror anthology series that ran from 1968 to 1970 on Springbok Radio. a nationwide South African radio network that ran from 1950 to 1956.  The show was written, directed, and produced by Michael MaCabe, who was also the man behind the network's popular SF68 program.  Beyond Midnight was created as a replacement series for SF68; where the earlier show concentrated on adapting science fiction stories, Beyond Midnight adapted classic horror stories from such authors as Aymas Northcote, W. W. Jacobs, Amelia B. Edwards, Rosemary Timperley, Henry James, Elizabeth Walter, H. G. Wells,  Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Ray Bradbury, E. Nesbit, Mary Elizabeth Counselman. and A. M. Burrage.  Many of the episodes no longer survive, and those that do have no host or announcer, although it is possible that one was included in the original airings.

"The Evil Face" is based on the A, M. Burrage story "One Who Saw" (originally published in the author's pseudonymous collection Someone in the Room as by "Ex-Private X," 1931).  A mysterious woman keeps making appearances at a small French hotel.  An inquisitive guest tries to make contact with her, despite being discouraged by the staff who know here tragic history.

Ready to have your spine tingled?  Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgvc6U4KdQM

SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: THE COMPENDIUM OF SREM

 "The Compendium of Srem" by F. Paul Wilson  (2014; a Bibliomystery e-Book published by MysteriousPress.com with Open Road Integrated Media)

Seville, Spain, during the time of the Inquisition.  Tomas de Torquemada, the Grand Inquisitor is now eighty years old.  Brother Adelard, a Bendictine half his age, has disturbed his evening rest, bringing with him a strange book.  The book has an odd cover made of an unknown metal and is bound with a type of interlacing hinges never before seen; the pages were extraordinarily thin and opaque, and even though the words were hand-written, each letter was completely uniform , much like with the new Bible that Herr Gutenberg had recently produced.  Torquemada could barely make out the strange etching on the book's metal cover:  Compendio and Srem.  Adelard said then when he looked at the book's cover, the word was Compendium -- in Adelard's native French, and not Torqenada's Spanish.  Adelard said that he had picked up the book from a street vendor, intending to give the volume to Brother Ramiro, the keeper of the monastery's library, simply because the book looked interesting.  That day, as the simple-monded Brother Amaury was sweeping Adelard's cell, he saw the book. pointed to it and said "Berber.  Berber,"  and when looking at the printing within, he repeated "Berber."  Amaury did not have the intelligence to read, but he was able to recognize his native language.  The book presented itself in the native language of whoever was reading it.

That was not all.  The metal cover of the book also had strange images that appear to move; the images varied depending on who was looking at the book.  And the book had 100 pages exactly, but when the hundredth page was turned, there was another, and when that was turned, another; but the book remained at 100 pages because whenever a new page appeared at the end, a page at the beginning would vanish.  When the book was closed, then reopened, the earlier pages would reappear and the book would have its original 100 pages.

The book itself contained a series of short articles, telling of an impossible land of advanced and miraculous science, presumably in a world before the Deluge.  Nowhere in its pages was the mention of God or of the True Faith, nor indeed of any faith.  It told instead of two "entities," one malevolent and one apathetic, and the people of this land worshipping neither, instead just trying to survive the influences of these two entities.

Clearly, the book was evil, sorcerous, heretical.  Torquemada and Adelard, with the aid of Brother Ramiro, tried to destroy the book.  It would not burn, and was not even warm when removed form the ashes of the fire.  An executioner's axe made not a mark on the book, no matter how powerful the blows were given.  Holy water had no effect, nor had the most powerful acids.  A thought was given to bury the book in the deepest portion of the sea, but the book would not sink.

And it was imperative to discover the origin of the book, so that the heretic who had produced the book be consigned to flames.  The vendor who had sold the book to Adelard had purchased the book from a Moorish thief, whom, it turned out, had stolen the book from Asher ben Samuel, a rich converso -- that is, a Jew who had converted to Christianity in order to remain in the city and avoid persecution; ben Samuel had long been suspected of being a converso in name only, while still practicing his original faith, but the Inquisition had not been able to prove this...and ben Samuel was an influential and prominent man in the city.   Asher ben Samuel said that he had purchased the book from an itinerant carpenter, buying the book only because it had been written in Hebrew.  Adelard and Ramiro went to confront the carpenter, but upon seeing them, the carpenter plunged a knife into his own heart.  The carpenter had neither the tools nor the knowledge to produce such a book, thus the trail to the book's origin ended there.

Brother Adelard, who had been a scholar and a historian before the Inquisition, pretended that he was finally able to dissolve the book by using a compbination of powerful acids.  He then hid the book, hoping to preserve its historical value.  His duplicity was discovered and he was jailed, only to die from poisoning, supposedly self-administered.

And what to do with this blasthemous and impossible book?  The grounds of the monastery were divided into three parts -- one part the monastery, one part a convent, and the third part for a lavish residence for King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, who had financed the entire complex.  The king and queen were due to arrive at the royal cloister in a few weeks to spend the summer.  The queen had requested that a patio be built on the north side of the complex that would be shaded in the afternoon.  Torquemada decided that the heretical book be buried deep under the patio, where it would remain for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years, if not forever.  A deep pit was dug by some relapsos, who had been condemed to burn the next day, and the book was buried, then covered with large paving stones to make the patio.  Ramirez and Torquemada were the only ones left alive who knew of the book and its terrible heresy, and the aged Torquemada would soon die.  The book was now lost to the ages.  Or was it?  Was the book actually buried or had it somehow managed to escape?

Much of best-selling author F. Paul Wilson's work involves The Secret History of the World, which began with the first book in his Adversary Cycle, The Keep (1981).  The second book in  that series,  The Tomb (1984), featured a character called Repairman Jack.  Jack proved to be so popular that he went on to a series that totalled sixteen  novels and numerous short stories and novellas, ending with a heavily revised version of the sixth and final book in the Adversary Cycle, Nightworld (original edition 1992; revised edition 2012).  Wilson then produced a trilogy of Young Jack novels, taking place when the character was a boy just beginning to encounter the supernatural forces that followed him through the series; this was followed by the Early Jack trilogy, tracing Jack's origins as a young man in New York City.  Also part of the Sectret History was a historical novel about twentieth century Japan, Black Wind, and the recent ICE trilogy of thrillers.  Recent additions to the Secret History include the novel Signalz, the novella The Last Christmas, the short novel Wardencliffe (which introduces experiments by Nicola Tesla), and Scar-Lip Redux, a Repairman Jack graphic novel.  Clearly F. Paul Wilson is not done with his Secret History -- something that will make his many fans happy.

OVERLOOKED TELEVISION: TOPPER: TOPPER MEETS THE GHOSTS (OCTOBER 9, 1953)

Thorne Smith (1892-1934) made it big with his first novel, following two anecdotal books about a hapless Navy recruit and a book of poetry.  Topper (1926) was a comic supernatural fantasy about two ghosts -- George and Marion Kerby -- whose special mission in the afterlife was to rescue staid banker Cosmo Topper from a drab life.  A sequel, Topper Takes a Trip, was also a success.  The book spawned a series of three movies, the first of which starred Cary Grant and Constance Bennett as the ghosts.  Topper was also an NBC Radio summer replacement series in 1945, and made it to television in 1953, featuring Anne Jeffreys as Marion Kerby, Robert Sterling as George Kerby, and Leo G. Carroll as Cosmo Topper.  Lee Patrick plays Topper's wife Henrietta.  Seventy-eight episodes were aired.  In 1979, Kate Jackson, Andrew Stevens, and Jack Warden starred in a television movie, but it lacked the charm of the original movies and the 1953 television show.

In the first episode, George and Marion Kerby are killed in a skiing accident, as was the alcoholic St. Bernard, Neil.  Three months after the accident, Topper buys their home and discovers that they are haunting the house.  Because he was the one who discovered the ghosts, he remains the only person who can see or hear them.  Just because they are dead doesn't mean that the Kerby's are not fun-loving.

Topper was a popular series, due in part to the on-screen chemistry of Jeffreys and Sterling, who were married in real life, in part due the spot-on performance of Carroll (who would go on to become U.N.C.L.E.'s Mr. Waverley), and in part due to the quality of the writing.  A number of episodes were written by a young guy named Stephen Sondheim.

Let's go back to the beginning and enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRXVnYu2HOA

HYMN TIME

 

Chance McCoy & the Appalachian String Band.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4KJ4lSq8XA

WILD BOY #2 or #11, TAKE YOUR PICK (APRIL-MAY 1951)

 There's a bit of confusion here.  Wild Boy #1, a Ziff-Davis comic book, is given as Wild Boy #10; issue #2 is given as #11; and issue #3 is given as issue #12.  Issue #4 has the correct issue number; the correct issue number is given for the rest of the book's run, ending with issue #15.  This means that the coverissue numbers of two separate issues for #1, #2, and #3 are repeated for #10, #11, and #13.  Also, beginning with issue #8, the books title was changed to Wild Boy of the Congo; and with issue #9, the publisher changed to St. John Publishing.

So who was Wild Boy?  Well, he's the Prince of the Jungle and he has no other name.  Naturally, a comic book Prince of the Jungle has to be white and (optional) have long blonde hair.  Wild Boy is a bit of a misnomer because he is a man, not a boy.  His best friend is Keeto, a native who wears a red shirt and breechcloths.  Keeto has a girlfriend, Lura.  Wild Boy is friends with the good gorillas and various apes.  He works to keep peace among the jungle tribes.  He has a panther named Timba and a falcon names Kaw.  He's pretty strong, can swing through trees, and all-in-all is your typical jungle lord, although perhaps a little on the blah side.  I have no idea what Wild Boy's backstory is, or even if he has one.

In this issue, Wild Boy must go against the evil witch doctor Zabba and fight a maddened gorilla.  In the second story, Wild Boy is with a film crew when they are captured by a tribe of hostile pygmies and a renegade trader named Zarkow.  In the final story, Jogo, the nephew of the chirf of the Kowi's returns and begins working a diamond mine that brings misery to the tribe.

On addition, there's a story featuring jungle guide Joe Barton, who is hired to lead Mr. Parmalee, his daughter Nan, and her fiance Cecil Hathaway into gorilla country.  But Hathaway is a pure-dee sumbitch and proves it on the safari.  It's up to Joe Barton to put him in his place.

Some good artwork by Paul Hodge and a striking cover by Norman Saunders.

Enjoy.

https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=85571&comicpage=&b=i

FORGOTTEN BOOK: WITNESS TO MYSELF

Witness to Myself by Seymour Shubin  (2006)

Alan Benning was a sexually repressed and confused 15-year-old when he happened to run across 13-year-old Shusheela Kapasi while jogging along a beach and woods on Cape Cod.  The girl, young for her age and seemingly mute, had her kit lodge in a branch high above her.  Alan scaled the tree and retreived the kite for her.  Still she said nothing, but only looked him.  On an impulse, he touched her crotch, then slid his hand inside her shorts.  Then she screamed and fought.  Horrified by what he had done and scared of the consequences, he tried to quiet her, but she fell from him and hit her had, and lay on the ground, unmoving.  Alan ran away, afraid that he had killed her.  The guilt and the fear and the uncertainity has haunted him for fifteen years.

Now thirty and a successful lawyer and slated to become the director of a large non-profit charity, Alan's personal life choices have been restricted by the memory of this incident  Recently he has entered into his first longterm relation.  Anna Presiac is an overweaningly insecure LPN who appears to be carryoing as much psychic baggage as Alan, but Alan realizes that he is in love with her.  Anna's need for Alan is evident; she may even love him as much as she claims.  Alan is afraid to take the relationship further because he fears he might be a murderer.  Added to this fear are a few vilent encounters nin Alan's past and his historyt of cruelty when he was a youth.  With a stiff resolve, Alan determines to find out what really happened that Cape Cod day fifteen years ago.

He travels to the smal town where the incident took place.  At the local library he begins to examine the local papers from that time.  His fears are realized.  The girl was dead.  Her body had been found by her father.  For the first time in fifteen years, Alan now has a name for his victim.  The local reports had the girl savagely murdered by a sex maniac.  The case had been kept before the public, in part, because of the efforts of Mack McKinney, a John Walsh-type character whose own daughter had been murdered and who has devoted his life to hunting down child murderers.  McKinney has taken a special interest in the Susheela Kapasi case and has vowed never to give up unitl her murderer is caught.  Alan's interest in the local papers of the time caught the interest of the town's librarian, who notified officials.  A rough police artist sketch of Alan begins to circulate nationawide because of McKinney's interest.

Meanbwhile, Alan's older cousin, who served as Alan's big brother during their youth, is a true crime reporter, with many magazine articles and several books to his credit.  His last book did not sell that well, and he is looking for something spectacular for his next book.  Meanwhile, in Pennsyvania an unsuspected pedophile named Harold Luder was arrested for the brutal murder of a young girl.  Luder confessed to that murder, while admitting to many others,  In at least three of the cases already, police were led to where Luder had disposed of his victims.   Many more of Luder's claims of butchery had yet to be proven; some were suspected of being false confessions.  Eventually, Luder said that he had murdered Susheela Kapasi.  Had Luder really come across the unconscious girl after Alan had fled the scene?  Or was Luder just blowing smoke?  What actually happened fifteen years ago?

Witness to Myself is a well-written, extremely claustrophobic novel of guilt and uncertainty.  Combining noir with modern Greek tragedy with hints of Hitchcock and Cornell Woolrich, Shubin has presented us with a powerful tale that is impossible to put down.

Seymour Shubin (1921-2014) was the author of fifteen books.  His first novel, Anyone's My Name (1953) was a critcally acclaimed bestseller that is still being used in university criminology classes.  The Captain  (1982) was nominated for an Edgar Award.  Many of his novels cover social issues such as police corruption, ederly abuse, the death penalty, and corruption in the pharmaseutical industry.  He has been quoted as saying, "I want the books to say something -- without saying it out loud."