FOGHEART - Book review

 

FOGHEART

Thomas Tessier

 

I was looking forward to this book by the author of Shockwaves, which was a tour-de-force in depicting an evil person. Published in 1997, Fogheart is a bit of a curate’s egg, with moments of suspense, yet I found the story disjointed.

Oliver’s wife Carrie starts to see the ghost of her long-dead father. Coincidentally, another couple, Charley and Jan, wrestle over messages from their dead daughter. With a mixture of scepticism and desperation, both couples seek enlightenment from the medium Oona, who has a troubled past. Eventually, deceit and murder loom, with hints of madness.

Strange, but it might appeal to fans of the supernatural.

Writing market - Tingle those spines!

Burne-Jones - le vampire - Wikipedia commons

If you enjoy writing spine tingling tales, then this site may be of interest. Spinetinglers of Northern Ireland run a monthly competition, free-to-enter, with cash prizes for the top five stories each month. Open to writers worldwide.

According to the website, the story ‘doesn't have to be macabre and morose; it can be light-hearted or even uplifting. Whether it is filled with ghosts or ghouls, possessions or poltergeists, or merely the suggestion of something supernatural, anything is acceptable. We want you to let your imagination run wild and come up with the story or stories that make our spine tingle.’

Keep your stories under 5,000 words if possible, though they’re unlikely to reject a story they like if it happens to be 5,100 words.

‘Your story can be violent or leaning towards erotica but please nothing too explicit. Anything too gratuitous may be automatically rejected.’

Register on the site (which is of course free) and then login and submit your story. 1st Place receives £100.00 GBP plus guaranteed inclusion into a future printed Spinetinglers Anthology and of course a Certificate. 2nd place receives £50.00, 3rd, 4th and 5th all receive £25.00 each. We have stated in the prize money in pounds - sterling, however if you live outside of the UK you will receive the equivalent to this amount in your local currency.

Winners will receive their prize money within three months of publication.

You can read previous winning stories on the site; the latest, for July, are already there..

Submissions are considered on the 15^th of each month and if received after that date will be considered for the next month.

Spinetinglers, 22 Vestry Road, Ballygowan, Co Down, BT23 6HJ, Northern Ireland.

Website: www.spinetinglers.co.uk

 

The Mind of Edgar Wallace

The other day, I browsed a Spanish bookshop – they stock a wall of books in English – and stumbled upon a series published by Wordsworth – Tales of Mystery and the Supernatural, edited by David Stuart Davies. [I already possess his Wordsworth anthology, The Shadows of Sherlock Holmes (1998)]

So I was really pleased to buy Night Shivers (The ghost stories of J.H. Riddell, Sweeney Todd: or The String of Pearls (1846), and Varney, the Vampire (1845) both serialised penny-dreadful tales by James Malcolm Rymer, and The Casefiles of Mr J.G. Reeder, which comprises two novels, Room 13 (1924) and Terror Keep (1927) and a collection of stories, The Mind of J.G. Reeder (1925), all by Edgar Wallace. Other authors in this series include Sheridan La Fanu, Ambrose Bierce and Rudyard Kipling. See the full list here http://www.wordsworthclassics.com/wordsworth/wordsworth.aspx?id=mystery

Edgar Richard Horatio Wallace (1875-1922) produced 173 books (the majority crime and mystery) and 17 plays. He was the illegitimate son of two actors who passed him on for adoption when he was nine days’ old. A fish porter, George Freeman brought him up with his other ten children. Wallace found out about his past when he was eleven.

In the Boer War he worked for Reuters and South African and London newspapers. He then tried his hand at a mystery novel about four respectable but ruthless vigilantes who find pleasure in administering justice when the law is incapable or unwilling to do so. Alas, no publisher expressed an interested in The Four Just Men, so Wallace founded the Tallis Press and published the novel in 1905. The book was a big success and made his name. He soon became prolific. It is said he dictated a play in four days and a novel over a weekend. Apparently, in the 1920s and 1930s, one in every four books read in Britain was written by Wallace.  He created Sanders of the River, about the adventures of a British commissioner in Africa; The Ringer, an underworld avenger; Derrick Yale, ‘the amazing psychometrical detective’; and Mr J.G. Reeder.

Reeder exhibits brilliant detective work, with a remarkable memory for faces, plus he has the ability to think like a criminal; indeed, he encounters many colourful criminal characters; and Wallace does it all with a slice of humour.

The Reeder character appeared in the 1929 film Red Aces, written and directed by Wallace. Other films followed – Mr Reeder in Room 13 (1938), The Mind of Mr Reeder, and The Missing People (1939). A British TV series The Mind of Mr J.G. Reeder (1969-1971) featured Hugh Burden in the starring role, based on the short stories.

Adventure Stories and Rider Haggard

In March I entered this year’s Rider Haggard Short Story competition run by the Rider Haggard Society. The entry fee was £10 which may have put off many contenders.

There were eight entrants and six were on the short list and received consolation prizes.

As it transpired, I was on the short list but didn’t win first prize.

The winning entry, Look for me in the Mountains, by Maureen Osborne will be published in the quarterly Society Journal. (Of no consequence whatsoever, the title reminded me of another title - Watch for me on the Mountain (1978), a book about Geronimo by Indian born Forrest Carter).

The society’s website is http://www.riderhaggardsociety.org.uk/.

Rider Haggard's first book was published when he was 26 and in the period 1882 to 1890 he published sixteen books, among them five books which became the sensation of his age. These were King Solomon’s Mines, She, Allan Quartermain, Jess and Nada the Lily. Within that same period he also wrote Eric Brighteyes, The World’s Desire and Allan’s Wife. In all, between 1882 and 1924 he had 68 books published (10 of them non-fiction).

To many, Rider Haggard is one of the great fathers of the adventure story, mixing daring, courage, exotic locations, esoteric characters, strong females and supernatural themes.

Now that we’re seeing the emergence of a new adventure hero in Gabriel Hunt (Hard Case Crime publishers), maybe it’s high time that Haggard’s body of work is reappraised.

There are certainly plenty of adventure lovers out there – witness the popularity of Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider. Sadly, the online magazine Blazing Adventures bit the dust, which was a pity. It would be wonderful to think that somebody with financial clout and a love of adventure stories could bring out a magazine featuring just that – imaginative adventure with heroes and heroines doing what they do best, fighting and overcoming evil in all its guises.