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The 7th Golden Age of Weird Fiction MEGAPACK®: Manly Banister
This volume assembles 20 classic stories, a poem, and 2 essays by Manly Banister, classic author of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. FEAR (essay)
WHY VAMPIRES CAN'T REFLECT (letter)
SATAN'S A WEREWOLF WESTERN
SIX FLIGHTS TO TERROR
CURSED AWAKENING
DEVIL DOG
ROOM WITHOUT WINDOWS
LOUP-GAROU
SONG IN THE THICKET
EENA
THE GREEN THING
CRY WOLF!
THE HAUNT
HYMENEAL (poem)
FEAR
OFFICIAL REPORT
THE SCARLET SAINT, by Manly Banister
THE GREAT ILLUSION
PSI FOR PSURVIVAL
ESCAPE TO EARTH
QUEST
MAGNANTHROPUS
SEED OF ELORASPON If you enjoy this ebook, don't forget to search your favorite ebook store for "Wildside Press Megapack" to see more of the 300+ volumes in this series, covering adventure, historical fiction, mysteries, westerns, ghost stories, science fiction -- and much, much more!
WHY VAMPIRES CAN'T REFLECT (letter)
SATAN'S A WEREWOLF WESTERN
SIX FLIGHTS TO TERROR
CURSED AWAKENING
DEVIL DOG
ROOM WITHOUT WINDOWS
LOUP-GAROU
SONG IN THE THICKET
EENA
THE GREEN THING
CRY WOLF!
THE HAUNT
HYMENEAL (poem)
FEAR
OFFICIAL REPORT
THE SCARLET SAINT, by Manly Banister
THE GREAT ILLUSION
PSI FOR PSURVIVAL
ESCAPE TO EARTH
QUEST
MAGNANTHROPUS
SEED OF ELORASPON If you enjoy this ebook, don't forget to search your favorite ebook store for "Wildside Press Megapack" to see more of the 300+ volumes in this series, covering adventure, historical fiction, mysteries, westerns, ghost stories, science fiction -- and much, much more!
- GenresFictionWeird Fiction
694 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 13, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 12, 2016
I processed the stories in this book for the publisher, although I personally only read the horror stories and none of the science fiction stories. Banister was an odd "also-ran" in the WEIRD TALES arena of the day (1940s) - only really remembered, if at all, for his werewolf stories. This e-book collects all of his extant weird and SF work including some rare and unpublished stuff.
Banister seemed to have a liking for the werewolf as a figure in weird fiction and, without immediate recourse to any actual proof, I'd guess he's one of the earliest writers to focus on the "humanized" lycanthrope, as well as utilizing the idea of a secretive "society" of shape-shifters.
"Cry Wolf" (1950) has a poverty stricken immortal werewolf discovering such a secret society, and also their plans for him. "Eena" (1947) has a wolf bounty hunter discovering an albino wolf cub which transforms into a beautiful young woman (reverse werewolf). Not a bad little story which ends sadly, with a nice fable tone. "Loup-Garou" (1947) is a club story wherein a mysterious stranger tells assembled clubmen a historical story set in old France about an ambitious and unscrupulous young man's rise to governorship and a mysterious naked girl found in the forest. Solid but uninspired (Banister tips his hand a bit too early about the mysterious character). "Satan's Bondage: A Werewolf Western" (1942) also tips its hand too early - this time not only in the subtitle! but by actually naming the isolated town "wereville"! - but how can you dislike a pulp-era story where Satan himself shows up to give the town of werewolves a pep-talk and which features a surprisingly uplifting ending? "Devil Dog" (1945) is an uneven story set in WWII Pacific Theater which has an interesting element involving the use of K-9 troops, but Banister overwrites terribly. Tangentially related is "Cursed Awakening" (1943) (also set in the Pacific Theater) which has a troop of Marines barely holding a jungle island base surprised by a naked girl walking out of the surf. Then it's were-shark time (last survivors of Atlantis) in a story that's mainly more about the "weird" idea than storytelling. Banister has some recurrent tropes (the main character who encounters shape-shifters but is unaware of his own true nature, beautiful naked woman walking out of the wilderness) and much of his pulp-magazine work suffers, oddly enough, from being too compacted relative to the story's ambition - they could have all done with being a bit longer and less rushed.
Some assorted non-werewolf horror stories: "Six Flights To Terror" (1946) has a combat-shocked WWII vet becoming fixated on the decrepit Heatchcliff Hotel (so much so he's haunted by a flickering image of it outside of his apartment window, even though it's located somewhere else in the city) and is essentially "stalked" by it - this story has an odd, unbalanced tone and a nicely nightmarish downer ending. "Song In The Thicket" (1954) has a new suburban home dweller plagued by large puddles and a group of water-spirits who want to marry him off to their Queen Undine. Ambitious but, again, too compacted. In "The Green Thing" (1950) a paranoid short story writer is convinced a lurking monster is out to get him (calls to mind Stephen King's "The Boogeyman"). "The Haunt" (1950) features a crumbling mansion of a town founder, purported to be haunted. This is an atmospheric piece that is a bit overthought, as the plot turns on fictional dynamics of ghost creation and damnation. "Room Without Windows" (1954) has a married couple deeded an old house by an oddball, seedy acquaintance after he disappears - this eventually features Hell's Advertising Department, believe it or not, in some weak dark fantasy.
And, as I said, quite a bit of science fiction and science fantasy (Banister's two novella-length "Magnanthropus" parallel world science fantasies are here as well).
For those interested in the genre writers of the period, or those who have a spare 99 cents to burn!
Banister seemed to have a liking for the werewolf as a figure in weird fiction and, without immediate recourse to any actual proof, I'd guess he's one of the earliest writers to focus on the "humanized" lycanthrope, as well as utilizing the idea of a secretive "society" of shape-shifters.
"Cry Wolf" (1950) has a poverty stricken immortal werewolf discovering such a secret society, and also their plans for him. "Eena" (1947) has a wolf bounty hunter discovering an albino wolf cub which transforms into a beautiful young woman (reverse werewolf). Not a bad little story which ends sadly, with a nice fable tone. "Loup-Garou" (1947) is a club story wherein a mysterious stranger tells assembled clubmen a historical story set in old France about an ambitious and unscrupulous young man's rise to governorship and a mysterious naked girl found in the forest. Solid but uninspired (Banister tips his hand a bit too early about the mysterious character). "Satan's Bondage: A Werewolf Western" (1942) also tips its hand too early - this time not only in the subtitle! but by actually naming the isolated town "wereville"! - but how can you dislike a pulp-era story where Satan himself shows up to give the town of werewolves a pep-talk and which features a surprisingly uplifting ending? "Devil Dog" (1945) is an uneven story set in WWII Pacific Theater which has an interesting element involving the use of K-9 troops, but Banister overwrites terribly. Tangentially related is "Cursed Awakening" (1943) (also set in the Pacific Theater) which has a troop of Marines barely holding a jungle island base surprised by a naked girl walking out of the surf. Then it's were-shark time (last survivors of Atlantis) in a story that's mainly more about the "weird" idea than storytelling. Banister has some recurrent tropes (the main character who encounters shape-shifters but is unaware of his own true nature, beautiful naked woman walking out of the wilderness) and much of his pulp-magazine work suffers, oddly enough, from being too compacted relative to the story's ambition - they could have all done with being a bit longer and less rushed.
Some assorted non-werewolf horror stories: "Six Flights To Terror" (1946) has a combat-shocked WWII vet becoming fixated on the decrepit Heatchcliff Hotel (so much so he's haunted by a flickering image of it outside of his apartment window, even though it's located somewhere else in the city) and is essentially "stalked" by it - this story has an odd, unbalanced tone and a nicely nightmarish downer ending. "Song In The Thicket" (1954) has a new suburban home dweller plagued by large puddles and a group of water-spirits who want to marry him off to their Queen Undine. Ambitious but, again, too compacted. In "The Green Thing" (1950) a paranoid short story writer is convinced a lurking monster is out to get him (calls to mind Stephen King's "The Boogeyman"). "The Haunt" (1950) features a crumbling mansion of a town founder, purported to be haunted. This is an atmospheric piece that is a bit overthought, as the plot turns on fictional dynamics of ghost creation and damnation. "Room Without Windows" (1954) has a married couple deeded an old house by an oddball, seedy acquaintance after he disappears - this eventually features Hell's Advertising Department, believe it or not, in some weak dark fantasy.
And, as I said, quite a bit of science fiction and science fantasy (Banister's two novella-length "Magnanthropus" parallel world science fantasies are here as well).
For those interested in the genre writers of the period, or those who have a spare 99 cents to burn!
January 24, 2019
There's a few gems, and a lot of repetitive stuff.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews