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Dark Mind, Dark Heart
Original anthology with "new, hitherto unpublished work" by numerous masters of the genre.
Contents:
"Under the Horns" (Robert Bloch)
"Come Back, Uncle Ben!" (Joseph Payne Brennan)
"The Church in High Street" (J. Ramsey Campbell) His first published in the Cthulhu Mythos, when he was just 16 years old.
"Hargrave's Fore-edge Book" (Mary Elizabeth Counselman)
"Miss Esperson" (Stephen Grendon - AKA-August Derleth)
"The Habitants of Middle Islet" (William Hope Hodgson)
"The Grey God Passes" (Robert E. Howard)
"The Aquarium" (Carl Jacobi)
"The Man Who Wanted to Be in the Movie" (John Jakes)
"In Memoriam" (David H. Keller)
"Witches' Hollow" (H.P. Lovecraft)
"The Ideal Type" (Frank Mace)
"The Firing-Chamber" (John Metcalfe)
"The Green Vase" (Dennis Roidt)
"Xélucha" (M.P. Shiel)
"The Animals in the Case" (H. Russell Wakefield)
"Caer Sidhi" (George Wetzel)
Contents:
"Under the Horns" (Robert Bloch)
"Come Back, Uncle Ben!" (Joseph Payne Brennan)
"The Church in High Street" (J. Ramsey Campbell) His first published in the Cthulhu Mythos, when he was just 16 years old.
"Hargrave's Fore-edge Book" (Mary Elizabeth Counselman)
"Miss Esperson" (Stephen Grendon - AKA-August Derleth)
"The Habitants of Middle Islet" (William Hope Hodgson)
"The Grey God Passes" (Robert E. Howard)
"The Aquarium" (Carl Jacobi)
"The Man Who Wanted to Be in the Movie" (John Jakes)
"In Memoriam" (David H. Keller)
"Witches' Hollow" (H.P. Lovecraft)
"The Ideal Type" (Frank Mace)
"The Firing-Chamber" (John Metcalfe)
"The Green Vase" (Dennis Roidt)
"Xélucha" (M.P. Shiel)
"The Animals in the Case" (H. Russell Wakefield)
"Caer Sidhi" (George Wetzel)
249 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1962
About the author
August Derleth
796 books308 followersAugust William Derleth was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first book publisher of the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, and for his own contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos and the Cosmic Horror genre, as well as his founding of the publisher Arkham House (which did much to bring supernatural fiction into print in hardcover in the US that had only been readily available in the UK), Derleth was a leading American regional writer of his day, as well as prolific in several other genres, including historical fiction, poetry, detective fiction, science fiction, and biography
A 1938 Guggenheim Fellow, Derleth considered his most serious work to be the ambitious Sac Prairie Saga, a series of fiction, historical fiction, poetry, and non-fiction naturalist works designed to memorialize life in the Wisconsin he knew. Derleth can also be considered a pioneering naturalist and conservationist in his writing
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augus...]
A 1938 Guggenheim Fellow, Derleth considered his most serious work to be the ambitious Sac Prairie Saga, a series of fiction, historical fiction, poetry, and non-fiction naturalist works designed to memorialize life in the Wisconsin he knew. Derleth can also be considered a pioneering naturalist and conservationist in his writing
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augus...]
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 20, 2009
DARK MIND, DARK HEART is one of those classic Derleth-edited Arkham House horror anthologies that collect the cream of the crop of WEIRD TALES-era pulp menace. This one has a LOT of stories collected into a slim little book, and many of them are virtually unknown, so that's an immediate thumbs up from me.
Things kick off with UNDER THE HORNS, a typical story of bloodshed and revenge from Robert Bloch, going through his 'human horrors' phase. It's good, and a lot better than the story that follows it, even though I like some of Joseph Payne Brennan's other stories. COME BACK, UNCLE BEN! is a thinly-veiled rewrite of THE MONKEY'S PAW transferred to rural America. It's a slight, if entertaining little tale.
We move into classic territory with Ramsey Campbell's THE CHURCH IN HIGH STREET. Campbell is one of the best British short story writers of all time and this was his first published work, a Lovecraft pastiche that ticks all the right boxes in a story both tight and compelling and brimming with atmosphere to boot. I can't fault it.
The next couple of stories are products of their time. Mary Elizabeth Counselman's HARGRAVE'S FORE-EDGE BOOK looks at the world of rare book collecting and is blackly comic and often appealing. MISS ESPERSON, written by Derleth himself under his 'Stephen Grendon' pseudonym, is a '30s era story of voodoo in the American South. I found it oddly moving.
Next we have a couple of fine efforts from two of my favourites. William Hope Hodgson, who wrote CARNACKI, THE GHOST FINDER, treats us to THE HABITANTS OF THE MIDDLE ISLET, one of his seafaring horror yarns, this time detailing a deserted ship, ghost faces lurking in the depths and a female spirit with taloned hands. Great themes. Then there's Robert E. Howard with THE GREY GOD PASSES, a story of a gruesome pitched battle in ancient Ireland that pulls no punches with descriptions of entrails splayed across the ground and skulls split to the teeth. This is one of his rarer works and has a novella length to it, also featuring a barbarian hero named Conn. An epic little story of warfare and bloodshed.
Carol Jacobi's THE AQUARIUM is another Lovecraftian one, obvious but with an effective climax, but John Jakes' THE MAN WHO WANTED TO BE IN THE MOVIES I found quite tiresome. By comparison IN MEMORIAM, a virtually unknown story by David H. Keller, is an utterly ghoulish tale of psychological terror and one of the best in the volume.
The anthology goes on. WITCHES' HOLLOW is a supposed story by H. P. Lovecraft, but one which Derleth actually wrote. It's a nice pastiche, very entertaining in fact. The same can't be said of Frank Mace's THE IDEAL TYPE, which is a quite perfunctionary tale that avoids the cliches.
John Metcalfe excels with THE FIRING-CHAMBER, a variant on Wells' THE CONE that boasts fine characterisation and some genuine tragedy. THE GREEN VASE by Dennis Roidt goes back to Lovecraft territory again, but by keeping the menace unseen he makes a tight, compelling and frightening story.
The last three stories are a mixed bag. I hated XELUCHA, M. P. Shiel's purple prose-ridden story of otherworldliness, which is so overwritten that I found it the worst in the collection. Far better is THE ANIMALS IN THE CASE, a Regent's Park-set case study by top horror author H. Russell Wakefield and a true classic detailing the violence of the animal kingdom.
We close with George Wetzel's CAER SIDHI, which takes the cliched diary format so beloved of the genre and details the mysterious events befalling two lighthouse keepers on a remote promontory. I found it an excellent psychological terror yarn.
So, another fine collection of short horror stories from my favourite era of pulp fiction, the early 20th century. What more could one ask for?
Things kick off with UNDER THE HORNS, a typical story of bloodshed and revenge from Robert Bloch, going through his 'human horrors' phase. It's good, and a lot better than the story that follows it, even though I like some of Joseph Payne Brennan's other stories. COME BACK, UNCLE BEN! is a thinly-veiled rewrite of THE MONKEY'S PAW transferred to rural America. It's a slight, if entertaining little tale.
We move into classic territory with Ramsey Campbell's THE CHURCH IN HIGH STREET. Campbell is one of the best British short story writers of all time and this was his first published work, a Lovecraft pastiche that ticks all the right boxes in a story both tight and compelling and brimming with atmosphere to boot. I can't fault it.
The next couple of stories are products of their time. Mary Elizabeth Counselman's HARGRAVE'S FORE-EDGE BOOK looks at the world of rare book collecting and is blackly comic and often appealing. MISS ESPERSON, written by Derleth himself under his 'Stephen Grendon' pseudonym, is a '30s era story of voodoo in the American South. I found it oddly moving.
Next we have a couple of fine efforts from two of my favourites. William Hope Hodgson, who wrote CARNACKI, THE GHOST FINDER, treats us to THE HABITANTS OF THE MIDDLE ISLET, one of his seafaring horror yarns, this time detailing a deserted ship, ghost faces lurking in the depths and a female spirit with taloned hands. Great themes. Then there's Robert E. Howard with THE GREY GOD PASSES, a story of a gruesome pitched battle in ancient Ireland that pulls no punches with descriptions of entrails splayed across the ground and skulls split to the teeth. This is one of his rarer works and has a novella length to it, also featuring a barbarian hero named Conn. An epic little story of warfare and bloodshed.
Carol Jacobi's THE AQUARIUM is another Lovecraftian one, obvious but with an effective climax, but John Jakes' THE MAN WHO WANTED TO BE IN THE MOVIES I found quite tiresome. By comparison IN MEMORIAM, a virtually unknown story by David H. Keller, is an utterly ghoulish tale of psychological terror and one of the best in the volume.
The anthology goes on. WITCHES' HOLLOW is a supposed story by H. P. Lovecraft, but one which Derleth actually wrote. It's a nice pastiche, very entertaining in fact. The same can't be said of Frank Mace's THE IDEAL TYPE, which is a quite perfunctionary tale that avoids the cliches.
John Metcalfe excels with THE FIRING-CHAMBER, a variant on Wells' THE CONE that boasts fine characterisation and some genuine tragedy. THE GREEN VASE by Dennis Roidt goes back to Lovecraft territory again, but by keeping the menace unseen he makes a tight, compelling and frightening story.
The last three stories are a mixed bag. I hated XELUCHA, M. P. Shiel's purple prose-ridden story of otherworldliness, which is so overwritten that I found it the worst in the collection. Far better is THE ANIMALS IN THE CASE, a Regent's Park-set case study by top horror author H. Russell Wakefield and a true classic detailing the violence of the animal kingdom.
We close with George Wetzel's CAER SIDHI, which takes the cliched diary format so beloved of the genre and details the mysterious events befalling two lighthouse keepers on a remote promontory. I found it an excellent psychological terror yarn.
So, another fine collection of short horror stories from my favourite era of pulp fiction, the early 20th century. What more could one ask for?
July 1, 2017
Excellent collection of what Derleth calls 'traditional, old fashioned horror tales'. It's certainly a varied bunch, ranging from the heroic "The Grey God Passes' by Robert E Howard to the Lovecraftian "The Church in High Street' (Ramsey Campbells debut in print I believe). The best story here is Carl Jacobi's 'The Aquarium', a chilling yarn which proved influential on Brian Lumley's later output. Jacobi's original version featured more touches of Lovecraft, with a mention of Cthulhu, later edited out by Derleth. I find the version in this book is actually more effective than the original. Other highlights are the creepy "The Habitants of Middle Islet" by William Hope Hodgson, "The Ideal Type" by Frank Mace and "Come Back, Uncle Ben!" by the always reliable Joseph Payne Brennan.
January 20, 2024
Not my favorite.
April 6, 2022
This collection starts off with a satisfying story by Robert Bloch, author of 'Psycho' and while this is the best of the bunch, most of the stories are well worth the time to read. All of the authors were well-known back when this was published (1962) and most are now deceased, with the exception of Ramsey Campbell, who is still writing and releasing books. These horror stories are not typical of what you read in the genre today. A lot of horror stories today are filled with body horror, blood and sex, with the story sometimes depending on those things rather than atmosphere and a creeping dread readily found in these older stories. It's been interesting reading these authors, who were well-known 60 years ago.
Read
June 17, 20135/4/13: "Under the Horns" by Robert Bloch
5/5/13: "Witch's Hollow" by August Derleth
5/7/13: "Come Back, Uncle Ben!" by Joseph Payne Brennan
5/16/13: "The Aquarium" by Carl Jacobi
5/5/13: "Witch's Hollow" by August Derleth
5/7/13: "Come Back, Uncle Ben!" by Joseph Payne Brennan
5/16/13: "The Aquarium" by Carl Jacobi
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews