tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1685490937231645912.post3291540929937781328..comments2024-03-12T04:18:43.155-07:00Comments on Pandaemonian - Scribbles on The Pan Book of Horror Stories Collection.: The Pan Book of Horror Stories (1959)Ian38018http://www.blogger.com/profile/11341931294270709775noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1685490937231645912.post-51902732064050428272023-07-04T07:43:49.302-07:002023-07-04T07:43:49.302-07:00Re-reading Seabury Quinn's 'The House of H...Re-reading Seabury Quinn's 'The House of Horror' I too was shocked by the casual way De Grandin just shrugged off the Italian child he was rushing through the night to save from diphtheria. It put me in mind of a story I read as a youngster, where the hero displayed the same callousness towards a girl he had witnessed being sacrificed. 'She was lost to this world' or some such unsatisfactory explanation for his inaction. I can't find it anywhere but I do wonder if it was another De Grandin story.Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17233014184073325097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1685490937231645912.post-81913987109738548772021-02-09T12:53:39.595-08:002021-02-09T12:53:39.595-08:00My interpretation was that the Zulu woman was Hoar...My interpretation was that the Zulu woman was Hoareb's lover, and that the two children were his. But, due to his racism, he equated the half-breed children as little more than baboons.<br /><br />The Zulu woman's injuries were caused by Hoareb, smashing her jaw with the chair.<br /><br />The doctor, prior to the incident related, was a pragmatic individual with no time for the superstitious medicine of M'Pini. However, M'Pini's ability to call the baboons to avenge the death of the Zulu woman by singing to them, made the doctor realise there was something to the old witch doctors powers after all.<br /><br />At least, that was my interpretation.Ian38018https://www.blogger.com/profile/11341931294270709775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1685490937231645912.post-86775892570053230062021-01-17T06:40:12.036-08:002021-01-17T06:40:12.036-08:00raspberry jam is probably my favourite story from ...raspberry jam is probably my favourite story from this collection, truly powerful stuff. the horror in the museum is another good story, and one which i remember quite well. there is also bram stoker's the squaw, i remember the conclusion but not the man being made into a pocket book.Marc Rhodes-Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01480251911461795036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1685490937231645912.post-3503479674142398562020-12-28T05:35:50.146-08:002020-12-28T05:35:50.146-08:00I must admit, I couldn't understand the ending...I must admit, I couldn't understand the ending of "Serenade for Baboons." Maybe I'm being thick, but why did the doctor suddenly seem to develop respect for the witch doctor? And why did Hoareb seem to think the injured woman's children were baboons?Stuarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08274681942139829422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1685490937231645912.post-52120956377548317862019-02-19T01:08:55.672-08:002019-02-19T01:08:55.672-08:00Hi Thanks for your comments. THITM does, as I thi...Hi Thanks for your comments. THITM does, as I think I stated, not feel quite like a genuine Lovecraft tale - and what you (and Mr Joshi) suggest, does make sense. Reading it, is a fine enough way to spend 20 minutes of ones life though.Ian38018https://www.blogger.com/profile/11341931294270709775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1685490937231645912.post-12028973317266177122019-02-17T01:25:15.198-08:002019-02-17T01:25:15.198-08:00I read this book at the age of 11 and it made a bi...I read this book at the age of 11 and it made a big impact – especially “The Horror in The Museum” which started me on my path to Lovecraft – even though his name wasn’t mentioned here. What fascinated me about that story was this notion of an invented mythology. (Initially I even thought it may have been a genuine old mythology.) <br /><br />Lovecraft authority S T Joshi has said that THITM was actually Lovecraft having a bit of fun with his mythos. Joshi said that, long before Lovecraft’s imitators turned this mythos into a ludicrous overwrought cliché factory, Lovecraft deliberately overdid it here. Of course I had no awareness of this at age 11! <br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01297849349691655118noreply@blogger.com