CHRISTMAS TRAVELOGUE OF TERROR

I just finished reading Edward Parnell's excellent "Ghostland: In Search of a Haunted Country". As the back cover blurbs suggest, it is part travelogue, part history and part grief memoir. Through his colorfully descriptive writing, Mr. Parnell takes us on a road trip along the byways of the British Isles, to the birthplaces and scenes written about by such famous English horror writers as M.R. James, Arthur Machen and Algernon Blackwood. He also trods along the trails of a number of other, lesser known authors, to us Yanks at least.

What is the motivation behind Parnell's desire? Because he, himself is haunted. Haunted by the memories of his Mother, Father and Brother, all who died prematurely of cancer.

This book gives him a chance to reconcile his loss and to put it into context of the many places he had traveled with his family, and especially his brother after, they lost their parents. Along the way, readers are treated to a unique chapter in the history of ghost stories and terror tales.

I was delighted to see a portion of the book published in the Christmas 2019 issue of FORTEAN TIMES. It is from the section that discusses the ghost stories of famous authors that were adapted and televised during Christmastime in the U.K. during the 1970's. They are fondly remembered by many adults who were children back in those times and they have gained a new cult following on YouTube and other outlets in the wake of the "folk horror" genre.

THE ROMANCE OF A MUMMY

The UK-based FORTEAN TIMES continues to be a reliable, regularly-published periodical on Fortean and other strange phenomena. Now that the late-lamented ATLANTIS RISING has slipped beneath the waves, we only have FT and David Hatcher Childress' WORLD EXPLORER remaining on magazine racks to satisfy our paranormal and alt-history appetite. FT also frequently covers topics near and dear to our hearts, as the paranormal and horror films are cousins.

In the December issue of FT appears an article that coincides with the opening of a new Egyptian exhibit at the Saatchi Gallery in London. The article explores the fascination that we have had for the "mysterious" land of Egypt since the opening of King Tutankhamen's tomb by Sir Howard Carter in November 1922. Just 10 years later saw the premier of Universal's THE MUMMY, which firmly place the subject into the realm of fantasy and myth, thanks in large part to Jack Pierce's immaculate makeup recreation. Vengeful mummies have persisted in the cinema ever since.

Mummies were fodder for literature as well. One story concerning the topic was a novel by the Frenchman, Théophile Gautier entitled, "Romance of a Mummy". Gautier (30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) is perhaps best known for his novel of a cross-dressing swords-woman based on a real-life person, MADEMOISELLE DE MAUPIN (1835). His adventure/romance novel of the mummy was first translated into English and published after his death in 1882. Prior to this, he wrote a short story entitled, "The Mummy's Foot", which was translated by Lafcadio Hearn in 1840.

The article shown here traces our interest in the mysterious and magical world of Ancient Egypt and its perpetual hold on our imagination.

Buy FORTEAN TIMES HERE.

H.P. LOVECRAFT WEEK (DAY 4)

"For Lovecraft, history was both the foundation of a culture's sense of identity and a merciless force that revealed that identity for the farce that it was." - James Holloway

In his article from the August 2018 issue of FORTEAN TIMES, author James Holloway proposes that H.P. Lovecraft's writing is infused with the themes of history and archaeology and that the revealing and subsequent knowledge of both ultimately emphasize the truth of mankind's insignificance in relation to the cosmos, as well the pathway to its inevitable destruction.

Heady and insightful, Mr. Holloway uses many examples from Lovecraft's writings to make his point, and after reading this article, it's hard to disagree with him.

But Lovecraft's body of work (including his voluminous letters) has been scrutinized under a literary microscope by many critics and authors, and the collective material that has been produced by the effort uncovers many common themes to his writings, revealing it to be much more complex than the "weird fiction" under which it is generally categorized. The acceptance and understanding of this as a prerequisite will offer a guaranteed richer experience when reading the stories of Lovecraft.

MATTHEW HOPKINS, WITCHFINDER

Used often to describe THE CONQUEROR WORM (UK title: WITCHFINDER GENERAL), the term "disturbing" hits as close to the mark as anything. Bleak, sadistic and fatalistic, Tigon's 1968 film reflects the despair of the human soul when faced with being accused of a witch by someone who has total power over the decision... and the fate of the victim.

Vincent Price plays Matthew Hopkins, Witchfinder (a role that the director originally wanted Donald Pleasance to play), a dark, imposing figure whose duty is to seek out and punish the witches that seem to have sprung up like poisonous mushrooms all over the English countryside. Never has Price been so sinister -- or deadly.

The real Matthew Hopkins was responsible for about 100 witch trials (and subsequent executions). His story is told, along with the behind-the-scenes making of WITCHFINDER GENERAL in the June 2018 issue of FORTEAN TIMES.

THE OCCULT WORLD OF PATRICK McGOOHAN'S 'THE PRISONER'

Back in the seventies, I worked at my friend's father's office machines store just a few blocks from the beach in Santa Monica, CA. "Office machines" in those days meant typewriters and calculators. It was my first sales job and I was eager to please.

My very first customer was on one fine Saturday, when in walked a gentlemen whom I instantly recognized. I spent the next hour or so trying my best to sell this man a portable typewriter that he wanted to take with him "on safari". It was well past lunchtime, my blood sugar was dropping, and I was trying desperately to maintain my poise.

I finally closed the deal, when my customer decided on a Royal portable. I believe the bill came to $100 and change, and he walked away a (I'd hoped) a satisfied customer. The customer's name? Patrick McGoohan!

One of the quirkiest, but engaging television series of all time remains THE PRISONER. The brainchild of actor the aforementioned Patrick McGoohan, each episode of the 17-episode series, shot in the quaint little resort town of Portmeirion Village, Wales, built upon the other to create, by the end, a head-spinning, psychedelic narrative that served up more questions than answers.

In the October 2017 issue of FORTEAN TIMES, author Brian J. Robb "opens up the secret world" that was under the surface of the series. Mr. Robb explores the occult elements of the show that were ever-present but not always recognizable.

OCCULT BIKERS FROM HELL

Of all the movies screened in the late 1960s, EASY RIDER stands out from the pack as emblematic of the times. The iconic still (also made into a popular wall poster) of Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper riding their "hogs", has remained indelible in American pop culture as a symbol of the emerging hippy cult of the "wild and free".

But, beneath this dreamy surface lies the dark world of drugs and violence that exposes the so-called "free spirit" that can come with a cost -- all one has to do is make a big score on the sale of some illegal drugs and then you can do whatever you want. Unfortunately, as seen through the lens of EASY RIDER, the story is another version of dragging a 10-dollar bill through a trailer park to attract its sleazy denizens; this time it's Fonda and Hopper's long hair and motorcycles riding across the American landscape to the music of Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild" that draws out the sleazy denizens and ultimately leads to a violent end.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before the popularity of the biker film fell under the scrutiny of B-movie exploitation filmmakers, and it was South Street Films, an independent production company, that developed the idea of combining bikers with horror films. Not too big of a stretch as both induced various degrees of fright with the American public at the time. So, behind a script by David M. Kaufman and Michel Levesque and director Levesque, WEREWOLVES ON WHEELS was born. Kaufman wrote only two other movie scripts in his brief stint with Hollywood and Levesque plied his trade more often as Art Director, credited in films such as NAKED ANGELS (another biker movie), ILSA, HAREM KEEPER OF THE OIL SHIEKS, and BENEATH THE VALLEY OF THE ULTRA VIXENS.

By all means, a marginal film, WOW was not surprisingly popular with the young crowd. The combination of a werewolf, the occult and biker culture, encapsulated by the excellent movie poster art of Joseph Smith, was all it took for teenagers to flock to the drive-in. THE MONSTER TIMES covered WOW in its August 1973 (#25) issue, and more recently FORTEAN TIMES ran an article on bikers and the occult in its October 2017 issue.

Outlaw Biker culture found its way into mainstream media in the 1970s, due in large part to stories of motorcycles, gangs, girls and violence appearing in the pages of men's adventure magazines. Easy Riders magazine was another outlet that included fiction and pictorials of "biker chicks". Even the bodacious soft-porn star, Uschi Digard got in the act by appearing on the August 1973 cover of Easy Riders and being photographed alongside the custom-built Cinderella Cart.