Lauran Paine – Witches In Fact And Fantasy

Lauran Paine – Witches In Fact And Fantasy (NEL, November 1976: First published in Great Britain by Robert Hale & Co. Ltd 1971)

Jacket design by Terry Griffiths

blurb:

From concepts of haggard old women astride broomsticks to innocent victims of brutal and terrifying witch hunts to harmless folk providing cures and foretelling the future. Lauran Paine has extracted the facts and produced a thoroughly authentic and fascinating account of witchcraft. Extensive research and use of much original material provides the basis for this study on the beliefs and fears, the charms and magic, and the different acts performed by and on witches throughout the ages, throughout the world. Witches in Fact and Fantasy pulls no punches. Often horrifying in its detail, it is always fascinating in its reality. To those who are sceptical about the existence of witches, this book may radically alter their views – and it will undoubtedly intrigue them.

Thanks to Steve Goodwin for alerting us to the existence of this one, and for providing the cover scan!

see also the Witches In Fact And Fantasy thread on the Vault forum

James Moffatt – The Naked Light

James Moffatt – The Naked Light (New English Library, October, 1970)

Blurb:

A Satanic coven meets on the affluent slopes of Beverley Hills. The participants in the abominable rites are the biggest names in Hollywood.

An uninvited guest appears at the height of the drug-inspired orgy – a Mafia killer who really enjoys his work.

The police attempt to solve the enigma of the multiple murder – through a maze of black magic, torture and sudden death. An appalling exposure of the soft underside of Hollywood.

Thanks to Steve Goodwin for the cover scan and blurb.

See also The Naked Light thread on Vault of Evil.

Paperback Fanatic 6: Peter Haining tribute

Justin Marriott (ed.) – Paperback Fanatic 6: Peter Haining Tribute issue (Feb. 2008)

Fanatical Thoughts: Readers letters

From Beyond The Grave: A definitive interview with the legendary Peter Haining in which he reveals the secrets behind the New English Library fiction factory and dishes the dirt on the creation of cult books such as Skinhead, Chopper and Edge.

Haining’s Web of Terror!  Noted genre expert Mike Ashley casts his critical eye over a decade of Haining’s classic horror anthologies.

Sexton Blake and The Guardians!  Andy Boot’s superb exploration of the murky world of Bill Baker’s Press Editorial with a look at cult authors such as Peter Saxon and the highly collected Guardians occult series.

Philip Harbottle’s Vision of Tomorrow!   Read the fascinating inside story on the excellent yet doomed UK SF mag Vision of Tomorrow, as recollected by the editor himself.

Plus brief items on Robert E Howard in UK paperback, a MEWS checklist (and back cover gallery) by Steve Goodwin & Justin Marriott, Mafia pulps.

Phil Smith – The Incredible Melting Man

Phil Smith – The Incredible Melting Man (Nel, 1978)

Blurb:

Three astronauts had returned safely from the Mars landing. Two were dead and Steve West was on the run.

On the run from the quarantine hospital which had been treating him … from the authorities who had to conceal his escape at all costs … from his friend Ted Nelson … and from the dreadful organism which had taken possession of his flesh, turning him into a fiendish nightmare but leaving his mind intact to cringe from the murderous horror he had become.

“What unearthly offspring would grow from the jelly that was once his friend?”

An outrageous rip off of The First Man In Space via Quatermass. Steve West, the “jelly” in question, brutally destroys a nurse and flees the hospital so that he can turn to sludge in peace. Since his exposure to whatever radiation it was that has poisoned his cells, he’s developed a taste for human flesh and blood (unfortunate for him but very rewarding for us) and roams the woods killing people and leaving pools of mucous everywhere.

Naturally, General Parry over at Houston doesn’t want a word of this to come out as “Nothing must interfere with the next phase of the programme”, so Dr. Nelson is ordered to find his friend and return him to the Hospital without anybody finding out that the psycho-killer is not only a blob of slime but … their astronaut.

Joe Petagno

Thanks to Steve Goodwin for the cover scan (1978 edition: above)

Babs Deal – The Crystal Mouse

Babs Deal – The Crystal Mouse (New English Library, 1974)

Blurb

When her husband Howard died Sarah decided to continue living in the new appartment they had bought for their retirement years. She did this knowing hers was the only occupied flat in a vast tower block, a clollection of luxurious but empty flats.

The lonely days that followed were easy to fill, with lunches, telephone calls, visits to the shops and friends. And there were always the memories to keep her company. It was the nights that presented the challenge, the encroaching encirclement of fear. A fear that had its roots in nothing, its structure in trivialities. Yet to Sara it was as real as her life, as her crystal mouse.

The mouse was the prize piece of her crystal collection, her protector over the years. To find it broken one day was just another incident, yet precipitated Sara into that headlong flight into fear ….

Thanks to Steve Goodwin for the covers can and blurb