All Good Things: Reflections19 The Spectral Times 4 & 5 We Belong Dead 13

Well you've probably been wondering where I have been since my last post. To be honest I have been really very busy and the results of this are that there are several publications to discuss.

First up is Reflections magazine issue 19 (that sold out in a matter of days!) Issue 19 sees the publication of 'A Matter of Life for Death' and this piece is a direct follow-on to my previous published story 'Tear of Blood' in issue 17 and then anthologized in Fresh Blood. The origin of 'A Matter of Life for Death' was a resurrected version of a previously abandoned story titled "The Mating Game". It worked a lot better as the basis for this 'gothic revenge' story-line (as Steven Smith describes it) than as an attempt at an adult (erotica) story-telling!

My next story for issue 20 will be titled simply 'A Ghost Story'

As mentioned in my last blog issue 4 of The Spectral Times, my piece on The Ghosts of Kenegie was published with some amazing feedback . Issue 5 of The Spectral Times  carries my piece on The Ghosts of Trerice Manor. Someone on Facebook commented about M. R. James with regards to this magazine and I offered to do an article for them. So for issue 6 I shall offer them The Ghosts of Pengersick Castle and A Morbid Curiosity: The Art of Montague Rhodes James. Whilst I have been doing this the idea struck me that I am following in the footsteps of William H. Paynter who was a collector of Cornish Myths and Legends, so with that in mind I contacted The Old Cornwall Society and the outcome of that is I can submit 'extended' versions of my research for publication. I have extended my piece on Charlotte Dymond and have submitted that and I have just completed a rewrite of The Ghosts of Kenegie. During my research I was informed about a coat of arms that is currently just being left to rot and I have contacted the owner to see if I can retrieve it and save it as it is an (in my opinion) important piece of Cornish history.

The damaged and rotting coat of arms I am trying to save for future generations.

COMING VERY SOON WE BELONG DEAD 13

Below is the cover to We Belong Dead 13.

It will feature my re-examination of the Karloff/Lugosi classic The Raven. The article will possibly be split between two issues due to its length, and if this is the case, then I envision that The Invisible Ray will follow suit. I am very excited about The Raven, as I believe it is the best thing that I have written - other than Dracula's Daughter, which is taking forever to complete. I did a 40 second trailer to promote the issue & my article but Youtube slapped a copyright infringement on it, so I cannot post it here unfortunately. They did the same with a Kenneth Williams documentary video that I posted, despite it being based upon my work. [In 1998 BBC Radio Cornwall made a  radio documentary based upon my researches into Kenneth Williams' time in Newquay repertory theatre, using both my written and audio material for it: 

[extract]

I decided to see what I had in my audio archive and to upload it - but that's another story!]

I cannot say more about We Belong Dead - but as soon as I know more, then I will update :-)

Return of the Living Dead

This past month has been very busy and very productive. I have been researching Cornish ghost stories and following on from the publication on my piece in The Spectral Times issue three on Charlotte Dymond, I have completed work on The Ghosts of Kenegie Manor and The Ghosts of Trerice Manor. I have prepped and started work on The Ghosts of Pengersick Castle and during my researches came across a ghost story that I had not heard of before, that gave birth to a Victorian parlour poem that has not seen the light of day for one hundred and thirty four years. (The illustration from the poem is above) This will be written after I have completed Pengersick Castle. I'm not saying any more about it until I have completed my research and written the piece.

This is the cover to issue four of The Spectral Times and as I write this, I am smiling from ear to ear as it contains my piece on Kenegie Manor that spans five pages and all but one of my photographs was used. I've held off so as I can post a link to it. It was launched earlier today :-) To read it on line follow the link: http://en.calameo.com/read/002938563ae284d080b2c?authid=GMQjkTViNset

Also launched this week is my brand new promotional video for Spectral Press' The Christmas Ghost Stories of Lawrence Gordon Clark. This new video sits a long side a new review that I have written for the book. This video took simply hours and hours to do as I just could not get it to how I wanted it. My wonderful wife then pointed out my flaw (TY Sam) and once I could see that then the re-editing was simple and effective.

I posted this across all my social media and the wonderful Mark Gatiss re-tweeted me (and I am still thrilled by this fact!) This has caused a lot of people to follow suit and spread the News (TY Mark Gatiss xxx). You can follow me on Twitter @thedoctor67

 Hopefully in the next few weeks I will have an exclusive interview with David Farrant of The Highgate Vampire case of the 1970s. The interview will steer well clear of this and instead look at his life and other cases .... so until next time :-)

The Spectral Times and Up-date

Today (February 21st) is a good day because today The Spectral Times unleashed their new issue - Issue Three Why is this so utterly making my day - well it includes my piece on the Ghost of Charlotte Dymond, whose murder I'm currently re-investigating. As some of you may know The Spectral Times published my review on The Christmas Ghost Stories of Lawrence Gordon Clark in issue Two.

The cover to issue two

The piece on Charlotte Dymond is hopefully the first in a series of articles on Haunted Cornwall :-)

The cover to issue three.

You can read issue Three here by following this link: http://calameo.com/read/0029385633924702953cb?authid=4TW8OCVTsV92

In my previous post I stated that my piece on The Raven would be included in issue 12 of We Belong Dead, but sadly it has now been moved to issue 13. This is cool because it gives me more time to work on Dracula's Daughter, which is taking longer than expected to research and write. I still have something in issue 12, so my 'run' is unbroken. You can get previous issue + issue 12 via links in this add:
And don't forget to follow me on Twitter @thedoctor67

January has been a very busy month for me in terms of writing, as I've said about in a previous blog and things look set to become even more exciting.

Firstly, I have been asked to contribute a regular column for The Spectral Times which I am really excited about. The first piece should be The Body on the Moor: The Ghost of Charlotte Dymond. That will (hopefully) be in issue three. I have ideas for the next three/four pieces lined up. I am still hard at work on my re-investigation into the murder of Charlotte Dymond, but have had to pause as there is information that I need to obtain and that may require a trip to London!

Here is a link to issue two of The Spectral Times that features my review of The Christmas Ghost Stories of Lawrence Gordon Clark: http://en.calameo.com/read/002938563b769d352896d

Hot off the press, so to speak is an interview of myself by author BrianMcKinley:
http://brianpatrickmckinley.wordpress.com/2014/02/04/interview-with-matthew-banks/

This is the second in a series of interviews by Brian with authors that have contributed to the Fresh Blood Anthology

I'm really excited about this as this is the second interview I have done this year with regards to my writing and though both are similar in theme, both add something to my creative process. Also due out any time now is issue Twelve of We Belong Dead which features my piece on Universal's 1935 romp 'The Raven'. Here is the cover

There will be more news as it comes. And don't forget that you can follow me on Twitter @thedoctor67

No Traveler Returns - The Lost Years of Bela Lugosi

Hot off the press (so to speak) is a brand new trailer that I have compiled for Gary D. Rhodes and Bill Kaffenberger's book on Bela Lugosi: No Traveler Returns: The Lost Years of Bela Lugosi 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9Czqke3tcY  Please Watch the trailer

January's a busy Time

Well now the Christmas period is over and the end of January is in sight, it is time to fill you in with what I have been doing.

Firstly, I have been doing some promotional / review work for Spectral Press. In a previous post I posted a review that I had done on their The Christmas Ghost Stories of Lawrence Gordon Clark - he who breathed new life into M R James on the television. At the same time as I was posting a review all through my social media, a new magazine titled The Spectral Times (and no way part of Spectral Press - literally just a coincidence) came into being. Issue Two of Spectral Times has just been released and it contains my review of the LGC book. Here is a link to it http://en.calameo.com/read/002938563b769d352896d

I have just completed a re-write on my informal portrait on Anne Rice - Her Dark and Secret Grace and an interview with Bertena Varney both for possible inclusion in the new volume of Vampire News. You can find out more about Bertena on her web page here: http://bertena.com/

I have also completed an interview with Brian McKinley for his blog. It'll hopefully feature some pictures and I talk about my work in the Fresh Blood vampire anthology. Here is a link to his blog and as soon as the interview is up, I will post it here. http://brianpatrickmckinley.webs.com/

I have also completed the sequel to Tear of Blood - A Matter of Life for Death is set twenty years after the events in Tear of Blood and is another take on the vampire/succubus myth. As always my dear friend Anthony Hogg has unbeknown been an influence on my vampiric tale and has my thanks. You can find out more about Anthony's researches into vampires here: http://thevampirologist.wordpress.com/  and here: http://vamped.org/

I am hoping that Reflections issue 19 will publish it (at time of writing I am awaiting confirmation). Issue 12 of We Belong Dead, which is due out any time now features my re-examination of Universal's 1935 Karloff/Lugosi shocker The Raven. And I'm working on two Charlotte Dymond projects - my full length re-investigation and a feature for Spectral TImes, Re-Examining Dracula's Daughter and a couple of other things.

All in all January has been a very productive month so far

The Christmas Ghost Stories Of Lawrence Gordon Clark Review

The Christmas Ghost Stories of Lawrence Gordon Clark

By Matthew E. Banks, B.A. ©2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQOjACfdXZM

On December 24^th 1971, M R James, the father of the modern ghost story was given a new lease of life when the BBC gave us a new tradition in The Ghost Story for Christmas series. It was a tradition that was to run consecutively for the next few years, with seven dramatizations, five of which were based on  short stories by M R James and directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark.

Many earlier Jamesian telecasts have been lost but those of Lawrence Gordon Clark are not only fondly remembered, they have achieved classic status and rank as the best of British Television amongst its contemporaries. The first of these was The Stalls of Barchester (based on The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral) and starred Robert Hardy, Clive Swift and Thelma Barlow. This was followed on December 24^th 1972 with A Warning to the Curious starring Peter Vaughn and revising his Doctor Black character from Barchester was Clive Swift. December 25^th 1973 saw the broadcast of Lost Hearts, one of James’ most popular stories starring Joseph O’Conor and Susan Richards. December 23^rd 1974 brought The Treasure of Abbot Thomas starring Michael Bryant. Finally on December 23^rd 1975 and written by David Rudkin the BBC brought us their final Jamesian outing in The Ash Tree[1], starring Edward Petherbridge, Preston Lockwood and Barbara Ewing. That was the last of the Jamesian adaptations until 2005’s A View from a Hill.

Clark would later return to Jamesian territory on April 24^th 1979 when he directed and produced for ITV a version of Casting the Runes, adapted by Clive Exton and starring Edward Petherbridge, Jan Francis and Iain Cuthbertson

Now award winning publisher, Spectral Press under their new imprint Spectral Screen is bringing out a three edition celebration of those dramatizations titled The Christmas Ghost Stories of Lawrence Gordon Clark. Edited and with an introduction by film historian Tony Earnshaw and a foreword by Jamesian connoisseur Mark Gatiss (who is writing and directing a new version of The Tractate Middoth for BBC Christmas 2013), the book features all the tales by M R James from which the dramas were adapted, each with a new introduction by Gordon Clark himself.

Each edition offers something more than its predecessor. The paperback (cover above) has Gatiss’ forward, Earnshaw’s introduction, the seven M R James tales: The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral, The Treasure of Abbot Thomas, A Warning to the Curious, The Ash Tree, Casting the Runes and Count Magnus all with exclusive new introductions by Lawrence Gordon Clark and an appendix by Earnshaw of Clarks’ filmography and awards.

The unsigned hardback comes in a dustjacket of the paperback cover and features all of the above. The special features to this volume are a Q & A with Lawrence Gordon Clark with Tony Earnshaw and is illustrated with photographs and chapter heading vignettes by Nick Gucker (The Treasure of Abbot Thomas is above.)  This is strictly limited edition, with a run of 100 copies at £35.00.

But the prized version is the deluxe edition, with a quarter cloth with foil stamping cover and a cloth covered slipcase. The special features to this edition make this one a must: the teleplay of the un-filmed Count Magnus by Basil Copper, Lawrence Gordon Clark’s stage play of Lost Hearts as well as examples of Clark’s story boards. This is a strictly limited edition run of 50 copies, signed by Lawrence Gordon Clark. It is priced at £75.00

It is a beautifully crafted book, with Gatiss’ foreword short and straight to the point.  Tony Earnshaw’s informative introduction in which he recounts how he became friends with Lawrence Gordon Clarke, has championed his work and discusses at length the five dramatizations is insightful and interesting. The six James stories are all introduced by Lawrence Gordon Clark and give an insight into his relationship with each text, for example he states that he chose ‘The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral because it is one of his most intricate and ultimately chilling stories.’  The information here may or may not be known by Jamesian scholars, but it is refreshing and entertaining. Each of the stories has a title heading illustration by Nick Gucker and adds to the Jamesian feel of the book. Also included is a non-Christmas Ghost story ‘Casting the Runes’ which was directed for ITV and the unfilmed ‘Count Magnus.’ There are also three appendices that cover Clark’s career, awards and biographies.

A long time ago, for an Eton Ephemeral I wrote, ‘One dark, bleak, winter’s night, I was indulging in the rare pleasure of an hour of undisturbed reading, comfortably tucked up in bed with a copy of M R James’ classic ghost tale ‘Oh Whistle and I’ll Come to you, My Lad’… Suddenly a noise in the corner of my room broke my complete absorption in the book. The door of my wardrobe swung slowly, ominously open… The words I had been reading suddenly took on a whole new depth of meaning to me:

“The fear of it went nigh to maddening me…”

It is this ‘hidden’ fear that James captures so perfectly and this book, with Clarks’ insights into the making of his ghost stories only adds to the depth of James’ work. It is a must for all connoisseurs of Gordon Clark’s work and a worthy contribution to your M R James collection.

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[1] Stalls of Barchester repeated BBC1 16^th August 1972, BBC2 December 24^th 1995 and on BBC4 on December 26^th 2004

   A Warning to the Curious repeated December 26^th 1992 on BBC2, December 24^th 2004 BBC4, December 20 2005 BBC4

   Lost Hearts repeated BBC2 December 24 1994 and on BBC4 December 19^th 2005

  The Treasure of Abbot Thomas repeated BBC2 December 24^th 1993 and BBC4 December 23^rd 2004

  The Ash Tree repeated December 18^th BBC4 2005

  All are currently available on DVD from BFI.