Discovering Scarfolk

Richard Littler
Ebury Press

Like half the internet I've been regularly tuning into the twisted wonderfulness of Littler's Scarfolk blog.  It's a series of snippets of life in the titular 'town in the North West of England that did not progress beyond 1979'.  It is a fabulously funny satire on an era in British life that quite frankly was twisted, terrifying and definitely out to get you.

The tantalising prospect of a real world dead tree version of the blog has been gestating for a while now and it's eventual arrival was greeted with much excitement.

Dutifully I trotted down to the only bookshop in my little city to grab a copy and couldn't find it.  Where was the nice big art book showing off all Littler's mangled, funny and intricate artworks?  Turns out it was by the counter and was the size of a paperback, albeit one with the price tag of an art book.  Oh well, the art still looks good and there's lots to read so what the hell, it's nearly Xmas.

The art is indeed lovely, if a little blurry (possibly deliberately) and it's been placed into a narrative about a man adrift in Scarfolk and searching for his lost sons and therein lies the second problem.  The story feels underdeveloped and often like a teenagers version of a Monty Python script full of slightly embarrassing attempts at offbeat and dadaesque humour.  The narrative isn't a terrible idea and it does provide a fun framing device for the images bu it's just a little, well, forced.

The images though are as fabulous as you could ever hope them to be, full of invention and the darkest of humour and each one is a joy.  What they needed though was for the whole thing to be given the the size and scope of a nice large coffee table art book to allow full appreciation but truthfully, in that books absence, this one will definitely do.

For more information you know what to do.

Grandville: Noel

Bryan Talbot
Jonathon Cape

The fourth volume of Talbot's wonderful anthropomorphic steampunk tale (you can read our reviews of the other three here) of the badger copper Detective  Inspector LeBrock has him once again heading off to Grandville (Paris) to investigate the disappearance of his housekeepers niece who has fallen under the influence of a charismatic unicorn cult leader.  Once there he crosses paths with his lover Billie with life changing results, a French academic with an interest in the true face (or should that say species) of Christ and a doughface (human) private detective named Chance Lucas who is also on the trail of the cult leader.

As seems to always be the case since the death of the lion Emperor Napoleon XII in the first volume, Grandville is in turmoil as the humans make a bid for equality (lead by two familiar Gallic, mustachioed figures - see below) and the cult makes a move to insert itself into the tumultuous political fabric.

As ever it's a rollicking good tale layered with beautiful art.  A joy to read and, with the final volume another two years away, one to savour.

The Girl With All The Gifts

M.R. Carey
Orbit

Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant Parks keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don't like her. She jokes that she won't bite, but they don't laugh.

Over the years I've read more than a few things by Mike Carey.  From his fun run on Hellblazer through Lucifer, Unwritten, various one shots and assorted library rentals to his 5 Felix Castor novels.  For the most part they are well worth reading I do have a real preference for his sci-fi / horror work to his superhero stuff (which pretty much applies across the board for me). So, when I heard about this new novel I was tentatively intrigued.

As much as I enjoyed the Castor books they did feel a little like they were an extension of his work on Hellblazer just with extra added man on penny whistle action and after 5 of them I didn't really want to read another.  So, I had checked up just enough to know that it wasn't part of that series but knew nothing other than that little bit in italics up there ^.  The title and cover image had me thinking that what we had here was a sort of 'Chrysalids' or 'Midwich Cuckoos' sort of thing but on reading it becomes quickly apparent that it's far more of a 'Day of the Triffids' deal.

It tells of Melanie, an unusual girl in unusual circumstances who has lived her short life alternately alone in a cell or strapped to a wheelchair in a classroom until, along with her favourite teacher, two soldiers and her least favourite scientist, she is forced into travelling across a post apocalyptic England.

Melanie is a warm hearted genius, deeply besotted by both learning and Miss Justineau - the only adult who has ever shown her any compassion.  She is unaware of her own history or why she is kept strapped to her chair at gunpoint.  When the circumstances change she becomes capable and savage in equal measures; unsure of the truths being revealed to her but acknowledging,  processing and embracing them.

The other characters are very much stock supporting cast - hard bitten sergeant, nervous recruit, noble teacher and devious scientist - and there very much to provide purpose to Melanie's physical journey and partly her mental one although in many ways the Melanie we end the book with is simply a more experienced version of the one we meet at the start, still a romantic dreamer trying to, if not cram the lid back on Pandora's box, then at least to civilise it's contents.

I'm not entirely convinced I'm in sync with all the gushing plaudits that litter the books cover but it certainly was an engaging read.  It felt like a hark back to the days when British authors seemed to take an inordinate amount of pleasure in ending the world in a multitude of imaginative and unusual ways.  This is, in the opinion of this reviewer at least, a fine thing as I love those books and if you share my feelings then I think this is a journey you'd also enjoy.

Buy it here - The Girl With All The Gifts

Dead of Night (1945)

Ask me what my favourite film is and you're going to get a list and a whole host of qualifying remarks; 'Amelie' because it's beautiful and poignant and lovely and funny. 'Dredd' because it's everything I wanted it to be. 'The Quiet Earth' because it has a crazy man in a dress holding Jesus hostage with a shotgun and I kinda named my record label after it. 'The Warriors' because they had nowhere to run so they came out to play. 'Tremors' because it's a note perfect pastiche of the old creature features. 'The Long Goodbye' because Elliot Gould. 'Singing in the Rain' and 'The Wicker Man' because one is the greatest musical ever made and the other is the most unlikely. And so it goes.

However ask me what my favourite horror movie is and you'll get one categorical answer, 'Dead of Night'.  Don't get me wrong there are others that I absolutely adore; 'Dawn of the Dead', 'An American Werewolf in London' and 'Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell' to name just three but above and beyond them all is 'Dead of Night'.

Made in 1945 by Ealing studios it was the first British horror movie made following the second world war and the British governments ban on making horror movies.  A portmanteau consisting of 5 ghostly stories told by the various party guests at a remote house; stories prompted by the arrival of architect Walter Craig (Mervyn Johns) who reveals that he has experienced this exact event before in a recurring dream.

The 5 tales are of varying seriousness ranging from the frankly woeful golfing story (based on a H.G. Wells tale) through the initially frivolous but ultimately creepy children's party story, the fairly run of the mill bus crash tale (from an E.F. Benson story) with it's great pay off line, the chilling haunted mirror and above and beyond them all Michael Redgrave's turn as a deranged ventriloquist and the fractured psychosis of the movies finale.

It is the most British of movies.  It's filled with crisp accents and jolly, well mannered and thoroughly English people telling their simply ghastly stories and I adore it.

"Just room for one inside, Sir."

Watch it here: http://www.veoh.com/watch/v87902984jRrcN5AB

Buy it here - - UK /  US

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If you enjoy what we do here on Wyrd Britain and would like to help us continue then we would very much welcome a donation towards keeping the blog going - paypal.me/wyrdbritain

The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band

The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band formed in the early 60's and via The Magical Mystery Tour, a residency on the children's television show 'Do Not Adjust Your Set', a series of wilfull and wonderful albums and the one hit single they cemented their place at the heart of all that was eccentric and British at the time.

For those of you only familiar with the pop majesty of Urban Spaceman then the sea side postcard, vaudevillian, dada, pranksterism of the rest of The Bonzo's music may come as a bit of a shock but it's a shock well worth experiencing and this documentary is as good a place as any to start.

Vivian Stanshall: The Canyons Of His Mind



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If you enjoy what we do here on Wyrd Britain and would like to help us continue then we would very much appreciate a donation towards keeping the blog going - paypal.me/wyrdbritain

The Bishop of Hell & other stories

Marjorie Bowen
Wordsworth Editions

Another in the fabulous Wordsworth Editions Tales of Mystery and the Supernatural.  This one is the work of a lady by the name of Gabrielle Margaret Vere Long writing under her most prolific pseudonym Marjorie Bowen in the early 20th century.

The stories here show a writer of singular imagination and the ability to distill her story into a very neat parcel.  These stories tell of dreams ('The Fair Hair of Ambosine'), obsession ('The Crown Derby Plate'), revenge ('Florence Flannery'), greed ('Elsie's Lonely Afternoon'), cruelty ('The Bishop of Hell' & 'The Scoured Silk') and more.

I think it a grave disservice that the lady is not more celebrated as these are a fine selection of excellently crafted tales of the supernatural.

- There are a large number of her short stories and a novel listed for free reading on the following website - 
https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/b/bowen/marjorie/https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/b/bowen/marjorie/

The Day of the Triffids (2009)

After the sheer ridiculousness of the Howard Keel movie and the faithful reproduction of the BBC's glorious 1981 version this new BBC remake attempts to update the story to modern times and falls quite a long way short of the mark.

It keeps the barest of the bones of the original story and around the blindness and the plants it builds the various strands of it's own story including political machinations, media spin, eco-terrorism and a quest for fatherly approval.  Along the way we learn that you can survive a plane crash by hiding in the toilet with some life jackets, nuns are nuts and that Triffid venom cannot penetrate tiny wooden slats.

It is a mess but it's a mess with a bit of a budget so for the most part it looks quite nice.  If it had ditched most of the political and familial faff and focused itself on a story of survival in a destroyed world perhaps it would have been a more enjoyable ride.

Still, I'm a Day of the Triffids fanatic and any version is better than no version so here in all it's dubious glory is (a very lo-fi copy of) the 2009 mini series.
(which you can buy it here -
Day Of The Triffids (Single Disc Edition) - The Complete BBC Series [DVD] [2009] )

Hell's Belles (The Adventures of Brenda and Effie: Book 4)

Paul Magrs
Headline Review

Penny is running away from a life of domestic strife and into mysterious Whitby - where she hopes to find herself. But in her quest for self-discovery, Penny may have stumbled on something far more sinister: the gateway to hell. For Whitby is no ordinary seaside resort, and all that keeps the evil at bay are Brenda and Effie - two very unusual old ladies. When a film crew comes to town to remake the sixties schlock horror movie Get Thee Inside Me, Satan, Brenda and Effie suspect something strange is afoot. Female lead Karla Sorenson is reprising her role and she doesn't look like she's aged a day. Surely that's not possible? Then there are the disturbing rumours surrounding the original movie - a cult classic that is, quite literally, spell-binding. As events spool out of control, Penny's new boss Robert draws her deeper into the movie's peculiar mystery. But can it be stopped before all hell breaks loose?

And so for the fourth time we venture into the hellish environs of Whitby where Brenda and Effie continue their mission to protect the town from evil.

This time a remake of an old Hammer style horror film comes to town along with its vampish star, Karla Sorenson. Brenda has history with her, and with the original movie, but the old memory is not what it was. Soon Sorenson is bewitching the local men whilst the film, at the behest of dark forces, begins to bring both secrets and old acquaintances or into the open.

I wasn't as absorbed by this one as I was with the others but truthfully I don't think it was the book's fault I was just a little preoccupied. It was fun, silly and very much in the spirit of the others in series. Another gem in a series that has been nothing but gems although maybe this time out it's perhaps more of a midget gem from one of Brenda's bags of pick 'n' mix.

Buy it here - Hell's Belles (Brenda 4)

The Phantom Raspberry Blower Of Old London Town

For anyone growing up in the UK during the 1970s and 80s 'The Two Ronnies' show was a TV staple.  Running between 1971 and 1987 the show, featuring the double act of Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett, was a massive and enduring success with audiences of up to 20 million viewers at it's peak.  The show was essentially sketches - tricksy wordplay being a particular favourite (four candles) - and monologues - Corbett's rambling attempts to tell a simple joke - but many of the series also featured a serial story, several episodes of around 9 or 10 minutes each that ran through the series.

Two of these series have stuck with me through the years.  I'll return to the second one sometime in the future but the one I want to show you today was my favourite as a kid, a Jack the Ripper parody called 'The Phantom Raspberry Blower Of Old London Town '.

Presented by 'Chopper Films' and starring amongst others, Vincent Prance, Peter Cushion, Miles Behind, Willy Eckerslike, Lydia Dustbin & Norma Stitz (it was the 1970s). 'The Phantom Raspberry Blower' was written, according to the credits, by 'Spike Milligan and a gentleman'; the gentleman in question being the hugely productive Ronnie Barker.  It tells the story of a Victorian London terrorised by a cloaked and top hatted figure who 'stuns' his upper class victims by 'blowing a raspberry' (making a farting noise (it was the 1970s)) at them.

As was often the case with British comedy of the time it includes some pretty suspect 'humour' (some decidedly dodgy stereotyping at the expense of anyone who isn't a heterosexual white British male)  that leaves a bitter taste on modern palettes.  Spike Milligan's hand in the script is obvious (possibly never more so than in the scenes referred to above) and the sight of two Queen Victoria's skipping hand in hand across a park is pure Milligan and would have been very much at home in any of the Q series.

There are moments that raised a smile and it was interesting to watch the whole thing together for the first time especially as I had no memory at all of how the thing ended. If you're a Spike fan or a Two Ronnies fan it's probably still worth checking out as you'll no doubt be fully aware that things are going to get quite near to your knuckles in a fairly typical display of crass 70s stereotyping and there are a couple of sniggers per episode.  If you're not then I suspect there's little here to change your mind as for the most part it all feels fairly hackneyed, a little bit aimless and with all allowances for the time it was made put aside the casual racism and sexism begins to grate quite quickly.

Here it is though in all it's dubious glory for you to make up your own minds.



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If you enjoy what we do here on Wyrd Britain and would like to help us continue then we would very much welcome a donation towards keeping the blog going - paypal.me/wyrdbritain

Scarlet Traces

Ian Edgington & D'Israeli
Dark Horse Comics

It was the cover of the first of the two Scarlet Traces books that caught my eye.  A Lovely deep mottled green, the blood splattered title, the small blue planet sat neatly within a square frame and most crucially of all the D'Israeli.  That one name meant I was sold but reading the sentence across the top of the cover, 'A murder mystery sequel to H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds' certainly didn't put me off.

I've been a fan of the artist since way back when he drew the Warren Ellis book 'Lazarus Churchyard'.  I'm a sucker for nice cartoony art which is something that delivers in spades and never more so than here.  The writer, Ian Edgington, is someone I've been reading on and off for years now mostly through his work for 2000ad.  He's not someone whose work I seek out but is someone who I generally enjoy when I do find something.

Scarlet Traces

The story in 'Scarlet Traces' takes place 10 years after the events of the classic H.G. Wells novel, 'War of the Worlds'. The after-effects of this war are obvious throughout the course of the story, as alien technology is evident everywhere you turn.

Scarlet Traces is a steampunk romp set some years after the Martian invasion.  It tells the story of Major Robert Autumn and his batman Colour Sergeant Arthur Currie as they investigate Currie's missing niece in a world where the Martian technology left over from the war has been reverse-engineered to make England the most affluent and powerful country in the world.  Their investigaton leads them inevitably to a corruption within this brave new world worse than they could have imagined.

The world, it's technology and it's denizens are rendered beautifully and the story flows effortlessly to it's conclusion.

The War of the Worlds

In the closing years of the nineteenth century, the genteel tranquillity of Victorian England is shattered by the arrival of an invasion force from the red planet-Mars! Methodical and merciless, the Martians are intent on nothing less than the conquest and subjugation of the human race.
Told from the point of view of an ordinary man caught up in the carnage and chaos, we witness firsthand how the then-greatest empire in the world is brought to its knees by the Martians'cool alien intellect and the implacable heat ray!

Following S.T. the pair went the prequel route and told the story that triggered the whole thing.

I'm not a huge fan of adaptations. I much prefer originals but this one is beautifully rendered - have a look at the sheer size of the martian capsule he's managed to convey in this illustration

- and the text has been translated to the comic medium with a delicate, respectful and expert touch.

Wells' original book was a sparse and tightly plotted novel and the adaptation is the same.  There's a lovely continuity between the books that show just how prepped Edgington and D'Israeli  were before embarking on S.T. and the little hints and references to characters featured in the previous book help to tie everything together.

The Great Game

The front line of the War of the Worlds has been taken to the red planet itself! After almost four decades of conflict, the British invasion of Mars has ground into a bloody stalemate. The nation is cracking at the seams, and liberties are being revoked as Prime Minister Spry struggles to maintain order at home while waging war another world away. What does Spry have up his nasty little sleeve? Robert Autumn, aged gentleman adventurer and hero of Scarlet Traces, is determined to find out!

The final volume returns us to future and Britain and it's colonies are fully committed to and thoroughly embroiled in the invasion of Mars.  

Major Autumn,  now much older and in drastically altered circumstances from how we left him, recruits crusading photo journalist Charlotte Hemming to investigate and expose the truth behind the seemingly endless war and the brutal government regime that maintains it.

The scope of this book is considerably wider than it's predecessor and although maybe a little too fast in the telling, probably due to it's limited page count, it is a glorious end to a very satisfying romp to Mars and back again.

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BTW - should you be interested there's also a website dedicated to annotating the references and allusions contained within the series.
https://sites.google.com/site/scarlettracesannotations/home

Doctor Who: Tales of Trenzalore

Various authors
BBC Books

As it had been foretold, the armies of the Universe gathered at Trenzalore. Only one thing stood between the planet and destruction – the Doctor. For nine hundred years, he defended the planet, and the tiny town of Christmas, against the forces that would destroy it.
He never knew how long he could keep the peace. He never knew what creatures would emerge from the snowy night to threaten him next. He knew only that at the end he would die on Trenzalore.
Some of what happened during those terrible years is well documented. But most of it remains shrouded in mystery and darkness.
Until now.
This is a glimpse of just some of the terrors the people faced, the monstrous threats the Doctor defeated. These are the tales of the monsters who found themselves afraid - and of the one man who was not.
(Tales of Trenzalore documents four of the Doctor’s adventures from different periods during the Siege of Trenzalore and the ensuing battle:
Let it Snow by Justin Richards
An Apple a Day by George Mann
Strangers in the Outland by Paul Finch
The Dreaming by Mark Morris) 

Four short tales from the end of the 11th Doctors life and the 900 years he spends deending the town of Christmas.

Justin Richards pits him against the Ice Warriors in a nifty little story of clever word play and the power of sound.  George Mann proves himself a dab hand with the up-beat and perky Eleventh by pitting him and an eager child against the Krynnoids in a nice little tale. Paul Finch, the only author here I hadn't previously read, delivers an action tale against the Autons before finally the book ends with Mark Morris absolutely nailing the Eleventh's voice, mannerisms and idiosyncracies with the arrival of the Mara.

A really quick read - an afternoon - but a fun one.  Not really a book to be savoured but one to be enjoyed as a good time filler.

Conjugal Rights (The Adventures of Brenda and Effie: Book 3)

Paul Magrs
Headline Review

No matter what she tries to do, trouble has a way of finding Brenda. It's hardly surprising with secrets like hers. When her old adversary Mr Danby starts filling the airwaves with his late night phone in show it can only mean one thing - and sure enough best friend Effie soon finds herself up to her neck in it. But that is only the beginning; fate has an even bigger surprise in store. Romance is in the air for Brenda and, do what she will, she cannot deny that she and her man were made for each other - literally. But as usual, Brenda and Effie will face up to whatever dangers come their way with fortitude and grace: even if that means journeying to places beyond their wildest dreams.

This is the third Brenda and Effie and it all kicks off mightily as, thanks to the really rather unpleasant Mrs Claus, Frank's in town and he wants his wife. Brenda's, strong, objections to Frank's insistence on what he sees as his long overdue nuptials sends the two of them quite literally to Hell via a long drop over a large cliff. Effie and Robert are having none of it and soon, with Sheila Manchu in tow, follow her via the Bitches Maw into a Hell that bears an uncanny similarity to the Whitby they'd just left and so, on familiarish ground they soon manage to get back together with Brenda. Things don't necessarily go exactly too well but thanks to Brenda's selflessness the friends, along with Frank and Alucard, escape Hell in a fabulously unorthodox way.

Magrs is a writer with a gloriously silly imagination and the chops to back it up with a series of referential and (ir)reverential stories.

Buy it here - Conjugal Rites (Brenda 3)

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)

There's not been anywhere near enough Peter Cushing in these pages of late so I'm going to put that right with one of his turns as the great detective.

Directed by the great Terence Fisher for Hammer in 1959 it also features André Morell as Doctor Watson, Christopher Lee as Sir Henry Baskerville and John Le Mesurier as Barrymore the butler alongside a host of familiar looking character actors of the time. 

I'm sure most, if not all, of you reading this will be more than a little familiar with the story and for the most part this one sticks closely to the source and what we have is a great story realised beautifully by fantastic actors utterly at home in the roles.

Many years later Cushing returned to play Holmes in the 1968 BBC TV series but this is him at the top of his game fully embracing the chance to play a character he was a fan of and making him his own.

Enjoy


The Hound of the Baskervilles 1959 full movie by ursula-strauss

Something Borrowed (The Adventures of Brenda and Effie: Book 2)

Paul Magrs
Headline Review

Brenda must face her demons, but first she needs to get to the bottom of the sinister goings-on that threaten to overcome an all-too-quiet seaside town.
When poison pen letters start flying around the quiet lanes of Whitby, trouble is in store for Brenda and Effie. And with Jessie the Zombie Womanzee, trips down memory lane and amorous ghoul hunting, literary minded and strangely youthful professors of Icelandic history, as well as a terrifying encounter with bamboo wickerwork gods from the dawn of time, even Brenda’s ample cup is running over. But her most challenging battle is the one she must fight with herself – or, at least, parts of herself…

This is the second in the continuing adventures of Brenda and Effie as they guard Whitby against nefarious goings on.

As with the previous book in the series there are several short tales embedded within the longer story. In this instance though they serve to provide more insight into Brenda's past and present. We are introduced to one of her ex beaus - a monster hunting Cambridge don and Sheila Manchu - wife of a certain aged (and now deceased) oriental criminal mastermind. These two play central roles in the unfolding menace of an ancient alien bamboo god called Goomba who so desperately wants to go home he's putting everyone under a spell.

As with the first it was a good fun read although it was considerably less gung-ho than it's predecessor.

Buy it here -  Something Borrowed (The Brenda and Effie Mysteries Book 2)

Doctor Who: Engines of War

George Mann
BBC Books

"The death of billions is as nothing to us Doctor, if it helps defeat the Daleks."
The Great Time War has raged for centuries, ravaging the universe. Scores of human colony planets are now overrun by Dalek occupation forces. A weary, angry Doctor leads a flotilla of Battle TARDISes against the Dalek stronghold but in the midst of the carnage, the Doctor's TARDIS crashes to a planet below: Moldox.
As the Doctor is trapped in an apocalyptic landscape, Dalek patrols roam amongst the wreckage, rounding up the remaining civilians. But why haven't the Daleks simply killed the humans?
Searching for answers the Doctor meets 'Cinder', a young Dalek hunter. Their struggles to discover the Dalek plan take them from the ruins of Moldox to the halls of Gallifrey, and set in motion a chain of events that will change everything. And everyone.
An epic novel of the Great Time War featuring the War Doctor as played by John Hurt.

I was so excited when I heard about this book. The War Doctor was such an intriguing character and John Hurt brought him to life so perfectly that this was a delicious prospect.  Add into the mix an author whose work I've enjoyed in the past and I was pretty stoked.

It didn't really live up to it's promise.  The book is an enjoyable enough Who tale but, with one exception where he uses the TARDIS as a bullet he is the same Doctor he's always been.  He's meant to be the one that's willing to go to places his other regenerations wouldn't but he just doesn't come across as such; he's too caring, he's too considerate, he's too Doctor.  If anything I kept picturing him as a slightly world weary second Doctor roped into fighting on behalf of the Time Lords prior to his enforced regeneration.  He just seemed, well, nice.

One of the main problems is that the dialogue given him simply doesn't sound like John Hurt.  The man is in many of my favourite films so his voice resonates in my head but - with one exception at the bottom of page 120 - I just can't hear him speaking the words he's given.

I'm not panning it; I enjoyed it.  It's a light and readable Who novel and that's perfectly fine but it isn't the darker hued, battle hardened, grizzly veteran, gravelly grandad one I hoped it would be.