'Hangman's Hotel And Other Stories' – Guy N. Smith (Black Hill Books)


And so my journey, to read everything that Guy N. Smith has ever written (well, the horror stuff anyway, maybe everything else in time), continues with what I think is the last of his short story collections. I've read 'From the Dark Hours', 'Tales from the Graveyard' and 'Nightmares from the Black Hill'; I managed to finally track down a copy of 'Hangman's Hotel' and here I am, good to go...

Guy N. Smith began writing short stories at the age of 12. Best known for over 100 novels including ‘Night of the Crabs’, its six sequels, and his Sabat psychic detective series, he has penned numerous shorts over the past sixty years.

This selection includes both a new Crabs and a Sabat story. Many have a supernatural theme incorporating the author’s own brand of horror. Guy has experienced the paranormal on several occasions over the years.

Guy N. Smith was born in Staffordshire but later moved with his wife and four children to a remote area of the Shropshire/Welsh border hills where he still lives. Several of his novels are set in this location which inspires themes of werewolves, vampires and other mythical creatures of the dark forest.

I hate feeling like I'm just saying the same old thing when I talk about books here and so I'll always try and find something different to talk about if I can. With some books though, and it's really not the books fault, you can't help it and the bottom line here is that having already read three Guy N. Smith collections, I'm struggling to find anything new to say that you haven't already heard.

But that's okay because as far as I'm concerned, Guy N. Smith was a great storyteller and 'Hangman's Hotel' is full of examples of this. Not every story hit the mark for me and I suspect that's because this collection has more of an emphasis on ghost stories than horror. I prefer the horror myself but if you're into ghost stories then I think you'll be happy with what's on offer here.

Whether that's the reason or not though, there were enough stories here that did hit the spot and these were what took me through an entertaining hour or so (it's a very slim read and Smith clearly likes his short stories to do their job and then step aside for the next one to have a go). The big highlight for me was 'Crabs: The Survivor' because, well... Giant crabs of course :o) I may have had my ups and downs with the series, as a whole, but I've always enjoyed the short stories and this one was no different. Other highlights included a brief excursion into 'Lost World' territory with 'Savage Safari' and 'Zombie Gunfighter', a title that pretty much explains itself and is a lot of fun to read .

Like I said earlier, the collection moves away from pulp horror and into the supernatural and that's where it lost something for me. These tales are still worth the read though as Smith remains the engaging storyteller, knowing exactly when to hit his readers with the unsettling bits (I'm looking at you in particular, 'Winged Evil'...)

'Hangman's Hotel' ended up being a lot of fun to read and whether you're a long term reader of Guy N. Smith's work or not, there's something here for everyone I think. I'm glad I was able to find a copy and finally give it a go.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

‘Deathworlder’ – Victoria Hayward (Black Library)

Image
Before I get into the review proper, thank you Black Library for sending me a copy of ‘Deathworlder’ in return for a fair and honest review. Talking of ‘fair and honest’… There will be loads of the latter but I enjoyed the hell out of ‘Deathworlder’ so… We’ll see how being fair goes ;o) That’s your only warning, lets talk ‘Deathworlder’… Lazulai is a world beyond the brink, its battle against the tyranids all but lost. Once-magnificent cities lie in ruin. The seas boil. The skies crack. Horrific alien bioforms devour. In mere days the planet will be consumed. The 903rd Catachan ‘Night Shrikes’ defend one of the last fortresses still standing. Led by Major Wulf Khan, to die fighting is all that is expected of them… until she is given one last mission: to lead a squad through the apocalypse and recover a piece of archeotech that may doom or deliver the entire Lazulai System. Facing insurmountable odds and zero hope for aid, the major must hold her squad together as they pick their way ...
Read more

‘Hellraiser 3: Hell on Earth’ (1992)

Image
Every time Halloween comes round, I promise myself that I’ll watch more horror films and read more horror fiction; we’re halfway through the month and you can see how that’s going so far… There’s still plenty of October left though so lets see how I do from now until the end of the month ;o) First up is ‘Hellraiser 3’ which I watched last night, mostly because I love it (you can tell how this post is going to go, sorry…) but also because it was cheap on Prime and I’m still just on the wrong side of payday. Here goes… TV reporter Joey Summerskill’s life is changed forever when she witnesses the horrific death of a teenager, torn apart by bloody chains. Joey’s search for a story leads her to the Lament Configuration Box but it has already been opened, waking an old evil from its slumber… Now Pinhead walks the earth once more, creating a new army of Cenobites from the transmuted flesh of his victims; his one desire to reclaim the Box. Even with help from an unexpected source, Joey Summers...
Read more

‘Cursed City’ – C.L. Werner (Black Library)

Image
I always have these vague ‘reading resolutions’, for the New Year and without fail, they all come to absolutely nothing. I still read loads, just none of the books that I meant to… This year is panning out slightly differently and I think I’m going to enjoy it. All the books that were originally ‘out of sight, out of mind’, in the loft at my old place, are now all over my new place and wherever I look, I’m constantly discovering books that I totally forgot I had but now quite fancy reading. Books like ‘Cursed City’ for example… I’m not going to tell you how long ‘Cursed City’ was sat in my loft, lets just say it was long enough for me to totally forget it was there and buy myself another copy… Oh well. I found it on the shelf the other day (only the one copy now) and figured it was way overdue a read, let me tell you about it… Ulfenkarn is a city of nightmares. Its vampiric rulers have indulged their bloodlust in every shadow-clad alley, turning the once-proud metropolis into a charnel...
Read more