Gaslight Digest Friday, October 29 1999 Volume 01 : Number 108


In this issue:


   Re: Lukundoo Weirdness
   Re: Lukundoo Weirdness
   Re: Lukundoo Weirdness
   Re: Lukundoo Weirdness
   [MSG Error sending mail]
   Re: Lukundoo Weirdness
   Re: Lukundoo Weirdness
   Re: Lukundoo Weirdness
   Re: Lukundoo Weirdness
   [MSG Error sending mail]
   Re: Lukundoo Weirdness
   Re: Introduction, and Favorite Ghost Stories
   Re: Introduction, and Favorite Ghost Stories
   Re: Lukundoo Weirdness
   Re: Lukundoo Weirdness
   Re:  Re: Introduction, and Favorite Ghost Stories
   Re: Lukundoo Weirdness
   A&E
   Chat: Alien/s
   Re: Chat: Alien/s
   Re: A&E
   Re: Chat: Alien/s
   Re: Introduction, and Favorite Ghost Stories
   Re: Lukundoo Weirdness
   Today in History -- Oct 29
   Re: Lukundoo Weirdness
   Anybody listen to Morning Edition today?
   Re: Lukundoo Weirdness (Spoiler!)
   Mary's Ghost:  A Pathetic Ballad

-----------------------------THE POSTS-----------------------------

Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 11:52:05 -0400
From: Linda Anderson <lpa1(at)ptdprolog.net>
Subject: Re: Lukundoo Weirdness

At 10:06 AM 10/28/1999 -0500, you wrote:
>>Yes, it is terribly strange, and I'm wondering why the sudden
>>references to New Orleans at the end.  Did I miss an earlier
>>reference?
>
>I went back and read it again (ick!) to be sure.  No, there is no earlier
>reference to N'Awlins.  So what can be made of this story?  Was Stone
>cursed by a voodooienne in New Orleans, only to end up the curse's victim
>in the depths of Africa?  Perhaps Stone's even being in Africa is somewhat
>of a red herring; perhaps the real story lies back in New Orleans, only
>hinted at in those last prophetic phrases spoken by the homunculus.
>
>What a weird tale.  I can just see those little heads arguing with their
>host.  Makes me wonder if the author of the original "Alien" film had read
>this story beforehand.
>
>Athan
>ayc(at)uiuc.edu
============

When I heard that there were two voices heard in the tent I thought "Aha!
The witch doctor who was deposed has found a way to curse the guy and it's
the doctor in the boils that are being cut off."  Besides, the three whites
said the "shrunken heads" all looked like the witch doctor.  Now, how would
they know that if two of them hadn't met the guy?  Did *I* miss something here?

I think the author forgot he was telling a tale of Africa or the editor
screwed up and put the ending of another story on this one.  Totally out of it.


Linda Anderson

===0===



Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 09:20:16 -0700
From: Deborah McMillion Nering <deborah(at)alice.gloaming.com>
Subject: Re: Lukundoo Weirdness

>What was it about Stone, from the little we've been told, that would cause
>a sorceress to invoke such a terrible punishment on him?

I know that the man telling the story obviously wasn't pleased to run
into him again, even in the depths of Africa.

This is the telling remark though:

" This curse is not put on me; it grew out of me, like this horror here."

I couldn't see anything in the story itself that told you why but we
don't always need to know to understand.  It could have been as easy
a misunderstanding as the Kipling story ("Recrudescence of...") where
the man had the misfortune to compliment his servant's son.

Whatever, it certainly takes the vote as one of the worst things to
get though I have to bid, also, in favor of that white fungus disease.

Deborah

Deborah McMillion
deborah(at)gloaming.com
http://www.gloaming.com/deborah.html

===0===



Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 11:25:34 -0500
From: athan chilton <ayc(at)UIUC.EDU>
Subject: Re: Lukundoo Weirdness

>
>     I've yet to see an _Alien_ movie, but I've not been protected from its
>gruesomeness thanks to lax rules about television previews.

I only saw the first one, and it was a shocker--I don't generally go to see
that sort of film, and wasn't prepared for the graphic quality of the
first, nightmarish, hatching scene.  "Lukundoo" made into a film would
probably be just as awful, for the same reasons.

>
>     The movie I was most reminded of was Richard E. Grant's "How to get 
ahead
>in advertising" (1989), one of those grim British comedies that don't sit 
well
>with me.

How so?  I mean, how did it remind you of the above?  I haven't seen it.

>
>     What was it about Stone, from the little we've been told, that would
>cause
>a sorceress to invoke such a terrible punishment on him?
>
>     Are any of the characters significantly named?

Perhaps Stone was named that for a good reason.  And perhaps the nature of
the curse--a creature that tormented and argued with him unto death--was
the result of the manner in which he once treated someone else?  Maybe he
was inhuman, cold, stony, implacably argumentative and disagreeable to
someone who had the power to send his faults back at him...horribly
magnified and personified?

I couldn't really figure out anything about the other names.  I did wonder
if 'Van Rieten' means anything in Dutch or German, whichever it is.

athan
ayc(at)uiuc.edu

===0===



Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 10:07:53 -0700
From: Patricia Teter <PTeter(at)getty.edu>
Subject: Re: Lukundoo Weirdness

Richard's tantalizing message provoked me to read this bizarre tale;
if you have not read it yet, give it a try!  At night, by firelight! :-)
Stephen, you certainly offered up a Very Weird story for us, this
Halloween season! :-)  Thanks!

There are a number of loose ends to this story, which only add
to the mystery of poor Stone.  The reader ends the story wondering
just what happened, and why!  In some respects, this is a very
successful ending, since it leaves the reader hanging on a precipice.

Jim K., thanks for the Halloween sites!

best,
Patricia

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 12:57:13 -0500 (CDT)
From: MISTI Gateway at dsbs32 <postmaster(at)dsbs32.itg.ti.com>
Subject: [MSG Error sending mail]

The MSG system returned the following response when attempting to send the 
attached message:

MSGD537 - TAG=PCRGCDCT ID=MS0A
MSGD711 - Please provide the password to use this MSGid.

- -******** Original Message ********-

MSG         SMLW &
FROM=MS0A ID=A0000000 TAG=PCRGCDCT NONTI=Y

  To: gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA            <gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA>

From: Patricia Teter                    <owner-gaslight(at)mtroyal.ab.ca>

Subj:  Re: Lukundoo Weirdness

+---------------------------------------------------------------+
| This message has an attached file that was sent via FTM. If   |
| the file is not attached to this message, you may use the FTM |
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===0===



Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 10:23:38 -0700
From: Deborah McMillion Nering <deborah(at)alice.gloaming.com>
Subject: Re: Lukundoo Weirdness

> At night, by firelight! :-)

NO!  Not by firelight.  Not if you're outside...not if there's a
tent!  NOT if there's whistling!

Deborah

Deborah McMillion
deborah(at)gloaming.com
http://www.gloaming.com/deborah.html

===0===



Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 12:54:08 -0500
From: athan chilton <ayc(at)UIUC.EDU>
Subject: Re: Lukundoo Weirdness

>NO!  Not by firelight.  Not if you're outside...not if there's a
>tent!  NOT if there's whistling!

Indeed.  Does not this tale give an entirely new meaning to the phrase
'whistling in the dark' as an antidote to fear??

Athan
ayc(at)uiuc.edu

===0===



Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 13:03:11 -0500
From: Michael Cook <michaelcook(at)dellnet.com>
Subject: Re: Lukundoo Weirdness

Patricia Teter [PTeter(at)getty.edu] writes (in part):

>> There are a number of loose ends to this story, which only add to the
mystery of poor Stone.  The reader ends the story wondering just what
happened, and why!  In some respects, this is a very successful ending,
since it leaves the reader hanging on a precipice. <<

Midnight House recently published a collection of White's short fiction
(including "Lukundoo") entitled _The House of the Nightmare_. In the
preface, the editor notes that White claimed that all of his horror stories
resulted from dreams and that, moreover, "he dreamed his stories in logical
narrative sequence and transcribed what he dreamed." Although that last part
may be a little hard to believe, it does seem to at least partly explain the
sometimes disjointed, nightmarish quality of some of White's short stories.

Michael

===0===



Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 11:47:05 -0700
From: Patricia Teter <PTeter(at)getty.edu>
Subject: Re: Lukundoo Weirdness

Michael C. wrote:
<<Midnight House recently published a collection of White's short fiction
(including "Lukundoo") entitled _The House of the Nightmare_. In the
preface, the editor notes that White claimed that all of his horror stories
resulted from dreams and that, moreover, "he dreamed his stories in logical
narrative sequence and transcribed what he dreamed." Although that last part
may be a little hard to believe, it does seem to at least partly explain the
sometimes disjointed, nightmarish quality of some of White's short 
stories.>>

Ah, this makes perfect sense!  There is a very disjointed dream-like
quality to this story.  Thanks, Michael!

Best,
Patricia

===0===



Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 14:41:32 -0500 (CDT)
From: MISTI Gateway at dsbs32 <postmaster(at)dsbs32.itg.ti.com>
Subject: [MSG Error sending mail]

The MSG system returned the following response when attempting to send the 
attached message:

MSGD537 - TAG=FITQBNAF ID=MS0A
MSGD711 - Please provide the password to use this MSGid.

- -******** Original Message ********-

MSG         SMLW &
FROM=MS0A ID=A0000000 TAG=FITQBNAF NONTI=Y

  To: gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA            <gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA>

From: Patricia Teter                    <owner-gaslight(at)mtroyal.ab.ca>

Subj:  Re: Lukundoo Weirdness

+---------------------------------------------------------------+
| This message has an attached file that was sent via FTM. If   |
| the file is not attached to this message, you may use the FTM |
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===0===



Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 15:20:08 -0400
From: Linda Anderson <lpa1(at)ptdprolog.net>
Subject: Re: Lukundoo Weirdness

At 01:03 PM 10/28/1999 -0500, you wrote:
>Patricia Teter [PTeter(at)getty.edu] writes (in part):
>
>>> There are a number of loose ends to this story, which only add to 
the
>mystery of poor Stone.  The reader ends the story wondering just what
>happened, and why!  In some respects, this is a very successful ending,
>since it leaves the reader hanging on a precipice. <<
>
>Midnight House recently published a collection of White's short fiction
>(including "Lukundoo") entitled _The House of the Nightmare_. In the
>preface, the editor notes that White claimed that all of his horror stories
>resulted from dreams and that, moreover, "he dreamed his stories in logical
>narrative sequence and transcribed what he dreamed." Although that last part
>may be a little hard to believe, it does seem to at least partly explain the
>sometimes disjointed, nightmarish quality of some of White's short stories.
>
>Michael
>============

Oh, oops!  That's what I do! <G>  sigh.  nothing new under the sun or moon
as it twere.

Linda Anderson

===0===



Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 16:56:19 -0400
From: Jack Skoda <jskoda(at)sover.net>
Subject: Re: Introduction, and Favorite Ghost Stories

I suppose that I've lurked long enough...

Hi everyone,

My name is Jack Skoda and I am a software engineer by day and an
college student/writer at night.  My daytime career has strung me
all along the east coast of the United States, from government
contractor,
IBM, Newscorp, and finally Lucent.  When I settled in enough to start
working on my degree again I decided to do something I loved rather
that what I was doing at work.

I am in the Adult Degree Program (ADP) at Vermont College.  We
meet once a month during the semester and work on independant
study projects (at least 20 books and 40 pages of finished writing)
This semester I am doing a literature study of 19th century science
fiction.  I stumbled across Gaslight researching Edward Bellamy info
on the net.

I am hoping to get enough spare time to contribute to the list.  I have
always had a soft spot for Victorian literature.  Dickens and Verne are
two of my favorite authors.  I don't know if it qualifies but one of
the scariest things I read was "The Confession of Randolph Carter"
written by H.P. Lovecraft.

Thank you for reading my little intro blurb, I'll try to keep up.  If I
could
impose on any of you would you mind looking over my study bibliography
to see if I've made any glaring omissions of pre-1923 sci-fi writers.  I

won't post it to the group unless a lot of folks are interested.  I
wouldn't
want to be pushy on my first post.


- -- J

===0===



Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 16:27:32 -0500
From: James Rogers <jetan(at)ionet.net>
Subject: Re: Introduction, and Favorite Ghost Stories

At 04:56 PM 10/28/99 -0400, you wrote:
>

>
>Thank you for reading my little intro blurb, I'll try to keep up.  If I
>could
>impose on any of you would you mind looking over my study bibliography
>to see if I've made any glaring omissions of pre-1923 sci-fi writers.  I
>
>won't post it to the group unless a lot of folks are interested.  I
>wouldn't
>want to be pushy on my first post.
>
>
>-- J
>

             Push away. I'd love to see your bibliography.


                            James

===0===



Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 18:54:34 -0700
From: Marta Dawes <smdawes(at)home.com>
Subject: Re: Lukundoo Weirdness

The writer of "Alien", Dan O'Bannon, has said that the inspiration for
the story was "It! The Terror from Beyond Space", a very cheesy but
effectively harrowing B&W movie from 1958.  It only runs about 61
minutes, but it's one of those movies that goes quickly and cleanly
toward the end.  Scared me when I first saw it as a kid in the late
60's.  Dan O'Bannon, by the way, also wrote "Dark Star", an early 70's
scifi cult favorite, and "Lifeforce", a surprisingly Victorian nasty
space vampire story set in the 1980's.

When we saw "Alien" in 1979, the weekend it came out, we had dinner
right before going into the theater because it was our anniversary.
Needless to say, after that hatching scene, I was sick to my stomach all
night.  Really haven't watched the original "Alien" since then because
of that, but I love "Aliens".  Totally different feel than the original,
but just as effective.  I refused to see #3, since it was silly to make
another sequel when #2 had ended so perfectly.  I sat through #4 on
cable, and it was absolutely ridiculous.  Absolutely nothing, so don't
waste your time on the last two.

Marta

athan chilton wrote:
>
> >Yes, it is terribly strange, and I'm wondering why the sudden
> >references to New Orleans at the end.  Did I miss an earlier
> >reference?
>
> I went back and read it again (ick!) to be sure.  No, there is no earlier
> reference to N'Awlins.  So what can be made of this story?  Was Stone
> cursed by a voodooienne in New Orleans, only to end up the curse's victim
> in the depths of Africa?  Perhaps Stone's even being in Africa is somewhat
> of a red herring; perhaps the real story lies back in New Orleans, only
> hinted at in those last prophetic phrases spoken by the homunculus.
>
> What a weird tale.  I can just see those little heads arguing with their
> host.  Makes me wonder if the author of the original "Alien" film had read
> this story beforehand.
>
> Athan
> ayc(at)uiuc.edu

- --
Marta

"The Cemeteries of Omaha"
http://members.xoom.com/martadawes

"The New Twilight Zone"
http://members.xoom.com/newtwilzone

===0===



Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 19:39:17 -0700
From: Marta Dawes <smdawes(at)home.com>
Subject: Re: Lukundoo Weirdness

This also reminds me of "Seed", by Jack Snow, which is just outside of
the Gaslight era, being written around 1946.  A female African explorer
discovers a rare plant in the jungle that is being revered by an
isolated tribe, but falls victim to the high priest when she goes into
areas she shouldn't.  She becomes the next sacrifice to the Flower God,
and the rest of the story is pretty gruesome.

Marta

Deborah McMillion Nering wrote:
>
> >What was it about Stone, from the little we've been told, that would 
cause
> >a sorceress to invoke such a terrible punishment on him?
>
> I know that the man telling the story obviously wasn't pleased to run
> into him again, even in the depths of Africa.
>
> This is the telling remark though:
>
> " This curse is not put on me; it grew out of me, like this horror here."
>
> I couldn't see anything in the story itself that told you why but we
> don't always need to know to understand.  It could have been as easy
> a misunderstanding as the Kipling story ("Recrudescence of...") where
> the man had the misfortune to compliment his servant's son.
>
> Whatever, it certainly takes the vote as one of the worst things to
> get though I have to bid, also, in favor of that white fungus disease.
>
> Deborah
>
> Deborah McMillion
> deborah(at)gloaming.com
> http://www.gloaming.com/deborah.html

- --
Marta

"The Cemeteries of Omaha"
http://members.xoom.com/martadawes

"The New Twilight Zone"
http://members.xoom.com/newtwilzone

===0===



Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 20:45:17 -0400 (EDT)
From: Zozie(at)aol.com
Subject: Re:  Re: Introduction, and Favorite Ghost Stories

In a message dated 10/28/99 10:18:48 PM, you wrote:

<<If I could impose on any of you would you mind looking over my study
bibliography to see if I've made any glaring omissions of pre-1923 sci-fi
writers.  I won't post it to the group unless a lot of folks are interested.
I wouldn't want to be pushy on my first post.>>

Push away.  I'd be interested.

phoebe

Phoebe Wray
zozie(at)aol.com

===0===



Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 20:43:31 -0400
From: Kay Douglas <gwshark(at)erols.com>
Subject: Re: Lukundoo Weirdness

One of the things that I wondered about, while reading "Lukundoo," was how
the story might have been influenced by some of the more horrific accounts
of Victorian explorers in Africa.  There are some fairly grisly details
about diseases, parasites, and so on in just about any of the travel
accounts by Mary Kingsley, Mungo Park, Richard Burton, Henry Stanley, etc.
that were so popular at this time.  Personally, I find some of the real
incidents harder to take than the fiction - Alexandrine Tinn? being left to
die of thirst in the blazing sun after being slashed with sabers, for
example, or Livingston's two faithful servants embalming his body in raw
salt, drying it, and hauling it back on an eight-month trip across the
African continent to Zanzibar.  (Oh, and there's another one whose heart was
removed and buried separately.)

I began to wonder if the "talking heads" theme is more prevalent than I'd
previously suspected.  Modern filmakers clearly haven't neglected this
particular plot twist.  I seem to recall an X-Files show with a man who
shared a body with an evil twin who literally was embedded in his brother,
and then a similar creature (benign) in a science fiction film...  was it
The Fifth Element?  No, wait, I think it had Arnold Schwartzenagger in it,
not Bruce Willis.  I can't say for sure , but it was one of those big-budget
films.   I'm afraid not much made an impression on me other than the
homunculus.

Kay Douglas

===0===



Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 19:54:19 -0700
From: Marta Dawes <smdawes(at)home.com>
Subject: A&E

A&E has been running a 5 part series at 6am all this week called
"Nightmare:  The birth of Victorian Horror", and I wondered if anyone
else had tuned in for it.  Tuesday was Frankenstein, Wednesday Dr.
Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde, Thursday Dracula, and Friday Hound of the
Baskervilles (I missed Monday).  Christopher Frayling is the host and
writer, and it's pretty good.  He uses all sorts of archive info,
location shooting and film clips to build the story behind the writing
of the original stories.

- --
Marta

"The Cemeteries of Omaha"
http://members.xoom.com/martadawes

"The New Twilight Zone"
http://members.xoom.com/newtwilzone

===0===



Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 18:01:32 -0700
From: Deborah McMillion Nering <deborah(at)alice.gloaming.com>
Subject: Chat: Alien/s

>"It! The Terror from Beyond Space"

I remember this!  I remember them having to shut of sections of the
ship and finally had to end up spacing it.  Wow, never saw the tie
in.  If this was the inspiration for the first one I wonder if a
cheesy space vampire movie inspired the second.  I can't remember the
name but the basic plot was, earth ship picks up distress call,
everyone dead but one woman. Rescue.  One by one people start dying
on earth ship till the one woman discovers it is the rescued alien,
she is some kind of vampire.  But the men all fall under her spell.
The one woman takes her on and scratches her, the vampire, a
hemophiliac bleeds to death.  But not till they discover she has
filled their ship hatches with large, gooey, pulsating eggs.  End is
up in the air--I think--can they land?  Will they contaminate Earth,
etc.  Anyone recognize this one?

Marta, after the first shock the second time around isn't the same,
naturally.  If possible rent this on DVD to see the very interesting
outtakes.  Also number 2 on DVD has scenes of the colonists put back
in, essential information that I can't believe ended on a cutting
room floor

>I refused to see #3

It was an insult to the first two, directed by an MTV video director
and looked it.

>I sat through #4 on cable, and it was absolutely ridiculous.

Some credit goes to an interesting idea but it was destroyed--the
writer refused to have anything to do with a possible #5.

Deborah
(who had to comment on this despite the fact that it's removed from
Lucindoo and anything Gaslight...does it count that they used
flamethrowers?)





Deborah McMillion
deborah(at)gloaming.com
http://www.gloaming.com/deborah.html

===0===



Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 20:22:49 -0700
From: Marta Dawes <smdawes(at)home.com>
Subject: Re: Chat: Alien/s

We've got the special edition laserdisc of "Aliens", and I agree that
the scenes they left out were good scenes that should have been left
in.  The laserdisc also has tons more of script changes and stills,
storyboards and bios, all sorts of things pertaining to the film.
Initially, they were going to make the aliens very wasplike.  I know
it's off topic, and I apologize.

Marta

Deborah McMillion Nering wrote:
>
> >"It! The Terror from Beyond Space"
>
> I remember this!  I remember them having to shut of sections of the
> ship and finally had to end up spacing it.  Wow, never saw the tie
> in.  If this was the inspiration for the first one I wonder if a
> cheesy space vampire movie inspired the second.  I can't remember the
> name but the basic plot was, earth ship picks up distress call,
> everyone dead but one woman. Rescue.  One by one people start dying
> on earth ship till the one woman discovers it is the rescued alien,
> she is some kind of vampire.  But the men all fall under her spell.
> The one woman takes her on and scratches her, the vampire, a
> hemophiliac bleeds to death.  But not till they discover she has
> filled their ship hatches with large, gooey, pulsating eggs.  End is
> up in the air--I think--can they land?  Will they contaminate Earth,
> etc.  Anyone recognize this one?
>
> Marta, after the first shock the second time around isn't the same,
> naturally.  If possible rent this on DVD to see the very interesting
> outtakes.  Also number 2 on DVD has scenes of the colonists put back
> in, essential information that I can't believe ended on a cutting
> room floor
>
> >I refused to see #3
>
> It was an insult to the first two, directed by an MTV video director
> and looked it.
>
> >I sat through #4 on cable, and it was absolutely ridiculous.
>
> Some credit goes to an interesting idea but it was destroyed--the
> writer refused to have anything to do with a possible #5.
>
> Deborah
> (who had to comment on this despite the fact that it's removed from
> Lucindoo and anything Gaslight...does it count that they used
> flamethrowers?)
>
>
>
> Deborah McMillion
> deborah(at)gloaming.com
> http://www.gloaming.com/deborah.html

- --
Marta

"The Cemeteries of Omaha"
http://members.xoom.com/martadawes

"The New Twilight Zone"
http://members.xoom.com/newtwilzone

===0===



Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 18:33:24 -0700
From: Deborah McMillion Nering <deborah(at)alice.gloaming.com>
Subject: Re: A&E

>"Nightmare:  The birth of Victorian Horror", and I wondered if anyone
>else had tuned in for it.  Tuesday was Frankenstein, Wednesday Dr.
>Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde, Thursday Dracula, and Friday Hound of the
>Baskervilles (I missed Monday).  Christopher Frayling is the host and
writer

Yes, this is a repeat of this series.  There were quite a few glaring
innaccuracies (don't get me started on the horrible errors about
Rossetti being at the exhumation of his wife and her turning to dust,
etc.).  You can probably find our comments on this in Gaslight
archives?

Deborah

Deborah McMillion
deborah(at)gloaming.com
http://www.gloaming.com/deborah.html

===0===



Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 21:25:24 -0500
From: James Rogers <jetan(at)ionet.net>
Subject: Re: Chat: Alien/s

At 06:01 PM 10/28/99 -0700, Deborah McMillion wrote:
>I can't remember the
>name but the basic plot was, earth ship picks up distress call,
>everyone dead but one woman. Rescue.  One by one people start dying
>on earth ship till the one woman discovers it is the rescued alien,
>she is some kind of vampire.  But the men all fall under her spell.
>The one woman takes her on and scratches her, the vampire, a
>hemophiliac bleeds to death.  But not till they discover she has
>filled their ship hatches with large, gooey, pulsating eggs.  End is
>up in the air--I think--can they land?  Will they contaminate Earth,
>etc.  Anyone recognize this one?
>


      I saw this as a kid. I saw it under the title of _Planet Of Vampires_
but according to the IMDB it was released under several names, including _
Queen Of Blood_. It had a small cameo by Basil Rathbone and I think was one
of his last appearances on film ( He was a scientist who examined the gooey
eggs at the end). Though I don't recall them, it also featured Forry
Ackerman (my childhood hero) and John Saxon and Dennis Hopper. As I recall,
though memory can pull funny tricks, it was pretty good.

      The IMDB also says that this used a lot footage from a Soviet SF film
which may be one of the most "sampled" flicks in film history. Roger Corman
somehow got the rights and repackaged the thing over and over again....I
fondly remember it in a form called _Women Of The Prehistoric Planet_ as
well as under a couple of different titles and edits. No kidding, this was
a good flick, with quite credible effects. In fact, I'm sure the effects
were the reason the frugal Mr. Corman acquired the rights in the first place.


                             James

===0===



Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 19:39:58 -0700
From: Jack Kolb <kolb(at)UCLA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Introduction, and Favorite Ghost Stories

>>Thank you for reading my little intro blurb, I'll try to keep up.  If I
>>could
>>impose on any of you would you mind looking over my study bibliography
>>to see if I've made any glaring omissions of pre-1923 sci-fi writers.  I
>>
>>won't post it to the group unless a lot of folks are interested.  I
>>wouldn't
>>want to be pushy on my first post.
>>
>>-- J
>
>             Push away. I'd love to see your bibliography.
>
>                            James

Me too.

Jack Kolb
Dept. of English, UCLA
kolb(at)ucla.edu

===0===



Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 23:00:51 -0400 (EDT)
From: Gibson7264(at)aol.com
Subject: Re: Lukundoo Weirdness

Where do I find this Lukundoo story ? It sounds interesting , I would like to
read it.

===0===



Date: Fri, 29 Oct 1999 00:48:30 -0400 (EDT)
From: Robert Champ <rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu>
Subject: Today in History -- Oct 29

Interesting things that happened October 29th:

Birthdays on this date:
  In 1873 Guillermo Valencia, Colombian poet, translator, statesman
  In 1875 Marie, queen consort of Ferdinand I of Rumania
  In 1884 Bela Lugosi, horror actor (Dracula, Body Snatcher)
  In 1891 Fanny Brice, singing comedienne (Ziegeld Follies, Baby Snooks)
  In 1897 Paul Joseph Goebbels, Nazi propagandist
  In 1910 Alfred J. Ayer, English Neopositivist philosopher, logician
  In 1921 Bill Mauldin, political cartoonist

Events worth noting:
  In 1811 First Ohio River steamboat leaves Pittsburgh for New Orleans.
  In 1833 First College Fraternity founded.
  In 1863 International Committee of the Red Cross is founded (Nobel 1917,
          1944, 1963).
  In 1894 First election of the Hawaiian Republic.
  In 1901 Leon Czolcosz, assassin of President McKinley, is executed.
  In 1904 The first intercity trucking service goes into business with a route
          between Colorado City and Snyder, Texas.
  In 1923 Turkey is proclaimed to have a republican government.
  In 1929 "Black Tuesday", the Stock Market crash.

===0===



Date: Fri, 29 Oct 1999 08:28:04 -0500
From: athan chilton <ayc(at)UIUC.EDU>
Subject: Re: Lukundoo Weirdness

>
>I began to wonder if the "talking heads" theme is more prevalent than I'd
>previously suspected.  Modern filmakers clearly haven't neglected this
>particular plot twist.  I seem to recall an X-Files show with a man who
>shared a body with an evil twin who literally was embedded in his brother,

Stephen King did this sort of thing w/ "The Dark Half" which was pretty
horrific; involved a fetal twin part of whom was embedded in his brother's
brain.

athan
ayc(at)uiuc.edu

===0===



Date: Fri, 29 Oct 1999 08:38:23 -0500
From: Chris Carlisle <CarlislC(at)psychiatry1.wustl.edu>
Subject: Anybody listen to Morning Edition today?

Christopher Lee was interviewed, and said that he kept asking
the Hammer people why they couldn't just use Stoker's own
words in the Dracula films.  He also claimed to have been the
only cast member to have read the book in the first Dracula
movie he made.

Of course, nobody has ever really filmed Dracula, not as
Stoker wrote it  Sigh.

Kiwi

===0===



Date: Fri, 29 Oct 1999 09:43:43 -0400
From: Jack Skoda <jskoda(at)sover.net>
Subject: Re: Lukundoo Weirdness (Spoiler!)

Hi all,


The conents of this email message contains spoilers, if you
have not read Lukundoo and do not wish to be exposed to
the plot, please stop reading this note now.








Lukundoo reminds me of Steven King's "The Dark Half."  That
evil twin growing inside of you plot is rather scary.  Comparing
this story to "Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" there seems to be
a similar approach to the idea of ridding oneself of personal
demons.  The heads are easily removed from Stone with a razor
and Hyde is easily dispatched with the potion.  As the
story goes on Stone and Jekyll are both overcome by their
afflictions.  Reflecting on "Frankenstein" for a moment
I again see the product of Victor's personal demon, i.e. the monster
returning with a vengance toward the end of the story.

Is this a common theme of the times?  Personal demons once given
some small measure of liberty, rise up to consume the person?

- --J

===0===



Date: Fri, 29 Oct 1999 09:45:15 -0400 (EDT)
From: LoracLegid(at)aol.com
Subject: Mary's Ghost:  A Pathetic Ballad

Thomas Hood (1799-1845) was one of the lessor known Romantic poets-- a poet
of social protest.  His poems range from comic pieces in a punning vein to
romantic verse.  His writings appeared in a number of journals and
miscellanies and were widely read.  W. Jerrold edited THE POETICAL WORKS
(1906) and also wrote a biography of Hood (1907).  MARY'S GHOST was posted on
VICTORIA recently and I really enjoyed it.  Another THE SONG OF THE SHIRT was
first printed in the Christmas issue of Punch, 1843.


MARY'S GHOST:  A PATHETIC BALLAD


'Twas in the middle of the night,

  To sleep young William tried;

When Mary's Ghost came stealing in,

  And stood at his bedside.


O William dear!  O William dear!

  My rest eternal ceases;

Alas! my everlasting peace

  Is broken into pieces.


I thought the last of all my cares

  Would end with my last minute;

But though I went to my long home,

  I didn't stay long in it.


The body-snatchers they have come,

  And made a snatch at me;

It's very hard them kind of men

  Won't let a body be!


You thought that I was buried deep,

  Quite decent like and chary,

But from her grave in Mary-bone

  They've come and boned your Mary.


The arm that used to take your arm

  Is took to Dr. Vyse;

And both my legs are gone to walk

  The hospital at Guy's.


I vowed that you should have my hand

  But fate gives us denial;

You'll find it there, at Dr. Bell's,

  In spirits and a vial.


As for my feet, the little feet

  You used to call so pretty,

There's one, I know in Bedford Row,

  The t'other's in the City.


I can't tell where my head is gone,

  But Dr. Carpue can;

As for my trunk, it's all packed up,

  To go by Pickford's van.


I wish you'd go to Mr. P.,

  And save me such a ride;

I don't half like the outside place,

  They've took for my inside.


The cock it crows--I must be gone!

  My William, we must part!

But I'll be yours in death, although

  Sir Astley has my heart.


Don't go to weep upon my grave,

  And think that there I be;

They haven't left an atom there

  Of my anatomie.


            ---Thomas Hood

Sent by Carol Digel
LoracLegid(at)aol.com
www.focdarley.org

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End of Gaslight Digest V1 #108
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