The Modern Grocer, the Untime and Other Horrors

Our reading pick of the week is The Modern Grocer (1921), edited by Charles Lemuel T. Beeching, which includes discussion on how to store your brooms, and the superiority of Calcutta chutneys over those of Bombay or Madras. And we would have much to say on this, except that no one wants to know. So instead we stagger from Jules Verne reborn (The Untime, by Hugh Ashton) to new horrible horror today( by Mark Sheldon; Rich Hawkins, and Lee Franklin), in a quick mention of some of the new books which are piling up over here.

“The origins of the brush industry are shrouded in the mists of antiquity.”

The Modern Grocer Vol IV

The Untime & the Untime Revisited: Two Notebooks of M. Jules Gauthier, Journalist of Paris

We were most fortunate recently to be sent a print copy of Hugh Ashton’s The Untime & The Untime Revisited (j-views Publishing, 2018), two books bound in a single stylish 4” x 6” paperback of almost five hundred pages.

Book 1, The Untime, introduces readers to a mysterious and dangerous state, beyond our powers of conception. In the Paris of the 1890s, Jules Gauthier, a young journalist, enters the Untime with its discoverer, Professor Lamartine. What they find there could be the end of our Universe as we know it. When Lamartine disappears mysteriously, Gauthier, together with Agathe, Lamartine’s daughter, and Lamartine’s rival, Professor Schneider, must brave the terrors of the Untime, journeying through time and space…

And in Book 2, an outbreak of nightmares in Paris, leading to madness of the dreamers, persuades Jules and Agathe that Lamartine is still alive, trapped in the Untime together with monsters intent on taking over our world.

We’ve finished Book One, and thoroughly enjoyed it – it has all the hallmarks and excitement of the classic science-adventure stories of late 19th/early 20th Century literature. Wells, Conan Doyle and Verne might not have objected to being on the same shelf.

In keeping with tradition, Professor Lamartine does of course take eccentricity that one step too far, and with the potential of time and space at his fingertips via the Untime, begins to think that he is destined for greatness (as you do)…

The thick little paperback is a delight to stick in a pocket, but for ease of access you can also get the two books in Kindle format:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07B24TRXV/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_C36iDbMA2E9H0

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B24TRXV/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_A16iDbZ4WAP97

greydogtales talked to Hugh, primarily about his Holmes-related work, last year: http://greydogtales.com/blog/holmes-lichfield-literarian/

1921 Seasoning for 25lb Pork Sausages

White Pepper 5oz

Salt 8oz

Ground Nutmeg quarter oz

Ground Ginger quarter oz

Rubbed Sage quarter oz

Dry Antiseptic 2oz! (What am dry antiseptic?)

The Modern Grocer Vol IV

The Mullets of Madness

We’re rather behind on releases from Crystal Lake Publishing, something we need to amend, but in the meantime they have a brand new novel out by Mark Sheldon, author of Sarah Killian: Serial Killer (For Hire!) (2016). This time Killian returns in The Mullets of Madness.

Have you ever woken one morning with a burning, insatiable desire to go out and kill someone? Sarah Killian, a notoriously foul-mouthed and mean-spirited serial killer for hire, along with her cohort assassin Mary Sue Keller, are back on assignment for the Trusted Hierarchy of Everyday Murderers (T.H.E.M.).

After receiving an ominous warning from a mark-gone-wrong, it becomes clear that Nick Jin—Sarah’s former nemesis—is still at large and singling her out. Sarah and Mary Sue are dispatched to Tennessee to discreetly kill off an accused family of KKK organizers, but their true mission is to lure Nick Jin into a trap. But will Nick—always several steps ahead of T.H.E.M.—see their bait for what it is? One thing is guaranteed: blood will be shed.

In the spirit of Sidney Sheldon, Dean Koontz, and Joss Whedon, The Mullets of Madness is a truly unique blend of horror, suspense and espionage. If you missed the first Sarah Killian book, you can still enjoy this new stand-alone sequel, or pick up volume 1: http://getbook.at/SarahK

There’s even a free Sarah Killian short story eBook for you to enjoy:

On Kindle: http://mybook.to/PreyingMantis

ePub: https://www.draft2digital.com/book/453301

Imported Eggs in 1913

215,799,500 eggs – from fifty five different countries

The Modern Grocer Vol IV

We are interested to note that 183,441,333 eggs were imported in 1910, and would like to know who ate the thirty three eggs picked out as necessary to complete this figure.

Cold Cuts

Author Rich Hawkins, who for some reason still insists on coming from the Southwest of England, is already known for his bleak and often disturbing novels and novellas – such as King Carrion, The Last Plague, and the striking cosmic horror novel Black Star, Black Sun. He delivers apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic chills with a deft hand – astonishingly, it’s three years since we spoke to him about his work: http://greydogtales.com/blog/the-last-writer-an-interview-with-rich-hawkins/

Now he’s completed a new novel, The Cold, due out 22^nd July 2019.

It was an English summers day like any other until the snow began to fall and kept falling. Within hours, the entire country was buried beneath a freezing white blanket. And hidden within the blizzard conditions things began to move and kill and feast.

Seth is one of the few passengers to survive the train crash. Now he and his fellow survivors face a new world of snow, ice and freezing fog, where they will be hunted like prey in the ruins of Great Britain.

They must run.

They must hide.

They must survive THE COLD.

Kindle available for Pre-Order at only 99p in the UK right now:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07TRLP91Q/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_7G6iDb4QXQZ2Q

Or at $1.24 in the States:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TRLP91Q/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_yJ6iDbR3F3WKN

We also believe that Mr Hawkins is fond of cheese…

“The most distinctive Scottish cheese is the Dunlop cheese, a cheese flat in shape and weighing from 30 to 56lb, most excellent for toasting and equally good for table use.”

The Modern Grocer Vol IV

Berserker Barbecue

Lee Franklin is a horror/speculative writer from Yorkshire who has just completed her first full length work – Berserker – Green Hell, coming 12^th July from Hellbound Books. We have a review copy to check out when we get a moment, but in the meantime:

A terrifying debut novel set during the Vietnam War. Australian Lance Corporal Terence ‘Pinny’ Pinfold and his squad find themselves in the midst of the living hell of the Vietnam War. Known as Reapers, their job is to go in after the firefights, collect dog tags and any evidence of war crimes. As each soldier tries to make some sense out of a senseless war, there are more questions than answers as mutilated, butchered bodies are discovered the further to the North they venture. Pinny soon finds himself at the very core of the real war – in a secret underground facility amongst hybrid creatures which belong only in the very worse nightmares. With Pinny’s aboriginal bloodline, the enigmatic Doctor Jacinta Harding believes she has found the perfect specimen… Pinny might survive the war, but he might not save himself.