Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
1886 / Audiobook / 123 pages / UK*****
The last decade or so of the 19th century was an abnormally influential period for timeless sci-fi and horror classics, and most of them are a comfortable length as well. Stevenson's gas-lit psychological mad scientist tale with shades of the Ripper is the type of era-defining time capsule you'd normally have to unconvincingly contrive decades later. It does the found footage approach before Dracula too.
Bram Stoker, Dracula1897 / Audiobook / 390 pages / UK
*****
The first four chapters covering Jonathan Harker's Transylvanian troubles make for one of the best openings and one of my favourite things in literature. The rest of the book rarely reaches those heights again, mainly for being extremely drawn-out, but there's still plenty of quaint Victorian values and symbolism to enjoy amid all the nattering.
Charles Addams, Nightcrawlers
**
I was hoping for a lot more Addams Family from this collection, which were presumably used up in his previous five collections, though plenty could qualify as extended family. Other themes include giants, murderers, disgruntled spouses (crosses over with murderers) and good old-fashioned racism. Some are pretty funny when you spot the punchline skulking in the background, some probably made more sense half a century ago, most are groaners. Most interesting was seeing the original Uncle Knick-Knack gag.
Dave Thompson, The Making of The Cure's Disintegration
1996 / Ebook / 72 pages / UK
**
I didn't expect a lot from this kitsch CD-sized book covering one of my favourite albums for want of a more definitive companion, but it was still a letdown. After the composition and recording anecdotes promised by the title, the songs themselves are only given a couple of sentences each that don't bother describing them musically or lyrically, the focus instead being on listing all the obscure single and bootleg releases that would be of interest to the type of obsessive collector who bought this. We end on a rambling interview that would have been more insightful if it wasn't about the next album but one.
****
After the disturbing Arkham Asylum, Morrison's back with another mature and literary Batman that's impressively horrific. Mashing up more sources than I can spot, this dark tale of a Faustian bargain, perverse monks and occult architecture could be getting held back by its famous lead. Strip it down to prose and recast a generic supernatural detective and it might show up on more favourites lists.
