One of Fritz Leiber's scariest - Midnight in the Mirror World
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ต.ค. 2024
- One of my favorite scary stories from the brilliant sci-fi / horror writer Fritz Leiber: Midnight in the Mirror World, from 1969's Night Monsters. I was inspired to do this video after watching Richard at VintageSF discuss the Best of Fritz Leiber with guests. Watch that video here: • Stories to keep you aw...
Leiber was fantastic. One of the most underappreciated writers of that seminal generation.
Thank you for the corrected pronunciation. I've been mispronouncing his name for six (!) decades.
I’m sticking with the original myself.
It's definitely taking some getting used to!
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series with Jeff Jones cover art was spectacular.
I`ve read this , but it was many years ago , I was in my teens , I`m now in my late 6o`s ! it is a good story !
Such a great story!
Lieber's "Conjure Wife" was adapted into an entertaining British horror movie, Night of the Eagle/Burn Witch, Burn (1962). Witchcraft in campus politics. Many can relate.
Awesome! I'm going to have to read the novel and then watch the movie!
Sounds great! Going to try to find a copy of one of those collections at DreamHaven tomorrow
'Tis the season! Loving that you're getting into the mood with a head start
Wish someone had shown me good scifi and fantasy when I was young. Dune, The Thing, Jack Vance and Gene Wolfe, stuff like this! Man! Maybe it’s better as an adult, I can appreciate it better.
Never too late to become a weirdo! 🎉
read assimov asap man
"Swords of Lankhmar" FTW
also, "Scanners". ❤
I love Our Lady Of Darkness. Cuz SF and Corona Heights.
Great story, thanks.
Thanks for watching!
Same on pronouncing Fritz Leiber. Ha! I just learned earlier this week. Thanks for posting the review.
What a great concept!
This story has a sort of M.R. James feel to it. It also has elements - the dark, veiled, mysterious woman; the astronomy hobby; the chess game; the importance of piano music in his life - are things he recombined in a very different way in his novel Our Lady of Darkness a few years later, but in a very different way. That story is known to draw on M.R. James' story, "Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad."
It does have a James feel! I love those old ghost stories!
I'm so happy that my autistic special interest is funky obscure books
Yeah, this is a good one. I think the MC's response to seeing the apparition in the mirror is mostly realistic, at least in my experience. There's that initial shock of fear when you see something weird. Then - when you remember you're not a child anymore - there's an attempt to reason this thing out.
There's definitely something sad about both Giles and the reflected woman. I guess the moral of the story is: it's almost impossible for two recluses to find one another hahaha. Seriously, it's a very enjoyable, old-school horror tale.
Hahaha! That is the best moral!
Ace Doubles! My childhood! Gray Mouser! Gather, Darkness ... Brilliant pre-Halloween video. Off to the bookshelves... Speaking of October, I'd be interested to know if you've read Chet Williamson.
I haven't read any Williamson, but I'll add him to the TBR!
awesome video !
I’ve been Leiber’s name my whole life.
Thanks for the spoiler warning, my man. I am absolutely going to track down this short story
I hope you enjoyed it!
I have this one in The Mind Spider. It's been forever since I've read it though. Now I have to go find the book! Good stuff Liminal!
Thanks! It's a great collection!
Thanks!
Thank you so much for watching and supporting the channel!
333rd like!👍
Awesome video!🤘
After a little sleuthing, it looks like the art for "The Mind Spider and other stories" was done by Walter Rane.
He did a bunch of really decent religious paintings at the request of the Mormons. Pretty wild turn of events IMO. lol
Thanks for doing the research! I'm going to have to look into his other work!
I don't recall having read any Leiber (yet) so am having to leave your video halfway through, as this sounds great from what you've already said...
If you ever really want to know a books cover artist there is the 'Internet Speculative Fiction db'.
Night Monsters by Jack Gaughan, The Green Millennium by John Schoenherr.
Thanks for the info! I hope you enjoy the story!
I’m surprised by Leiber’s name’s pronunciation.
I always wondered about this author. I've never really heard mention of him much. I'll have to check him out.
I think you'd like him!
@@LiminalSpaces03 I just picked up the DAW Books "The Book of Leiber" and "The Second Book of Leiber". Hopefully those are a good place to start
The job to be done
Great! i love this kind of stuff. Those first three Bloodrock albums are all amazing. One of my favourites is Satori from Flower Travellin' Band -- I described it to my girlfriend as "The Japanese Master of Reality", and it was released the same year ... Part III features a riff to rival 'Electric Funeral" in over-all menacing doomy heaviness.
Not sure if you know of this one but I don't remember it being mentioned in the one that concentrated more on the 60s -- a song worth hearing for real heaviness for the time (1968 or something I think, maybe 67) is "Golden Glass" by the band The Misunderstood.
Didn't know about Vintage SF's video; will have to check that out, Thanks.
My Chrononaus podcast fellows and I recently did several pisodes on Leiber's The Big Time and the adjacent 'Change War" stories. That was a great time.
Thanks for all the recommends! Do watch the Vintage SF video, it is really fun!
I've read a whole bunch of Lieber's books, including a lot of his Fafhed & Grey Mouser novelettes - his SF collection : "The Best of Fritz Lieber" - also the horror collections "Nights' Black Agents", "Night Monsters", & "The Ghost Light" - & novels like "The Green Millennium" Our Lady of Darkness", & "Conjure Wife" - & I've got several more sitting on the shelf which I haven't read.
His style is old-school descriptive, but he lets you see it - some readers find his works difficult to get into, but if you take your time with him so that you can get a feel for his style, he becomes very readable IMO.👍
I'm rereading The Green Millennium now and having so much fun doing it!
Thanks for commenting that awesome narration and good to know th e correct pronunciation of his name.
Thanks for watching!
cool video - just an idea because access to these books is a bit of a barrier - ever thought about just doing an audio tape of these obscure sci-fi and horror books? I would listen to em
Two things keep me from doing that. I'm not sure of the legality (I'm sure it varies by story) and I don't think I have a great reading voice!
Have you read Lieber's novel Gather, Darkness? It's a masterpiece.
Not yet, but I'm loving the Leiber I've read so far, so I'm sure I'll make my way to it!
Ohh this sounds amazing! Gonna try find it so I'm ducking out to avoid the spoilers! Thanks for the recommendation! :)
I hope you like it!
I'm guessing that this one missed 'The Best of Fritz Leiber' since it concentrated on SF. It is also missing any Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories. I'm starting to dabble in fantasy and I'm thinking I need to go to horror for more Leiber and Robert Bloch. He has a unique imagination and goes to some very unexpected and sometimes disturbing places. Love hearing your story synopsis. Keep reading and carry on!
That makes sense! I've only read a little bit of his horror and Sci-fi. Looking forward to his fantasy stuff!
Yes, I did laugh 😆
This sounds like such a good story. I like that Lieber took a great traditional horror story and put an interesting twist on it.
Great review!
Mirrors are so cool in fiction!
@@LiminalSpaces03 I keep thinking you should make a video about Alice in Wonderland and its influences. Unless you have and I missed it.
Yeah, I am going to have to try and pronounce his name differently too...
The Green Millennium is a long term favourite for me too! And, I will stop now and come back after I have found and rad 'Midnight.
Doing a reread of it now and loving it!
@@LiminalSpaces03 Look forward to your review - I am eyeing it off right now, kind of wanting to re-read it.
@@LiminalSpaces03 I could not resist; I have temporarily set aside what I was reading to re-read it.
@@OmnivorousReader I'm a bad influence! I'm on page 60 of 173
as i wrote to richard one of my fav fritz lieber short stories is ‘creature from the cleveland depths’ from a 1962 galaxy that is a post apocalyptic story with a tickler device that presages smart phones and A.I.. 🎉
I gotta ask. The books on the shelf all appear yellow. Is that thematically because when we think liminal spaces we think cosmic horror and this king in yellow...... Is it just that you sort books by color for the aesthetic.... Or are they just yellowed with age?
A lot of the old books I have from my dad from the 70's have yellowed in a similar way. All of the things that look like they were white have gone into "old-fashioned beige mode."
It's funny because I was thinking about the king in yellow moments before I saw your comment. :D
Specifically the repairer of reputations.
I like your answer much better! I loved The King in Yellow, but the truth is that is my DAW collection and all the DAW spines are yellow!
what's scary about true love?
I don't think the fear is generated by their love, but by the creeping menace in the mirror! It is true that he begins looking forward to meeting her and is less afraid as the event gets closer, but Lieber keeps it scary all the way through!
@@LiminalSpaces03 i think i'd categorise it as weird lit rather than horror. i do love his work, though.
Spelling is wrong on your vid and if that were his name, it would indeed be pronounced the way you used to pronounce it! Yes, F Leiber is fab!
Thanks for pointing out the spelling error! I've corrected it!
Of course it is pronounced like eine zwei drei
Well, when you put it that way it makes perfect sense!