Shoreline settings

RPN wrote:
> Todd T wrote:
> > This is one of those posts where someone asks for leads to stories with
> > some
> > one thing in common, such as all the stories about canaries or can
> > openers
> > or ficus trees or what have you. In this case, I am looking for stories
> > set
> > on a shoreline or beach.
>
>
> First one that comes to mind: "Celui La" by Eleanor Scott. Will try to
> think more later. Will probably fail.


Two more came quickly to mind, both by Terry Lamsley: "The Break" and
"Back in the Dunes."

RPN (still thinking, sort of)
 >> Stay informed about: Shoreline settings 

Todd T wrote (in part):
> This is one of those posts where someone asks for leads to stories with
> some
> one thing in common, such as all the stories about canaries or can
> openers
> or ficus trees or what have you. In this case, I am looking for stories
> set
> on a shoreline or beach. Not on the open sea, and not really harbors or
> ports or seaside towns (though I like to read stories about all of
> those);

Here's a few off the top of my head:

The Vacation - Ray Bradbury
The Voice of the Beach -Ramsey Campbell
Night Surf - Stephen King
Lemmings - Richard Matheson

Also, several of the stories in Koji Suzuki's collection 'Dark Water'
would fit the bill nicely.
 >> Stay informed about: Shoreline settings 

Todd T wrote:

"Of course there's " 'Oh Whistle, ...' ", but beyond that I have only
found a few..."

As an East Anglian, I can't let this pass by without comment. More than
one James tale features a shoreline setting. 'Oh Whistle' was based
upon Old Felixstowe in Suffolk, but 'A Warning To The Curious' also has
many shoreline links. James drew upon Aldeburgh for inspiration (the
town he holidayed in as a child; indeed, his name appears in the hotel
register). And if you walk out from the hotel where he stayed up to the
church, you will find the line of wind-blasted fir trees which overlook
the martello towers and windmills he described in his book.

However, for the BBC dramatization of 'Warning' (starring Peter
Vaughan, directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark) the film crew headed up
into Norfolk. Someone from a country house near Wells recently told me
that they recalled the filming taking place. The guest house was in
Wells-next-the-sea and the beach shots were filmed on the stretch of
beach and sand dunes which are located between Wells and Holkham sands
(a place where I regularly walk). The view along the beach as it curves
round, fringed with pines, still exists; and most beautiful it is too.

I can also confirm that the scenes filmed at a church between Paxton
and the vicar were shot at the ill-fated Happisburgh (pronounced
'Hazebrough'). I wasn't told this, I guessed that it might be so after
visiting the site myself a few years ago. The church is located on a
high promentory overlooking some fields and the sea below. I wouldn't
be surprised if the scene in which Paxton finds Ager's bible was also
filmed in Happisburgh too.

(Happisburgh is ill-fated because it is being eaten away by the sea at
an alarming rate. It is predicted that the entire village will be
washed away within twenty to thirty years.)

ROBERT AICKMAN
Robert Aickman's 'Ringing The Changes' was set on the East Anglian
coast too. The references to a village swallowed up by the sea could
refer to Dunwich (in Suffolk) or Eccles (Norfolk). I can't say what
location was used for the TV adaptation 'The Bells Of Hell' because no
copy has survived.

ERNEST SUFFLING
Eccles church spire and a few random tombstones were all that remained
in the 1880s when Ernest Suffling included a sketch of it in his book
'The History & Legends Of The Broad District'. Suffling later
fictionalized the tale of this village swallowed by the sea in his rare
weird collection 'The Story-Hunter'. The story is accompanied by an
illustration of skeletons from Eccles church riding through the waves
in their coffins.

CB
The Haunted River
http://hauntedriver.co.uk
 >> Stay informed about: Shoreline settings 

> If you hadn't mentioned Oh Whistle, I'd have thought of that one right away.
> I've a dim recollection that The Man With a Thousand Legs, ( Hodgson?
> Brennan?) took place at least in part on a beach, but I wouldn't put money on
> it.

Frank Belknap Long. It's in his collection The Rim of the Unknown, but
I've never read the story so I can't tell you whether it has a beach
setting.

> Peter Benchley's Jaws, if novels are permitted ...

The title "Jaws" was put on the novel almost at the last moment as it
was going to press for want of something better, and Benchley was
unsatisfied with it -- that is until it started earning him big money.
Apparently his father (with tongue firmly in cheek) had suggested he
call it What's That Gnawing on my Dang Leg.

> I think it was Ray Bradbury did a good one, not horror or ghostly, about a man
> seeing Picasso amusing himself by drawing his fantastic art on the sand with a
> stick; as the artist goes off, the man, having no camera,
> can only walk back and forth before the masterpiece, trying desperately to
> lodge it in his memory: the evenin tide's coming in fast!
> Afraid that about exhausts my stock.

Bradbury also wrote a story called "The Lake" about a man building half
a sand castle on a lake beach so that his long dead childhood
sweetheart could come and build the other half, as they had in their
younger days.

Rick
 >> Stay informed about: Shoreline settings 

RPN wrote:
> RPN wrote:
> > Todd T wrote:
> > > This is one of those posts where someone asks for leads to stories with
> > > some
> > > one thing in common, such as all the stories about canaries or can
> > > openers
> > > or ficus trees or what have you. In this case, I am looking for stories
> > > set
> > > on a shoreline or beach.
> >
> >
> > First one that comes to mind: "Celui La" by Eleanor Scott. Will try to
> > think more later. Will probably fail.
>
>
> Two more came quickly to mind, both by Terry Lamsley: "The Break" and
> "Back in the Dunes."


A couple of others: Margery Lawrence's "Morag-of-the-Sea" and Aickman's
"Wine-Dark Sea." There are a few more for which I remember the story
but can't place the author at the moment.

RPN (ceasing to think for the day)
 >> Stay informed about: Shoreline settings 

ttt.TakeThisOut@megapipe.net wrote:

> This is one of those posts where someone asks for leads to stories with
> some
> one thing in common, such as all the stories about canaries or can
> openers
> or ficus trees or what have you. In this case, I am looking for stories
> set
> on a shoreline or beach. Not on the open sea, and not really harbors or
> ports or seaside towns (though I like to read stories about all of
> those);

Wells' The sea Raiders would qualify.
If you hadn't mentioned Oh Whistle, I'd have thought of that one right away.
I've a dim recollection that The Man With a Thousand Legs, ( Hodgson?
Brennan?) took place at least in part on a beach, but I wouldn't put money on
it.
Peter Benchley's Jaws, if novels are permitted ...
I think it was Ray Bradbury did a good one, not horror or ghostly, about a man
seeing Picasso amusing himself by drawing his fantastic art on the sand with a
stick; as the artist goes off, the man, having no camera,
can only walk back and forth before the masterpiece, trying desperately to
lodge it in his memory: the evenin tide's coming in fast!
Afraid that about exhausts my stock.

> I'm really after the shoreline itself here, although I would include
> stories
> set in seaside houses where the location matters to the story. If the
> film
> THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR is based on a book (IIRC it is) I would
> probably
> count that.
>
> Of course there's " 'Oh Whistle, ...' ", but beyond that I have only
> found a
> few, yet there are big holes in my reading. Charles Birkin's "Little
> Boy
> Blue" counts, Henry Whitehead's "Sea Tiger", Ian McDowell's "Under the
> Flag
> of Night" and I'm sure some more pirate stories, Phil Loscascio's
> "Vigil" in
> All Hallows 36, Michael O'Connor's "Shadow of a Summer" in AH 39 too. I
> am
> blanking on the author and title of the story about the music box that
> calls
> up storms; that one would do. Clark Ashton Smith's "A Vintage from
> Atlantis". Glen Hirshberg's "Shipwreck Beach".
>
> I humbly ask for your help The stories don't have to be classics. I am
> interested in any and all. Thanks in advance for sharing your
> collectively
> immense knowledge.
>
> - Todd T.
>
>

--
Ian
 >> Stay informed about: Shoreline settings 

Rick Kennett wrote:
> > If you hadn't mentioned Oh Whistle, I'd have thought of that one right away.
> > I've a dim recollection that The Man With a Thousand Legs, ( Hodgson?
> > Brennan?) took place at least in part on a beach, but I wouldn't put money on
> > it.
>
> Frank Belknap Long. It's in his collection The Rim of the Unknown, but
> I've never read the story so I can't tell you whether it has a beach
> setting.
>
> > Peter Benchley's Jaws, if novels are permitted ...
>
> The title "Jaws" was put on the novel almost at the last moment as it
> was going to press for want of something better, and Benchley was
> unsatisfied with it -- that is until it started earning him big money.
> Apparently his father (with tongue firmly in cheek) had suggested he
> call it What's That Gnawing on my Dang Leg.
>
> > I think it was Ray Bradbury did a good one, not horror or ghostly, about a man
> > seeing Picasso amusing himself by drawing his fantastic art on the sand with a
> > stick; as the artist goes off, the man, having no camera,
> > can only walk back and forth before the masterpiece, trying desperately to
> > lodge it in his memory: the evenin tide's coming in fast!
> > Afraid that about exhausts my stock.
>
> Bradbury also wrote a story called "The Lake" about a man building half
> a sand castle on a lake beach so that his long dead childhood
> sweetheart could come and build the other half, as they had in their
> younger days.
>
> Rick

There's Reggie Oliver's 'Beside the Shrill Sea'.

Huw
 >> Stay informed about: Shoreline settings 

huw.lines.DeleteThis@gmail.com wrote:
> Rick Kennett wrote:
> > > If you hadn't mentioned Oh Whistle, I'd have thought of that one right away.
> > > I've a dim recollection that The Man With a Thousand Legs, ( Hodgson?
> > > Brennan?) took place at least in part on a beach, but I wouldn't put money on
> > > it.
> >
> > Frank Belknap Long. It's in his collection The Rim of the Unknown, but
> > I've never read the story so I can't tell you whether it has a beach
> > setting.
> >
> > > Peter Benchley's Jaws, if novels are permitted ...
> >
> > The title "Jaws" was put on the novel almost at the last moment as it
> > was going to press for want of something better, and Benchley was
> > unsatisfied with it -- that is until it started earning him big money.
> > Apparently his father (with tongue firmly in cheek) had suggested he
> > call it What's That Gnawing on my Dang Leg.
> >
> > > I think it was Ray Bradbury did a good one, not horror or ghostly, about a man
> > > seeing Picasso amusing himself by drawing his fantastic art on the sand with a
> > > stick; as the artist goes off, the man, having no camera,
> > > can only walk back and forth before the masterpiece, trying desperately to
> > > lodge it in his memory: the evenin tide's coming in fast!
> > > Afraid that about exhausts my stock.
> >
> > Bradbury also wrote a story called "The Lake" about a man building half
> > a sand castle on a lake beach so that his long dead childhood
> > sweetheart could come and build the other half, as they had in their
> > younger days.
> >
> > Rick
>
> There's Reggie Oliver's 'Beside the Shrill Sea'.
>
> Huw



Todd, a couple more have just come to mind:

'A Spanish Lesson' by Lucius Shepard
'The Sea Was Wet as Wet Could Be' by Gahan Wilson

Hope that helps!

Huw
 >> Stay informed about: Shoreline settings 

RPN wrote:

> A couple of others: Margery Lawrence's "Morag-of-the-Sea"

Should be "Morag-of-the-Cave." Sorry.

RPN
 >> Stay informed about: Shoreline settings 

huw.lines.DeleteThis@gmail.com wrote:
> huw.lines.DeleteThis@gmail.com wrote:
> > Rick Kennett wrote:
> > > > If you hadn't mentioned Oh Whistle, I'd have thought of that one right away.
> > > > I've a dim recollection that The Man With a Thousand Legs, ( Hodgson?
> > > > Brennan?) took place at least in part on a beach, but I wouldn't put money on
> > > > it.
> > >
> > > Frank Belknap Long. It's in his collection The Rim of the Unknown, but
> > > I've never read the story so I can't tell you whether it has a beach
> > > setting.

There's also Belknapius's "Dark Awakening".
 >> Stay informed about: Shoreline settings 

rickkenau.DeleteThis@yahoo.com wrote:

> > If you hadn't mentioned Oh Whistle, I'd have thought of that one right away.
> > I've a dim recollection that The Man With a Thousand Legs, ( Hodgson?
> > Brennan?) took place at least in part on a beach, but I wouldn't put money on
> > it.
>
> Frank Belknap Long. It's in his collection The Rim of the Unknown, but
That was it... knew it was one of these 2 Christian-names-and-surname ones.
> I've never read the story so I can't tell you whether it has a beach
> setting.
>
> > Peter Benchley's Jaws, if novels are permitted ...
>
> The title "Jaws" was put on the novel almost at the last moment as it
> was going to press for want of something better, and Benchley was
> unsatisfied with it -- that is until it started earning him big money.
> Apparently his father (with tongue firmly in cheek) had suggested he
> call it What's That Gnawing on my Dang Leg.
>
That does sound like the elder Benchley! I came across, in a Glasgow public
library in the mid-fFifties, 2 or 3 collections from his column in a New York
paper probably in the late thirties-early Forties: *very* funny reading
indeed.

> > I think it was Ray Bradbury did a good one, not horror or ghostly, about a man
> > seeing Picasso amusing himself by drawing his fantastic art on the sand with a
> > stick; as the artist goes off, the man, having no camera,
> > can only walk back and forth before the masterpiece, trying desperately to
> > lodge it in his memory: the evening tide's coming in fast!
> > Afraid that about exhausts my stock.
>
> Bradbury also wrote a story called "The Lake" about a man building half
> a sand castle on a lake beach so that his long dead childhood
> sweetheart could come and build the other half, as they had in their
> younger days.
>
New one on me. It doesn't sound like his kind of story somehow.
Lakeside shore - reminds me, in Fredric Brown's Nightmares and Geezenstacks
collection, there's one vignette with a great twist; I won't spoil it for
those yet to come across it. It was called Nightmare in Blue, I think.

--
Ian
 >> Stay informed about: Shoreline settings 

Everyone's copious responses have been fabulously helpful. I am very
grateful. A few tales have been in the category of "d'oh! of course",
and a few have reminded me of others (Bradbury, for instance, also
wrote one called "The Women" in which the sea seduces a man, in her
fashion, and then is disappointed that he becomes motionless and
uninteresting.) But the majority of your suggestions have been stories
I'd forgotten I meant to track down, or better yet, had never heard of
- plenty of those, and very very helpful. Thanks very much to all.

Ian: I appreciated you e-mail, but my reply to it bounced ("unknown
recipient"). Should I try again, or try a different e-address? let me
know off-line. Thanks.

- Todd T.
 >> Stay informed about: Shoreline settings 

Todd,

I know it's possibly not quite what you are after, but 'The Drought' by
J.G.Ballard has great scenes set on the coasts, as the population gets
despreate for water. These scenes, and the ones later when the sea
receeds are, of course, typically Ballardian (yep, that's actually a
word now in one or two dictionaries!) Even if not a ghostly
short-story, it is still worth a look. That is, if you haven't already.
 >> Stay informed about: Shoreline settings