A Hitch in the Plan

Hello Attic visitors! This week's post is actually late due to a family emergency. Don't worry, it will all work out, but it's taken a whole lot of my focus. Let's just say taking care of aging parents can be a challenge.

Anyway, today we have two more "Hitchcock" youth books based on the strange and scarrrrrry. Ok, maybe not that scary, but they are almost all good stories. They were both actually edited by Robert Arthur, although only the first was illustrated by the great Fred Banbery. Let's look at that one first, shall we?

The beautifully creepy wrap around cover art is classic Banberry. Hitch is EVERYWHERE in this picture! 

The end pages look like a Escher fever dream. Weirdness abounds!

More Hitch! And chairs... What's up with the chairs? Did Banbery have chairophobia?

This book came out in 1962. Sharp eyed readers will note that this should have been the second book I shared. In my defense....Oops!

Here we have our ghostly tales. No, I didn't read them all again, but I can remember that they were pretty fun as a kid. 

And here's "Hitch's" intro. These mirror the introductions to the "Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigator" books. As well they should, considering Robert Arthur "ghost-wrote" all of them...

Speaking of Robert Arthur and ghosts, here is his contribution to the tome. This story is more funny than scary and answers the question, "What would happen if you accidently parked your travel trailer on the spot were an obnoxious old hobo died and he decided to ride along with you when you moved on?" The story teller is beside himself by the end...not from fear, but from frustration! What happens then? Well, you gotta read it!

The next book is one that I don't care for nearly as much. I didn't read it as a kid, I don't think monsters are as fun as mysteries and ghosts, and our old pal Fred Banbery had nothing to do with the illustrations. Three strikes right there! But, in a spirit of completeness, I present...

Ok, let me address my biggest gripe right up front. These illustrations by Earl E. Mayan are downright ugly. He seemed to be going for "weird" and "really, mod man" all at once and it just falls completely flat in my opinion. 

Here is the table of contents. I skimmed through some of these and they seem...ok.

At least we get to hear from Hitch again, and these intros are always entertaining!

Oh, by the way, this was released in 1965. Maybe that's why they decided to go all "modern art" with it? Who knows?

Ugly, ugly, ugly....blech!

Ok, that's enough effort on this turkey. They can't all be winners, I suppose. It sits on the shelf next to the others just fine. I guess I just feel like there's no charm to this book. It's amazing how the artwork will change the whole feel of a book!

So that's it for this week! Hopefully next (this?) week's post will be closer to on time!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

 

 

Random Hitchcock

 Greetings, Atticites! The season o' spooky stuff is once again upon us, so I thought I would share one of my "accidental collections." Accidental collections are where, over the years, I purchased items just because I liked them, and not because I was trying to complete a set of anything. So, the items I'm about to show you are in no way complete, but they do live in a special place in my youth. So, let me start this post with a proper introduction...

 Good Evening....

Tonight I bring you a collection of books that, while not terrifying, may have made your youthful slumber slightly more difficult. These are the stories of the supernatural collected for youths by the great Alfred Hitchcock himself...

Ok, maybe he really didn't collect the stories himself, but starting in 1961, kids could get story collections published by Random House that were branded to, and introduced by, Alfred Hitchcock. Here is the first one...

I first found this tome hiding in my school library. The cover alone made it worth checking out...

  

The illustration wraps around the whole book in glossy glory!

The end pages are beautifully illustrated as well. British illustrator Fred Banbery did all the artwork.

A brief description...

The fly pages with more fun art...

Ah, here we are...The introduction by Mr. Hitchcock! Now, I'm pretty sure he never wrote any of these (even for his TV show- which was put together much like these books) but I bet you can't read them without hearing his voice!

Even the individual stories are illustrated. This is from "The Wastwych Secret."

A look at all the stories. Robert Arthur, who created the Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators series for Random House, collected and arranged these. Interestingly, he didn't pull them all from youth publications, but also culled adult sources as well. He was a firm believer that kids should never be talked down to, and his Three Investigator stories make this point very clearly. The mysteries work for both kids and adults.

In the 1980s, these books were rereleased in paperback. They were not even close to as nice as the originals. Although the cover (non-wrap around) illustration was ok, there are NO illustrations in the book at all. 

And now for a book that was released in 1963...

This book is different in that Robert Arthur actually wrote all the mysteries. They are actually good puzzles, with no cheating and last minute "the butler did it" solutions.

Here is "Alfred" again!

And the Banbery illustrations are just as wonderful as in the first tome. This is for "The Mystery of the Seven Wrong Clocks."

So, these are my first two! The funny thing is that the stories and puzzles still hold up, owing much to Arthur's philosophy on kids' books. For the next couple of weeks, I'll share a few more.

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

The Game of (after) Life

I just ran across this game in the ol' game closet, but it kind of fits since we're so close to October.

Senet is an ancient Egyptian game that is around 3000 years old (not my copy, of course...I got mine at a thrift store about 25 years ago). It represents a soul's trip through the afterlife, since ancient Egyptians were really focused on stuff like that. Copies were found in a lot of ancient tombs, including King Tut's tomb. 

Here is my copy, found in Stu's Tomb of Games (i.e. the game closet) This is how the board is set up to get ready to play.

Those sticks you see are actually "dice" in a way. Interestingly, you can't roll a "5." You'll see why in the instructions.

Almost all Senet boards, even the ancient ones were made of wood (some were ivory and other materials, but even the royal ones were usually wood) and they contained a drawer to store the pieces, just like this one.

Unfirtunately the rules were lost over the centuries. Egyptologists have reconstructed them since the 1930s when the game gained new attention. There have been several very scholarly attempts, with people really getting upset about things and yelling and throwing pens and note pads and storming out of stuffy meetings in a huff to go get a nice cup of tea and wonder why they put up with those idiots to begin with. Cambridge indeed!  Humph!

Well, that's how I imagine it anyway. 

Here is the best they came up with.

Upon first read, they can seem complicated, but if you play, you'll find that it's not that hard. I would keep the rules handy for the first couple of games, though.

All in all, Senet is actually a fun game, especially considering the subject matter. Of course, the subject really doesn't matter (see what I did there?) since in our modern times most of the religious themes are hazy at best.

So go ahead and take that trip to the afterlife! It'll be fun!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

Hanging Around

 Sometimes I get a game just because ir's complete and in good shape. Later I go back and think, "What was I thinking?" Today's subject kind of fits that situation. I give you Milton Bradley's Hangman.

As you can see, this isn't even the cooler mid 70s version that featured Vincent Price on the box. No, this game is from 1988, as you can easily see from the family on the box. 

The back of the box shows the games one gimmick: the scoring dials on the letter trays.

And here we have the actual contents you see after taking off the top.

Popping one open, we see the little letter tiles...

...and the business side of the dial. The dial will only turn in one direction, by the way.

What you don't want to see!

As if we needed them, here are the directions...

So why do I think this game is silly? Because kids for years have been using a simple pencil and paper to do the same thing. I can't see what this version adds to that, other than bulk and expense. 

Speaking of the pencil/paper version; it goes back at least 130 years. The Victorians (with their fascination with the morbid) seem to have come up with it as a parlor game. Milton Bradley came out with this version in 1976, which is very late in the game (so to speak). As noted, mine came out in 1988. It has actually been out of production for around 25 years or so. 

But...I have it. Why? Because it was dirt cheap, in good condition, and appatently it was a slow day at the thrift store. 

Oh well, at least I got a post out of it!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!