The tale of this nightmarish neighbor of mine is a long one, and I hope to eventually write it all down for posterity’s sake. For now, however, thanks to what can only be described as abject malpractice on the part of the sole adjudicator for the case, suffice it to say that the nightmare tenant “won”. This, apparently due to the fact that the adjudicator in question was in a big rush to get to the cottage this weekend, causing her to dismiss the case for “insufficient evidence”, roughly 20 minutes after she instructed the landlord’s lawyer to release all the witnesses who’d shown up, because “we already have their written statements” and hearing from us would have been “redundant” and a waste of her time.
So, what does all this mean? Basically, it means that my fellow witnesses and I now have to continue sharing our building with a dangerous, drug-addled lunatic with a long history of violent criminality… only now, she knows which of us are her “enemies”. Actually, everybody in the building wants her gone, but only those of us who did the right thing and showed up when summoned are likely to be targeted for reprisals. Yes, it sure is fun, being thrown under the bus by a massively incompetent city official!
I mean, seriously… is it literally impossible to evict someone in Toronto these days? We’re talking about a tenant who, above and beyond her recent involvement in a strong-arm robbery during which insecticide was sprayed into the eyes of an elderly woman, engages in non-stop, round the clock screaming fits in the hallways, and marathon door-slamming sessions that go on for hours. We’re talking about someone who broke into a bunch of other tenants’ mailboxes, kicked in her part-time boyfriend’s apartment windows, and has engaged in countless acts of wanton vandalism. The building bears the scars of her passing on literally EVERY FLOOR, with giant holes punched into the walls wherever there’s a doorknob that can reach. We’re talking about someone who has physically assaulted the elderly landlords! Elderly landlords who have gone through all the proper legal steps to have this lunatic evicted from their building, not only for their sake but for the sake of all their other tenants, only to be told: “Nah. Screw all that. That crazy, dangerous tenant gets to stay.”
What the hell more cause does a landlord need before they can evict a tenant? Hallways covered in blood?! A dead body?!
Anyway, the lawyer for the landlord has already filed an appeal of the Board’s inexplicable and indefensible decision, and myself and some of the other witnesses are going to be filing an official complaint about the adjudicator’s behavior at the hearing. I’ll keep you all posted about the situation, either here at the Mediavore, as part of my media diaries, or at my catch-all hobby blog, Daily Dirt Diaspora. For now, however, let’s get to the reading!
BLACK WINGS OF CTHULHU 6 (continued)
Twenty-One New Tales of Lovecraftian Horror, Edited by S.T. Joshi
“To Move Beneath Autumnal Oaks”, by W.H. Pugmire ~ The Weird Fiction community recently lost one of its most beloved characters—and sacred Keeper of the Eldritch Flame for the Pacific Northwest—the gentleman scholar Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire. A master stylist and a lifelong writer in the Lovecraftian vein, Pugmire is known for his evocative prose, and for creating the Sesqua Valley setting, home of the Shadow Children and the location where many of his stories take place. This short, funereal piece makes for a lovely introduction to Pugmire’s work, as it features a character he often returns to, the grotesque Simon Gregory Williams, a.k.a. “the Beast”, and an intriguing, semi-linear narrative about death, love, grief and incest (?) that would not be out of place among Poe’s mysterious masterworks. I will definitely be seeking out more Pugmire.
“Mr. Ainsley”, by Steve Ransic Tem ~ A fantastic, truly Lovecraftian tale, presented as an account of the first visitor that the titular Mr. Ainsley has had to his home since his wife died, ten years prior. When the visitor, a young, freckle-faced political canvasser, passes out within seconds of stepping into the house’s “unique” atmosphere, Mr. Ainsley takes it upon himself to make the young man comfortable until he comes to. Afterwards, the two carry on an awkward, increasingly disturbing conversation, which culminates in Mr. Ainsley’s insistence that the young man see the garden before he leaves. Tem is a veteran of the genre who’s been writing some of the best short horror fiction of the last four decades, and he really knows what he’s doing. The buildup of suspense, the way disturbing details are nonchalantly dropped into the narrative for maximum effect, the relentless narrative acceleration towards an increasingly unavoidable doom… it’s all masterful stuff. With two stories (and one poem) left to go in this collection, “Mr. Ainsley” is the best of the lot so far.
I mean, seriously… is it literally impossible to evict someone in Toronto these days? We’re talking about a tenant who, above and beyond her recent involvement in a strong-arm robbery during which insecticide was sprayed into the eyes of an elderly woman, engages in non-stop, round the clock screaming fits in the hallways, and marathon door-slamming sessions that go on for hours. We’re talking about someone who broke into a bunch of other tenants’ mailboxes, kicked in her part-time boyfriend’s apartment windows, and has engaged in countless acts of wanton vandalism. The building bears the scars of her passing on literally EVERY FLOOR, with giant holes punched into the walls wherever there’s a doorknob that can reach. We’re talking about someone who has physically assaulted the elderly landlords! Elderly landlords who have gone through all the proper legal steps to have this lunatic evicted from their building, not only for their sake but for the sake of all their other tenants, only to be told: “Nah. Screw all that. That crazy, dangerous tenant gets to stay.”
What the hell more cause does a landlord need before they can evict a tenant? Hallways covered in blood?! A dead body?!
Anyway, the lawyer for the landlord has already filed an appeal of the Board’s inexplicable and indefensible decision, and myself and some of the other witnesses are going to be filing an official complaint about the adjudicator’s behavior at the hearing. I’ll keep you all posted about the situation, either here at the Mediavore, as part of my media diaries, or at my catch-all hobby blog, Daily Dirt Diaspora. For now, however, let’s get to the reading!
***
Twenty-One New Tales of Lovecraftian Horror, Edited by S.T. Joshi
“To Move Beneath Autumnal Oaks”, by W.H. Pugmire ~ The Weird Fiction community recently lost one of its most beloved characters—and sacred Keeper of the Eldritch Flame for the Pacific Northwest—the gentleman scholar Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire. A master stylist and a lifelong writer in the Lovecraftian vein, Pugmire is known for his evocative prose, and for creating the Sesqua Valley setting, home of the Shadow Children and the location where many of his stories take place. This short, funereal piece makes for a lovely introduction to Pugmire’s work, as it features a character he often returns to, the grotesque Simon Gregory Williams, a.k.a. “the Beast”, and an intriguing, semi-linear narrative about death, love, grief and incest (?) that would not be out of place among Poe’s mysterious masterworks. I will definitely be seeking out more Pugmire.
“Mr. Ainsley”, by Steve Ransic Tem ~ A fantastic, truly Lovecraftian tale, presented as an account of the first visitor that the titular Mr. Ainsley has had to his home since his wife died, ten years prior. When the visitor, a young, freckle-faced political canvasser, passes out within seconds of stepping into the house’s “unique” atmosphere, Mr. Ainsley takes it upon himself to make the young man comfortable until he comes to. Afterwards, the two carry on an awkward, increasingly disturbing conversation, which culminates in Mr. Ainsley’s insistence that the young man see the garden before he leaves. Tem is a veteran of the genre who’s been writing some of the best short horror fiction of the last four decades, and he really knows what he’s doing. The buildup of suspense, the way disturbing details are nonchalantly dropped into the narrative for maximum effect, the relentless narrative acceleration towards an increasingly unavoidable doom… it’s all masterful stuff. With two stories (and one poem) left to go in this collection, “Mr. Ainsley” is the best of the lot so far.
Murder? It may be the only way forward...
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