The Demon King

It still being too hot to be creative or in any guise original, I have taken the lazy option of reading somebody else's story which - whilst a very unseasonal choice - smacks of the flames of Hell of which we are getting a foretaste. 

The short story, set at a provincial pantomime, was written by the playwright J B Priestly in 1931 though my copy is from a very dog-eared collection of horror tales called "Christopher Lee's Omnibus of Evil" published in 1978 with each tale introduced by the late, great actor (who would have been ideal in the role of Mr Ireton within the story). The 21st century theatrical world seems to be sadly missing any horror specialists to follow in the footsteps of Lee, Cushing, Price etc. I blame the fact on the modern horror films' preference for chainsaws and disembowelment over the staged, gentlemanly menace of the theatrical troopers of yesteryear. We live in an age devoid of subtlety or nuance. Or maybe I have just become a fully-fledged old fart who favours nostalgia over the modern oeuvre.