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IntroductionAs Guy describes it, this was "possibly the last of the boys' story papers", which were, of course, his primary influence as a writer. As quintessentially British as it may seem, it was actually an Irish publication, published by a Catholic organisation, the Irish Christian Brothers, in order to give Irish children something equivalent to the many similar British publications that existed at the time. Its circulation wasn't just limited to Ireland, though, as it was sold in the UK, Australia, the USA and even India, where it was made available through the Christian Brothers' schools. It ran from 1914 to 1990 and it published at least eight of Guy's short stories in 1971 and 1972. For other work, return to Short Stories or Broken Backlist. List
Individual StoriesThe Dive of DeathGuy wrote a blog post in July 2016 called Aliens, Monsters, Mounties & Cannibals (guynsmith.com) that reminisced about his time writing short stories for Our Boys. In it, he speaks to each of these stories. The Dive of Death, published in the September 1971 issue, was about 'a stunt man featuring in a sports film.' KincaidGuy continued in rapid succession with five stories about a Canadian Mountie named Kincaid: The Coming of Kincaid in the October 1971 issue, with Kincaid Cleans Up and A Man Called Blaze following in November and December, then Scourge of the North West and Yukon Pursuit later in May and June 1972. Guy had written mountie stories before, back in the fifties for the Tettenhall Observer & Advertiser. Certainly Corporal Clark of the Canadian Mounties was one, but there may have been more. Cannibal IslandIn between the first three and the last two Kincaid stories, in the March 1972 issue, was Cannibal Island, which was the cover story for the month. Guy describes it as 'a story of a cargo ship on its way to Hawaii to deliver a load of grain'. Of course, it's 'swept off course by a hurricane. The crew survive and they go ashore on an unknown island which happens to be inhabited by cannibals'. Guy wonders if this led to his novel, Cannibals. I wonder if it's the same Cannibal Island that was published in the Tettenhall Observer & Advertiser back in the fifties. The Beast from SpaceFinally, there was The Beast from Space, a pulp science fiction yarn 'set on Dartmoor where a monster from space lands, armed with a gun that shrivels up anything at which it is aimed.' If we're talking influences, did this spawn The Slime Beast? |
Last update: 4th June, 2019