Recently, I have been watching a show called Misfits. It’s a British sci-fi/comedy program about a delinquent bunch of teenagers who gain superpowers while doing their community service. I think it does a great job of flitting between the comedic aspects of the setup (including the one who can’t figure out what his power is yet) and taking a look at the pressure that many of us forget comes along with being young in in this world. They’re all on the verge of adulthood, but are still kids, even though most are expected to live up to a higher standard they aren’t prepared for yet.

In one episode, their community service supervisor goes looking through their bags while they are working (adults breaking the very rules that these kids are being punished for breaking) and while she is rifling through one I noticed this shot. After a quick pause, I had my next target for this blog.

It was a fairly quick flash, but I was intrigued! Even from this quick blur you can make out the title, “The Second Pan Book of Horror Stories.” So, I went to work. Unlike the previous post, I wasn’t able to find this book in the library. In fact, I wasn’t even able to find a copy to borrow through interlibrary loan from anywhere else here in the Colonies. This often happens when a book is published abroad, and this book, like the show, happens to be a British product. Looking through Amazon, I was able to find several different editions of this book, but they were all different than the one that I had seen on the show. They had different covers different publish dates. Finally, I happened upon the exact one that this character found while rummaging through bags. It was the “Pan Giant” edition, and set me back about $20. To be fair, it was a lot more fun searching for a copy of this than simply finding it on the shelf. I like the hunt!

This book is a collection of short stories from a wide variety of authors, from relative unknowns to H. G. Wells and Poe. They are mostly straight-forward tales with a kind of unassuming paranormal strangeness that relies more on the telling than the actual story itself. There’s a lot more ambiance in these than actual action. There are stories from all kinds of eras in here, from the late 1800’s all the way through the 50’s, and it’s interesting seeing the surroundings change from story to story as they move through time. There’s a distinct tendency for these to end openly, allowing the reader to finish out the grisly details in their own mind. This could be both a sign of the more conservative storywriting of the time, as well as the editor’s preference. Most all involve some sort of strange or supernatural occurrence, or else an implied gruesome murder or situation (cannibalism seemed a hot topic).

The original inspiration for the film versions of “The Fly” is included in this volume, a story by George Langelaan. This is the only one that seems even remotely modern, dealing with science and the 50’s obsession with the follies of trusting too much in scientific progress. The man splices himself with a fly in his transportation chamber, and then kills himself before the fly takes over his body. Sort of like other Gothic tales included in the volume (The Inn by Guy Preston, The Judge’s House by Bram Stoker) the fear of returning to a primal state of living permeates the page. Despite the advances of modern technology, man is still an animal inside.

One of the stories I found the most intriguing is called The Vertical Ladder, written by William Sansom. It is a story about a boy and some friends scamping around their neighborhood who come upon a giant oil tank several stories high. The friends begin teasing and daring in the way that kids do, and in order to impress a girl, the boy begins to climb the ladder on the tank. The whole story is just the psychological horror he goes through as he tries to climb this rickety structure while trying to retain his bravado in front of the others. As he moves from rung to rung, his mental state is described to the reader. It was stark in contrast to the rest and really shined through, I think. It’s a situation that most young boys have probably found themselves in, although hopefully without the physical danger imposed on the protagonist.

So, how does this tie into the show Misfits? Not very much, really. The bag which this book is contained in belongs to a character named Simon. At this point in the series he is basically characterized as a strange, anti-social kid who doesn’t seem to relate much to the other teenagers around him. I could certainly see his character as the type to read century-old horror stories and bemoan that no one else seems to think they are as cool as he does. The flash of the cover and the title would be enough to highlight a certain sense of the character’s reading habits to the viewer and further his weirdness.

The main thing I’m left wondering is where did they get this book? It might be more widely prevalent in Britain, but I had to look around quite a bit to find a copy here. I don’t see any reason why they would go out of the way to purchase this particular book for the two seconds it appears on-screen either. Did someone just happen to have it laying about? Was it someone’s favorite book growing up, and when looking for a “weird” book to illustrate the character of Simon they grabbed it from home for the shot? I don’t know, but it’s fun to think about!