An Intimate Knowledge of the Night [Paperback]

Terry Dowling (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1995

The Wonder and the Terror.... When an author sits downto write the linking pieces for the stories in his new book, planning to do it by the hours of the night observed by medieval scholars, he is interrupted by phonecalls from his eccentric yet harmless friend, Raymond, a former mental patient with whom he shares some curious notions about the perceived world.

At first casual and interested, even helpful, these calls soon become increasingly tense and strange, until the author realizes that what started out as an innocent, fun idea - a shared all-night vigil on the autumn Equinox - is actually serving some other vital purpose, becoming by stages part therapy, part incantatory progress, part vindication of those very theories which will change forever the way he sees the world.

Terry Dowling's marvellous new book is about rapture, fear, the secret, darkest mysteries of the world and the human spirit.

Product Details

• Paperback: 285 pages
• Publisher: Aphelion Publications (1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1875346155
• ISBN-13: 978-1875346158
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,594,775 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Australian SF Reader, July 31, 2007

By 

Blue Tyson "- Research Finished" (Legion clubhouse) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Intimate Knowledge of the Night (Paperback)

A collection of Dowling stories, some really good, a lot of horror type stories here. There is a device used in the book of a conversation that runs in the spaces between chapters.

The Mars You Have in Me is available online.

An Intimate Knowledge of the Night : The Bullet that Grows in the Gun - Terry Dowling
An Intimate Knowledge of the Night : The Maze Man - Terry Dowling
An Intimate Knowledge of the Night : The Daemon Street Ghost-Trap - Terry Dowling
An Intimate Knowledge of the Night : The Terrarium - Terry Dowling
An Intimate Knowledge of the Night : They Found The Angry Moon - Terry Dowling
An Intimate Knowledge of the Night : The Gully - Terry Dowling
An Intimate Knowledge of the Night : The Last Elephant - Terry Dowling
An Intimate Knowledge of the Night : The Echoes - Terry Dowling
An Intimate Knowledge of the Night : The Third Gift - Terry Dowling
An Intimate Knowledge of the Night : The Quiet Redemption of Andy the House - Terry Dowling
An Intimate Knowledge of the Night : The Mars You Have In Me - Terry Dowling
An Intimate Knowledge of the Night : The Rediscovery of Tutankhamen's Tomb - Terry Dowling
An Intimate Knowledge of the Night : Scaring the Train - Terry Dowling


Houses get lonely, want people, seems firearms feel the same way about ammo.

3.5 out of 5


Labyrinthine lifestyle logistics lesson.

3.5 out of 5


Son's a sucker for spooks.

4 out of 5


Moon man's vegie mojo.

3 out of 5


Dog destroyers decimated.

3.5 out of 5


Green valley switcheroo.

3 out of 5


Heffalump helper joining.

3.5 out of 5


Painting and nude xmas mallwalking gives them the horn.

3 out of 5


Last pressie going a bit overboard.

3 out of 5


Schizoid dream delving blind fighter breakthrough.

4 out of 5


A man dreams of Mars, builds a bit of his own in Central Australia.

3.5 out of 5


Recreated grumpy Pharaoh's suicidal history lesson.

3.5 out of 5


Train pranksters nailed.

5 out of 5

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Both Awesome and Intrinsic, March 17, 2003

By 

J. Hannaford (Sydney AUS) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: An Intimate Knowledge of the Night (Paperback)

Dowling's skill shines in these 12 short stories of horror, fantasy and science fiction. From the thrill and the shock of The Bullet that Grows the Gun, to the dread and the wonder of Scaring the Train, Dowling weaves his magic as a storyteller.

Significant to this collection of short stories is Dowling's connecting narrative, spanning a 12 hour evening, from dusk till dawn.

Truly a significant mind in Australia's literary circles.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Horror Mystery and Awe in the Night, July 23, 2003

By 

Leigh Blackmore "Leigh" (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Intimate Knowledge of the Night (Paperback)

Terry Dowling is Australia's most significant writer of horror fiction. Having performed marvellous feats of the imagination in science fiction and fantasy in his other books, Dowling has also always recognised the power of the frisson, the importance of the weird and the uncanny in reconnecting us to primal emotions. This book contains some of his most powerful uneasy tales, linked by a running narrative of postmodern bent - an author, sitting down to write each night, is disturbed in his work by the interruption of phonecalls from Ray, denizen of a local madhouse. These linking episodes, together with some Ellison-like autobiographical vignettes and philosophical reflections which intersperse the narrative, give the stories a synergy, a cumulative power over and above their individual plots. But one could, if one preferred, read just the stories themselves; the rewards they offer are great. Dowling is a master of the form, and his technical accomplishment and imagination combine to make a memorable collection for those who appreciate 'things that go bump in the night'. Unfortunately out of print, this collection -track it down used by any means necessary!