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Post by cathaven on Aug 13, 2015 15:18:05 GMT
In association with David Sutton's Shadow Publishing, I've been offered the job of editing a collection of the complete supernatural stories of Elizabeth Walter. The problem is that so little is known about her that it makes tracking down the rights owners a challenge.
Here's what we know...
Elizabeth Walter (b. unknown - d. May 8, 2006)[1] was a U.K. writer of short stories in the horror and fantasy genres.
She was brought up in the Welsh Border country (Herefordshire), and lived in London in later life though with periodic returns to the Wye Valley and the Black Mountains. An editor for a British publishing house,she edited Collins Crime Club titles for more than thirty years, from 1961-1993.
Several of her supernatural tales were inspired by travels in other countries, especially Germany.
She authored six short story collections and four novels. Three of her stories were filmed for television.
That all comes from Wikipedia, so even that isn't certain.
Of the six collections, the final one from Arkham House is a sort of best of, so the full list of her supernatural stories is as follows...
Snowfall
The New House
The Tibetan Box
The Island of Regrets
The Drum
The Sin-Eater
Dearest Clarissa
A Scientific Impossibility
A Question of Time
The Spider
Exorcism
Davy Jones's Tale
The Hare
In the Mist
The Lift
The Street of the Jews
Hushabye, Baby
Come and Get Me
The Concrete Captain
The Thing
The Travelling Companion
The Spirit of the Place
Prendergast
Grandfather Clock
Dead Woman
The Hollies and the Ivy
A Monstrous Tale
The Little House
Dual Control
Telling the Bees
Christmas Night
As far as we're aware, there are no published stories that weren't included in the collections. If I'm wrong about that, Id be really grateful if you'd let me know.
Also, if you have any information I don't have - especially anything which might help me track down her literary executors, please let me know.
Dave Brzeski
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Post by jamesdoig on Aug 13, 2015 21:23:18 GMT
In association with David Sutton's Shadow Publishing, I've been offered the job of editing a collection of the complete supernatural stories of Elizabeth Walter. The problem is that so little is known about her that it makes tracking down the rights owners a challenge. You might already have done so, but I'd suggest you get in touch with Mike Ashley who has written about her in a few places - Mike's a good bloke who would be keen to help out. |
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Aug 13, 2015 22:12:53 GMT
In association with David Sutton's Shadow Publishing, I've been offered the job of editing a collection of the complete supernatural stories of Elizabeth Walter. The problem is that so little is known about her that it makes tracking down the rights owners a challenge. You might already have done so, but I'd suggest you get in touch with Mike Ashley who has written about her in a few places - Mike's a good bloke who would be keen to help out. I've asked my brother who's in various crime circles to check out the Collins angle. His first try drew a complete blank |
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Post by cathaven on Aug 13, 2015 23:04:29 GMT
Thanks James & Craig. Shadow Publishing have just announced a major new anthology, edited by Allen Ashley, to be published in the autumn, so I would imagine Dave Sutton has already asked him. I'll mention it, though. I have emailed an inquiry to Rod Collins of the Classic Crime Fiction site, to see if they've had any contact with her family through their Collins Crime Club page.
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Post by jamesdoig on Aug 14, 2015 6:59:49 GMT
Thanks James & Craig. Shadow Publishing have just announced a major new anthology, edited by Allen Ashley, to be published in the autumn, so I would imagine Dave Sutton has already asked him. I'll mention it, though. Mike Ashley, not Allen - Mike wrote a fairly long piece on her in the St James Guide to Horror, Ghost and Gothic Writers, amongst other places. |
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Post by dem bones on Aug 14, 2015 7:58:04 GMT
Not sure how much help this will be, but a nice quote. "I cannot write a crime novel. I tried once and gave up. But I have had a collection of supernatural stories published in the States by St. Martin's Press. The supernatural appeals to me - probably my Welsh heritage. The thing I like most about the supernatural is that it enables you to play God, to dispense justice - only you dispense it from beyond the grave. Crime novelists can only dispense it from this side."Closing paragraph of English Editing, Elizabeth Walter short (one page) essay on her work as editor of the Collins Crime Club (" .... the only thing I won't publish is anything that is explicitly sadistic."). Published in Dilys Winn's Murder Ink: The Mystery Reader's Companion (Westbridge, 1977) |
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Post by cathaven on Aug 14, 2015 11:38:45 GMT
Thanks James & Craig. Shadow Publishing have just announced a major new anthology, edited by Allen Ashley, to be published in the autumn, so I would imagine Dave Sutton has already asked him. I'll mention it, though. Mike Ashley, not Allen - Mike wrote a fairly long piece on her in the St James Guide to Horror, Ghost and Gothic Writers, amongst other places. I really need to learn to read! LOL |
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Aug 14, 2015 13:18:10 GMT
I've asked my brother who's in various crime circles You mean Batman? I thought he fought crime? |
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Aug 14, 2015 19:10:32 GMT
Batman indeed. But he only solves crime. His athletic exploits have been hampered by drinking rather a lot of beer
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