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Post by andydecker on Dec 12, 2023 21:23:32 GMT
I haven't checked yet to see if there's an electronic edition of Circles of Stone; I definitely have it on my list of books to stash away for my week in darkest South Florida visiting my mother and sister. I need frequent doses of creepy old Pagan horror tales whenever I'm stuck down there. Hel. It is available as an ebook.
Sounds creepy. Isn't it hurricane season?
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Post by humgoo on Dec 13, 2023 6:44:31 GMT
Out now — Katy Soar [ed.] - Circles of Stone: Weird Tales of Pagan Sites and Ancient Rites (British Library, Dec. 2023) Thanks a lot Dem! Very interesting line-up. The unknown-to-known ratio seems to be on the high side this time. Rarely see the stories of Mary Williams anthologised (or probably just my ignorance). A G&S story is also a very nice surprise. Looking forward to reading your review. |
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Post by dem on Dec 13, 2023 14:06:21 GMT
I'm curious as to the TOC of this British Library hard cover, due next month. Nicole C. Dittmer [ed.] - Penny Bloods: Gothic Tales of Dangerous Women (British Library, Aug. 2023) I paid a short visit to the British Library and took a look at this tome, among others, in the bookshop. Did not note down the TOC (sorry!), but remember that the biggest chunk of the book is taken up by Sweeney Todd. One story by Eugène Sue, and a few others. With their covers based on old railway posters, the BL Crime Classics are truly most eye-catching when on display. I ended up getting three Crime Classics (priced 3 for 2, impossible to resist etc) instead of the weird stuff! (British Library, 2023) Introduction
A Note from the publisher
Elizabeth Caroline Gray - The Skeleton Count; or, The Vampire Mistress
Wizard - The Wild Witch of the Heath; or, The Demon of the Glen
Eugene Sue - The Female Bluebeard; or, The Adventurer
James Malcolm Rymer - The String of Pearls; or, The Sailor's Gift
George W. M. Reynolds - Wagner, The Wehr-wolf
Malcolm J. Errym - The Dark Woman; or, Days of the Prince Regent
Septimus R. Urban - The Wronged Wife; or, The Heart of Hate
Blurb Her cheeks were pale, and her eyes had the wild and stolid glare which Rodolph had observed when she awakened from the slumber of the grave; she quitted the castle, and after gazing around her, as if uncertain which way to go, she proceeded towards the village.
In the mid 1800s, the inexpensive publications known as penny bloods were all the rage in Britain. Spinning tales of high Gothic drama, violence and monstrosity, this literary phenomenon was significant for its depictions of dangerous and transgressive women. These popular figures established archetypes like the beguiling vampiress and inspired such milestone Gothic works as Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla.
Collecting seven tales from classic penny publications including the story of Mrs. Lovett, the piemaking counterpart to Sweeney Todd, this volume features newly edited text and insights from Dr. Dittmer's research to revive a wild company of witches, femme fatales, and deadly criminals for a new generation of readers. |
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Post by helrunar on Dec 13, 2023 14:27:29 GMT
Hi Andreas, that's good to know that this title, along with others in this very well-furnished series, is available in electronic form.
Hurricane season is supposed to end on 30 November. They've been having unseasonably cold, windy weather down in South Florida off and on for the last few weeks; climate change will have its way.
Last night in the post my latest opportunity to explore the church-laden world of Jamesian clergy spook-a-rama arrived with a copy of E. G. Swain's story collection Bone to his bone, published by an outfit called Equation and actually distributed over here by Sterling Publishing Co. I had to grab the book when it showed up in an online used-book site for a very low price even though it's now long out of print. The book includes six new stories featuring Swain's Mr Batchel character by David Rowlands who I think sometimes posts on the Vault (can't recall his handle at the moment).
cheers, Steve
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Post by dem on Dec 13, 2023 14:42:24 GMT
Last night in the post my latest opportunity to explore the church-laden world of Jamesian clergy spook-a-rama arrived with a copy of E. G. Swain's story collection Bone to his bone, published by an outfit called Equation and actually distributed over here by Sterling Publishing Co. I had to grab the book when it showed up in an online used-book site for a very low price even though it's now long out of print. The book includes six new stories featuring Swain's Mr Batchel character by David Rowlands who I think sometimes posts on the Vault (can't recall his handle at the moment). Sadly, I'm not sure David Rowland ever had anything to do with this board (he'd be very welcome), but we've a thread for the delightful Equation Bone to His Bone featuring Mr Batchel at the height of his considerable saintly powers. |
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Post by Johnlprobert on Jan 6, 2024 23:05:07 GMT
Just dropping in to say that this checklist of the British Library Tales of the Weird is much appreciated, especially by old codgers like me who already own collections of a number of the authors in the series, either in grotty paperbacks or not at all grotty Ash-Tree Press et al-type editions.
Despite being as selective as possible, I still have something of a love-hate relationship with this series. The degree of duplication (and triplication!) of stories suggest it's more aimed at purchasers of individual volumes rather than those obsessives amongst us who already own complete runs of SF Masterworks, Fantasy Masterworks, all the old Wordsworth grey paperbacks, etc etc, and will similarly want to own an entire run of these beautifully presented books. My ire has been raised further by some quite staggering mistakes made by the 'editors' of certain volumes (I'm looking at you, Joan Passey) whose errors call into question the validity of anything else they may put by way of introduction.
Anyway, on a lighter, if somewhat more embarrassing note, I was today years old when I discovered that the 'N Dennett' who terrified me with the Pan Horror story 'Unburied Bane' has turned out to be actually Eleanor Scott of Randall's Round fame. I didn't know where else to admit this revelation of my ignorance but I know I'm amongst friends here. And yes I've just ordered some more Tales of the Weird paperbacks.
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Post by dem on Jan 7, 2024 20:38:03 GMT
Much as I love the look of the books, I'm firmly in the individual volumes camp far as this series is concerned, several vols being of little or no personal interest — same goes for the Wordsworth Mystery & Supernaturals and Alaister Gunn's Wimbourne Victorian Ghost Books. Even so, I do wish Brit Library would publish a Complete Ghost Stories of MR James as a 'Tales of the Weird' (think they have one in hardcover?) and then leave him be for at least a decade.
Think it was Richard Dalby first suggested 'N. Dennett' and Eleanor Scott were one and the same entity.
Lovely to hear from you, your Right Hon. A very happy 2024 to Lady Thana and yourself.
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Post by helrunar on Jan 8, 2024 0:38:32 GMT
A friend of mine who mentioned Eleanor Scott's early story "The Room" yesterday told me, when I asked, that she doesn't accept the idea that Dennett and Scott were one and the same. I personally do not have a stake in this fight, but it's an interesting idea.
Hel.
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Post by dem on Feb 10, 2024 10:34:13 GMT
#45. Joanne Ella Parsons [ed.] - Doomed Romances: Strange Tales of Uncanny Love(British Library, Jan 2024) Introduction
A Note from the publisher
Mary Shelley - The Invisible Girl
J. Sheridan Le Fanu - Carmilla
Wilkie Collins - Mr. Captain and the Nymph
Mary E. Braddon - The Little Woman in Black
Ella D'Arcy - White Magic
Alice Perrin - The Tiger-Charm
Marjorie Bowen - One Remained Behind
Angela Carter - The Lady of the House of Love
Nalo Hopkinson - The Glass Bottle Trick
Kalumu Ya Salaam - Could You Wear My Eyes?
Tracy Fahey - I'll Be Your Mirror
V. Castro - Dancehall DevilBlurb: "Love will have its sacrifices. No sacrifice without blood. Let us go to sleep now."
A prophecy threatens a volcanic upheaval for a star-crossed pair. A forbidden rite binds a dark arts dabbler to a phantom bride. A barstool chancer invites a devilish retribution on the dance floor.
Beckoning from this tome are twelve tales of dark romance and undying passions hailing from 1832 to 2022, marrying bewitching classics by Mary Shelley, Wilkie Collins and Angela Carter with twisting modern pieces by Nalo Hopkinson, Tracy Fahey and V. Castro―alongside the classic Gothic novella of sapphic vampire romance Carmilla. Indulging in the strangest eddies of literary love, this new anthology bids you enter a doom-laden yet irresistibly seductive corner of the Weird.
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Post by johnnymains on Mar 25, 2024 21:40:48 GMT
THE MARRYAT FAMILY
Krantz's Narrative - Frederick Marryat
The Haunted Nursery - Florence Marryat
THE SHERIDAN AND LE FANU FAMILIES
The Watcher - Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
What It Meant - Rhoda Broughton
Fran Nan's Story - Sarah LeFanu
THE HAWTHORNE FAMILY
Young Goodman Brown - Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Mysterious Case of My Friend Browne - Julian Hawthorne
Unawares - Hildegarde Hawthorne
THE DICKENS FAMILY
A Child's Dream of a Star - Charles Dickens
My Fellow Travellers - Mary Angela Dickens
To Reach the Sea - Monica Dickens
The Secret Ones - Mary Danby
THE PANGBORN FAMILY
The Substitute - Georgia Wood Pangborn
Wogglebeast - Edgar Pangborn
My Name Is Samantha - Mary C. Pangborn
THE AIKEN FAMILY
Silent Snow, Secret Snow - Conrad Aiken
The Pipe-Smoker - Martin Armstrong
Old Fillikin - Joan Aiken
A copy from Mike arrived today, it's a wizard of an idea and I hope it does really well.
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Post by andydecker on Mar 27, 2024 15:12:37 GMT
THE MARRYAT FAMILY
Krantz's Narrative - Frederick Marryat
The Haunted Nursery - Florence Marryat
THE SHERIDAN AND LE FANU FAMILIES
The Watcher - Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
What It Meant - Rhoda Broughton
Fran Nan's Story - Sarah LeFanu
THE HAWTHORNE FAMILY
Young Goodman Brown - Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Mysterious Case of My Friend Browne - Julian Hawthorne
Unawares - Hildegarde Hawthorne
THE DICKENS FAMILY
A Child's Dream of a Star - Charles Dickens
My Fellow Travellers - Mary Angela Dickens
To Reach the Sea - Monica Dickens
The Secret Ones - Mary Danby
THE PANGBORN FAMILY
The Substitute - Georgia Wood Pangborn
Wogglebeast - Edgar Pangborn
My Name Is Samantha - Mary C. Pangborn
THE AIKEN FAMILY
Silent Snow, Secret Snow - Conrad Aiken
The Pipe-Smoker - Martin Armstrong
Old Fillikin - Joan Aiken
A copy from Mike arrived today, it's a wizard of an idea and I hope it does really well.
Looks good. Hope everything is well! |
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Post by dem on Apr 22, 2024 14:53:16 GMT
Just arrived: includes two each from Marjorie Bowen and Frederick Cowles. Aaron Worth [ed] - Out of the Past: Tales of Haunting History (British Library, 21 April 2024) Aaron Worth - Introduction
A Note from the Publisher
Marjorie Bowen - Pride
Vernon Lee - A Wedding Chest
M. P. Shiel - Dark Lot of One Saul
Vincent O'Sullivan - Verschoyle's House
Bernard Capes - The Black Reaper
Frederick Cowles - The Witch-finder
Marjorie Bowen - The Confession of Beau Sekforde
Frederick Cowles - The Pink Columbine
Aaron Worth - The Translation of Aqbar
Sheila Hodgson - Come, Follow!
Aaron Worth - The Theatre of OvidBlurb: "Come inside, my bonny witch-finder. Here is shelter for thee..."
A tale of callous murder and deranged revenge rings out from fifteenth-century Italy. A witch-finder's great triumph is also the herald of his own doom in Civil War Britain. A prisoner's fate at the hands of the Inquisition in sixteenth-century Mexico leads to an encounter with the bestial and bizarre beneath the waves.
Summoning eleven stories chosen for their uncanny portrayals of weird history, this collection presents a dark timeline of grim visions harking from plague-racked England to revolutionary France and culminating in the last gasps of the nineteenth century.
Including stories by the greatest writers of history-turned-horrifying such as Marjorie Bowen, Frederick Cowles, Vernon Lee and the lost genius Vincent O'Sullivan, this volume is capped by two of Aaron Worth's own tales of Victorian macabre alongside a chiller evoking M. R. James by Sheila Hodgson, the adapter of his stories for radio.
AARON WORTH is a professor at Boston University, a celebrated editor and a short story writer. He has edited the Tales of the Weird collections Randall's Round and The Night Wire, as well as anthologies by Vernon Lee and Arthur Machen for Oxford University Press. |
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Post by humgoo on Apr 23, 2024 14:12:46 GMT
A copy from Mike arrived today, it's a wizard of an idea and I hope it does really well. Thanks a lot for the TOC! Fascinating. Looks like it can be paired up with Hugh Lamb's Ghosts in the House. this volume is capped by two of Aaron Worth's own tales of Victorian macabre Gee, now the series has come to a point where the editor includes his own stories! I like the fact that the series keeps evolving. |
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Post by dem on Apr 24, 2024 10:50:34 GMT
Gee, now the series has come to a point where the editor includes his own stories! I like the fact that the series keeps evolving. The Amazon.uk blurb for Out of the Past needs amending; "With contributions by ... Nathaniel Hawthorne, Elizabeth Gaskell, Mary Shelley ..." |
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Post by johnnymains on May 22, 2024 20:48:04 GMT
Cover and contents a few weeks away (still have to confirm a few stories/Estates), but I'm delighted to announce that I'm editing a hardcover called HALLOWEIRD for the British Library. Out October.
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