In Short Supply and Two New Awesome Preorders

We are down to our last three copies of MEDUSA’S COIL AND OTHERS Volume II by H. P. Lovecraft edited by S. T. Joshi (Signed Limited Edition Hardcover)

Some of H. P. Lovecraft’s most fascinating work came from a time in his life that he was forced, by economic survival, to ghostwrite, collaborate and revise the work of others in the field. Here Lovecraft Scholar S. T. Joshi collects the best of these revisions and collaborations in a two volume set to be published this year from Arcane Wisdom Press. Medusa’s Coil and Others is the second of these two volumes. This edition is painstakingly annotated, and includes an introduction and bibliography by S. T. Joshi. The book is a must for the Lovecraft enthusiast and scholar alike. This limited edition hardcover will be strictly limited to only 150 hardcover copies. They will be signed by Lovecraftian scholar S. T. Joshi and will be hand numbered on a custom signature sheet, featuring artwork by Zach McCain.

 

Only one left in stock! THE GOLEM by Gustav Meyrink (Signed Limited Edition)

In the 1970s, the German psychedelic artist Helmut Wenske completed a cycle of twelve paintings based on Gustav Meyrink’s mystical classic, The Golem. For the first time these paintings are being published with the novel that served as their inspiration. Critic John Clute has written an introduction to the book, which uses Madge Pemberton’s hallucinogenic translation. Includes a photograph of Meyrink and other extras, including a bonus story.
In an oversize 8—12 format with printed silk panels on both the front and rear boards, head and tail bands, ribbon marker, and a two-color cloth slipcase. Each book is signed by John Clute and Helmut Wenske. Limited to 200 copies

•     Limited to 200 copies, each signed by John Clute and Helmut Wenske.
•     Introduction by John Clute.
•     Full color artwork.
•     Film stills and movie poster artwork.
•     Two bonus short stories.
•     Ribbon marker, head and tail bands, three-piece cloth construction.

 

Coming Soon, reserve your copies now.

 

TALES OF LOVE AND DEATH by Robert Aickman (Limited Edition) Import

Robert Aickman (1914-1981) is considered by many to be one of the finest exponents of the modern ghost story. Aickman himself referred to his tales as ‘strange stories’, for they are often open to more complex interpretations. His writing is subtle and poetic, presenting us with psychological and more material terrors.Tales of Love and Death (first published in 1977) is a collection of seven mature tales by this craftsman of the uncanny.

“Along with Walter de la Mare, Elizabeth Bowen and a few others, Robert Aickman belongs to the Chekhov school of the weird tale. Such writers recognise that stories don’t require pat endings. They don’t need to close with the snap of an O. Henry trapdoor, or the ironic twist of a Maupassant. A short story can actually convey a more haunting depiction of the human predicament by avoiding any kind of artificial conclusiveness. Life is messy, not neat; most problems are never clearly resolved, but only lived with; people act unreasonably for no apparent reason.” Michael Dirda, from the Introduction to Tales of Love and Death.

Contents: ‘Growing Boys’, ‘Marriage’, ‘Le Miroir’, ‘Compulsory Games’, ‘Raising the Wind’, ‘Residents Only’ and ‘Wood’.

Tales of Love and Death is a sewn hardback of 243+ xiii pages, printed lithographically, with silk ribbon marker, head and tailbands, and d/w.

Publication 28th May 2012
Cover artwork by Stephen J Clark of The Singing Garden.
ISBN 978-1-905784-45-5
Limited to 350 copies.

HANNES BOK: A Life In Illustrations (Signed Limited Edition Hardcover)

With over 450 pages, and a large, 8 × 12 size, this collection covers the entire artistic career of Hannes Bok. Painstakingly edited by Joseph Wrzos, with essays and memoirs on Bok by Ray Bradbury, Stephen Fabian, and many others, this book features over 600 illustrations. Many come from the pulps and pulp covers. Our color section features all of Bok’s known dustjackets and the largest collection of Bok paintings ever published, including many works that have never before been printed. Key works also feature detail views. Printed on heavy paper, with printed cloth panels, ribbon markers, and a printed cloth slipcase, the edition is limited to 200 copies for sale and is signed by most contributors. The book is printed using stochastic screening with five inks, resulting in unparalleled clarity and color reproduction.
This page is for the signed and slipcased edition, which is limited to just 200 copies for sale, and which will be shipping in August 2012. It is signed by Joseph Wrzos, Stephen Fabian, Bob Eggleton, Jill Bauman, Jason Eckhardt and Stephen Hickman. There are also signatures by Ray Bradbury and Hannes Bok, but these are facsimile, or printed, signatures. It is nice to have a Bok signature, and you will understand that due to his age and health, Mr Bradbury was just not able to sign and we felt it rude to even ask.

 

We Are for the Dark by Robert Aickman & Elizabeth Jane Howard

New title announced by Tartarus Press.

Synopsis:

We Are for the Dark is a remarkable collection, and one that can be said to have kick-started the ‘Aickmanesque’ short story. Credit for the genesis of this sub-genre of the ghost story should be given jointly to Robert Aickman and his collaborator in We Are for the Dark, Elizabeth Jane Howard. Contributing three tales each, the authors were not identified with their own stories when the book was first published in 1951.

We Are for the Dark contains six stories: ‘The Trains’, ‘The View’ and ‘The Insuffi-cient Answer’ are by Robert Aickman, while ‘Three Miles Up’, ‘Left Luggage’ and ‘Perfect Love’ are by Elizabeth Jane Howard.

R.B. Russell’s new Introduction is based on his interview with the surviving author, Elizabeth Jane Howard.
We Are for the Dark is a sewn hardback of 258+xii pages, printed lithographically, with head and tailbands, and d/w.
Limited to 350 copies.

New Arrivals From Robert E. Howard, William Peter Blatty, Richard Matheson And More!

POWER OF DARKNESS by Robert Aickman (Limited Edition Import)

This is a preorder and is expect to ship in late may. Choose “bill me” at check out and you won’t be invoiced until the book is ready to ship.

Robert Aickman (1914-1981) is considered by many to be one of the finest exponents of the modern ghost story, and he is certainly versatile. In this collection the reader is offered the experience of visiting a disused lead-mine, the Houses of Parliament, a séance in a dreary suburb, and a sun-drenched Greek island. The dust jacket for the first edition of Powers of Darkness (first published in 1966) stated ‘. . . in every case his readers will experience that authentic chill which is the hallmark of the supernatural.’
Mark Valentine points out in his Introduction to this new Tartarus Press edition that Aickman was striving to achieve something approaching poetry in his writing, and ‘he often does this in the service of the strange and sinister.’

Contents:

• ‘Introduction’ by Mark Valentine
• ‘‘Your Tiny Hand is Frozen’
• ‘My Poor Friend’
• ‘The Visiting Star’
• ‘Larger Than Oneself’
• ‘A Roman Question’
• ‘The Wine-Dark Sea’.

Powers of Darkness is a sewn hardback of 226+ xii pages, printed lithographically, with silk ribbon marker, head and tailbands, and d/w and limited to only 350 hardcover editions

THE EXORCIST AND LEGION Special Edition by William Peter Blatty (Signed Limited Edition)

About this Special Edition:
Featuring two classic William Peter Blatty novels in one beautiful volume for the first-time ever, this oversized deluxe special edition will be a must-have for any collector of horror! This incredible collector’s edition also includes original B&W artwork by acclaimed artist Keith Minnion and a career spanning interview conducted by Cemetery Dance Managing Editor Brian Freeman, covering Blatty’s life and career from the 1950s to the present. Both the Limited Edition and the Lettered Edition are signed by William Peter Blatty and there are no plans at this time to publish a trade edition of this special volume.

A Note From the Author:
“I have for many years envisioned The Exorcist and Legion to be one continuous read, even though the former is a fact-based, clearly ‘religious thriller,’ while the story of Legion delivers more excitingly on the level of a pure ‘entertain-ment.’ Never-the-less, it is Legion and not The Exorcist that is by far the more ambitious work in that the demonic homicides that police Lt. Kinderman is investigating are of much lesser concern to him than solving that case of cosmic homicide that for eons, and for so many and for so long, has been the foremost stumbling block to belief in a benevolent Creator, namely the so-called  ‘Problem of Evil,’ to which Legion brazenly offers a solution.”

A WITCH SHALL BE BORN by Robert E. Howard

“By the side of the caravan road a heavy cross had been planted, and on this grim tree a man hung, nailed there by iron spikes through his hands and feet. Naked but for a loin-cloth, the man was almost a giant in stature, and his muscles stood out in thick corded ridges on limbs and body, which the sun had long ago burned brown…”

— Robert E. Howard, “A Witch Shall Be Born”

book is in near fine condition in a near fine dust jacket.

Published in 1975

RED NAILS by Robert E. Howard

Pursing the beautiful Valeria in the Black countries, Conan happens upon a strange, walled city in the midst of a desert. Conan and Valeria become enmeshed in a civil war, a war driven by ancient hate and blood-lust that threatens the few surviving inhabitants of Xuchotl.

One of only 3,500 copies published and lavishly illustrated by George Barr.

This copy is in near fine condition with a very light bump to the bottom front corner.  Dust Jacket is in near fine condition with some light fading due to age.

Published in 1975.

THE WEIRD TALE by S. T. Joshi (Trade Hardcover)

The leading critic of supernatural literature here examines the roots of the “weird tale” (as Lovecraft called it) through detailed examinations of five “founding fathers” of the genre: Arthur Machen, Lord Dunsany, Algernon Blackwood, M.R. James, and H.P. Lovecraft. The result is a thorough study of the art, craft, philosophy, and aesthetics of an enduring genre of fantastic literature.

SOMEWHERE IN TIME / WHAT DREAMS MY COME by Richard Matheson (Signed Limited Edition)

Two classics SOMEWHERE IN TIME and WHAT DREAMS MAY COME in one signed limited edition hardcover in custom slipcase.

Published by Dream Press, published 1991

One of only 350 signed and numbered copies in slipcase this is number 67 Book is in fine condition in fine dust jacket. Slipcase has some light rubbing else fine.

Three New Tartarus Press Titles Announced

Click on the book for ordering information:

FRANKENSTEIN’S PRESCRIPTION by Tim Lees:

Hans Schneider is a drunkard and a womaniser; everyone agrees he’s heading for a bad end. When he kills a fellow student in a duel, he finds himself banished to an isolated rural hospital, far from the pleasures he desires. There he meets the mysterious Dr Lavenza, and learns about Frankenstein’s prescription-the secret of eternal life.

Together, Schneider and Lavenza set out to collect the missing pieces of the formula. But they are not alone. From Germany to Rome, from Rome to Paris, to the failed and wretched Eden of an all-too-human God, a dreadful creature follows in their wake, bringing destruction wherever they go.

Poor Schneider wants an easy time: drink, women and good company. Instead, he finds himself beset by ghosts and madmen, in a world where music brings the dead to life, and even the most terrifying monster can prove strangely sympathetic . . .

DARK ENTRIES by Robert Aickman

As Dr Glen Cavaliero states in his introduction to this new edition of Dark Entries, “It is Robert Aickman’s peculiar achievement that he should invest the daylight world with all the terrors of the night”.

Dark Entries was the first solo collection of “strange stories” by British short story writer, critic, lecturer and novelist, Robert Aickman. First published in 1964 it contains the classic “Ringing the Changes” and perhaps Aickman’s best femme fatale in “Choice of Weapons.” The version of “The View” is slightly re-written from its first appearance in We are for the Dark.

Contents: “Introduction by Glen Cavaliero, “The School Friend”, “Ringing the Changes”, “Choice of Weapons”, “The Waiting Room”, “The View” and “Bind Your Hair”.

 

WORMING THE HARPY by Rhys Hughes

Imagine (if you dare) a whimsical marriage of Lord Dunsany and S.J. Perelman, and you have something approaching the tales of Rhys Hughes, filled with gaudy colour, slapstick, puns, fantastic creatures, and the occasional unexpected chill. Hughes’ world is a magical one – and his language if the most magical thing of all. - Ted Klein, author of The Ceremonies

The tales contained within Worming the Harpy and other Bitter Pills are set in a surreal world of nightmares all too closely identifiable with real life. If The Cabinet of Dr Caligari was retouched by Ralph Steadman, with The Rolling Stones ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ as a soundtrack, you would have only the slightest inkling of the scintillating and horrific world conjured by Rhys Hughes. For too long out of print, we are pleased to make this collection available once again, now in paperback.

As E.F. Bleiler states in his Afterword: “What do I like about Rhys Hughes’s work? Fun. Hughes sees and precipitates in words the latent humour in almost anything.”

Contents: “Cat o’ Nine Tales”, “Worming the Harpy”, “The Falling Star”, “Quasimodulus”, “The Good News Grimoire”, “The Forest Chapel Bell”, “Flintlock Jaw”, “Velocity Oranges”, “A Carpet Seldom Found”, “The Chimney”, “One Man’s Meat”, “The Man Who Mistook His Wife’s Hat for the Mad Hatter’s Wife”, “Cello I Love You”, “What To Do When the Devil Comes Round For Tea”, “Arquebus for Harlequin”, “Éclair de Lune”, “Grinding the Goblin”, “Afterword” by E.F. Bleiler .