Tartarus Press continues its excellent series of videos about bibliophilia in this interview with Mark Valentine about book collecting. In it, the longtime scholar, editor, and fiction author discusses his own appreciation for this literary past time, as well as several names that should ring familiar to any weird fiction fanatic. The video seemingly coincides with new efforts by the publisher to expand its influence in the online realm.
It's not just social media or Youtube either. Tartarus' line of ebooks continues to swell. Just recently, ebook forms of Valentine's own The Collected Connoisseurappeared, along with an electronic re-issue of Mark Samuels' well regarded collection, The White Hands.
-Grim Blogger
An Interview With Mark Valentine About Book Collecting
By any measure, H.P. Lovecraft functioned well as an amateur historian, or at least as a great admirer of the past. Innsmouth Free Press' new anthology, Historical Lovecraft: Tales of Horror Through Time, does a superb job of reviving the Lovecraftian appreciation for bygone epochs. Unlike alternate anthologies based around a specific time, place, or theme, Historical Lovecraft places original horrors all across the map.
Horrors New and Old
Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Paula R. Stiles have used their editorial talents to great effect with this volume. The book is a balanced collection of tales from all eras: ancient, medieval, and modern. Rather than centering around HPL's own colonial New England or familiar European locales, we are introduced to the antiquated natives of cultures all across the world, and experience fear through their unique perspectives.
The impressive and diverse lineup of Historical Lovecraft begins in the paleolithic era with Andrew G. Dombalagian's tale, “The God Lurking in Stone.” A mentally retarded man haunts his sister as he communes with gods far older than mankind. More familiar ancient places come alive in the succeeding millenia.
In “If Only to Taste Her Again,” E. Catherine Tobler brings a horror from the Nile to the court of Egyptian ruler Hatshepsut, while Daniel Mills' “Silently, Without Cease” pulls back the curtains on a portrait of dying Byzantine Emperor Justinian as he bargains with a personification of the ravaging plague. Both authors excel at authentically duplicating the historic scenery and infamous personages that have ascended into the ranks of legend. Toler and Mills effectively twist the already nightmarish mysteries of the past into contorted abominations reflected back through a decidedly Lovecraftian prism.
Moving on, a Spanish Inquisitor attempts to interrogate a blasphemous horror from the New World in William Meikle's brilliant tale, “Inquisitor.” This story nicely illustrates the cross cultural potency concealed in many of these tales, which inject real terror into history's crucial transforming times and places. Inquisitors are certainly interesting on their own, but the hapless churchman who encounters something worse than a demon in this story also experiences a fate a hundred times more entertaining than a re-hash about the evils of extreme Catholicism with a Lovecraftian edge.
Strange, Far Places
The major driver behind the success of the stories in Historical Lovecraft is the editors' commitment to bringing together a truly global sampling of Lovecraftian horrors. For instance, Sarah Hans' “Shadows of the Darkest Jade” follows two Buddhist monks who encounter a far away village seething with evil. Hans shoves us into ancient madness without turning back.
“An Uninterrupted Sacrifice” brings forth the unusual offerings inspired by religious practices in ancient South America. H.P. Lovecraft would probably find it difficult to imagine a story based on his work without a Westerner in sight. This story proves that good Lovecraftiana can arise from authentically alien sources, and places like ancient Peru actually serve to enhance the exotic feeling.
Travis Heermann's “An Idol for Emiko” returns us to Asia, this time during the rise of Japan's Tokugawa Shogunate. More than mere samurai and oriental wonders are on display here. Lovecraft's infamous deep ones make an appearance, filling a small coastal village with predictable horrors, but getting to the gruesome end has never been stranger through early modern Japanese eyes.
In more modern times, “Red Star, Yellow Sign” by Leigh Kimmel infuses Lovecraftian themes into a relatively obscure historical event: the murder of Leningrad Mayor Kirov during the Stalinist era. The incredible mystery and myriad conspiracies surrounding Kirov's demise are made stranger still by introducing R'lyeh into the equation. Kimmel thoroughly captures the paranoia and totalitarian horror intrinsic in Soviet society, and her firm historical knowledge and knack for horror makes this a candidate for best story in the book, amid strong competition.
It seems that history and Lovecraftian horror will always walk hand in hand, since it has been that way from the beginning of the Cthulhu Mythos. Fortunately, the historic backdrops only grow richer and curiouser as time passes. Historical Lovecraft: Tales of Horror Through Time furthers that evolution along its natural track, and for this reason, it's not to be missed.
It's not everyday that bygone weird fiction journals from the past couple decades are resuscitated, but LORE: A Quaint and Curious Volume of Selected Stories does exactly that. The 1980s and 1990s experienced a tremendous flowering of brilliance in the broad field of literary horror, and Lovecraftian fiction specifically. In fact, the pioneering efforts of these unforgettable 'zines and journals arguably led to the strong position this genre enjoys today online.
LORE was one such effort that garnered a small, but devoted following in the late 1990s. Now, editors Rod Heather and Sean O'Leary have pieced together the finest samples from the magazine's history. Lovecraftian readers and weird fiction fans will find plenty to admire in these pages.
Tales by recognizable names such as Harlan Ellison, Jeffrey Thomas, Brian Lumley, and Robert M. Price abound, rare items that haven't seen the light of day again since the 'zine closed its doors. This latest incarnation of LORE: A Quaint and Curious Volume of Selected Stories brings back several award winning tales, and some experimental efforts that are too interesting to pass up. “The Challenge from Below” by Robert M. Price, Peter Cannon, Donald R. Burleson, and Brian McNaughton is particularly creative, conceived as a Lovecraftian round robin story by several veteran observers in the field.
Best of all, it seems this volume is merely the debut for a resurgent publishing imprint called The LORE Firm. This new enterprise aims to build on the little acknowledged success of the old publication by bringing out new content in both print and online media. What better way to build interest than by reminding readers of the predecessor's wonders?
LORE: A Quaint and Curious Volume of Selected Stories is a treasure trove of hidden Lovecraftiana and weirdism. Hopefully, it constitutes a firm starting point for new explorations that will prove just as impressive.
-Grim Blogger
LORE: A Quaint and Curious Volume of Selected Stories
Following closely on the heels of Joseph S. Pulver's unsettling short story collection, Sin & Ashes, his latest effort has appeared in the form of The Orphan Palace. This new Chomu Press novel melds the nightmarish fantasies originated by authors like H.P. Lovecraft and Robert W. Chambers with Pulver's unmistakeable mind tripping. Fire, terror, and fringe characters come together maniacally in this genre bending storm.
Horror is exactly what most Pulver fans are after, and rightfully so, since he is a trustworthy master of it. His latest novel gives his devotees exactly what they are looking for – whether they know it or not. Like a blood stained Santa Clause, he knows how to gift words that are concealed knives, balancing a multi-verse of hells for maximum impact.
This book brings together otherworldly threats with the all too real underworlds of seedy orphanages, arson, and murder. Pulver makes us question realities, and wonder whether a parcel of our non-fiction world bears a resemblance to his madhouse built on pillars of untarnished horrors.
The Orphan Palace is a strong and swift descent into jarring lunacy, with hell spawned characters who are guaranteed to haunt the mind long after the pages go untouched. Pick up a copy, if you want to surrender to the entanglements of dark illusion and visceral frights.
Reading ghost stories provides a familiar chill to many readers, but only a select few want to delve deeper, burrowing into a thorough understanding of what drives the spectral tale. Today, with weird fiction scholarship more vibrant than ever before, that journey doesn't have to happen alone. Two outstanding study aids published in recent years head up a multiplying field. Look to S.T. Joshi's Warnings to the Curious and Andrew Smith's The Ghost Story 1840-1920: A Cultural History for proof of ghostly energies in literature.
S.T. Joshi Shines the Light on Jamesian Demons
Warnings to the Curious: A Sheaf of Criticism on M.R. James recalls the glory days when most scholarship focusing on literary horror occurred in obscure journals. Aside from H.P. Lovecraft, M.R. James enjoyed zealous attention to his supernatural works. Ghosts and Scholars was a long running publication devoted to unveiling the many mysteries he left behind, headed by Rosemary Pardoe, who joins Joshi in editing this volume. The two wizened Jamesian observers have assembled a diverse array of discourse on M.R. James' most celebrated stories.
Unlike Ghosts and Scholars, which occasionally delved into minutiae that was only decipherable by absolute Jamesian fanatics, Joshi's scholarly collection is much more accessible. Occult, historic, and erotic tensions are explored as deep and relevant influences behind James' work. In many ways, gaining added insight into the forbidden knowledge fearfully communicated by M.R. James does nothing to dispel his demons.
Instead, Warnings to the Curious peels back the layers of beautiful illusion responsible for obscuring pure horror in James' tales. The demons, ghosts, and less definable terrors are then revealed in all of their alien glory. This book collects the most well thought and illuminating studies of James' fiction to date, and it should remain master for some time.
Andrew Smith Uproots Ghostly Terrors
By the time The Ghost Story 1840-1920 ends, M.R. James' ascent to the spectral throne of literary horror is just nearing its peak. This fat volume by Andrew Smith attempts to pierce the historic origins of the ghost story in the United Kingdom and beyond. More importantly, Smith lets loose an important bridge rarely completed in scholarship that's strictly centered around the weird.
Smith's haunted history talks about not merely James and Sheridan Le Fanu, but household names such as Charles Dickens and Henry James. Whatever other conclusions this book draws, no one can ignore its ability to place spectral fiction in the forefront of art and society. Smith's revelations are always tied back to the mainstream literary scene, political events, and economic turmoils that influenced the rise of the British ghost story, perhaps the same elements that were influenced in turn by a new and fearful aesthetic.
For a product of academia, The Ghost Story 1840-1920 is pleasantly readable to the average horror fan. Smith capably connects crucial figures and events back to phantoms, without droning on like an absent minded professor.
Understanding ghost stories isn't easy. It's conceivable that the most devoted weird horror readers could spend a lifetime contemplating the nuances of uncanny play between the dead and the living. Thanks to study props like these, at least they won't have to ponder in isolation.
-Grim Blogger
Understanding Ghost Stories: Books by ST Joshi and Andrew Smith
