Reggie Oliver Turns Novelist

The prolific Reggie Oliver, whose weird literary career seems to be accelerating in equal parts quantity and popularity, has a new title on deck from Chômu Press. Preliminary details about The Dracula Papers, Book I: The Scholar's Tale hint at an array of exciting developments showing yet more innovation by Oliver and the publishers he works with. This new novel's storyline is, in fact, a continuation of the exotic adventure unveiled in his most recent (and rapidly sold out) novella, The Wounds of Exile, a Passport Levant book by Ex Occidente Press. Here's the outline:

Bram Stoker’s immortal DRACULA told us about Count Dracula as an undead vampire. But how did this come to be? Who was Dracula in real life? There has always been speculation, but THE DRACULA PAPERS now offers the ultimate answer. It takes us back to the year 1576, to the wild land of Transylvania and to the early life of Prince Vladimir who came to be the horror known as Dracula. The result is a story as remarkable and extraordinary as the Bram Stoker classic. Battles, intrigues, sorcery, sexual passion, hauntings, a mechanical tortoise and a burning rhinoceros all have their part to play in a thrilling narrative that nevertheless plunges deep into the mystery of Evil.

With The Dracula Papers Reggie Oliver presents a grand tour of the sixteenth century, and of every variety of occult lore surrounding the vampire myth, that is rollicking, wise, macabre, but always unexpected. The Scholar’s Tale is the first volume of a scholarly and picaresque Gothick Extravaganza.

Anyone who has followed Oliver's rise to weird fiction notoriety since the early 2000s knows his books often appear in limited editions which, due to his growing reputation, command exceptionally high prices shortly after going out-of-print. The Dracula Papers looks set to be Reggie Oliver's first paperback release, an interesting change that may give Oliver's work an accessibility and affordability previously unseen with his previous books.

This new book is additional evidence that Oliver is now focusing on the long form novel, perhaps in place of the short stories that previously won him rave reviews and a cult following in weird horror. Ex Occidente still plans to publish another novel, Virtue in Danger, as well as a Passport Levant novella entitled Immortal Wheat. Both books should appear in late 2010 or the first quarter of 2011. Whether or not these lengthy tales will be received as well as his short fiction collections remains to be seen, but there's certainly no expectation of degenerating quality with his proven craftsmanship. Moreover, the fact that The Dracula Papers is Book I implies more novels are in Oliver's future, a noteworthy development constrained or nurtured only by his ambition and objectives as a writer.

The Dracula Papers is scheduled for a release in early 2011. Chômu's other forthcoming titles by Justin Isis, Brendan Connell, and Daniel Mills are well worth examining as well for any with an interest in the strange, uncanny, and macabre.

-Grim Blogger