Horror Masterworks Series...

[GOLLUM]

Well, if you can track down a copy for a reasonable price, you might want to go for The Collected Strange Stories of Robert Aickman, a 2-volume set which was put out by Taratus Press back in 1999:

Supernatural Fiction Database, Robert Aickman

Yes, that's a more feasible suggestion J.D.

I nominated Sub Rosa mainly due to its scarcity and prohibitive price tag in the spirit of a Masterworks collection but also because it's an excellent representation of Aickman's literary prowess.

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Thanks GOLLUM, much to follow up on here. The Violet Books link is especially interesting.

 

[GOLLUM]

Thanks GOLLUM, much to follow up on here. The Violet Books link is especially interesting.

Glad to be of assistance...

Let us know if you do decide to get a copy of Grabinski, Rampo and Quiroga. I included those deliberately due to my interest in World Literature and because I knew that not many people who are predominantly subjected to a mainstream Western diet of fiction (not specially aimed at your good self but you know what I mean), would have known about these writers. Having said that, they are 3 of the finest exponents of Horror fiction I have come across.

 

[j d worthington]

Yes, that's a more feasible suggestion J.D.

I nominated Sub Rosa mainly due to its scarcity and prohibitive price tag in the spirit of a Masterworks collection but also because it's an excellent representation of Aickman's literary prowess.

Mmmm... looking at the listings online right now, I'm not so sure about that... nearly $1000 for both volumes seems a bit steep....

As for my suggestions on Wandrei and Whitehead; if you can, find a copy of the Fedogan & Bremer volume, Don't Dream by Wandrei; it collects together all his horrific work save for the novel Dead Titans Waken (published as The Web of Easter Island), and also the collection of his sf, Colossus which, though quite uneven, has some magnificent things in it (Don't Dream is chock full of nightmarish pieces). I'd also suggest going for Hippocampus Press' Sanctity and Sin:

Don't Dream - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus_(collection)

Sanctity and Sin: The Collected Poetry and Prose-Poems of Donald Wandrei - Hippocampus Press

Wandrei is sadly neglected, considering that much of his work is genuinely nightmarish and quite powerful... another writer who often based work on his dreams....

Whitehead... Jumbee was reprinted in a 2-volume paperback edition by Mayflower some years back, though West India Lights, to the best of my knowledge, has never been reprinted (unless it was as part of the Neville Spearman run of Arkham House reprints). Whitehead spent some time in the Virgin Islands, and much of his work is based on the folklore of that area. He is also one of the most erudite and eloquent of the WT crowd after HPL. A very old-fashioned storyteller, but a goodly portion of his work is very strong indeed....

Jumbee and Other Uncanny Tales - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

West India Lights - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ash-Tree is doing a 3-volume publication of his complete fiction (supposedly), though only the first volume has yet seen print:

Passing of a God

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Wandrei is sadly neglected, considering that much of his work is genuinely nightmarish and quite powerful... another writer who often based work on his dreams....

Aha! This is another particular interest of mine, the connection between literature and dreams. I really ought to have sought out his work for a variety of reasons, my only excuse being that they are somewhat hard to come by.

 

[GOLLUM]

Mmmm... looking at the listings online right now, I'm not so sure about that... nearly $1000 for both volumes seems a bit steep....

Steeps the word I agree. I'm afaid I made the cardinal sin of assumnig you had compared the price to Sub Rosa without checking myself and found it to be a lot cheaper.

That'll teach me to check posted links first before jumping the gun...

I still think Sub Rosa is a very good collection and worth a reprint.

 

[Fried Egg]

I notice that two people have listed "The House of Souls" as a suggested entry for Arthur Machen. I have yet to read him but what about the "Three Impostors and Other Stories" collection (which also features an introduction by S. T. Joshi)? And possibly the other two volumes in that three volume set?

 

[GOLLUM]

I notice that two people have listed "The House of Souls" as a suggested entry for Arthur Machen. I have yet to read him but what about the "Three Impostors and Other Stories" collection (which also features an introduction by S. T. Joshi)? And possibly the other two volumes in that three volume set?

Well...funnily enough I have Vol 3 of that series: The Terror and Other stories and as a comparison to House Of Souls it just isn't as good a collection of the best Machen has to offer IMO. Having said that, all 3 volumes combined contain all 4 main works found within House Of Souls along with plenty of other good fiction by Machen.

My understanding is that Vol 3 is the weakest of the 3 volume set with Volume 1 Three Impostors and Other Stories being the strongest followed by Volume 2.

As a single stand-alone collection, I felt that House Of Souls was the best offering I've read.

Therefore, if you were to collect all three volumes you would certainly have, from what I've read of Machen, a "best of" along with some other excellent fiction and more ordinary offerings. I still aim to collect all 3 volumes.

J.D. and I daresay other members have read more of Machen than myself, so I would wait for further responses before acting I would say.

I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help.

 

[j d worthington]

Essentially, that three-volume set pulls together all of Machen's weird fiction save for his poorest. This includes all the contents of The House of Souls save for Machen's own introduction (which you might get a copy of via interlibrary loan, as it is an interesting if quirky document). However, the first two are necessary to get the best out of that collection, perhaps his best story ("The White People") being in the volume featuring that title, along with the curious "A Fragment of Life", which in its own way is among Machen's best works. Certainly, with your interest in the fantastic with a very delicate touch, this one is a must. At first it may seem simply a realistic account of a Victorian young married couple, but hints of the "other" keep shading in, until the genuine meaning(s) of the title become apparent.

The reason, for example, that I picked the Grant Richards edition is that it brings together not only the contents of later editions of The House of Souls ("A Fragment of Life", "The Great God Pan", "The White People", "The Inmost Light") but also the complete episodic novel The Three Impostors and that odd piece "The Red Hand", which so influenced Robert E. Howard betimes. (And, should they do a facsimile of it, it also featured a lovely frontispiece by Sidney H. Sime -- as well as engravings from him on the front cover and spine, which are unlikely to be reproduced, but which suit that book perfectly....) Making it a very impressive collection of Macheniana....

 

[nomadman]

I didn't realise Edogawa Rampo also wrote horror - the collections I've looked at are crime fiction. I've never read Quiroga and Grabinski, to say nothing of JD's last two suggestions, so at the very least this thread has served as useful research for my own horror shopping list!

If you're interested, I posted a brief review of all three works in the Horror Recommendations thread.

 

[nomadman]

Whitehead... Jumbee was reprinted in a 2-volume paperback edition by Mayflower some years back, though West India Lights, to the best of my knowledge, has never been reprinted (unless it was as part of the Neville Spearman run of Arkham House reprints). Whitehead spent some time in the Virgin Islands, and much of his work is based on the folklore of that area. He is also one of the most erudite and eloquent of the WT crowd after HPL. A very old-fashioned storyteller, but a goodly portion of his work is very strong indeed....

Jumbee and Other Uncanny Tales - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

West India Lights - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ash-Tree is doing a 3-volume publication of his complete fiction (supposedly), though only the first volume has yet seen print:

Passing of a God

Wildside recently reprinted Jumbee and Other Wonders of the West Indies for those interested. Unfortunately it doesn't look like it's been adequately proofread resulting in a number of irritating typos and even a change in font size in one particular tale... Still, worth picking up given the general hard-to-get nature of his work.

 

[nomadman]

Quite surprised Shiel hasn't got a mention yet. His work's of variable quality and often quite melodramatic but undeniably original and supremely powerful at its best. The Purple Cloud is a flawed masterpiece in my opinion. With the Hippocampus Press collection OOP at the moment, this is a writer who could well do with bringing back into print.

Likewise Leonard Cline, whose feverishly brilliant The Dark Chamber needs reprinting.

 

[GOLLUM]

Quite surprised Shiel hasn't got a mention yet. His work's of variable quality and often quite melodramatic but undeniably original and supremely powerful at its best. The Purple Cloud is a flawed masterpiece in my opinion. With the Hippocampus Press collection OOP at the moment, this is a writer who could well do with bringing back into print.

Likewise Leonard Cline, whose feverishly brilliant The Dark Chamber needs reprinting.

Funnily enough I was waiting for someone else to bring up M.P. Shiel's Purple Cloud as this is definitely one I would like to see in a Masterwork series.

Can you provide more details on Leonard Cline? I confess to not being familiar with the name or that work.

Also thank you for re-posting that very good summary you provide of Grabinski, Rampo and Quiroga.

JD: I always planned to collect the other 2 volumes. I suspect your recent post has motivated me to get these sooner rather than later. You clearly regard this collection fairly highly. Darn though! I didn't realise there were different edns. of House Of Souls. My copy only features "A Fragment of Life", "The Great God Pan", "The White People" and "The Inmost Light". I found it superior to Vol 3 as a single publication but I can see how it would be even better with the addition of the The Three Impostors which I gather is well regarded. GRRR...

 

[j d worthington]

Query: What are the contents of the Wildside publication? I can't find that information on their website.

I also see nothing about the Shiel (The House of Sounds and Others)being out of print on the Hippocampus site -- from my understanding, most of these works are still in print (with the exception of the limited edition pieces, such as the Smith poetry volumes, the Lovecraft-Howard letters, and the like).

As for The Dark Chamber -- is the Cold Spring Press edition out of print now? If not, this one is currently available in a reasonably-priced paperback edition....

Gollum -- the Grant Richards edition (with two printings, 1906 and in the 1920s -- 1923, iirc) is the only one to have all this material together, so far as I know. It tends to go for $150 to close to a thousand dollars, I'm afraid....

 

[GOLLUM]

Gollum -- the Grant Richards edition (with two printings, 1906 and in the 1920s -- 1923, iirc) is the only one to have all this material together, so far as I know. It tends to go for $150 to close to a thousand dollars, I'm afraid....

No matter....I'm confident that the 3 volume set plus my edn. of House Of Souls will be more than adequate. Of course I still have my cunnnig back up plan courtesy of my safe-cracker friend who resides in Texas....

 

[j d worthington]

No matter....I'm confident that the 3 volume set plus my edn. of House Of Souls will be more than adequate. Of course I still have my cunnnig back up plan courtesy of my safe-cracker friend who resides in Texas....

Ah, I'm afraid 'twouldn't help you in this case. You see, I don't own a copy of the Grant Richards edition (though I've been attempting to get one for a couple of decades and just missing them), but I have managed to get copies via ILL at times -- a lovely book....

(Then again, I got a signed copy of Arthur Machen's Far-off Things that way before, too.....)

 

[GOLLUM]

No problem...In fact, thanks! I'll be sure to pass those details on to my friend forthwith....

I shall refrain form further outbursts in the interests of preventing this rather excellent thread from becoming fully derailed...

 

[nomadman]

Query: What are the contents of the Wildside publication? I can't find that information on their website.

Jumbee
The Shadows
Cassius
Black Tancrede
Sweet Grass
Mrs Lorriquer
The Passing of a God
Hill Drums

I also see nothing about the Shiel (The House of Sounds and Others)being out of print on the Hippocampus site -- from my understanding, most of these works are still in print (with the exception of the limited edition pieces, such as the Smith poetry volumes, the Lovecraft-Howard letters, and the like).

My mistake. My first check listed it as unavailable.

As for The Dark Chamber -- is the Cold Spring Press edition out of print now? If not, this one is currently available in a reasonably-priced paperback edition....

Hmm, I've checked both amazon.com and amazon uk and it seems to be available only as used and new.

 

[GOLLUM]

Thank you for returning this thread to some form of normalcy Nomadman.

So....could you tell us folk more about Leonard Cline and his work?

 

[nomadman]

Can you provide more details on Leonard Cline? I confess to not being familiar with the name or that work.

Here's a quote from Supernatural Horror in Literature (from which I first heard of the work)

Extremely high in artistic stature is the novel The Dark Chamber (1927) by the late Leonard Cline. This is the tale of a man who -- with the characteristic ambition of the Gothic or Byronic hero-villain -- seeks to defy nature and recapture every moment of his past life through the abnormal stimulation of memory. To this end he employs endless notes, records, mnemonic objects, and pictures -- and finally odours, music, and exotic drugs. At last his ambition goes beyond his personal life and readies toward the black abysses of hereditary memory -- even back to pre-human days amidst the steaming swamps of the carboniferous age, and to still more unimaginable deeps of primal time and entity. He calls for madder music and takes stranger drugs, and finally his great dog grows oddly afraid of him. A noxious animal stench encompasses him, and he grows vacant-faced and subhuman... The atmosphere of this novel is malevolently potent, much attention being paid to the central figure's sinister home and household.