This is the first batch of new announcements, as the run-up to the annual Medievalist's Congress in May in Kalamazoo, Michigan, continues.
First, a compilation of my own
Late Reviews—my review column of older and odder books that I have done in the first thirty issues of
Wormwood, plus additional "late reviews" (new and reprinted from other sources). In many instances these entries have been revised, as I have learned new things since the original version was published.
“Doug Anderson’s regular ‘Late Reviews’ column in Wormwood is a treasury of information
and commentary on some of the rarest, most obscure and strangest books in our
field. It is infused by Doug’s shrewd and
unflinching assessments; bad books are named as such, overlooked achievements
are justly celebrated.” —Mark Valentine,
editor of Wormwood
“In his wonderful ‘Late Reviews’ Doug Anderson boldly goes
where few readers have gone before. Rather than write about the familiar
classics of fantasy and supernatural literature, he explores the genre’s back
alleys and waste lands, rediscovering dozens of strange and strangely appealing
titles, most of them half forgotten, if remembered at all. Who else has read Guy
Ridley’s The Word of Teregor and John William Harding’s A Conjuror of
Phantoms and Erica Fay’s The Road to Fairyland or, it would seem,
the complete works of Anthony Dyllington, author of The Unseen Thing?
When Doug praised the wit of Alexander de Comeau’s Monk’s Magic—and
likened it to Mervyn Wall’s The Unfortunate Fursey—I immediately went
searching for a copy. Far more than just a collection of essays,
Douglas A. Anderson’s Late Reviews is a valuable reference, a guide for
the curious reader and, not least, a source of rare literary entertainment.” —Michael
Dirda, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic and author of Classics for Pleasure
and On Conan Doyle
Formats and ordering details at bottom.
The second new title is the first reprint in 115 years of
Ferelith, by Lord Kilmarnock (1876-1928), with a new introduction by Mark Valentine. Fans of
Ferelith include Andr
é Gide and Julian Green.
“This
wonderful book made me forget some of my present worries. It is the story of a
woman the father of whose child is a phantom—an admirable theme which is
artistically treated. . . . It delights me.”
—Julian Green
“This much-needed first reprint offers connoisseurs of the
dark fantastic a rare minor masterpiece, too long overlooked. Ferelith should now take its place as one of the strange
great visions in the library of the Gothic.” —From the “Introduction” by Mark
Valentine
Ordering details at bottom.
And the third title, for now, is Barry Pain's short fantasy novel, with a long subtitle:
Going Home: Being the Fantastical Romance of the Girl with Angel Eyes and the Man Who Had Wings. Barry
Pain (1864-1928) is remembered today primarily for his excellent short horror
stories.
Going Home was originally published in 1921. According to Pain himself, writing in 1924, it was
well-received by critics but sold poorly (this fact is corroborated by the
book’s rarity today). Yet Pain still cited it as his best book. And Pain’s
friend and sometime collaborator, James Blythe, noted in his own copy: “In my
opinion this is Barry’s best book up to the present.”
Going Home is Nodens Chapbooks No. 4.
Ordering details:
Late Reviews, by Douglas A. Anderson
Trade paperback edition ($25.00) sold via Amazon (and European affiliates) ISBN 9781987512564. Amazon.com at this link. Amazon.co.uk at this link.
Kindle edition, sold via Amazon and affiliates.
Ferelith, by Lord Kilmarnock. Introduction by Mark Valentine.
Trade paperback edition ($16.00) sold via Amazon (and European affiliates) ISBN 9781987736700. Amazon.com at
this link. Amazon.co.uk at
this link.
Kindle edition, sold via Amazon and affiliates
Going Home, by Barry Pain.
Trade paperback edition ($10.00) sold via Amazon (and European affiliates) ISBN 9781987571288.
Amazon.com at
this link. Amazon.co.uk at
this link.
Kindle edition, sold via Amazon and affiliates.
Good horror stories are among the great rarities of the publishing world. We are fortunate in having this thrilling narrative unfolded by J.U. Nicolson, whose rich imagination has produced such volumes of poetry as “The King of the Black Isles” and “Sonnets of a Minnesinger,” and whose already well developed ability to spin a tale was sharpened during the long years he spent on his monumental modern English version of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. It is with good reason, then, that we expect Fingers of Fear to take its place beside such great horror stories as Dracula and The Turn of the Screw.
Next up is Monk's Magic, originally published in 1931, a delightful precursor to Mervyn Wall's Fursey books. Monk’s Magic, by Alexander de Comeau, tells the story of Brother Dismas,
who works on behalf of his Abbott, stealthily studying the black arts (he has
been absolved in advance for his sins), trying to discover the elixir of life.
After many failures, Dismas ventures out into the world to find those previous
and successful fellow-seekers who must surely still live. Dismas acquires some
marvelous friends and grows up during his quest. The tale is Rabelaisian in the
best sense, witty and well-written.
