Wormwood Issue 18 (Spring 2012) – Tartarus’ magazine of writings about fantasy, supernatural and decadent literature edited by Mark Valentine – will be published on 30 April 2012. It contains articles on H.P. Lovecraft, William Sharp, Frances Oliver, Robert Aickman, Randolph Stow and F. Marion Crawford, with contributions from Joel Lane, Mark Valentine, Mike Barrett, Reggie Oliver and others.

Full details, including pre-order information, are available HERE

Hieroglyphic Press and Tartarus Press are collaborating to produce a tribute anthology dedicated to Arthur Machen. Entitled Sorcery and Sanctity: A Homage to Arthur Machen, the volume will be launched as part of the Machen events at the 2013 World Fantasy Convention in Brighton.

They are currently seeking original fiction which draws on Machen’s life and works. All profits generated from the sale of this anthology will be donated to the Friends of Arthur Machen. Entries may be of any length and multiple submissions are welcome: however the editors would appreciate it if any potential contributors would let them know in advance that they are working on something for consideration. The final submissions deadline is 30 March 2013.

For full submission guidelines see the Hieroglyphic Press website HERE

On 1 March 2012 Tartarus Press will publish Black Horse and Other Strange Stories by Jason A. Wyckoff, as part of its Tartarus Contemporary Fiction series.

Jason is a new American author, writing in the tradition of the spooky/strange story, although his work is very contemporary. This is his first ever venture into print.

“This new collection of sixteen tales uncovers the strangeness within everyday America, the fable in the familiar. ‘The Highwall Horror’ sees an office worker discover the portal to an alien cathedral in a cubicle wall; in ‘Panorama’ an artist’s agent examines his client’s deserted masterpiece; a young man follows a forgotten song to the haunted town that spawned it in ‘The Bells, Then the Birds’; a young mother escapes her wastrel husband only to become lost in a perilous swell of freedom in ‘The Mauve Blot’; and in ‘Black Horse’ an inherited steed brings uneasiness and worse to its new owner.”

Full details HERE

Reggie Oliver‘s collection, Mrs Midnight and Other Stories, which sold out in hardback, has now been made available in paperback from Tartarus Press. The first 200 copies sold will be signed and numbered by the author. It is also available in ebook format. Visit the Tartarus Press site for ordering information.

A Tartarus Press interview with Reggie Oliver can also be found on YouTube HERE.

MRS MIDNIGHT AND OTHER STORIES BY REGGIE OLIVER, TARTARUS PRESS £30.00

Reviewed by Mario Guslandi

Since Reggie Oliver, a well known actor and playwright, decided to try his hand at writing dark short fiction, his tales have been already providing material for four  published collections.

By now Oliver is rightly considered one of the very best among the current authors of horror, supernatural and ghost stories, endowed with a knack for superb storytelling, the ability to create enticing and plausible plots and to draw credible characters in a few pages. Understandably his stories are often set in the world of theatre, where the author feels more at home.

Oliver’s narrative style is elegant but solid, sometimes unassuming, but apt to subtly disquiet and unnerve rather than scare with gore and violence.

The latest collection (the fifth) by this extraordinary author assembles a bunch of excellent tales which confirm his uncommon talent as a teller of creepy, uncanny stories. Some of the stories have already appeared in various anthologies, others are original to this volume.

Most of the included material is well worth mentioning, from “The Philosophy of the Damned”, where the arrival of a mysterious impresario and his company in a small town to perform a weird play becomes the allegory of a terrible, devilish reality, to the creepy and delightful “Mrs Midnight” casting a new light on the Ripper Murders by portraying an unconventional doctor turned into a music hall entertainer.

“A Piece of Elsewhere” is a truly unsettling piece about a young boy who, while  spending a little time at his aunt’s house , discovers frightening, paranormal aspects of  reality, while “Countess Otho” is a complex, supernatural tale depicting a number of dark events taking place  behind the stage curtains.

Among a series of excellent stories, some are, quite simply, outstanding, such as “Mr Pigsny”, a captivating cross between a gangster story and a spiritual meditation about afterlife, “Minos or Radamanthus” describing the last, unearthly encounter between an old, stern schoolmaster and one of his pupils, and “The Brighton Redemption”, a tragic tale of sin and redemption with a strong ghostly undercurrent.

Due to the extremely high quality of the book it’s hard to single out a favourite story, but my preference goes perhaps to “The Giacometti Crucifixion” a splendid mix of crime and supernatural, which frames an extraordinary Jamesian tale entitled “Quieta Non Movere”

It is a shame that Oliver’s fiction has appeared so far only in books published by distinguished but small imprints, hence in limited print runs. He certainly would deserve a much wider audience and recognition.

FRANKENSTEIN’S PRESCRIPTION BY TIM LEES. Tartarus Press, h/b, £30.00

Reviewed by Matthew Johns

Another beautifully bound tome from Tartarus, this tells the story of the drunken womaniser Hans Schneider.  A medical student who kills a fellow student in a duel, he is banished to a remote hospital, deprived from the pleasures of the flesh he desires and working for the enigmatic Dr Lavenza.

The hospital turns out to be more than it initially appears, with many inmates undergoing pioneering medical treatments from the talented, yet mysterious doctor.  As the story progresses, we learn that he is related to the legendary Victor Frankenstein, who was more than just a legend.  The monster that he created has followed his descendants making them try without success to create him the bride he was promised.

Upon finding Dr Lavenza’s laboratory, Schneider’s initial thoughts are of touring the world, charging admission fees to see Dr Lavenza’s marvellous combinations of cadaver flesh and science, including legs that can walk without a body attached to them and a disembodied hand that can grab, hold and shake other hands.  As he is taken into the doctor’s confidence, he realises that his limited, capitalist viewpoint is flawed.  Not everyone or everything can be bought or blackmailed.

The characters within this book are complex and very well written; Lees does an excellent job of depicting the world and ideals of the early 1900’s.  Tension mounts throughout the novel, building towards the inevitable conclusion.

Wormwood #17, Autumn 2011 (edited by Mark Valentine) – containing an eclectic mix of essays on fantasy, supernatural and decadent literature – is now available from the Tartarus Press website.

Contents:
World Gone Wrong: H.P. Lovecraft’s Mythology of Loss (part one) by Joel Lane
Songs of the Archangel: Halcyon & Other Poems of Gabriele d’Annunzio in English by Daniel Corrick
Reginald Hodder: Author of The Vampire by James Doig
Ernest Bramah’s Max Carrados: The Sightless Supersleuth by Gary G. Garner
Donald Armour’s Swept & Garnished: A Rediscovered Masterpiece of Supernatural Horror by Robert Eldridge
Lilies Among the Thorns: An Overview of American Decadence by rj krijnen-kemp
Some Notes on Aickman’s Plays by Douglas A. Anderson
Under Review by Reggie Oliver
Late Reviews by Douglas A. Anderson
The Horror by Arthur L. Salmon
Camera Obscura by Mark Valentine

Tartarus Press have announced that the next book they will publish will be We Are for the Dark by Robert Aickman and Elizabeth Jane Howard. See HERE for details and ordering information.

We Are for the Dark will be officially launched at the Halifax Ghost Story Festival, at which will be screened rare TV adaptations of Howard’s “Three Miles Up” (from We Are for the Dark) and Aickman’s “The Hospice”. To book tickets for that event please go HERE

The next book to be published by Tartarus Press will be Clarimonde and Other Stories by Theophile Gautier.

Tartarus say: “We believe that this will be the definitive Gautier collection, using Lafcadio Hearn’s classic translations, with newly-commissioned translations for the remaining supernatural tales which have not been previously collected.”

Full details from the Tartarus website.

It’s difficult not to judge a book from Tartarus Press by its cover. Heavy and beautiful, you feel you should be in front of an open fire, reading ghost stories to open-mouthed grandchildren. The contents don’t disappoint either.

There’s a wide range of settings and tones among the 17 stories here, but they all have a few things in common. They are evocative, well-written, with a wonderful sense of place. There are no pulpy shocks or nasty tales here. The mood here is greyer, more unsettling, muted. These stories concentrate on the creation of mood, rather than narrative thrust. Handled well, this can be truly unsettling. In some hands, however, it seems coy; the stories becoming so elliptical that they are nothing else. On more than one occasion, there is the sense that the author shied away from a ‘satisfying’ ending, but to what purpose we’re not entirely sure.

The highlights, however, are spectacular. They include Daniel Mills’ Sanctuary Row, Elizabeth Brown’s A Woman Of The Party, and A.J. McIntosh’s Melting. It’s a dreamscape of a collection, where not everything makes sense, and one is surrounded by horrors one can’t name. I shall be re-immersing myself in it soon.

Strange Tales III, ed. Rosalie Parker, Tartarus Press, 2009, £30 hardback.