14th June, 2013:
Our next publication will be a paperback reprint of The Life of Arthur Machen
by John Gawsworth, edited by Roger Dobson, originally published by
Tartarus Press in 2005 with the Friends of Arthur Machen and Reino de
Redonda. This new paperback edition includes an index, and (while
stocks last), each copy is accompanied by the booklet
'Hail, O
King', The Last Days of John Gawsworth by Roger Dobson,
and a dvd of the BBC LINE-UP
documentary on Gawsworth, narrated by Barry Humphries,
originally released by The Friends of Arthur Machen
in 2005. ***
31st May: Dark
World has received
a very positive review from Publishers Weekly:
"Whether they provide their ghosts with a rationale
for appearing, or present them as frightening because they are
inexplicable, all the authors exercise restraint in their storytelling
that encourages readers to fit their own worst fears to the story's
supernatural events. This anthology, whose proceeds will benefit the
Amala Children's Home of India, is Russell's first, but it shows a
seasoned editor's understanding of effective weird tale
telling."
***
30th May 2013: We have now accepted all the stories required
for Strange Tales IV, and plan to publish the book
later in 2013. We are now reading submissions for Strange Tales
V, and the submissions window will remain open until we
have accepted enough stories for the volume.
***
28th May, 2013: Although we have now received
copies of Night Voices from the
printers, unfortunately the jackets will have to be reprinted, which
will take a couple of weeks. We apologise for any inconvenience, but the
books will be shipped as soon as we possibly can.
"Sulway uses rich
and evocative prose to pull the reader irresistibly into her tale's
vividly rendered alternate Europe and its centuries of human power
struggles. Her profound reflections on human frailty and the price for
everlasting life seem as much a bonus as an integral part of its
telling."
"Once again, Mark Valentine has assembled
an adept and well-read team of scholars who discuss fiction writers
dealing in the unusual, whether famous, infamous, or obscure. Indeed,
the lesser-known individuals are often the most interesting
subjects."
***
23rd May 2013: We've received
a few very positive notices on blogs today. Mark Valentine's
Herald of the Hidden is
positively reviewed by Mark Andresen atThe Pan Review and by David Longhorn
at the Supernatural
Tales blog. Additionally, The Mumpsimus discuss our reprints of
Robert Aickman here.
***
22nd May 2013: Our next publication will be
Night
Voices by Robert Aickman. It contains all of the original
stories from the posthumous 1985 collection, plus Aickman's fantasy
novella 'The Model', along with Aickman’s ‘An Essay’
(written on winning the first World Fantasy Award in 1976), and his
Introductions to
The Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories
series, which he edited. In ‘Robert Remembered’, author Ramsey Campbell
concludes this volume with memories of his
friend.
It will be published on 29th May,
2013.
***
We are sad to learn of the death of Roger Dobson, a
real, old-fashioned bookman who was devoted to a number of neglected
writers, including Arthur Machen, M.P. Shiel, George Gissing, C.W.
Blubberhouse and Julian Maclaren-Ross. His essays on literary matters
were published in the Antiquarian Book Monthly
Review and
The Book and Magazine
Collector, along with amateur
publications like All Hallows, The
Doppelganger Broadsheet, and his own Lost
Club Journal (published with Mark
Valentine).
Back in 1990 Roger Dobson and Mark Valentine
encouraged Ray Russell to research and publish The Anatomy of Taverns, the first publication issued by Tartarus Press. Always
supportive of Tartarus, Roger contributed to a number of our
publications over the years, including the Introductions to our reprints
of Arthur Machen's Tales of Horror and the Supernatural. He also
edited Gawsworth's Life of Arthur Machen
and contributed to Wormwood. We
collaborated with Roger and Mark on the publication of our editions of
Aklo and
Ornaments in Jade.
Those who knew Roger will miss accompanying him on
obscure literary expeditions and his conversations on all manner of
bookish topics, for which he had great enthiusiasm and profound
knowledge. RIP Roger.
A fine obituary of Roger can be found
at the Wormwoodiana blog here.
They are not long, the weeping and the
laughter, Love and desire and hate: I think they have no portion
in us after We pass the
gate.
They are
not long, the days of wine and roses: Out of a misty dream Our
path emerges for awhile, then closes Within a
dream.
Ernest Dowson
***
Left to right: Mark Saxton, Mark Valentine, Reggie
Oliver, Tim Parker Russell
6th May, 2013:
Many thanks to all who came to our Dark World afternoon in
Carlton-in-Coverdale. We raised £250 towards the Amala children's
home in India from book sales and
donations.
A video of Mark Valentine reading his story
"An Incomplete Apocalypse" during the afternoon can be watched
here.
Reggie Oliver has very kindly donated a
signed and mounted limited edition print of his illustration for his
story 'Come into my Parlour', which he read during the afternoon. It is
being auctioned on ebay
here,
along with a signed copy of the out-of-print first edition
(limited to 300 copies) of Dark
World, signed by editor Timothy Parker Russell, cover
illustrator Stephen J. Clark, and contributing authors Mark Valentine,
Reggie Oliver, Mark J. Saxton, Rosalie Parker and R.B. Russell. Proceeds
from the auction will also go to Amala.
18th April 2013: We are delighted to
announce an afternoon celebrating the publication of the bookDark
World, edited by Tim Russell. It is to be held on
Saturday May 4th, 1:30-4:30 pm, at the
Coverdale Memorial Hall, Carlton, Leyburn, North Yorkshire, DL8 4AY.
There will
be readings by authors Mark Valentine and Reggie
Oliver, an illustrated talk on the ghost story by Dr Gail-Nina Anderson,
book sales, signings and
refreshments. Admission free –
donations
welcome.
15th April 2013: Rupetta by N.A. Sulway is
"Novel of the Week" in The Tablet, where it is described as a novel
with "a
heart".
***
10th April 2013: We are pleased to announce
the forthcoming publication of Wormwood 20. The new issue
contains the following eclectic mix of essays dealing with literature of
the fanstic, supernatural and
decadent:
‘Forever Always Ends: Robert Aickman’s
Visions of Afterlife’ (part one) by Joel Lane ‘The Baroque of the Void: A Fantastic Fiction
of the Austrian Idea’ by John Howard ‘John
Cowper Powys: Celtic Colossus and Eminence Grise’ by Adam Daly ‘A Sombre and Unique Beauty: The Stories of Helen
Simpson’ by James Doig ‘Fate as a
Character: H. Rider Haggard’s Secret Currents' by Thos. Kent Miller ‘Under Review’ by Reggie Oliver ‘Late Reviews’ by Douglas A. Anderson ‘Camera Obscura’ by John Howard
Please note that the price of the new issue
has been increased to £9.99
22nd March 2013: Please
note, we have now accepted
all the stories required for Strange Tales IV, but the
submissions window will remain open and we are now reading stories for
Strange Tales V, which we hope to
publish in 2014.
***
19th March 2013: Our next two books are by
Mark Valentine. Both will be published in signed, numbered
editions:
Herald of the Hidden
collects ten adventures of Ralph Tyler, an occult detective from an
obscure shire in the darkest heart of England, without private means or any
special esoteric knowledge. Mark Valentine’s Ralph Tyler stories first appeared
in hard-to-find small press publications. Three of the stories in this
volume are previously unpublished, including two newly written for this
collection. Along with six further supernatural tales, all the stories
are previously uncollected in book form.
Star
Kites is Mark
Valentine’s first collection of poems, and draws on the sources that
have inspired his acclaimed short stories—oneiric and otherworldly, and
inexplicably beautiful. The poems evoke half-lit figures and images,
seen in smoke, shadow, sun-haze and stone, and moments when the visible
world does not quite cohere. Also offered are versions of poems by
previously unheard European voices.
***
11th March 2013: Great reviews of Dark World can be found at
Nudgemenow and M.R.Cosby's blog. Rosemary Pardoe has also
commented on the anthology in the latest issue of Ghosts and Scholars (23) calling it a
"quality"
collection.
***
15th February 2013: Many thanks to everyone
who bought a copy of Dark World,
edited by Timothy Parker Russell. Tim has now raised the funds for his
volunteering trip to the Children's Home at Amala in India this summer,
and to make the extra contribution required. There are still a few
copies left, and each one sold will form a part of an additional
donation. There has been quite a lot of publicity for Tim and the book,
and one of our favourite unsolicited comments is to be found at the Readhead
blog.
***
10th February 2011: Many thanks to those who
came along to the Golden Fleece in York for the launch of Rupetta by Nike Sulway. The
crooked staircase, sloping floor, suits of armour and skulls added to
the atmosphere, as did the friendly staff and pints of Theakstones Old
Peculiar.
Nike Sulway
reading from Rupetta
***
7th
February 2013: We have various items of
news:
The newest member of the Tartarus Press
team, Timothy Parker Russell, has received a great feature for his
Dark World anthology in The Guardian Online. The book is now
also available as an
ebook.
And finally, Michael
Dirda has written an interesting article on M.P. Shiel for the Barnes
and Noble Review.
He notes: "A few years back, Tartarus Press, known for its important
editions of neglected supernatural fiction, published a much coveted
hardback, supplementing the text with illustrations from the novel's
original serial publication. I treasure my
copy."
And don't forget that Rupetta by Nike Sulway is to be
published on the 9th. A "taster" pdf can be downloaded here. If anyone would
like to join us in York for the launch/get-together next weekend, please
email us at tartarus@pavilion.co.uk
***
25th January 2013: Forthcoming from Tartarus
is a new paperback collection of ghost stories, Dark World, edited by Timothy
Parker Russell. Published on 4th February, it contains stories
by:
22ndFebruary 2013: We have reprinted Sub Rosaand Dark
Entries by Robert Aickman. Both books will also be
available from the usual dealers.
***
18th February: As a "taster", the Foreword to
Rupetta by Nike Sulway is
available as a pdf here.
***
15th February, 2013: Our next book will be a
stunning new novel by award-winning Australian writer Nike Sulway.
Rupetta invokes the great
tradition of European fantasy/horror fiction and moves it forward in a
superbly imaginative, highly original
fashion.
And to celebrate the publication of Rupetta , Nike Sulway will be joining us
for the launch of her book on the 9th February, from 12pm, at The Golden Fleece in York (UK).
Everyone is welcome, but we would appreciate it if you could let us know
in advance if you are coming, and whether you would like to eat with us.
It is a great venue, in an amazing city (with some good
bookshops!)
***
7th January 2013: Mario Guslandi has positively
reviewed Intrusions by Robert Aickman at
The Short
Review.
***
3rd January 2013: Happy New Year!
Please note that
Dark World is now closed for
submissions. Many thanks to all those who offered stories. Publication
is still planned for
February.
We have
blogged! Many thanks to Douglas Campbell
for letting us publish his review of Dreads
and Drolls by Arthur Machen.
Michael
Dirda writes in praise of small presses (including Tartarus) at The American Scholar.
Rick
Kleffel discusses Robert Aickman's Intrusions in his Agony
Column, stating that the stories "offer readers perfect
perspectives into the minds of men and women in such a manner as to make
it clear that we really never, ever, can truly understand one
another.
And Intrusions is also discussed by Mark
Andresen at The Pan Review.
In other
Robert Aickman news . . . 2014 will be the centenary of the birth of Robert
Aickman, and he will be celebrated at the 2014 World Fantasy Convention in Washington
DC.
A very fine review of The White Hands by Mark Samuels can be
found at the Brazilian Airmandade website. An approximate
translation into English can be found here.
***
14th December 2012: The House of Oracles by
Thomas Owen has been published. All pre-orders have now been mailed. We
can't guarantee delivery before Christmas, but we've done our
best...!
***
26th November 2012: We have blogged again: Rosalie
Parker recommends four Tartarus Press books for long winter nights
here.
***
14th November, 2012: Our next book will be The House of Oracles by
Thomas Owen. Owen was a Belgian Symbolist (real name Gerald Bertot,
1910-2002), and master of the fleeting, fantastic, erotic short story,
translated for us by Iain White (King in the Golden Mask by Marcel
Schwob).
You can read our blog post, "Why should you read .
. . Thomas Owen" here. ***
13th November: A
good review of Frankenstein's
Prescription by Tim Lees has just been posted here. It is described as "Moody, fast-paced and told
with verve, Frankenstein's Prescription has the feeling of vintage
Michael Moorcock in a black, Gothic
vein."
The latest in our series of interviews with book
collectors is now available to watch on youtube.
It features John Hirschhorn-Smith, preoprietor of the Sidereal Press who have published,
among other authors, Hanns Heinz
Ewers.
***
5th November: Our next publication will be Intrusions by Robert
Aickman, on the 12th
November.
In other news, we are very pleased to have received
a World Fantasy Award in Toronto last night!
***
2nd
November, 2012: We are pleased to report that we've received copies of
Wormwood
19 from the printers, and are able to send them out in
advance of the 12th November date we previously
promised.
***
24th October 2012: Wormwood 19 is due to be
published on the 12th November. The new issue contains:
"Standing in the Shadows of ‘Lud’: A Selective
Discussion of Interesting Fantastical Novels of the Immediate Aftermath of
the First World War"by Henry Wessells "He Wrote of
Dark Forces: The Weird World of Dennis Wheatley"by Roger Dobson "Bram Stoker and Another Dracula"by Brian J.
Showers "The Man in the Yellow Mask"by Lucien
Verval "The Autobiographical Nature of Fr.
Rolfe’s The Weird of the Wanderer" by Jason Rolfe "The Woman in the Gentleman’s Club" by Mark Andresen
"Under Review" by Reggie Oliver
"Late Reviews" by Douglas A. Anderson
"Camera Obscura" by Mark Valentine
Dark Entries by Robert
Aickman is now out of print. As with Sub Rosa, we hope to
reprint it in 2013.
27th September 2012: Peter Tennant at Black Static (the print magazine) has
given great reviews to Five
Degrees of Latitude by Michael Reynier and Black Horse by Jason
A. Wyckoff.
Discussing the five novellas that make
up Five Degrees of Latitude,
Tennant writes that 'Le Loup-Garou' has "a pitch perfect delivery".
In 'No. 3 Hobbes Lane' "the air of ambiguity [is] carefully
maintained, and 'The Rumour Mill' is "carefully detailed", while 'Sika
Tarn' "is a disturbing exercise in rustic terror". The last novella,
'The Visions of Lazaro' "brings to mind the creations of Borges, with
its cleverness and artifice".
In
his review of Black Horse Tennant
is equally positive, writing (amongst other nice things), that 'The
Highwall Horror' is a "story full of oblique angles and shifting
perspectives, as the protagonist's worldview becomes unravelled." The
title story, 'Black Horse' is described as "another highlight ... A
strange offbeat tale, with hints of the wild hunt ... but with a
quality that is uniquely Wyckoff’s own. And 'A Willow Cat in Meadowlark'
is a "story melding prosaic and magical to the betterment of both."
Tenant concludes that "These are excellent volumes,
and it’s encouraging to reflect that there are new talents of this
calibre waiting to be discovered by readers. Kudos to Tartarus for
bringing them both out of the shadows and demonstrating once again that
the genre we love isn’t suffering from any lack of gifted writers."
***
9th September:
We are
sorry to report that we have sold out of copies of Sub Rosa by Robert
Aickman. Please note that we now have few copies remaining of Dark
Entries....
...A recent (prophetic) post in Rick Kleffel's Agony Column is very complimentary about
our books and suggested "It should seem obvious by now; run, don't walk
and pick up every Tartarus Press re-print of the Robert Aickman
catalogue." We will see see what we can do about pringing this volume
back into print.
***
2nd September 2012: Congratulations to Reggie
Oliver, whose short story collection, Mrs Midnight, has won the
Dracula Society's Children
of the Night Awardfor the most
outstanding work of fiction in the Gothic/supernatural genre published
last
year.
13th
August 2012: The World Fantasy Award nominations have been announced
and we are delighted that Tartarus has received a nomination in the
non-professional special award category, alongside Mark Valentine's
Wormwood. Reggie Oliver's Mrs Midnight is also nominated in the Best Collection
category.
In other news, Black Horse has received a
great mention in a blog by C.F.
Muller.
***
7th August: Wiliam Simmons has
positively reviewed two recent Tartarus Press books for Hellnotes . He says of Frankenstein's
Prescription by Tim Lees: "The writing style is sharp and descriptive ... The
period is realistically described ... Grim and beautifully
written."
And of Robert Aickman's Tales of Love and
Death he writes: " Dreadful
possibilities beautifully written, this Tartarus Press reprint is as
attractively constructed as its horrors are elegantly
told."
***
2nd August 2012: Another great review
for Black
Horse by Jason A. Wyckoff, this time from theBritish Fantasy
Society: "This is an astonishing debut book by a superb
writer, whose stories remind us how rewarding and bewitching good
fiction can be."
***
30th July 2012: Black Horse by Jason A. Wyckoff
receives a positive review from Robert Morrish at Twilight Ridge. It concludes: "Black
Horse is a surprising and impossible-to-overlook debut, perhaps
even a dark horse contender for best collection of the
year."
And Black Horse has also received
a great review from Rick Kleffel at the Agony
Column: "It's the
sort of collection that you'll read slowly, deliberately, drawing out the
pleasure on your porch in the long afternoons and haunted
evenings."
2nd July: A fine notice for The King in the Golden
Mask from Rick Kleffel's Agony Column: "Reading it is the
literary equivalent of visiting a museum in the hours after it closes.
Shadows move; the curtains whisper your name and you are not sure if you
are awake or dreaming."
***
29th July: We have today uploaded to Youtube an
adaptation of Arthur Machen's "The White
People":
***
31st May: Rosalie Parker has been
interviewed by John Kenny at the Swan
River Press website. Although her collection, The Old Knowledge, is now out of print as
a physical book from Swan River, the ebook is available here.
In other Tartarean News, Michael Dirda
has written about the Tartarus book collecting videos in The Washington Post. He very
generously writes: "Russell, Valentine and Oliver are all superb
writers, among the leading practitioners of classic supernatural
fiction. Check out not just the books they own, but the books they’ve
written."
17th May 2012: Publishers Weekly have reviewed
Black
Horse by Jason A Wyckoff and say: "these tales are the work
of a writer skilled at navigating the twists and turns of his
unconventional horror themes."
***
17th May 2012: The next in our series of
reprints by Robert Aickman is his collection Tales of Love and
Death. It will be published 28th May, and contains a new
Introduction by Michael Dirda who says:
"Along with Walter de la Mare, Elizabeth Bowen and
a few others, Robert Aickman belongs to the Chekhov school of the weird
tale. Such writers recognise that stories don’t require pat endings.
They don’t need to close with the snap of an O. Henry trapdoor, or the
ironic twist of a Maupassant. A short story can actually convey a more
haunting depiction of the human predicament by avoiding any kind of
artificial conclusiveness. Life is messy, not neat; most problems are
never clearly resolved, but only lived with; people act unreasonably for
no apparent reason."
***
14th May 2012: Ray Russell of Tartarus
Press has been interviewed here by John Kenny with reference to
his recent collection, Ghosts. He also discusses
the Tartarus Press and its authors.
23rd April: Wormwood 18 is published
next week, and contains articles on H.P. Lovecraft, William Sharp,
Frances Oliver, Robert Aickman, Randolph Stow and F. Marion
Crawford.
18th April 2012: Today's pdf is a taster
of the first four chapters from 'Le Loup-Garou" by Michael Reynier, from
his collection Five Degrees of
Latitude. It can be downloaded here.
***
17th April 2012: Todays free pdf story
is "Dibblespin", a taster for Angela Slatter's Sourdough and Other
Stories, which is currently available as a paperback
(£14.95). Publishers Weekly said of this collection, "Slatter displays a
rare gift for evocative and poetic prose." The book was nominated for
the World Fantasy Award and Aurealis Awards. The story is available
here.
***
16th April 2012: We thought it might be
a good idea to make available pdffile samples of the work of some
Tartarus authors you may not yet have read.
We’re starting with our growing list of
contemporary writers. First up is that masterful magician of the
macabre, Reggie Oliver, whose collection with us, Mrs
Midnight, has proved such a popular and critical success.
Mrs Midnight is now available in a paperback edition (priced £14.95).
The title story of the collection is a tour de force of mounting horror
with a music hall theme. It is available here, and we hope you
will enjoy it.
Future PDFs will be announced as they
become available and will include samples of the writing of Mark
Samuels, Mark Valentine, Angela Slatter, Quentin S. Crisp, Tim Lees,
Rhys Hughes, Michael Reynier and Jason P. Wyckoff. We also hope to
provide samples of some of our classic authors, and our journal
Wormwood.
***
5th April 2012: The next Tartarus Press
publication will be The King in the Golden
Mask by the French symbolist author Marcel Schwob.
Published on 19th March 2012, it contains 51 very decadent stories.
***
19th March 2012: We are pleased to
announce that as part of the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of
the birth of Arthur Machen, we will be collaborating with the Hieroglyphic Press to produce a
tribute anthology dedicated to the great artist and mystic. Sorcery and
Sanctity: A Homage to Arthur Machen, will be
launched as part of the Machen events at the 2013 World Fantasy
Convention in Brighton.
To this end, submissions are sought, and guidelines
can be found here.
***
18th March 2012: A good review just in
for Five Degrees of
Latitude by Michael Reynier, from Robert Morrish at
Twilight Ridge: "Five Degrees of
Latitude, the debut collection from Michael Reynier is, in many ways, a
thing of beauty — from the simple but elegantly designed physical book
produced by Tartarus Press to the five intricate and highy-polished
tales contained within, there is much to admire
here."
***
13th March: A new paperback edition of
Sourdough by Angela Slatter
is now available. The book was nominated for the World Fantasy Award and the Aurealis Award, 2011, and we are very
pleased to be able to make it available again. ***
28th February 2012: A video trailer for
Black
Horse is now available here.
***
21st February: Our next publication will
be Black Horse and
Other Stories by Jason A. Wyckoff. This is a collection of
contemporary short stories by a first-time author with an original,
authentic and insightful new voice. Read "The Highwall Horror" from
The Black Horse as a pdf here.
8th February 2012: R.B. Russell is
interviewed by Jason Rolfe on his BIbliomancy Blog about Tartarus, book
collecting etc.
***
24th January
2012:
R.B.
Russell's Ghosts book and CD package is now sold
out. However, the CD can be purchased individually using the Paypal button
below, and a copy will be sent from the UK via R.B. Russell at the
Tartarus Press. Each copy is £12, post free worldwide, and will be sent
out early February.
***
19th January
2012:
Morbid Tales
by Quentin S. Crisp is now available as an ebook from the Morbid Tales page, or via
Amazon.
***
16th January:
We are pleased to announce the paperback
reprint of Quentin S. Crisp's acclaimed 2004 short story collection,
Morbid
Tales.
We are sorry to report that Sourdough by Angela Slatter has
sold out.
We Are for the Dark has been reviewed by
Mario Guslandi at Specusphere
Rick Kleffel's Agony column review of Cold Hand in Mine by Robert
Aickman
***
21st December
2011:
A Merry Christmas to everyone! We will
be taking a short break from wrapping up books, but normal service will
resume early in the New Year. Many thanks for your support in what has
been an especially busy year.
Our programme for 2012 includes a
collection of decadent stories by Marcel Schwob, a paperback (and ebook)
reprint of Reggie Oliver's Mrs
Midnight, further reprints of Robert Aickman, and a couple of
new, exciting, contemporary authors.
2012 will also see the release of Ray Russell's
album of new music, Ghosts.
***
15th December: The Unsettled Dust, a Radio Four programme
about Robert Aickman's strange stories was aired today, and is available
to be listened to again via theiplayer.
Forthcoming, a BBC Radio Four appreciation of
Robert Aickman: The Unsettled Dust.
***
2nd December
2011:
A nice mention of Tartarus is made by Alan Moore in
a new interview with Honest
Publishing.
For the convenience of those with e-readers, a list
of our ebooks is now available here.
***
26th November, 2011: We have posted a
short film on Youtube that should be of interest to those familiar with
Tartarus Press, Mark Valentine, and some of the authors we have
published over the years. The link is here.
***
23rd November 2011: Two good reviews of
Tartarus Press titles have been posted by the British Fantasy Society.
Frankenstein's
Prescription by Tim Lees is reviewed here, and Mrs Midnight by Reggie
Oliver here.
***
18th November, 2011: Wormwood # 17 has been
delivered, orders have been packed up, and copies will be posted
tomorrow morning. We've just noticed an annoying mistake: "Some Notes
on Aickman's Plays" by Douglas A. Anderson has somehow been missed
from the cover and contents page. This is a short but fascinating
article, and our apologies to Doug.
***
17th November: Robert Aickman is discussed in the Invisible Ink column in The Independent, with a mention of
"some very collectable, elegant hardbacks from Tartarus Press" ***
15th November 2011: Wormwood # 17 is published
next week and contains articles on H.P. Lovecraft, Gabriele d’Annunzio's poetry, Reginald Hodder,
Ernest Bramah’s Max Carrados, Donald Armour’s Swept & Garnished,
and an Overview of American Decadence, as well as 'Under Review', ' Late Reviews' and ' Camera Obscura'.
***
14th November: We've written an account of the
alt.Ghost Story Festival on our blog, which includes a link to a
video of Reggie Oliver reading "Ritual" by Arthur
Machen.
"Read this for the prose style alone, which, for
anyone who has read his one anthologised story ‘Loving Lady Death’
(‘La Morte Amoureuse’) - re-translated as the title tale here -
will already have experienced his stunning, sensual evocation of place
and time. This continues in the other eleven tales."
An appreciation of Reggie Oliver's new
collection: 'Mrs Midnight and other stories is one of the best books I
have read this year.' - Henry Wessells, The Endless
Bookshelf.
***
7th November: The White Hands by Mark
Samuels is now available as an ebook, either direct from us, or
through Amazon.
Please note that Mrs
Midnight by Reggie Oliver, will be "launched" at the
Aldburgh
Bookshop on the 26th November, and signed copies will be
available on the night.
***
5th November: Comedian Stewart Lee discusses
Arthur Machen's The Green Round
on BBC's The Review Show,
and shows off his Tartarus Press edition. Use the iplayer and you'll find it at
44:19.
***
2nd November 2011: Michael Reynier's
Five Degrees of
Latitude is now available as an ebook. It can be bought
from us direct via the Five Degrees of
Latitude page, or through Amazon via the links on that
page.
31st October: A well-written essay on the
incomparable Arthur Machen, for Halloween, by Michael Dirda at the
Barnes and Noble
Review.
***
6th October: Michael Reynier, author
of Five Degrees of
Latitude, has been interviewed by Rick Kleffel at the
Agony Column. The interview is offered on the website as a
downloadable podcast.
19th October 2011: We are delighted to announce
that the next book published by Tartarus Press will be We Are
for the Dark by Robert Aickman and Elizabeth Jane Howard.
It will be launched at the Alt.Halifax Ghost Story Festival, at
which will be shown rare tv adaptations of Howard's "Three Miles Up"
(from We Are for the Dark) and
Aickman's "The Hospice". As a part of the research for the We Are for the Dark reprint, Ray Russell
interviewed Elizabeth Jane Howard, and a part of that interview is
available on the Tartarus Press blog.
Another strand of the festival will be a
discussion of the work of Arthur Machen, which will include a reading
of Machen's story "Ritual" by Reggie Oliver, a panel discussing his
work chaired by Mark Valentine, and a presentation of the recent film
of "The Happy Children".
***
14th October 2011: We have just received copies
of Clarimonde and
Other Stories by Theophile Gautier. We'll be wrapping
these up and putting them in the post next week. In the meantime, you
can read "The Opium Pipe" by Gautier on our blog.
5th October
2011: Our next book will be Clarimonde and Other Stories by
Theophile Gautier. 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.
We are sorry to report that Mrs Midnight by Reggie
Oliver is now out of print, despite only being offically
published a few days ago! Copies should still be available from
some of the dealers listed here.
***
3rd
October, 2011:
We would
like to recommend you check out an ebay auction with some rare and
interesting items, some from Tartarus Press. They are all being sold to aid a literary
colleague in financial hardship.
Booking
details for the Halifax alt.ghost story festival are now available.
Tobook a
ticket call 01422 255 266 or visit www.deanclough.com
A Mild Case of
Bibliomaniais a short film by R.B. Russell that
goes some way to explaining the genesis of Tartarus
Press.
***
26th
September: A good review ofFive Degrees of
Latitude has just been posted by Publishers Weekly: "Readers who like
weird tales with a vintage feel will find this volume an auspicious
debut."
1st September: A fine review of Sourdough can be found at
Jildysauce. The reviewer says:
"These stories are stupendously good and offer many distinct
pleasures: a strange yet superbly realised world, compelling
characters and, above all, beautiful prose that has the power to
move."
26th August
2011: We have great pleasure in announcing that we will publish
Mrs Midnight and
Other Stories by Reggie Oliver on 30th September 2011.
The book will be launched at Fantasycon in Brighton.
***
26th August 2011: The Halifax Ghost Story
Festival will return this year, in an alt.ghost story guise. It will be held
on Saturday 12th November at Dean Clough, Halifax, and will start
about 2pm. (There will be a break for food between about 5pm-7pm, then
the evening events begin.) There may well be a Sunday session,
although it will be a couple of weeks before this can be
confirmed.
Tartarus Press will play a large part
in the proceedings. We will be exploring the boundaries where the
ghostly and the supernatural meet the psychological and the mystical.
We aim to turn the spotlight on Arthur Machen in particular; plus
Elizabeth Jane Howard and Robert Aickman, and we will be showing
film(s) relating to their work. We can confirm that we will be showing
the new film of "The Happy Children" by Machen, the TV adaptation of
Howard's "Three Miles Up", and we are negotiating to show "The
Hospice" by Aickman.
We will have a number of guests including Mark
Valentine and Reggie Oliver who will help furnish us with a highly
informed, urbane take on the supernatural fiction genre.
We hope that there will also be theatre and
readings courtesy of Lawrence Gordon Clark, and Jeremy Dyson will be
back...
Additionally, we also hope to launch the
publication of a new edition of We Are
for the Dark by Robert Aickman and Elizabeth Jane
Howard.
More details will be posted as they are
confirmed....
20th July 2011: We have written another blog
entry, this time on art and design.
***
16th July 2011: More non-Tartarus Press news: Ray
Russell's Novella, Bloody Baudelaire, has been optioned
for a film by 3:1 Cinema in the USA, with filming set to start later
this year.
***
15th July,
2011: Other News:
Anyone eligible to vote in the forthcoming British Fantasy
Society Awards is welcome to Tartarus Press proprietor, Ray Russell's,
shortlisted story, "The Beautiful Room", made available hereas a pdf courtesy of the
publisher, Nightjar Press. Non-voters are welcome to read it as well.
And everyone is welcome to buy a copy (£3) from Nightjar by emailing:
nicholasroyle@mac.com
***
11th July 2011: The next book published by
Tartarus Press will be Cold Hand in Mine
by Robert Aickman, with an Introduction by Phil
Baker.
***
9th July 2011:
We have written another blog entry about the changing nature of publishing. It
includes the news that the following are now available as
ebooks:
24th June 2011:
We have just received finished copies of Five Degrees of
Latitude by
Michael Reynier. We will be packing these up over the next few days
and will post them out at the beginning of next
week.
Other news:
We have been blogging again, this time on the
subject of collaborations with other presses.
***
20th June 2011: As a part of our commitment to
Sarban’s writings, and our aim to make his work as widely available as
possible, we are publishing the following as ebooks:
We already have Ringstones and The Doll Maker available as hardback
volumes, and in due course will also be putting back into print
The Sound of His Horn and
The Sacrifice and Other
Stories.
***
17th June 2011:
We have "blogged" again. This time discussing the invaluable
contribution of Mark Valentine to Tartarus Press.
***
13th June 2011: Our next title will be Five Degrees of Latitude by
Michael Reynier. This new collection of short stories has been
described as "Sarban meets Blackwood meets late Machen," by Jim
Rockhill, and we would like to agree with his recommendation! We are
very pleased to be able to add Michael Reynier to our Contemporary
Fiction series. Publication 1st July 2011.
Please not that we have now sold out of all
copies of Father Raven by A.E.
Coppard.
***
12th June
2011: In this month's issue of Locus, Stefan Dziemianowicz says of
Time, A
Falconer by Mark Valentine : "A sensitive and sympathetic
portrait … [Valentine] weaves his analyses of Sarban’s fiction
seamlessly into the broader tapestry spun from the known biographical
facts. The result is a thoroughly engrossing account of the writer’s
intellectual growth and
interests in the course of his lifetime."
***
10th June 2011:
We have a new post on our blog, inspired by the fact that we are down to our
last few copies of Father Raven and
Other Tales by A.E. Coppard.
The judge's report for the Aurealis
Awards said of Sourdough and Other Stories by Angela
Slatter:
"Sourdough is probably the most
exquisitely produced and packaged collection of the year. The artifact
produced is a credit to Tartarus Press and the quality of the
inter-linked fairy-tale-esque stories is a credit to Slatter’s prowess
as a short story writer."
***
6th June 2011:
A good review of Time, A Falconer by Mark Valentine can be found here.
***
Please note that Three Miles Up by Eizabeth Jane Howard
is now out of print.
***
5th June 2011:
Tartarus receives a mention at the conclusion to Christopher Fowler's
Independent on Sunday article on Arthur Machen. Of all the authors to compare
Machen to, Dan Brown is the last one we'd have hoped
for...
3rd May: Congratulations to Angela Slatter and
Eric Stener Carlson for their Nightmare Awards for Sourdough and The St Perpetuus Club of Buenos Aires.
Tartarus Press also receives an award.
27th April: We have very few copies remaining of
Three Miles Up by Elizabeth
Jane Howard...
***
20th April: Wormwood 16 is at the
printers and will be published on 16th May. Among other items, it
contains articles on two forgotten fantasy novels of 1911
(Algernon Blackwood’s The Centaur and J.D. Beresford’s The
Hampdenshire Wonder), Charles Allston Collins, Carl Jacobi, H.T.W.
Bousfield, Vincent O’Sullivan and William Walker
Hamilton.
***
19th April
2011: The new issue of Black Static includes an
ecstatic review of Frankenstein's
Prescription by
Tim Lees: "...it is, quite frankly, a brilliant novel, one which takes
the old stereotype and fills it with vibrant new life. The story is
gripping, with each and every element of the plot fitting into place
perfectly..." Many thanks to the reviewer, Peter Tennant, for the kind
words at the conclusion to his review: "It’s only February, and I may
already have read the best horror novel of 2011. As with the Angela
Slatter collection that I reviewed last issue, huge kudos to Tartarus
for putting work of this exceptional quality into the public
domain."
***
14th April
2011: A fine review by Mario Guslandi for our first two Robert Aickman
volumes is published at Rick Kleffel's Agony
Column. The
editor's commentary can also be found here.
***
13th April
2011: Congratulations to John Shire on the publication of Bookends: A Partial History of the Brighton Book
Trade. Amongst
material which will be fascinating to those who have known and loved
the bookshops of Brighton, there is an account of the genesis of the
Tartarus Press!
***
12th April: Please note that Cold to the Touch by Simon Strantzas
and Various Temptations by
William Sansom are now out of print.
31st March
2011: Congratulations to
Angela Slatter, whose story, "Lavender and Lychgates", from
Sourdough and Other
Stories, has been selected for the latest Mammoth Book of Best New
Horror.
Well done to Johnny Mains whose auction of genre
fiction material has raised just over £1,000 for the Red
Cross Japan Disaster appeal!
***
22nd March 2011: We are delighted to learn that
Sourdough by Angela Slatter
has been shortlisted for the Aurelias Award for best collection, and
"Sister Sister" for best short story.
A good, full page review of Time, A Falconer by Mark Valentine has
been published in The Literary Review this month.
Robert Irwin concludes: "It is somewhat unsettling to imagine this
quiet man sorting out visa applications or attending dull formal
receptions and all the while brooding on the taloned
cat-women."
10th March 2011: We have very few copies
remaining of Various
Temptations by William Sansom. The Sense of the Past by Henry James is
now out of print.
***
16th February
2011: In the new issue of Black
StaticPeter Tennant devotes six pages to Angela Slatter
comment, interview and review. Of Sourdough he writes: "With their larger than life
characters and the beautiful, evocative writing, the intricate
plotting that continually reinvents itself and twists back on what has
gone before, these are wonderful stories from a writer who appeals to
both the emotions and the intellect. Sourdough and Other Stories
was one of the best books I read in 2010, and
it’s work from a writer whose career is just
beginning."
Peter additionally writes: "Tartarus have done
Slatter proud with a truly sumptuous volume. Sourdough is a beautiful
book, one that gets its collector’s edition status and price tag on
merit and not simply by virtue of being signed by whomever or number
whatever of a limited edition"
***
11th February
2011:Frankenstein's
Prescription has
arrived! Our apologies for the delay, but we will be posting these on
Monday.
***
10th February:
We are pleased to report that copies of Worming the
Harpy by Rhys Hughes and Dark
Entries by Robert
Aickman have been delivered to us. Copies will be posted to customers
over the next few days.
***
4th
February: We now have now sold out of all remaining Discovery of Heretics slipcased sets.
***
25th January: We're a little
late in noting this rave review for SourdoughatShe Never Slept: "I would recommend this book to anyone who
likes dark fiction, fairytales, strange tales, elegant horror, or
anyone who likes stories with strong women protagonists and good
characterization."
***
20th January 2011: We are very pleased
to announce the reprinting of the first, classic collection of short
stories by Rhys Hughes, Worming the
Harpy. This
highly sought-after collection from 1995 will be available as a
paperback, augmented by the additional story "The Forest Chapel Bell"
which was originally included in Tales from Tartarus (1995). This new edition also
contains an "Afterword" by the late E.F.
Bleiler.
***
17th January 2011: Dark
Entries by Robert
Aickman will be published March 2011 in an edition of 350 copies,
uniform with the previous Sub
Rosa. We have
created a video trailer for the book using footage from the HTV West
production of "The Hospice": Many thanks to Colin Fenwick for unearthing the
"Hospice" footage.
***
13th January 2011: Sub Rosa by Robert Aickman has been reviewed
by Brian Showers in the new issue of Rue
Morgue magazine:
"[Aickman's] writing is sophisticated, confounding and unnerving in
equal measure; extreme and diverse reactions to his work are to be
expected, but it is for these same reasons that he still attracts so
many admirers."