Review: “I Am Stone: The Gothic Weird Tales of R. Murray Gilchrist”

This review first appeared in Horrified in 2021 The British Library’s Tales of the Weird series continues its commendable mission to unearth long-obscured writers of the strange from the past hundred and fifty years or so. This latest offering introduced me to a writer whose name I vaguely knew but whose work I had never … Continue reading Review: “I Am Stone: The Gothic Weird Tales of R. Murray Gilchrist”

Review: “Cornish Horrors: Tales From the Land’s End”

This review first appeared in Horrified magazine As a frequent visitor to the county – my wife is Cornish – I came to this new addition to the British Library’s excellent Tales of the Weird series with great excitement. However, unlike the thousands of holidaymakers who flock to the Duchy every year, I left it … Continue reading Review: “Cornish Horrors: Tales From the Land’s End”

Review: ‘Dangerous Dimensions: Mind-bending Tales of the Mathematical Weird’ ed. Henry Bartholomew

This review first appeared in Horrified magazine.   I’ve no head for mathematics, but the premise of this anthology – the latest in the British Library’s Tales of the Weird series – had me excited. I looked forward to having my brain twisted into new and strange configurations by tales of unearthly geometry and sinister equations, … Continue reading Review: ‘Dangerous Dimensions: Mind-bending Tales of the Mathematical Weird’ ed. Henry Bartholomew

August Derleth: Cthulhu re-myth

Earlier this year I looked at how Detroit electro outfit Drexciya (perhaps inadvertently) reconfigured the poisonous racism of H.P. Lovecraft's legacy. That legacy is a complex and problematic one, but one that we're unlikely to have at all were it not for the heroic efforts of August Derleth. Derleth (with Donald Wandrei) founded Arkham House … Continue reading August Derleth: Cthulhu re-myth

Review: “Tales from the Shadow Booth: Volume 4”

Just 6 months after the superb volume 3 of Tales from the Shadow Booth (which I reviewed here), "the international journal of weird and eerie fiction", Dan Coxon brings us another. And its just as good: that's all you really need to know. But if you want more, read on... It begins, as all trips … Continue reading Review: “Tales from the Shadow Booth: Volume 4”

Review: “Tales from the Shadow Booth: Volume 3”

Oh, this is good. First, declarations of interest: I supported the initial Shadow Booth anthology on Kickstarter. There were some superb stories (Malcolm Devlin's 'Moths' in particular) but I wasn't impressed enough to buy volume 2 when it came out last year. If it's as good as volume 3 I'll be rectifying that shortly. Additionally, … Continue reading Review: “Tales from the Shadow Booth: Volume 3”