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Powers of Darkness
by Robert Aickman
Introduction by Mark Valentine
 
Robert Aickman (1914-1981) is considered by many to be one of the finest exponents of the modern ghost story, and he is certainly versatile. In this collection the reader is offered the experience of visiting a disused lead-mine, the Houses of Parliament, a séance in a dreary suburb, and a sun-drenched Greek island. The dust jacket for the first edition of Powers of Darkness (first published in 1966) stated ‘. . . in every case his readers will experience that authentic chill which is the hallmark of the supernatural.’
Mark Valentine points out in his Introduction to this new Tartarus Press edition that Aickman was striving to achieve something approaching poetry in his writing, and ‘he often does this in the service of the strange and sinister.’
Contents: 'Introduction' by Mark Valentine, '‘Your Tiny Hand is Frozen’, ‘My Poor Friend’, ‘The Visiting Star’, ‘Larger Than Oneself’, ‘A Roman Question’ and ‘The Wine-Dark Sea’.
  
Powers of Darkness is a sewn hardback of 226+ xii pages, printed lithographically, with silk ribbon marker, head and tailbands, and d/w.
  
Cover artwork by Stephen J Clark of The Singing Garden.
ISBN 978-1-905784-33-2
Limited to 350 copies.
£32.50/ $50 inc. p&p.

 

Review:
"As a reader, one can almost feel the haunting quality not just of the prose and the story, but also of the book." - Rick Kleffel, The Agony Column