Tartarus Press

Bibliography

 

2001-2005

2005:

 

94. WORMWOOD, Issue 5, Edited by Mark Valentine, 1st December, 2005. 92 pages. £7.99. 550 copies. Paperback journal printed on cream bookwove paper, and bound by Bath Press.

Contents: 'Editorial', 'The Fully-Conducted Tour' by Robert Aickman, 'Afterword' by Glen Cavaliero, 'The October Revolution: Ray Bradbury's Existential Paradigm for the Horror Genre' by Joel Lane, 'Some Dark Ancestral Sense: Awe in the Work of Algernon Blackwood' by Jeff Gardiner, 'Victor Neuburg: The Triumph of Pan' by Richard McNeff, 'A Laurel Wreath for Lowry' by Alexis Lykiard, 'Phantom Doubles: A Freudian Reading of Poe's 'The Fall of the House of Usher' and Hoffman's 'The Sandman' ' by Stephen Sennitt, 'The Self and the Void: The Lives and Deaths of Blaise Cendrars' by Adam Daly, 'The Decadent World-View' by Brian Stableford, 'Late Reviews' by Douglas A. Anderson, Camera Obscura, Letters.

 

93. GUIDE TO FIRST EDITION PRICES, 2006/7, by R.B. Russell, 1st November 2005, x, 596 pages. £19.95. Trade paperback printed and bound by the Bath Press. 7,000 copies. ISBN 1872621953.

Point: The sixth edition, printed in full colour with over 600 illustrations and the values of over 35,000 sought-after books.

New Reviews:

"Whether you're buying, selling or just curious, an entertaining and informative 'must have' for your reference library." - Rare Book Review, Feb/March 2006

This essential collector's guide" - Antiques Magazine, 3rd-16th December 2005

 

92. WHERE NOTHING SLEEPS, by Denton Welch, 21st October 2005. Two slipcased hardback s of 380+xvii and 390 pages. £70/$140. Sewn signatures, printed on 130gsm acid-free paper, and bound by Bath Press in yellow wibalin cloth stamped in copper, with silk ribbon marker and head and tailbands. 500 sets. ISBN 1 872621 94 5

Preface by James Methuen-Campbell.

Volume 1 contains: 'I Can Remember,' 'Narcissus Bay,' 'At Sea,' 'The Happiest Time,' 'The Coffin on the Hill,' 'I First Began to Write,' 'The Barn,' 'The Trout Stream,' 'Mr Clarke,' 'Some Memories Evoked by Music,' 'A Visit to my Bois Relations,' 'A House Lost in the Darkness and Wintry Fields,' 'At Sir Moorcalm Lalli's,' 'The Packing-case House and the Thief,' 'Mrs Hockey,' 'A Child Meets Church and State and Poetry in Strange Places: Lady Astor,' 'The Death of My Mother,' 'The Big Field,' 'An Afternoon with Jeanne,' 'When I was Thirteen,' 'An Old Boy Takes Me Out at Repton,' 'Ghosts,' 'The Earth's Crust,' 'The Youth Rang the Bell,' 'An Encounter by the River,' 'Back to Repton as an Old Boy,' 'I Left my Grandfather's House,' 'A Free Ride,' 'When I was an Art Student,' 'A Novel Fragment,' End-notes.

Volume 2 contains: 'The Judas Tree,' 'Strange Discoveries,' 'In Brixham Harbour,' 'A Party,' 'Sickert at St Peter's,' 'A Picture in the Snow,' 'Evergreen Seaton-Leverett,' 'A Fragment of a Life Story,' 'Leaves from a Young Person's Notebook,' 'Faces at the Stage Door,' 'Wainwright Home,' 'Fat Woman Sleeping in a Wood,' 'Touchett's Party,' 'The War Breaks Out,' 'Velvet', 'The Fire in the Wood,' 'A Dream of Vestals,' 'Fear,' 'Cupids from a Wedgwood Jar from a Bartolozzi Print from a Drawing by Lady Di Beauclerk,' 'Memories of a Vanished Period,' 'Man in a Garden,' 'A Morning with the Versatile Peer, Lord Berners, in the 'Ancient Seat of Learning',' 'A Mews Flat in the Country,' 'A Lunch Appointment,' 'Reading my First Review-in Spring,' 'Brave and Cruel,' 'In the Vast House,' 'John Trevor,' 'Full Circle,' 'Roger Saw the Man,' 'The Cottage After Dark,' 'Roger Lay on the Cliff,' 'Weekend,' 'Amy Lechworth,' 'Lady Gertrude,' 'Constance, Lady Willet,' 'Anna Dillon,' 'Alex Fairburn,' 'The Hateful Word,' 'The Diamond Badge,' 'When I Lie Awake,' 'In the Autumn Weather,' 'The Secret Life,' 'The Window,' 'Two Cows,' 'A Postscript,' End-notes, Bibliography

Reviews:

"James Methuen-Campbell, the editor of this new and definitive collection of [Welch's] short stories and other writings, wrote a biography of Welch in 2002 which did much to establish his reputation as an artist" - Ian Irvine, Independent on Sunday

"Edited by welch's most recent biographer, Where Nothing Sleeps brings together in two handsome volumes 76 of his short stories 'and related autobiographical writings', together with expansive notes. Having the pieces presented thus, one makes discoveries..." Christopher Martin, Rare Book Review

 

91. BERESFORD EGAN, by Adrian Woodhouse, 28th July 2005. Hardback: 164 pages. £45/$90. Sewn signatures, printed on 130gsm acid-free paper, and bound by Bath Press in red wibalin cloth stamped in gold, with silk ribbon marker and head and tailbands. 79 black and white and 25 colour illustrations. 750 numbered copies. ISBN 1972621937. Contents: 'Beresford Egan' by Adrian Woodhouse, 'A Bibliography', Colour Plates, Black & White Plates, Acknowledgements, List of Illustrations, Index to the Essay.

Reviews:

"This is quite simply a beautifully illustrated, well-written and lavishly produced biographical account of a great artist." - Book and Magazine Collector (October 2005)

"[A] handsome limited edition volume." - The London Evening Standard

"Adrian Woodhouse's expansive and richly informative new volume on Egan, magnificently produced by the Tartarus Press in a limited edition of 750 copies, is the definitive work on this unique artist, unlikely ever to be surpassed." - Richard Dalby, Rare Book Review

"An excellent and readable account of Egan's life, work ... and romantic relationships." - George Locke, Bookdealer

 

90. WORMWOOD, Issue 4, Edited by Mark Valentine, 13th May, 2005. 92 pages. £7.99. 550 copies. Paperback journal printed on cream bookwove paper, and bound by Bath Press. Cover illustration by Mervyn Peake. Contents: 'Joyce Carol Oates' by Peter Bell, 'Alfred Kubin' by Mark Beech, 'Margaret Irwin' by Sandra Unerman, 'Bruno Schulz & Tadeusz Kantor' by Daniel Watt, 'M.P. Shiel's Prince Zaleski' by Benjamin Hervey, 'The Decadent World-View' by Brian Stableford, 'Late Reviews' by Douglas A. Anderson, Camera Obscura

 

89. THE WANDERING SOUL, by William Hope Hodgson, Compiled and Introduced by Jane Frank, with a Foreword by Mike Ashley, April 2005. Published in association with PS Publishing. 384 + ix pages. £35.00. Sewn hardback printed on 130gsm acid-free paper, and bound by Bath Press in dark blue wibalin cloth stamped in silver, with silk ribbon marker and head and tailbands. 500 copies. ISBN 1904619304. Contents: 'Foreword: The Last Redoubt' by Mike Ashley, 'Introduction: The Wandering Soul' by Jane Frank, References. Avenues to Publication: 'Physical Culture: A Talk with an Expert', 'From the Blackburn Evening Telegraph', 'Physical Culture Versus Recreative Exercise'. 'Health from Scientific Exercise'. Love of the Sea: Aboard the Canterbury, Ship's Log, Glossary. Story-telling through Slide Lectures: 'A Sailor and His Camera', 'Through the Heart of a Cyclone', 'When the Sea Gets Cross', 'A Cyclonic Storm', 'Through the Vortex of a Cyclone'. The Light that is on Land and Sea: Portfolio of Photographs. Speaking His Mind: 'Is the Mercantile Navy Worth Joining?-Certainly Not', 'The Poet vs. The Stonemason', 'The Trade in Sea Apprentices,' 'The Peril of the Mine', 'How the French Soldier Deals with Spies', 'A Pen Picture of How Frenchmen Fight', 'The 'Emergency Door' of the Sea. 'Out Boats'', 'An Old French Woman and Her Chickens'. Sentiment Through Verse: 'Boy Billy Boo-Hoo', 'Little Feet of Maggie Lee', 'The Heart Cry', 'Monsieur les Vidoques', 'Tramp! Tramp!', 'Nevermore', 'The Ocean of Eternity', 'Sea Revelry', 'One Nation Are We', 'Pillars of the Empire', 'Gun Drill', 'The Conqueror'. Personal Gestures: 'The Fruit of the Tree of Life', 'Scraps! Scraps!! Scraps!!!'. Coasts of Adventure: 'Down the Long Coasts', 'S.O.S.: The Real Thing', 'The Regeneration of Captain Bully Keller', 'The Island of the Crossbones', 'The Inn of the Black Crow', 'Jack Gray, Second Mate', 'The Friendship of Monsieur Jeynois', 'Judge Barclay's Wife', 'Captain Dan Danblasten'. Obituary: 'A Literary Letter'. With fifty-six illustrations.

Special, slipcased limited edition: 150 copies of The Wandering Soul with The Lost Poetry (137+xi pages), £60/$90. Three previously unpublished collections of William Hope Hodgson's verse, as he arranged them: Mors Deorum and Other Poems, Through Enchantments and Other Poems on Death, and Spume, which together include forty-three poems never seen before.

Review:

The major fantasy small press publication of the present century so far, in my opinion, is ... The Wandering Soul, a magnificent compilation of material from the archive of Wiliam Hope Hodgson. I confess to being seriously envious ... there was no way that any effort of mine would have achieved the same magnificence. - George Locke, Ferret Fantasy

 

88. HEATHCLIFF'S TALE, by Emma Tennant, 14th April 2005. Hardback: 213 pages. £25.00. Sewn signatures, printed on 130gsm acid-free paper, and bound by Bath Press in green wibalin cloth stamped in gold, with silk ribbon marker and head and tailbands. 500 signed copies. ISBN 1872621910. Paperback: 167 pages. £8.99. Printed on 130gsm acid-free paper, and bound by Bath Press. Unlimited edition. ISBN 1872621920.

Reviews:

"Whether or not you accept all Emma Tennant's theories, as an imaginative response to Wuthering Heights her beautifully crafted tale is wonderfully engaged and engaging." - Lucasta Miller, Times Literary Supplement, 5th May 2005

"This ambitious novel . . . is a gothic tale . . . The language is Brontë-esque and, most importantly, this works well as a stand alone novel." - The Observer, 27th March 2005

"...it is an unalloyed pleasure." - The Scotsman, 2nd April 2005

"A provocatively rewritten Wuthering Heights." - John Sutherland, Financial Times, the 16th April

"Glorious... with astute satires on academic spats, as well as answering John Sutherland’s question: 'Was Heathcliff a murderer?' " - Stuart Kelly, The Scotsman, 17th April 2005

"Whoever’s life or work she chooses to embellish, Tennant always makes it work. She is one of the greats, one of the originals." - Sunday Herald, 17th April 2005

Featured in The Independent on Sunday!, 10th April 2005

 

87. LIFE OF ARTHUR MACHEN, by John Gawsworth, edited by Roger Dobson, with an Introduction by Barry Humphries, 3rd March 2005. Published in association with the Friends of Arthur Machen and Reino de Redonda. 394 + xxv pages. 75 illustrations. Not for sale - available only to members of the Friends of Arthur Machen. Sewn hardback printed on 130gsm acid-free paper, and bound by Bath Press in brown wibalin cloth stamped in gold, with silk ribbon marker and head and tailbands. 250 copies. No ISBN assigned.

Reviews:

"Excellently edited by Roger Dobson who displays an impressive knowledge of Machen . . . is an extraordinary achievement" - Phil Baker, Times Literary Supplement.

"Sumptuous" - Simon Rogers, Book and Magazine Collector

 

2004:

 

86. THE SUICIDE CLUB AND OTHER DARK ADVENTURES, by Robert Louis Stevenson, edited by Rosalie Parker, with an Introduction by Mark Valentine, 16th December 2004. 507 + xiv pages. £35.00. Sewn hardback printed on 130gsm acid-free paper, and bound by Bath Press in burgundy wibalin cloth stamped in gold, with silk ribbon marker and head and tailbands. 400 copies. ISBN 1872621902. Contents: 'The Plague-Cellar', 'A Lodging for the Night', 'Will o' the Mill', The Suicide Club: 'Story of the Young Man with the Cream Tarts', 'Story of the Physician and the Saratoga Trunk', 'The Adventure of the Hansom Cabs', The Rajah's Diamond: 'Story of the Bandbox', 'Story of the Young Man in Holy Orders', 'Story of the House with the Green Blinds', 'The Adventure of Prince Florizel and a Detective'. 'Thrawn Janet', 'The Body Snatcher', 'The Merry Men', 'Markheim', 'Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde', 'Olalla', 'The Bottle Imp', 'The Isle of Voices', 'The Waif Woman', Fables: 'The Devil and the Innkeeper', 'The Yellow Paint', 'The House of Eld', 'The Man and his Friend', 'The Reader', 'The Distinguished Stranger', 'Something in it', 'Faith', 'Half Faith and No Faith at all', 'The Touchstone', 'The Poor Thing', 'The Song of the Morrow'.

Review:

"The Suicide Club and Other Dark Adventures could hardly be improved upon. It is a substantial collection of Robert Louis Stevenson’s short fiction and shows the haunting hold that the strange, weird and macabre had on his imagination. You will find herein many wonderful and exemplary instances of the storyteller’s art, by a writer whose admirers have included Henry James, Borges, Graham Greene, Nabokov, Harry Mathews and many another writer besides. - Paul Kane, The Compulsive Reader.

 

85. BLACK SPIRITS AND WHITE, by Ralph Adams Cram, with an Introduction to Black Spirits & White by Stefan Dziemianowicz, and an Introduction to the Uncollected Stories by Douglas A. Anderson, 30th November 2004. 145+xxi pages. £30.00. Sewn hardback printed on 130gsm acid-free paper, and bound by Bath Press in black wibalin cloth stamped in silver, with silk ribbon marker and head and tailbands. 300 copies. ISBN 1872621880. Contents: Introduction to Black Spirits and White by Stefan Dziemianowicz, Black Spirits and White: No. 252 Rue M. Le Prince, In Kropfsberg Keep, The White Villa, Sister Maddelena, Notre Dame des Eaux, The Dead Valley, Postscript. Introduction to the Uncollected Stories by Douglas A. Anderson, Uncollected Stories: The Decadent, How Jamie Rode for the King.

Reviews:

  ". . . beautifully produced, a pleasure to read and handle . . .  Quite apart from it's intrinsic literary value, this book is a reminder to us British that the aesthetic movement in America did not begin and end with Oscar Wilde declaring his genius to a New York customs official." Reggie Oliver, All Hallows

"All in all the volume--gorgeously produced as it's always the case with Tartarus--offers some superb supernatural stories . . . " - William Simmons, Infinity Plus

 

THE WHITE HANDS, by Mark Samuels, paperback reprint, 9th September 2004. 137 pages. £9.99. Printed and bound by Bath Press. ISBN 1872621724. Contents: The White Hands/ The Grandmaster’s Final Game/ Mannequins in Aspects of Terror/ Apartment 205/ The Impasse/ Colony/ Vrolyck/ The Search for Kruptos/ Black as Darkness.

Reviews:

Samuels' prose is some of the most highly polished and surreal it has been my pleasure to read since I first discovered Thomas Ligotti. Scott Connors in Weird Tales issue 342

In The White Hands, Mark Samuels earns a reputation as the contemporary British master of visionary weirdness. - Ramsey Campbell, Postscripts Number 5

A really impressive collection of stories: genuinely chilling -- almost mercilessly so, I kept thinking -- with really sharp, elegant writing, great sense of mood, and great intelligence and control in each piece. And they work extremely well with one another; I especially love the way the final story ties the whole collection together by once more bringing in Lilith Blake. - T.E.D. Klein

This is a book that was recommended to me about a week ago by Stephen Jones, who is a British anthologist, one of the two or three leading anthologists working in the UK. He said he'd come across a book called The White Hands and Other Weird Tales by Mark Samuels, published by Tartarus Press. It's a beautifully made book, published in an edition of 350 copies. Steve Jones says Samuels is the most exciting new young(ish) writer that he (Jones) has come across in at least a year. … I think that there is just a chance that we are seeing the emergence of the next Clive Barker. Certainly a name worth keeping in mind. - Richard Lupoff, Cover to Cover

 [The White Hands] is a treasure and a genuine contribution to the real history of weird fiction ... Even when the settings and characters are modern Samuels manages to convey a sense of otherworldly nightmare. For example, the use of computers in 'The Impasse' gives these infernal machines the feel and function of the strange books that stock the shelves of so many of the best weird tales from Lovecraft to Borges. ('Mannequins in Aspects of Terror' is the other major instance of this wonderful feat.) I thought the most impressive story in the collection was 'The Search for Kruptos.' The exotic locale and the historical setting are not the sort of thing that I would attempt in a story, and I thought Samuels handled both tasks magnificently, not to mention the ingenious and awful concept of a book in innummerable volumes. The other stories that were among my favorites, and served most powerfully to convey a uniform sensibility to The White Hands, were 'Apartment 205' and 'Colony.' - Thomas Ligotti

In my opinion, although already in his late thirties, Mark Samuels is a rising star of supernatural horror fiction. Pick up a copy of his first collection now and be in at the beginning of the career of a major new British talent. You'll only regret it if you don't. - Steve Jones, The Alien Online

An impressive debut collection, The White Hands is an unexpected dark miracle of invention, tradition, and archetypal revision.... The author exhibits in this carefully arranged onslaught of weird fiction individualistic taste, thoughtfulness, and a strict control of literary subtlety. Re-envisioning the archetypal images and concerns of traditional supernatural fiction with distinctly contemporary, urban settings and bleak if heartfelt characters, Samuels weaves a deceptively subtle, menacing web of wizardry. - William Simmons, Hellnotes

If you thought The White Hands sounded like a lost story by Arthur Machen you would not be far from the truth. Machen is the dominant influence on this collection . . . One can also detect the influence of Kafka, of Christopher Fowler's urban nightmares, perhaps even Beckett at his most surreal. Samuels articulates brilliantly what modern man secretly fears most about death: not that it is extinction, but that it is an eternity in which the utter meaningless of life is fully revealed. - Reggie Oliver, All Hallows

Those good folks at Tartarus Press publish books that are beautifully presented collectors' items and this anthology of macabre tales by Samuels is a sewn hardback with a silk ribbon marker. Tartarus has cornered an intriguing market of cult writers who deal with arcane, supernatural fiction. They publish Arthur Machen and M.P. Shiel alongside lesser-known contemporary writers, such as Mark Samuels.... The stories have an old-fashioned feel about them, owing something to the sinister atmospheres evoked by Poe and Lovecraft, but without the torture and slime.... Much of the writing is subtle with sinister undercurrents, always understated even when describing torment and suffering.... Samuels has certainly mastered the art of ambiguity most effectively and understands well the power of fantasy. - Jeff Gardiner, Prism

Mark Samuels is a perfectionist when it comes to creative writing. The fact that this is his first book actually makes me wonder if he's been holding back, continually striving for a level of creativity with which he's truly satisfied. And who wouldn't be satisfied with a book written to this standard? I found this collection of stories totally stunning! It's a book that Machen, Lovecraft, or Ligotti would be proud to have written. The stories are beautifully dark nightmares that mix escapism with strange, haunting qualities, fascinating and always compelling. - John B. Ford, Terror Tales

With his unique style, best described as something of a cross between Lovecraft and Robert Aickman, Thomas Ligotti has become an inescapable influence on the younger crop of promising writers of literary horror like Matt Cardin, Stephen Sennitt, Quentin Crisp and Mark Samuels. Samuels may be the best of the lot, if this excellent collection of weird fiction tales from Tartarus Press is any indication. There are times when I actually prefer Samuels to Ligotti, partly because he eschews the latter's often maddening obliqueness but also because of his uniquely urban sensibility. - Gabriel Messa, 'A Year's Best List', Fantastic Metropolis

Samuels is an extremely talented writer, his stories are superb and the present collection highly recommendable." - Mario Guislandi, Supernatural Tales

Probably one of the most important debut collections by a writer of ghost stories since Terry Lamsley and Thomas Ligotti more than a decade earlier, The White Hands and Other Weird Tales contained nine strange stories (two reprints) by London writer Mark Samuels, limited to just 350 copies from Tartarus Press - Steve Jones, Mammoth Book of Best New Horror #15 (Oct 2004)

The White Hands and Other Weird Tales is a highly impressive, extremely well-written book that will appeal to all with an interest in contemporary horror or “weird” fiction. This is one to place on the bookshelf in the company of Robert Aickman, Elizabeth Hand and Thomas Ligotti. - Paul Kane, The Compulsive Reader

 

84. THE GOLEM, by Gustav Meyrink, translated, and with an Introduction by Mike Mitchell, with twenty-five illustrations by Hugo-Steiner-Prag, 31st October 2004. 253+xvi pages. £30.00. Sewn hardback printed on 130gsm acid-free paper, and bound by Bath Press in black wibalin cloth stamped in silver, with silk ribbon marker and head and tailbands. Cover illustration by Joachim Seinfeld. 300 copies. ISBN 1872621856.

Reviews:

"A gorgeous new translation . . . a frighteningly and frankly devilishly skilful description of the Prague ghetto and the creation by Rabbi Loew of an artificial man. . . published by the Tartarus Press and is absolutely beautiful." - Ian McMillan, The Verb, BBC Radio 3

"The Golem has rarely looked (or read) so well." - William Simmons, Hellnotes

"Excellent English translation by Mike Mitchell . . . If you are an enthusiast of dark fiction and you missed this classical novel so far it's high time to read it: you'll find it weird, engrossing, subtly and deliciously distrurbing . . . spellbinding black and white lithographs by Hugo Steiner-Prag." - Mario Guslandi - www.laurhird.com

"If you are set on installing a Golem permanently in your home, there can be no question that Tartarus offers the finest English speaking model." - Douglas Campbell, All Hallows

 

83. WORMWOOD, Issue 3, Edited by Mark Valentine, 12th October 2004. 92 pages. £7.99. 550 copies. Paperback journal printed on cream bookwove paper, and bound by Bath Press. Contents: 'Mervyn Peake’s Lonely World' by Peter Winnington, 'The Mansions of Fear: The Dark Houses of Cornell Woolrich' by Joel Lane, 'Against the Spirit: A Look at Hugh Walpole’s The Killer & The Slain' by John Howard, 'Aura: Glimpses into Mexico’s Spectral Literature' by Adriana Diaz Enciso, 'John Wyndham and the Fantastic' by Andy Sawyer, 'The Panic God' by Adrian Eckersley, 'The Decadent World-View' by Brian Stableford , 'Late Reviews' by Douglas A. Anderson, and 'Camera Obscura'

 

82. RITUAL, by Arthur Machen, with a Foreword by R.B. Russell, 31st July 2004. 382 + xiii pages. £35.00. Third edition. Sewn hardback printed on 130gsm acid-free paper, and bound by Bath Press in red wibalin cloth stamped in gold, with silk ribbon marker and head and tailbands. 300 copies. ISBN 1872621279. Now out of print, but a fourth edition is available. Contents: The Priest and the Barber, The Spagyric Quest of Beroaldus Cosmopolita, The Town of Long Ago, Candletime, Cidermas, Over the Gate, Of the Isle of Shadows, A Further Account of the Academy of Lagado, Tales from Barataria, Sir John's Chef, Rus in Urbe, By the Brook, The Autophone, The Brook Farm, A Remarkable Coincidence, A Double Return, A Wonderful Woman, The Lost Club, An Underground Adventure, Jocelyn's Escape, The Red Hand, The Rose Garden, The Turanians, The Idealist, Witchcraft, The Ceremony, Psychology, Torture, Midsummer, Nature, Holy Things, The Young Man in the Blue Suit, The Soldiers' Rest, The Monstrance, The Dazzling Light, The Little Nations, The Men from Troy, The Light That Can Never Be Put Out, Drake's Drum, A New Christmas Carol, 7B Coney Court, Munitions of War, The Gift of Tongues, The Islington Mystery, Johnny Double, The Cosy Room, Awaking, Opening the Door, The Compliments of the Season, The Dover Road, The Exalted Omega, The Tree of Life, Out of the Picture, Change, Ritual.

Reviews of this new edition:

"Stories of the macabre exert their pull from Hallowe'en onwards, such as the stories of Arthur Machen, republished by Tartarus Press in handsome editions, made for reading by a flickering fire." Suzi Feay, The Independent (29/10/05)

If you want an overall picture of Machen the man . . . secure a copy of Ritual from Tartarus while stocks last. - Reggie Oliver, All Hallows

Offering genuine emotion and passages that reach the ecstasy for which Machen so often attained, Ritual and Other Stories delights and disturbs in equal measure, embodying within its bewitching narratives an alchemist's brew of wisdom and wonder. - William P. Simmons, Cemetery Dance

 

81. MISS HARGREAVES, by Frank Baker, with a Foreword by Glen Cavaliero, 24th June 2004. 266 + ix pages. £30.00. Sewn hardback printed on 130gsm acid-free paper, and bound by Bath Press in orange/brown wibalin cloth stamped in gold, with head and tailbands. 300 copies. ISBN 1872621848.

Reviews:

A novel whose immediate, refined humor is overshadowed by an impressively chilling atmosphere of anticipation and subtle shock. - William Simmons, Hellnotes

Miss Hargreaves is certainly a superb 'rayd'! - John Howard, All Hallows

 

80. WORMWOOD, Issue 2, Edited by Mark Valentine, 27th May 2004. 92 pages. £7.99. 550 copies. Paperback journal printed on cream bookwove paper, and bound by Bath Press. Contents: 'Daylight Ghosts: The Novels and Stories of Oliver Onions' by Glen Cavaliero, 'The Godwin Family' by Brian Aldiss, 'Ithell Colquhoun: The Versatile Surrealist' by Eric Ratcliffe, 'The Man Who Never Was: An Appreciation of Fernando Pessoa' by Adam Daly, 'Love, Life, and the Clemency of Death: A Re-examination of Clark Ashton Smith's "The Isle of the Torturers" ' by Scott Connors, 'Phantasmagoria and Psyche in Robert Louis Stevenson's "Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde" ' by Jyri-Pekka Luoma, 'Francis Stevens: The Godmother of Modern Fantasy' by Jeff Gardiner, 'A Few French Ghosts' by Muriel Smith, 'The Decadent World-View' by Brian Stableford, 'Camera Obscura' by Mark Samuels, 'Late Reviews' by Douglas A. Anderson, Letters.

 

79. MORBID TALES, by Quentin S. Crisp, with a Foreword by Mark Samuels, 27th May 2004. 226 pages. £27.50. Sewn hardback printed on 130gsm acid-free paper, and bound by Bath Press in burgundy wibalin cloth stamped in silver, with head and tailbands. 300 copies. ISBN 187262183X. Contents: 'Foreword', 'The Mermaid', 'Far-Off Things', 'Cousin X', 'A Lake', 'The Two-Timer', 'The Tattooist', 'Ageless', Autumn Colours'.

Reviews:

"I don't recall being so impressed with a short story collection by a new (to me) writer since I first read, in my youth, the works of M.R. James and H.P. Lovecraft. When I got my copy of Morbid Tales, except for the intriguing title and the attractive book production by Tartarus, I didn't know what to expect, knowing precious little about its author. . . . I can't recommend this book highly enough. Crisp will surprise and delight you with his marvellous writing skill and the ability to convey a profound sense of universal horror, cosmic menace and spiritual desolation." - Mario Guslandi, The Alien Online

"Attempting to find a frozen moment, description, or phenomena with which to express a breath of cosmic fear and awe, Crisp acheives with this collection a remarkable scrapbook of terror." - William Simmons, Cemetery Dance

"The power of the best stories here is in the way in which Crisp has been able to use his influences to reflect deep within himself and draw out something that is strikingly new." - Douglas Campbell, All Hallows

"I greatly enjoyed these marvellously Morbid Tales, not a few of which I have reread with relish."Jildy Sauce

 

78. THE HAUNTED WOMAN, by David Lindsay, with an Afterword by Douglas Anderson, 30th April 2004. 207 pages. £27.50. Sewn hardback printed on 130gsm acid-free paper, and bound by Bath Press in dark blue wibalin cloth stamped in silver, with head and tailbands. 300 copies. ISBN 1872621821.

Review:

"A wonderful, undeservedly neglected interweaving masterwork of spiritual and emotional psychosis that will well repay the reader who immerses himself in its dark, wildly imaginative nightmares." - William Simmons, Hellnotes

 

77. THE PURPLE CLOUD, by M.P. Shiel, with Illustrations by J.J. Cameron, and an Introduction by Brian Stableford, 17th March 2004. 286+xv pages. £30.00. Sewn hardback printed on 130gsm acid-free paper, and bound by Bath Press in purple wibalin cloth stamped in gilt, with head and tailbands. 400 copies. ISBN 1872621813.

Reviews:

"Tartarus has done us proud. This is a beautifully made edition of a remarkable novel, together with the original magazine illustrations finely reproduced, and an illuminating introduction. Moreover, The Purple Cloud is worth reading quite apart from its considerable literary merits, as an important and influential genre work." - Reggie Oliver, All Hallows

"An acknowledged classic of post-apocalyptic science fiction, Shiel's ode to human persistence and his harsh physical/spiritual evolution marked a return to the author's decadent style of composition!"- William Simmons, Hellnotes

 

2003:

 

76. STRANGE TALES, edited by Rosalie Parker, by Quentin S. Crisp, Anne-Sylvie Salzman, David Rix, Brendan Connell, Rhys Hughes, Mark Valentine & John Howard, Adam Daly, William Charlton, Dale Nelson, Tina Rath, Nina Allan, Len Maynard & Mick Sims, John Gaskin, and Don Tumasonis. Edited by Rosalie Parker. 15th December 2003. 289+vi pages. £27.50. Sewn hardback printed on 130gsm acid-free paper, and bound by Bath Press in black wibalin cloth stamped in copper, with head and tailbands. 300 copies. ISBN 1872621805. First edition out of print - second edition available.

Contains: 'Cousin X' by Quentin S. Crisp, 'Meannanaich' by Anne-Sylvie Salzman, 'Number 18' by David Rix, 'The Maker of Fine Instruments' by Brendan Connell, 'The Itchy Skin of Creepy Aplomb' by Rhys Hughes, 'The Descent of the Fire' by Mark Valentine & John Howard, 'The Self-Eater' by Adam Daly, 'Grand Hotel' by William Charlton, 'Shelter Belt' by Dale Nelson, 'Mr Manpferdit' by Tina Rath , 'Terminus' by Nina Allan, 'Between the Dead Men and the Blind' by Maynard & Sims, 'From Lydia with Love and Laughter' by John Gaskin, and 'Eye of the Storm' by Don Tumasonis.

Winner of the World Fantasy Award, 2004

Reviews:

'Few of the contributions to Rosalie Parker’s beautifully presented collection of new short stories fail to unsettle or disturb, and yet, as a whole, the volume’s success can be attributed to the sheer variety of tone, effect and subject matter.' - Dara Downey, The Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies

"Taken as a whole, Strange Tales is one of the best original anthologies of recent years." - David Longhorn, Supernatural Tales

"A most impressive feature of the collection is the eclectic variety of style and content, and the way in which the various tales forge themselves into a collective exploration of 'strangeness' that is most disconcerting. As such, it fulfils the true purpose of an anthology: not simply a mix of interesting pieces, but a cohesive whole infused with a unifying vision, something greater than the sum of the total parts. Quite apart from the intrinsic merits of the stories, this book is, as much as anything, a triumph of editing by Rosalie Parker. . . This excellent volume is presented with all the quality one has come to expect from Tartarus." - Peter Bell, All Hallows

"At the end of this entertaining anthology the reader is left not only with the pleasant sensation that his time and his money have not been wasted, but with the reassuring discovery that weird horror fiction is alive and well and that, due to a number of emerging new talents, the future of the genre appears to be bright." - Mario Guslandi, Infinity Plus.

 

75. WORMWOOD, Issue 1, Edited by Mark Valentine, 17th November 2003. 88 pages. £7.99. 470 copiesPaperback journal printed on cream bookwove paper, and bound by Bath Press. Out of print. Contents: Gustav Meyrink: The Monster-Magician in Kafka’s Shadow by Adam Daly, The Heroic Hereafter: Explaining Eddison by Jonathan Preece, Ernest Bramah: A Challenge to the Biographer by William Charlton, A Very Real Presence: Dame Muriel Spark, Briefly Interviewed, The Ninefold Kingdom and Others: Four Fictional Visions of the Political Future by John Howard, Everything Ends in a Greater Blackness: Some Remarks on the Fiction of Thomas Ligotti by Mark Samuels, The Decadent World-View by Brian Stableford, Revisiting Ramsey Campbell by William P. Simmons, Camera Obscura, Late Reviews by Douglas A. Anderson

Reviews:

"Tartarus Press has just launched a journal, Wormwood, dedicated to fantasy, supernatural and decadent literature". Number One includes an in-depth look at Meyrink, an interview with Muriel Spark and an essay on "The Decadent World View" by Brian Stableford. Among the writers it resurrects is Edgar Magnus Birnstingl, author of a privately printed posthumous volume of stories which "date from the last two years of his life" (he died in 1915 aged 16). Oh dear, this is going to give me even more of a lust for lost books than I already have." - Suzi Feay, Independent on Sunday

"Wormwood 1 is classy, refined and polished, both in content and presentation, and it doesn't seem like a first issue in any way." Rosemary Pardoe, Ghosts and Scholars

"Wormwood is an excellent magazine and one much needed in Britain where we should be vying with the Americans by presenting more fantasy-related discussion and analysis. This could potentially grow into something even better than the Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts. If you believe that the best academic work occurs on the cutting edge then take out a subscription to Wormwood and make your contribution." - The Alien Online

"I read Wormwood over the holidays, while sipping a glass of imported absinthe, and found this journal to be a wonderful holiday gift. I don't usually find literary journals worth my time, cover to cover, but Wormwood, like the herb that flavoured my drink, is both bitter and sweet, flavoured with the heady brew of the decadence of yesteryear . . . my interest has been piqued, Wormwood has given me much to think about." - Ron Lewis, All Hallows

"Wormwood is an excellent magazine" - Jeff Gardiner, Prism (British Fantasy Society)

 

74. ECHOES AND SHADOWS, by Jon Manchip White, 1st November 2003. 218 pages. £27.50. Sewn hardback printed on 130gsm acid-free paper, and bound by Bath Press in black wibalin cloth stamped in silver, with head and tailbands. 300 copies. ISBN 1872621791. Out of print. Contents: Knaves, Moel Hebog, Ora Pro Nobis, The Flask, Crystal, Corpse Candles, Shadowplay, A Box of Bones, The Jacket, Angharad, Smoke, Birdie, Epilogue

Reviews:

"...this is a genuinely old-fashioned collection of ghost stories, distinguished by lovingly evoked Welsh settings." - Douglas Campbell, All Hallows

"Tartarus continue to entertain and fascinate us with their delightful publications" - Jeff Gardiner, Prism (Britsih Fantasy Society)

 

73. GUIDE TO FIRST EDITION PRICES, 2004/5, by R.B. Russell, 1st November 2003, xii, 516 pages. £17.99. Trade paperback printed and bound by the Bath Press. 4,500 copies. ISBN 1872621783. Out of print.

Point: The fifth edition.

Contains the values of over 33,000 sought-after books.

 

72. THE HOUSE OF THE HIDDEN LIGHT by Arthur Machen and A.E. Waite, 31st July 2003. 152+xxxv pages. £30.00. Published in association with Ferret Fantasy. Sewn hardback printed and bound by Bath Press in green wibalin cloth stamped in gold, with head and tailbands. 350 copies. ISBN 1872621775. Out of print. Contents: Introduction/ The Quest for the Hidden Book / The House of the Hidden Light.

Reviews:

"In this handsome new edition from Tartarus Press, the editor R.A. Gilbert ... plausibly [suggests] the book to be a coded record of the two men's exploits in the bars and taverns of the metropolis, a secret diary of their boozy peregrinations, a grimoire of London pub life." Times Literary Supplement

"Tartarus Press, one of the few specialty presses making available for modern audiences rare and obscure macabre literary treasures, joins forces with Ferret Fantasy to offer macabre afficionados a gift that at once serves as a collector's edition of mystical allegory, a semi-autobiographical account of two men's spiritual coming of age, and an obscure, mystery-charged text. " - Underworlds Magazine

 

71. MASQUES AND CITADELS by Mark Valentine, 7th June 2003. 212 pages. £27.50. Sewn hardback printed and bound by Bath Press in red wibalin cloth stamped in gold, with head and tailbands. 300 copies. ISBN 1872621767. Out of print. Contents: The Hesperian Dragon/ The Lighting of the Vial/ The Nephoseum, or, The Play of Shadows/ Sea Citadels/ The Prince of Barlocco/ The Black Eros/ Mad Lutanist/ The Mist on the Mere/ The White Solander (with John Howard)/ The Last Archipelago (with John Howard)/ Acknowledgements.

Reviews:

 "A storyteller of impressive originality, Valentine writes with discipline and a deep understanding of the uncanny. A stunning Performance." - Underworlds Magazine

 "There is a sort of gradual, cumulative unease which draws one on to read the tales a second or third time . . . the connoisseur of good books and good reading will appreciate The Connoisseur" - John Hall, Sherlock

"What a splendidly quixotic aim: to restore a sense of the numinous to run-down secular old Britain!...It’s long been a tenet of mine that all the finest writers of the supernatural seek, in some way or another, to restore to the material world some sense of the numinous. Some do it by subtly warping one’s perception of the world till it more closely matches their own (Robert Aickman); some do it by capturing perfectly the genius loci of a particular place (Ramsey Campbell’s Merseyside); others (like Arthur Machen, Alan Garner, and our own Mr V), seek to re-energise the old touchstones of myth and magic. It’s a measure of his success, I think, that Mark Valentine’s name does not seem wholly out of place even in this exalted company." - Steve Duffy, All Hallows

"It is possible to be too subtle and 'recondite'. " - Prism

"Mark Valentine is surely one of the best writers working in the genre." - David Longhorn, Supernatural Tales

 

70. THREE MILES UP by Elizabeth Jane Howard, 1st May 2003. 216 + xii pages. £25.00. Sewn hardback printed and bound by Bookcraft in burgundy wibalin cloth stamped in gold, with head and tailbands. 350 copies. ISBN 1872621759. Contents: An Introduction by Glen Cavaliero/ Three Miles Up/ Perfect Love/ Left Luggage/ Mr Wrong.

 Reviews:

"Three Miles Up is a superb little volume: it may only contain four stories, but every one is a highly polished gem, and the introduction by Glen Cavaliero is thoughtful and well-written. The quality of the book production is, needless to say, immaculate." - Reggie Oliver, All Hallows

"Best remembered for mainstream novels of the middle class - realistic works which nevertheless hint of cosmic uneasiness - Howard's rare forays into the supernatural resulted in chilling expressions of terror and awe. Favoring painful themes of cultural displacement and alienation in an apathetic world . . . this is ghost fiction as it should be!" - Hellnotes

"Tartarus Press is one of the finest small imprints devoted to reprinting lost titles in the supernatural field, recipient of a world fantasy award, and rightly so, in recognition of its splendid achievements in this area. It's enough to take a look at their last book: a collection of four strange stories by Elizabeth Jane Howard, beautifully produced and presented in an attractive, cute little format which reminds me somehow of breviary . . . So, if you're tired of disposable fiction to be forgotten the minute you close your book, if you want to read some high quality stories that will leave your mind delightfully uncomfortable, if you still appreciate the pleasure of having a nicely bound volume in your hands then you have to buy stuff like this. There are only 350 copies in print, so you'd better hurry... " - Mario Guslandi, Terror Tales

 

69. TARNHELM, THE BEST SUPERNATURAL STORIES OF HUGH WALPOLE, edited by Rosalie Parker, with an Introduction by George Gorniak, 10th March 2003. 363 + xiv pages. £35.00. Sewn hardback printed and bound by Bath Press in blue wibalin cloth stamped in silver, with head and tailbands. 350 copies. ISBN 1872621740. Contents: An Introduction by George Gorniak/ The Clocks/ The Twisted Inn/ The Silver Mask/ The Staircase/ A Carnation For An Old Man/ Tarnhelm Or, The Death of My Uncle Robert/ Seashore Macabre/ The Little Ghost/ Mrs Lunt/ The Snow/ Miss Morganhurst/ Mrs Porter and Miss Allen/ Lizzie Rand/ The Tarn/ Major Wilbraham/ The Tiger/ Hugh Seymour (A Prologue)/ Angelina/ ’Enery/ The Fear of Death/ Field With Five Trees/ The Conjurer/ The White Cat/ The Perfect Close/ Mr Huffam, A Christmas Story.

Reviews:

"There are twenty-five stories in this generous volume . . .Reading them in bulk one becomes aware of Walpole's limitations, but also of his great strengths. He is a master of narrative: even his lesser stories are very readable. He rarely commits an awkward sentence to paper, and there are plenty of felicitous turns of phrase." Reggie Oliver - All Hallows

"Tarnhelm ... is a smart edition of Walpole's 'spook stories' (to borrow E.F. Benson's phrase), and should introduce his work to a new generation of readers." - Peter Burton, Gay Times

"A tantalizing offering of fine frights, this assemblage of terror stories, most of them out-of-print, highlights the forgotten achievements of a macabre master whose understanding of the night side of human experience makes him indispensable fire-side reading. " - William Simmons, Flesh and Blood Magazine

"Literature would be a poor art without fantasy and Hugh Walpole can stake a claim to be a part of our literary fantasy heritage." - Jeff Gardiner, Prism

 

68. THE WHITE HANDS AND OTHER WEIRD TALES by Mark Samuels, 31st January 2003. 193 pages. £25.00. Sewn hardback printed and bound by Bath Press in mauve wibalin cloth stamped in silver, with head and tailbands. 350 copies. (Approx 25 copies were bound with all edges gilt, for the author and friends of the press.) ISBN 1872621724. This edition is out of print, but a paperback reprint is available. Contents: The White Hands/ The Grandmaster’s Final Game/ Mannequins in Aspects of Terror/ Apartment 205/ The Impasse/ Colony/ Vrolyck/ The Search for Kruptos/ Black as Darkness.

Reviews:

Samuels' prose is some of the most highly polished and surreal it has been my pleasure to read since I first discovered Thomas Ligotti. Scott Connors in Weird Tales issue 342

In The White Hands, Mark Samuels earns a reputation as the contemporary British master of visionary weirdness. - Ramsey Campbell, Postscripts Number 5

A really impressive collection of stories: genuinely chilling -- almost mercilessly so, I kept thinking -- with really sharp, elegant writing, great sense of mood, and great intelligence and control in each piece. And they work extremely well with one another; I especially love the way the final story ties the whole collection together by once more bringing in Lilith Blake. - T.E.D. Klein

This is a book that was recommended to me about a week ago by Stephen Jones, who is a British anthologist, one of the two or three leading anthologists working in the UK. He said he'd come across a book called The White Hands and Other Weird Tales by Mark Samuels, published by Tartarus Press. It's a beautifully made book, published in an edition of 350 copies. Steve Jones says Samuels is the most exciting new young(ish) writer that he (Jones) has come across in at least a year. … I think that there is just a chance that we are seeing the emergence of the next Clive Barker. Certainly a name worth keeping in mind. - Richard Lupoff, Cover to Cover

 [The White Hands] is a treasure and a genuine contribution to the real history of weird fiction ... Even when the settings and characters are modern Samuels manages to convey a sense of otherworldly nightmare. For example, the use of computers in 'The Impasse' gives these infernal machines the feel and function of the strange books that stock the shelves of so many of the best weird tales from Lovecraft to Borges. ('Mannequins in Aspects of Terror' is the other major instance of this wonderful feat.) I thought the most impressive story in the collection was 'The Search for Kruptos.' The exotic locale and the historical setting are not the sort of thing that I would attempt in a story, and I thought Samuels handled both tasks magnificently, not to mention the ingenious and awful concept of a book in innummerable volumes. The other stories that were among my favorites, and served most powerfully to convey a uniform sensibility to The White Hands, were 'Apartment 205' and 'Colony.' - Thomas Ligotti

In my opinion, although already in his late thirties, Mark Samuels is a rising star of supernatural horror fiction. Pick up a copy of his first collection now and be in at the beginning of the career of a major new British talent. You'll only regret it if you don't. - Steve Jones, The Alien Online

An impressive debut collection, The White Hands is an unexpected dark miracle of invention, tradition, and archetypal revision.... The author exhibits in this carefully arranged onslaught of weird fiction individualistic taste, thoughtfulness, and a strict control of literary subtlety. Re-envisioning the archetypal images and concerns of traditional supernatural fiction with distinctly contemporary, urban settings and bleak if heartfelt characters, Samuels weaves a deceptively subtle, menacing web of wizardry. - William Simmons, Hellnotes

If you thought The White Hands sounded like a lost story by Arthur Machen you would not be far from the truth. Machen is the dominant influence on this collection . . . One can also detect the influence of Kafka, of Christopher Fowler's urban nightmares, perhaps even Beckett at his most surreal. Samuels articulates brilliantly what modern man secretly fears most about death: not that it is extinction, but that it is an eternity in which the utter meaningless of life is fully revealed. - Reggie Oliver, All Hallows

Those good folks at Tartarus Press publish books that are beautifully presented collectors' items and this anthology of macabre tales by Samuels is a sewn hardback with a silk ribbon marker. Tartarus has cornered an intriguing market of cult writers who deal with arcane, supernatural fiction. They publish Arthur Machen and M.P. Shiel alongside lesser-known contemporary writers, such as Mark Samuels.... The stories have an old-fashioned feel about them, owing something to the sinister atmospheres evoked by Poe and Lovecraft, but without the torture and slime.... Much of the writing is subtle with sinister undercurrents, always understated even when describing torment and suffering.... Samuels has certainly mastered the art of ambiguity most effectively and understands well the power of fantasy. - Jeff Gardiner, Prism

Mark Samuels is a perfectionist when it comes to creative writing. The fact that this is his first book actually makes me wonder if he's been holding back, continually striving for a level of creativity with which he's truly satisfied. And who wouldn't be satisfied with a book written to this standard? I found this collection of stories totally stunning! It's a book that Machen, Lovecraft, or Ligotti would be proud to have written. The stories are beautifully dark nightmares that mix escapism with strange, haunting qualities, fascinating and always compelling. - John B. Ford, Terror Tales

With his unique style, best described as something of a cross between Lovecraft and Robert Aickman, Thomas Ligotti has become an inescapable influence on the younger crop of promising writers of literary horror like Matt Cardin, Stephen Sennitt, Quentin Crisp and Mark Samuels. Samuels may be the best of the lot, if this excellent collection of weird fiction tales from Tartarus Press is any indication. There are times when I actually prefer Samuels to Ligotti, partly because he eschews the latter's often maddening obliqueness but also because of his uniquely urban sensibility. - Gabriel Messa, 'A Year's Best List', Fantastic Metropolis

Samuels is an extremely talented writer, his stories are superb and the present collection highly recommendable." - Mario Guislandi, Supernatural Tales

Probably one of the most important debut collections by a writer of ghost stories since Terry Lamsley and Thomas Ligotti more than a decade earlier, The White Hands and Other Weird Tales contained nine strange stories (two reprints) by London writer Mark Samuels, limited to just 350 copies from Tartarus Press - Steve Jones, Mammoth Book of Best New Horror #15 (Oct 2004)

 

2002:

 

67. VARIOUS TEMPTATIONS by William Sansom, edited by Rosalie Parker, with an Introduction by Mark Valentine, 14th December 2002. 350 + xv pages. £35.00. Sewn hardback printed and bound by Bookcraft in orange wibalin cloth stamped in gold, with head and tailbands. 350 copies. ISBN 1872621732. Contents: Introduction by Mark Valentine/ The Equilibriad/ A Woman Seldom Found/ The Little Room/ A Smell of Fear/ From the Water Junction/ The Peach-House-Potting-Shed/ A Country Walk/ The Forbidden Lighthouse/ Murder/ Saturation Point/ The Long Sheet/ Fireman Flower/ The Cliff/ The Vertical Ladder/ The Little Fears/ The Tournament/ Various Temptations/ Crabfroth/ A Saving Grace/ One Sunny Afternoon/ In the Maze/ My Tree/ A Touch of the Sun/ The Ballroom/ Pas De Deux.

Note: The author's name is spelt incorrectly on the spine!

Reviews

"Warmly recommended" - The Independent, 24/11/06

". . . there are some undeniably brilliant pieces here." - Douglas Campbell, All Hallows

"Correctly titled, Various Temptations, a collection of 25 stories introduced by Mark Valentine, offers a rare opportunity for readers to acquaint themselves with an author whose fictions are timely and timeless." - Hellnotes

"A wealth of fictional explorations that peer deep into the nightmarish wonders hiding just within the surface of the everyday." - FEO AMANTE.COM.

 

66. PRINCE ZALESKI by M.P. Shiel, 30th November 2002. 187+xxvii pages. £27.50. Sewn hardback printed and bound by Bookcraft in blue wibalin cloth stamped in silver and gold, with marbled endpapers, head and tailbands, and silk ribbon marker. 400 copies. ISBN 1872621716. Contents: Prince Zaleski by Brian Stableford/ A note on the Zaleski Stories by R.B. Russell/ The Race of Orven/ The Stone of the Edmundsbury Monks/ The S.S./The Murena Murder/ The Missing Merchants/ The Hargen Inheritance.

Reviews:

"Prince Zaleski, an impressive, attractive offering to the macabre enthusiast's library, presents ample evidence of the title character's decadent mysticism and Shiel's prowess as a stylist, building torrents of acrobatic logic and emotional overflow with solidly layered, carefully sequenced building-blocks of description and pacing. A memorable collection by an author who deserves more exposure." - Hellnotes

"Prince Zaleski is published by Tartarus Press so you know you are getting an extremely high-quality product. All their books are durable and elegant, even attractive in an academic sort of way. . . . It is an exceptional book in every way, and one that will be particularly prized by collectors. Highly recommended." - Wayne Edwards, Cemetery Dance.

"A memorable collection by an author who deserves more exposure." - William Simmons, Infinity Plus

"An indispensable acquisition for all who relish the elegant and eccentric in detection." Sherlock

  "Triumphantly over the top and, by turns, atmospheric, pulpish, cranky, maddening and absurd, the Zaleski stories continue to intrige, and this is unquestionably the definitive edition." - Douglas Campbell, All Hallows

"Tartarus Press reissues Shiel's stories featuring this most darkly decadent of detectives, with an introduction by Brian Stableford and featuring the additional stories completed by John Gawsworth. Hopefully we can jumpstart a Shiel renaissance." - Gabriel Messa, 'A Year's Best List', Fantastic Metropolis

 

65. THE DOLL MAKER by Sarban, 26th October 2002. 272 pages. £27.50. Sewn hardback printed and bound by Bookcraft in green wibalin cloth stamped in copper, with head and tailbands and silk ribbon marker. ISBN 1872621708. Contents: The Doll Maker/ The Trespassers/ A House of Call.

Second Tartarus Printing

 Reviews

Comprised of the title novella, "The Trespassers," and "A House Of Call," The Doll Maker and Other Tales Of The Uncanny is an attractive feast of phantasm, a curious shadow-land of disturbing ambiguity existing between normalcy and the unexpected. - Gauntlett

 "A beautifully written tale of rural magic reminiscent of Machen. Another Tartarus book to be read and treasured." - Matt Leyshon, Blood from Stones (Waterstones magazine)

"I am delighted with this lovely new edition of a favourite book. . . . get your order in quickly - you won't regret it." - Roger Johnson, All Hallows.

 

64. UNDESIRABLE GUESTS by William Charlton, 20th September 2002. 239 pages. £27.50. Sewn hardback printed and bound by Bookcraft in red wibalin cloth stamped in copper, with head and tailbands, and silk ribbon marker. 350 signed copies. ISBN 1872621694. Out of print. Contents: The Television Set/ A Votary of Science/ Undesirable Guests/ The Paper/ Travelling By Air/ A Visit to Dublin/ Norton Camp/ The Spider/ A Prohibited Area/ The Straw-Man/ The Conference Centre/ Hakanono/ The Island/ The Area

Reviews:

"The true shiver of unease . . . Undesirable Guests and Other Stories is the philosopher William Charlton’s first work of fiction and very unnerving it is too. With a couple of exceptions these stories are not ghost stories, but perhaps in style some of them are reminiscent of that supremely frightening writer M. R. James, although the unsettling title story, ‘Undesirable Guests’, is more Saki-esque than Jamesian. . . . The atmosphere of the stories is laced with unease while the dialogue is blackly humorous. I could not have enjoyed them more." - Harriet Waugh, The Spectator

"The fourteen stories in this collection (which benefit, as is usual at Tartarus, from an impeccable presentation) delineate with paradoxical precision the contours of a world that is barely visible." Le Visage Vert

 

63. STORIES FROM A LOST ANTHOLOGY, by Rhys Hughes, 1st August 2002. 296 + viii pages. £27.50. Sewn hardback printed and bound by Bookcraft in black wibalin cloth stamped in gold, with head and tailbands. 450 copies of which the first 150 are numbered and signed by the author. ISBN 1872621686. Contents: The Welsh Raree by Michael Moorcock/ Portrait Of An Artist As A Rusty Bus/ The Lute And The Lamp/ Toastmaster, Buttermistress/ Journey Through A Wall/ The Marsh Callow/ Story From A Lost Anthology/ Less Is More/ Jellydämmerung!/ The Macroscopic Teapot/ Fallow/ The Crab/ Pyramid And Thisbe/ The Lover And The Grave/ The Evil Side Of Reginald Burke/ Asparagus On The Tooth/ A Languid Elagabalus Of The Tombs/ Owlbeast/ Tin In The Soul/ Cockatrice At The Door/ Robin Hood’s New Mother/ The New Giraldus

Reviews:

  "I will refrain from waxing lyrically over any more of the stories found in this collection, although there is much to admire here. Each piece is more varied and wonderful than the last but less striking than the one ahead." - Kayalucia Lauwerys, Cemetery Dance

"More than a collection of non-traditional storytelling and narrative invention, Stories From A Lost Anthology is a challenging assemblage of unique ideas expressed in an unusual, captivating style by an author systematically creating a fresh, unique world by a recasting of elements of the old." - William Simmons, Infinity Plus

"...if you care at all about originality, and fun, and thrills and spills and spellbinding." - Steve Duffy, All Hallows

 

62. WRITTEN WITH MY LEFT HAND by Nugent Barker, 1st July 2002. 264 + x pages. £27.50. Sewn hardback printed and bound by Bookcraft in red wibalin cloth stamped in copper, with head and tailbands. 350 copies. ISBN 1872621678. Out of print. Contents: Foreword by Douglas Anderson/ Bibliographical Notes/ Curious Adventure of Mr Bond/ Stanley Hutchinson/ The Six/ I and My Wife Isobel/ Whessoe/ Interlude/ The Spurs/ Death’s Door/ Gertie Macnamara/ The Invalid/ Out of Leading-Strings/ Mrs Sayce’s Guy/ Expectation of Life/ A Passage in the Life of Dr Wilks/ The Strange Disappearance of Monsieur Charbo/ The Thorn/ One, Two, Buckle My Shoe/ Aimless Afternoon/ The Announcement/ Crescendo/ Life and Death of the Princess Gertrude

Point: Written With My Left Hand was first published by Percival Marshall & Co. of London in 1951.

"...if you have been intrigued by the anthology appearances of the stories included, you are likely to find this collection rewarding; the shortness of the pieces and the wide variations of style and tone mean that it is rarely dull. The outstanding stories are all, in their own ways, very accomplished indeed, and it's surprising that so little is known of their author." Douglas Campbell, All Hallows

 

61. THE SACRIFICE AND OTHER STORIES by Sarban, 1st June 2002. 256 + vi pages. £27.50. Sewn hardback printed and bound by Bookcraft in dark blue wibalin cloth stamped in copper, with head and tailbands. 350 copies. ISBN 187262166X. Out of print. Contents: Foreword/ The Sacrifice/ The Sea-Things/ Number Fourteen/ The King of the Lake

  Reviews:

"To find four splendid weird tales among a deceased writer's unpublished effects is a considerable bonus. . . . I am not alone in thanking Tartarus Press and Jocelyn Leighton of giving us, at last, the complete strange stories of Sarban. As always, the production of The Sacrifice and Other Stories is generally excellent, and the book as a physical object is a pleasure to handle." Roger Johnson, All Hallows, October 2002.

"All in all, consider Sacrifice a must-have for Sarban collectors and aficionados of atmospheric supernatural tales." Jack Lloyd, Cemetery Dance, 2003

"Each of the rare, dark treasures offered in The Sacrifice and Other Stories suggest the aesthetic power of subtlety. There is little if any blood shed in Sarban's mythologically informed stories of despairing beauty . . .Found in the unpublished effects of the deceased author, The Sacrifice and Other Stories provides an invaluable footnote to the career of one of dark fantasy's most superb, somewhat neglected craftsmen." Gauntlet

 

60. NIGHTMARES OF AN ETHER-DRINKER by Jean Lorrain, translated by Brian Stableford, 29th March 2002. 247 + xxxiv pages. £27.50. Sewn hardback printed and bound by Bookcraft in black wibalin cloth decorated in gold and red, with head and tailbands. 350 copies. ISBN 1872621651. Out of print. Contents: Introduction by Brian Stableford/ Early Stories: The Egregore/ Funeral Oration/ The Locked Room/ Magic Lantern/ The Glass of Blood/ Beyond/ Glaucous Eyes/ Sensations: One of Them/An Undesirable Residence/ A Troubled Night/ A Posthumous Protest/ An Uncanny Crime/ The Holes in the Mask/ The Visionary/ The Possessed/ The Double/ Souvenirs: The Toad/ Night-Watch/ The Spirit of the Ruins/ Récits: Dolmance/ One January Night/ The Spectral Hand/ Prey to Darkness/ Contes: The Princess of the Red Lilies/ The Princess at the Sabbat/ Narkiss/ The Princess au miroirs/ Notes

Reviews:

"Lorrain is a powerful and effective writer . . . this is an important collection." Douglas Campbell, All Hallows, October 2002.

 

59. A DAMASK OF THE DEAD by John Gale, 14th February 2002. 100 pages. £25.00. Sewn hardback printed and bound by Bookcraft in dark blue wibalin cloth with head and tailbands. 250 signed copies. ISBN 1872621635. Contents: The City on the Farthest Shore of a Sable Lake/ Remembrance: A Hunt in Masks/ Lachrymae: Fragments of Letters Sent from a Land by the Sea/ The Casket of Obsidian/ The Poet Who Fell in Love with the Moon/ The Old King’s Prophecy: A Faery Tale/ Vigil/ The Roses and the Poet/ The Three Threads of the Moon’s Hair/ A Sundial in a Windowless Chamber/ Lilies of Zircon/ The Exquisite Madness of Prince Akbhar/ A Damask of the Dead

Reviews:

 "... the great virtue of dealing with the eternal themes of love, beauty, and mortality is that, if you can carry it off, you will have created something of lasting value. I think Gale has done so, and is to be congratulated." - David Longhorn, All Hallows.

 "His short pieces are chill, polished gems of real beauty . . . something of Clark Ashton Smith’s lush style there— languid messages from the land of Averoigne, and yet also more than a little of the nineteenth-century French decadents’ stylishly despairing prose . . . enjoy his precious messages from a time lost and yet to be."—John Whitbourn

"Gorgeous . . . lovely."—Rosemary Pardoe

"As Machen has observed, literature consists in the art of telling a wonderful story in a wonderful manner. Few writers today acknowledge the need for either element. John Gale is one who has mastered both. By what-ever means you may, therefore, seek out his work: you will be glad you have done so."—Mark Valentine

 

58. DENTON WELCH: WRITER AND ARTIST BY James Methuen-Campbell, 1st March 2002. 268+xvii pages. £30.00. Sewn hardback printed and bound by Bookcraft in orange wibalin cloth with head and tailbands. 500 copies. ISBN 1872621600. Out of print. Contents: Foreword by Alan Bennett/ Preface/ Introduction/ Acknowledgements/ List of Illustrations/ Denton Welch, Writer and Artist: Childhood, Repton and China, Goldsmiths’, The Accident, Hadlow Road, The Hop Garden, Pond Farm and Pitt’s Folly Cottage, Eric Oliver, An Inevitable Decline, Middle Orchard/ Appendices/ The Packing-case House and the Thief/ The Big Field/ Reading My First Review—In Spring/ Notes/ Bibliography/ A Catalogue of Pictures/ Index

Reviews:

"James Methuen-Campbell ... wrote a biography of Welch in 2002 which did much to establish his reputation as an artist" - Ian Irvine, Independent on Sunday, November 27th 2005

"[Methuen-Campbell's] engrossing, careful and incisive book is a testament to Welch's strange attraction, and is to be cherished, not least for its sensitivity to a character who, as Alan Bennett observes, was 'tough, single-minded and often difficult to live with'." - Robert Hoare, Independent on Sunday, 17th March, 2002.

"Methuen-Campbell's attention to detail exceeds that of Welch's previous biographer... surpasses its predecessor ... in the greater attention it gives to Welch's paintings and drawings, generously illustrated in both black-and-white and colour." - Frances Spalding, Times Literary Supplement, 14th March 2002

"The allure of Welch's writing, and of the personality that Methuen-Campbell so skilfully reveals, is rooted in a childlike delight in the small pleasures of life, expressed from the vantage point of someone who has suffered and enjoyed the challenge of the survival. " - Patrick O'Connor, The Literary Review, May 2002.

"One of the joys of this immaculately presented book is the number of black-and-white and colour reproductions of Welch's paintings and drawings. Further, this new biography seems more carefully researched, more thoughtfully constructed." - Peter Burton, Gay Times, May 2002.

"As this new study is limited to 500 copies, I predict that it will end up as one more Welch curio, feverishly hunted in Hay-on-Wye bookshops at £200 a copy." - Michael de-la-Noy, The Independent, 22nd April, 2002.

"Diligently researched." - Selina Hastings, The Spectator.

"Now, this very sound biography by James Methuen-Campbell should help to consolidate a more enduring reputation. It redresses the neglect of his largely overlooked career as an artist, as well as narrating a life that was by any standards lived in adversity." - Phil Baker, Guardian

"Among the bonnes bouches on offer in this elegantly produced book, which would have delighted the Welchian fastidiousness, are the first publication of three previously uncollected short pieces of his, a full bibliography of his writings, 61 plates, fifteen of them in colour, and a catalogue of all his known pictures -- except two in my possession -- and illustrations." - Richard Whittington-Egan, Contemporary Review

Point: This book is being reprinted in paperback by I.B. Tauris Summer 2003

 

2001:

 

57. GÜNTER WEBER'S CONFESSION, by Louis de Bernières, December 2001. 18 pps. Limited edition of only 350 numbered copies, hand-set in Perpetua type and printed and bound by Alan Anderson at the Tragara Press. With a specially commissioned colour frontispiece by David Johnson, lithographically printed. 250 copies on Teton paper, 100 special copies on Zerkall paper signed by the author. Of the signed copies, the first 25 are bound by Sue Bennett in boards with a slipcase and are for presentation only. Unsigned copies, £32.50. Signed copies, £55. ISBN 1872621643. Out of print.

Captain Corelli’s Mandolin is a modern classic, loved by millions long before it became a hit movie. But few readers will know that a short while after the book was first published Louis de Bernières wrote a further, final chapter to the novel. This tells how Leutnant Günter Weber returned to the house of Pelagia and Dr Iannis after the massacre of the Italian soldiers. Weber wishes to explain his part in various events that have occurred, but the Doctor does not give him the reception he expects.

 

56. THE COLLECTED MACABRE STORIES OF L.P. HARTLEY, edited by Rosalie Parker, with an Introduction by Mark Valentine, December 2001. 393+xi pages. £35.00. Sewn hardback printed and bound by Bookcraft in dark blue wibalin cloth with head and tailband. 350 copies. ISBN 1872621627. The first edition is out of print, but a second printing is available. Contents: Introduction by Mark Valentine/ From the Introduction to Lady Cynthia Asquith’s Third Ghost Book/ A Visitor from Down Under/ Podolo/ Three, or Four, for Dinner/ The Travelling Grave/ Feet Foremost/ The Cotillon/ A Change of Ownership/ The Thought/ Conrad and the Dragon/ The Island/ Night Fears/ The Killing Bottle/ A Summons/ W.S./ The Two Vaynes/ Monkshood Manor/ Two for the River/ Someone in the Lift/ The Face/ The Corner Cupboard/ The Waits/ The Pampas Clump/ The Crossways/ Per Far L’Amore/ Interference/ The Pylon/ Mrs Carteret Receives/ Fall in at the Double/ Paradise Paddock/ Roman Charity/ Pains and Pleasures/ Please Do Not Touch/ Home Sweet Home/ The Shadow on the Wall/ The Sound of Voices/ Mrs G. G./ The Stain on the Chair

Reviews:

'Tartarus Press’s fine edition of Hartley’s stories deserves the widest possible readership.' Scott Connors, Weird Tales

'One of the undisputed books of the year, for which demand will surely outstrip the initial printing; if you haven't ordered it already, do so without delay. Well done, Tartarus—yet again.' Steve Duffy, All Hallows

'Cats and Coffins. The Collected Macabre Stories is a handsome-looking book, decently bound and properly sewn.' Times Literary Supplement

'In short, this collection, introduced by Mark Valentine, is a celebration of the darkly comedic, the tragic, and the unknown—a chronicle of midnight encounters between the haunters and the haunted better known for his mainstream novels than for the work where he truly stood out.'  William Simmons, Infinity Plus

 

55. THE ATTEMPTED RESCUE, by Robert Aickman, October 2001. 223+viii pages. £27.50. Sewn hardback printed and bound by the Atheneum Press in burgundy wibalin cloth with head and tailband and silk ribbon marker. 500 copies. ISBN 1872621619. Contents: Foreword by Jeremy Dyson/ Proem/ The Misty Giants/ I Loom/ I am Born and Immediately Fall Ill/ My Father’s History and Disposition/ My Father’s Life as a Displaced Person/ I Begin to Read the Classics/ I First Realize Myself/ I Assume a Mask/ Mixed Friends/ Relatives are All Alike/ Relatives as Divinities. I. Their Domain/ Relatives as Divinities. II. Their Mores/ Splendours and Miseries of Childhood/ My Struggles at Schools. I. The Dames and the Prep/ My First Projects for a Better World/ My Struggles at Schools. II. The Big House/ The Illnesses and the Flights (I)/ My Second Projects for a Better World/ The Illnesses and the Flights (II)/ I Suffer from Loneliness/ The Great Flower of Light/ The Poet and the King/ Deaths of the Divine Relatives/ A Distant Star/ I Love and Lose/ Tableau.

Point: The Attempted Rescue was first published by Gollancz, 1966.

"Robert Aickman will be remembered primarily for his fiction, I know, but I wonder how many who are fortunate enough to read this powerful memoir will remember, instead, that boy who cringed in fear of the shouting below. For those, The Attempted Rescue will remain Aickman’s most profound legacy." Lisa DuMond, Black Gate Magazine

"Read The Attempted Rescue, if you are an admirer of the artist; read it also for a glimpse of a time long gone, of a past which, as Jeremy Dyson points out in his shrewd and sympathetic introduction to this volume, is indeed a foreign country." Steve Duffy, All Hallows

"Aickman shows a solid comprehension of Freudian theory and he frequently refers to the sexual frustration resulting from single sex schooling and his shy nature. He demonstrates a perceptive awareness of symbols and their effect on the subconscious and comments on experiencing inexplicable fear induced by objects which in retrospect he sees as sexual symbols. This in itself certainly encourages a close re-reading of The Collected Strange Stories." - Matt Leyshon, Enigma

"Of interest to casual reader and macabre afficionado alike are those recounted memories of the bizarre, uncertain moments of fragility and uncertainty which invested Aickman's childhood with such penetrating depths of insecurity and unresolvedness. " - "Fine Frights" column from The Horror Within

 

54. GUIDE TO FIRST EDITION PRICES, 2002/3, by R.B. Russell, November 2001, ix, 406 pages. £14.99. Trade paperback printed and bound by the Atheneum Press. 2,000 copies. ISBN 1872621589. Out of print.

Point: The fourth edition.

Contains the values of over 25,000 sought-after books.

Reviews:

"When I get my hands on something like R B Russell's Guide to First Edition Prices I can't wait to see if I've got any treasures on my hands." - Suzi Feay, Literary Editor, Independent on Sunday, 7th October 2001.

"{The book} is a handy guide to have in one's kit, especially for spotting particularly rare books by less well-known authors and also for checking bibliographies... Mr Russell gets an A- from this reviewer." - Jack Laurence, Bookdealer, 8th November 2001.

 

53. UNCLE STEPHEN, by Forrest Reid, July 2001, xviii, 280 pages. £27.50. Sewn hardback printed and bound by the Atheneum Press in green wibalin cloth with head and tailband and silk ribbon marker. 350 copies. ISBN 1872621589.

Point: Uncle Stephen was first published by Faber & Faber, 1931. This edition with a new introduction by Colin Cruise.

A subtle, supernatural novel reminiscent of the work of the author’s great friend Walter de la Mare.

 ". . . If you can appreciate fine words and sensitive feelings and fantastic situations, Uncle Stephen is your book." - Time and Tide

 

52. THE PRINCESS DAPHNE, by Edward Heron-Allen, April 2001, ix, 265 pages. £27.50. Sewn hardback printed and bound by the Atheneum Press in grey wibalin cloth stamped in burgundy and gold,with burgundy and gold head and tailband and silk ribbon marker. 150 copies. ISBN 1872621570. Out of print. Contents: The Determined Dilettante by R.B. Russell and Roslaie Parker/ Novel/ Notes on Heron-Allen/ Bibliography.

Point: Although it was intended to print 300 copies of this book, there were problems with the blocking of the boards, the printing and the binding which caused one half of the run to be rejected. Therefore copies were only numbered up to 150.

Description: A novel of metempsychosis, psychic vampirism, dopplegangers and love!

Nb: The original attribution of Selina Dolaro as co-author of The Princess Daphne was based on the US National Union Catalogue entry which would now appear (due to the diligent researches of John P. Mahoney) to be erroneous.

 

51. DROMENON, by Gerald Heard, edited by Rosalie Parker, with an Introduction by John Cody, May 2001, xx, 292 pages. £27.50. Sewn hardback printed and bound by the Atheneum Press in blue wibalin cloth stamped in silver on spine and with Trabuco symbol on front board, with silver head and tailband and silk ribbon marker. 350 numbered copies. ISBN 1872621562. Out of print. Contents: Gerald Heard - Magic Mythmaker by John Cody/ The Great Fog/ Wingless Victory/ Despair Deferred…?/ Vindicae Flammae/ The Eclipse/ Dromenon/ The Cup/ The Chapel of Ease.

"In his introduction to this luxurious limited edition John Cody describes Gerald Heard as, "…one of the best-kept secrets of twentieth-century philosophy, science and literature." Imagine M. R. James being lead astray by Timothy Leary and you will have some idea of what to expect from Dromenon. " - Matt Leyshon, Enigma

"The stories included in this volume ... are informed not only by an ingenious imagination, but the vast erudition that characterized all his writings. Science fiction of the highest order ..." - Marvin Barrett, Parabola.

 

 

1996-2000