I Reign in Hell

It has been a long time coming, but, at last, it is here: I Reign in Hell.

I link to a copy-and-pasted announcement from the Centipede Press newsletter here.

Below, if I have the correct information, is the table of contents:

The Legacy 7
The Psychopomps 33
The Mermaid 83
Far-Off Things 151
The Recluse 163
Unimaginable Joys 193
Italiannetto 257
Suicide Watch 283
Scorpion And Butterfly 335
Fractalism 423
Petseta 511
The Little One: A Meditation 529
Nail Soup For The Soul 553

(This was correct at the last time I saw a PDF. I have no reason to believe that any changes have been made since.)

There are three stories here from The Nightmare Exhibition (1, 2 and 5), two from Morbid Tales (3 and 4), one from Rule Dementia! (6), and two from All God's Angels, Beware! (7 and 8). Two of the stories are previously unpublished (9 and 10). That leaves three (11, 12 and 13) from anthologies, with 'The Little One: A Meditation' having first been a standalone chapbook that came with the anthology Booklore, from Zagava.

The two previously unpublished tales, 'Scorpion and Butterfly' and 'Fractalism' are both novella length, which is to say, of course, that they are novellas. As I recall, it was 'Scorpion and Butterfly' that formed the germ of this whole collection.

'Nail Soup for the Soul' was first published in the anthology, The Gift of the Kos'mos Cometh! A Homage to Night and Kosmos, under the title 'The Dark Dao'.

All the pieces are fiction except for 'The Little One', which is an essay.

The works contained here are very roughly chronological. Earlier tales predominate at the beginning and later tales at the end. I hope this will reward the reader who decides to read from cover to cover with a pleasing sense of a writer's progress. After all, this work represents many years of my life. The earliest of the tales here were published at the turn of the century and the latest were written, I think, in about 2016. ( The Flowering Hedgerow , my published 2016 diary, makes mention of my writing of 'Fractalism', for instance.) But even since 2016, this collection has been a developing entity, and so, in that sense, represents more than the sixteen years from the (publication of the) early stories to the (writing of the) later ones; it represents the journey from those early stories to the present; one can say, without straining, a quarter of a century. In fact, I feel the title of the collection now more than when I chose it. It has, in some sense, come into its own. My thanks to Centipede Press for seeing this project through.

I cannot go without mentioning the artist who provided cover and interior illustrations for this volume, the remarkable Harry Brockway, who, very sadly, passed away in the January of this year. I was very impressed by the composition of Brockway's designs. It was clear from looking at them that he had read the stories and understood the spirit of each. The images were all aptly chosen and rendered in strong, attractive lines. The design for the interior illustrations to accompany 'The Mermaid' and 'The Recluse', in particular, brought the old stories back to life for me, and that for 'Scorpion and Butterfly' is a brilliant geometrical crystallisation of the story's imagery. I have worked with many illustrators, as a writer and also behind the scenes, and Brockway was undoubtedly one of the best. He had his cancer diagnosis before the end of the project (I don't know how long before, since he did not mention it until the end); he remained professional throughout. It was a privilege to have worked with him and have my stories adorned by his illustrative work.

Finally, there is the question of how to order the book. This can be done by signing up to the Centipede newsletter and awaiting a link sent by e-mail, or simply through the website once the book has its own page. I'm told that Centipede Press books can sell out quickly. I might update these instructions with more details soon. In fact, more details can be seen already, provided by a very helpful person, at something called The Quentin S. Crisp Appreciation Society on Facebook.

Addendum

I am pasting here the ordering instructions so kindly supplied at The Quentin S. Crisp Appreciation Society:

Ordering a Centipede Press book is a process that is a little arcane the first time, or at least it was for me, so here is a little guide.
1. Sign up for the Centipede Press newsletter if you haven’t already. Emailing Jerad will do the trick: jerad@centipedepress.com
2. On the day the book is released, Jerad will email the newsletter at 11:30 EDT, and there will be a link to buy the book. This is typically the only way to buy a new book on release day.
3. Once the page loads, you will click to purchase and check out via PayPal. This is the payment method. US shipping is cheap. I've heard that international shipping is often quite expensive.
4. Sit back and wait - in the US, books usually ship the next week via Media Mail.

Some caveats:

- Books vary in popularity, and I have no idea how well QSC is known and regarded by the Centipede die-hards. For popular books, they can sell out very quickly. Be prepared to receive the newsletter!
- The link may take a long time to load. The more tech savvy of us have been badgering Jerad with ways to address this issue, but no solution yet. Everyone is having the same problem. Combined with the limited nature, this can make for a stressful few minutes, but be patient.
- If a book doesn’t sell out, then after a week or so, the link will just be up on the site.
- Usually, at some point, there are unsigned copies that are 10-20 dollars cheaper.
- Some vendors will eventually have copies for sale, including Subterranean Press and Ziesings -- so, if you miss the window, don’t despair!
- As you probably know by now, dates can change. Usually at this point they won't, but I'd not be surprised to get an 'actually, one more week' message.