Valancourt Books discussion
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Books That Should Go Back in Print
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David
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Aug 02, 2020 03:21AM
Also not a book but I think Mary Helena Fortune's "Clyzia the Dwarf" would deserve to finally get published, seeing as it was only serialised in 1866-1867 but was never published in book form.
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I recently stumbled upon a Wormwoodiana blog that brought attention to the obscure and forgotten British author, Phyllis Paul (1903-1973). I would love to see her work republished. (Goodreads barely has any of her work listed. Only 5 of her estimated 12 works) I am sure I am not the only one who loves discovering under-appreciated, forgotten and lost writers of the weird and supernatural. Here’s the link to the blog: http://wormwoodiana.blogspot.com/2019...
Mod
I think I've brought it up before on Twitter and Facebook, and I'll bet it's buried somewhere on this thread, but I feel I have to restate it - one author that's criminally neglected today, so it would seem, is the legendary Robert Bloch. There's only about 3 or 4 books by Bloch in circulation today - PSYCHO (of course), THIS CROWDED EARTH (a version by Wildside Press), one volume of short stories mislabeled "Complete" (and the other two aren't available), and another collection from Chaosium collecting some of his Lovecraftian stories. But he has SO many more works that just aren't available anymore and it seems that no one else is bothering to reprint them. Is there any chance that Valancourt could release a few of Bloch's best novels as well as, perhaps, a definitive collection of his shorter works? I know you've mentioned looking into it before. Is the estate just not interested? To have a horror legend like Bloch be little more than a memory is simply unjust.
Strange Eons is getting a bit scarce and expensive but it came out in French last year.
Absolutely second Strange Eons, maybe my favorite Bloch novel after Psycho—and quite marketable, I’d think, because of the Lovecraft connection (it’s a Cthulhu Mythos story).But seeing any of Bloch’s books come back into print would be great. The Scarf, Firebug (which includes a first chapter written by Harlan Ellison), American Gothic...perhaps a newly curated “Best Of” collection?
Got excited about Nancy Springer's The Blind God Is Watching from this reviewhttps://thebedlamfiles.com/fiction/th...
but it's scarce and usually very expensive.
I apologize if this has been mentioned somewhere previously, but I was wondering, since you have republished so many of JB Priestley's books, there was a chance you might be republishing his collaboration with Gerald Bullett, I'LL TELL YOU EVERYTHING, which I recently read about on the Wormwoodiana blog: http://wormwoodiana.blogspot.com/2021...
This afternoon I ran into a book I'd never heard of before and would love to see in print. It's called A Haunting Hand by W. Adolphe Roberts, and is described as follows:"."In the midst of the gay philandering by movie men and their mannequins comes the grisly hand of sinister crime and the weirdest of all phantoms. "
It seems to be an early example of African-American crime writing, mixed with some sort of supernatural elements, written in 1926.
Thanks. I may end up forking over some major dollars for this one, but I thought I might mention it just in case.
Mod
Valancourt Books wrote: "My university has both of those so I requested them from storage to take a look at. Thanks! - R"Have you heard about the Burried Books group on here ? Some interesting finds to be had there, if you're looking for some inspiration ^^
How do you know when a book isn't in print?
Valancourt Books wrote: "My university has both of those so I requested them from storage to take a look at. Thanks! - R"Thank you!!
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You can check to see if it's listed as "in stock" on Amazon and cross check with the publisher's website. That doesn't mean it's out of print but it's a start.
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Have you heard about the Burried Books group on here ? Some interesting fi..."
Thanks, I joined it.
Valancourt Books wrote: "It looks like A Haunting Hand comes out of copyright in January. I expect there will be a few editions pop up for sale. I was going to offer to send you a scan of this one but I think the binding w..."Well, thanks for thinking of me anyway -- very much appreciated! I'll keep checking around.
Diving into the wonderful world of Gay Pulp from the 1960's and '70s has led to some interesting discoveries. I haven't run across any literary masterpieces yet, but the combination of historical significance, erotic delights and fabulous camp make them impossible to put down. Some might be too scandalous for today's readers, but this one is worth checking out for a reprint:Kym Allyson - Gay Circus (1970)
The extensive scholarly research on gay pulp by Drewey Wayne Gunn has added many titles to my wish-list, but most of these books are impossible to find now, or very expensive when they are available. I have a scan of Gay Circus if you want to take a look.
Justin wrote: "Diving into the wonderful world of Gay Pulp from the 1960's and '70s has led to some interesting discoveries. I haven't run across any literary masterpieces yet, but the combination of historical s..."It would be wonderful to see this republished!!
Thank you for sharing that.
Mod
I have a couple more suggestions, this time from the same author. It seems that British newscaster and actor Gordon Honeycombe was quite a respected figure back in the day. Well, it just so happens that he wrote two horror novels before the big "boom" picked up speed, so they're unfortunately overlooked but, at least according to the Wikipedia article, highly regarded.The first is NEITHER THE SEA NOR THE SAND (1969), in which (so it says) a woman's dead lover comes back to life. The other, DRAGON UNDER THE HILL (1972), seems to be, according to the Goodreads entry, about a family which uncovers a Viking grave with a treasure and subsequently becomes haunted, if I'm reading it right. They sound like slow burns in the classic style.
Mod
Valancourt Books wrote: "We looked into reprinting both but the agent appears to not be interested in us reprinting them. They are very much Valancourtesque. If that's a thing. :)"That's a crying shame. I mean, who else is going to give those books the time of day now? It's great to hear that they're Valancourt material, of course. I'd suggest giving them another try, but maybe that would come across as pestering them and would drive them away further.
I'm currently working on a Masters in Gothic Studies and The Abbess (1799) by William Henry Ireland keeps being referenced. It seems to have been the female counterpart to Matthew Lewis' The Monk. The last legitimate reprint was in 2006 and that seems to be out-of-print now and impossible to find. Other editions are only one volume at a time and unprofessional. Might be worth looking into this one for the Valancourt treatment.Here's the blurb I found from the last reprint:
A monastic shocker of sex and slaughter, The Abbess is a tale about the unspeakable agonies of medieval torture perpetrated in dank, subterranean burial chambers. Maddalena Rosa and Marcello Porta fight against the dark schemes and direful machinations of secret enemies and menacing parents in tale of love and passion, where nothing is as it seems. And amid the hungry rats and the well-used racks, amid the restraining chain and shackle poles, amid the thumb screws and branding irons is the sadistic and sexually-insatiable architect of this house of horrors- Vittoria Bracciano, otherwise known as The Abbess!!! Zittaw's edition includes a preface by the Gothic Novel specialist Benjamin F. Fisher and an introduction and notes by W.H. Ireland scholar Jeffrey Kahan, who suggests that Ireland's first Gothic was in many ways an extension of his Shakespeare forgeries.
I've recently finished Mark Valentine's Sphinxes & Obelisks and as usual bought quite a few books he'd discussed there. There were three of great interest to me that either I couldn't find or they were out-of-this-world expensive, so I thought I might post the titles here in the spirit of hope: 1. 'The Dark Green Circle by Edward Shanks,
2. Murder in the Lady Chapel by Stanley Toye and
3. The headless hound, by Ralph H. Mottram.
thank you.
Sidonia the Sorceress by Wilhelm Meinhold, translated by Lady Jane Wilde deserves a proper reprint.
I suggest The Quick and the Dead by Chicago writer Vincent Starrett. It’s a collection of horror stories which appeared in Weird Tales and other pulp fiction magazines.I haven’t read any of the stories. Abe Books has copies going for $50 and up. I recently learned about the writer from reading a history of Weird Tales magazine.
Arkham House originally published the book though, and they are copyright zealots in my opinion.
Mod
Usually, I would recommend someone who hasn't been featured in a Valancourt edition before, but this time around, I thought I would give some attention to a familiar face - the great British sci-fi master Christopher Priest. How has your relationship with Mr. Priest been? Because there are a few more of his books that don't have American editions that you might want to look into.I'm thinking of two in particular. The first - FUGUE FOR A DARKENING ISLAND (1972) - is, according to the Wikipedia page, a dystopian novel dealing with a civil war in England brought about by political division, of which foreign refugees play a major factor (man, this sounds too relevant to pass up); as far as I can tell, this was Priest's second novel and was highly well-received upon publication. The second is THE GLAMOUR (1984), a sci-fi/fantasy/horror mix which, from what I gather, concerns an amnesiac cameraman who gets caught up with a parallel twilight world (I think); it seems that it uses multiple narrators and perspective shifts to achieve its effects, and it notably made the list of David Pringle's 1988 compendium Modern Fantasy: The 100 Best Novels.
I realize that the current selection from Priest in your catalog may not have sold well enough to warrant further additions, but since these novels sound really interesting to me and haven't been available stateside for a considerable amount of time, perhaps they could be considered if the author was willing to work with you again.
Shadows at Noon is an amazing tour de force novel by Martin M. Goldsmith, author of the film noir classic “Detour” as well as two episodes of the original “Twilight Zone.” Published in 1943, it’s about a Nazi air raid on New York City during WWII. There are four separate plot-strands that occasionally intersect. Remarkably, the entire story of this full-length novel takes place over less than an hour.I just finished this utterly forgotten book and I’m still shaking. “Shadows at Noon” deserves rediscovery!
Mod
It's really tough to find a copy of Burning by Jane Chambers, and it seems like lots of other people are looking for it too. Not sure it's good, since I have yet to read it, but it could be something to look into...
Seeing the name Jane Chambers just put another book in my head that might be due for a reprint, Jane Gaskell's THE SHINY NARROW GRIN: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...It's ridiculously expensive whenever it comes up for sale. I haven't read it, so can't speak to its quality, but I've enjoyed all the other books I have read by Jane Gaskell.
I'll second Jane Gaskell. Managed to get hold of a copy of her STRANGE EVIL and it's a truly great dark fantasy and brilliant achievement by a fourteen-year-old. Her SHINY NARROW GRIN certainly does right what Stephenie Meyer would do utterly wrong. And her impossible to find A SWEET SWEET SUMMER sound like a cross twixt CHILDHOOD'S END and A CLOCKWORK ORANGE!
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Valancourt Books wrote: "We've been trying to contact Jane Gaskell for years. Her agent can't locate her and she's not responded to family members from what I understand. A couple of others in publishing have been trying t..."That makes me worried something might have legitimately happened to her.
Did you guys ever wind up reading Michael Shea's POLYPHEMUS? I just popped in here to recommend it and saw that someone else had done so in 2017. I think about his short story "The Autopsy" all the time.
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Our local public library had a copy of it at the time but they have since discarded it. Aargh!
I would love to see Michael Shea. A better option (perhaps) would be a paperback version of Centipede Press's The Autopsy and Other Tales. More stories, and Shea revised a lot of his stories for the book. Centipede is currently reprinting Shea's Nifft books, so clearly are connected with his estate.I have a copy of Polyphemus on the way through ILL.
Centipede is also doing Bob Leman. I would love to see an affordable paperback edition of Feesters in the Lake. One of the best books of short stories I've ever read (and reread!).
Konrad wrote:
Centipede is also doing Bob Leman. I would love to see an affordable paperback edition of Feesters in the Lake. One of the best books of short stories I've ever read (and reread!).
I would second the opinion about Bob Leman’s Feesters in the Lake . This was far and away the best book to come out of John Pelan’s now defunct Midnight House. It’s nice to see Centipede Press reviving Leman’s work, but given that we’re talking about Centipede, that probably means an über-expensive tome that only collectors can afford. I read somewhere a few years ago that Pelan and Jim Rockhill are working on the Centipede edition. It’s supposed to include a previously unpublished story and Leman’s unpublished and unfinished novel.
Centipede's book of Leman has been in the works for several years now. Has it been a decade?There's been a bunch of Shea collections in recent years (and the new novel) so there might be concerns about overlapping contents. When I actually look at all his short stories, (Nifft series aside) there aren't actually that many, all of them could fit into one book. If there was ever a complete works omnibus series of everything he's done it wouldn't be that many books.
Robert Adam said:
Centipede's book of Leman has been in the works for several years now. Has it been a decade?
John Pelan can be exceedingly slow where editing is concerned. I remember he took about 10 years getting The Century’s Best Horror Fiction into print for Cemetery Dance.
Shadow Play by Marvin Werlin is a creative spin on the 1970s gothic romance novel and one of my favorites. Eye-catching paperback art. I reviewed it here on Goodreads a while back and got the sense folks were disappointed to find it OOP. Worth looking into!
Canavan wrote: "Robert Adam said: Centipede's book of Leman has been in the works for several years now. Has it been a decade?
John Pelan can be exceedingly slow where editing is concerned.
I have a feeling that certain events of the past year will have slowed him down even more.
Zach noted:
I have a feeling that certain events of the past year will have slowed him down even more.
Dang. I hadn’t heard that news. R.I.P.
Spectriana, Ou Receuil d'Histoires Et Aventures Surprenantes, Merveilleuses Et Remarquables de Spectres, Revenans, Esprits, Fant�mes, Gnomes, Diables Et D�mons, Etc: Ms. Trouv� Dans Les Catacombes... by J.P.R. Cuisin (1817) [Spectriana; or, Collection of amazing, wonderful and remarkable stories and adventures of specters, ghosts, spirits, ghosts, gnomes, devils, and demons, etc. Manuscript found in the catacombs]Démoniana, ou, Nouveau choix: d'anecdotes surprenantes, de nouvelles prodigieuses, d'aventures bizarres, sur les revenans, les spectres, les fantômes, les démons, les loups-garous, les visions, etc., etc. by Gabrielle de Paban (1820) [Demoniana, or, New choice: surprising anecdotes, prodigious news, bizarre adventures, on revenants, specters, ghosts, demons, werewolves, visions, etc., etc. : a book designed to reassure timid imaginations, against superstitious fears]
Infernaliana ou anecdotes, petits romans nouvelles et contes sur les revenants, les spectres, les démons et les vampires by Charles Nodier (1822) [Infernaliana: or, Anecdotes, Short Romances, News Items and Stories, on Revenants, Specters, Demons and Vampires]
Snuggly books are in the process of releasing 6 Charles Nodier books. None of them have that title but perhaps some of the same stories?
Robert Adam wrote: "Snuggly books are in the process of releasing 6 Charles Nodier books. None of them have that title but perhaps some of the same stories?"Maybe. I did see this evening that there's an English translation published as a Kindle-only book in 2012. First few stories are "The Bloody Nun," "The Vampire Arnold-Paul," and "A Young Flemish Woman Strangled by the Devil." No comments on Amazon as to the quality of the translation. There's still room for a printed translation with good formatting, scholarly introduction, etc.
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