Call for Submissions: Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories, volume 2

We are now accepting submissions for The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories, volume 2. 

Volume 1 has been receiving excellent reviews from readers and from publications like the Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, Rue Morgue, Library Journal, and more. These books are a great opportunity for horror writers who write in languages other than English (or who write in English in countries with small publishing markets) to gain wide notice and readership for their work. 

The story must be a "horror" story; however, we define this term as broadly as possible to include stories of the occult and/or supernatural, weird fiction, tales of the unsettling, uncanny or macabre, ghost stories, etc.  Stories in adjacent genres, such as dark crime, dark fantasy, or black humor, may also be considered.

Submission Guidelines:

(1) The story must have previously been published (print, ebook, or online) in a language other than English.* We are not looking for self-published material at this time.

(2) In addition, the story must not have previously been published in English.*

* Stories written in English by writers from countries other than US/CA/UK/IRL/AU/NZ will be considered, as long as the story has not previously been published in the United States. (e.g., an English-language writer from Nigeria, India, or Singapore would be eligible).

(3) The story should be 8000 words or fewer. 

(4) If the story is written in one of the following languages, please submit it in its original language (these are all languages we read): French, Spanish, Italian, Catalan, Romanian, Portuguese, Dutch, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Afrikaans, or any language substantially similar to these.

(5) If the story is written in some language not listed above, it must be accompanied by a summary/description or translation into English. It is OK if the translation is not of professional/publishable quality: it is only for us to get an idea of what the story is about so that we can decide whether we would like to have a professional translation done.

(6) The deadline for submissions is April 30, 2021, but the earlier a submission is received, the more likely it will be to be chosen.

(7) Preference will be given to stories from countries not already featured in Volume 1, but writers from those countries are still invited to submit and will be considered.

(8) We are committed to diversity in all its forms. Women writers, writers of color, LGBT writers, writers whose work is in a minority indigenous language, writers from countries traditionally under-represented in American publishing, and all other diverse writers are all encouraged to submit.

(9) A fee will be paid for all stories selected. The writer will also receive a copy of the finished book.

(10) The estimated publication date of the book is December 2021.

Submissions should be sent to the editors, James D. Jenkins and Ryan Cagle, at info@valancourtbooks.com. Hard copy materials can be mailed to Valancourt Books, P.O. Box 17642, Richmond, VA 23226, USA. Please note that materials sent to us by post will not be returned.

The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories limited edition

Our forthcoming The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories, volume 1 is probably the most ambitious thing we've ever done. We read literally hundreds of stories originally written in close to 20 languages, from around 40 different countries. We chose our favorites, 21 of them, from 18 different countries, originally written in 13 languages. Twenty of the stories are translated into English for the first time ever, while the remaining story was published in English in the Philippines but has never been available in the U.S. or U.K. There's never been an anthology like this one (and that's not just marketing hype!)

For the first time ever, we are producing a deluxe limited edition hardcover. The book will be printed by the same printer used by Centipede Press for their limited hardcovers and will be a high-quality book.

The hardcover edition will be printed on 60# heavyweight paper and bound traditionally (like books used to be) in cloth and Smyth-sewn for durability. The cloth will feature decorative foil stamping, and the book will be dust jacketed. There will be a ribbon bookmark and decorative head and tail bands on the spine. Other bells and whistles may be announced later.

The book will be limited to 300 copies for sale.  Because it's expensive to print small runs of high-quality books, the price will be $60.  However, we are offering them at a special preorder price of $50.

Q.: I live in the U.K. Why is shipping $35, when shipping for one book on your site is normally $3.99 to the U.K.?

All our other books can be printed to order in the U.K. and shipped from there, which makes the shipping cheaper. These books will be printed in the U.S. and shipped from our office in Virginia. The book, plus packing materials, will weigh about 3 lbs (1.5 kg), and the U.S. Postal Service offers no options for economy, surface, or book rate mail -- the books have to be sent Global Priority Rate, and it is expensive. 

Q.: I ordered the paperback edition already but want to switch to the hardcover. How do I do that?

Just send us an email, and we'll be happy to apply the price you already paid for the paperback towards the hardcover edition and send you a Paypal invoice for the difference.

Q.: When will the hardcovers ship?  

The official publication date for the book is Dec. 8, so they will ship by that date, though we hope to have them in the mail sometime in October.

Q.: Will the books be signed?

Sadly, no. It's just not logistically feasible to get twenty authors in eighteen countries to sign them. It wouldn't be easy at any time, and in this age of coronavirus, it might be well nigh impossible. However, they will be individually numbered.

Quarantine Relief Package (updated Apr 1 2020)

While world governments dawdle and fumble in their response to this pandemic, we've got our own relief package to help beat the quarantine blues! (We don't know about you, but the crisis finally hit home for us when they closed the libraries and bookstores.... Empty supermarket shelves we can deal with, but empty bookshelves? Gasp!)

But while we can't cure the coronavirus, we can cure quarantine-induced boredom! 

1) FREE Audiobook Downloads

We've made thousands of FREE audiobook codes available over the past few days. As of this morning, 21 books still had downloads available for U.S. Audible users, while there are over 50 titles available to U.K. Audible users. And our authors still get paid a royalty on your free download, so you're getting great free entertainment AND helping an author! 

See the list here: http://valancourtbooksblog.blogspot.com/2020/02/free-audiobook-downloads.html

2) FREE U.S. Shipping

Even if there is a bookstore out there still open, trust us, you don't want to venture there and risk getting sick. Stay safe inside and let the books come to you instead.  From now through the end of this epidemic, we'll pay the shipping costs to get you the reading material you need.  Applies to U.S. website orders over $15 (does not apply to the 20% off preorder titles).

3) FREE Digital Copy with Order of Print Copy

So far we've not heard of virus-related shipping delays, but it's always a possibility. So, if you order a print copy from our website, you are welcome to email us and request a free MOBI (Kindle) or EPUB version to be emailed to you as well. That way, even if the mail is delayed, you can start reading immediately! (These are sent out manually and we're pretty fast, but there are delays if you order when we're sleeping, for example.)

4) CHEAP E-Books

Every Friday during this pandemic, we'll slash one of our favorite ebook titles to $2.99 for one week only. Applies to orders placed on Amazon or on our website (if ordering on our website, please note that we have to email you the files manually, so there may be a lag time of a couple hours sometimes in receiving them.)

This week's title is Michael McDowell's Southern Gothic classic COLD MOON OVER BABYLON (1980), a chilling supernatural revenge tale recently filmed in a movie version starring Christopher Lloyd. Grab it here: http://www.valancourtbooks.com/cold-moon-over-babylon-1980.html

We also have our regular March monthly $2.99 ebook specials, Gillian Freeman's eerily prescient 1965 novel of the rise to power of a far-right nationalist leader in Britain, THE LEADER, and Paul Binding's moving story of gay love in Spain, HARMONICA'S BRIDEGROOM (which has one of our all-time favorite covers):

5) BOGO Paperbacks

For a limited time, if you purchase the paperback of our first International Series title, Hubert Lampo's eerie Belgian magical realist novel THE COMING OF JOACHIM STILLER (1960), we'll automatically send you Felix Timmerman's collection of macabre Flemish tales INTIMATIONS OF DEATH totally FREE.  Offer available worldwide.

6) A Peek Ahead

And because it's important to have bright things to look forward to in dark times, here's a sneak peek at something we're working hard on. It's difficult to believe, but six months from now this whole mess will likely have blown over, and you'll be able to get your hands on this beauty, which will feature over 20 horror tales from all over the world, from Spain and Italy to Senegal and Ecuador, with all the foreign-language tales appearing in English for the first time. A preorder option and more details are here.

Paperbacks from Hell: Second Wave

Our five Paperbacks from Hell reprints have been one of the most popular things we've ever done, so we couldn't resist doing a sequel! Here's everything you need to know about our second wave of PFH reissues.

Which books will be featured in the second wave?

Black Ambrosia (1988) by Elizabeth Engstrom

This super-rare novel (there's literally not a single copy for sale online anywhere, at any price) by Engstrom, whose When Darkness Loves Us was part of the first set of PFH, can be read as a straightforward horror novel about a teenage vampire and her string of male victims, or as a story of madness. Is Angelina really a vampire? Can we trust the story she's telling us? You'll have to read the novel to find out. Features a new introduction by Grady Hendrix and the original cover painting by Bob Eggleton.

Nightblood (1990) by T. Chris Martindale

Martindale's sought-after book (it sports a 4.12 rating on Goodreads and the cheapest secondhand copies are $32+) also takes vampires as its theme, but there the similarities with Engstrom's book end. In Nightblood, a Vietnam War vet whose brother was killed by a vampire is out for revenge on the undead, with the help of his brother's ghost and an arsenal of high-powered weaponry. When an army of the undead descends on an Indiana town, our hero goes into action in this wild vampire shoot-'em-up romp. Features a Grady Hendrix introduction and the original cover by Greg Winters.

A Nest of Nightmares (1986) by Lisa Tuttle

One of the books we've had the most requests for over the years, Tuttle's book appeared as a paperback original in the UK and was never published in the US or subsequently reprinted anywhere. Copies regularly sell for $100 or more. This volume collects 13 of the author's best early horror tales, originally published in various magazines. Will Errickson of Too Much Horror Fiction, who will contribute an introduction, says these are tales "with chilling moments of helpless creeping terror" and calls the collection "brilliant". Features the original Nick Bantock cover painting.

Let's Go Play at the Adams' (1974) by Mendal W. Johnson

I don't think we've ever gotten as many requests for any book as for this rare '70s shocker by Johnson, who published only this one novel. This notorious bestseller about the terrible things that happen after a group of children chloroform and tie up their babysitter is highly sought-after on the secondhand market, and copies go for lofty sums. Read this chilling novel and find out what all the hype is about and why so many readers have requested a reprint of this book. Features a new introduction by Grady Hendrix. Cover art to be determined (the cover to the left is included for illustrative purposes only.)

The Pack (1976) by David Fisher

And last, but definitely not least, is this classic killer dog novel from David Fisher, author of more than 20 best-selling books; this one was the basis for a 1977 film entitled The Long Dark Night.  Animal attack books were hugely popular during the 1970s paperback horror boom, and Fisher's is among the best. This new edition will feature a new introduction by Will Errickson and cover art to be determined (the image to the left is for illustrative purposes only).

When will the second wave be published?

The first title, Black Ambrosia, will ship sometime in October. The remaining books will follow at a rate of about one book every 6-8 weeks, with the series wrapping up around March of 2020.

Are they available worldwide?

Four of the books will be available worldwide. Lisa Tuttle's A Nest of Nightmares, because of rights restrictions outside our control, will be available only in the U.S., Canada, and certain other countries worldwide (it will not be available in the U.K. or the current/former Commonwealth countries, although readers in those countries can import it with free shipping from Book Depository).

How much do they cost?

The paperbacks will retail at $16.99 each, except for Nightblood, which will be $17.99. The ebooks will retail at $7.99. However, we will be offering a package deal to receive the paperbacks at a 20% discount, and the ebooks at a discount as well.

Will there be a monthly subscription option?

For the first wave, we offered a subscription where we sent out one book per month.  This time, things will be done a little differently. 

Instead of publishing a new book on the first of each month, the books will be spaced out a little bit more, with no releases in December (because of the Christmas holidays). Thus, you may receive one book in October, one in November, and then receive your third in January. It is possible you will receive more than one book in a given month, since we will be sending the books as soon as we have them from the printers -- we won't hold on to them and make you wait for them!

We will regularly update our Facebook and Twitter pages to announce when books are shipping, and if you have a question or concern, you can contact us at any time.

How much for the set?

Customers can preorder all 5 books and receive a 20% discount ($13.50 per book, plus s&h, instead of $16.99).  

U.S. customers: The total cost to U.S. customers will be $85 (this works out to $13.50 per book, plus $3.50 per book s&h.)  


U.K. customers: U.K. customers can order a 'PFH lite' subscription, which will include all the books except A Nest of Nightmares, for $70 ($13.50 per book + $4 per book s&h).

Important (non-U.S./U.K. customers): Shipping costs outside the U.S. are expensive! Customers in Canada, the EU, and elsewhere can still preorder the entire set for $85; however, the five books will all ship together via UPS in one box once they are all available (Feb./Mar. 2020), rather than five separate shipments.

Ebook discount: The ebook package will be $29.99 (a discount of about $10 off the anticipated retail price of $39.95).

To order, visit our Paperbacks from Hell: Wave Two page

If you are outside the U.S. and have questions about how to order, or shipping costs, feel free to email us using the contact form on our website, or send us a message on our Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram accounts.

What are the benefits to preordering the entire set instead of just buying the books individually on Amazon?

• No long waits. Books will generally ship to you 3-4 weeks before their Amazon release date. So you'll have them before anybody else. Plus, you'll be supporting an independent small press instead of a giant corporate monstrosity.
• Free ebook versions. Yep, that's right. If you preorder the paperback set and would like to receive the ebook versions of each title as well, just contact us when placing your order and tell us whether you want the MOBI or EPUB versions. You must request them, however -- we don't want to fill up your inbox with ebook files you don't want.
• First dibs on audiobook download codes.  We are anticipating audiobook versions of several of the PFH titles, and for each of them we will have around 100 free Audible download codes to distribute. These will be given out on a first-come, first-served basis, and first priority will be given to those who preordered the set from us.
• Unparalleled customer service.  Something wrong with a book you received?  Wondering where your shipment is?  Just shoot us an email or a message and a real, live person (there are two of us here to choose from) will respond quickly and fix any problem.

Thanks for visiting, and welcome back to Hell! Happy reading!

Call for Submissions: The Valancourt Book of International Horror Stories

Following the success of our three volumes of the Valancourt Book of Horror Stories series and the inauguration of our new Valancourt International series, we are currently open for submissions for our forthcoming Valancourt Book of International Horror Stories. Submissions are welcome from authors or publishers.  (If you are not an author or publisher but would like to recommend a favorite author or story, please feel free to do so!)

Guidelines and Requirements:

1.  The story must have been previously published by a professional publisher in either a print or electronic publication. (We are not looking for unpublished or self-published work at this time.)  Stories must be no longer than 8000 words.

2.   The story must originally have been written in a language other than English.*  Submissions of stories in regional or minority languages or in languages traditionally under-represented in American publishing are especially welcome.  *Exception: English-language submissions are acceptable if the author is from a country other than the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, or South Africa. 

3.   The story must be a "horror" story; however, we define this term as broadly as possible to include stories of the occult and/or supernatural, weird fiction, tales of the unsettling, uncanny or macabre, ghost stories, etc.  Stories in adjacent genres, such as dark crime, dark fantasy, or black humor, may also be considered.

4.   Here at Valancourt Books, we read quite a few languages.  If your story is written in one of the following languages, please submit it in the original language; an English translation or other accompanying material in English is optional, but not required:

• Afrikaans
• Bulgarian
• Catalan
• Danish
• Dutch (including Frisian, Low Saxon, and other regional languages)
• French (including Occitan and other Romance languages)
• Icelandic
• Italian
• Norwegian
• Portuguese
• Romanian
• Scots
• Spanish (including Galician and other regional languages other than Basque)
• Swedish

If the story is written in another language that we cannot read, the story must be accompanied by either a translation (which may be rough; it need not be a professional translation) or a synopsis/summary of the story that will enable us to form an opinion as to whether the story may be right for the book before going to the expense of having it translated. If in any doubt, feel free to contact us.

5.   Anticipated publication date is October 2020.  We will accept submissions through April 30, 2020.  Stories received earlier have a higher chance of being read and chosen than stories received at or near the deadline. Stories not accepted for this volume may be resubmitted for consideration for future volumes.

6.    Authors whose stories are accepted for publication will be offered a fee as well as a contributor's copy of the published book.

Please submit materials via email (PDF, Word, EPUB are all acceptable) to jjenkins@valancourtbooks.com.  Submissions may also be mailed to: Valancourt Books, P. O. Box 17642, Richmond VA 23226 USA.  Please note that books and other materials mailed to this address will not be returned.

Amazon

Between print books, Kindle e-books, and Audible audiobooks, these days Amazon accounts for at least 90% of our sales. Although our books are available on plenty of other sites (including our own), the fact remains that if one of our books isn't available on Amazon, it doesn't sell. Which is why we've been frustrated at Amazon repeatedly delisting our books for sale for no reason that we can ascertain.

As a publisher mostly of horror books, October and Halloween-time is one of our busiest periods of the year. This month we put out four great new horror titles; however, one of these, Worms, was unavailable on Amazon US in paperback format for several weeks after its release date, and our new Valancourt Book of Horror Stories, Volume 3, as of this morning could not be ordered either in hardcover or Kindle format. We have no idea why. And we have no control over it. There is literally no way to get a response from a human being at Amazon regarding these problems.

These aren't isolated incidents. For years, our books have been disappearing from sale at random. Sometimes they come back after a few weeks; sometimes they never come back. Even when they are available for order, Amazon seems to do everything they can to discourage customers from ordering them, by listing them as "Temporary out of stock, order now and we'll deliver when available" or "Usually ships within 1-3 months". Both these statements are false: our books are all printed on demand through Ingram, the nation's largest book distributor. They're all available, all the time, and it takes on average a couple days to print and ship them, not 1-3 months.

It's no exaggeration to say that Valancourt Books' existence hinges mostly on the whims of Amazon's glitches and algorithms, not on how good or well-produced our books are.

Recently we've been encouraging people to order direct from us via our website.  We love the chance to interact with customers directly, and we think it's a plus for customers too.  E-books ordered direct from our website are DRM-free, and if you order a print book and have any questions or problems with the order, send us an email and you'll get a quick response from a real, live person (there's two of us here to choose from!) If you want to read them without purchasing them, our books are available in print and e-book to public libraries, and most libraries have a link on their website for you to request a title and are usually pretty responsive to these requests.

We offer shipping to the US and UK starting at $3.99 per order, with orders over $100 shipping free. And in the coming weeks we are going to be discounting books on our website, so that both print and e-books will be cheaper ordered direct from us than if purchased from Amazon. If you haven't already, we encourage you to sign up for our once-monthly email newsletter on the front page of our website so that you'll know about all new & upcoming releases, as well as details of deals and discounts.

Thanks for your support (and Happy Halloween from Ryan and Jay!)

Figures Unseen audiobook nominated for Voice Arts Awards!

Congratulations to narrator Matt Godfrey, whose performance on the Valancourt audiobook of Steve Rasnic Tem's Figures Unseen: Selected Stories, was just announced as a finalist for the Voice Arts Awards. The winners will be announced on Nov. 18 at a ceremony at the Warner Bros Studio in Burbank, CA, hosted by Sigourney Weaver!

If you haven't heard Matt's performance of these great stories, check it out on Audible.

And while you're at it, why not check out some of our other award-nominated audiobooks, including Michael McDowell's The Elementals, read by R. C. Bray, which was a finalist for the Audie Awards, or Matt Godfrey's reading of Fredric Brown's Nightmares and Geezenstacks, a finalist for last year's Voice Arts Awards?

Some forthcoming Gothic & Victorian titles

Recently our Gothic and Victorian catalogue has been a little neglected while we've been growing our list of 20th century and modern fiction, but we are working on some exciting stuff that fans of our 18th & 19th-century releases should be excited about!

Ruth the Betrayer; or, The Female Spy was first published serially as a 'penny dreadful' in 1862-63, meaning it was sold in weekly installments for 52 weeks for a penny each. Each issue was eight pages, with one engraving; at the end of the series' run, the publisher would bind up all the parts into a volume and sell it as a complete novel.

Originally published by John Dicks, the same publisher who issued G.W.M. Reynolds's classic penny dreadful The Mysteries of London (also available from Valancourt), the book is credited to "Edward Ellis" and is described by Wikipedia as the "first female detective story".

Which is sort of true, in that at the beginning of the book, Ruth is working as a spy for the police, but in fact during the course of the 1100-page novel, Ruth is many things: detective, spy, thief, murderess, but above all - as the title suggests - someone who betrays every person who gets close to her. Like the best dreadfuls, despite its enormous length the action never flags for an instant; it's a wild thrill ride from beginning to Ruth's ignominious end. The new edition is edited by Dagni Bredesen and will be out in late 2018. 

A page taken at random from the original edition, Chapter 71: "What Happened in the Chamber of Death":

Fans of late 18th-century Gothic fiction know about the hundreds, even thousands, of novels churned out to stock the shelves of the circulating libraries. But did you know that a huge amount of Gothic fiction was also published in magazines?

Valancourt is preparing a three-volume set, each volume devoted to a different periodical: The Lady's Magazine, The Lady's Monthly Museum, and La Belle Assemblée. Each volume will be edited by a university professor and will feature a broad range of Gothic material, including serialized novels, short fiction, and poetry.

The serialized novels in particular were a curious thing, since in a great many cases the writer died or disappeared before sending in the final installment, leading the editors to print impassioned pleas for the authors to contact them with the remainder of the story. The Forest of Alstone, An Original Tale, whose first installment (pictured below) appeared in The Lady's Magazine in April 1792, is one of these unfinished curiosities whose ending we're left to guess at. These volumes should be ready by early 2019.

More 2018 October Horror Month titles unveiled!

Our annual Horror Month celebration is shaping up to be a big one this year.  In addition to our third volume of Valancourt horror stories, we also have several other great releases from the world of '70s and '80s paperback horror, including two by Harry Adam Knight: Slimer (1983) and The Fungus (1985).

Harry Adam Knight was the pseudonym used by John Brosnan (1947-2005) and Leroy Kettle (b. 1949) to write horror novels, though sometimes Brosnan authored them solo, as in the case of Carnosaur (1984). The two also teamed up to publish horror under another pseudonym, Simon Ian Childer, releasing novels like Tendrils (1986) and Worm (1987). Three HAK books were adapted for films: two British films, Beyond Bedlam (based on the novel Bedlam) and Proteus (based on Slimer), and the Roger Corman-produced cult classic Carnosaur.

The wonderful thing about the HAK novels is that although they're very imaginative and well-written, they have no pretensions to being considered serious literature. So when you read a HAK book, expect to find grisly horror and tongue-in-cheek humor in about equal measures.

Without further ado, here are the new cover designs by M. S. Corley:

Slimer has been out of print for many years and old paperback copies sell upwards of $50. It's the story of six drug smugglers whose boat trouble forces them to seek refuge on an abandoned oil rig in the middle of the sea. But almost immediately it's clear something is terribly wrong: everyone has vanished, leaving behind only empty piles of clothes with no bodies in them. There's something deadly loose on the rig, and the worst part of it isn't how it kills you, but what happens after . . .

The Fungus is an apocalyptic horror/sci-fi novel featuring a fungal plague that has spread across all of England. A scientist trying to solve the world hunger problem had thought it would be a good idea to grow genetically modified mushrooms (spoiler: it was in fact not a good idea), and after the spores escape, everything from a minor case of athlete's foot to the yeast at the bottom of your pint glass can result in a gruesome death. But as it turns out, the ones who die early on are the lucky ones . . .

Both novels are tremendously fun to read, and in addition to the great new Corley covers, both books feature introductions by the author, Roy Kettle. Coming Oct. 2 in paperback and ebook worldwide; pre-order options coming soon!

The Valancourt Book of Horror Stories, Volume 3: Lineup Announced!

Only two months until our annual October Horror Month celebration, and as we did in 2016 and 2017, we're kicking things off with a volume of horror stories by Valancourt authors. For the first time ever, the book will be available in variant cover editions, so you can choose your own nightmare! The standard edition, featuring the headless phantom, will be available everywhere, but the special alternate cover, featuring a Tiki theme inspired by a story in the book, will be available only direct via our website. Check out the designs by M. S. Corley:

And without further ado, here is a complete rundown of the book's contents (no spoilers, don't worry!)

"Don't Go Up Them Stairs" (1971) by R. Chetwynd-Hayes

From his 1971 collection The Unbidden (published in the U.S. in 1975, and not reprinted since), this tale by "Britain's Prince of Chill" is the story of a young boy who unwisely chooses not to follow his grandfather's advice never, ever, to go up them stairs . . .

"Courage" (1918/1941) by Forrest Reid

A young boy disobeys warnings not to enter an old house reputed to be haunted and undergoes a spooky experience. Though the original 1918 version has appeared in a couple anthologies over the decades, the 1941 version, entirely rewritten by Reid later in life, has to our knowledge not previously been reprinted.

"Pete Barker's Shanty" (1898) by Ernest G. Henham

This very rare tale by the author of the decadent spider-infested nightmare Tenebrae (1898) tells of two men who lose their way in the Canadian prairie and are forced to take refuge in a madman's shanty, where they pass a particularly terrifying night. Henham is the real name of the pseudonymous "John Trevena", whose tale "The Frozen Man" in our first volume of horror stories received a very positive reader response.

"The Parts Man" (2018) by Steve Rasnic Tem

If John Bunyan were a 21st-century master of weird fiction like Steve Rasnic Tem, his The Pilgrim's Progress might have looked something like this brand-new story, written especially for this volume, in which an aging man pays a terrible price for the opportunity to revisit the ghosts of his past.

"The Face in the Mirror" (1903) by Helen Mathers

This now-forgotten Victorian author began her career writing popular romance novels, but later in life she developed an interest for the occult and supernatural, including this story, a traditional Victorian ghost story featuring all the trappings of the genre, including a haunted chamber and unsettling visions seen in a mirror. We believe this to be the first-ever reprinting of the tale.

"The Life of the Party" (2013) by Charles Beaumont

This posthumous tale by the famous Twilight Zone screenwriter was first published in a now out-of-print limited edition a few years ago and has never been made available elsewhere. It's the story of a man who, after a lifetime of unpopularity, devises a macabre means of making new friends.

"The Poet Gives His Friend Wildflowers" (2018) by Hugh Fleetwood

Fleetwood, who contributed an original weird tale to volume 1 of our series, returns with another new contribution, this time a delectably macabre poem about a gift that is not exactly what it seems to be.

"Monkshood Manor" (1954) by L. P. Hartley

An elegant story set, as with the best traditional English ghost stories, in an old country manor house, where a party has gathered, including one man with an irrational terror of fire and another guest with knowledge of a centuries-old curse on the house.

"Blood of the Kapu Tiki" (2018) by Eric C. Higgs

Higgs, the author of the classic '80s horror novel The Happy Man, which reads something like an earlier and more enjoyable version of Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho, disappeared from horror writing three decades ago, leaving fans to wonder what happened to him. Well, he's back at long last, with a brand-new tale, and it's so much fun that we devoted our variant cover to it. Because, I mean, Tiki horror!

"On No Account, My Love" (1955) by Elizabeth Jenkins

This tale originally appeared in one of Lady Cynthia Asquith's legendary Ghost Book anthologies. It's the story of a young woman curious to know more about her great-grandmother, a woman who had a reputation as a cruel, controlling tyrant - and who may continue exerting her influence from beyond the grave. A slow-burn chiller that will linger with you.

"Underground" (1974) by J. B. Priestley

An uncommon foray into horror for the prolific playwright and novelist Priestley, whose collection of strange tales The Other Place (1953) goes on sale Tuesday and shouldn't be missed by any fan of classic weird fiction. Have you ever had a particularly bad experience in the subway, a real trip from hell? Trust us, it's nothing compared to the journey the guy in this story is going to take.

"Mr Evening" (1968) by James Purdy

Purdy, a literary outsider who has been acclaimed by Tennessee Williams, Gore Vidal, Jonathan Franzen and many others, but who has rarely enjoyed much popular success except as a cult gay novelist, contributes this piece of Gothic horror, the story of a covetous young antique dealer who gets more than he bargained for when he tries to get hold of a priceless piece of porcelain from an eccentric old lady.

"Mothering Sunday" (1960) by John Keir Cross

This tale is from Keir Cross's anthology Best Black Magic Stories, and to our knowledge has not been previously reprinted. We won't say too much about it, but suffice it to say that it involves the Dark Arts, a strange white-haired boy with no soul, . . . and a snowman.

"The Bottle of 1912" (1961) by Simon Raven

Another elegantly told classic, this one by an underappreciated author of supernatural fiction, possibly best known for Doctors Wear Scarlet (1960), an innovative vampire novel that Karl Edward Wagner ranked among the best supernatural horror novels ever written. We'll say nothing to spoil this one; let's just say that, like the fine wine of its title, it's something to be sipped and savored.

"With What Measure Ye Mete . . ." (1906) by Ethel Lina White

After cruelly jilting her lover, a young woman gets a horrifying comeuppance. A very rare tale, perhaps the lone venture into the horror genre by this popular crime writer, author of the novels that inspired the films The Spiral Staircase and The Lady Vanishes.

"Beelzebub" (1992) by Robert Westall

Closing out the volume is this gem, which manages the tough feat of being both chilling and hilarious. To our knowledge, this tale hasn't been reprinted since its initial appearance; why it's not included in the various "best-of" collections of Westall's tales is beyond us. It's the story of a clerk in the Registry Office who finds herself in an odd predicament when she is called upon to register the birth of the spawn of Satan himself.

Both editions go on sale October 2, and preorder options will be up soon. The standard cover edition will be available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook; the Tiki edition will be paperback-only.

2015 Year-End Roundup and A Look Ahead to 2016

Thank you for making 2015 our best year ever!

It's been an exciting year, as we've released more than 60 great new titles, from lost 18th-century works (Jane West's A Gossip's Story, Jack Voller's The Graveyard School: An Anthology) to neglected Victorian classics (George W.M. Reynolds's penny dreadful The Mysteries of London, R.M. Ballantyne's best-selling boys' adventure The Coral Island) to vintage thrillers and chillers (J.U. Nicolson's Fingers of Fear, Henry Chapman Mercer's November Night Tales) to contemporary horror classics (Bernard Taylor's Sweetheart, Sweetheart, Michael McDowell's Cold Moon Over Babylon) and some really great literary fiction that had inexplicably fallen out of print in the US—or never been published here at all!—(Barry Hines's A Kestrel for a Knave, Iain Sinclair's White Chappell, Scarlet Tracings, Michael Frayn's first five novels, three by Russell Hoban).

We love all the books we publish, so it'd be impossible for us to pick a favorite or even a top 10. Instead, here's a list of ten books we published this year (in no particular order) that we really love but which some of you may have overlooked.

1. Robert Westall, Antique Dust

Westall is best known as the award-winning author of a number of books for children and young adults; Antique Dust (1989) was his only book marketed for adults. It's a collection of terrific ghost stories in the tradition of M.R. James, centering on an antique dealer who has a knack for running across cursed objects and haunted places. It's sometimes scary, sometimes funny, always entertaining. If you enjoy this one, make sure not to miss Westall's The Stones of Muncaster Cathedral, another Jamesian tale, this time featuring a cathedral tower topped with a rather hideous gargoyle, which may (or may not) be exercising a supernatural power to lure children to their deaths.

2. Christopher Priest, The Separation

Christopher Priest has a large following internationally and has won numerous awards for his books, including the James Tait Black Prize for best novel of the year and the World Fantasy Award for The Prestige (1995), but for some reason has been somewhat overlooked in the States, where most of his classic works were out of print before we started republishing them. The Separation (2002) won both the British Fantasy Award and the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and it's easy to see why. It's an enthralling, mind-bending novel that traces the story of twin brothers who played key roles in World War II through divergent realities. Read it and see why critics have called it one of the best works of alternate history ever written. We also released Priest's The Affirmation (1981) in January 2015, and it's one of my favorite reissues this year.

3. F. L. Green, Odd Man Out

F. L. Green's Odd Man Out is best known as the source of the classic 1947 Carol Reed film adaptation (recently reissued in the Criterion Collection), but if you've seen the movie and haven't read the novel, you're really missing out. Set over the course of one snowy, surreal, nightmarish Belfast night, it starts out as the story of a violent heist gone wrong and turns into something else entirely, as a wounded IRA leader stumbles through the streets, bleeding, menaced by death and betrayal on all sides, and facing the prospect of dying that night with the stain of murder weighing on his soul.

4. Elizabeth Jenkins, Harriet

Elizabeth Jenkins's Harriet (1934) won the Prix Femina Vie Heureuse, beating Evelyn Waugh's better-known A Handful of Dust. It's not hard to see why she won, but it's extremely hard to understand why this novel has been so neglected. Based on the real-life case of Harriet Staunton, a mentally disabled woman who was cruelly murdered for her fortune during the Victorian era, it's an unrivaled exploration into the depths of human depravity that still holds the ability to chill readers to the bone.

5. Dennis Parry, Sea of Glass

I've read Dennis Parry's Sea of Glass (1955) three times now and look forward to reading it again. Most of our authors are neglected to one degree or another, but Parry goes beyond neglect into the realm of total oblivion. From his death in 1955 (less than two months after this book, his best, was published) until 2014, not a single one of his books was ever reprinted. Even during his lifetime he was little known, despite having published ten novels; reviewers of Sea of Glass loved the book and expressed astonishment that they'd never heard of Parry or read others of his books. And Parry would have continued in oblivion were it not for the macabre illustrator Edward Gorey, who, in the journal Antaeus in the 1970s, mentioned Sea of Glass as the most unjustly neglected book he knew. No plot description can do justice to Parry's novel. It's exciting, suspenseful, moving, and very, very funny—sometimes laugh-out-loud funny (just wait till you get to the part with the venomous barking spiders). Trust us on this one, give it a shot.

6. Harry Kressing, The Cook

Harry Kressing's The Cook (1965) is one of those books that for decades invariably showed up on lists of books that had undeservedly fallen out of print and needed to be reissued. It's a sort of dark fairy tale, with echoes of Kafka, centering on the mysterious figure of Conrad, a tall, gaunt young man dressed all in black, who arrives in town one day and uses his brilliant culinary skills to win first the stomachs and then the souls of the townspeople. The critic for the Observer said it "begin[s] in a vein of innocent fairy tale and end[s] with satanic revels", while John Fowles praised it, saying, "I have much enjoyed The Cook, for I am very fond of Satan. My congratulations to Mr. Kressing on his achievement." Everyone we've talked to has enjoyed this one, and it has a perfect 5-star rating on Amazon, so we think it's safe to say you're likely to enjoy it too.

7. Michael Blumlein, The Brains of Rats

In this astonishing collection, Michael Blumlein (a medical doctor in addition to a terrific short story writer) blurs the boundaries of horror, science fiction, and fantasy in stories that often feature medical themes. When it first appeared in 1989, it earned rave reviews from mainstream critics at the Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, etc., as well as high praise from genre stalwarts Harlan Ellison, Pat Cadigan, Joe R. Lansdale, and Peter Straub. Katherine Dunn, author of Geek Love, says it best: “The Brains of Rats is blindingly brilliant. Blumlein is beyond any genre, a genuinely great writer.” Probably the most famous (or infamous) story in the collection is one in which the surgical dissection of Ronald Reagan is described in chilling, clinical detail, but almost every entry in the book is a classic.

8. Barry Hines, A Kestrel for a Knave

Unbelievably, Barry Hines's 1968 novel A Kestrel for a Knave (filmed in 1969 as Kes, also a recent Criterion DVD reissue) had never been published in the United States despite being recognized as a classic in the UK, where it's probably been read by every kid ever to go through the British school system any time in the past four decades. An outstanding work of realistic working-class fiction, it's the story of a young boy in a northern England mining town who has seemingly no future except a life of toil in the mines, but who finds strength and courage through his experiences in training a kestrel hawk. Our edition features one of our favorite covers of 2015, by Tom Duxbury.

9. Michael Frayn, Towards the End of the Morning

Michael Frayn is legendary in the UK, where his first five novels have long been regarded as classics, his most recent three novels have all been nominated for the Booker Prize, and his play Noises Off (currently being revived on Broadway) was voted the nation's second-favorite play of all time. And yet, despite those impressive credentials, his first five novels had all been out of print for decades in the US until we reissued them with new introductions by the author. All five are excellent, but Towards the End of the Morning (1967) is probably the funniest and most famous. The story involves a group of journalists working for a third-rate London newspaper in the waning days of Fleet Street, stuck in the obscure department responsible for the crossword puzzle and 'Nature Notes'. As always with Frayn, it's a very funny book (the scene where one of the newspapermen, dreaming of escaping to a lucrative career in television, finally gets an appearance on a TV program but gets drunk and makes an ass of himself, is a highlight, as is the catastrophically ill-fated trip to review a new resort in the Persian Gulf). We also published Frayn's newest book, Matchbox Theatre, a collection of thirty short 'entertainments' that the New York Times picked as a must for summer reading.

10. Craig Jones, Blood Secrets

A remarkable first novel, Craig Jones's Blood Secrets (1978) earned rave reviews when first published and in the decades since, numerous critics have hailed it as a masterpiece of 20th century American Gothic fiction. Whether you call it mystery, thriller, or horror, it's a terrific novel, with a slow accumulation of dread and suspense and a couple of genuinely shocking turns you won't see coming. The saying 'don't judge a book by its cover' might have been coined because of this book: the 1979 mass-market paperback, with the title "BLOOD SECRETS" in a large crimson font, must have made the book seem to be just another amongst the thousands of bad horror novels being churned out at the time, which is definitely not the case. Give this one a shot: we think you'll really enjoy it. And whatever you do, don't post any spoilers of the plot anywhere!

A look at 2016

As we count down the waning hours of 2015, how about a look at some of what to expect in 2016? Please note, all these titles are currently considered 'forthcoming' and may be subject to cancellation or delay until 2017. Also, negotiations are ongoing for a number of books, and more titles will be added throughout the year.

Gothic, Victorian, Edwardian
Charlotte Smith, Ethelinde, or, The Recluse of the Lake (1789)
Henry Summersett, The Fate of Sedley (1795) and Aberford (1795)
Regina Maria Roche, The Children of the Abbey (1796)
Carl Grosse, Horrid Mysteries (1796)
Maria Edgeworth, Ennui (1809)
Olivia Shakespear, Beauty's Hour (1894)
Richard Marsh, The Complete Adventures of Judith Lee (1911-16)

Vintage Thrills and Chills
Riccardo Stephens, The Mummy (1912)
Alexander Laing, The Cadaver of Gideon Wyck (1934)
Edwin Greenwood, The Deadly Dowager (1935)
Thomas Burke, Night-Pieces (1935)
Gabriel Marlowe, I Am Your Brother (1935)
Gerald Kersh, Night and the City (1938) and Prelude to a Certain Midnight (1946)
John Mair, Never Come Back (1941)
Roger Manvell, The Dreamers (1958)
Frank Baker, Stories of the Strange and Sinister

Horror, Weird Fiction and Science Fiction
Robert Aickman, The Late Breakfasters (1964) and Selected Stories
John Blackburn, Blow the House Down (1970)
John Blackburn, A Book of the Dead (1984)
Stephen Knight, Requiem at Rogano (1978)
Michael McDowell ("Axel Young"), Wicked Stepmother (1982)
Michael McDowell ("Axel Young"), Blood Rubies (1983)
Christopher Priest, The Space Machine (1976)
Christopher Priest, A Dream of Wessex (1977)

Archie Roy, Devil in the Darkness (1978)

Alan Ryan, Cast a Cold Eye (1982)
Robert Westall, The Wheatstone Pond/Yaxley's Cat/Blackham's Wimpey

Rediscovered LGBT Literature
Edward Prime-Stevenson, Left to Themselves (1891)
Charles Jackson, The Fall of Valor (1946)
Robin Maugham, Behind the Mirror (1955)
James Ramsey Ullman, The Day on Fire (1958)
Paul Buckland, A Chorus of Witches (1959)
Geoff Brown, I Want What I Want (1966)
Philip Ridley, Crocodilia (1988)
Philip Ridley, In the Eyes of Mr Fury (1989)
Philip Ridley, Flamingoes in Orbit (1990)

Neglected Literary Classics
H.E. Bates, Fair Stood the Wind for France (1944)
Philip Callow, Common People (1958)
Stephen Gilbert, Bombardier (1944)
Thomas Hinde, Mr. Nicholas (1952)