Valancourt Books discussion

The Devil's Popess: A Novel of Myster, of Magic, and Love by Jehan Sylvius sounds interesting and all of the copies look expensive. There may have been a small printing back in 1999 but I'm not sure.

Has anybody mentioned some of the Gothic romance authors, like Elsie Lee and Evelyn Berckman? Or Charlotte Hunt's occult Gothics, such as The Casebook of Dr. Holton: The Gilded Sarcophagus - The Cup of Thanatos Vol. 1?

Some of the Gothic romances leaned heavily on the occult side. Ace even had a line of Satanic Gothics, starting with Lord Satan, although I don't know if the works lived up to the name.

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

Here are a few more suggestions.

-Having published two collections of stories by the late Michael Blumlein, would you be interested in any of his novels? In particular, there are two that are currently unaccounted for: THE MOVEMENT OF MOUNTAINS (1987) and X, Y (1993), the latter of which was part of the Dell Abyss line of books and made it to Stephen Jones and Kim Newman's "Horror - Another 100 Books."

-Tim Lucas is also underrepresented right now, and there are two books which, to my knowledge, haven't been reprinted since their initial publications: THROAT SPROCKETS (1994), which seems to be regarded as an important alternative horror novel by several sources, and THE BOOK OF RENFIELD (2005), a companion piece/prequel to Bram Stoker's DRACULA.

-Finally, another book that's slipped away is Brian Moore's THE GREAT VICTORIAN COLLECTION (1975), where a man in California becomes convinced that there's a collection of Victorian memorabilia being sold outside of his hotel after dreaming about it; it won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1975 and was recommended by Thomas M. Disch as one of the 13 best modern classic fantasy novels in Twilight Zone Magazine in 1983.

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu: a lot of his works are out of print and not since the 70s has a complete reprint of his novels been attempted. I think he's overdue for it.

Have the Leonaur editions gone? I see lots of "temporarily out of stock" notes, which for a print on demand book might mean it's actually deleted.

We've had a number of requests for Michael Shea's out-of-print Arkham House volume POLYPHEMUS, and we're pleased to announce that a new edition will be out from us sometime in 2023, introduced by Laird Barron. More details soon.

Great! More people will get the chance to read the story “The Autopsy”.

Evangeline Walton's Witch House. I think the revised edition has only been printed twice in english and it's very difficult to find.

Robert Adam wrote: "Evangeline Walton's Witch House. I think the revised edition has only been printed twice in english and it's very difficult to find."

We tried multiple times. The family or agent wasn't interested.

That's a shame. I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for that Skeffington edition, assuming it's cheaper than the centipede one

I think I might have found an opportunity, if you feel it's worth considering: a few books that I thought were in print don't seem to be any longer, and they're all rather highly regarded by those who know them.

The first is Philip George Chadwick's sole novel THE DEATH GUARD (1939), which was last republished in 1992 after being considered either a myth or a lost novel for years. You may recognize this as being hailed as a noteworthy work by both Karl Edward Wagner and Ramsey Campbell. I seriously thought this was still available, but a recent search suggests otherwise.

Second, it's technically three novels, and I'm not so sure about the status of these. It's the three best-known works of crime writer John Franklin Bardin - THE DEADLY PERCHERON (1946), THE LAST OF PHILIP BANTER (1947), and DEVIL TAKE THE BLUE-TAIL FLY (1948). The ebook editions are supposed to be available from Diversion Books, but while the site still displays them, the links to purchase are showing no results. Either it's a technical error or it just may be that they're in the process of being discontinued. If it's the latter, perhaps at least one of the three is worthy of the Valancourt treatment.

Justin wrote: "I think I might have found an opportunity, if you feel it's worth considering: a few books that I thought were in print don't seem to be any longer, and they're all rather highly regarded by those ..."

I bought the 1992 edition years ago, but didn't think it would be out of print again. Definitely second this one !

Also I did like "A DEADLY PERCHERON" as well. Definitely on the better end of Wagner's list, unlike some of the titles he put on there.

Valancourt Books wrote: "We've had a number of requests for Michael Shea's out-of-print Arkham House volume POLYPHEMUS, and we're pleased to announce that a new edition will be out from us sometime in 2023, introduced by L..."

That's very exciting news. I have the original Arkham house book an have read it several times. Although there are now in print a few collections of Shea's work, including ones of all his Lovecraft-inflected stories, none, in my opinion, gives as powerful and diverse an overview of his art (and contains as many outstanding stories) as POLYPHEMUS

Cruising by Gerald Walker

I don't know if I'm going to make many more recommendations, as I think nearly everything I know about is too long to qualify. But I've found a few that are either less than 250 pages long or just ever-so-slightly over it (at least in their original formats).

The connecting thread here is that they fall more on the fantasy/science fiction spectrum than they do horror. But I'm wondering if Valancourt would be willing to dabble in outright fantasy sometimes.

-First off, I think the work of Fletcher Pratt may be open, particularly THE BLUE STAR (1952), a story of witchcraft and psychic powers that was the inaugural entry in the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series; it was previously offered by Wildside Press, but while it shows up on their site, various online shopping centers seem to indicate that it's been discontinued. (I was also going to recommend his other well-regarded fantasy, THE WELL OF THE UNICORN [1948], but at slightly over 300 pages, it's probably too long to bother.)

-EXCALIBUR (1973) by Sanders Anne Laubenthal, which was also in the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series, has long been out of print, the most recent reprinting looking to be a hardcover from 2000 that's been discontinued. According to the description, it's a King Arthur story with Welsh overtones set in then-contemporary Mobile, Alabama, dealing with a modern-day Pendragon descendent searching for the famous sword.

-The next is an interesting case - RED MOON AND BLACK MOUNTAIN (1970) by Joy Chant, the first of a portal fantasy trilogy set in a world called Vandarei. It was highly regarded by several critics as one of the best post-Tolkien fantasies of its time, not to mention being the first original/contemporary work to be included in the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series (again), but it seems it hasn't been reprinted since the early 1980's, not even digitally.

-VOTAN (1966) by John James is, according to Wikipedia, supposed to be about a Greek merchant travelling to Germanic lands where he inspires Norse mythology; it was reprinted overseas as part of Gollancz's restarted Fantasy Masterworks series and is reportedly a favorite of Neil Gaiman and an inspiration for AMERICAN GODS.

-PORTRAIT OF JENNIE (1940) by Robert Nathan, the best-known work by the now-forgotten author, is a timeslip fantasy romance (apparently?) that has been praised by both Judith Merril and Ray Bradbury. There was a Kindle version some time ago, but it no longer appears to be available.

-Finally, I'd like to suggest a few works by legendary fantasy/sci-fi author L. Sprague de Camp that look to have been relatively neglected, at least here in the States. The list includes LAND OF UNREASON (1942, w/Fletcher Pratt), THE CARNELIAN CUBE (1948, w/Fletcher Pratt), THE UNDESIRED PRINCESS (1951), TALES FROM GAVAGAN'S BAR (1953, w/Fletcher Pratt), THE GOBLIN TOWER (1968) [the first installment of the Novarian series], THE RELUCTANT SHAMAN AND OTHER FANTASTIC TALES (1970), and RIVERS OF TIME (1993).


Well, it took a bit of curating, but everything I've just listed should be within 250 pages each. If anything feels like it wouldn't be a good fit in the Valancourt catalog, I understand. Honestly, fantasy is the type of stuff I would be focusing on with my own small press, if I had one, so it's probably just wishful thinking. I had to try, though.

if you're ever interested in doing this one, there's Fireman Flower and Other Stories by William Sansom, highly recommended by R.B. Russell in his Fifty Forgotten Books. The blurb says

"Along with Henry Green and Stephen Spender, Sansom served as an auxiliary fireman during the London Blitz. Soon after his experiences in the war, Sansom published the first of numerous books, a haunting, nightmarish collection of short stories that had many critics hailing the emergence of an English Kafka. The best stories in the collection deal directly with the experience of fighting fires, including “The Wall” and the book’s unforgettable title story."

German science fiction writer Herbert W. Franke died in july and 3 of his novels were translated into english in the early 70s. Zone Null and The Orchid Cage are particularly hard to find. Cheap copies of The Mind Net are still easy enough to find. They are all short novels. He's got a bunch of awards and the reviews I've seen sound very good.

^ I will take a look at these. Thanks, folks!

Alright, I'll put forward one more, but I have no plans for it to be seriously considered because, from looking at the Goodreads entries, all the books are over 300 pages, but I wanted to say it anyway because this author really has been neglected.

I'm talking about Welsh fantasy writer and theosophist Kenneth Morris (who can be found on Goodreads under the name Kenneth Vennor Morris). He was regarded by Ursula K. Le Guin as one of the three great fantasy prose stylists of the 20th century (the others being E. R. Eddison and J. R. R. Tolkien), and, according to Wikipedia, he was a friend and correspondent of famous adventure writer Talbot Mundy, yet he's been reprinted very few times, and now everything he wrote is out of print. He wrote two novels based on the Mabinogion - THE FATES OF THE PRINCES OF DYFED (1914) and BOOK OF THE THREE DRAGONS (1930) - and one posthumously published novel based on Aztec mythology, THE CHALCHIUITE DRAGON (1992), as well as short stories based on various mythologies that were collected twice (THE SECRET MOUNTAIN AND OTHER TALES [1926] and THE DRAGON PATH: COLLECTED TALES OF KENNETH MORRIS [1995]). As far as I know, California's Theosophical Society oversees the rights, but it doesn't look like they've got anything in paper or digital in circulation now; THREE DRAGONS was reprinted by Cold Spring Press back in 2004 with its previously unpublished original ending, and I managed to snag a copy myself while it was still around, but now it's dust.

Again, while I REALLY would want him looked at, the page counts for all the books look to be beyond Valancourt's limit, hence why I didn't include him in my last post. I don't expect him to make the cut, but I thought I would try not only to get it off my mind but to draw attention to him for others who would otherwise be in the dark. Perhaps someday he will get the recognition he's been denied.

Some reprints of Jessica Amanda Salmonson would be nice. Anthony Shriek is quite a rarity now but I think maybe more than anything a Best Of/Selected collection would be a great thing. I read Dark Tales recently (which itself is quite scarce and very expensive) and there is some brilliant stuff in there which can't easily be found. Perhaps some of her poetry too? There's some lgbt interest in her work and she's trans.

Yet again, I may have found something, but I don't know if it will work out because page counts aren't consistent. Consider these just shots in the dark.

-Evangeline Walton was brought up some time ago, WITCH HOUSE in particular, and you reported no success with that title. Would you be interested in any of her other works? There's her highly regarded MABINOGION series - while Abrams' Overlook Press publishes an omnibus digitally, maybe the individual volumes are feasible (though one looks to be about 350 pages, so I guess that can automatically be ruled out). She also wrote a few historical fantasies such as THE CROSS AND THE SWORD (1956), about the Danish conquest of England, and THE SWORD IS FORGED (1983), the first part of a trilogy concerning Theseus which was completely written but ultimately unpublished due to clashing with Mary Renault's similar works; however, again, these works look to be over the page limit, so I guess someone else is going to have to pick them up.

-Actually, what I'm more eager to recommend is the work of sci-fi legend James Blish, who, to my knowledge, doesn't have many titles in print right now. The Overlook Press, again, has a digital omnibus of CITIES IN FLIGHT in circulation, but what's really been put to pasture is his "After Such Knowledge" sequence. The first entry, the Hugo-winning A CASE OF CONSCIENCE, doesn't need to be worried about - Del Rey and Open Road Media have paper and digital rights, respectively - but it's the other three that aren't in circulation, those being the historical novel DOCTOR MIRABILIS (1964), concerning friar/scientist Roger Bacon, and the two-part apocalyptic fantasies BLACK EASTER (1968) and THE DAY OF JUDGMENT (1970). Centipede Press released collector's editions of them some time ago, but aside from that, these classics aren't available in either paper or digital any longer. Maybe, just maybe, they would be a good Valancourt fit.

I'm sorry to have been posting so often. I honestly thought I had found everything that might qualify, but stuff keeps popping up on me. I'll try to give you a break for a while.

Because I was reminded of it recently: how about Tom de Haven's Freaks' Amour? It's bizarre and beautiful and heartbreakingly sad, about a mutant couple who perform in a degrading sex show to pay for surgery to look 'normal'; a bit of a cult item since its 1979 publication, but long-OOP and pricy second-hand and languishing in the shadow of its closest compatriot, Geek Love. (Dark Horse did a comic adaptation in the '90s - de Haven penned a follow-up short story for the TPB, which would be nice to include in a new edition of the novel - but that's OOP now, too.)

I suggest San Diego Lightfoot Sue and other stories by Tom Reamy.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9...

Used copies for sale via Amazon are pricey:
https://www.amazon.com/San-Diego-Ligh...

From reading *about* Tom Reamy, I gather that he was a talented science fiction and fantasy writer who died young.

Tom Reamy also submitted a story "Potiphee, Petey and Me" to Harlan Ellison for his The Last Dangerous Visions. The Last Dangerous Visions was never published. I'm unclear who has possession of the story--Harlan Ellison's estate? Tom Reamy's estate?--and I think it would be something of a coup if "Potiphee, Petey and Me" is published.

I thought Valancourt just announced this? And Subterranean are doing their own complete (?) stories collection but that's going to be significantly more expensive.

If you're interested in something REALLY old and out of the way, I just found out about John Neal (1793-1876) through Wikipedia. It sounds like he was a champion of the development of early American literature in diction and style, being a rival of James Fenimore Cooper, as well as being quite progressive for the time period regarding women's rights and slavery. His short stories seem to be his most highly regarded work, although some of his novels (particularly LOGAN, SEVENTY-SIX, and RACHEL DYER) are of significant interest, mixing Gothic fiction, history and psychological horror with regional colloquialisms. He seems to be considered a chief link between the early styles of Irving and Cooper and the later works of Hawthorne, Poe and Melville.

Here's the Wiki page on him: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ne...

While he's been criticized for his style by some scholars, I think he sounds like someone who should be rediscovered by the general reading public, at least for historical importance.

"The White Road" by Ron Weighell

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

I've been looking over some of the responses in the first pages of the topic. It's interesting to see what's changed - what's become part of the Valancourt catalog, what's still being recommended but can't be picked up for one annoying reason or another, and what's just too long now.

Anyway, I checked to see if anyone had recommended this beforehand, and while someone technically did, they don't seem to be here anymore, so I'll just unbury this: the works of historical/weird fiction author Edward Lucas White, particularly the two collections published in his lifetime - THE SONG OF THE SIRENS (1919) and LUKUNDOO AND OTHER STORIES (1927). Now I think this is mostly unlikely, as there was just a selection of White's stories published recently by Brian Keene's Manhattan on Mars Press, compiled by Mary SanGiovanni, and I don't think it would be fair to rerelease these while that selection is available.

Justin wrote: "I've been looking over some of the responses in the first pages of the topic. It's interesting to see what's changed - what's become part of the Valancourt catalog, what's still being recommended b..."

" I don't think it would be fair to rerelease these while that selection is available."

That's not the only one -- I have two that are still in print, Leonaur's The Collected Supernatural and Weird Fiction of Edward Lucas White: Four Novelettes 'The Snout,' 'The Message on the Slate,' 'The Song of the Sirens,' ... & Two Poems of the Strange and Unusual and the Dover publication The Stuff of Dreams: The Weird Stories of Edward Lucas White (ed. S.T. Joshi).

Nancy wrote: "Justin wrote: "I've been looking over some of the responses in the first pages of the topic. It's interesting to see what's changed - what's become part of the Valancourt catalog, what's still bein..."

The reason I had brought in up in the first place is that the Dover publication, upon checking, is half out of print now - they've discontinued the paperback format and are now only distributing it as an e-book. As for the Leonaur editions, there are quite a few titles in their catalog that are also available elsewhere (otherwise the SanGiovanni edition wouldn't be allowed). But this might make it difficult, perhaps even impossible, to consider.

It's still just a thought, but I wouldn't place any bets on it. It would be nice to have reproductions of the original collections themselves instead of just selections.

I suggest Dark Matters by Terry Lamsley.
Amazon says its currently unavailable:
https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Matters-T...

I haven't read Dark Matters, but I've read another short story collection by Terry Lamsley, Conference with the Dead. I found those stories like Robert Aickman's, in that strange events would be described; but differing from Aickman, in that at the end of the story, the reader realizes the *why* of the strange events.

I'll take a look at those. Thanks, all!

The novels of R. Chetwynd-Hayes? His short stories are in print through DIP but his novels don’t seem to be available.

The Other Side
The Grange

Black Easter by James Blish. I haven't read it because it's basically ungettable. But I just read A Case of Conscience by Blish and it was A+++.
Black Easter: Faust Aleph-Null

Christopher wrote: "The novels of R. Chetwynd-Hayes? His short stories are in print through DIP but his novels don’t seem to be available.

The Other Side
The Grange"

I will take a look at those. We also have two of his short story collections in print.

Ann wrote: "Black Easter by James Blish. I haven't read it because it's basically ungettable. But I just read A Case of Conscience by Blish and it was A+++.
Black Easter: Faust Aleph-Null"

We are reprinting Black Easter next year!

Valancourt Books said: We are reprinting Black Easter next year!

If possible you might also consider publishing The Day after Judgement , Blish’s sequel to Black Easter . The two have sometimes been published together as one book.

I have another recommendation: The Black Butterfly by W. A. Mackenzie from 1907.

It has a minor mystery element but is a supernatural romance dealing with an evil Chinese wizard making a woman out of clay to make a man fall in love with her so he can bathe in his blood and become immortal. I've just finished it the other day and it's quite amazing.

The Imperial Orgy by Edgar Saltus. I stumbled upon an old leatherette Modern Library edition a few years ago, and devoured it in one sitting. It’s a beautifully written but factually dubious history of the Russian czars that’s almost gleeful in its depiction of various horrors and depravities. It reminded me of Suetonius’s Lives of the Caesars, if every chapter had been about Caligula.

Another great and totally forgotten title is Samuel Middleton Fox's 1905 "A Child of the Shore", about a mother who conceives a child after a heinous, diabolical ritual in a loathsome sea-side cavern, and the life of her child, who is torn between the love of a man and the insistent calls of her sister mermaids, who want to claim her and drag her into the sea after her death.

It's really very good and the atmospheric descriptions of the legends and supernatural goings-on in the darkest recesses of old Cornwall are quite amazing.

Ronald wrote: "Nine Hundred Grandmothers is a short story collection by a maestro of gonzo science fiction, R.A. Lafferty.

http://www.amazon.com/Nine-Hundred-Gr......"

That is an absurd amount of grandmas.

I have two. Bugs by Theodore Roszak and Pin by Andrew Neiderman
https://www.amazon.com/Pin-Andrew-Nei...

https://www.amazon.com/Roszak-Theodor...

It appears Pin is still in print, but I am still unsure and due to the price I'm not confident about ordering a copy. It was probably one of my favorites tbh because it is written very well. Bugs I have not been able to read due to the prohibitive price, though.

Back up in message 298 I'd suggested Spectriana, Démoniana, and Infernaliana. Perhaps I should add Fantasmagoriana:

"No fully reliable edition exists in English: Terry Hale’s edition of 1992 reproduces Tales of the Dead, and A. J. Day’s complete edition of 2005, while including the tales eliminated by Utterson [in Tales of the Dead], inexplicably omits Eyriès’s French preface, moreover leaving the remaining tales in the partial translation of 1813. [...]
"Fantasmagoriana has, however, been re-edited in French (La Fresnaie-Fayel, Otrante, 2015), Italian (Fantasmagoriana, ed. Camilletti), and German (Fantasmagoriana. Geisterbarbiere, Totenbräute und mordende Porträts, ed. Markus Bernauer (Berlin, Ripperger & Kremers, 2017)), hopefully paving the way to new research on the subject."
Camilletti, Fabio. "From Villa Diodati to Villa Gabrielli: A Manuscript Appendix to Fantasmagoriana." Gothic Studies, Volume 20, Nos. 1-2 (November 2018), published by Manchester University Press http://dx.doi.org/10.7227/GS.0045 https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/pdf...

For that matter, should also add the rest of the stories in the Gespensterbuch, Cicaden, and Volksmärchen der Deutschen from which Fantasmagoriana had only taken a small sampling.

A number of other interesting-sounding works are mentioned in that Camilletti paper, not least the appendix of the title. It came up when I was searching for Gabrielle De Paban's "Histoire Des Fantomes Et Des Démons," to see if it existed in English, a book that had been included in an old vampire killing kit https://logs-surnateum-com.translate....
It's not immediately clear if there is one of De Paban.

This is an amazing novel. WW II speculative fiction by Martin M. Goldsmith, author of the film noir classic “Detour.”

Shadows at Noon

Pascale Fonteneau (1963-) États de lame (1993):
"A true tour de force, Estates of Blade is a novel written in the first person and the narrator is none other than a dagger. He is stuck in a box for a long time, between a Kalashnikov and a grenade, until the day his owner lends him to the Wild Man. He will not hesitate to use it to kill a couple, then, later, to act within a revolutionary group of which he seems to be the mastermind. But the weapon has moods, perhaps more so than the human who uses it. Pascale Fonteneau shares them with us here, with a sharp look at the world and violence, and the fierce humor that characterizes her."

Christopher wrote: "Back up in message 298 I'd suggested Spectriana, Démoniana, and Infernaliana. Perhaps I should add Fantasmagoriana:

"No fully reliable edition exists in English: Terry Hale’s edition of 1992 repro..."

Fantasmagoriana Deluxe: A Combined Edition of Fantasmagoriana and Tales of the Dead

I just read this version of Fantasmagoriana and Tales of the Dead.

Char wrote: "Fantasmagoriana Deluxe: A Combined Edition of Fantasmagoriana and Tales of the Dead
"I just read this version of Fantasmagoriana and Tales of the Dead."

Thanks for that, sounds exactly like what I'd long wanted!

Glad to help! 🙂

David wrote: "Another great and totally forgotten title is Samuel Middleton Fox's 1905 "A Child of the Shore", about a mother who conceives a child after a heinous, diabolical ritual in a loathsome sea-side cave..."

That sounds amazing!
Will try to find an old copy of it.

I just finished reading Catherine M Verschoyle’s 1927 novel Oldham which is pretty obscure but amazingly good and definitely worth bringing back into print. It’s a kind of psychological horror with possible hints of the occult and supernatural, about a psychopathic housekeeper who will stop at nothing to dominate her elderly employers. I seem to recall seeing somewhere that Lovecraft owned a copy. Not sure about copyright etc but well worth looking into!

I've been doing a deep dive into the books of Simon Raven and recently bought your editions of his The Feathers of Death and Doctors Wear Scarlet. Any chance of more Raven? particularly interested in Brother Cain, which is hard to find.