James Chambers's Blog

Thrilled to share this spectacular cover for my new anthology, WHERE THE SILENT ONES WATCH, created by Dan Sauer! Coming this fall from Hippocampus Press (preorder links below), the anthology features stories and poems by a fantastic line-up of contributors inspired by the literary worlds of William Hope Hodgson.

Preorder now from Hippocampus Press! And don’t miss their new collection of some of William Hope Hodgson’s best stories, The Voice in the Night!

WHERE THE SILENT ONES WATCH

Stories of the Borderland, the Night Land, the Sargasso Sea, and more!

William Hope Hodgson’s writing life spanned fourteen years, during which he published novels and stories of the adventurous, the fantastic, and the horrific. Best known, perhaps, for his novel, The House on the Borderland, Hodgson wrote several other landmark weird works, including The Boats of the Glen Carrig, The Ghost Pirates, and The Night Land, as well as dozens of short stories. He explored places in the ocean where realities overlapped, described the horrors of a house built beside a gap between dimensions, and transported readers to a desolate future, where abhuman monstrosities prowl. He displayed imaginative visions of staggering scope unlike any others in literature.

In this anthology, twenty-seven authors and poets visit Hodgson’s worlds and concepts to dig deep into his mythologies and delve into fresh mysteries in unexpected times, locations, and interpretations. Whether or not you’ve read Hodgson’s works, these visions of Hodgsonian horror will lead you into strange, liminal, and frightening new landscapes of the weird and fantastic.

Authors include: Linda D. Addison • David Agranoff • Meghan Arcuri • Sal Ciano • Michael Cisco • L.E. Daniels • Andy Davidson • Aaron Dries • Patrick Freivald • Teel James Glenn • Maxwell Ian Gold • Nancy Holder • Todd Keisling • John Langan • Adrian Ludens • Lee Murray • Lisa Morton • Peter Rawlik • Sam Rebelein • Ann K. Schwader • Steve Rasnic Tem • Tim Waggoner • Wendy N. Wagner • Kyla Lee Ward • Robert Waters • L. Marie Wood • Stephanie Wytovich

I’m thrilled to share the so-far announced contributors to WHERE THE SILENT ONES WATCH. Watch for more announcements and a preorder link coming soon!

I’m pleased to announce my forthcoming, all-new anthology of stories and poems inspired by the writings and worlds of William Hope Hodgson, WHERE THE SILENT ONES WATCH, to be released in 2024 by Hippocampus Press. Stay tuned for announcements about the contributors, the cover, and the publication date.

Far ahead down this strange and winding road await fourteen visions of alternate realities. Worlds of the distant past and the far future. Worlds where people forget they possess the power to fly, where artists’ creations overtake their creators, and where the bond of human and machine defines existence. Worlds where magic changed history, reality runs fluid, and planets imprison terrible secrets. Worlds within worlds where technology makes people into ghosts who possess bodies, where refugees from another dimension shatter everyday life, and where answers to the mysteries of existence lie on the far side of an all-encompassing darkness.

From a forgotten sitcom about walruses to the truth behind an interplanetary war, from the steampunk streets of New Alexandria to an enigmatic flood world where people surrender themselves to things that live beneath the water, each of these stories marks a single stop….on the Hierophant Road. Featuring the all-new novella, “Long the Night and Low the Flame.”

Order from Raw Dog Screaming Press. (Preorder here for signed hardcovers.)

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“Chambers enthralls with this disquieting and eclectic collection of bizarro tales which span the galaxy, the ages, and the human psyche, On the Hierophant Road reasserting his role as a veritable master of new pulp.”—Lee Murray, two-time Bram Stoker Award®-Winner and author of Grotesque: Monster Stories

“…the work really sings when its weirdness is married to narrative tropes readers know well. Readers searching for something unexpected will find a lot to admire in this ambitious, inventive collection.” —Library Journal

“These tales are united by their slightly askew proximity to reality with just enough detail to immerse readers in the well-built worlds and sympathetic protagonists, both of which drive each story. All are satisfyingly unsettling, with tones ranging from existential terror to an uneasy sense of awe. For fans of the new breed of dark-speculative-fiction writers who actively play with genre confines to create reads that are inventive, thought-provoking, and creepily fun…” —Booklist starred review, Becky Spratford

Now available in hardcover and paperback from Moonstone Books, my newest Kolchak novella. For the first time Carl Kolchak encounters an evil so monstrous and unimaginable he must team up with Blackshirt, Flint, Foxy Brown, Mr. Keen, Pat Novak for Hire, and T.H.E. Cat to confront the threats in the darkness. Kolchak and the Night Stalkers: The Faceless God launches a new era in Kolchak stories.

Join me and fellow local horror author, Robert P. Ottone, for an evening of “campfire stories” about Long Island’s eeriest local legends and myths! Courtesy of the Syosset Public Library, we’ll present, via Zoom webinar, the strange lore and even stranger facts surrounding such notable LI mysteries as the ghosts of Sweet Hollow Road, the Amityville Horror, Men in Black and UFO sightings in Mt. Misery, the Lady of Lake Ronkonkoma, Camp Hero and the Montauk Project, Mary’s Grave and many others. Sign on using Zoom Webinar ID 875 2624 5970, no registration needed, and join us for a presentation perfect for summer chills–to be followed by Q&A. Part of the Summer Scares program sponsored by the Horror Writers Association.

“I pray God will curse the writer, as the writer has cursed the world with this beautiful, stupendous creation, terrible in its simplicity, irresistible in its truth…” –Robert W. Chambers, “The Repairer of Reputations”

Hippocampus Press and editor James Chambers are excited to announce the all-new anthology, Under Twin Suns: Alternate Histories of the Yellow Sign, is available now for preorder from Hippocampus Press and Amazon.

Featuring Stories By: Marc Abbott • Linda D. Addison • Meghan Arcuri • Greg Chapman • J.G. Faherty • Trevor Firetog • Patrick Freivald • Carol Gyzander • Todd Keisling • John Langan • Curtis Lawson • Adrian Ludens • Lisa Morton • Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. • Sarah Read • Kathleen Scheiner • Ann K. Schwader • Darrell Schweitzer • J. Daniel Stone • Steven Van Patten • Tim Waggoner • Kaaron Warren

“When I first read The King in Yellow some twenty-five years ago,” said publisher Derrick Hussey, “I experienced a genuine ‘kick’ of otherworldliness that I don’t run across very often. It’s a thrill to feel that frisson again in the works of these modern writers, and an honor to publish their tales.”

Robert W. Chambers’ classic work of weird fiction, “The Repairer of Reputations,” introduced the world to “The King in Yellow,” a play in two acts, banned for its reputed power to drive mad anyone who reads its complete text. “The Yellow Sign,” used the experiences of an artist and his model to elaborate on the mythos of the Yellow King and the Yellow Sign. In those tales Chambers crafted fascinating glimpses of a cosmos populated by conspiracies, government-sanctioned suicide chambers, haunted artists, premonitions of death, unreliable narrators—and dark, enigmatic occurrences tainted by the alien world of Carcosa, where the King rules in his tattered yellow mantle. In Carcosa, black stars rise and Cassilda and Camilla speak and sing. In Carcosa, eyes peer from within pallid masks to gaze across Lake Hali at the setting of twin suns. 

“When I began work on this anthology in the summer of 2019, I never imagined how much would change in the world or how eerily relevant the concept of the Pallid Mask referenced in the King in Yellow stories would become. I’m thrilled to present this collection of amazing, weird stories from a group of supremely talented writers.”

In this anthology, twenty-two authors who found the Yellow Sign, share their harrowing visions of worlds shaped by its influence in stories and poems inspired by Chamber’s foundational works of weird horror. From the personal to the historic, from the macabre to the fantastic, the stories and poems gathered here illuminate new, unexpected realities shaped by the King in Yellow, under the sway of the Yellow Sign, or in the grip of madnesses inspired by their power. What terrifying knowledge and unsettling experiences have these creative souls ushered into our world? What visions do they bring from Carcosa, from beneath the mantle of the Yellow King—from under twin suns?

We are especially pleased to include a previously unpublished novella, “less… light…” by the late Joseph S. Pulver, whose stories and anthologies did so much to help the King in Yellow mythos stand on its own in weird fiction.

Coming this summer from Hippocampus Press, Under Twin Suns: Alternate Histories of the Yellow Sign, featuring stories by some of the most powerful writers in dark fiction, spinning their visions of “The King in Yellow.” Look for the cover reveal, with art by Aeron Alfrey, on Ink Heist, Monday, May 3.

TEASER 1–More Authors to Be Announced Soon!

I’m honored to have contributed an essay, “The Birth and Death of John Constantine: A Critical Analysis of Hellblazer #4 and #40,” to this new non-fiction collection exploring the influence and lore of what is probably the most important and influential modern horror comic book series. The original run of Hellblazer, 1 through 40, written by Jamie Delano had an incredible influence on my work as a writer, equal to that of reading other genre authors, such as Ray Bradbury, Neil Gaiman, and Shirley Jackson. To be in a book with a foreword by Mr. Delano is a genuine treat. If you’re a Hellblazer fan or want to learn more about the character, give this book a look.

Many thanks to all the contributors who have made this a fantasitc collection and especially thanks to editors Rich Handley and Lou Tambone for their tireless work in editing this book–and for including me! THe book is now on sale via Amazon and The Sequart Organization. From the book description:

“British occultist John Constantine elevated Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing, and it wasn’t long before John had his own spinoff comic titled John Constantine: Hellblazer. This anthology, edited by Rich Handley and Lou Tambone (of Sequart’s Somewhere Beyond the Heavens: Exploring Battlestar Galactica), examines the mage’s history from his earliest appearances to the present – not only in Swamp Thing and Hellblazer, but on film and television as well – with a special foreword by none other than Hellblazer’s creator himself, Jamie Delano. Constantine has a weakness for narcotics, alcohol, and sex; an unnatural obsession with the occult; and a long list of lovers he’s betrayed, hurt, and discarded. He’s slain his twin brother in the womb, taunted Satan, outwitted demons and angels, been trapped in Hell, and even fathered an elemental. No matter what the universe throws at him, he somehow always seems to come out on top… though his loved ones have usually ended up caught in the crossfire. At times, John can be a bastard. He has questionable hygiene and a lack of ethics, and he’ll likely hurt anyone foolish enough to let him into their lives. But John is nonetheless a hero – well, a Byronic hero, in any case. As fans, we wouldn’t have him any other way. The book features essays by Ade Brown, John E. Boylan, James Chambers, Julianne Clancy, Nancy A. Collins, Brian Cronin, Joseph Dilworth Jr., Sabrina Fried, Alex Galer, Richard Gray, Robert Greenberger, Rich Handley, Robert Jeschonek, Ross Johnson, Martín A. Pérez, Draško Roganović, Frank Schildiner, Tony Simmons, Lou Tambone, John Trumbull, James Wilkinson, and Genevieve Williams, with a cover by Leah Mangue.