The Alabaster Book of Occult Fiction

Books of Occult Fiction of Many Colours #4

by Brian M. Stableford (Editor), Jules Bois, Jean Richepin

The Alabaster Book of Occult Fiction, the fourth in a series of books of occult fiction of many colors, brings together twenty-one tales from the French occult revival of the nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century. Including key figures, such as Jules Bois and the esoterist Jean-Gaston Buorgeat, and numerous other practitioners, such as Jane de La Vaudère and Claude Vignon, the ex-wife of Éliphas Lévi, this volume, much of the contents of which appears in English for the first time, is sure to give new insight into one of the most interesting periods of the occult. Containing a varied and rich array of stories, about necromancy and magnetism, seers and mystical love, The Alabaster Book of Occult Fiction, edited and translated by Brian Stableford, who also supplies a brilliant, scholarly introduction, is an indispensable addition to any library of the supernatural and occult.

362 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 2023

About the author

Brian Michael Stableford was a British science fiction writer who published more than 70 novels. His earlier books were published under the name Brian M. Stableford, but more recent ones have dropped the middle initial and appeared under the name Brian Stableford. He also used the pseudonym Brian Craig for a couple of very early works, and again for a few more recent works. The pseudonym derives from the first names of himself and of a school friend from the 1960s, Craig A. Mackintosh, with whom he jointly published some very early work.

Reviews

[Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fascinating volume in this wonderful series, focusing, for the most part, on 19th century French writers (i.e. from the First Empire through the Belle Epoque). Stableford’s selections emphasize the relative proximity of occult fantasy to contes philosophiques (as opposed to horror as such). He also helpfully points out in his Introduction the political conditions that made occult fantasy especially attractive as an allegorical mode (i.e. as a way to avoid censorship and persecution under the Second Empire and during the tumultuous years of the Franco-Prussian War).