What do you think?
Rate this book
Books of Occult Fiction of Many Colours #6
The Onyx Book of Occult Fiction
The Onyx Book of Occult Fiction, the sixth volume of the books of occult fiction of many colours, brings together fifteen tales by masters of contemporary occult fiction. Including stories by both familiar names, such as Reggie Oliver and Mark Valentine, and others by mysterious practitioners, such as Avalon Brantley and R. Ostermeier, the present instalment is certain to appeal to those adherents and occult enthusiasts proceeding along the paths on both the right and left hand side of the deep lakes of the esoteric literature of the fantastic.
Containing a varied and rich array of stories, about hidden wellsprings of ancient power, vengeful incantations, a cacophonous séance, an invisible city, strenuous rites, and the ecstatic revelations of forgotten religious sects, among other things, The Onyx Book of Occult Fiction, edited by Damian Murphy, is an indispensable addition to any library of the supernatural and occult.
Containing a varied and rich array of stories, about hidden wellsprings of ancient power, vengeful incantations, a cacophonous séance, an invisible city, strenuous rites, and the ecstatic revelations of forgotten religious sects, among other things, The Onyx Book of Occult Fiction, edited by Damian Murphy, is an indispensable addition to any library of the supernatural and occult.
- GenresFiction
326 pages, Paperback
First published December 3, 2024
71 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 26, 2025
more to come shortly
for now: As it happens, I ended up finishing this book about 5 a.m. this past Friday morning, completely unable to put it down the entire night. Let me just say that after the last story, "The Dreaming Plateau" by Martin Locker, I was so disturbed that there was no way I was going to fall asleep. That's a good thing, as is this book, which is a volume full of outstanding writing excellence.
more soon --
for now: As it happens, I ended up finishing this book about 5 a.m. this past Friday morning, completely unable to put it down the entire night. Let me just say that after the last story, "The Dreaming Plateau" by Martin Locker, I was so disturbed that there was no way I was going to fall asleep. That's a good thing, as is this book, which is a volume full of outstanding writing excellence.
more soon --
June 26, 2025
The sixth (!) collection in Snuggly Books' Occult Fiction anthology series changes track a little from the previous volumes, focusing on contemporary works from the independent publishing underground instead to the vintage texts compiled previously. Those who've perused my reviews will be aware of my enthusiasm for the writings of Damian Murphy, who takes the helm as editor and serves up one of the best stories in the collection in "Saint Severina's Fire", a striking tale that explores the osmotic zone of epiphany and epilepsy. Other highlights also come from the Neo-Decadent camp, where Justin Isis updates Book of Occult Fiction alumni Mary Butts's eerie psychogeography for 21st century Tokyo in "The Underground Room", and Brendan Connell serves up an absolutely madcap romp through 19th c. Prague with "The Chymical Wedding of Des Esseintes." Rounding things off are R. Ostermeier's haunting Brythonic rite "The Bearing" and a final piece from Martin Locker that gets more than a little Dunsanian in the best possible way.
While a few earlier pieces dig their heels a little too deeply into the past and suffer for it, in terms of sheer writing strength this is probably the best volume from the Occult Fiction of Many Colours series. I'd love to see another volume that zooms in even closer to the present day, with more writers outside of the Anglosphere - I'm sure writers like Kristine Ong-Muslim or Arturo Calderon H. could provide some absolutely stunning and original material for the occult fiction corpus. For now, though, both the uninitiated and the adept could greatly benefit from casting their eyes over the spoils collected in The Onyx Book of Occult Fiction.
While a few earlier pieces dig their heels a little too deeply into the past and suffer for it, in terms of sheer writing strength this is probably the best volume from the Occult Fiction of Many Colours series. I'd love to see another volume that zooms in even closer to the present day, with more writers outside of the Anglosphere - I'm sure writers like Kristine Ong-Muslim or Arturo Calderon H. could provide some absolutely stunning and original material for the occult fiction corpus. For now, though, both the uninitiated and the adept could greatly benefit from casting their eyes over the spoils collected in The Onyx Book of Occult Fiction.
December 12, 2024
Well-edited by Damian Murphy, collects lots of out of print and unavailable material.
January 23, 2025
The first modern anthology brought to you by Snuggly Book in their definitive series, numbering 6 volumes thus far. The editor is none other than the pre-eminent author of the occult working today.
In his introduction, Damian Murphy invokes a wide-range of authors tangential or central to his understanding of literature of the occult persuasion. Meyrink, J. C. Powys, Lispector, John Howard, Danilo Kiš, George Berguño, among others. I am familiar with most of them, but never regarded them in an occult light before. One would assume that Occult fiction with a capital O must be written by practicing occultists, but in his generous view, DM opines that many works lie adjacent to the genre, and may reach toward dark corners of the human soul.
Readers who approach the collection demanding concrete answers may be frustrated by the open-ended nature of the tales. Some may not resolve to your satisfaction, but most will leave an indelible impression. I encourage you instead to enjoy the mystery, relish the prospect of the unknown. The bulk of all possible knowledge is not only unknown but unknowable, and this collection amply illustrates vast swathes of uncommon spiritual experience.
Reggie Oliver, the author who most resembles Robert Aickman, is represented here, along with rare pieces culled from obscurity by our worthy editor.
These are paramours of atmospheric writing, employing a decidedly and purposefully antiquated style. You will encounter cityscapes haunted by ethereal architecture, drug hazes subsuming plebeian attitudes, quiet violence undermining the sacred silence of out of the way places, sidelong discussions of alternative societies, meetings in secret locales, mischievous people holding undisclosed communications with otherworldly entities, etc.
Without going into too much detail about Gnostic teachings, some stories here discuss the topic in loose terms, but do not resort to preaching, typically weaving it through the narrative.
They are nearly all narration, never relying on the contemporary fad of cinematic scenes unfolding through dialogue and gesticulations, rather operating through storytelling, the way ancestors scared one another around the bonfire.
A sentence or two about each of the fifteen tales is warranted.
Justin Isis - The Underground Room - I stay awake at night wondering when Justin Isis will release more books. He is definitely holding out on us. Every story he releases must be cherished. This story merely describes a room, somewhere in Tokyo, and what it means to certain people. The story is magnificent, like everything the author has penned. You will never find a word out of place, nor will any conventional scenarios play out in one of his tales. Only ineffable nostalgias coalescing before you alongside profound dislocations from the ordinary.
Thomas Phillips - Alyssa - While I appreciated the aesthetics, I felt that this story, while polished on the sentence level, wandered a bit. It possessed the requisite tone but left me wanting more.
Benjamin Tweddell - The Dance of Abraxas - quintessential Occult storytelling.
Thomas Strømsholt - In Search of the Hidden City - a seemingly enchanted backyard not present on ordinary maps serves as the terrifying dénouement, after an examination of ancient charts of Copenhagen reveals remarkable layers to the city infrastructure. The inconsistencies seem to hint at a superpositions of cities. History as palimpsest. Reminiscent of Catie Disabato's The Ghost Network.
Reggie Oliver - The Children of Monte Rosa - A child exploring the enigmatic grounds of a decadent mansion, fondling luscious antiques which harbor a nightmarish secret. Some lighthearted discussion about cricket no American will understand serves as a red herring in an ultimately chilling tale worthy of the author's unequaled mystique.
Avalon Brantley - Under Different Stars - I'm sorry but I found this incomprehensible. I will return to reread the story one day.
Farah Rose Smith - The Witch is the Body - a more traditional story of dark tensions and social disturbance.
Colin Insole - Flower of the Sun - Alchemists seek the elixir but uncover cursed objects and a mythological manuscript. The physical relics affect the spiritual stability of the characters. Journal entries make for an engrossing technique.
Adam S. Cantwell - Moonpaths of the Departed - an exploration of primeval caves. Well-constructed and hyperbolically poetic. Will seek out more Cantwell to add to my collection.
Brendan Connell - The Chymical Wedding of Des Esseintes - in line with the author's book Against the Grain Again, he details a meeting in the famous character's perspective which, more than anything, serves as a demonstration of the author's casual powers of description.
Mark Valentine - A Walled Garden of the Bosphorus - a work of scholarship, enlightening as it is entertaining, if inconclusive. I surmise that a dip into the author's other works would be a worthy endeavor.
Ron Weighell - The Four Strengths of Shadow - describing the contents of a Baroque library's esoteric collection. Intrigues burbling under luscious prose.
R. Ostermeier - The Bearing - somewhat drab, but definitely relevant to a discussion of Occult tendencies, and aesthetically pleasing.
Damian Murphy - St. Severina's Fire - The master resurrects one of his lesser known pieces. Rendered in the form of magnificent diary entries, the main character searches through holy and pornographic publications in search of secret signs, symbols and mismatched objects, and seems enthralled by pernicious curiosity. Beset by frequent attacks of a mysterious malady, he suffers strange visions, communing with a saint, invoking her through every action in the hope of dissolving within her radiance and thereby eradicating his affliction. This is the stuff of ungraspable dreams, touching on the sudden awareness of manifold layers of reality, poignantly wrestling with inner uncertainties. I can attest to the author's prowess in depicting alternate states and the slow-creeping apprehension of forces outside human agency. Utterly wounding.
Martin Locker - The Dreaming Plateau - A very convincing foray into unfamiliar territory. Immaculately written. I will seek out more of the author's work.
I would welcome further volumes in the series and will likely obtain a few outstanding entries in short order.
In his introduction, Damian Murphy invokes a wide-range of authors tangential or central to his understanding of literature of the occult persuasion. Meyrink, J. C. Powys, Lispector, John Howard, Danilo Kiš, George Berguño, among others. I am familiar with most of them, but never regarded them in an occult light before. One would assume that Occult fiction with a capital O must be written by practicing occultists, but in his generous view, DM opines that many works lie adjacent to the genre, and may reach toward dark corners of the human soul.
Readers who approach the collection demanding concrete answers may be frustrated by the open-ended nature of the tales. Some may not resolve to your satisfaction, but most will leave an indelible impression. I encourage you instead to enjoy the mystery, relish the prospect of the unknown. The bulk of all possible knowledge is not only unknown but unknowable, and this collection amply illustrates vast swathes of uncommon spiritual experience.
Reggie Oliver, the author who most resembles Robert Aickman, is represented here, along with rare pieces culled from obscurity by our worthy editor.
These are paramours of atmospheric writing, employing a decidedly and purposefully antiquated style. You will encounter cityscapes haunted by ethereal architecture, drug hazes subsuming plebeian attitudes, quiet violence undermining the sacred silence of out of the way places, sidelong discussions of alternative societies, meetings in secret locales, mischievous people holding undisclosed communications with otherworldly entities, etc.
Without going into too much detail about Gnostic teachings, some stories here discuss the topic in loose terms, but do not resort to preaching, typically weaving it through the narrative.
They are nearly all narration, never relying on the contemporary fad of cinematic scenes unfolding through dialogue and gesticulations, rather operating through storytelling, the way ancestors scared one another around the bonfire.
A sentence or two about each of the fifteen tales is warranted.
Justin Isis - The Underground Room - I stay awake at night wondering when Justin Isis will release more books. He is definitely holding out on us. Every story he releases must be cherished. This story merely describes a room, somewhere in Tokyo, and what it means to certain people. The story is magnificent, like everything the author has penned. You will never find a word out of place, nor will any conventional scenarios play out in one of his tales. Only ineffable nostalgias coalescing before you alongside profound dislocations from the ordinary.
Thomas Phillips - Alyssa - While I appreciated the aesthetics, I felt that this story, while polished on the sentence level, wandered a bit. It possessed the requisite tone but left me wanting more.
Benjamin Tweddell - The Dance of Abraxas - quintessential Occult storytelling.
Thomas Strømsholt - In Search of the Hidden City - a seemingly enchanted backyard not present on ordinary maps serves as the terrifying dénouement, after an examination of ancient charts of Copenhagen reveals remarkable layers to the city infrastructure. The inconsistencies seem to hint at a superpositions of cities. History as palimpsest. Reminiscent of Catie Disabato's The Ghost Network.
Reggie Oliver - The Children of Monte Rosa - A child exploring the enigmatic grounds of a decadent mansion, fondling luscious antiques which harbor a nightmarish secret. Some lighthearted discussion about cricket no American will understand serves as a red herring in an ultimately chilling tale worthy of the author's unequaled mystique.
Avalon Brantley - Under Different Stars - I'm sorry but I found this incomprehensible. I will return to reread the story one day.
Farah Rose Smith - The Witch is the Body - a more traditional story of dark tensions and social disturbance.
Colin Insole - Flower of the Sun - Alchemists seek the elixir but uncover cursed objects and a mythological manuscript. The physical relics affect the spiritual stability of the characters. Journal entries make for an engrossing technique.
Adam S. Cantwell - Moonpaths of the Departed - an exploration of primeval caves. Well-constructed and hyperbolically poetic. Will seek out more Cantwell to add to my collection.
Brendan Connell - The Chymical Wedding of Des Esseintes - in line with the author's book Against the Grain Again, he details a meeting in the famous character's perspective which, more than anything, serves as a demonstration of the author's casual powers of description.
Mark Valentine - A Walled Garden of the Bosphorus - a work of scholarship, enlightening as it is entertaining, if inconclusive. I surmise that a dip into the author's other works would be a worthy endeavor.
Ron Weighell - The Four Strengths of Shadow - describing the contents of a Baroque library's esoteric collection. Intrigues burbling under luscious prose.
R. Ostermeier - The Bearing - somewhat drab, but definitely relevant to a discussion of Occult tendencies, and aesthetically pleasing.
Damian Murphy - St. Severina's Fire - The master resurrects one of his lesser known pieces. Rendered in the form of magnificent diary entries, the main character searches through holy and pornographic publications in search of secret signs, symbols and mismatched objects, and seems enthralled by pernicious curiosity. Beset by frequent attacks of a mysterious malady, he suffers strange visions, communing with a saint, invoking her through every action in the hope of dissolving within her radiance and thereby eradicating his affliction. This is the stuff of ungraspable dreams, touching on the sudden awareness of manifold layers of reality, poignantly wrestling with inner uncertainties. I can attest to the author's prowess in depicting alternate states and the slow-creeping apprehension of forces outside human agency. Utterly wounding.
Martin Locker - The Dreaming Plateau - A very convincing foray into unfamiliar territory. Immaculately written. I will seek out more of the author's work.
I would welcome further volumes in the series and will likely obtain a few outstanding entries in short order.
June 22, 2025
My first foray into multi-author anthologies, and I really enjoyed this. Murphy did a great job compiling a diverse selection. Standouts for me (aside from the stories by R. Ostermeier and Martin Locker with which I was already familiar and love) were Benjamin Tweddell and Adam S Cantwell’s contributions, as well as Murphy’s own. Tweddell’s in particular felt essential.
December 12, 2024
entire collection of exceedingly high quality
July 23, 2025
Top-notch dread. A standout story is R. Ostermeier's "The Bearing" and Martin Locker's "The Dreaming Plateau."
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews