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The Weiser Book of the Fantastic and Forgotten: Tales of the Supernatural, Strange, and Bizarre
The Weiser Book of the Fantastic and Forgotten features classic stories by masters of occult fiction including Dion Fortune, Edgar Allan Poe, Oscar Wilde, H. P. Lovecraft, Bram Stoker, Marie Corelli, R. W. Chambers, and more--the very authors and tales that inspired modern masters like Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, and Nic Pizzolatto. Edited and introduced by leading occult author and scholar Judika Illes, this selection of timeless tales will thrill and chill readers down to their bones. Illes writes, "These collected stories are each powerfully evocative; forgotten in the manner of long-buried treasure. I hope to remedy this situation, transforming the status of these tales from forgotten to favorite. I there is not a single story in this collection that I do not enjoy, even after repeated readings. While wonderful if read silently, the tales reveal their nuances, humor, and suspense with even more potency, if read aloud. During the dark, eerie hours, when the wind is blowing and the ghosts are roaming outside, the night can be filled with pleasant terror." While not all of the stories are forgotten, they are all fantastic. They make us think. They introduce and explore things that perhaps could happen. They encourage our minds to venture beyond the mundane into the realm of the fantastic, to question and redefine reality. Above all, they entertain.
312 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2016
41 people are currently reading
680 people want to read
About the author
Judika Illes
48 books363 followers Born in New York City, my metaphysical career began early: My first encounter with tarot cards at age six was also my first experience of love at first sight! That passion still burns true. Although I do practice other forms of divination, tarot remains the foundation of my practice.
A lifelong pursuit of metaphysical wisdom followed and continues: astrology, mythology, Kabbalah, the Egyptian mysteries as well as spiritual, magical and healing traditions from all over Earth but particularly Africa and Asia.
I've also been a blues and free-form rock and roll disc jockey, a corporate travel consultant specializing in the Caribbean, a skin-care and cosmetics consultant, and a teacher of mythology and multicultural studies. I wrote and edited the Ancient Beauty Secrets section for the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism's monthly online magazine, which integrated modern aromatherapy with ancient methods of body care and decoration.
True love's arrows pierced my heart yet again when I first encountered a vial of essential oil. (Essential oil of frankincense, to be exact, still a favorite.) Essential oils are not true oils but potent plant extracts. Modern aromatherapy, with its roots stretching back to ancient China, Egypt, Mesopotamia and the Middle East, is the manipulation of essential oils for therapeutic and cosmetic purposes. Essential oils are perhaps the purest, most potent expression of a plant's power and play a profound role in rituals, potions and spells. Many are powerful aphrodisiacs and may be used to enhance health, beauty and peace of mind.
Following over a decade of independent study, I earned a certificate in therapeutic aromatherapy. I served on the faculty of the Australasian College of Herbal Studies as an aromatherapy tutor, teaching the certification program.
My special passion for almost fifteen years has been magical and traditional approaches to fertility. Originally stimulated by own reproductive challenges, I was frustrated by the medical options offered to me. I went searching for other avenues, gentle Earth and female-friendly solutions and found them: a vast repository of women's wisdom. Two children and many years later, I still search and research, impressed and empowered by thousands of years of women's inventiveness, endurance, defiance and humor.
A lifelong pursuit of metaphysical wisdom followed and continues: astrology, mythology, Kabbalah, the Egyptian mysteries as well as spiritual, magical and healing traditions from all over Earth but particularly Africa and Asia.
I've also been a blues and free-form rock and roll disc jockey, a corporate travel consultant specializing in the Caribbean, a skin-care and cosmetics consultant, and a teacher of mythology and multicultural studies. I wrote and edited the Ancient Beauty Secrets section for the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism's monthly online magazine, which integrated modern aromatherapy with ancient methods of body care and decoration.
True love's arrows pierced my heart yet again when I first encountered a vial of essential oil. (Essential oil of frankincense, to be exact, still a favorite.) Essential oils are not true oils but potent plant extracts. Modern aromatherapy, with its roots stretching back to ancient China, Egypt, Mesopotamia and the Middle East, is the manipulation of essential oils for therapeutic and cosmetic purposes. Essential oils are perhaps the purest, most potent expression of a plant's power and play a profound role in rituals, potions and spells. Many are powerful aphrodisiacs and may be used to enhance health, beauty and peace of mind.
Following over a decade of independent study, I earned a certificate in therapeutic aromatherapy. I served on the faculty of the Australasian College of Herbal Studies as an aromatherapy tutor, teaching the certification program.
My special passion for almost fifteen years has been magical and traditional approaches to fertility. Originally stimulated by own reproductive challenges, I was frustrated by the medical options offered to me. I went searching for other avenues, gentle Earth and female-friendly solutions and found them: a vast repository of women's wisdom. Two children and many years later, I still search and research, impressed and empowered by thousands of years of women's inventiveness, endurance, defiance and humor.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 19, 2024
A really neat medley of stories! There was a range from dark comedy to true horror. Well-arranged.
November 18, 2016
I received this book for free from a Goodreads giveaway. I don't believe that that affected my opinion of it, but felt I should point that out, just in case ...
At first glance, I wasn't sure what to make of this book. Based on the cover, I was expecting some compendium of esoteric facts and allegedly true tales of real hauntings and/or mysterious creatures and the like. But, reading the back cover copy, I discovered that it was fiction, short stories dealing with the supernatural and the bizarre. And what a collection of writers: Poe, Lovecraft, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, Arthur Machen, R.W. Chambers, and more! I think what sealed the deal for me was Lord Dunsany, whose work I've found, over the years, is always worth reading.
Judika Illes has done a remarkable job of curating this collection. The lineup is a pleasing mix of familiar and unfamiliar names, and, in the case of the former at least, she's chosen lesser known tales that only hardcore fans of those writers will likely have encountered before--okay, yes, "The Monkey's Paw," is an exception, but, as she points out in her introduction, while many people may be familiar with the general story, comparatively few have actually read the original. Her brief introductions to each story are interesting and highly informative--I had no idea, for instance, that Algernon Blackwood had not only worked as an artist's model, but had actually posed for a painting by Robert W. Chambers (both writers have stories in this book.)
Overall, this is an excellent anthology of classic horror tales. It lends itself very well to being read aloud by flickering candlelight. While I was previously familiar with the work of a few of these writers, I can see that I need to seek out books by quite a few more ... Highly recommended!
At first glance, I wasn't sure what to make of this book. Based on the cover, I was expecting some compendium of esoteric facts and allegedly true tales of real hauntings and/or mysterious creatures and the like. But, reading the back cover copy, I discovered that it was fiction, short stories dealing with the supernatural and the bizarre. And what a collection of writers: Poe, Lovecraft, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, Arthur Machen, R.W. Chambers, and more! I think what sealed the deal for me was Lord Dunsany, whose work I've found, over the years, is always worth reading.
Judika Illes has done a remarkable job of curating this collection. The lineup is a pleasing mix of familiar and unfamiliar names, and, in the case of the former at least, she's chosen lesser known tales that only hardcore fans of those writers will likely have encountered before--okay, yes, "The Monkey's Paw," is an exception, but, as she points out in her introduction, while many people may be familiar with the general story, comparatively few have actually read the original. Her brief introductions to each story are interesting and highly informative--I had no idea, for instance, that Algernon Blackwood had not only worked as an artist's model, but had actually posed for a painting by Robert W. Chambers (both writers have stories in this book.)
Overall, this is an excellent anthology of classic horror tales. It lends itself very well to being read aloud by flickering candlelight. While I was previously familiar with the work of a few of these writers, I can see that I need to seek out books by quite a few more ... Highly recommended!
July 17, 2017
Find my review in Spiral Nature Magazine.
February 18, 2018
Some very good, relatively unknown gothic horror in here. My particular favorites were Oscar Wilde's delightful "The Canterville Ghost," the unnerving "The Yellow Sign" by Robert W. Chambers, the very short but powerful "The Guest" by Lord Dunsany, and the intriguing, well-spun tale of horror by Hanns Heinz Ewers, "The Spider." There were a few other good ones, and a few duds, but this book definitely is a good compilation.
September 1, 2022
Interesting book...all the stories are very old, but some of them are really good. Some of them not so much. The ones that I really liked where The Spider and Monkey's Paw. Those are the two that stood out, but there were some other good ones also.
Great if you like short stories.
Great if you like short stories.
June 23, 2018
an Atlantean dose of the golden age of horrors, give us a loophole when we yielding to the atavistic side and the offspring between the dark and the unknown
November 7, 2016
I received this book through a goodreads giveaway.
I was really excited about receiving this book. I like strange stories that feature the supernatural, and I found Judika Illes introduction to the stories really interesting. Anyone who is interested in the stories of H.P. Lovecraft or other older writers who featured the supernatural would find this book interesting.
While I did not connect with all of the stories, I did connect with enough of them that I was able to enjoy the book. This book is a collection of short stories, and as such their is a little bit of something for everyone. While I had never read any H.P. Lovecraft stories before, I have read comics inspired by his work, and I have read other fictional stories from the same period. Most of the stories are easily readable even if you are not used to reading older fiction, and I found that some of the stories felt as if they could have been written just this year. I think this is a good book for anyone looking to get into strange tales from the past and is a good jumping off point for discovering authors that are not as well known. I liked that Judika Illes chose stories from those that are very famous currently, along with stories from authors who I had never heard of.
I was really excited about receiving this book. I like strange stories that feature the supernatural, and I found Judika Illes introduction to the stories really interesting. Anyone who is interested in the stories of H.P. Lovecraft or other older writers who featured the supernatural would find this book interesting.
While I did not connect with all of the stories, I did connect with enough of them that I was able to enjoy the book. This book is a collection of short stories, and as such their is a little bit of something for everyone. While I had never read any H.P. Lovecraft stories before, I have read comics inspired by his work, and I have read other fictional stories from the same period. Most of the stories are easily readable even if you are not used to reading older fiction, and I found that some of the stories felt as if they could have been written just this year. I think this is a good book for anyone looking to get into strange tales from the past and is a good jumping off point for discovering authors that are not as well known. I liked that Judika Illes chose stories from those that are very famous currently, along with stories from authors who I had never heard of.
November 8, 2016
I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway.
Overall I enjoyed this book. It is a collection of excerpts or short stories that are strange and largely forgotten. If you read a lot of classic horror books you may have already seen some of these. For example, the first story is an excerpt from Dracula.
The rest of the stories were kind of a mixed bad. Some where legitimately weird and interesting and others were incredibly dull. However, I think the interesting stories made up for the boring ones.
Overall I enjoyed this book. It is a collection of excerpts or short stories that are strange and largely forgotten. If you read a lot of classic horror books you may have already seen some of these. For example, the first story is an excerpt from Dracula.
The rest of the stories were kind of a mixed bad. Some where legitimately weird and interesting and others were incredibly dull. However, I think the interesting stories made up for the boring ones.
April 9, 2019
Great collection of short stories. Gave me a glimpse into some well-known authors that I had yet to read. The last two stories were my favorite!
January 7, 2017
Excellent! My first book in english! I Loved! I think... I'll read this again :)
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews