Dramas from the Depths

by Reggie Oliver

A major nine hundred-plus page collection of short stories, articles, and the author's own artwork. The stories from these collections are out of print and can only be found in very expensive limited editions. This collection brings together virtually all of Reggie Oliver's short fiction in a stunning hardcover. Oliver is considered the finest practitioner of classical ghost stories working today, but his tales have a twentieth century sensibility and style that makes them timeless. Bound with printed cloth panels. Each book is signed by Reggie Oliver.

Genres: Horror, Literature

900 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2010

About the author

Reggie Oliver is a stage actor and playwright. His biography of Stella Gibbons was praised as “a triumph” by Hilary Spurling in the Daily Telegraph, his play Winner Takes All, was described as “the funniest evening in London”, by Michael Billington in The Guardian, and his adaptation of Hennequin and Delacour’s Once Bitten opened at the Orange Tree Theatre in London in December 2010.

He is the author of four highly-praised volumes of short fiction: The Dreams of Cardinal Vittorini (Haunted River 2003), The Complete Symphonies of Adolf Hitler (Haunted River 2005), Masques of Satan (Ash Tree 2007), and Madder Mysteries (Ex Occidente 2009). His stories have appeared in over 25 anthologies and, for the third year running, one of his stories appears in The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, the most widely read and popular of contemporary horror anthologies.

Reviews

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This epic-proportioned book has now been officially "read" by me! Before I start babbling about the sheer awesome-ness of the book, let me first recount those moments when I had decided to purchase this book. Following a discussion at All Hallows group regarding Robert Aickman, I, as one of the uninitiated had expressed my ignorance regarding his works, and esp. the definition of "strange tales". In response to my query, Jim Rockhill had provided me with a very concise-and-yet informative view of the vista that is termed "strange stories" (rather than ghost stories, or even supernatural stories), and in the same mail he had recommended me to pursue Reggie Oliver's works, who was already accepted as one of the greatest story-tellers of our time. Then I hit a wall. Out of the four collections of Reggie Oliver's works that had been released till then, only one ("Masques of Satan" from Ash Tree Press) was available, and the others (two from Haunted River Press, one from Ex Occidente) were literally out-of-bounds thanks to the impossible prices that were being charged by the second-hand retailers. Then I got hold of "Masques of Satan" (those were the days when ATP had not gone all "e", and Canada Post must have made a killing from the shipping), and after finishing it I became really restless. Here I had a writer who writes some of the most erudite and lucid narratives that force a shudder down the spine after the first reading, and yet compel repeated readings to find out even more things hidden beneath the description and the dialogues, and I can't find any more of his works! Then came Jerad Walters and Centipede Press published this MASSIVE tome encompassing all the four collections that had been published till then. It goes without saying that I got hold of the book, and then started reading it. David G Rowland and several others have recommended that like all other good things, supernatural/strange tales must be appreciated in small samples, and that I did. In the meanwhile, Egaeus Press released "Shadow Plays" containing a selection of tales from Reggie Oliver's first two collections and a new play, which I duly completed. Tartarus Press released "The Dreams of Cardinal Vittorini" in a truly affordable Paperback version, which was also completed by me. And now, this book also stands "read".

Now, about the book! Like all other books from Centipede Press, this one is also a superlative production befitting libraries full of leather-bound volumes. I didn't come across any typo-s, and its hefty weight (even with acid-free paper, large illustrations, large-sized fonts etc.) compelled a rather disciplined reading! The stories and the non-fiction pieces are already considered essential readings for anybody who is interested in supernatural or strange stories. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

[Canavan · Rating 4 out of 5]

✭✭✭½

“Beside the Shrill Sea” (2002) ✭✭✭✭✭
“Feng Shui” (2003) ✭✭✭½
“In Arcadia” (2003) ✭✭✭½
“Evil Eye” (2003) ✭✭✭
“Tiger in the Snow” (2003) ✭✭✭½
“Miss Marchant’s Cause” (2003) ✭✭✭
“Garden Gods” (2003) ✭✭✭½
“The Black Cathedral” (2003) ✭✭✭✭
“The Golden Basilica” (2003) ✭✭✭½
“The Boy in Green Velvet” (2003) ✭✭✭½
“Death Mask” (2003) ✭✭✭
“A Warning to the Antiquary” (2003) ✭½
“The Garden of Strangers” (2005) ✭✭✭½
“The Seventeenth Sister” (2003) ✭✭✭½
“The Copper Wig” (2003) ✭✭✭✭
“The Dreams of Cardinal Vittorini” (2001) ✭✭✭½
“The Complete Symphonies of Adolf Hitler” (2005) ✭✭✭✭
“Lapland Nights” (2005) ✭✭✭✭
“Among the Tombs” (2005) ✭✭✭½
“The Skins” (2004) ✭✭✭
“The Sermons of Dr. Hodnet” (2005) ✭✭½
“Magus Zoroaster” (2005) ✭✭✭½
“Parma Violets” (2005) ✭✭✭½
“The Time of Blood” (2005) ✭✭✭½
“Difficult People” (2005) ✭✭✭
“The Constant Rake” (2005) ✭✭½
“The Blue Room” (2005) ✭✭½
“A Nightmare Sang” (2005) ✭✭✭½
“The Babe of the Abyss” (2005) ✭✭✭½
“Bloody Bill” (2005) ✭✭✭✭✭
“A Christmas Card” (2005) ✭✭✭
“The Devil’s Number” (2004) ✭✭✭½
“Puss-Cat” (2007) ✭✭✭
“Mr. Poo-Poo” (2007) ✭✭✭
“Grab a Granny Night” (2007) ✭✭✭½
“Mmm-Delicious” (2007) ✭✭✭
“Music by Moonlight” (2007) ✭✭✭
“The Man in the Grey Bedroom” (2007) ✭✭✭✭½
“Blind Man’s Box” (2007) ✭✭✭✭✭
“Shades of the Prison House” (2007) ✭✭✭
“The Silver Cord” (2005) ✭✭✭✭
“The End of History” (2007) ✭✭½
“The Old Silence” (2007) ✭✭✭½
“The Road to Damascus” (2007) ✭✭✭½
“The Children of Monte Rosa” (2007) ✭✭✭½
“A Donkey at the Mysteries” (2008) ✭✭✭✭
“The Devil’s Funeral” (2009) ✭✭✭½
“Baskerville’s Midgets"”(2009) ✭✭✭✭
“The Scholar and the Story Teller: Aspects of M. R. James” [alternate title: “M. R. James: The Scholar and the Story Teller”] (2009) ✭✭✭✭
“Ghost Stories of Another Antiquary: Montague Summers and the Supernatural Tale” (2009) ✭✭✭½
“Stella Gibbons, a Writer and the Supernatural” (2009) ✭✭✭
“Putting on the Surrealist Hat: The Decadent Aesthetic of Jules Charnier” (2008) ✭✭✭
“Religion, Evil, and Obssession in the Ghostly Stories of Henry James” (2007) ✭✭✭
“The Sleeping Portrait of Monkshood Hall” (2006) ✭✭✭½
“Temporary Disappearance of a School” (2009) ✭✭½
“Mrs. Midnight's Animal Comedians” (2009) ✭✭½
“A Cautionary Tale Concerning Beards” (2009) ✭½
“The Rev. Arthur Gasport and His Daemonograph” (2009) ✭✭½

[Charles Schneider · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superb weird tales by a modern master

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Massive collection of all the stories from Oliver's first three collections as well as a selection of pieces from the fourth. Stories are sufficiently different to be read together without tiring of them. Many pieces are reminiscent of the great M.R. James. Wonderfully creepy illustrations by the author. Includes a few essays on subjects like James (both M.R. and Henry)and Stella Gibbons. The only drawback to this book is its size and weight which make it awkward for bedtime reading, although due to the stories' chilling effect maybe this was intentional.