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Pagan Triptych
ROMANCES OF THE WHITE DAY, a volume in tribute to Arthur Machen by three (new) impostors, appeared from Sarob Press in May 2015. Rosemary Pardoe (in ‘The Ghosts & Scholars MR James Newsletter’) called the volume “... the most consistently excellent collection of stories I’ve read for years.”Encouraged by the success of the Machen homage the impostors turned their thoughts toward ALGERNON BLACKWOOD ... PAGAN TRIPTYCH is the rather fabulous result. Here are three spectacular novelettes inspired by the writings of ‘The Ghost Man’.Once again each ‘impostor’ has added an afterword to their story. And Paul Lowe has provided a splendidly evocative full colour wrap jacket painting and a deliciously creepy B&W illustration for the signature page.No further preamble is required ... you all know this one won’t be around for long!Ron Weighell ... THE LETTER KILLETH ... a tale of ancient secrets, a book of shadows and dark magicJohn Howard ... IN THE CLEARING ... the mystery of trees, new beginnings and the truth of thingsMark Valentine ... THE FIG GARDEN ... a childhood game, strange rituals and pagan worshipPAGAN TRIPTYCH is a Lithographically Printed, Hand Numbered Limited Edition Hardcover, Bound in Wibalin (fine linen style), Foil Blocked to spine, Colour Dust-Jacket with wrap cover art, 80gsm Munken Premium Cream Bookwove, 16pp Section Sewn Binding, Head & Tailbands, Ribbon Marker & Coloured Endpapers. Tipped-in SIGNATURE PAGE on fine ivory parchment paper with extra B&W art and SIGNED by all three authors.
121 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2016
About the author
Mark Valentine
271 books137 followersMark Valentine is an English author, biographer and editor.
Valentine’s short stories have been published by a number of small presses and in anthologies since the 1980s, and the exploits of his series character, "The Connoisseur", an occult detective, were published as The Collected Connoisseur in 2010.
As a biographer, Valentine has published a life of Arthur Machen in 1985 (Seren Press), and a study of Sarban, Time, A Falconer (Tartarus Press), is published in 2010. He has also written numerous articles for the Book and Magazine Collector magazine, and introductions for various books, including editions of work by Walter de la Mare, Robert Louis Stevenson, Saki, J. Meade Falkner and others.
Valentine also edits Wormwood (Tartarus Press), a journal dedicated to fantastic, supernatural and decadent literature, and has also edited anthologies, including The Werewolf Pack (Wordsworth, 2008) and The Black Veil (Wordsworth, 2008).
Valentine’s short stories have been published by a number of small presses and in anthologies since the 1980s, and the exploits of his series character, "The Connoisseur", an occult detective, were published as The Collected Connoisseur in 2010.
As a biographer, Valentine has published a life of Arthur Machen in 1985 (Seren Press), and a study of Sarban, Time, A Falconer (Tartarus Press), is published in 2010. He has also written numerous articles for the Book and Magazine Collector magazine, and introductions for various books, including editions of work by Walter de la Mare, Robert Louis Stevenson, Saki, J. Meade Falkner and others.
Valentine also edits Wormwood (Tartarus Press), a journal dedicated to fantastic, supernatural and decadent literature, and has also edited anthologies, including The Werewolf Pack (Wordsworth, 2008) and The Black Veil (Wordsworth, 2008).
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 7, 2023
Another stunning volume from Sarob Press. These books bring me so much joy! As soon as I get a new volume by Sarob Press, I can't wait to settle in my favorite corner, swaddled in my favorite blanket with a cup of something warm and delicious. Honestly, I cannot think of anything more comforting! All 3 stories were equally wonderful. Ron Weighell, John Howard, and Mark Valentine are quickly becoming some of my favorite authors. This book has my highest recommendation!
January 14, 2021
A catharsis or purging: flowing in both directions via the meanings on the page of this remarkable work, a genuine and irrefutable apotheosis, I honestly feel, of its author’s canon of fiction.
And I will not even breathe a word here that it all may be part and parcel of this very Dreamcatching that I exercise upon this work and vice versa. Exercise, I say, or is that, within the whole context of this book, exorcise? – flowing in a two-way, two-directional filter.
I shall be very surprised if I don’t eventually call The Fig Garden my favourite story from 2016, if not from over a longer period.
The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long or impractical to post here.
Above is its conclusion.
And I will not even breathe a word here that it all may be part and parcel of this very Dreamcatching that I exercise upon this work and vice versa. Exercise, I say, or is that, within the whole context of this book, exorcise? – flowing in a two-way, two-directional filter.
I shall be very surprised if I don’t eventually call The Fig Garden my favourite story from 2016, if not from over a longer period.
The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long or impractical to post here.
Above is its conclusion.
February 1, 2024
Sarob Press, 2016. Signed by all three authors. Hand-numbered 193/315. I really enjoyed the first story by Ron Weighell, I'm going to have to seek out more from him.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews