Valancourt Books’s
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(group member since May 01, 2014)
Valancourt Books’s
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from the Valancourt Books group.
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Doug wrote: "Having bought and read your three Martyn Goff gay-themed reprints, any chance you might also do his fourth and final one: Tar and Cement?"Nope! I don't think we'll be able to take more of his on.
Latasha wrote: "saw this on FB, commenting here so I don't forget about this one. Will there eventually be an audio book version?"As of right now there are no plans for an audiobook.
Our sixth and (for now, at least) final Robert Bloch reissue is now up for preorder! Robert Bloch was a friend and admirer of Lovecraft, and in his Strange Eons (1978), originally published as a limited edition and long out of print, he contributes his own notable entry to the Lovecraftian Mythos. This new edition includes an introduction by David J. Schow.https://www.valancourtbooks.com/stran...
Book Description
Albert Keith discovers a magnificent painting of a feasting ghoul, buys it, and is drawn inexorably into a world of horror and death. He and his friend, Simon Waverly, slowly realize that the fiction of Howard Phillips Lovecraft may not be imaginative writings at all, but have hideous counterparts in the real world; that Lovecraft's stories were based on fact; that his message is a warning to mankind! Will mankind be able to stop the minions of Cthulhu, the Great Old Ones? If not, it spells doom for the world as we know it....
At long last, our new 30th Anniversary Edition of Tim Lucas's cult classic THROAT SPROCKETS is now up for preorder! Features a *brand-new* novella-length chapter, plus an intro by Tananarive Due. It was one of the best-reviewed horror novels of the '90s, long out of print and scarce on the secondhand market. Preorder your copy (paperback or case laminate hardcover) on our site, website orders ship this spring: https://www.valancourtbooks.com/throa...
Book Description
In a fading old porno theater in a town called Friendship, a mild-mannered young advertising writer watches a movie called Throat Sprockets and is never the same again. As he becomes increasingly obsessed with the film, it infects him with a new erotic aesthetic that finds expression through his advertising work, spreading its vampiric influence on a local, national, and eventually international level. As his old life crumbles and a new one begins to take shape, he sets out on a quest to discover the secrets of the film’s creation and the identity of its mysterious creator.
Tim Lucas's genre-defying cult classic was featured in Stephen Jones and Kim Newman's Horror: 100 Best Books series and chosen by Rue Morgue as one of the Best Alt Horror Novels. This special 30th Anniversary Edition includes an introduction by Tananarive Due and a brand-new, novella-length penultimate chapter, filling in the past three decades of the protagonist's misadventure.
This is one of our most exciting rediscoveries in years. Rosalind Ashe's MOTHS (1976) won critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic, earning praise that compared it to Du Maurier's REBECCA. It's a slow-burn Gothic chiller about a woman who purchases an old house and may be becoming possessed by the ghost of a wicked and long-dead actress who lived there. We found this one impossible to put down, and we're pleased to announce it as the sixth entry in our MONSTER, SHE WROTE series! Preorder here: https://www.valancourtbooks.com/moths...
Now up for preorder, a title we've been trying to get since 2012. Maggie Ross's THE GASTEROPOD (1968) won acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic and earned the James Tait Black Prize for best novel of 1968. It's the strange and macabre story of a man who obsessively collects seashells and photographs in a secret room in his gloomy mansion. But now he has his eyes on a new prize specimen, a woman with whom he has made a mysterious assignation and for whom he has an insidious plan to make her the newest item in his collection.... https://www.valancourtbooks.com/the-g...
New title up for preorder! Edgar Mittelholzer's THE WEATHER IN MIDDENSHOT (1952) is a weird one, a mix of Gothic horror and morbid black humor. The main character, Mr. Jarrow, will only speak to his (living) wife through seances and is obsessed with all things morbid and horrible. So it's much to his delight when a murderous lunatic escapes from the asylum and comes to town, slashing throats in the foggy night.... https://www.valancourtbooks.com/the-w...
Book Description
Deranged old Mr. Jarrow stubbornly insists his (very much alive) wife is dead and will only communicate with her through seances. Obsessed with all things gruesome and horrible, he delights in reading accounts of murders in the newspaper and leaving rotting animal corpses on his neighbor’s doorstep. Much to his joy, a murderous lunatic has arrived in Middenshot, slitting villagers’ throats by night in the foggy lanes. But his daughter Grace is worried. Why is her father going out late at night, and just what is he hiding in the coal shed? When two rather unconventional detectives come to town on the case, strange truths will be revealed and things will never again be the same in Middenshot.
A strange mix of Gothic horror and morbid black humor, infused with the author’s controversial ideas on treatment of criminals and the mentally insane, The Weather in Middenshot (1952) is one of the most unusual novels by Edgar Mittelholzer (1900-1965), one of the first great Caribbean novelists and author of the classic horror stories My Bones and My Flute (1955) and Eltonsbrody (1960).
Reviews
"A most bizarre and entertaining book." - Western Morning News
"[D]ifferent ... original ... the style is refreshing ... I can promise you that you will be fascinated, horrified and amazed." - Richmond Times-Dispatch
"Five innocent victims are murdered. Fog shrouds the middle section of the novel. Unseen wings flap inaudibly through the room. And people who go in for gore and gloom will find it in The Weather in Middenshot." - Chattanooga Daily Times
Doug wrote: "I've been doing a deep dive into the books of Simon Raven and recently bought your editions of his The Feathers of Death and Doctors Wear Scarlet. Any..."We're thinking of reprinting Brother Cain. It could be a release later this year.
Jamie wrote: "I just finished reading Catherine M Verschoyle’s 1927 novel Oldham which is pretty obscure but amazingly good and definitely worth bringing back into print. It’s a kind of psychological horror with..."I'll take a look at it. Thank you!
Our fifth Robert Bloch title is up for order, a terrific story collection, MIDNIGHT PLEASURES (1987). Among its highlights are three Halloween-themed horror stories and one Christmas-themed. These are mostly late-period Bloch from the '70s and '80s, but there is also one rare tale originally published in Weird Tales in 1939. These stories mix spine-chilling terror with gallows humor as only Bloch can.https://www.valancourtbooks.com/midni...
Preorder now! Bob Randall's bestselling thriller THE FAN (1977), basis for the 1981 film starring Lauren Bacall and James Garner. Any reader of 18th-century literature will be familiar with epistolary novels, where the story is told through letters between the various characters. The Fan is one of the few modern epistolary novels, and with its progressively menacing series of deranged fan letters to a fading actress, the format works brilliantly. A real page-turner, suspenseful and darkly funny, and complete with a surprising and shocking ending.https://www.valancourtbooks.com/the-f...
Dan wrote: "Is this still on track to be made available for Kindle next week? I am really looking forward to reading it. I even nominated it for the Weird Fiction group's read next month: https://www.goodreads..."It's still scheduled to be released on the 7th. Thanks!
Now through Christmas, orders over $39 will ship for just $0.99 in the U.S. or U.K.!**Does not include limited edition hardcovers.
Robert Bloch's first novel, THE SCARF (1947), a noir psychological thriller about a man with an irresistible urge to kill, strangling his victims with a red scarf. It's the clear precursor to his more famous PSYCHO, and a good, disturbing read. Three other Bloch classics are also up for order on our site!https://www.valancourtbooks.com/the-s...
Our third Robert Bloch title, PLEASANT DREAMS (1960), is up for preorder on our site! Features some of his best horror stories, including the Hugo Award-winning "That Hell-Bound Train," "Catnip," and "Mr. Steinway," along with twelve more. We think this is the first-ever unabridged reprint, since the 1979 paperback edition omitted several stories. Also features a new intro by the legendary Joe R. Lansdale! https://www.valancourtbooks.com/pleas...
Charlotte wrote: "Will this be available as an ebook?"It will! The ebook will be up closer to release date.
Now up for preorder! Rohan O'Grady's BLEAK NOVEMBER (1970) (based on a real-life 1965 case in Vancouver, BC) is an exceptional modern Gothic in which a couple's dream home quickly becomes a nightmare. There's weird cries in the night, a ghostly black dog scratching at the door, phantom kids glimpsed out of the corner of the eye... and why did the seller go to such lengths to make the house look old? Features an unreliable narrator and lots of twists and turns to keep you guessing: https://www.valancourtbooks.com/bleak...
Book Description
When Amy Burton’s mother-in-law buys her and her husband Eric a lovely old mansion, it sounds like a dream come true for the young couple. But there’s something not quite right about the house. Old Mrs. Mac, who has psychic gifts, is the first to notice a sinister aura, and then there are the weird cries in the night and the scratching of a ghostly black dog at the door. Even stranger is the fact that the old house is not really old, but for some mysterious reason has been made to look that way.
At last Amy learns the unspeakable truth about a horrible deed committed in the house. But Amy has secrets of her own, buried deep within her memory and struggling to break free to the surface. The terror at the Burton house mounts, but is it really haunted, or is it all just in Amy’s mind? Readers will find the book impossible to put down until its final shocking revelation.
Reviews
“By the time I finished it very late at night, I hesitated to look up from its pages.” - The New York Times
“An unforgettable heroine—a marvelous Gothic!” - St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Now up for preorder, our second Robert Bloch reissue! In THE NIGHT OF THE RIPPER (1984), the creator of fiction's greatest knife-wielding psychopath, Norman Bates, gives us his take on his real-life predecessor, the infamous Jack the Ripper. It's a page-turning historical thriller featuring cameos by Arthur Conan Doyle, Oscar Wilde, and more, as Detective Abberline of the Metropolitan Police tries to stop the Ripper before he kills again! Features a new intro by David J. Schow. https://www.valancourtbooks.com/the-n...
Book Description
Whitechapel, 1888. A madman stalks the foggy streets, murdering prostitutes in acts of unimaginable horror and brutality. Two men—Frederick Abberline of the Metropolitan Police and Mark Robinson, a young American doctor—are determined to find the killer, but the list of suspects is a long one. With the help of a supporting cast of characters that includes Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the Elephant Man, the two sleuths must solve the puzzle before it’s too late and the Ripper strikes again!
Reviews
“Might be Bloch’s best book yet . . . the sort of book that just grabs you and makes you read it.” - Peter Straub
“May well nudge out Psycho as Bloch’s most popular novel.” - Washington Post
“A must for mystery and horror fans.” - Fantasy Review
Now available for preorder on our website: The follow-up to David Wheldon’s (1950-2021) award-winning cult classic The Viaduct (1983), The Course of Instruction (1984) is a haunting and compelling novel in the vein of Franz Kafka, Dino Buzzati, and Samuel Beckett. This new edition includes an introduction by Aiden O’Reilly.https://www.valancourtbooks.com/the-c...
Book Description
When Alexander receives a cryptic letter inviting him to attend an unspecified course of instruction, he feels somehow compelled to go. From that moment on, his world will change, and all of his former certainties will be called into question. When he arrives at the institution in the small provincial town, no one is able – or willing – to tell him anything about the course, and life there seems slightly out of focus and eerily ambiguous. As Alexander struggles to understand the strange situation in which he has landed, he gradually finds himself caught in a bizarre and surreal nightmare from which there may be no escape . . .
Reviews
“Wheldon's writing is precise and chilly, the authoritative hand in the small of the back pushing one further down the corridor and into the dark ... a convincing, disturbing read.” - Thomas Hinde, Sunday Telegraph
“Like a Kafka novel, it takes place in a world which superficially resembles our own but is terrifyingly different.” - Sunday Telegraph
“While this, his second novel, will, like his first, recall such writers as Kafka and Rex Warner, its intelligence and rigour are all his own.” - Deborah Philips, City Limits
“A stark, disorienting work . . . prose that is meticulously precise.” - The Times (London)
Now available for preorder on our website: A direct sequel to Blish's occult classic Black Easter (1968), The Day After Judgment (1971) can also be read as a standalone book. Like Black Easter, it features a blend of horror, science fiction, fantasy, philosophy, and black humor that makes it quite unlike anything else you have ever read.https://www.valancourtbooks.com/the-d...
