Valancourt Books discussion

This thread is to suggest out of print books which Valancourt could consider republishing.

I'll start with....The Tenant by Roland Topor. Out of print, used copies are expensive, average goodreads rating over 4 stars:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

By the way, this thread is not about The Tenant, its just that for the topic heading, goodreads doesn't accept a generic word or phrase.

Ronald wrote: "This thread is to suggest out of print books which Valancourt could consider republishing.

I'll start with....The Tenant by Roland Topor. Out of print, used copies are expensive, average goodreads..."

I agree. I recently finished it, went to find a copy for a friend, and it is not only out of print, but very expensive.

I was just signing on to start a new thread for this very thing as the older thread is buried somewhere. You beat me to it! I appreciate all recommendations so let me know of anything you'd like to see us publish.

As far as The Tenant, we contacted the copyright holder about a year or so ago and we have been unsuccessful at getting any return communication. I'll try reaching out again and see if I have better luck this time.

And thank you for starting this thread!

Your welcome. Wonderful posts from everyone here.

Nine Hundred Grandmothers is a short story collection by a maestro of gonzo science fiction, R.A. Lafferty.

http://www.amazon.com/Nine-Hundred-Gr...

Gonzo science fiction, at its best, is (1) funny and (2) has a humanist message.

All of Sarban's short stories. You can only find his 3 novels, but most of his short stories are not available anywhere.

A personal favorite of mine was David Case's novel THE THIRD GRAVE (I don't think this was in the Fengriffen collection...). I wanted to recommend it for a group read a year or two back, but it isn't available on kindle, and difficult to find now....

Lisa Tuttle's A NEST OF NIGHTMARES

Karl Edward Wagner's short horror fiction has been frustratingly OOP for several years now.

And the perennial refrain: "Jessica Hamilton's BAXTER and ELIZABETH!!!"

Oh, and a couple huge ones: T.E.D. Klein's DARK GODS and THE CEREMONIES

We have Baxter, Elizabeth and Childgrave coming out (I believe) in 2017.

T.E.D. Klein's books have been a no-go for us, unfortunately. The original publisher still has the rights to the books and didn't seem interested in working something out.

I'll look into Lisa Tuttle but for some reason I thought it was already available as an ebook. I'll check! Thanks for the recs!!!

We're looking into Nine Hundred Grandmothers and Sarban, too.

Bummer, T.E.D. Klein's books have been on my TBR forever and I just can't find them.

Oh my goodness!!!

I had heard you had CHILDGRAVE forthcoming, but BAXTER and ELIZABETH is the best news I could imagine! I'll pester everyone I know to buy a copy!

And yes, looks like the Tuttle is in ebook form after all. Bummer there's no print edition, but at least it's available to read.

Centipede is currently republishing Lafferty's collected fiction (in annoyingly expensive editions, of course), so I think Nine Hundred Grandmothers might be off-limits?

Actually, I take it back. Tuttle's NEST OF NIGHTMARES looks like it's only available as an ebook in the UK? It's unavailable for purchase from the US Amazon store.

How about:

Master of Fallen Years by Vincent O'Sullivan

Mirror in the Mirror by Michael Ende

The Fire Within by Pierre Drieu La Rochelle

Catastrophe and Other Stories by Dino Buzzati

When Jonathan Died by Tony Duvert

Ghouls in My Grave, which is a short story collection by Jean Ray.

Currently, used paperback copies go for around $80.

http://www.amazon.com/Ghouls-My-Grave...

I was entertained by Jean Ray's supernatural and somewhat wacky novel _Malpertuis_. If the rest of his fiction is like _Malpertuis, I look forward to reading it. We need more wacky fiction in the world.

Jeffrey wrote: "Actually, I take it back. Tuttle's NEST OF NIGHTMARES looks like it's only available as an ebook in the UK? It's unavailable for purchase from the US Amazon store."

I will look into it then. I thought it was available in the US store at one point but I could be wrong. I'll let you know what I find out.

Ross wrote: "How about:

Master of Fallen Years by Vincent O'Sullivan

Mirror in the Mirror by Michael Ende

The Fire Within by Pierre Drieu La Rochelle

Catastrophe and Other Stories by Dino Buzzati

When ..."

We were looking at Vincent O'Sullivan a while back but another press released A Book of Bargains. The Master of Fallen years collection is copyrighted since it's a newer collection and that was a no-go as well. I'll look at the rest of the recs. Thanks!

Ronald wrote: "Ghouls in My Grave, which is a short story collection by Jean Ray.

I would love to release Ghouls in My Grave and it's been recommended many times. We contacted the publisher in Belgium who sent us to an attorney that supposedly handles the estate and we couldn't get anyone at the office to contact us back. I'll try again because it's been a while.

Thanks!

Valancourt Books wrote: "Ronald wrote: "Ghouls in My Grave, which is a short story collection by Jean Ray.

I would love to release Ghouls in My Grave and it's been recommended many times. We contacted the publisher in Be..."

Jean Ray would be excellent.

I also condone more Jean Ray in print.

Here's a wild card :

How about a complete edition of Picnic at Hanging Rock *with* the previously removed missing chapter The Secret of Hanging Rock restored to its original place.
I don't believe anyone has published an edition like this.
The stand alone edition of the last chapter is oop and rather expensive too.

This might be of use in the search for Jean Ray:

Jeff and Ann VanderMeer reprinted two Jean Ray stories in their anthology _The Weird_. (A marvelous anthology, by the way). If you hit a stumbling block, you might want to ask the VanderMeer's on how they did it.

If you're looking for someone to write a into for a Jean Ray book, I suggest Scott Nicolay.

http://scottnicolay.com/stories-from-...

Ross wrote: "I also condone more Jean Ray in print.

Here's a wild card :

How about a complete edition of Picnic at Hanging Rock *with* the previously removed missing chapter The Secret of Hanging Rock restore..."

Personally speaking, I think Picnic At Hanging Rock is fine the way it is. To me, it's much more intense if the reader has to put things together without on his or her own.

I read the edition that was released with the Criterion collection and I can't remember if it included a missing chapter or not. I'll have to look.

Ronald wrote: "This might be of use in the search for Jean Ray:

Jeff and Ann VanderMeer reprinted two Jean Ray stories in their anthology _The Weird_. (A marvelous anthology, by the way). If you hit a stumbling ..."

Thanks Ronald! I'll see what I can do.

Two short fiction collections by Richard Gavin: The Darkly Splendid Realm and Charnel Wine.

Here is a discussion between Richard Gavin and a fan:
http://www.ligotti.net/showthread.php...

Accolades:
http://www.richardgavin.net/2007/04/c...

Thanks to Christopher Fowler's great book INVISIBLE INK, I learned of an intriguing novel: HERE (AWAY FROM IT ALL) by Maryann Forrest. It's been reissued in hardcover in the UK under the author's real name, Polly Hope. It would be great to have this novel readily available as a trade paperback. I've been looking for the early 70s mass market paperback for a couple of years, and not a single copy has come up for sale on Amazon, Abebooks, etc.

Also (I'm trying not to mention books I've brought up before), I'm surprised that Thomas Tryon's HARVEST HOME isn't readily available in trade paperback. Perhaps there are some legal issues, but if not, this would be a great addition to the Valancourt list.

Has Ray Russell's SARDONICUS proved to be impossible? I remember you noted it as forthcoming a couple of years back.

Lastly, in terms of Victorian fiction, I've always heard great things about Lanoe Falconer's 1891 ghost novel CECILIA DE NOEL, but it doesn't appear to have ever been issued in paperback, except within a Leonaur collection of M.R. James-endorsed horror fiction. This sounds like one that would be nice to have as a stand-alone paperback.

An additional vote here for Sarban and Jean Ray too. Thanks!

Brucifer wrote: "Thanks to Christopher Fowler's great book INVISIBLE INK, I learned of an intriguing novel: HERE (AWAY FROM IT ALL) by Maryann Forrest. It's been reissued in hardcover in the UK under the author's r..."

Penguin published Haunted Castles: The Complete Gothic Stories by Ray Russell around two years ago. The book, which contains SARDONICUS, is available in dead tree and electronically.

Thanks, didn't realize Penguin had a collection. Now I see it's coming out in paperback dead tree this Fall.

We heard back pretty quickly about Sarban. None of his work is available. Someone else must be putting together editions.

Since Tryon's books are available as ebooks, the rights are probably exclusive with that company. One of the annoyances I have with these ebook-only companies is that they interfere with publishers bringing the works back into physical print. Even if the paperback rights are still available, we rely heavily on ebook sales to help with the cost of production. I have a lot more annoyances with ebook-only companies but I'll stop there. :P

Sardonicus was in the works but the copyright holders backed out at the last minute. Someone from Penguin Hut was probably contacting them around that time. $$$

I'll look at Maryann Forrest and Lanoe Falconer. Thanks!!

What about David Case's THE THIRD GRAVE?

Kimberly wrote: "What about David Case's THE THIRD GRAVE?"

I'll look into that one too. For some reason I think it was unavailable when we were putting together his short story collections but I may be wrong. I'll check. :)

Many thanks! Too bad on Sarban, but I hope whoever republishes him does it right. I am spoiled by your high quality editions!

That ebook thing is indeed annoying. That could get in the way of Forrest (I think there is also a UK ebook) if you find you're interested. At least the Falconer is public domain.

Tod Robbins !!! Not sure how I forgot about him. The Unholy Three was the only book I could find that was still in print and it was a godawful edition with typos everywhere (which is a shame because it is an amazing book). I would love to see his stories make it back in to print!!

Oops, I almost forgot...I'll take a look at The Unholy Three. Thanks for the rec!! :)

We are gearing up for 2017 so if you have anything you'd like to see return to print next year, let me know! I'm still following up with all of the posts mentioned thus far.

-Ryan

The Third Grave, David Case!!!! :)

The Sacrifice and Other Stories by Sarban:
https://www.amazon.com/Sacrifice-Othe...

Sorry, I missed an earlier post saying that Sarban stuff is not available.

How about a reprint of this? I know you love your Victorian Horror....

https://www.sfsite.com/02b/chris51.htm

And I'd also love to see you reprint this:
Nachtmahr by Hanns Ewers

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/66...

House of Flesh by Bruno Fischer
The Cadaver of Gideon Wyck by Alexander Laing
Medusa by E.H. Visiak

Jon Recluse wrote: "House of Flesh by Bruno Fischer
The Cadaver of Gideon Wyck by Alexander Laing
Medusa by E.H. Visiak"

I'll second anything Jon suggests.... :D

Another vote for Visiak! I see that the Laing is coming out via you guys later this year, which I'm very much looking forward to.

I will look into these recommendations. Thanks!

Yes, we have GIDEON WYCK coming out later this year.

Just ran across mention of The Twenty-Fifth Hour by Herbert Best, which sounded amazing but is out of print. Post-apocalypse themed.

Maxine wrote: "Just ran across mention of The Twenty-Fifth Hour by Herbert Best, which sounded amazing but is out of print. Post-apocalypse themed."

This one has me intrigued! It only took me about 5 minutes to track down a copy so I'll check it out. Thanks, Maxine!! :)

Joseph Payne Brennan's collections such as "Stories of Darkness and Dread" or "The Shapes Of Midnight", maybe? I've wanted to check out his fiction for some time now, since I've read some high praise for him and since his work seems to be highly regarded by a widest variety of horror/weird fiction authors, from King all the way to W. H. Pugmire.

Caleb.Lives wrote: "Joseph Payne Brennan's collections such as "Stories of Darkness and Dread" or "The Shapes Of Midnight", maybe? I've wanted to check out his fiction for some time now, since I've read some high prai..."

We've looked into his before and never got a response back about the availability. I'll follow up again. Thanks!!