Merry Christmas

 

Review - L'Affaire Barlow

I expect most people are at least aware of some of the wrangles that occurred after the death of H. P. Lovecraft over who had control of his literary legacy, with August Derleth eventually emerging as the owner and controller of Lovecraft’s writings, in effect if not legally, despite Robert Barlow being named by Lovecraft himself as his literary executor.

Within days of Lovecraft's death a bitter feud emerged with amazingly vitriolic accusations against the then nineteen year old Barlow by Donald and Howard Wandrei, Samuel Loveman and others, including, somewhat less openly but no less antagonistically, Derleth himself, all of whom were determined to undermine not only Barlow’s credibility in that role but his honesty and integrity too.

L'Affaire Barlow by Marcos Legaria is a fascinating read into the shenanigans that went on in the immediate years after the great man's death, with a myriad of scurrilous accusations being propagated against Barlow, especially by the Wandreis, Loveman and Derleth. Indeed, the whole affair casts Derleth in a particularly poor light, even though I have always admired him as an editor (I used to love the regular anthologies that were reprinted in paperback in the UK in the 1960s) and as a writer too when he wasn't trying to mimic Lovecraft. But this book casts a dark shadow over him, though the darkest of all is on Donald Wandrei and his brother Howard, who were particularly harsh in their condemnations of Barlow and did not hesitate to exaggerate libelously against him. In a letter to Derleth on March 15th, 1963, a decade after Barlow's sad death by suicide, Wandrei had this to say: "Your quote about Barlow's diary serves to show what a ludicrous and infantile set of values and perspectives, or lack of them, typified both him and Beck - too bad Beck hasn't the sense to follow Barlow's example and erase himself from human existence, thereby improving the general atmosphere for the rest of mankind."

Distastefully reprehensible though comments like this are, Derleth appeared to play a more duplicitous role in the affair, letting others fire off accusations and even outright lies against Barlow, while pretending to be neutral to Barlow himself, even to the extent of pretending to be his friend, when he was anything but. In a letter to Wandrei on the 16^th March, 1938 Derleth states: “In any case, you will remember that I maintained friendly relations with Barlow specifically for the sake of obtaining Lovecraft manuscripts, etc…. and this continued friendship paid off.” Years later Derleth was not ashamed to admit what he had done. In a letter to Wandrei dated 12^th May, 1963:  “Oh, I’d never suspect you of duplicity – but me, ah, that’s another matter, in some things the ends justifies the means, esp. when nobody’s hurt – see how I took in Barlow, didn’t hurt him at all and kept him from blocking us on Lovecraft material – but I meant to publish HPL and even if I had let Barlow blow me to do it! Luckily, I didn’t…”

Perhaps worst of all was the rift that Donald Wandrei deliberately created between Barlow and his literary hero Clark Ashton Smith, some of whose poems he was about to publish in a small book. Lovecraftian scholar Dirk W. Mosig wrote: “I’ve long disliked Wandrei for the way in which he destroyed the friendship between CAS and Barlow, and cooled CAS’s regard for Claire Beck…Briefly, Wandrei wrote to Smith saying that Barlow, with Beck’s help, stole some HPL manuscripts from Mrs. Gamwell (Lovecraft’s aunt), and said in a way that was vicious. He was venting a personal anger then, too. He wanted to be the one to get the papers. Barlow, of course, was only accepting the offer of HPL’s Instructions in case of Decease, and Beck, who happened to be visiting Barlow, gave him a hand. But DW told Smith to watch out for those ghouls or they’d next be stealing from him. Barlow never found out why CAS had turned against him.”

Backed up by umpteen quotes from letters written by all the participants this is an important memoir of a time when Lovecraft's legacy lay in the balance. I would not be surprised if it also excites controversy and debate over the rights and wrongs exposed in it. Some of the ploys played against Barlow can, even now, raise the hackles and I must admit to feeling righteously aggrieved over the poisonous lies and allegations used by his enemies. Cancel culture is definitely not something new.

Well worth a read, but don’t expect to be unmoved.

L'Affaire Barlow is published by Bold Venture Press, 2023, 214 pages

Hardcover £25.57; paperback £13.57

Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy Volume 7 now available in paperback and kindle eBook

We are pleased to announce that our latest anthology Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy Volume 7 is now available to order as either a paperback or kindle eBook. It's our biggest volume so far at 353 pages.

amazon.co.uk

amazon.com

The stories and authors included are:

PITILESS by Stephen Frame

UNHALLOWED TOMBS by Paul Batteiger

SORCERIES IN ASSABARR by Andrew Graham

SCHISM OF SPECTRES by Phil Emery

THE CROSSROADS IN THE FOREST by Gavin Chappell

WISPS by Jason M Waltz

DARK THE SKY, RADIANT THE ROAD by Jalyn Renae Fiske

THE BLOOD OF KHALID AL'TAHIR by Craig Comer 

THE DARK KNIGHT OF THE SOUL by Eric Ian Steele

PROHAIRESIS by Jon Zaremba

BLADES FOR A BOUNTY by Harry Elliott

The artwork, as always, is by Jim Pitts.

 

 

Great new review for Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy Volume 6 on Amazon

Thank you to Richard Fisher for this great, detailed review of Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy Volume 6 on Amazon. 

"Like a freight train Parallel Universe Publications continues to come down the line filled with S&S stories from authors new and old..."

"I eagerly look forward to Volume Seven which should be out sometime later this year."

For the full review click on this link: amazon.com

The Best of Lovecraftiana

My copy of The Best of Lovecraftiana, published by Rogue Planet Press and edited by Gavin Chappell, arrived today. My story The Psychic Investigator appears in it.  

This is available from amazon.co.uk for £7.40 in paperback or as a kindle ebook. 

Below as a sample of my story are the opening paragraphs:

Greg Conroy sat as comfortably as he could in the sound studio at Radio Lancashire, hoping to look relaxed. It was a small room, but well equipped. Gillian Butterworth, who would be interviewing him, was already there. She smiled encouragingly.

“We’ll do a sound test first, then start.”

He’d been told the interview would last fifteen minutes and be aired tomorrow on the afternoon show. It wasn’t his first time here, of course, though that didn’t make him feel any easier. He shuffled on his chair, wishing he had not put a cardigan on beneath his jacket. Even though it was a cold September day outside he was already feeling hot inside the studio. Luckily, as it was radio, no one would see the sweat on his face – other than Gillian.

“So, what was it, Greg, made you want to become a ghost hunter?” Gillian said as soon as recording began.

Greg shook his head, before remembering no one other than Gillian would see him do this. “I prefer psychic investigator, Gillian,” he added quickly. “Ghosts are only one of many phenomena I hope to come across.” He settled on his chair, starting to feel at ease with this familiar question. “It was coming across a book by the late Colin Wilson sparked things off. It was an account of paranormal activity in a house in Pontefract – what was to become known as the Pontefract Poltergeist. I read this book umpteen times in my teens. I was fascinated by it. It was this made me want to carry out investigations of my own.”

“You were involved with the TV series, Hauntings. That didn’t end well, did it? What went wrong?"

“I’m a serious investigator, Gillian.” Greg leaned forward, feeling his pulse begin to quicken as his agitation at what went on with the producers of Hauntings came back to him. “I have no time for fake clairvoyants who make ridiculous claims about evil spirits the minute they step inside a building, especially where nothing, not even remotely bad took place – or become possessed by hostile spirits at the drop of a hat. They make a mockery of everything I have tried to do. As for crew members who scream in panic at the slightest noise! It became obvious to me my reputation would be in tatters if I stayed with that show – so I quit.”

“You place a great deal of importance on your reputation for scepticism, Greg?”

“I approach every investigation with what I like to call open-minded scepticism. Yes, it takes a lot to convince me that something is genuine. Only facts impress me. Which is as it should be if you are a serious investigator, not a showman out to impress the gullible.”

“What is going to be your next investigation?”

“I’ve been invited to Edgebottom. There’s an area of the town I’ve been told should be worth looking into for strange phenomena. Grudge End.”

Gillian looked up from her notes. For a moment Greg was sure he saw concern cross her face before professionalism took over and she moved on to the next question.

 

Lucilla - a novella is now available in paperback

 

Lucilla - a novella is now available in paperback, priced at £5.50. It is already available in hardcover and as a kindle e-book.

amazon.co.uk

amazon.com

"It was just another standard day at the Women’s Refuge until the arrival of Lucilla. Then Miranda’s world was never the same again.
Unaccountably influenced by what the girl needed, her job, her friendships, even freedom itself were of no importance. It was not until her niece’s life was at risk that Miranda knew she had to act.
But what could she do against someone who had such a tight, insidious grip on her?"

The Best of Lovecraftiana

 

Very pleased to be included in The Best of Lovecraftiana with the last of my Grudge End tales The Psychic Investigator. 

Also included are tales and illustrations by: Josh Maybrook, Carlton Herzog, David B Harrington, Lee Clark Zumpe, Joan d'Arc, Glynn Owen Barrass, Tim Mendees, TS S Fulk, Renee Mulhare, GO Clark, Mike T Lyddon, Gav Roachdown, Dean Wirth, Jim Pitts, Toe Keen, and Justell Vonk.

amazon.co.uk

It is available as a paperback priced at £7.30 and as an ebook at £2.43.

 

Lucilla - a novella reviewed on the Vault of Evil

The first review of my novella Lucilla is available to read online on the website The Vault of Evil. 

"At 90 medium print pages, Lucilla is equivalent to a slimline 'seventies NEL, and moves like one, too."

amazon UK £13.99 in hardcover/£2.99 in kindle

amazon.com $17.85 in hardcover/$3.70 in kindle

 

Book review: Ramsey Campbell, Certainly edited by S. T. Joshi

RAMSEY CAMPBELL, CERTAINLY

ESSAYS AND REVIEWS, 2002–2017

Edited by S. T. Joshi

Published by Drugstore Indian Press, an imprint of PS Publishing Ltd 2021

Over the years Ramsey Campbell has written knowledgeably, often humorously, but always with sincerity on a range of subjects from other authors, artists, films, books and, quite honestly, about anything and everything to do with weird literature and beyond.

This book includes those written over a fifteen-year period from 2002 till 2017. I was pleased to see it included the article I commissioned for The Fantastical Art of Jim Pitts which I published in 2017 under my Parallel Universe Publications imprint.

Included in this collection of articles and essays are reminiscences of many important genre people. One is about the American literary agent Kirby McCauley who was partly responsible for creating and organising the first World Fantasy Convention and its awards. Though I never met him, he did provide me with my first American sale (to issue one of Whispers magazine). This had a double benefit for me as, when Whispers won a World Fantasy Award that year my story from issue four was included in the hardcover book produced to commemorate the event, edited by Gahan Wilson, who designed the famous award caricaturing Lovecraft’s head. Other reminiscences include such legendary figures as Fritz Leiber, Nigel Kneale, Manly Wade Wellman and Richard Matheson, as well as contemporary writers too, such as David Case, Gary Fry, Mark Samuels, Thana Niveau, Joe Hill and Joe R. Lansdale amongst quite a few others.

Campbell will always be associated with H. P. Lovecraft and there are five articles about the master himself: ‘Lovecraft Analysed’, ‘Lovecraft in Retrospect, in Retrospect’, ‘Influences’, ‘He Was Providence’, ‘Glimpses in the Dark’, and ‘Lovecraft’s Monster’, all of them brimming with insights. 

As anyone who follows Campbell on Facebook will know, over the years he often catches the attention of any number of cranks, trolls, and other miscreants that prowl the internet, though woe on those who mislead themselves into thinking they can get the better. Nor is he adverse to taking on those he believes have taken a step too far in attacking writers whose work he admires. Here we have two articles, ‘Plagued by Plagiarism parts 1 and 2’, in which he takes to task his old adversary Chris Barker over accusations against M. R. James in a booklet titled ‘Plagiarism and Pederasty: Skeletons in the Jamesian Closet’. Campbell is succinctly impressive in the way in which he playfully yet factually debunks Barker’s ill-informed contentions, which give the impression he fired them off in a scattergun attempt to at least hit the target once. Thanks to Ramsey’s critique he fails completely. Both articles are not only critically observant but a joy to read.

There is, in fact, a great deal to enjoy in this book, which covers an entertainingly wide number of subjects. The good news, of course, is there’s a six year gap since the last article published in this book and now, so there must already be quite a few new ones for another book.