Horror
THE WAY OF STARS: A ROMANCE OF REINCARNATION.
New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1925. Octavo, cloth. First edition. "Egyptological romance, black magic, the Communist peril, future war and Asiatic mysticism all worked in together."- Bleiler: The Guide to Supernatural Fiction, #116.
PRECIOUS PORCELAIN.
New York, London: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1931. Octavo, cloth. First U.S. edition. Mix of supernatural, sf, mystery and thiller novel in which the main character discovered a means of isolating the various personality fragments within himself and projecting them as living beings." - Bleiler: The Guide to Supernatural Literature #122. Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 2-7.
VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE.
New York: George H. Doran Company, [1923]. Octavo, cloth. First U. S. edition. Story collection with some of the author's best horror fiction. Bleiler: The Guide to Supernatural Fiction #142. Barron (ed), Horror Literature 3-17.
VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE.
New York: George H. Doran Company, [1923]. Octavo, [1-2] [1-8] 9-298 [299-302 note: first leaf blank, last two blank] . cloth. First U. S. edition. Story collection with some of the author's best horror fiction, including the vampire story "Mrs. Amworth". Bleiler: The Guide to Supernatural Fiction #142. Barron (ed): Horror Literature 3-17.
VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE.
London: Hutchinson and Co., n.d., [1923]. Octavo, pp. [i-ii] iii [iv-vi] 7-288 + 40-page publisher's catalogue "for the Autumn, 1923" inserted at rear, original blue cloth, front panel stamped in black and blind, spine panel stamped in black. First edition. Collection of short horror fiction; twelve stories including "The Horror Horn" and the vampire story "Mrs. Amworth." "Probably Benson's most famous collection." - Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 142. Ashley, Who's Who in Horror and Fantasy Fiction, pp. 31-2. Barron (ed), Horror Literature 3-17. Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, p. 31. Tymn (ed), Horror Literature 3-17. Wilson, Shadows in the Attic, p. 67. Bleiler (1978), p. 21. Reginald 01137.
BASIL NETHERBY.
London: Hutchinson & Co. Publishers) Ltd., n.d., [1927]. Octavo, pp. [1-8] 9-211 [212: blank] + 20-page publisher's catalogue "for the Autumn, 1926" at rear, original burgundy cloth, front and spine panels stamped in black. First edition. Two previously unpublished novellas discovered by E. F. Benson among his late brother’s papers, both of which deal with the lingering influence of a dead student of the black arts. In “Basil Netherby,” the titular character is a musician whose personality has undergone a significant change since he has taken up residence at Treheale, an isolated rural estate. Netherby’s previously unremarkable compositions have become complex, unbridled celebrations of all that is sensual and passionate in life, and his friend from college, Leonard Ward, fears that Netherby has been possessed by the restless spirit of the former owner of the manor. Narrated by John Hartley, a journalist, “The Uttermost Farthing” recounts Hartley’s adventures with Hector Bendyshe at Hebden Hill, a large Sussex estate, whose former owner, Hugh Faulkner, was believed to have used black magic to kill members of the local village who held him in contempt because of his checkered past. Hartley and Bendyshe investigate various paranormal occurrences at Hebden Hill, which culminate in a confrontation with Faulkner’s ghost over a hidden journal detailing Faulkner’s experiments in the occult. Both novellas are beautifully written and contain excellent period detail about architecture and landscapes, but each novella, particularly “The Uttermost Farthing,” is marred by a somewhat saccharine ending of love and redemption that does not logically follow from the genuine scenes of terror, some quite well done, that precede it. Bleiler (1978), p. 20. Reginald 01117. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 136. Tymn (ed), Horror Literature 3-9.
THE INHERITOR.
Garden City: Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc., 1930. Octavo, pp. [1-2] [1-6] 7-316 [317-318: blank] [note: first and last leaves are blanks], original decorated dark blue cloth, front and spine panels stamped in yellow, top edge stained yellow, yellow coated endpapers. First edition. This novel "features a family curse -- engendering the birth of monsters -- and a protagonist tempted by perversion." - Clute and Grant (eds), The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, p. 106. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 146. Wilson, Shadows in the Attic, p. 68. Bleiler (1978), p. 21. Reginald 01131.
SPOOK STORIES.
London: Hutchinson & Co. (Publishers), Ltd., n.d., [1928]. Octavo, pp. [1-12] 13-286 [287: printer's imprint] [288: blank] [note: first two leaves of first signature comprise front paste-down and front free endpaper], original pictorial blue-gray cloth, front and spine panels stamped in black. First edition. Collects twelve stories. Excellent ghost stories juxtaposing nature mysticism with graphic horrors to striking effect; including classics "The Face," "Naboth's Vineyard," and "And No Bird Sings." "A competent, well-handled collection." - Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 145. Ashley, Who's Who in Horror and Fantasy Fiction, pp. 31-2. Barron (ed), Horror Literature 3-17. Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, pp. 30-1. Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature III, pp. 1433-35 (overview of Benson's horror fiction; pp. 1434-35 critiques "The Face"). Tymn (ed), Horror Literature 3-16. Wilson, Shadows in the Attic, p. 67. Bleiler (1978), p. 21. Reginald 01135.
THE TERROR BY NIGHT: COLLECTED SPOOK STORIES VOLUME ONE. Edited by Jack Adrian
Ashcroft, British Columbia: Ash-Tree Press, 1998. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Limited to 600 copies. First volume in a projected five volume series of Benson's supernatural tales. The stories from this volume date from 1899-1911.
GHOSTS IN THE HOUSE. Introduction by Hugh Lamb.
Penyffordd, Chester: Ash-Tree Press, 1996. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Limited to 400 copies plus a few extras for legal deposit purposes. Collects nineteen stories, all selected from A. C. Benson's THE HILL OF TROUBLE (1903), THE ISLE OF SUNSET (1905) and BASIL NETHERBY (1927) and R. H. Benson's THE LIGHT INVISIBLE (1903) and A MIRROR OF SHALOTT (1907), plus "Haunted Houses," a nonfiction article by R. H. Benson first reprinted here, with introduction by editor Hugh Lamb.
GHOSTS IN THE HOUSE. Introduction by Hugh Lamb.
Penyffordd, Chester: Ash-Tree Press, 1996. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Limited to 400 copies. Collects stories from the A.C. Benson's THE HILL OF TROUBLE, THE ISLES OF SUNSET and BASIL NETHERBY and R.H. Benson's THE LIGHT INVISIBLE and THE MIRROR OF SHALOTT.
GHOSTS IN THE HOUSE. Introduction by Hugh Lamb.
Penyffordd, Chester: Ash-Tree Press, 1996. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Limited to 400 copies. Collects stories from the A.C. Benson's THE HILL OF TROUBLE, THE ISLES OF SUNSET and BASIL NETHERBY and R.H. Benson's THE LIGHT INVISIBLE and THE MIRROR OF SHALOTT.
A HAZY SHADE OF WINTER.
Ashcroft, British Columbia: Ash-Tree Press, 2004. Octavo, cloth. First edition. 500 copies printed. Introduction by Joel Lane. Collection of horror fiction.
SLEEP: A HORROR STORY.
New York: St. Martin's, Marek, [1986]. Octavo, boards. First edition. Horror novel. The author's second book. Signed inscription by Biederstadt on the half title page to a mystery publisher and book dealer.
CAN SUCH THINGS BE? ...
Washington: The Neale Publishing Company, 431 Eleventh Street, 1903. Octavo, pp. [1-4] [i-ii] iii-iv [1] 2-320, flyleaves at front and rear, original brown vertically ribbed cloth, front and spine panels stamped in white and gold, all edges untrimmed. Second edition. This edition adds a 5-line "Preface" by Bierce. A presentation copy with signed inscription from Bierce to his protégé and friend George Sterling on the front flyleaf: "For /George Sterling, / with compliments / of Ambrose Bierce. / Washington, D. C. / April 20, 1903." In 1890 George Sterling (1869-1926) moved to Oakland, California, "to work for Frank C. Havens, his rich and generous uncle. Sterling met Joaquin Miller in 1891 and through him joined the San Francisco Bohemians. In 1896 Sterling ... began to write poetry in earnest. After he published THE TESTIMONY OF THE SUNS AND OTHER POEMS (1903) he became a leading figure among the Bohemians ... In 1903, Sterling and Herman George Scheffauer, another friend of Bierce's, arranged for the publication of his SHAPES OF CLAY. Sterling, aided with money from his uncle, built a home in Carmel, California, in 1905, and helped substantially in founding an art colony there. It soon flourished, especially after the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Sterling, dubbed 'the King of Bohemia' and then 'the King of Carmel,' published 'A Wine of Wizardry' in COSMOPOLITAN (1907), which publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst had recently purchased and for which Bierce was writing. With this poem Sterling gained national renown ... When Sterling began to produce serious poetry, he became Bierce's protégé ... Having arranged for 'A Wine of Wizardry' to be published in COSMOPOLITAN, Bierce reviewed it there favorably, with unaccustomed irrationality: He called Sterling the greatest American poet 'we have.' Joaquin Miller, even more impressed, called Sterling the greatest poet since Dante." - Gale, An Ambrose Bierce Companion, pp. 269-70. CAN SUCH THING BE? is the second of two collections of Bierce's short stories published during his lifetime. Bierce is the finest American author of supernatural horror fiction in the second half of the nineteenth century, clearly dominating the period in between Poe and Lovecraft, and in some ways, a superior craftsman to either of them. CAN SUCH THINGS BE? is his key collection of weird tales. Anatomy of Wonder (1976) 2-17 and (1981) 1-23. Barron (ed), Fantasy and Horror (1999) 1-18. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 163. Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 198. Clareson, The Emergence of American Science Fiction: 1880-1915, pp. 55-65. Clareson, Science Fiction in America 1870s-1930s 073. Clute and Grant (eds), The Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997), p. 110-11. Clute and Nicholls (eds), The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (1993), pp. 118-9. Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, pp. 33-4. Survey of Science Fiction Literature I, pp. 283-87. Tymn (ed), Horror Literature 3-21. BAL 1121. Starrett 18. Krick 33.
IN THE MIDST OF LIFE: TALES OF SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS.
New York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1898. Small octavo, pp. [1-2] [i-ii] iii [iv] v-vi 1-362 [363-366: ads] [367-368: blank] [note: first and last leaves are blanks], original decorated maroon cloth, front and spine panels stamped in gold. Enlarged edition. First printing of the enlarged edition of TALES OF SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS (1891), the first and best of two collections of Bierce's short fiction published during his lifetime. The enlarged edition adds three stories including the classic, "The Damned Thing," a chilling narrative of an encounter with a malignant being from another dimension. Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 1-13. Barron (ed), Horror Literature 2-7. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 162. Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 073. Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, pp. 33-4. Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature III, pp. 1436-40. Tymn (ed), Horror Literature 3-23. Bleiler (1978), p. 23. Wright (III) 523. BAL 1119. Starrett 15. Baird and Greenwood, An Annotated Bibliography of California Fiction 1664-1970 250.
TALES OF SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS.
San Francisco: E. L. G. Steele, 1891. Octavo, pp. [1-8] 9-300 [301-304: blank] [note: penultimate leaf is a blank; final leaf excised; fly leaf precedes title leaf], original gray cloth, front and spine panels stamped in gold. First edition. Presentation copy with inscription by Bierce to a fellow Hearst journalist on the title page: "Charles Michelson / with compliments of / The Author / St. Helena, Cal., / Aug. 30, 1892." Michelson was a famous adventurer and correspondent for William Randolph Hearst. Classic collection of short fiction including "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," Bierce's best known story. Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 1-13. Barron (ed), Horror Literature 2-7. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 162. Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 073. Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, pp. 33-4. Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature III, pp. 1436-40. Tymn (ed), Horror Literature 3-23. Bleiler (1978), p. 23. Reginald 01265. Wright (III) 525. BAL 1109 (binding variant A). Starrett 8. Baird and Greenwood, An Annotated Bibliography of California Fiction 1664-1970 252.
TALES OF SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS.
San Francisco: E. L. G. Steele, 1891. Octavo, pp. [1-8] 9-300 [301-304: blank] [note: penultimate leaf is a blank; final leaf excised; fly leaf precedes title leaf], original brown cloth, front and spine panels stamped in gold. First edition. Classic collection of short fiction including "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," Bierce's best known story. Stories "reminiscent of Poe's tales of horror and marked by an ingenious use of the surprise ending, a sardonic humor, and a realistic study of tense emotional states" (OCAL). Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 1-13. Barron (ed), Horror Literature 2-7. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 162. Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 073. Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, pp. 33-4. Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature III, pp. 1436-40. Tymn (ed), Horror Literature 3-23. Bleiler (1978), p. 23. Reginald 01265. Wright (III) 525. BAL 1109 (binding variant A). Starrett 8. Grolier American 100: 94. Baird and Greenwood, An Annotated Bibliography of California Fiction 1664-1970 252.
A VISION OF DOOM: POEMS BY AMBROSE BIERCE.
West Kingston, RI: Donald M. Grant, Publisher, 1980. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Signed inscription by editor Donald Sydney-Fryer to Robert Briney. A selection of some fifty poems, most from the revised collections Shapes of Clay (1910) and Black Beetles in Amber (1911) with fine critical essay by editor Donald Sidney-Fryer. "A vital weird-horror collection..." - Tymn (ed), Horror Literature 6-5.
THE WOLF IN THE GARDEN.
New York, Toronto: Longmans, Green and Co., 1931. Octavo, pp. [i-viii] ix-x [xi-xii] 1-287 [288-292: blank] [note: last two leaves are blanks], original pictorial blue cloth, front and spine panels stamped red, top edge stained red. First edition. Presentation copy with signed inscription by Bill to Philip H. Theopold, dated in 1931 and with a short quote at the end, on front free end paper. A Werewolf novel with upstate New York setting. Barron (ed), Horror Literature 3-21. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 167. In 333. Bleiler (1978), p. 23. Reginald 01281.
SUCKERS.
New York: Atheneum, 1993. Octavo, cloth backed boards. First U.S. (and first hardcover) edition. Contemporary vampire novel set in London. (Published as a paperback original in England). The author's second work of fiction, her first being a novelization of a film.
THE HOSPITAL HORROR..
New York: Popular Library, [1973]. Small octavo, cover by Gray Morrow, pictorial wrappers. First edition. Popular Libary 445-01593. Paperback original. A volume in the nine volume Frankenstein Horror Series.
MONSTERS: A COLLECTION OF UNEASY TALES.
London: Philip Allan, [1934]. Octavo, pp. [1-4] 5 [6-8] 9-249 [250-256: ads], original gray cloth, spine panel stamped in black. First edition. Collects twelve stories, all but one original to this collection, by Vivian Meik, Elliott O'Donnell, Birkin (as "Charles Lloyd"), and others. Vivian Meik's "The Two Old Women" concerns African voodoo in London suburb, witches drawing blood and life-force of girl in dreams, probably to revive dead brother. Part of the classic fourteen volume "Creeps" series. Barron (ed), Horror Literature 3-23. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 450. Carter, The Vampire in Literature, p. 83. Frost, The Monster with a Thousand Faces, p. 86. Bleiler (1978), p. 8. Reginald 10241.
POWERS OF DARKNESS: A COLLECTION OF UNEASY TALES.
London: Philip Allan, [1934]. Octavo, pp. [1-4] 5 [6-8] 9-243 [244: blank] [245-256: ads], original green cloth, spine panel stamped in black. First edition. Original anthology collecting ten stories by Lord Dunsany ("The Two Bottles of Relish"), Birkin (as "Charles Lloyd"), Russell Thorndike and others. Part of the classic fourteen-volume "Creeps" series. Barron (ed), Horror Literature 3-23. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 1329. Bleiler (1978), p. 8. Reginald 11848.
SHIVERS: A THIRD COLLECTION OF UNEASY TALES.
London: Philip Allan, [1932]. Octavo, pp. [1-4] 5 [6-8] 9-254 [255-256: blank] [note: last leaf is a blank], original gray cloth, spine panel stamped in black. First edition. Third book of the "Creeps" series. Collects nine stories, several original to this collection, by H. R. Wakefield, Birkin (as "Charles Lloyd"), Tod Robbins, Mrs. H. D. Everett ("The Death Mask"), Elliott O'Donnell and Philip Murray. Barron (ed), Horror Literature 3-23. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 1474. Bleiler (1978), p. 8. Reginald 13043.