William Hope Hodgson: Master of the Weird Tale

I first discovered the work of William Hope Hodgson through my good friend and connoisseur of Weird Fiction, ontheborderland.  I started with The House on the Borderland, and it was a very quick addiction - didn't take me long to read through everything our library had.  Which wasn't much, sadly, but I've been able to find books elsewhere.  And believe me he is a Master - I have to wonder where some of his visions came from.

In 2008, Centipede Press honored Hodgson in it's Masters of the Weird Tale series.  This fine press limited edition collection includes "all of Hodgson’s finest. short fiction and his most important novels, including The House on the Borderland, The Ghost Pirates, The Night Land, and The Boats of the Glen Carig. In addition, there are twenty of Hodgson’s best tales"  (table of contents available upon request).

In addition it features illustrations and artwork by contemporary artists Stephen Fabian and Ian Miller as well as images by the late scifi/fantasy illustrator Hannes Bok.  All of whom did a great job of capturing Hodgson's weirdness in visual form.

Both Fabian and Miller are well-known for their macabre styles and their long portfolios of book covers and illustrations in the science fiction, fantasy and weird fiction realms. I encourage you to visit their websites to see the incredible talent that was harnessed for this publication.

There can never be too many...

There can never be too many fine book publishers, in my opinion. I have learned today of a new fine press that has recently launched:

which will be specializing in "morbid and fantastical works".  They will soon be releasing their first publication, Shadow Plays by Reggie Oliver, in a limited run of 250 sewn hardbound copies.

Reggie Oliver is a contenporary stage actor, playwright, and author of ghost stories.  From his goodreads bio: 

He is the author of four highly-praised volumes of short fiction: The Dreams of Cardinal Vittorini (Haunted River 2003), The Complete Symphonies of Adolf Hitler (Haunted River 2005), Masques of Satan (Ash Tree 2007), and Madder Mysteries (Ex Occidente 2009). His stories have appeared in over 25 anthologies and, for the third year running, one of his stories appears in The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, the most widely read and popular of contemporary horror anthologies.

Egaeus' publication will be of early and previously unpublished work, with introductions and commentary by the author.  I've just read a recently-published short anthology, "Mrs. Midnight and Other Stories", and am now very excited to read this new/old work of his.

I wish Egaeus great success with their efforts and look forward to this publication and more in the future!