Less intense than Mr. Machen in delineating the extremes of stark fear, yet infinitely more closely wedded to the idea of an unreal world constantly pressing upon ours is the inspired and prolific Algernon Blackwood, amidst whose voluminous and uneven work may be found some of the finest spectral literature of this or any age. Of the quality of Mr. Blackwood’s genius there can be no dispute; for no one has even approached the skill, seriousness, and minute fidelity with which he records the overtones of strangeness in ordinary things and experiences, or the preternatural insight with which he builds up detail by detail the complete sensations and perceptions leading from reality into supernormal life or vision. Without notable command of the poetic witchery of mere words, he is the one absolute and unquestioned master of weird atmosphere; and can evoke what amounts almost to a story from a simple fragment of humourless psychological description. Above all others he understands how fully some sensitive minds well forever on the borderland of dream, and how relatively slight is the distinction betwixt those images formed from actual objects and those excited by the play of the imagination.

–H.P. Lovecraft, “Supernatural Horror in Literature”

I highly appreciate your offer to lend me the Blackwood books and intend to take advantage of your kindness at some future date when my plans are not quite so uncertain as they are now. Thank you very much for the magazine with your story; I am certain that “The Picture in the House” will prove a real treat.

–Robert E. Howard letter to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. December 1930.

I do not know if Howard ever made good on his promise to Lovecraft. Lovecraft recommended a number of stories and authors to Howard, and there’s every possibility he did. I truly hope this was the case, for like the Man from Providence, I consider Algernon Blackwood to be one of the finest practitioners of the Weird Tale I’ve had the pleasure–or more appropriately, the abject horror–to read.

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When the history of fantasy and horror fiction is being discussed, the pulp magazine Weird Tales is inevitably mentioned. Published on low-grade “pulp” paper, Weird Tales was the first newsstand magazine devoted exclusively to weird and fantastic fiction. It ran for 279 issues, from March 1923 to September 1954.

The three most important and influential writers to have their work published in the title were Rhode Island horror writer H.P. Lovecraft; the Texan creator of Conan the Cimmerian, Robert E. Howard; and the California poet, short story writer, illustrator and sculptor, Clark Ashton Smith.

“The Complete Poems from Weird Tales” series collects their verse in the order that it originally appeared in the pages of “The Unique Magazine”.

You might remember back in December the news of PS Publishing announcing a trio of poetry collections by Howard, Lovecraft and Smith. Well, here’s an update: PS Publishing has released the contents, including some brief biographies by Stephen Jones, and tantalizingly small pictures of the covers.

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Innsmouth Free Press is a fun site, running stories of a mythos slant from a “metafictional” perspective, blurring the distinction between fact and fiction (much like a few British tabloids I could mention.)

This week, Charles R. Saunders strode into that little town of Essex County. There, the local press engaged the First-Spear of Sword & Soul in an interview. The interview is an illuminating read, particularly in regards to the Lovecraftian influence and inspiration in Saunders’ work, and his wider views on matters of diversity and imagination in fantasy fiction. Here’s a taster:

IFP: What are your thoughts on the future of sword-and-sorcery?

CS: The future of the genre is in good hands, particularly those of Joe Abercrombie, author of The First Law trilogy. Paul Kearney and the late David Gemmell kept the genre alive during the lull that followed the waning of the Howard boom of the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Also, the line between heroic fantasy and epic fantasy is blurring. The multi-volume series of writers like Scott Bakker and Steven Erickson are as epic in scope as the oeuvre of J.R.R. Tolkein and Robert Jordan. Yet, they’re packed with the kind of slam-bang action a sword-and-sorcery buff craves.

Go over to Innsmouth Free Press for the rest.

Two tips which might be helpfulf to TC readers. Necronomicon Press is back open for business and is offering a fifteen percent discount on all titles bought on their site. Courtesy of Bill Thom and Coming Attractions, I learned that Wildside Press has a thirty percent off sale going on for orders of three or more books.

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Way too many cool authors were born in January. In fact, there are so many it’s hard to keep track at times (my abject apologies to the shade of Jack London). I would advise any prospective parents wanting to produce an author-child of exceptional talents to strive mightily in the months of April and May.

Luckily for The Cimmerian, James Maliszewski reminded us all that today is the birthday of Abraham Merritt. Using his Grognardia blog as a bully pulpit, Maliszewski once again preached the gospel of A. Merritt.

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Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809, in Boston, Massachusetts. I’m not capable of writing an essay half as interesting as the one penned last year by the late Steve Tompkins for the bicentennial of Poe’s birth, so I will let other more competent (and prestigious) voices express their appreciation of America’s master of mystery and the macabre.

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There are some authors who can tell a new story, and yet make it feel as if it’s been told for eons. Something about the inherent truth within the work, combined with the sincere approach, has the tale feel like it was first told, albeit in an altered style, in Mesopotamian city-states, or Germanic campfires, or wattle huts in Africa. Neither allegorical, nor inextricably reflective of a period, the plot is essentially timeless. The details might change, but the story would remain. An example of this sort of story, for me, is Clark Ashton Smith’s “The Empire of the Necromancers.”

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Halcyon Press is a Texan publisher based in Houston. Under the series name of ”Halcyon Classics,” it is publishing a line of Kindle eBooks. Kindle is Amazon’s digital wireless reading device. Several books by TC’s favorite Texan author are now available.

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UK fans are in for a treat–Mike Chivers, moderator of the Official Robert E. Howard forum, has alerted us to a new troika of books by the Weird Tales Trinity coming soon from PS Publishing:

Of course, it’s now less than six months to the World Horror Convention, to be held this year in the delightful southern England coastal town of Brighton (for which, I’m sure, you have already booked, yes?!). Well, as usual, we’re going to be launching some great new books there and we’ll pass along progress updates as soon as we have them.

But the big news is that we’re aiming to add a poetry imprint to the PS stable, and we’ll be doing a second launch event specifically for those. The flagship book will be Jo Fletcher’s as yet untitled anthology, a baker’s dozen celebrating the dark side of the seaside.

This will be supported by a triptych of volumes compiled and edited by Steve Jones and containing the complete Weird Tales poetry of H. P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith… and all of them priced at just £9.99 each. Watch this space!

Exciting news: the prose of Howard, Smith and Lovecraft is well represented in the UK, but I always felt the poetry could use a little more exposure. There’s certainly no dearth of material, in fact, I can only guess how many poems they could fit in to three books! The fact that Steve Jones is editing is just the icing on the cake, and I’ve no doubt he’ll do a fine job.

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H. Harksen productions has just released a book on August Derleth by  Cimmerian award-winning scholar, John D. Haefele. Don Herron provides the foreword.

Here’s the blurb:

AUGUST DERLETH REDUX: THE WEIRD TALE 1930-1971

This monograph, published during the centennial year of August Derleth’s birth, contains comprehensive, cutting-edge scholarship that will revitalize scholarship in Derleth, the man and his work. With rare clarity, Haefele demonstrates the essential role Derleth played in the “tale” of the literary Weird Tale genre, while carefully examining the events which led to millions of books by H. P. Lovecraft and others circulating worldwide. Here we find Derleth firmly re- established alongside S. T. Joshi as the eminent champion of Lovecraft he was.

Foreword by Don Herron, cover artwork by Natalie Sorrentino. Limited Edition. 150 copies only.