Wormwoodiana

Just out: no. 12, titled "The Other Alice issue", because it delves deeply into a dozen very odd descendants of Lewis Carroll's Alice books. Most of these I had never before heard of, but some are doozies. Chris notes in his introduction that he "showcases some of the most unusual and idiosyncratic examples" and that is understatement. The titles range from Oedipus in Disneyland (1972) by Hercules Molloy, through Alice Versary (1959) a birthday book for the 200th anniversary of the Guinness Brewing company, and a duo by Richard Wallace that even Colin Wilson had to choose his words carefully when introducing the second one (Jack the Ripper: "Light-Hearted Fiend", 1997). The only book I knew of beforehand being Night of the Jabberwock (1950), by Fredric Brown, and as wacky as it is, it seems almost sane compared to some of the other titles discussed herein.

As usual, inquiries/orders to the author/publisher: chris<dot>mikul88<at>gmail<dot>com.

A new issue (no. 11) of Chris Mikul's zine Biblio-Curiosa is just out, and as always it's got a particularly interesting range of topics.  First up is an essay on the 1937 novel Satan's Drŏme by William Reeves, followed by a short account of a recent reprint of June-Alison Gibbon's novel The Pepsi-Cola Addict (1982). The two longest articles in the issue cover the eclectic Czech philosopher, Ladislav Klima, and the novel Fugitive Anne (1902) by Mrs. Campbell Praed. The two other books discussed are Remembrances of a Religio-Maniac (1912) by D. Davidson, and The Flaw in the Sapphire (1909) by Charles M. Snyder. 

As usual, inquiries/orders to the author/publisher: chris<dot>mikul88<at>gmail<dot>com.

The novel Satan's Drŏme sounds especially delightful. The story takes place around a hell-ish (literally) Hill of Misfortune in Serbia, referred to as Satan's Drŏme-- drŏme, with the unusual breve accent, appears to be related to Greek dromos, a running course or race course, and thus the Hill of Misfortune is itself Satan's Drŏme. 

In the dust-wrapper illustration, the body of a long dead monk, occasionally possessed by Satan, is found in a lost monastery. 

I've written previously about Chris Harte's series of magazine histories, first of The Captain here, and more recently of The Badminton Magazine (and the fascinating associational anthology of Strange Stories of Sport) here. Just published is a new one in the series:  Fores's Sporting Notes & Sketches: 1884-1912: A History, Index and Bibliography (2022). 

Fores's Sporting Notes & Sketches is a journal new to me.  It ran for 116 issues from April 1884 through December 1912. 

This history includes the usual item listing for each issue, as well as sample illustrations and a large number of author photos.  Plus an index of names (including authors, illustrators, etc.).  Familiar names who contributed include Edwin Arnold, Frank Aubrey (also known as Fenton Ash, and Francis Henry Atkins), Frederick Furnivall (an original editor of what has become known as the Oxford English Dictionary),  Coulson Kernahan (an early enthusiast and friend of William Hope Hodgson), and Arthur Quiller-Couch, among many others.

And a new issue of Chris Mikul's zine Biblio-Curiosa has just come out, and though it has only five articles in this issue, all five are unusually interesting. First is a discussion of The Master of the Macabre (1946) by Russell Thorndike.  This is followed by a discussion of an extremely curious book Doctor Transit (1925), by I.S. [Isidor Schneider], which concerns a married couple, each of whom goes through a transformation into the opposite sex.  The third essay is the longest in this issue, and covers the career of Edgar Mittleholzer (1909-1965), remembered for his M.R. Jamesian novel, My Bones and My Flute (1955). Mittleholzer died of self-immolation, dousing himself with petrol before striking a match. 

The final two essays cover two lesser-known books and writers, The Death of the Fuhrer (1972) by Roland Puccetto and Gwenllean (1823) by Mary G. Lewis. This issue is highly recommended.

As usual, inquiries/orders to the author/publisher: chris<dot>mikul88<at>gmail<dot>com.

 

 Some recent publications are worth noting here at Wormwoodiana.  First is issue no. 17 of Chris Mikul's long-running Bizarrism.  It contains some six articles, of varying lengths, and three book reviews. The longest article, on "The Ghost of Harry Price", clocks in at twelve pages is is highly interesting, giving a good chapter-sized perspective on the famous ghost-hunter, and it includes coverage of Robert Aickman's interactions with Price. One of books reviewed is Edward Parnell's Ghostland.  Information and orders go to Chris Mikul:  chris.mikul88 <at> gmail <dot> com. 

Kevin Dodd has published a long-in-the-works book on the pre-Dracula evolution of the vampire in the nineteenth century. The title is a bit general, The Tale of the Living Vampyre: New Directions in Vampire Studies. The book contains eleven chapters, including one each covering male homosexual vampires (as found in Count Stenbock), and lesbian vampires (like Le Fanu's Carmilla).  Dodd has also recently published part 1 (of 2) of "Plot Variations in the Nineteenth-Century Story of Lord Ruthven"--in the new Journal of Vampire Studies, edited by Anthony Hogg, which includes a number of other highly interesting articles (including two on Montague Summers). 

And there is John D. Haefele's tome (at 762 pages), another long-in-process study which I'm still working my way through: Lovecraft: The Great Tales. Haefele in turn works his way through Lovecraft's oeuvre, giving new ideas about influences and interpretations. This is all the more welcome as the Lovecraft field has been dominated for too long by a small number of critical voices. Haefele offers different ways of looking at familiar texts, and some are quite illuminating.

Finally, a note on the passing of Alistair Durie (1944-2021), who published only one book himself--the omnibus of cover art in the eponymously-named Weird Tales (1979), but who was widely-known to pulp and fanzine collectors, both for his legendary collection and for his generous assistance given to many researchers in the field (myself included). He will be missed.

Here are some recent, and less-recent, books I'd like to call attention to. This column has been rather delayed, for various reasons, and I haven't had the chance to read some of these titles yet, much though I'd like to.

First, early on in Covid times, David and Daniel Ritter released The Visual History of Science Fiction Fandom, Volume One: The 1930s. This came out as a lavish (and expensive) hardcover, since reprinted, but also as an affordable Kindle ebook. I can't say enough of praise for this book, so will recommend a visit to the publisher's webpage here, where you can also click on a digital sampler of some 52 pages from the book. What a picture of fandom in the 1930s!

Next up, is David Tibet's latest anthology, There Is A Graveyard That Dwells in Man (Strange Attractor Press), a follow-up to his 2016 anthology (from the same publisher) The Moons at Your Door. Good and eclectic selections in both.  See the publishers webpage here, and here.

Snuggly Books has published the second volume (of two) of fiction by Montague Summers, The Bride of Christ and Other Fictions, including eight stories, all but one of which are newly published. Introduction by Daniel Corrick. 

On the magazine front, there was a new issue of Chris Mikul's Biblio-Curiosa, on unusual writers and strange books. Issue 9 is "The Autobiographies and Memoirs Issue" and covers E.W. Martell, Seamus Burke, Mary MacLane, G.  Gordon Liddy, and Crook Frightfulness by A Victim, and a review of a recent autobiography by Sir Edmund Backhouse.  Inquiries to the author/publisher chris<dot>mikul88<at>gmail<dot>com. 

 And there was a new issue of Le Visage Vert (no. 31), with stories by Arthur Machen, Maurice Renard, Mark Valentine, Camille Mauclair, Pascal Malosse, Pascal Mulot, and Sophus Bauditz. For a contents listing see here. There is also a companion volume of stories by Maurice Renard, Celui qui n'a pas tué, edited and with a preface and bibliography by Claude Deméocq. Ordering information for both books (and many others) can be found by scrolling around here. 

And finally, Tartarus Press publisher R.B. Russell collected his own bookish essays, a handful of which first appeared here on Wormwoodiana, in Past Lives of Old Books and Other Essays. It first came out in hardcover, but is now also available as a trade paperback and an ebook.  Details here.

Chris Mikul has published a new issue of his wonderful zine Biblio-Curiosa, devoted to unusual writers and strange books. I always enjoy these very much. This issue (#8) has articles on Dulcie Deamer and Gabriele D'Annunzio (including "A Visit to the Vittoriale"--D'Annunzio's ideal home overlooking Lake Garda in northern Italy; D'Annunzio was clearly an inspiration for Robert Aickman's novel Go Back at Once, reviewed here). Each issue of Biblio-Curiosa has numerous illustrations, of people, places, books and dust-wrappers, mostly in color. I show a scan of the cover of the new issue below, along with a listing of the contents. Ordering information can be gotten directly from Chris Mikul at chris.mikul88 [at] gmail [dot] com.



Biblio-Curiosa [#8 (2020)] (Chris Mikul, 44pp, digest s/s)
2 · “The Devil's Saint” by Dulcie Deamer · Chris Mikul · ar [Dulcie Deamer]
12 · The Seductions of Gabriele D'Annunzo · Chris Mikul · ar [Gabriele D'Annunzio]
26 · A Visit to the Vittoriale · Chris Mikul · ar [Gabriele D'Annunzio]
32 · "The Human Bat" and "The Human Bat v the Robot Gangster" by Edward R. Home-Gall · Chris Mikul · ar [Edward R. Home-Gall]
38 · "Malombra" by Antonio Fogazzaro · Chris Mikul · ar [Antonio Fogazzaro]

The contents of the previous issues are listed in the FictionMags Index here.  

A quick note to point out a new issue (no. 6) of Chris Mikul's zine Biblio-Curiosa, covering "unusual writers" and "strange books." Much of this issue is given over to a study of the writings of Frank Walford, whose Twisted Clay (1933) was reissued in 2014 by Remains Books, supplemented with essays by Johnny Mains, Jim Smith and James Doig. Also included in this issue of Biblio-Curiosa are some materials related to Fergus Hume, Ward Greene, and another candidate for that highly competitive classification as the world's worst poet, William Nathan Stedman. 

Mark Valentine has written here at Wormwoodiana about previous issues of Biblio-Curiosa.

Biblio-Curiosa is available from Chris Mikul at P O Box K546, Haymarket, NSW 1240, Australia, or via cathob[at]zip[dot]com[dot]au.