Mr. Karswell
As mentioned in my intro to the previous post, THOIA turns 19 in a few weeks (July 12th to be exact!), so let's spend the lead-up to that date with a few scary stories that made a huge impact on Mr. Karswell as a young 6 year old just discovering comics in the 70's. My grandmother had taken me...
NancyO
First off, a huge thank you to everyone who emailed to check if I was still alive and okay—I can’t tell you how much that meant! This past year has been…well, weird, and not the kind of year I’ll be looking back on fondly. After my sweet spouse's major health scare (all good now, thankfully), my...
NancyO
9789992033876Mons Culturae Press, 2023190 pppaperback(read in April) Taking its place on my favorite books of 2025 shelf, this collection of stories sits next to Snuggly's The Onyx Book of Occult Fiction, which is where I first read anything by its author, Martin Locker. His contribution to that...
NancyO
" ... we all search for meaning -- to give our life purpose." 9781912586615Tartarus Press, 2025253 pphardcover(read earlier in March)If you find that recently you've been a bundle of nerves given world events, do yourself a favor and do not read this book before trying to go to sleep. I started...
NancyO
9781949491609Cemetery Dance, 2025253 pppaperback I'm hopefully done with sporadic posting now. The end of January through the end of February is one giant blur -- my poor husband had three surgeries (one completely unexpected immediately on the back of the second) during that time, and I was in no...
NancyO
9781912586608Tartarus Press, 2024240 pphardcoverIt is not only a true pleasure to have a book published by Tartarus in my hands once again, but added to that is the joy of it being a book of collected stories by Reggie Oliver. Long may they continue to be published -- I love his work. In This...
NancyO
"There are more men in the world who wreaked senseless havoc than men who preached for peace."9781913766306Eibonvale Press, 2024406 ppI would have done a happy dance when this new book by Alexander Zelenyj arrived at my door, but there were people here so I just did it inside my head. I have had...
NancyO
9781939063702Wakefield Press, 2021originally published 1943translated by Iain White246 pppaperbackSometimes you just find that book that you know is not only unlike anything you've ever read but also makes you wonder just how in the hell you're going to find aything that ever tops it. This past...
NancyO
"There would be tokens and talismans of the true country ..." --- from "The House of Flame"9781783800476Swan River Press, 2024198 pphardcoverIt's no secret that Mark Valentine is one of my favorite writers and now, with Swan River's publication of Lost Estates, I've added another gem of a book to...
NancyO
9798886010510Stark House Press, 2023241 pppaperbackBack again with the second entry in my three volumes of tales by Robert Hichens published by Stark House. This time, as S.T. Joshi notes in his introduction, these stories seem to hinge on a "crucial, life-altering decision" made by certain...
NancyO
"These occult things can't always be told of, even when they are known." 97886010565Stark House Press, 2023245 pppaperbackNot too long ago the very good people at Stark House Press sent me an ARC of a forthcoming collection of stories by Robert Hichens (1864-1959) entitled The Folly of Eustace...
NancyO
9780712354271British Library, 2022305 pppaperbackIt's been a while since I've been here -- vacation and then a subsequent case of covid have sucked up my time pretty much since Thanksgiving and I'm just now feeling up to posting again. I couldn't let the year go by without reading at least one...
NancyO
9781956321953Valancourt, 2023translated by James D. Jenkins illustrations by Luis Perez Ochando198 pphardcoverI initally came across the work of Bernardo Esquinca in the first installment of this publisher's Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories. His story "Señor Ligotti" was a standout in...
NancyO
9781739733940Broodcomb, 2023281 pphardcoverFirst things first: a mega thank you to Jamie Walsh -- you know why. I had actually started this post Tuesday of this past week, and I had meant to finish it long before today, but I've had a weird week of waking up at 4:30 in the morning and have...
NancyO
9780712354424British Library, 2022340 pppaperbackIt's time for another book in the British Library Tales of the Weird series. This time we're off to the remoteness of the Arctic and the Antarctic with Polar Horrors: Strange Tales From the World's Ends. My geek self has a particular fascination...
NancyO
"The past seems so close here..."9780712354134British Library, 2023279 pppaperbackI have a serious addiction to the British Library Tales of the Weird series, so much so that I tend to preorder the books often months ahead of their scheduled release. I actually just got one in yesterday's mail,...