Henry Bartholomew (ed), The Living Stone

Description

Authors in The Living Stone include:

• Sabine Baring-Gould
• E F Benson
• Nellie K Blissett
• Bernard Capes
• James Causey
• Robert W Chambers
• N Dennett (aka Eleanor Scott)
• W W Fenn
• Hazel Heald
• H P Lovecraft
• Arthur Machen
• W C Morrow
• Oliver Onions
• E R Punshon
• Eleanor Scott
• Clark Ashton Smith
• Edith Wharton.

Henry Bartholomew, editor of our Algernon Blackwood anthology The Unknown, has curated this selection and written the Introduction. The Living Stone will be the ninth of the Handheld Weirds: landmark anthologies to redefine the birth of Weird fiction.

Reviews

‘If you would like your frights to have an archaeological flavour , this slim but spine-chilling volume should do the trick (or treat), offering seventeen tales exploring the impact of sculpted stone, the malign purposes that may lie behind its creation, and how it might become a vessel for supernatural forces.’ – Current Archaeology

‘Favourites for me were “The Stone Rider” by Nellie K Blisset, a classic family ghost story that has the feel of a true pulpy adventure, and “The Menhir” by N Dennett, which feels like someone took a classic English village slice-of-life story and inserted a healthy dollop of folk horror. Several of the stories deal with men attempting to capture women in stone, with unexpectedly uncanny ends … a very enjoyable and well-thought-out anthology’ – A Cat, A Book and a Cup of Tea

‘Christmas/winter was traditionally the time for ghost stories – spooky season begins at Halloween, not ends. My favourite collections currently come from Handheld and the British Library weird series. Both are better at unsettling me as a reader rather than frightening me stupid, which is very much how I like it. My architect husband is very taken with the concept of The Living Stone which is why he consented to reading aloud and being read too. This is the next thing I really like about a good weird collection – there’s now enough of them based on an inspiringly broad range of topics that there’s bound to be something appropriate for the readers in your life that’s tailored to their particular interests. The glorious thing about a well chosen paperback is that it’s a thoughtful and budget option. The glorious thing about The Living Stone is all it’s literary gothic flourishes.’ – Desperate Reader

Behold the Handheld Weirds

Women’s Weird: the original anthology edited by Melissa Edmundson. Contains thirteen excellent supernatural stories encompassing the boundaries of Weird by outstanding women authors. Includes stories by Edith Wharton, May Sinclair, Margery Lawrence and E Nesbit.

Women’s Weird 2: our second anthology edited by Melissa Edmundson, this collection of short supernatural fiction from 1893 to 1937 broadens the geographical territory of Weird with fiction from Canada, Australia, India, the USA and New Zealand.

British Weird: edited by James Machin, this collection of short British supernatural fiction from 1981 to 1937 displays an unsettling mastery of Weird preoccupations.

The Villa and The Vortex, by Elinor Mordaunt: we bring this exceptionally good writer of Weird fiction back into print with this new anthology of her best supernatural writing, first published between 1916 and 1924.

The Outcast and The Rite, by Helen de Guerry Simpson, a forgotten Australian novelist who was a skilful writer of the subtlest of superantural short stories. Weird, but not as we know it.

From the Abyss, by D K Broster, a spectacularly good collection of the Weird short fiction that this very popular historical novelist wrote alongside her novels of the eighteenth century.

Strange Relics, an anthology of classic supernatural stories about archaeological finds, curated by Amara Thornton and Katy Soar.

The Unknown, by Algernon Blackwood, a collection of 12 short stories and biographical writing and reflection by Blackwood, exploring his fascination with the indescribable and his brilliance at conveying the impossible.

The House of Silence, a new anthology of the best of E Nesbit’s ghost stories, from 1891 to 1922. To be published on 14th May 2024.