Good homes wanted

It’s “sort-out” time at Oldhaven House – that’s where I rest my weary head at night. I’m reluctant to call it “chuck out” time because I’m loath to throw away these items. But it’s okay, I’m not discarding my collections – just duplicates. So then, here’s the deal: if anyone wants the following items (or just one of the following) for free (excluding p&p) please email me at peter [at] coleborn [.] co [.] uk. All you’ll have to provide is your address and the requisite postage via PayPal (minimum of £1.00). Despite my assertion above, if no one wants these publications then (sorry to say) it’s the recycling bin. There are multiple copies of some of the following.

A Dick and Jane Primer for Adults edited by Lavie Tidhar (2008)

A Celebration edited by Paul Kane & Marie O’Regan (BFS Book 2006)+

Annabelle Says by Simon Clark & Stephen Laws (signed, BFS Booklet 1995)

Best of Prism (1997)

BFS Journal (Winter 2010)+

BFS Journal (Winter 2011/2012)*+

BFS Journal (Autumn 2012)*+

BFS Newsletter (July/August 1995)

Clive Barker: Mythmaker for the Millennium by Suzanne Barbieri (BFS Booklet 1994)

Dark Horizons 37 (1998)*

Dark Horizons 38 (1999)*

Dark Horizons 50 (2007)*

Dark Horizons 51 (2007)*

Dark Horizons 52 (2008)*

FantasyCon Reporter (FantasyCon PR, 1996)*

FantasyCon Reporter (FantasyCon PR2, 1996)

FantasyCon XVII Souvenir Book (1992)

FantasyCon XXII Souvenir Book (1998)

FantasyCon Souvenir Book (2000)

FantasyCon Souvenir Book (2009)

FantasyCon XXIX Souvenir Book (2005)

FantasyCon Souvenir Book (2006)

FantasyCon Souvenir Book (2007)*

FantasyCon Souvenir Book (2008)

FantasyCon Souvenir Book (2009)*

FantasyCon: The Green Man Banquet – original poem by Robert Holdstock (2009)*

FantasyCon Souvenir Book (2010)

F20 issue 1 (2000)

Holt! Who Goes There? by Tom Holt (BFS Booklet 1998)

Long Memories by Peter Cannon (BFS Booklet 1997)*

Miscellany Macabre by Ken Cowley (BLS Booklet 1999)

New Horizons 1 (2008)

New Horizons 2 (2008)

New Horizons 3 (2008)

Outsiders by John Oram (BFS Booklet 1996)

Prism volume 25 number 2 (2001)

Prism (summer 2009)

Prism (March 2010)

Prism (June 2010)

Shocks by Ronald Chetwynd-Hayes (signed; BFS Booklet 1997)

Silver Rhapsody (BFS Booklet 1996)*

Spiral Garden by Louise Cooper (BFS Booklet 2000)*+

Stirring Within by Russell Flinn (BFS Booklet 1990)

Through the Walls by Ramsey Campbell (signed; BFS Booklet 1981)

At least two of the above have been listed by dealers at around £15 each – so here’s a chance to grab a collector’s item. Titles marked + are quite hefty; and I’m involved, in one way or another, with those marked *

I also have a number of Interzone and Locus magazines that are surplus to requirements (same deal – just provide the postage fee):

Interzone issues 227, 228, 229, 230, 231,233, 234,235, 236

Locus issues 550, 562, 567, 569, 574, 604, 606, 607

Olde Horrors

I’d almost forgotten about this: back in the 1980s I decided that the BFS should produce an art portfolio and who else to highlight but Jim Pitts. Jim was a mainstay of the BFS, both as a fine artist and as editor of some of its earlier publications. So I asked Jim and he obliged with six A4 B&W plates illustrating classic horror tropes: Frankenstein’s Monster, Mr Hyde, Nosferatu, the lycanthrope , the resurrectionists, and the Jamesian ghost. The plates were presented in a blue card folder (with three further illustrations including Jack the Ripper) with an introduction by Stephen Jones, titled “The Pitt and the Pendulum”. Olde Horrors, produced by me, was published by the British Fantasy Society in 1989 in a limited edition of 500 copies.

It’s a pity that the society didn’t produce further such art portfolios, championing the best of UK illustrators. Anyway, I gather that they are quite rare, now. You can obtain a copy of this fine publication here for £12.00 – but I have seen it for over £20 on Amazon.

The Spiral Garden

Way back in the late 1990s Jan Edwards and I discovered that Louise Cooper was a relatively close neighbour of ours – she lived in Bromsgrove, we in Birmingham. We struck up a great friendship with her and her partner, the artist Cas Sandall, but after they moved to a little fishing village on the north coast of Cornwall we only managed to visit once before she sadly died in 2009. In case you are not aware, Louise is the author of books such as The Book of Paradox, The Timemaster Trilogy and the Indigo Saga.

In 2000, Jan put together a book of Louise’s short stories, The Spiral Garden, which included five stories, one original to this collection – “St Gumper’s Feast”. The other tales were: “Cry”, “The Spiral Garden”, “His True and Only Wife” and “The Birthday Battle”. Cas provided the artwork, and Diana Wynne Jones wrote the introduction.

The Spiral Garden was published by the British Fantasy Society in two editions: a regular paperback and a signed hard cover. My involvement was limited. Jan did most of the production work; I acted as advisor and assistant. Regardless of my input, this was a tremendous project and I’m pleased to have been involved.

Long Memories...

Back in 1997 the BFS was offered the opportunity to publish a memoir of the last days of Frank Belknap Long, written by Peter Cannon. Of course, the society snapped up the chance and thus Long Memories: Recollections of Frank Belknap Long appeared later in that year.

This was a slim volume – 68 pages – of possibly too-small print face. But it was a neat-looking chapbook, and did service to Cannon’s moving account. BFS President Ramsey Campbell, who also knew Long personally, supplied the Afterword. If you get the chance, obtain and read this publication; there may even be copies remaining in stock at the BFS – contact the stockholder via the BFS website.

Oh yes, muggings here did all the production work, with assistance for the cover (I didn’t have a decent DTP package back then – it was 15 years ago!).