Out of print!

Two Alchemy Press books are now out of print (although I think some dealers still have copies): The Paladin Mandates by Mike Chinn and Shadows of Light and Dark by Jo Fletcher. Thanks to everyone who bought a copy of either, or both. If you don't have a copy of The Paladin Mandates, a Kindle version is available (which includes an extra story) -- follow the links from the Alchemy Press website.

The Alchemy Press Book of Pulp Heroes

I mentioned an hour or so ago that I'm aiming to announce some new Alchemy Press books for 2012. I'm pleased to say that the submission guidelines for the first, The Alchemy Press Book of Pulp Heroes, to be edited by Mike Chinn, are now available. Click here to read them.

The Paladin Mandates - revised edition

Hooray! I've finally managed to upload to Amazon the second Alchemy Press eBook. I say "finally" because every time I thought I'd accomplished the task, I noticed something else that required a tweak. Anyway...

Now available from The Alchemy Press: The Paladin Mandates by Mike Chinn. This is a revised edition of a book originally published in 1998. As an added bonus, this new edition features a brand new Damian Paladin story, "There'll be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight".

Mixing generous dollops of The Scorpion, The Shadow and Dominic Fortune, with a fascination for old airplanes, a taste for '30s detective fiction ... enter Damian Paladin, ghost hunter, supernatural sleuth. 

You can buy from Amazon in the UK and USA.

Dark Horizons 38

Dark Horizons 38 was edited by me (Peter Coleborn) and Mike Chinn – Phil Williams stood down after the previous issue. Joel Lane remained the poetry editor. It was published by the BFS in 1999. I think this may have been the first perfect-bound issue of DH, a change that’s been with us since. This binding certainly made the magazine look and feel more substantial. It also boasted over a hundred pages – a step up from past issues. And at last, DH used a decent-sized font that made this issue easy to read; it still is, even with today’s aged eyes. Contents:

“Invasion” by Rudy Kremberg
“The Suburban Vampire” (verse) by Norman J Olson
“The Ichor of Ilyus Benz” by Linda Talbot
“Clockwise Cryptonia” (verse) by echo syzygy
“Roots of a Writer” by Anne Gay (NF)
“Draining Away” (verse) by Brian Maycock
“Noodles” by James Mac
“The Testament of Empedocles” by P G McCormack
“Monopoly” (verse) by John M Edwards
“Lavender and Lilac: Ghosts, Visits and Old Ladies” by John Howard (NF)
“Queen of Clubs” by Allen Ashley
“A Soldier in Rohgate” by D Harrigon
“The Bezaloo” by Bill Wilensky

The front cover artwork (illustrating “Queen of Clubs”) was by Bob Hobbs. Alas, there no interior artwork in this issue, barring a photograph of Anne Gay (by Jerry Bauer) and cover reproductions accompanying John Howard’s article. This piece carried a second sub-title: “A Look at Some Old-time American Domestic Horror”. Note: NF denotes non-fiction.

This was my final issue as DH editor -- at least for a long, long time.

Originally published on the Alchemy Press website.

Dark Horizons 37

After Chills, I teamed up with Mike Chinn and Phil Williams to edit and produce the British Fantasy Society’s main publication, Dark Horizons. Unfortunately, our first issue of DH took far too long to appear. The editorial note offers apologies but no excuses – and it’s too far in the past to remember all the details. I think that organising a FantasyCon or two, along with launching the Alchemy Press, were involved in some part. Anyway, Dark Horizons 37, edited by the aforementioned team, along with Joel Lane, poetry editor, appeared in 1998 with a cover price of £3.00.

DH37, although neatly produced, used a too-small font, which must have made it hard on the eyes. Dark Horizons included both fiction and non-fiction:

“The Lake” by Linda D Acaster
“Para Dice by the Landing Light” by G W Greenwood. Illustrated by Dallas Goffin
“Worms Feed on Hector: the Gothic Novels of Simon Raven” by Howard Watson (NF)
“A Fence in Rohgate” by D Harrigon
“Terminal” by Simon MacCulloch. Illustrated by Janet Morris
“Heart of the Machine” by Rick Cadger
“Scapegoat” by Alan Casey
“Queue” (verse) by Brian Maycock (R)
“Scraps” by Paul Finch. Illustrated by Alan Hunter
“Roots of a Writer” by Storm Constantine. Illustrated by Bob Covington (NF)
“Jenna’s Home” by Rick Kleffel
“Looking Through the Glass” (verse) by Steve Sneyd
“Horrorscopes: a Lover’s Guide” by Peter Tennant
“Kwaidan Revisited” by John Paul Catton (NF)
“A Rather Improbable God” by David Andreas
“Bio” (verse) by Mark McLaughlin
“The Last Story in the Book” by D F Lewis

Cover art was by Bob Covington with additional artwork by Alan Casey. Only three items were specifically illustrated. Note: R denotes a reprint and NF is non-fiction.

Glancing through DH37’s pages, I note that the first Alchemy Press title, The Paladin Mandates, had just appeared. That year’s Fantasycon, FCXXII, was held at the Albany Posthouse Hotel in Birmingham over the weekend 11-13 September. The Guests of Honour were Freda Warrington and Jane Yolen. Ramsey Campbell was the Master of Ceremonies. And I was one of the organisers – again. Finally, about this time websites were becoming more popular, with the BFS’ first site appearing on the Geocities server.


Originally published on the Alchemy Press website.

Sailors of the Skies

If you pop over to the Alchemy Press blog you see that we've published our first Kindle book -- well, novella: Mike Chinn's Sailors of the Skies. It mixes “generous dollops of The Scorpion, The Shadow and Dominic Fortune, a taste for 1930s detective fiction, and the simple desire to tell a creepy tale…” How can that not tempt you?

The Alchemy Press

Check out one of my other blogs -- for the Alchemy Press. The first book I published was The Paladin Mandates by Mike Chinn. The book , a collection of short stories, boasted a tremendous cover by Bob Covington. Check out the Alchemy Press pages for more information on this and other AP titles.