Fantasy Tales

I was sorting out boxes of old magazines and fanzines recently and came across some issues of Fantasy Tales. This A5-sized magazine was edited and produced by Stephen Jones and David Sutton, as a tribute or homage to Weird Tales and similar pulps. It began in the 1970s and ran for several years before the title was published as a paperback book by Robinson. I loved Fantasy Tales, especially the self-published copies – and bought and still have every issue.

Hey, I’ve appeared in its pages! My fiction output is quite small – an un-prolific writer, me. My story, “The Exhumation” was included in the summer 1978 issue (volume 2, number 3). On re-reading the story, I cringe a bit…

Also in this issue: Patrick Connolly, Marion Pitman, John Wysocki, Pat McIntosh, Andrew Darlington, Brian Lumley, Denys Val Baker, and artwork by Stephen Fabian (the front cover), Sylvia Starshine, Russell Nicholson, Alan Hunter, David Lloyd, Jim Pitts and Simon Horsfall (who illustrated my tale).

Ah, such memories…

In the tradition of...

First off, let me warn you that this isn’t a review. It’s a vaguely-focussed semi-rant on “fat” fantasy books and as such it may come across as being unfair and biased. Please don’t take it to heart – this is me getting things off my chest, and I’ll be fine tomorrow.

I have in front of me a copy of The Shadowmage Trilogy by Matthew Sprange (Abaddon Books £10.99), an omnibus edition of three novels (Shadowmage, Night’s Haunting and Legacy’s Price; originally published in 2008, 2009 and 2012). It forms part of the Twilight of Kerberus series, apparently a shared-world sequence of at least seven novels. Other writers include Mike Wild, David McIntee and Jonathan Oliver (also the overall editor).

In his editorial to this volume, Oliver states that the Twilight of Kerberus series was conceived as a celebration of the stories by Fritz Leiber, Robert E Howard and Clark Ashton Smith rather than of Lord of the Rings or George R R Martin’s magnum opus. Oh, how I applaud that. No disrespect to Tolkein or Martin or other such scribes; I’ve nothing against their books other than that they seem to me to be too – well – long. Leiber and Howard and Smith (and others of the same ilk such as Jack Vance, C L Moore, etc) wrote, to quote Oliver, “punchy fantasy adventures”, mostly of the short story form.

And that’s why I hesitate to read The Shadowmage Trilogy. This book collects the three novels listed above to create a single story arc of 600 pages (admittedly, some modern fantasy novels attain that number of pages per volume, so let’s be thankful this book doesn’t contain 1800 pages!). My point is this: I wish writers would emulate not just the characters and settings of the masters of such yarns, but also their succinctness of storytelling. I don’t want or need much in the way of world building. I require just hints of the unknown realms in which the characters inhabit. My imagination supplies the rest.

OK, I am being unfair, I know. The trilogy may be exceptional, the writing of a high quality. That’s why I’m not passing judgment on Matthew Sprange’s series. Mine is a personal comment on the way fantasy novels seem to expand, to become fatter than necessary (to my mind) – and poor Mr Sprange just happens to be the author of the book to hand. I hope he forgives me.

And finally, a quick comment on the book’s production: please use a larger font. I’m not sure what the point size is in The Shadowmage Trilogy, but it strains my eyes.


© Peter Coleborn

The Old Manor - short story

My short story “The Old Manor” appears in Ghostly Reflections, edited by Christopher Nadeau (Infinity Publishing, 2012). This slim book purports to be “an anthology of ‘true’ ghost stories”. So, naturally, it is the ideal home for my tale of ghosts and a haunted manor house.

Shiny Shorts

My good friend Jenny Barber has created a new website / blog: Shiny Shorts. Here's why:


"Shiny Shorts was born out of a passion for a fiction form that perhaps doesn't get talked about as much as it should. Whether it's flash, short stories, novellas; podcasts, print or online magazines; anthologies or collections; horror, SF, fantasy or crime - if it's story we're there, so drop by and share the love."

Now it's time to visit Shiny Shorts.

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.

Winter Chills continues...

Winter Chills 3 and 4, published by the British Fantasy Society, were once again edited and produced by yours truly.

WC3 appeared in January 1989 and by now the title was no longer included as part of the BFS booklet series. The cover price for WC3 was £1.50 / $3.00, and contained:

"Samathiel’s Summons” by Ian Watson. Illustrated by Jim Pitts
“Safe House” by Steve Rasnic Tem. Illustrated by Alan Hunter
“The Authors of Prendergoth” by William Thomas Webb. Illustrated by Martin McKenna
“The Earth Wire” by Joel Lane. Illustrated by Dallas Goffin
“When the Bucket Stilled” by Stephen Player. Illustrated by Stephen Player
“We Can Get Them for You Wholesale” by Neil Gaiman. Illustrated by Sylvia Starshine.

The front cover illustration was by John Stewart, with additional artwork by Dave Carson, Dallas Goffin, Allen Koszowski and Martin McKenna. “Samathiel’s Summons” first appeared in Fantasy Book (1984) and “We Can Get Them for You Wholesale” first appeared in Knave (1986)

Winter Chills 4 appeared in 1990, with a cover price of £1.50 / $3.00. The magazine included seven stories:

"Copyright Infringement" by David F Bischoff. Illustrated by Dallas Goffin
"Flossie Fraser" by D F Lewis
"The Boat of Sighs" by Allen Ashley. Illustrated by Allen Koszowski
"The Law of the Land" by Mark Hockley. Illustrated by Stephen Skwarek
"The Portrait" by Ian Hunter
"Silver" by Andrew S Jordan. Illustrated by Alan Hunter
"Approved to Scrap" by Rick Kennett. Illustrated by Jeff Salmon

The cover was by Martin McKenna, with additional artwork by Dallas Goffin and Martin McKenna. "Copyright Infringement" originally appeared in RAM (aka Micro Worlds) edited by Thomas F Monteleone (1984). "Approved to Scrap" first appeared in The Cygnus Chronicle, volume 5, number 3 (1983).


A version of this post originally appeared on the Alchemy Press blog.

Winter Chills begins...

Before the Alchemy Press I edited / produced a number of titles for the BritishFantasy Society. Way back in 1986 the BFS’s journal Dark Horizons was failing to appear regularly. I pitched to the then Society chairs (Stephen Jones and Jo Fletcher) an all-fiction, complementary magazine. They gave me the go ahead and so I contacted a number of authors and artists. And in January 1987 Winter Chills debuted. Originally, I aimed for a magazine of ghost stories to appear in time for Christmas ’86, but WC1 was just a month late. The publication very quickly spread its coverage over the horror field. I remain very grateful to everyone who supported me in getting the series up and running.

So, Winter Chills 1 was my first venture into editing a fiction magazine. I originally hoped that WC would become a series published annually; but even so, calling this publication issue one was perhaps presumptive. In fact, the run lasted ten issues over ten years.

Winter Chills 1 was published by the BFS; the cover price was 90p / $3.00, and BFS membership was just £8.00 a year:

“The Hanging Tree” by R Chetwynd-Hayes. Illustrated by Jim Pitts

“A New Life” by Ramsey Campbell. Illustrated by Dave Carson

“Something Old, Something Evil” by Sydney J Bounds. Illustrated by Alan Hunter

“Deathstone” by Peter Tremayne

“Lady Megalith” by David Sutton. Illustrated by Alan Hunter

“Late Shopping” by Brian Lumley

The front cover illustration was by Dallas Goffin. “The Hanging Tree” originally appeared in A Quiver of Ghosts by R Chetwynd-Hayes (1984). “Late Shopping” originally appeared in Weirdbook 18, edited by W Paul Ganley (1983)

The second issue of Winter Chills also appeared in 1987 – this time just before Christmas. WC2 was listed as number 12 in the BFS booklet series. The cover price was £1.00 / $3.00. And meanwhile, the Stephen Jones & David Sutton produced Fantasy Tales was seeing its tenth anniversary.

By this time I was using a daisy wheel electronic typewriter. It had no internal memory, no cut and paste with clicks of a mouse, no easy layouts. And again, the titles were all created with Letraset; and the whole thing was put together with scissors and glue (but no longer that foul-smelling cow gum).

Winter Chills 2, published by the British Fantasy Society:

“The Wishing Ball” by Stephen Gallagher. Illustrated by Alan Hunter

“Call to Me, Call to Me” by Alan W Lear. Illustrated by Stephen Jones

“Thanksgiving Dinner” by Mike Chinn. Illustrated by Dallas Goffin

“The Void Within His Head” by Peter A Hough. Illustrated by Allen Koszowski

“A Man Between Two Worlds” by Gilles Bergal. Illustrated by Alan Hunter

“The Doll” by Guy N Smith. Illustrated by Jim Pitts

“The Miracle Man” by Paul Roland. Illustrated by Martin McKenna

The front cover illustration was by Dave Carson. Additional artwork was by Peter Coleborn, Jim Garrison and Dallas Goffin. “A Man Between Two Worlds” was translated from the French by Stephen Gallagher. It was originally published in Creatures des Tenebres by Gilles Bergal (1985).


A version of this post originally appeared on the Alchemy Press blog.

End of year round up

Just recently I ended a stint as BFS Journal editor (incorporating Dark Horizons). My final issue was published just before Christmas 2011 (as previously blogged). I edited four issues of DH during the year. It was mostly a rewarding experience – sadly tainted by the struggle for control of the BFS. I have no intention of raking over this sorry episode here. Suffice it to say, the Society has experienced similar events in the past and rose above the squabbles; in fact it is doing so as I type these words.

In 2011 I revived the Alchemy Press. In conjunction with Airgedlámh Productions, the press published a signed, limited edition of tales by the inimitable Peter Atkins: Rumours of the Marvellous. I was thrilled to publish this book. Not only is Pete Atkins an affable, charming chap (with a lovely wife), these are some of the best short stories I’ve read in many a long year. The publishing “job” included several long, long-distance, trans-Atlantic phone calls (Pete lives in Los Angeles, I in the West Midlands, UK) – a major plus in my opinion. Pete was a GoH at FantasyCon 2011, at which the book was launched. Also on hand at the convention to personally dedicate the book was the cover artist, the wonderful Les Edwards. For more details on this collection, pop over to the Alchemy Press blog.

I also helped Pete to set up his own website / blog. It's basic -- no flashing images -- but it does its job. Read it here.

I write very few stories – I seem to spend so much of my time editing other people’s. So I was delighted to see my horror tale “Who Wanders in the Mire” appear in the Christmas 2011 edition of Estronomicon, edited and published by Steve Upham’s Screaming Dreams Press. I acquired the title from the “Wassail Song”: “Pray think of us poor children / Who wander in the mire.”

Perhaps the lowest point of the year came about seven weeks ago. I slipped on some wet grass and snapped the tibia and fibula just above the ankle in my right leg -- I also managed to tear the tendons that hold the joints together. I had to wear a non-weight-bearing cast for six weeks, and only this week have I managed to use that leg for support when hobbling around. I was more-or-less restricted to one room for over a month -- it felt as if I was "doing porridge". There is a metal plate in my leg, and a dozen screws, securing the bones as they heal. Not fun.

That’s it for now. I’ll go into more details about the BFS Journal and DH in a later post. In the meantime, I’ll start posting items about my previous exploits as a BFS editor, starting with Masters of Fantasy 2.