Weird & Supernatural

Tales of the wonderfully weird and superbly supernatural, with titles by well-known masters of the genre to all too often overlooked & unsung geniuses and one-hit wonders.

    £495



    London, Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, 1901.

    First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original pictorial cloth.

    A seemingly extremely rare collection of 'barrack room' short stories, some with supernatural content. Only four copies recorded in institutional holdings (all in the UK), and no records found at auction. An introductory note from the author reads:

    "The following stories are chiefly based upon incidents and experiences connected with a rather lengthened professional career. It is hoped that the book may serve to enliven a dull hour, and may perhaps also enhance the widespread interest recently revived in all phases of military life. Some of the stories have already appeared in The United Service Magazine and The Church Monthly."

    £395



    London, Hamish Hamilton, 1940.

    First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7s6d.

    A prolific playwright, drama critic and author active in English literary circles from around 1910. This ghost story is one of the author's few dalliances with the supernatural.

    £450



    London, Dent, 1919.

    First edition, first impression. Signed presentation copy from the author. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.

    Rare. A collection of psychic tales, mostly dealing with astral projection, out-of-body experiences and, in some cases, travel to 'other worlds'. Allen Clarke (1863–1935), also known under the pseudonym Teddy Ashton, was primarily a working-class journalist and novelist of Lancashire industrial life.

    £125


    A Two-Fold Romance
    London; New York; Toronto, John Lane The Bodley Head; John Lane Company; Bell & Cockburn, 1914.

    First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth.

    A late, mostly epistolary novel set partly in the 20th century and partly in the 17th, involving communications between the bewitching Lady Venetia and a young archaeologist, with hints of the supernatural. Paget's last novel.

    £600



    London, Selwyn & Blount, [1934].

    First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 2/-.

    The tenth of the eleven 'Not at Night' anthology series, featuring first book appearances of Robert E. Howard's 'Rogues in the House,' August Derleth's 'The Metronome,' and the Lovecraft collaboration 'The Horror in the Museum' attributed to Hazel Heald.

    Weird & Supernatural

    Morton (J.B.) Gallimaufry

    £125



    London, Jonathan Cape, 1936.

    First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.

    One of Morton's Beachcomber collections published under his own name rather than the pseudonym, gathering the comic whimsies, parodies, spoof news items and surreal sketches featuring his recurring characters.

    £225



    London, Heinemann, 1929.

    New impression. 8vo. Original black cloth lettered in red. Dust-jacket, priced 3/6.

    A mystical supernatural novel of reincarnation: the village eccentric and egomaniac Peregrine Sark brings back a terracotta figure of the goddess Cybele to his English country house and becomes dangerously absorbed in worshipping the deity. Attractive jacket artwork by commercial and graphic artist Keely.

    £95

    Boston, Mass., Ruth Hill, 1934.First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.A short novel and apparently the only mystery title by an author better known for her work in the American theatre, including for her acquisition of the old Diamond Paper Mill in Millburn, New Jersey, which she subsequently transformed into the Paper Mill Playhouse. The publisher, Ruth Hill of Boston, was a very small imprint of the period specialising in limited and semi-private literary productions.

    £95



    London [&c.], Cassell, 1926.

    First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth.

    A collection of short stories by an author & playwright best known for his association with mythic tales such as 'The Wandering Jew' and 'The Flying Dutchman'.

    £250



    London, for J. Andrews, 1823.

    First edition. 8vo. Original paper-covered boards with later title-label affixed to spine.

    A significant and now rather scarce compilation belonging to a small cluster of serious ghost-narrative anthologies published in the 1820s. Jarvis is otherwise unknown, and the name may be a nom de plume.

    £250



    London, J.M. Dent, 1910.

    First edition. 8vo. Title printed in red & black. Original cloth decorated & lettered in gilt.

    The first collection of short fiction by William Fryer Harvey (1885-1937), a writer now firmly established in the canon of British supernatural and horror fiction. The collection contains sixteen tales of the weird and supernatural, and is notable above all for containing the first appearance of "August Heat", a story about two men, unknown to each other, whose contemplation of each other's possible future suggests that one will be murdered and the other will be the murderer.

    £125


    A Chapter from a Family Chronicle
    London, Chapman & Hall, 1889.

    One-shilling edition. 8vo. Original pictorial boards, priced one shilling.

    An early edition, originally published the previous year, of this ghostly tale about a family curse, written by the Rector of St Alban's, Manchester and later Canon of Worcester Cathedral, author also of The Broken Vow (1887). Scarce in the original boards.

    £450



    London, Ward & Downey, [1888].

    First collected edition. 8vo. Original red pictorial cloth lettered in gilt to spine.

    "A general collection containing Riddell's fine supernatural short story, 'The last of Squire Enmismore'." (Shadows in the Attic, p.423).

    £495


    A Romance
    London, Trischler & Company, 1891.

    'Third Thousand'. 8vo. Original blue cloth, lettered & decorated in yellow.

    A weird novel of supernatural possession in which the soul of the dead Countess Agnes Adrian, a femme fatale who has studied occultism in the East, displaces the soul of a young American actress; a kind of vampirism.

    Weird & Supernatural

    [Creeps]. Tales of Death.

    £895


    A collection of uneasy tales
    London, Philip Allan, 1936.

    First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6.

    Published by Philip Allan as part of the celebrated 'Creeps' series, Tales of Death gathers macabre and supernatural stories from multiple authors under excellent editorial guidance, extending the interwar tradition of shilling shocker anthologies.

    £650



    London, Philip Allan, 1935.

    First edition, early issue. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6.

    'Tales from a land which is still veiled by occult powers where things are felt but not seen. Unusual and uncanny happenings by a well-known Oriental writer' (jacket blurb). An uncommon title from the Allan stable, who also produced the 'Creep' series.

    £495



    London, Robert Hale, 1959.

    First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket, priced 12/6.

    'Being four strange stories from the casebook of Dr. Miles Pennoyer, Psychic Doctor. Recorded by his friend and occasional assistant Jerome Latimer.'

    £650



    London, Published by the author, 1938.

    First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.

    Fortune's fourth novel, often regarded as her most important work of fiction. An exploration of magic and the Great Goddess, she writes 'This is a book with an undercurrent: upon the surface a romance; underneath a thesis upon the theme: "All women are Isis, and Isis is all women"'.

    Weird & Supernatural

    France (Anatole) Thaïs

    £150



    London, The Literary Press Limited, n.d. [c.1902].

    Early UK edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket.

    The attempted conversion of a celebrated courtesan by the ascetic monk Paphnuce, a mission that exposes the instability of faith, desire and spiritual pride. One of France's best-known works.

    £150



    Westminster, A. Constable & Co., 1894.

    First edition, issued as part of the Acme library series. Small 8vo. Original blue cloth lettered and stamped in gilt.

    A fine portrait of the lingering belief in the occult that haunted the Victorian Age. The story explores themes of psychological manipulation and control, as the main character finds himself caught in a disturbing and dangerous situation, while struggling to maintain his scientific rationality and personal relationships.

    £225


    and other stories of the supernatural
    London, John Murray, 1903.

    First UK edition. 8vo. Original green pictorial cloth lettered in gilt to spine.

    A notable collection of American ghost stories by Mary E. Wilkins (later Wilkins Freeman), whose work brought psychological depth and New England atmosphere to supernatural fiction; a respected voice in late-Victorian/Edwardian weird literature. Wilkins is now recognised as a key work in the tradition that fuses domestic realism with the ghost story, frequently cited in modern horror and fantasy bibliographies.

    £25



    London, Arco, 1960.

    Arco edition. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket.

    £750

    seven stories and a play London, Chatto & Windus, 1935.First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original blue cloth lettered in silver. Dust-jacket.A collection of supernatural and eerie tales. Blends historical and Gothic elements, showing Irwin's talent for uncanny atmosphere.

    £325

    and other stories New York, Doubleday & Company, 1970.First US edition, first printing. Inscribed presentation copy from the author to Richard [Dalby], with accompanying typed letter to the same signed by the author. 8vo. Original cloth-backed boards. Dust-jacket, priced $3.95.A collection of short stories displaying Aiken's characteristic blend of historical imagination, folklore tone, and quiet strangeness... An attractive association copy, having been sent by the author to the editor and literary researcher Richard Dalby, famous for his anthologies of ghost stories. Richard Dalby was a known collector and editor who had a significant professional relationship with Aiken, who frequently inscribed and signed her books for him. Aiken's story 'The Traitor' appeared in Dalby's 1992 anthology Modern Ghost Stories, and this letter would suggest that they were considering further stories by her to similarly anthologise.

    £250



    London, Howard Baker, 1970.

    First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket, priced 21/-.

    A horror/occult novel involving a sinister cult and vampirism set on the remote coast of Brittany; part of the broader late-60s/early-70s British pulp-horror wave. "Peter Saxon" was a house pseudonym used by various writers for Remploy/Howard Baker imprints, most often by W. Howard Baker himself, to whom this book is most often attributed.

    £975



    London, Herbert Jenkins, 1937.

    First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original orange cloth blocked in black. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.

    Attractive jacket artwork graces this uncommon, posthumously published mystery novel by Marxist writer, literary critic, intellectual and activist St John Sprigg.

    £50



    Edinburgh & London, Moray Press, 1937.

    Reprint. 8vo. Original pictorial cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 3/6.

    Robert Marshall's 1902 novella centres on pompous Major Jacky Gore, who challenges champion golfer Jim Lindsay in order to impress an American heiress. A ghostly Cardinal lends him enchanted clubs, but the humorous match yields an unexpected outcome, satirising Victorian sports and supernatural tales.

    £85



    London, Herbert Jenkins, [1921].

    First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 3/-.

    The author's first book, a colonial adventure, subtitled in some editions 'A Story of Malaya', involves a young woman with an affinity for magic and two contrasting Englishmen on a rubber plantation.

    £275



    London, Stanley Paul, 1926.

    First edition, first impression. Signed presentation copy from the author. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.

    Uncommon title, especially signed, with werewolf elements.

    £1,750



    New York, William Godwin, Inc., [1935].

    First US edition, first printing. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, priced $2.00.

    "Weird thriller in which the narrator is apparently possessed by the spirit of an insane ancestor." (Locke, Spectrum of Fantasy p104). Rare, especially in the jacket.

    £75



    London, Sampson Low, Marston & Co., n.d. [c.1931].

    'Library Edition'. 8vo. Original dark red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 3/6.

    A collection of Farnol's shorter fiction, originally published in 1929; including the tale 'Black coffee' with it is Ancient Egyptian themes. A popular author for weird & supernatural anthologies. Scarce in the jacket. Stories featured:

    The Shadow.--Captain Hector.--Retribution.--The heir.--Black coffee.--Upon a day.--A boy and the man.--An episode.--Jasper Railton.--The cupboard.--Fortune's fool.--A change of mind.--Journey's end.--The great quietude.--Sir Pertolepe the Red.--The divine Phyllidia.--A woman's reason.

    £395



    London, Selwyn & Blount, [1931].

    First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. In early impression dust-jacket, priced 2/-.

    One of the most sought-after volumes in Christine Campbell Thomson's famous "Not at Night" anthology series, At Dead of Night collects stories of horror and the supernatural by a variety of pulp and weird-fiction writers, reinforcing the series' importance, not least in bringing American pulp horror to British audiences.

    £1,950



    London, Wright & Brown, [1939].

    First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 3/6.

    One of the rare horror-fantasy novels by "Mark Hansom," the pseudonym of Ronald Muirden. Known for their occult and Gothic themes, Hansom's books are highly prized among collectors of supernatural fiction, with this title listed in Bleiler and Reginald bibliographies. The story blends the sinister and fantastic in pulp-era style, reflecting interwar British horror publishing trends. True firsts in dust-jacket are scarce and command interest amongst collectors of the weird and supernatural.

    £975


    A Collection of Uneasy Tales
    London, Philip Allan, 1932.

    First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original beige cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6.

    The second volume in the 'Creeps' series, Shudders collects eleven "uneasy" horror stories by Birkin (under his own name and pseudonymous), H. R. Wakefield, Tod Robbins, Elliott O'Donnell and others.

    £750



    London, Selwyn & Blount, [1933].

    First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 2/-.

    The ninth instalment in the Not at Night series assembles fifteen dark tales. The anthology opens with Oscar Cook's 'His Beautiful Hands' and includes stories by Henry S. Whitehead, Mary Elizabeth Counselman and Clark Ashton Smith. Its most notable entry is Robert E. Howard's historical horror tale 'Worms of the Earth', which appears here in its first book form.

    £1,250


    A Collection of Uneasy Tales
    London, Philip Allan, 1936.

    First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6.

    This anthology, fourth in Allan's 'Creeps' series, offers nine atmospheric horror stories, including Birkin's own 'Angela', blending psychological dread and grisly twists.

    Weird & Supernatural

    Godwin (William) Mandeville.

    £295


    A Tale of the Seventeenth Century
    Edinburgh, for Archibald Constable, 1817.

    First edition. 3 vols, 8vo. Rebound in later two-tone boards in antique style.

    A handsome set of this dark, Gothic historical novel tracing Charles Mandeville's descent from trauma - spurred by family loss, wrongful accusations at school and university, revolutionary turmoil, to mental breakdown and disfigurement in the Stewart-era England of the mid-1600s. The author's last novel, praised by Shelley and referenced by Poe.

    Weird & Supernatural

    [Creeps] Tales of Fear.

    £550


    A Collection of Uneasy Tales
    London, Philip Allan, 1935.

    First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original dark orange cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 2/6.

    An anthology of uneasy stories curated under editor Charles Birkin (as per the Creeps series), gathering works from various authors and emphasising British pulp horror. The Creeps series served as a wonderfully British answer to the popular American horror anthologies, balancing shocking tales with gothic insinuations.

    £750



    London, Stanley Paul, 1909.

    First edition, first impression. Publisher's catalogue at end8vo. Original sage cloth, lettered in gilt to spine.

    A sailor's harrowing experiences aboard a ship plagued by supernatural entities, blending maritime adventure with horror. "Hodgson's arguably most artistically successful novel combines a realistic background detail of sea life with a solidly constructed and original plot line." (Shadows in the Attic)

    £250


    ...a new translation from the German. With a biographical memoir by J.T. Bealby
    London, John C. Nimmo, 1885.

    Trade issue. 2 vols. Titles printed in red & black, publisher's catalogue dated June 1884. 8vo. Original red cloth.

    An attractive set of Hoffmann's classic tales.

    £595



    London, Philip Allan, 1934.

    First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6.

    This anthology is part of the "Creeps" series and includes ten stories of supernatural and horror themes. Notably, it features the first book appearance of "The Two Bottles of Relish," a story known for its twist ending.

    £350



    London, Selwyn & Blount, 1937.

    First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 2/6.

    The twelfth volume in the famous "Not at Night" series, compiling 35 horror stories from the earlier Not at Night series, which spanned eleven volumes from 1925 to 1936. The collection includes works by authors such as H. P. Lovecraft, Seabury Quinn, and Frank Belknap Long, all managed splendidly by the editor Christine Campbell Thomson (1897–1985), who also wrote under the pseudonym Flavia Richardson.