I just want to take this opportunity to call some attention to some recent entries at one of my other blogs, on Lesser-Known Writers. Most of the entries are illustrated with photographs and dust-wrappers. There should be (I would think) a considerable overlap of interest with readers of Wormwoodiana, in that many of the authors covered wrote supernatural fiction and are today fairly forgotten. Some of the authors wrote for Weird Tales (e.g., Bassett Morgan, and Lyllian Huntley Harris). Others wrote supernatural novels (Marion Fox, and C. Bryson Taylor). Interested in cricket fantasies? Check out the entry for Alan Miller. The "Labels" function in the right-hand column I use as a kind of index to the blog itself. But here are direct links to some entries of interest to readers of Wormwoodiana:
Vivian Meik (with newly discovered information), author of Devil's Drums (1933)
C. Bryson Taylor, author of the vampire novel In The Dwellings of the Wilderness (1904)
Marion Fox, author of Ape's Face (1914) and The Mystery Keepers (1919)
Blanche Bloor Schleppey, author of The Soul of a Mummy (1908)
Alan Miller, author of Phantoms of a Physician (1934) and Close of Play (1949)
Lyllian Huntley Harris, author of one known short story in Weird Tales, the subject of a later-day fraud
Bassett Morgan, prolific Weird Tales author
And many others, with more to come.
The Ivory Anvil by Sylvia Fair
13 hours ago
I expect more obscure authors will surface in the years to come. The late KEW's list broadened my horizons greatly
ReplyDeleteTim:
ReplyDeleteThe real problem with reading through obscure authors is how scarce some of the books are. I'm sure you encountered this fact with regards to Wagner's lists! Those lists really caused prices to rise on books by R.R. Ryan and Mark Hansom. The Ryans are usually interesting (still certainly not worth today's prices), but Hansom, after a promising start, descended quickly to hackwork.
It should be pointed out that Ramble House has just published "Maker of Shadows" by Jack Mann, one of the last few of those KEW list books that was hard to find. I've already ordered my copy!
ReplyDeleteI agree that some of those books are absurdly over-priced, but you can also find a good reading copies.
Bookfinger had reprinted all but one of Jacj Mann's Gees novels, so (some years ago at least) I didn't have trouble finding them. The good news, besides reprinting "Maker of Shadows", is that Ramble House has also just reprinted the other (supposedly non-supernatural) Gees novel, "The Kleinert Case". That one has been real difficult to find.
DeleteI have just found Blanche Bloor Schleppey's book recently for a small sum at a HPBs. It is inscribed to a friend by Mrs.N.A. Bloor in 1909. I am assuming this would be her Mother or Possibly Sister?
ReplyDeleteEither mother, or aunt, or sister-in-law, probably. I don't have her parent's names in my files. Nice acquisition!
ReplyDeleteIt is inscribed by her Mother a little over a month before her passing. The book was priced at $20 and is used but very acceptable, so... at midnight I am going to do a bit of reading. Thanks for your time Doug and Cheers!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy!
ReplyDelete