Attention Bruce Pennington Fans!

From the maker of Paperback Fanatic: coming soon!

PENNINGTON – a portrait of a master fantasy artist

Legendary for his paperback covers for H P Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Frank Herbert, Edgar Rice Burroughs and more, Bruce Pennington gets the Fanatic treatment
If you’re not familiar with his work, check out the attached covers for a taste!
Two volumes, totalling 140 pages with 125 full colour reproductions of some of his most striking covers
Including an overview of his early career, an auto-biographical essay and a full checklist of his art.

Strictly limited edition based on orders received by 31st August
UK price for both volumes including postage £12.50
AIr-mail is £15.00
Order at the on-line shop now!

Paperback Fanatic 4

Justin Marriott (ed.) – Paperback Fanatic #4 (September, 2007)

Another cracking solo effort from Mr. Marriott with an increased page count and a real scoop:

Robert Lory

Dracula Lives! An exclusive  interview with Robert Lory, author of the Dracula Returns, Horrorscope and Vigilante series’.

Legion of the Damned! The first part of a study of the German war pulps from authors such as Sven Hassel and Leo Kessler and titles such as Reign in Hell, Blitzfreeze and Wheels of Terror!

The Memoirs of Lord Grandrith: a look back at Philp Jose Farmer’s ground-breaking Image of the Beast, Blown and A Feast Unknown.

Eyes Wide Shut. Artist Jan Parker’s occult and fantasy paperback covers

The Prophecies of Bruce Pennington:  master fantasy artist Pennington is given the Fanatic treatment in this definitive study which includes a massive checklist of his covers!

Back Page Gallery: A selection of Jan Parker’s illustrations for Peter Haining’s Witchcraft & Black Magic (Hamlyn, 1971)

Sandra Shulman – The Daughters of Satan

Sandra Shulman – The Daughters of Satan (New English Library, 1969)

Sandra Shulman - The Daughters of Satan

Blurb:

The Abbey of Light – England’s most exclusive finishing school – is just a front for a Satanist with terrible powers.

Behind its doors unholy black magic ceremonies take place – girls become spiritually and sexually enslaved to their diabolical master. And one man begins a lone fight against an evil which threatens the whole world.

Here is a chilling novel of modern Satanism in the tradition of Dennis Wheatley – written with all the horrifying power of Rosemary’s Baby.

Cover and blurb courtesy of Sexy Witch!

Peter Haining – Beyond The Curtain Of The Dark

Peter Haining – Beyond The Curtain Of The Dark (Four Square, October, 1966: Nel, 1972)

Bruce Pennington

Foreword – Judith Merril
Introduction – Peter Haining

Robert Bloch – Lizzie Borden Took An Axe
Patricia Highsmith – The Snail Watcher
Ambrose Bierce – Chickamauga
Harry Harrison – At Last, The True Story Of Frankenstein
Guy De Maupassant – The Horla
Ray Bradbury – Fever Dream
Theodore Sturgeon – The Other Celia
Edgar Allan Poe – The Oval Portrait
W. C. Morrow – The Monster Maker
Frederic Brown – Come And Go Mad
H. P. Lovecraft and August Derleth – The Survivor
H. P. Lovecraft and August Derleth – The Ancestor
Mary Shelley – The Mortal Immortal
Nathaniel Hawthorne – Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment
Henry Kuttner – By These Presents
Henry Slesar – Whosits Disease
Edgar Allan Poe – King Pest
Harold Lawlor – Mayaya’s Little Green Men
F. Marion Crawford – For The Blood Is The Life
Edogawa Rampo – The Human Chair
J. S. Le Fanu – The Fortunes Of Sir Robert Ardagh
Robert Bloch – Return To The Sabbath
Clive Pemberton – The Will Of Luke Carlowe
Isaac Asimov – Eyes Do More Than See

I think the Haining legend really starts picking up momentum with this collection. Other early ones like the same years Where Nightmares Are and The Hell Of Mirrors relied too much upon those classics we all have a billion times over, but this looks like the work of a man who loves, and is widely read in the genre. This is where I first read Bierce’s decidedly non-escapist Chickamauga, a detached account of a war crime and one of the most horrible stories ever written. Maupassant’s The Horla is a coming race story of, literally, insane genius and Edogawa Rampo (say it fast) is kinky-cute in the extreme. Of the Frankenstein variations, W. C. Morrow’s ghastly The Monster Maker just shades it from Harrison’s short ‘n nasty effort.

Four Square edition, cover by Josh Kirby

Thanks to Nightreader for scanning the Four Square cover.

Raymond Giles – Night Of The Warlock

Raymond Giles – Night Of The Warlock (Nel, 1969: 1970)

The Warlock’s dying whisper spreads a net of terrible, unspeakable evil. To achieve his plans of diabolical depravity from the other side of the grave he needs the mind and body of a beautiful young woman.

And so begins a terrible battle as three men struggle for her soul. The warlock with his frightening Satanic powers, her ‘cousin’ trying to corrupt her with his perverted lust and her lover who pits his own white magic against them both.

Night of the Warlock is a modern black magic thriller with all the horrifying heart-stopping excitement of THE MEPHISTO WALTZ.

See also the following Raymond Giles threads on Vault:

Night Of The Warlock (Paperback Library edition)

Raymond Giles