Nocturnal Products

[bendk]

I finally got around to reading this collection, and I enjoyed the stories very much. Solitary, contemplative, bleak, and atmospheric, Eddie Angerhuber writes tales of urban horror akin to Ligotti. I agree with TL that "Rinaldini's Hands" is one of the best. I also noticed the influence of Thomas Owen (that Ligotti mentioned in his blurb) in another one of my favorites, but I won't say which one. Brief with no spoilers.



Nocturnal Products

Rainfall Books 2002
Paperback: 131 pages
Front cover and six interior illustrations by Thomas Wagner



" In Monika Angerhuber's stories, one can hear the true voice of horror - not simply as a literary genre or a specialized emotion provoked by certain types of art, but as the language of that set of inescapable experiences which comprise the nightmare of being alive. This publication of the author's "nocturnal products" in English - translated, amazingly, by Angerhuber herself - will allow a new audience to hear this voice and to be reminded, as we rarely are, why Horror needed to emerge as a separate tongue among the babel that makes up the history of literary expression. Angerhuber's stories have their closest affinities, quite naturally, to the more meditative and intimate prose works of such European writers as Stefan Grabinski, Dino Buzzati, and Thomas Owen, figures whose writings form a tradition of poetic horror that looks back to the oneiric landscape of Poe and at the same time looks ahead to even darker and more delirious territories that will require who knows what combination of words and silence to describe. "Rinaldini's Hands" is especially recommended as an absolute gem of a tale."

- Thomas Ligotti



The Dedication Page reads:

To Tom
I'd like to thank John B. Ford, Thomas Wagner and Mark Samuels for their kind help. Without their support this book would not have been possible.
Eddie M. Angerhuber.



Contents


Section One: Administrative Nightmares

The Nocturnal Product
The Heart Of Darkness

Section Two: The Grey Lake Visions

The Anankastic Syndrome
The Other Staircase
The Hierophant Of Dreams

Section Three: The Second Face Of Town

Rinaldini's Hands
The Blue Star
Solo For The Queen
Mrs Drasic's Farewell Party
(Written with John B. Ford)
Alchemy Of The Abyss
Hymn To The Night
Prayers To The Void
The Colours Of Sounds




You can view a longer review with a small front cover illustration at the below link, but be careful because I did not read all of it and it may contain spoilers.

http://www.members.tripod.com/brutaldreamer/reviews/nocturnal.html

[starrysothoth]

This is one work I would desperately like to see reprinted, though I know the chances of that are slim.

I wonder whatever happened to Ms. Angerhuber? Seems like she hasn't really been on the radar since this book appeared and her German site dedicated to Ligotti went dormant.

[matt cardin]

Nocturnal Products is indeed a fine collection of weird fiction. The title story ("The Nocturnal Product") and "Rinaldini's Hands" are its standouts, in my opinion.

The last I heard from Eddie was in 2005 when she and Boris Koch edited the German horror anthology Allem Fleisch ein Greuel, which featured a translation of my story "An Abhorrence to all Flesh," which gave the book its title. Before that we carried on a correspondence for several years, until I / she / we fell out of contact when my life and schedule were disrupted by one of the several relocations to new environs that my family and I have pursued over the years.

[yellowish haze]

I have Eddie M. Angerhuber's collection DAS ANANKASTISCHE SYNDROM
The Anankastic Syndrome, which contains The Blue Star, Solo for the Queen, Hymn to the Night and 5 other stories (but I will have to check it). Unfortunately, I don't think The Nocturnal Product and Rinaldini's Hands were among its contents.

Judging by the stories I've read I can confirm that's she is a brilliant writer. I actually remember quite well the time when Eddie was still an active member at TLO. It was great having her around. I hope she will be back one day.

I've also preserved around 10 stories of hers once published online in German - now many of these sites are probably defunct. I honestly totally forgot about this. I think I will put them on my "next-to-read" list.

	TLO THOMAS LIGOTTI ONLINE

It'd be great if Dan picked up on her work for an Ex Occidente edition.

I do miss Eddie (Monika). No idea what happened to her. Btw, she translated The White Hands collection into German for the Blitz edition, and of course the Ligotti titles from the same publisher.

Mark S.

[Freyasfire]

Why am I always discovering new writers way too late to actually find a decently priced copy of their works? And why does every writer I seem to discover too late always have such tiny limited print runs of their work? Grrrr. Very frustrating!

[Ascrobius]

It really is a shame that it is not more widely available, for sure. And yes indeed...it has been unavailable for many years, of course. It was a book that was on my short list for many years, and the only opportunity I had to acquire it was through Tom himself, who gave me his copy that EH signed, inscribed, and sent to him after its original publication. If not for that stroke of luck, I would still be looking for it after many, many years of diligently hunting for it.

[lepidoppleganger]

Valancourt books posted this on their twitter:


A reader recommended this one (Nocturnal Products) as a possible reprint, but I don't see a single copy for sale online, nor a single copy at any world library. Anybody have one that they feel like lending to us?

They are looking for a copy or scan to read so they can assess whether it would be a potential for them to reprint.

Also, I believe there are numerous stories which have not been translated or published in English. Imagine an omnibus collection of newly translated stories. I have been trying to nudge a reprint of this book for years. How about a Grimscribe Press reprint? Or some other publisher? Hippocampus? Anyone? There is definitely an interest is seeing Angerhuber's work in print, in English.

[lalex]

Anyone seeking to republish Nocturnal Products should consider reaching out to John B. Ford at Rainfall Books, the original publisher.

[evenfall]

Does anyone know where I can obtain a copy of DIE DARBENDEN SCHATTEN? It seems to have gone missing just like NOCTURNAL PRODUCTS. I believe at one point there was an e-book available from Amazon and beam-shop.de but not any more. I was able to acquire paper copies of DAS ANAKASTISCHE SYNDROM and DER TAG DES SILBERNEN TIERS but that one is all but unavailable. I have sent an email to Atlantis Verlag a while ago but no response so far.