The Swan River Press

[bjs435]

Hi folks,

I realised today it's been a while since I've posted an update here.

Earth-Bound by Dorothy Macardle is now available, as is Fritz Leiber's The Pale Brown Thing (the latter comes with a postcard signed by Donald Sidney-Fryer while supplies last).

The Swan River Press - Titles in Print

The next book is Lynda E. Rucker's second collection, You'll Know When You Get There. It will be launched at the Dublin Ghost Story Festival by Lisa Tuttle (who wrote the intro) at the end of August. You can pre-order a copy here:

You'll Know When You Get There

And finally, there's been a slight change of plan with the Uncertainties anthology. Due to the complete lack of integrity of the former publisher (such as an illegible font size so as to save money on printing), I've decided to publish the book through Swan River. It's the only way to ensure a high enough standard.

For a number of reasons, I've split the book into two volumes and added a few more stories than what appeared in the original line-up. Both volumes will launch at the Dublin Ghost Story Festival, and all contributors to volume one will be in attendance that weekend.

Uncertainties Vol. 1
Uncertainties Vol. 2

Uncertainties Vols 1 and 2 will be back from the printer with Lynda's book, but they are not available for pre-order just yet. Subscribe to the mailing list though if you want to know when they are:

Swan River Press Mailing List

Thank you again to everyone for their continued support. This has been an ambitious year, especially with the Ghost Story Festival which I've planned along with John Connolly.

If anyone has any pressing questions, please drop me a line. You know where to find me!

Best,
Brian

[Zaharoff]

New Title - August 2017



A FLUTTER OF WINGS
by Mervyn Wall

Printings: August 2017 (300)
Cover image by Clare Brennan
Introduction: Val Mulkerns
Style: Dust jacketed hardback
Length: ix + 222 pages
ISBN: 978-1-78380-017-9

Available for pre-order.

Numbered edition of 100 also available while supplies last.

First collected in 1974, the stories in A Flutter of Wings span Mervyn Wall's entire writing career, dating back as far as the 1940s. Told in an easy style, tales such as "They Also Serve . . . " and "Adventure" offer the same satirical sensibilities found in Wall's classic novel The Unfortunate Fursey; while darker tales such as "Cloonaturk" and "The Demon Angler" are not without a hint of the grimly sardonic. In addition to an introduction by Val Mulkerns and illustrations by Clare Brennan, this new edition boasts the uncollected Jamesian fragment "Extract from an Abandoned Novel", and Wall's early play, Alarm Among the Clerks, a savagely hilarious and ultimately brutal depiction of office life.

Contents
"Remembering Mervyn" by Val Mulkerns
"They Also Serve . . . "
"Adventure"
"The Hogskin Gloves"
"The Demon Angler"
"Cloonaturk"
"Age Cannot Wither"
"Leo the Lion"
"The Men Who Could Outstare Cobras"
"The Metamorphosis of a Licensed Vintner"
"Extract from an Abandoned Novel"
"Alarm Among the Clerks"
"Acknowledgments"

[Zaharoff]

OLD HOGGEN AND OTHER ADVENTURES
by Bram Stoker



Printings: 8 November 2017 (300)
Cover image by Jason Zerrillo
Preface: Brian J. Showers
Introduction: John Edgar Browning and Brian J. Showers
Style: Dust jacketed hardback
Length: xv + 186 pages
ISBN: 978-1-78380-018-6

Available for pre-order.

"Old Hoggen had disappeared: and murder was naturally suspected." — Bram Stoker

At the time of his death in 1912, Bram Stoker was preparing for publication three volumes of stories. The first, Dracula’s Guest, saw print in 1914; the second and third never manifested. Old Hoggen and Other Adventures is a tantalising possibility of one of these unrealised selections, and the stories in this volume span the author’s entire career. In reading them, one thing becomes clear: adventure and mystery rival even the gothic in Stoker’s literary heart. And yet, one will find among these pages many of the same themes found in Dracula: reverence for the dead, the malice of wicked men, black humour, hidden fortunes, daring bravery, exotic locales, a deep love of the sea, and the creeping intrusion of the supernatural.

Contents
"Preface" by Brian J. Showers
"Introduction" by John Edgar Browning and Brian J. Showers
"Old Hoggen"
"Saved by a Ghost"
"The Man from Shorrox'"
"Our New House"
"The Chain of Destiny"
"The 'Eroes of the Thames"
"Buried Treasures"
"To the Rescue"
"The Red Stockade"
"Acknowledgements"

Old Hoggen and Other Adventures

[Gnosticangel]

New Title - December 2017

This one looks promising!

THE SCARLET SOUL
Stories for Dorian Gray
edited by Mark Valentine

Art, obsession, love, lust, sorcery—ten contemporary writers respond to the imperishable themes of Oscar Wilde’s great Decadent romance, The Picture of Dorian Gray. What happens when a face, a form, an uncanny force changes everything we thought we knew? What survives of us when we stray into a borderland of the mind, where our deepest urges seem to call up remorseless powers?

Contents

"Introduction"
Mark Valentine

"Love and Death"
Reggie Oliver

"This Is How It Will Be"
Caitriona Lally

"Every Exquisite Things"
Lynda E. Rucker

"Speck"
John Howard

"Doreen"
D.P. Watt

"All That Is Solid"
Rosannne Rabinowitz

"A Little Chamber Music: Untology in C Minor"
Avalon Brantley

"The Yellow Book"
Timothy J. Jarvis

"A Labyrinth of Graves"
John Gale

"The Anatomy Lesson of Professor Stebbing"
Derek John

The Swan River Press - Titles in Print

[Doctor Dugald Eldritch]

It was long rumoured that a Swan River Press edition of William Hope Hodgson's fascinating cosmic novel, The House on the Borderland, a tortured fusion of Gothic horror and Wellsian/-proto-Stapledonian science fiction, was in the works. Well, now it is set to be released in April next year to mark the one hundredth anniversary of Hodgson's death fighting in Ypres, France. It has cover art (and illustrations, too, I believe) by John Coulthart, and supplements by Alan Moore and Iain Sinclair.

I have been waiting for this book ever since Brian Showers personally told me two years ago; I knew about Messrs. Coulthart and Sinclair's contributions, but Alan Moore's's was kept secret. The House on the Borderland is one of my favourite books of all time, and to have these three or four geniuses' talents in the one book is something truly remarkable. I eagerly anticipate its release in April, 2018. A little more information, including the Swan River Press cover art, can be found here

[Ucasuni]

Scarlet Soul arrived yesterday. Incredibly excited about this. Especially eager to read the Brantley tale, but the list of contributors is just generally impressive.

[Nemonymous]

Just read LOVE AND DEATH by Reggie Oliver in THE SCARLET SOUL anthology...
THE SCARLET SOUL: Stories for Dorian Gray | THE DES LEWIS GESTALT REAL-TIME REVIEWS

[bendk]

This looks nice.

The House on the Borderland


Edit: I see that Doctor Dugald Eldritch mentioned this is November. I believe it is available for pre-order now.

[Gnosticangel]

This looks nice.

The House on the Borderland

I cherish the hardbound Collected Works of WWH set that includes this work, but couldn't resist ordering it anyway when Swan River made the announcment.

They do wonderful work and their edition should be well worth having. The accompanying CD also looks interesting.

[Zaharoff]

I ordered The House On The Borderland.
And their earlier title, Russell's Death Makes Strangers Of Us All, arrived in my mailbox this afternoon.