We have returned!

After a couple of months’ convalescence and restructuring, Spectral Press is back. We are moving forward, and to that end we are letting you know about a couple of books which will be coming your way within the next two months.

First is Dan Weatherer’s third collection Neverlight: A Father Darkness Collection, available from March 31st. Featuring a varied selection of tales from this up and coming author of the darker side of life, ranging from the traditional ghost story, through to psychological studies and thence to exploring some of our darkest fears. Available in Hardback which comes with a bespoke leather bookmarker. 

Are we mere puppets, a slave to the will of others?

Influence, an inescapable and unseen force exerted upon all of us.  Whether coming by way of our parents or our peers, via the media or education, can we ever say that we are creatures of free will, acting according to our desires and not of those around us? Influence is the white noise that bombards our every waking moment, clouding our thought, hindering our judgement. From it, there can be no escape.

Looking beyond our world, there are those beings that dwell beneath the surface of our planet, ancient entities twisted in their resentment of our freedoms, that would mean us harm. Theirs is an influence ancient in its origin, born from evil and cruel intent.  Their will presses upon us, calling out to our most primal instincts.  We, oblivious, heed their call.

Containing thirty-one short stories that showcase the unmistakable voice of Dan Weatherer, here is an author fast becoming fluent in the art of dark fiction. Are you ready for Neverlight?

Pre-order your copy HERE

 

 

 

Review & News 02:03:2015

The first Monday of a new month and we already have a lot to get through, so here we go:

“Ricochet” by Tim Dry ©2015 Tim Dry/Theatrum Mundi. Artwork ©2015 John Oakey

We have a new review of Tim Dry’s Theatrum Mundi novella Ricochet – this one is from Chris Hall of DLS Reviews and clicking HERE will take you right to it.

PRICES INCLUDE POST AND PACKING

UK £10

EU £15

US & RoW $30

NEWS

Congratulations are due to Angela Slatter for receiving a nomination for her Spectral chapbook Home and Hearth in the prestigious Aurealis Awards. The ceremony will held in Canberra on April 11th. Good luck to Angela and to all the nominees!

Chapbooks

For those of you who have subscribed to the chapbooks and have been wondering where they are, wonder no more. Spectral is relaunching the line with a new look designed by regular Spectral graphics artist Neil Williams, and the first one will be Lisa Hannett’s eerie Smoke Billows, Soot Falls, which will be due out within the next two months. We thank all our subscribers for their incredible patience in this – we promise that the wait will have been worth it!

New books

Also, we have news about more acquisitions. The first one we would like to tell you about is The Laws of Horror, a series of interviews conducted by novelist Stephen Laws at the Manchester Festival of Fantastic Film over the years. With interviewees of the calibre of Hammer beauty Ingrid Pitt, directors Norman J. Warren, Freddie Francis, Roy Ward Baker and John Landis, plus many others, this is going to be one hell of a book.

Still with film, we are looking at issuing a regular series of small books on individual films, which are intended to analyse and provide background to whichever film it is in question. The plan at the moment is to issue six a year, but nothing has been set completely in stone yet. At present, the titles will concentrate on horror films, but if successful will eventually expand to include cult films of a genre nature.

Finally, we may be publishing some new work by artist, writer , and lecturer Stephen Bissette, who should be well known from his work on Swamp Thing and his publishing venture Spiderbaby Graphix, which issued the seminal From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell.

More news soon!

A Duo of Reviews

Home and Hearth © Angela Slater/Spectral Press. Artwork © Neil Williams 2014

For the first time in a while, we have two reviews to link you to this morning of chapbooks. The first of them is of Angela Slatter’s Home and Hearth from Mario Guslandi and posted to  the British Fantasy Society – you can find that one HERE.

And here’s one of Simon Kurt Unsworth’s Rough Music, which we don’t think we’d come across at the time – it’s from Dreadful Tales, is written by Colum McKnight, and you can read that one HERE.

Bits and pieces: News – 02:06:2014

NEW BOOKS FOR 2015

It is with immense please that we can announce the acquisition of two novellas from a duo of top class writers.

First, we have Albion Fay from MARK MORRIS, a name which should be familiar to many. It tells the story of twins Angie and Frank, about a weekspent in an isolated holiday home surrounded by a landscape which is as dangerous as it is beautiful. Set against the deteriorating marriage of their parents, that holiday will be about to change everyone’s lives. Date of publication TBC.

The second novella will be Leytonstone, by none other than STEPHEN VOLK, the author of last year’s bestselling Whitstable. This will be the second in his Dark Masters trilogy, of which Whitstable was the first, and for this one the subject is a very young Alfred Hitchcock. In the story, we get to learn of the many influences which went into the making of the adult, and how those influences collaborated in creating one of the foremost directors of his time. If you liked Whitstable, then we can guarantee that you will love Leytonstone. Also due in 2015.

The Christmas Ghost Stories of Lawrence Gordon Clark: Deluxe edition.

The books will be arriving either tomorrow or Wednesday – and we will be despatching them this week too.

Black Mountain serial

Episode six of Simon Bestwick’s monthly serial, Black Mountain: The House by the Cemetery, will be published very soon: it’s lateness is due to unavoidable personal circumstances which the author had to attend to. This means that there will be TWO episodes this month, so that the serial will be back on schedule by the end of June.

Chapbook packaging

From the next issue of the chapbook series, Volume XII (Robert Shearman’s Christmas in the Time of Ennui) and which will be published in July, they will be packaged in sturdier and more protective envelopes. This will mainly be to guard against spine damage and the wanton mishandling by postmen. Subscription prices will be held at current prices.

3 and 5 year subscriptions

If you look down the right-hand side of  this blog you will see a list of subscription options: you can subscribe to the chapbook series for one, three or five years. Not only that, but the longer you subscribe for, the more you will save. We have also given you the Paypal buttons below as well for your convenience.

For those in the UK, a 3 year sub will cost £54 – a saving of £6. A 5 year sub costs £90, a saving of £10.

For those anywhere in the EU, 3 years costs £78 (save £6) and 5 years costs £130 (save £10).

For everywhere else, 3 year subscriptions will $153 (representing a saving of $12) and a 5 year sub costs $245 (saving $20).

These rates will apply from issue #12 onwards.

UK £20 – 1 year (4 issues)

UK £54 – 3 Years (12 Issues)

UK £90 – 5 years (20 issues)

EU £28 – 1 year (4 issues)

EU £78 – 3 years (12 issues)

EU £130 5 years (20 issues)

US & RoW $55 – 1 year (4 issues)

US & RoW $153 – 3 years (12 issues)

US & RoW $245 – 5 years (20 issues)

Spectral Chapbook subscriptions

It’s been a while since we promoted the Spectral chapbook subscriptions, and so we thought it was about time we did.

So, what is a chapbook and what  do you get for your subscription? A chapbook in Spectral’s case is essentially a pamphlet containing single short story of between 5,000 to 8,000 words. Each issue is published quarterly in a limited signed and numbered run of 125. Add in some superb cover artwork, crisp printing on excellent high quality paper and card stock, and you truly have an item than represents great value for your money.

So what do you get for your subscription? You will receive FOUR (4) issues of the chapbooks, published in March, June, September and December every year. In this way you are guaranteed getting a copy of each issue, as these chapbooks do tend to sell out fairly quickly. You can also opt to buy a THREE (3) or FIVE (5) year subscription instead if you so wish. Individual issues can be bought too, as a tryout if you’re not entirely sure or if you just like a particular writer’s work (PLEASE NOTE:  all issues previous to the latest issue, Terry Grimwood’s Soul Masque, have all SOLD OUT). Places are extremely limited – there are fewer than TWENTY subscription slots left.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

£16 UK

£48.50 UK (3Yrs)

£80.50 UK (5Yrs)

£23.50 EU

£70 EU (3Yrs)

£116 EU (5Yrs)

US$45 US

US$135 US (3Yrs)

US$225 US (5Yrs)

US$45 RoW

US$135 RoW (3Yrs)

US$225 RoW (5Yrs)

INDIVIDUAL ISSUES (all prices include p+p)
(Please state which issue you are requiring)

£4 United Kingdom

£7 EU

$16 US & RoW

The Spectral Chapbooks – the future!

Now, this is something that we have wanted to put out there for a while. As most of you will know by now, the mainstay of Spectral ever since its inception just over two and a half years ago has been the chapbook and that the focus of these little books has been the ghostly and supernatural tale. And, we’re happy to say, this has met with quite a bit of success, enabling the imprint to expand to where it is now. However, as we like to think of ourselves as a dynamic publishing company we always keep things under review because we’re very much aware of wanting to avoid becoming stagnant. In other words, we just don’t want to keep churning out the same old formula, just because it happens to work. We need to remain fresh and vital.

Taking risks is, in some respects, a necessary (and extremely exciting) part of the whole business of publishing. In the spirit of exploring new territory, we would like to expand the remit of the chapbooks slightly. We will still be publishing the ghost stories as we have always done, but we will also be issuing stories with a broader definition of the term and entering into the realms of the psychological, challenging, experimental and non-traditional. Our intention is to stretch both writers and readers. We will reiterate, though, that this does NOT mean that we will be stopping the publishing of traditional renditions of the ghostly/supernatural tale*, just that there will be a mix of styles. Above all, we want to provide variety for our readers.

Over and above all that, we feel that this is the right time to be doing this. We’ve always known that there are some marvellous writers out there producing some top-notch material, and that the genre is probably the healthiest it’s been since the horror boom of the eighties. Even so, we want to push the genre and its boundaries forward even further into new areas (as pretentious as that may sound). We would like to expand just what is meant by genre in general and ‘horror’ in particular. Just as Whitstable has shown, it is often the everyday and the banal that is far more horrific than anything ‘supernatural’ or the figments of a writer’s mind. This is the kind of material we’re after – we’re still looking for quiet horror rather than gore, the species of material that unsettles and disorientates, that leaves people unsure of what horror and the supernatural really is. We also want settings that eschew the familiar tropes of the ghost and horror story, that perhaps bring in other elements from other genres too; or new twists on tired and over-familiar staples. In other words, the universe is the limit.

We would like Spectral to be truly representative of the kind of excellent material that is being put out there at present. That is primarily why we are expanding our repertoire, so to speak. Naturally, the emphasis is still going to be geared toward top quality storytelling, allied to the high production values we have gained a solid reputation for. That will never change. We feel that this is the next step in the evolution of Spectral Press’ career. We hope that you out there, readers past, present and future, will be here with us as Spectral continues to grow.

*There are plenty of them to look forward to over the next couple of years…

Soul Masque: cover concept reveal

Soul Masque by Terry Grimwood. © 2013 Terry Grimwood. Cover concept © 2013 Neil Williams/Spectral Press. All rights reserved.

After taking a small break from working, we’re now back on track and ready to forge ahead. To celebrate, we’ve decided to go ahead and reveal Neil Williams’ beautiful cover concept (note: this is still a work in progress) for number 10 in the Spectral chapbook series, Terry Grimwood’s Soul Masque, which will be available next month (July 2013).

More details soon – keep your eyes peeled!

Chapbook slipcases: an update

Monday morning and the beginning of a new month (and almost a new season, too!), and what better way of celebrating it than showing you some photos of the Spectral chapbook slipcases. These sturdy protective boxes will do a fine job of keeping those slim volumes in pristine condition over the years. They are covered in black Wibalin buckram and have the logo and name silver-foil-stamped on the spine. Each slipcase holds EIGHT issues very snugly, and will look absolutely wonderful on your bookshelf.

PLEASE NOTE: the red slipcases with gold foil blocking on the spine are NOT available just yet – they will form the VERY limited edition of TEN boxsets of the first eight chapbooks to be released later this year in celebration of the publication of the first volume of the Collected Spectral Chapbooks, provisionally slated for September. ONLY the BLACK variety are available at present.

ALL PRICES INCLUDE P+P

£11 UK

£19 (two slipcases) UK

£15 EU

£27 (two slipcases) EU

$29 US and RoW

$52 (two slipcases) US and RoW

SPECIAL OFFER:

£26 1 year subscription + slipcase UK

£40 2 year subscription + slipcase UK

£36 1 year subscription + slipcase EU

£55 2 year subscription + slipcase EU

$70 1 year subscription + slipcase USA & RoW

$110 2 year subscription + slipcase USA & RoW

300th post: subscription and slipcase offer

Yes, we’ve reached a bit of a milestone here on the Spectral blog – 300 posts in just over two years! To celebrate the fact we have decided to put together a fantastic deal aimed at new subscribers – a combined subscription/slipcase offer. Yes, if you are a new subscriber, you will not only get four or eight issues of the critically-acclaimed Spectral quarterly chapbook series but also a slipcase in which to keep them. Each slipcase holds eight issues, is made from sturdy 1500 micron white-lined board covered in black Wibalin buckram and silver-foil stamped with the Spectral ‘ghost’ logo and legend on the spine. You can order either a one year (4 issue) or two year (8 issue) subscription with your slipcase – Paypal buttons below.

ALL prices include p+p.

£26 1 year subscription + slipcase UK

£40 2 year subscription + slipcase UK

£36 1 year subscription + slipcase EU

£55 2 year subscription + slipcase EU

$70 1 year subscription + slipcase USA & RoW

$110 2 year subscription + slipcase USA & RoW

In other news, as many of you will know, Spectral will be publishing a collected volume of the first eight chapbooks (along with new material) sometime this year, probably in limited hardback and unlimited paperback formats. However, there will also be a special, VERY limited edition available: a set of all eight chapbooks, signed and numbered, in their very own slipcase,  made from1500 micron white-lined board covered in red Wibalin buckram and gold-foil stamped with the Spectral ‘ghost’ logo and legend on the spine, limited to just TEN (10) sets. Prices yet to be confirmed, but you can register your interest in purchasing one of these collector’s items by letting us know via email (spectralpress]AT]gmail[DOT]com) and your name will be put on a list. Nearer the time we will let you know further details of publication date and payment.

Onward and upward!