Ash Tree Annual Macabre 1997 through 2005

This is for a set of the Annual Macabre that Ash Tree published starting in 1997 through 2005

Ash Tree Press Annual Macabre 1997
Edited by Jack Adrian

This, the first of a projected series of annual volumes, scheduled to appear in the period between Halloween and Christmas each year, presents four weird stories by women writers whose supernatural output is small. The series as a whole will follow this pattern: small, quality supernatural tales by those who are not necessarily associated with writing in the genre.

For this first volume, Jack Adrian has gathered together tales by Patricia Wentworth, Jessie Douglas Kerruish, Carola Oman, and Mollie Panter Downes. The result is a pleasing collection of supernatural tales of the quality you have come to associate with an Ash-Tree Press production.

Contents:

• Patricia Wentworth: ‘A Wedding Day’
• Jessie Douglas Kerruish: ‘The Swaying Vision’
• Carola Oman: ‘The Visitor’
• Mollie Panter-Downes: ‘The House of the Laburnums’

Ash Tree Press Annual Macabre 1998
Edited by Jack Adrian
Jacket art is by Rob Suggs

In this, the second Ash-Tree Press Annual Macabre, the focus is on half a dozen authors whose names are not inevitably associated with the tale of the supernatural. Yet all six—W. Somerset Maugham, Arthur Ransome, Ford Madox Ford, E.C.Bentley, Hilaire Belloc, and John Buchan—are undisputed masters of the narrative form, and here—in 'Told in the Inn at Algeciras', 'Post-Mortem', 'The Medium's End', 'Exactly As It Happened', 'The Unpleasant Room', and 'Ho! The Merry Masons' respectively—bring a new vitality to an old medium, and prove that literary renown is no obstacle to telling a gripping and chilling story.

These six tales, assembled and introduced by Jack Adrian, have remained out of print since their initial publication as many as ninety years ago—both the Maugham and the Buchan qualify as 'lost' stories, since neither appears in their respective author's bibliographies. Elegantly told by some of the finest writers of the century, the tales in Annual Macabre 1998 make perfect reading for dark winter nights.

Contents:

• Introduction by Jack Adrian
• 'Told in the Inn at Algeciras' by W. Somerset Maugham
• 'Post-Mortem' by Arthur Ransome'
• 'The Medium's End' by Ford Madox Ford
• 'Exactly As It Happened' by E.C.Bentley
• 'The Unpleasant Room' by Hilaire Belloc
• 'Ho! The Merry Masons' by John Buchan

Limited to 500 copies.

Ash Tree Annual Macabre 1999
Edited by Jack Adrian
Jacket art is by Rob Suggs

The third of Ash-Tree's annual gatherings of rare macabre stories. This year, as at perhaps no other point in history, the focus is very much on 'time' as we prepare to turn the calendar over from one millennium to the next. The concept of time—shifting, changing, distorting, playing tricks with hapless humans—is generally thought of as the preserve of science fiction and fantasy writers; but it plays a part in many a ghost story, too. Indeed, in his introduction, editor Jack Adrian argues that 'all, or at any rate most, ghost stories contain elements of time-distortion'.

In these six stories—originally published between 1908 and 1940—time, in all its shifting confusion, plays a part, blurring the lines between past and present, reality and illusion. The characters in these tales find themselves caught in a shadowy world in which time itself seems to have no meaning: where acts from the past return to haunt the present, and where the shadow of what is yet to pass mocks those who would try to change it.

Contents:

• Introduction by Jack Adrian
• 'The House That Was Lost' by Tom Gallon
• 'Tight and Loose' by Neil Gow
• 'The Man Who Was Tomorrow' by Eric Ambrose
• 'Newsreel' by W.J. Makin
• 'Time-Piece' by Donald Shoubridge
• 'Last Act First' by Laurence Meynell

Limited to 500 copies.

Ash Tree Annual Macabre 2000
Edited by Jack Adrian
Jacket illustration by Rob Suggs

The nine stories gathered together for Annual Macabre 2000 have one thing in common: all seem to have been forgotten about by their authors, and all have, in consequence, lain undisturbed in the pages of old periodicals, some for more than one hundred years. The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw an explosion in magazine publication, and it is hardly surprising that treasures lie buried in the pages of yellowing journals; but what is amazing is that among the stories Jack Adrian has uncovered for this collection are ‘unknown’ tales by such masters of the macabre as E. Nesbit, S. Baring-Gould, Sax Rohmer, and Julian Hawthorne.

In settings which range from India to the west coast of America, and from a cruise to Greece to a boat-trip up the Rhine, these stories feature hauntings both horrific and benign, and show that, on occasion, the terrors of the supernatural are as nothing to the terrors which the mind of man can conceive.

Contents:

• 'An Anniversary at The Hare and Billet' by E. Nesbit
• 'The Children of Pain' by Reginald Bacchus and Ranger Gull
• 'The Chowkedar' by B. M. Croker
• '"With What Measure Ye Mete . . ."' by Ethel Lina White
• 'The Avenging Phonograph' by E. R. Punshon
• 'The Witch-Finder' by S. Baring-Gould
• 'The Empty Berth' by Rose Macaulay
• 'The Cat' by Sax Rohmer
• 'The Island of Ghosts' by Julian Hawthorne.

Limited to 500 copies.

Ash Tree Annual Macabre 2001
Edited by Jack Adrian
Jacket art by Rob Suggs

In Annual Macabre 2000, Jack Adrian collected together nine stories of the supernatural which were published during the Golden Age of the British fiction magazine, a period which ended with the outbreak of war in 1914. For the current volume, he has uncovered another thirteen stories published during the Indian summer of the weekly and monthly fiction periodicals: a time which began early in the 1920s and was again curtailed—with brutal finality—by the outbreak of another war, in 1939.

Only one of the stories included in Annual Macabre 2001 has appeared in bookform; the other twelve have remained hidden in the pages of magazines since their first publication more than sixty years ago. As Adrian points out in his introduction, many of the authors are better known for their writing in other genres; but all show a sure touch in their handling of the supernatural, the macabre, and the horrific, in settings which range from America to the seemingly tranquil coast of Ireland, and from England to the legend-haunted countryside of Japan.

CONTENTS:

• Introduction by Jack Adrian
• 'I Will Never Leave You' by Marjorie Bowen
• The Corner House by Elisabeth Kyle
• The Tarletan Dress by F. Tennyson Jesse
• A Little Way Ahead by Pamela Frankau
• The Pool by Lucas Malet
• The Badger by Jessie Douglas Kerruish
• Man-Eater by Elizabeth Gorell
• Fear by S. P. B. Mais
• Modern Antique by Milward Kennedy
• Station Permanently Closed by Noel Langley
• An Experiment of the Dead by Helen Simpson
• Solitaire by Nan K. Lock
• Notes and Sources.

Limited to 500 copies.

Ash Tree Annual Macabre 2002
GHOSTS AT 'THE CORNHILL' 1920–30
Edited by Jack Adrian
Jacket Art is by Rob Suggs

The later years of the Victorian era are justly famous for many things, not least the extraordinary flowering of monthly and weekly magazines which sprang up to cater to the newly literate middle classes. Among the most famous—and most successful—of these magazines was The Cornhill, which was created in 1860 and outlasted all its rivals, finally closing its doors in 1975. From the start, The Cornhill featured some of the finest storytellers British literature had to offer; and from the 1890s onwards, its respective editors allowed their obvious fondness for the ghostly tale to find an outlet in the pages of the magazine.

Jack Adrian has uncovered many weird tales in the pages of The Cornhill, none of which has seen print since its original publication. This, the first of two Annual Macabres highlighting the magazine's supernatural content, contains stories ranging from the odd to the horrific: a rich mix of the weird, the outré, and the downright horrid.

CONTENTS:

• Introduction by Jack Adrian
• 'Wanted! Quarmin Tay!' by W. H. Adams
• The Wade Monument by Violet Jacob
• The Wedding by John Sampson
• The Moral Opiate by William Bradley
• The Black Cat by George Blake
• Fladda Light by Hilton Brown
• The Jackals by Edward Liveing
• The Trouble at Totton Corner by H. T. Sheringham
• The Peacock Sari by L. M. Crump
• A Bunch of Balloons by Barbara Euphan Todd
• Mrs Murdoch's Man by F. H. Dorset
• A Jester of the King by F. H. Dorset
• Nisi Dominus by Cecil Binney
• The Portent by John Fisher
• Red Hair and Yellow Curtains by Shaugh Courtenay
• Notes and Sources

Limited to 500 copies

Ash Tree Annual Macabre 2003
GHOSTS AT 'THE CORNHILL 1931–1939'
Edited by Jack Adrian
Jacket art is by Rob Suggs

The later years of the Victorian era are justly famous for many things, not least the extraordinary flowering of monthly and weekly magazines which sprang up to cater to the newly literate middle classes. Among the most famous—and successful—of these magazines was The Cornhill, which was created in 1860 and outlasted all its rivals, finally closing its doors in 1975. From the start, The Cornhill featured some of the finest storytellers British literature had to offer; and from the 1890s onwards, its respective editors allowed their obvious fondness for the ghostly tale to find an outlet in the pages of the magazine.

Jack Adrian has uncovered many weird tales in the pages of The Cornhill, only one of which has seen print since its original publication. This, the second of two Annual Macabres highlighting the magazine's supernatural content, contains stories ranging from the odd to the horrific: a rich mix of the weird, the outré, and the downright horrid.

CONTENTS:

• Introduction by Jack Adrian
• 'The Garden House' by W. M. Letts
• 'The Eyes of the Moor' by Joyce Kilburn
• 'The House of Desolation' y Alan Griff
• 'The Sword' by Mary Webb
• 'The Street He Never Found' by Elizabeth Horsfall
• 'The Climb' by C. Gordon Glover
• 'The Barwick Stone' by Winifred Peck
• 'And No Ghost Walks' by M. A. Peart
• 'Hallucination' by Anthony ffettyplace
• 'The Bell' by M. A. Peart
• 'Between Two World' by Mary Lutyens
• 'Vibrations' by Anthony ffettyplace
• 'Children of the Rectory' by Kathleen Collison-Morley
• 'Curious Adventure of Mr Bond' by Nugent Barker
• 'Can These Things Be?' by Maud Diver
• Notes and Sources

Limited to 500 copies.

Ash Tree Annual Macabre 2004
THE LAST 'QUEER STORIES FROM TRUTH '
Edited by Jack Adrian

For most of its life, the weekly publication Truth—which was more generally concerned with politics, finance, and general muck-raking—ran, in each issue, a short fiction feature called 'Queer Story'. After publication of a number of stories, they were gathered and published as anthologies titled Queer Stories from 'Truth'. The short stories were odd, peculiar, strange, macabre, weird, and at times outright supernatural, and some illustrious names contributed weird tales to the forum, including H. R. Wakefield (whose 'Annyversry' is an early version of the tale later published as 'The Fire-Watcher's Story'), A. B. Cox, and Rosemary Timperley.

Jack Adrian has collected together thirty-one of these stories; short, sharp shocks which introduce the supernatural into the lives of everyday people. In his lengthy introduction for this last volume of 'Queer Stories from Truth', Adrian looks at the fascinating history of Truth, and those who published and wrote for it.

CONTENTS: 

• Introduction by Jack Adrian
• Anon: 'The Exchange'; 'A Psychic Mystery'
• Violet M. Methley: 'The Damned Spot'; '"Dusty Death"'
• George W. Nixon: 'The Escape'
• Chris Sewell: 'The Dream Giver'
• A. B. Cox: 'Bitter Almonds'
• Mark Napier: 'The Cab in Sloane Square'
• Anthony Armstrong: 'Goolang'; 'Michael Leinster's Picture'
• Helen Sutherland: 'The End of the World'
• Myfanwy Price: 'The Spade in the Night'
• Aylmer Vallance: 'Exeat '
• Douglas Pike: 'The Last Appointment'
• Mary Ann Abbs: 'Exit'
• H. Russell Wakefield: 'Annyversry'
• Frank Batchelor: 'The Fisherman'; 'Open Sesame'
• Michael Hervey: 'Strange Company'
• Jane C. Butler: 'Little Old Lady'
• George A. Whiting: 'The Bright Room'
• Alan Raymond: 'Traveller's Tale'
• Anne King: 'Thin Air'
• Horace Newte: '"Pobson"'
• Magdalen King-Hall: 'The Sisters'
• Alfred Ridgway: 'The Parson Vanishes'; 'The Man at the Door'
• H. L. V. Fletcher: 'Brambles'
• Rosemary Timperley: 'Hell, Twice Daily'
• E. A. Williams: 'Poltergeist'
• Lane Mitchell: 'The Dagger'
• Sources and Acknowledgments

Limited to 500 copies

Ash Tree Annual Macabre 2005
Haven't I Read This Before?
Edited by Jack Adrian

The writer faced with a blank sheet of paper has to decide how the story he is going to write will develop: what will be its theme? what will be its outcome? He draws on his experience and talent to produce an original work for his reader's enjoyment. On occasion, however, his mind may be seeded with ideas drawn from something he himself has read.

This year's ANNUAL MACABRE looks at a number of writers whose work appears either to have been influenced, or been an influence upon, the work of others. In some of the stories, well-known writers have drawn on, and improved, earlier work. In others, lesser known writers have attempted their own variations on well-known stories.

In his fascinating introduction—which the reader is strongly urged to consider before reading the stories themselves—Jack Adrian discusses the theme of plagiarism and literary (and musical) theft. But outright plagiarism is not the sole theme of this ANNUAL which, as ever, showcases stories that will, in the main, be unknown, even if certain themes and storylines will be at least vaguely familiar, if not instantly recognizable.

So turn down the light and enjoy twenty stories from the pens of such as W. W. Jacobs, H. R. Wakefield, Edgar Jepson, Douglas Newton, Andrew Lang, and A. M. Burrage (whose story 'The House of His Fathers' is reprinted for the first time since its original magazine publication in 1914).

CONTENTS:

• Introduction by Jack Adrian
• I. W. W. JACOBS
  The Toll House by W. W. Jacobs; Reconstruction by Michael Kent; Blind Man's Buff by H. R. Wakefield; The Well by W. W. Jacobs; The Well in the Garden by Peter Gladwin
• II. AGATHA CHRISTIE
  Mrs Morrel's Last Séance by Edgar Jepson; Over the Telephone by A. B. Cox
• III. DAPHNE DU MAURIER
  The Starlings by William Caine
• IV. BARRY PEROWNE
  'And There's Your Proof' by Douglas Newton; The Blind Spot by Barry Perowne
• V. ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
  The Case of Muelvos y Sagra by David Christie Murray
• VI. ANDREW LANG
  The House of Strange Stories by Andrew Lang; A Sentence of Death by Katharine Tynan; Mrs Carabay's Curious Dream by Mary E. Mann; The Man on the Hearse by Janet Deene
• VII. KATHARINE TYNAN
  The Dream House by Katharine Tynan; The House of His Fathers by A. M. Burrage; The Garden of Fancy by A. M. Burrage
• VIII. LAFCADIO HEARN
  Mujina by Lafcadio Hearn; The Follower by Lady Cynthia Asquith

Limited to 400 copies

This is being sold as a set only