Herald of the Hidden

What is the secret of the house of days? Who are the shadowy figures gathered along an old green road? What is the winged thing seen flitting from an ancient church?

Herald of the Hidden collects ten adventures of the occult detective Ralph Tyler, inspired by William Hope Hodgson’s Carnacki the Ghost-Finder, Algernon Blackwood’s John Silence, and Arthur Machen’s Mr Dyson of The Three Impostors.

But Ralph Tyler is different. He is without private means, or any special esoteric knowledge. Sometimes he doesn’t play fair with his clients or his friend, the narrator. He smokes foul cigarettes, slumps in his chair, and wears a threadbare jacket. And he’s from an obscure shire in the darkest heart of England . . .

Mark Valentine’s Ralph Tyler stories first appeared in hard-to-find small press publications. Three of the stories in this volume are previously unpublished, including two newly written for this collection. Along with six further supernatural tales, all the stories are previously uncollected in book form.

Herald of the Hidden is a sewn hardback of 230+ vii pages, printed lithographically, with silk ribbon marker, head and tailbands, and d/w.

Contents:
• Introduction
• Ralph Tyler Stories:
• St Michael & All Angels
• The Folly
• Madberry Hill
• The Ash Track
• The Grave of Anir
• William Sorrell Requests
• The Hermit’s House
• Herald of the Hidden
• Heritage of Fire
• The Almanac
• Other Early Stories:
• The Guardians of the Guest Room
• Go to the West
• Tree Worship
• Twilight at Little Brydon Cricket Club
• Woken by Candlelight
• Their Special Glee
• Acknowledgements

Limited to 400 signed and numbered copies