Powers of Darkness

Cover artwork by Stephen J Clark of The Singing Garden
Introduction by Mark Valentine

Robert Aickman (1914-1981) is considered by many to be one of the finest exponents of the modern ghost story, and he is certainly versatile. In this collection the reader is offered the experience of visiting a disused lead-mine, the Houses of Parliament, a séance in a dreary suburb, and a sun-drenched Greek island. The dust jacket for the first edition of Powers of Darkness (first published in 1966) stated ‘. . . in every case his readers will experience that authentic chill which is the hallmark of the supernatural.’

Mark Valentine points out in his Introduction to this new Tartarus Press edition that Aickman was striving to achieve something approaching poetry in his writing, and ‘he often does this in the service of the strange and sinister.’

Contents: 'Introduction' by Mark Valentine, '‘Your Tiny Hand is Frozen’, ‘My Poor Friend’, ‘The Visiting Star’, ‘Larger Than Oneself’, ‘A Roman Question’ and ‘The Wine-Dark Sea’.

Limited to 350 copies