Welcome to the Creepy Library and your haunted host Jim Xavier. I have perused the pages of many a dusty manuscript, braved the cobwebbed corridors of damnation and brought back to the mundane world a teetering pile of books, magazines and arcane volumes to titillate and tantalise. In short, I have plundered the tomes and this is what I've found.......
Let's start at the top of the pile and in no particular order with John Peters' Flickers 'n' Frames. The sad news is that Flickers 'n' Frames #28 was the last issue of the magazine. F 'n' F is folding for the usual reasons: lack of interest and money, which is a great shame as it had a great atmosphere and, as does this issue, a varied content, including film news, articles, short stories and music articles/reviews. This final issue is packed with good, solid fiction and has less articles that past issues. Shimmering Horizons, the music section is still there as is the small press review section Zine Zone. Flickers 'n' Frames is available for £3.00. Get in touch and try a copy, (or buy yourself a fistful of back issues)!
I came across John B. Ford and his excellent BJM Press publications through the review section in Pete's Flickers 'n' Frames. John is a prolific writer and has many small press magazines on the market. Within The Sea & The Dead is a small booklet of two short stories written in the style of, and as a tribute to, William H. Hodgson. Atmospheric horror in the style of Hodgson's 'Sargasso sea' stories and very impressive they are too. It has just been reprinted with illustrations by Steve Lines. In The Gallery of Death & Other Tales is another small booklet of seven short horror stories (all by Ford) and has some excellent artwork from Gerald Gaubert. At a cost of £1.00 for each booklet they are well worth sending for. Macabre Delights & Other Twisted Tales is yet another collection of John's stories (behind an impressive cover by Colin Langeveld who also provides most of the interior art with a little help from Gerald Gaubert, Desmond Knight, Chris Webb and even Ford himself!" ) and it includes 12 more atmospheric and macabre tales, (including a couple set in the Sargasso Sea). Ghouls & Gore & Twisted Terrors is John's latest collection of fiction and is illustrated throughout by Steve Lines, with Lovecraftian 'Gaunts' and 'Ghouls' on front and back cover. This collection costs £3.00. The Derelict of Death is another Hodgson tribute, this time written in collaboration with best-selling horror author Simon Clark. As well as the gruesome tale the small booklet also includes a Hodgson poem Speak Well of the Dead, a mini-biography of Hodgson and an appreciation of the man from Simon Clark and John B. Ford. Cover and interior artwork is once again by Steve Lines. Price for this booklet is £2.00. And finally, for the moment, (does this man never sleep!) John also edits Terror Tales which collects together tales of the macabre and strange by authors other than himself. Artwork is by Gerald Gaubert, Colin Langeveld, Steve Lines and Iain Maynard. There are two issues of this magazine currently available. #1 costs £1.50 and #2 costs £2.50. Lookout for a collection of poetry, another collection of fiction (titled Dead Things in Darkness & Light) and Terror Tales #3 all coming soon. If you're into such writers as Hodgson, Poe, Lovecraft, Shiel, Machen, Blackwood etc., then you must read Ford's work.
Tales of the Grotesque & Arabesque is another magazine which features fiction of a fantastic nature and issue #1 kicks off with a reprint of Poe's The Tell Tale Heart to let you know exactly where it's coming from. There's also a Profile on Anne Rice. A fine start for what looks like being a nice magazine. Gerald Gaubert provides two stunning, erotic Beardsley-esque illustrations for the front and back cover and interior art is by Chris Webb and Steve Lines. Writers featured include Simon Bestwick, Paul Bradshaw, Richard Fadden, James Lecky, D. F. Lewis and Gordon Lewis. Issue #2 is another collection of fine stories of horror and the macabre with front cover (a Lovecraftian 'page 3' girl) and interior art by Steve Lines. Writers include John B. Ford, Paul Finch, Rob Markland, Paul Bradshaw, Pendragon and Simon Bestwick
Another fiction magazine has just appeared on the scene, this time dealing with supernatural ghost and horror stories. Enigmatic Tales #1 (£2.50) is a very well produced with a nice selection of stories: (Bestwick, Bradshaw, Ford, Finch, Maynard & Sims, David Price and more), an article on book jacket illustrator ionicus plus a smattering of poetry and artwork (by Iain Maynard, Colin Langeveld and Desmond Knight). Issue #2 (£3.00) has even better production values, some more impressive artwork (Iain Maynard, Alan Hunter and Steve Lines) and a very strong collection of stories by the likes of Joe Rattigan, John Davis, Colin Pink, Paul Finch, Alan Austin Simon Bestwick and others. If you like stories of ghosts and the supernatural then drop them a line, they don't come much better than this!
Sierra Heaven #'s 2, 3, 4 and 4 1/2 (£3.00 each) arrived recently and I was very impressed. Well produced with a wide variety of fiction ranging through fantasy, horror and science fiction and some lovely artwork (especially from Alan Casey and Cathy Buburuz).
Strix #12 (£2.00) is an A4 collection (most of these fiction magazines being A5) of fiction and articles with a lively letter column and some great artwork, (including a cover by Gerald Gaubert). It's encouraging just how many good magazines of this type there are around at the moment, and they all manage to fill their pages with decent fiction and artwork. Strix is bi-monthly and not to be missed.
Lichgate #1 (£2.50) is an impressive collection of Victorian and Victorian flavoured ghost and supernatural stories with a tale of Carnacki the Ghost Hunter by A. F. Kidd and introducing a couple more psychic sleuths in the shape of Morgan Clegg and The Connoisseur. Artwork throughout is excellent and all comes from the pen/imagination of Lichgate editor Colin Langeveld (including the splendid, understated cover)!
Scared to Death: Halloween issue (£2.50) is put together by Joe Rattigan and features the distinctive, surrealistic artwork of Desmond Knight throughout. Another lively letters section (with pretty much the same names appearing as Strix), six short stories, (David Price, Paul Bradshaw, Roger Jackson, Paul Finch, Anna Franklin and K. Clarke) a short piece by Ramsey Campbell on his experiences with LSD and news and reviews.
Sackcloth and Ashes #1 (£2.50) is yet another impressive debut (standards in the small press are very high these days it seems) with excellent artwork (Paul Joyce) and computer graphics, good production values and chilling fiction and poetry (Peter Tennant, Trevor Mendham, Susan Valentine, Paul Finch, Martin Owton, John Galloway, Andrew Howarth, John B Ford and others).
The Bloody Quill #4 (£1.00) is the magazine of vampires and Gothic Horror. It suffers slightly from no interior artwork and a preponderance of poetry (to my taste anyway) but does include vampire fiction and reviews.
If you're a fan of H. P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos then there are plenty of fine magazines, most of which are available through Necronomicon Press in the USA. Midnight Shambler, Tales of Lovecraftian Horror Cthulhu Codex, and Crypt of Cthulhu are all edited by Robert Price and feature new Cthulhu Mythos fiction, articles and news of a Lovecraftian nature and all have artwork of the highest standard.
For those of you who would rather read books than magazines but are having trouble tracking down rare and out of print works (let's face it, almost everything halfway decent is out of print these days!) then drop a line to Mike Don and ask for a free copy of his Dreamberry Wine catalogue/booklist/fanzine. Hundreds of books for sale both new and second hand, as well as interesting small press items. Also letters and reviews and occasional short articles.
Mythos Books in the USA is another great place to look for your esoteric needs, as is the catalogue from Simon Gosden's Fantastic Literature and the book list from Kirk Ruebotham. If you want newly published material why not try Andromeda Books in Birmingham who also operate a postal service.
Sweden's Sound Affects arrives as regular as clockwork and since our last issue #'s 36, 37 and 38 have crawled through the door. #38 is of note as it includes a free hard vinyl 7" EP which features The Flatmates, The Handmedowns, The Walkabouts and Cheepskates, and is well worth getting hold of.
Brian Tawn has sent another issue of his friendly Hawkwind fanzine, Hawkfan #26 which is essential reading if you are in anyway interested in Hawkwind and their various side projects. Inside is a list of useful web sites covering Hawkwind, Bob Calvert, Adrian Shaw, Darxtar, Inner City Unit and more. Also the results of The Hawkwind Poll where you can find what Hawkfans have chosen as their favourite album/song/video etc. An extensive Damnation Alley, listing all the related vinyl/CD and video releases (over eleven pages - including a review of Rhinos, Winos and Lunatics, the recent book about Man by Deke Leonard) and song lyrics and artwork. Also by Brian Tawn is Dude's Dream: The Music Of Michael Moorcock a great booklet with some fantastic artwork by Andreas Stuwe illustrating Moorcock's lyrics. The title says it all really. Here, in Brian's friendly, chatty style is the full history of Moorcock's dabblings on the music scene with a full discography including guest appearances. A must for all Michael Moorcock/ Hawkwind fans!
Next off the pile is the impressive first issue of Astro Zombie which has 78 packed and well laid out A4 pages hidden behind a Steve Lines cover and featuring The Sons of Selina, Kava Kava, The Sleepy People and Reefus Moons amongst others. There are articles on Stonehenge '78: (The Spirit of Albion), The Watery Realms of the British Isles plus The Acid Test, which is the review section featuring a wealth of good music. Other items include... what the hell, go out and buy a copy. Issue #2 promises to be even better with a full colour psychedelic cover painted by Steve. Don't miss out! Rumours abound that issue #2 is actually out, but I know of a couple of people who have tried to order copies and haven't received a reply, so tread carefully....
Rumblings #22 is the magazine of the Bolan Society and contains news, reviews and features on Marc Bolan and T. Rex. This issue includes a lengthy interview with Riggs O'Hara and reviews of the latest Bolan CDs to hit the market.
Belgium's psychedelic bible, Crohinga Well #14 has finally hit the doormat after a protracted wait. Another phone book-sized issue with part 1 of a lengthy Gong history, an article on Jorge Reyes, further installments of Steve Lines' Captain Cliché comic strip and hundreds of reviews of both new and retrospective releases. This is one of the best psychedelic music magazines around, (possibly the best) so if you're in any way interested in psychedelic music and you ain't getting Crohinga Well then you're just not taking advantage of the fact that you're alive!
The Music & Elsewhere Yearbook 1998 Edition costs £5.00 and is packed full of useful information and contacts in and around the underground music scene. There is also all the news on the latest releases from the Music & Elsewhere cassette label. Lots of great under- ground music just waiting to be discovered.
And finally Esther, we have Try Acid #20 which is available free, along with The Book Of Acid, both of which give details of all the releases (new and back catalogue) on the Acid Tapes cassette label.
Right, that's it for this time. If you want a mention in the next issue, send a copy of your magazine along and we'll give it a plug. If you publish a magazine and you want artwork, get in contact with Steve Lines (he's always looking for ways to get magazines without actually paying for them). Meanwhile, this is Jim Xavier signing off (and if you haven't got a copy of the Stormclouds CD Nightmares in the Sky yet - available from Steve Lines for £10.00 - then what are you waiting for?).
Contact:
ANDROMEDA: 2 - 5 Suffolk Street, Birmingham, B1 1LT.
ASTRO ZOMBIE #1 write to Ollie, Flat 2, 8 Wenlock Terrace, York, YO1 4DU.
BLOODY QUILL, £1.00 from J. Rogerson, West Lodge, Higher Lane, Liverpool, L9 7AB.
CROHINGA WELL #14 from Andre Van Bosbeke, PB 22, 1730 Asse, Belgium.
DREAMBERRY WINE From Mike Don, 233 Maine Road, Manchester, M14 7WG.
ENIGMATIC TALES £2.50 from Mick Sims, 1 Gibbs Field, Bishops Stortford, Herts, CM23 4EY.
FANTASTIC LITERATURE: 35 The Ramparts, Rayleigh, Essex. UK. SS6 8PY.
FLICKERS 'N' FRAMES #28 £2.00 from John M. Peters, 299 Southway Drive, Southway, Plymouth, Devon. PL6 6QN.
HAWKFAN #26 from Brain Tawn, 27 Burdett Road, Wisbech, Cambs, PE13 2PR.
JOHN B. FORD: B.J.M. Press, 95 Compass Crescent, Old Whittington, Chesterfield, S41 9LX.
LICHGATE £2.50 fro Colin Langeveld, 9 Lisleholme Road, West Derby, Liverpool, L12 8RU.
MUSIC & ELSEWHERE c/o Mick Magick,6 Farm Court, Frimley, Surrey, GU16 5TJ.
MYTHOS BOOKS: 218 Hickory Meadow Lane, Poplar Bluff, MO. 63901-2160 USA.
NECRONOMICON PRESS: PO Box 1304, West Warwick, RI. 02893 USA.
RUEBOTHAM, KIRK: 16 Beaconsfield Road, Runcorn, Cheshire, WA7 4BX.
RUMBLINGS 22 from The Bolan Society, P. O. Box 297, Newhaven, E. Sussex, BN9 9NX.
SIERRA HEAVEN 2, 3, & 4 £3.15, £2,95 and £2.95 respectively from Alex Bardy, 29 Harrier Way, Evelyn Mews, Beckton, London E6 4YP.
SACKCLOTH & ASHES £2.50 from 6 Caernarvon Road, Hindley Green, Wigan, Lancs. WN2 4NE.
SCARED TO DEATH £2.50 from Joe Rattigan, 1 Hill farm Close, Oldham, Greater Manchester, OL8 2LL.
SOUND AFFECTS #36 Box 2264, 600 02, Norkoping, Sweden.
STRIX PO Box 12, Earl Shilton, Leics., LE9 7ZZ.
TALES of the GROTESQUE & ARABESQUE From David Price, 11 Graig Wen, Morganstown, Cardiff, CF4 8LH.
TRY ACID #20 free from Steve Lines, 28 Churchill Close, Calne, Wiltshire, UK.
