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Robert Aickman, the supreme master of the supernatural, brings together eight of his self-proclaimed "strange stories". The stories in this collection are constructed immaculately; the neuroses of his characters painted in subtle shades. He builds dread by the steady accrual of realistic detail, until the reader realizes that the protagonist is heading towards their doom as if in a dream. His characters are often lonely and middle-aged, but all have the same thing in common - they are all brought to the brink of an abyss that shows how terrifyingly fragile our piece of mind actually is.

In his Introduction to this new edition of Intrusions, Reggie Oliver writes that Robert Aickman (1914-1981) ‘was one of the most original and interesting short story writers of the late twentieth century . . . I wonder if the adjective “inconclusive”, so often applied to Aickman, is quite the mot juste. His stories all have a beginning, a middle and an end. They conclude, but the conclusion is not absolute: puzzles remain. How like life! Aickman is both a realist and a surrealist: or, to put it another way, his surrealism is real.’
Intrusions is the last collection of Aickman’s tales to be published in his lifetime. It includes: ‘Hand in Glove’, ‘No Time Is Passing’, ‘The Fetch’, ‘The Breakthrough’, ‘The Next Glade’, ‘Letters to the Postman’.

As Dr Glen Cavaliero states in his introduction to this new edition of Dark Entries, "It is Robert Aickman's peculiar achievement that he should invest the daylight world with all the terrors of the night".

Dark Entries was the first solo collection of "strange stories" by British short story writer, critic, lecturer and novelist, Robert Aickman. First published in 1964 it contains the classic "Ringing the Changes" and perhaps Aickman's best femme fatale in "Choice of Weapons." The version of "The View" is slightly re-written from its first appearance in We are for the Dark.

Robert Aickman (1914-1981) is considered by many to be one of the finest exponents of the modern ghost story. Aickman himself referred to his tales as ‘strange stories’, for they are often open to more complex interpretations. His writing is subtle and poetic, presenting us with psychological and more material terrors.Tales of Love and Death (first published in 1977) is a collection of seven mature tales by this craftsman of the uncanny.
"Along with Walter de la Mare, Elizabeth Bowen and a few others, Robert Aickman belongs to the Chekhov school of the weird tale. Such writers recognise that stories don’t require pat endings. They don’t need to close with the snap of an O. Henry trapdoor, or the ironic twist of a Maupassant. A short story can actually convey a more haunting depiction of the human predicament by avoiding any kind of artificial conclusiveness. Life is messy, not neat; most problems are never clearly resolved, but only lived with; people act unreasonably for no apparent reason." Michael Dirda, from the Introduction to Tales of Love and Death.

Robert Aickman has received due recognition for his hauntingly poetic and psychologically charged ‘strange’ tales, but what sort of early life fuelled their creation?

The Attempted Rescue chronicles Aickman’s childhood and youth, over which looms the figure of his eccentric father, a man almost entirely resistant to ‘normal’ family life, and a man who Aickman describes as dying ‘from loss of luxuries’. So much of Aickman’s childhood appears bizarre and unyielding of explanation that it is little wonder that his short stories are so odd.

Aickman invests the book with his startling, often politically incorrect opinions on politics, the modern industrial world and his rather bleak view of sexual relationships. But there is also much achingly heart-felt nostalgia in the atmospheric descriptions of pre-World War Two London, the theatre and the large country house of his singular Great Uncle and Aunt.

Aickman displays more than a passing acquaintance with psycho-analysis in this fascinating autobiog-raphy, and we can infer that the disturbing images with which he invests his fiction are there by design. Then again, when such a master of the weird tale tells the story of his own life, how far can we be sure that he is not manipulating our expectations as subtly as he does in his fiction?

This edition contains a foreword by Jeremy Dyson, a member of the award-winning comedy team The League of Gentlemen. He has previously published two collections of his own strange stories Never Trust a Rabbit (2000) and The Cranes That Build The Cranes (2010). He has adapted Robert Aickman’s stories for the radio (‘Ringing the Changes’) and film (‘The Cicerones’), and has written a libretto for an oratorio based on ‘The Same Dog’ (music by Joby Talbot). In 2011 he presented ‘The Unsettled Dust’, a BBC Radio Four documentary on Robert Aickman.

The Attempted Rescue is a sewn hardback of 245 + viii pages, printed lithographically, with silk ribbon marker, head and tailbands, and d/w.

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 sйance 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’.

Powers of Darkness is a sewn hardback of 226+ xii pages, printed lithographically, with silk ribbon marker, head and tailbands, and d/w.

Газетный магнат, увлекающийся философией, собирает в своем поместье видных деятелей разных конфессий и сект для «духовной» конференции. Среди гостей, кажется по недоразумению, оказывается некая миссис Иблис, которая вместе с остальными становится свидетелем удивительного происшествия.

Герой рассказа по работе приезжает на несколько дней в Вулверхэмптон. Слоняясь по городку без дела, он забредает на ярмарку, где его внимание привлекает аттракцион по названием «Мечи», в котором происходит странный, иррациональный ритуал, участником которого может стать любой желающий.

We Are for the Dark is a remarkable collection, and one that can be said to have kick-started the ‘Aickmanesque’ short story. Credit for the genesis of this sub-genre of the ghost story should be given jointly to Robert Aickman and his collaborator in We Are for the Dark, Elizabeth Jane Howard. Contributing three tales each, the authors were not identified with their own stories when the book was first published in 1951.
We Are for the Dark contains six stories: ‘The Trains’, ‘The View’ and ‘The Insufficient Answer’ are by Robert Aickman, while ‘Three Miles Up’, ‘Left Luggage’ and ‘Perfect Love’ are by Elizabeth Jane Howard.

R.B. Russell’s new Introduction is based on his interview with the surviving author, Elizabeth Jane Howard.

Стареющая одинокая женщина, отойдя от дел, переселяется на тихий маленький островок. В жилах местных жителей французская кровь мешается со скандинавской, не менее причудлива и сама их речь, будто созданная для того, чтобы скрывать неведомые тайны. Но вот однажды героиня узнает, что мимо ее уединенного домика издревле проходит «истинная дорога к церкви» — и, возможно, не только к ней. Вскоре это открытие исполнится для Розы особым, глубоко личным значением...

Хилари Бригсток был младшим из трех братьев, его мать рано умерла, а отец не женился снова. Поэтому когда его отправили в подготовительную школу, это было его первое общение с ровесниками другого пола. Среди них была Мэри Росситер, с которой у Хилари завязалась крепкая дружба. Они вместе много гуляли по окрестностям, держась за руки, и все время разговаривали. Однажды, они наткнулись на заброшенный дом за толстой кирпичной стеной. Собравшись было уйти, они услышали из-за стены жуткий воющий лай собаки.