Bøger udgivet af Valancourt Books

"Slowly, and not without a certain inexplicable feeling of foreboding, I limped up the weed-grown gravel path to the door of Cliff House ..." John Montrolfe, malformed and malevolent, the latest inheritor of the family curse, has come to England to claim his ancestral inheritance. He is grudgingly admitted to the Gothic mansion by a toothless old crone, and night after night his dreams are haunted by the phantom image of a beautiful young maiden. When he reaches out to touch the girl, the spectre's head falls grotesquely to one side and she vanishes as he awakes in horror.Montrolfe happens upon a secret drawer containing an old journal, written by the girl whose ghost has haunted him. In its pages a strange and horrible story unfolds, a tale of murder and buried treasure, a story that will finally reveal young Pippin's terrible fate and the origin of the Curse of the Montrolfes ...A spellbinding Gothic page-turner, Rohan O'Grady's Pippin's Journal (1962) received rave reviews on its initial publication and returns to print at last to enchant and terrify a new generation of readers."A story that should be read at a sitting, preferably when the wind whistles like a demon around the house and curtains are drawn against rain-splashed windows ... O'Grady writes in the tradition of the Gothic novelists and the story she tells might have been written by Edgar Allan Poe or a Brontë ... Sheer reading enjoyment." - Pittsburgh Press"An engaging tale of horror." - New York Herald Tribune"There is a lurid fascination about the yarn, which instills a blood-chilling impatience to learn what happens next." - Chicago Tribune"Elegance and sinister poetry ... O'Grady manages the romantic macabre with dancing gusto [and] moves naturally in the language and atmosphere of the eighteenth century of her ghosts." - Daily Herald (London)"Who could resist the pursuit of the Montrolfe curse? ... [T]ruly in the spirit and tradition of Otranto." - Baltimore Sun"A natural, well-wrought, well-written shocker." - Buffalo News

Somewhere in the darkness it is watching and waiting -- for you!THE LEGACYChester Rawlings is the first victim - he blows his brains out to escape a living death.THE LEGACYThen old Sam is discovered lying beside his friend's grave, dead of an unnatural heart attack - two corpse-like fingers clutched in his hand.THE LEGACYNow a child watches as her parents struggle in the grip of an unspeakable horror: only the child knows the awful truth - it is already too late to save them from THE LEGACYThis special new edition of Jere Cunningham's slow-burn occult chiller The Legacy (1977) features the original cover art and a new introduction by Will Errickson.

FROM THE DEEPEST MINE IN TENNESSEE, ENTER THE DARKEST PIT OF HELL . . .It is the deepest coal mine ever created. But when the miners dig too far, they violate the earth's most ancient and closely guarded secret.Now blood flows from faucets, and huge thorns tear the ground apart.Now grotesque, half-seen creatures terrorize the town, as the stench of sulfur fills the air.Now the legions of Hell itself raise their unspeakable dominion over heaven and earth fromTHE ABYSSThis new edition of Jere Cunningham's The Abyss (1981) features a new introduction by Grady Hendrix and the original cover painting by Terry Oakes.

When Frances Towers' first - and only - book was published posthumously in 1949, it was an immediate hit, quickly going through several printings and earning rave reviews from critics, who praised her masterful abilities as a short story writer while at the same time lamenting that she would never write any more. Several of these stories are in a macabre or supernatural vein, such as the opening tale, 'Violet', a favorite of Angela Carter's, and 'Lucinda', which in her new introduction to this edition Alice Ferrebe calls 'a surprising ghost story', while other tales showcase Towers' wit and humor and possess what one critic called 'the enduring fragility of fine porcelain'.Tea with Mr. Rochester (1949) collects fourteen of Towers' short tales originally published in British and American magazines in the 1930s and '40s. This edition of this rediscovered gem is the book's first-ever publication in the U.S. and is the first unabridged reprint in over seventy years.'Tea with Mr. Rochester is an almost perfect short story .¿.¿. Towers' world sparkles with satire, charming tenderness and real passion.' - Times Literary Supplement'I would gladly read any line she has written.' - G. W. Stonier, The Observer

Only the cream of the crop get into ultra-prestigious Modern University, and students are virtually guaranteed powerful and high-paid positions upon graduation. Drinking and sex are allowed, and even encouraged, and everything students need - classrooms, restaurants, shopping, and bars - is self-contained inside the school's fifty-story high-rise tower. But there's a catch. Once you start, you can't drop out or transfer to another school. And behind its glossy exterior, Modern has a terrible secret, a macabre and horrible way of ensuring its students perform to the best of their ability. When one young student, Gary Fort, witnesses the unspeakable truth of the school's "Self-Discipline Plan," he decides to fight back, and the suspense builds until the book's chilling conclusion ...Equal parts campus novel, satire on modern education, and gripping horror story, No Transfer (1967) earned rave reviews from the nation's leading critics. This reprint, the first in half a century, includes a new afterword by the author, who wrote it at age 20 while a student at Michigan State University."A remarkable first novel .¿.¿. shockingly convincing." - The New York Times"Walton is called by his publishers 'a genuine voice of his time' and they claim this novel is already being compared to Lord of the Flies and The Lottery. I don't doubt it a bit." - Arizona Republic¿¿"An academic shocker with quite a hook; one reads it in a state of frozen uneasiness. This is a contemporary chiller of and for our time, or just beyond - the achievement tests of 1984?" - Kirkus Reviews"A low-key horror story that satirizes present-day big-university education. This chilling story builds to a strong climax." - Publishers Weekly"Wanta take a 'trip' without LSD? Step right this way, baby .¿.¿. To say that this book is a shocker is to low rate it." - American Statesman"Just a note. While reading this one keep in mind that it's fiction." - Boston Globe"Chilling and subtle .¿.¿. completely unexpected .¿.¿. A half-mad world of the young with an Orwellian flavor and an aura of believability." - Sacramento Bee

A new collection of original translations by a legendary writer of weird fiction often compared to Poe and LovecraftIn 'At Sarah's House', a man watches his friend wasting away before his eyes under the spell of a beautiful but deadly woman. In 'Burning Ground', a man defies local superstition with terrible consequences when he decides to build a home on a site where every previous dwelling has burned to the ground. The title story, 'Orchard of the Dead', tells of the otherworldly happenings at a children's graveyard full of trees laden with luscious fruit. And in the highlight of the collection, 'Szatera's Engrams', a stationmaster becomes obsessed with lingering echoes of a deadly train wreck and grows convinced that he knows a terrible means of bringing his beloved back from the other side.With thirteen tales that feature Stefan Grabinski's favorite themes of passion and death - some appearing in English for the first time - this volume will be welcomed by the author's long-time admirers as well as those seeking the perfect introduction to his work. This edition includes a new introduction by a modern-day master of the weird, Brian Evenson.

On an extended holiday in London, Dr. Tom Sutherland befriends the genial but mysterious Dr. Nordhagen and falls into a wild love affair with his assistant, the exotic Lina Ravachol. Bewitched by her sexual sorcery, Tom follows her deeper and deeper into forbidden fantasies and dark pleasures. But fantasy turns to nightmare when he discovers Dr. Nordhagen's basement laboratory, a secret chamber where cruelty, desire, and madness combine to form the ultimate evil.This new edition of Thomas Tessier's Finishing Touches (1986) features a new introduction by Will Errickson and the cover painting by Chris Moore from the original UK edition."Seductive and compulsively readable." - Publishers Weekly"Splendidly evocative - even mesmerizing." - Booklist"Thomas Tessier is one of those writers who can find the unexpected poetry and subtlety in horror." - Peter Straub

Jeff loves Georgianne. Jeff has always loved Georgianne. Now, years later, Georgianne is as beautiful, as magical as ever-and ripe for terror.Because a love like Jeff's makes a man crazy, he'll do things he'd never have dreamed possible. Even target, stalk, and possibly destroy everyone Georgianne loves: her faithful husband, her attractive teenage daughter. Until Jeff is all she has left ...This new edition of Thomas Tessier's modern classic of psychological terror Rapture (1987) features a new introduction by Grady Hendrix and a reproduction of the original paperback cover art by Sonja Lamut and Nenad Jakesevic."Nicely wrought psychological suspense ... superb!"-Chicago Sun-Times"Completely frightening!"-Richmond Times Dispatch"Hypnotic ... ingenious ... a nerve-paralyzing story."-Publishers Weekly

One hot summer day Haverstock's Traveling Curiosus and Wonder Show rolls into a small Kansas town, bringing with it both magic and terror.When three teenage girls attend the carnival's first performance, they are awed by the monsters on display - a mermaid, a lusty Minotaur, a real-life Gorgon - and by the show's star attraction, Angel, a beautiful albino boy with wondrous powers. But behind it all is the sinister and enigmatic ringmaster, Haverstock. And soon the girls will find themselves drawn into his deadly world of freakish horror ...Tom Reamy's only novel, published posthumously in 1978, Blind Voices was nominated for the Nebula, Hugo, and BFSA awards and has gone on to become an underground classic of horror and dark fantasy."How good is this book? It is breathtakingly good." - Harlan Ellison"Not since Bradbury has a fantasy author so captured the dark heart of midwestern America." - Gregory Benford"An atmosphere of horror amongst carnival surroundings comparable to that in Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes." - Pittsburgh Press"A marvelous and engrossing story ... a frantically accelerating plot which races inevitably to a ghastly climax." - South Bend Tribune

Bobby Ives doesn't mean to kill. When his first victim ends up beneath the wheels of a London city bus, he almost succeeds in convincing himself it was an accident. Until the day he sees the jogger and a strange and uncontrollable sensation begins to course through his limbs. An animalistic urge to run, to chase, to hunt ... and to kill. Soon the city is gripped by a reign of terror, and night after night the beast will silently stalk the streets, its bloody jaws and tearing claws leaving only death in its wake.Thomas Tessier's novel The Nightwalker (1979) is a contemporary horror classic and is recognized as one of the finest werewolf novels ever published. This new edition includes an afterword by the author. 'The Nightwalker is very likely the most unusual occult novel I have ever read, and not just because of its unusual excellence.... I think it will be read for a long time.'-Peter Straub'I've been telling people for years that the werewolf novel is the toughest of the "classic" monster stories to do, but Tessier pulls it off with considerable panache. The Nightwalker is very good indeed, scary, grim, and fast-paced.'-Stephen King

The Russians want Peter Carlin for his top secret weapons plans. The British want him for the murder of his wife - a crime he didn't commit. Now he must find a way to flee Soviet Russia and return home to find the real killer - without being killed or arrested on the way. But he may not be prepared for the shocking truth he will discover about his wife's tragic demise ...John Blackburn's fourth novel, Dead Man Running (1960), is a gripping Cold War thriller that will have readers on the edge of their seats."Swift, sure, and exciting ... harrowing escapes, devious characters, black villainy and a friend in need make an absorbing book." - Boston Sunday Herald"A neat little package of horror - beautifully sustained ... frighteningly realistic. Don't start reading too late in the evening, especially if you're alone." - San Francisco Examiner"Blackburn's choicest work of contemporary horror ... a frontrunner in the mystery field and well worth the hour or two it takes to read it." - Pensacola News Journal

An eight-year-old boy's strange behavior may have something to do with the ghost of his older brother, whose death was written off as a tragic accident - but was it? A man is lured into the clutches of a centuries-old woman who plans to use him for a terrible purpose. An academic is haunted by the mad theories of a dead colleague. An old woman's conviction that her fur coat is actually a dead dancing bear may be more than just senile delusions. These thirteen stories are about hauntings both literal and figurative: not only ghosts of the deceased, but also of the past, of lost loves and dead relationships, and explore the ways the uncanny can creep into our everyday lives.A. L. Barker (1918-2002) was critically acclaimed in her lifetime, becoming the first writer to win the Somerset Maugham Award as well as being shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In addition to her literary fiction, she wrote a number of fine ghost and horror stories during her long career, the best of which are collected in Element of Doubt (1992), now available at last in a new edition.'There is no better living woman writer in the English language.' - Martin Seymour-Smith, Financial Times'She writes with a precision and economy of words which had me gasping with admiration.' - Auberon Waugh, The Independent'Exquisitely paced . . . superbly crafted . . . inventive and thrilling.' - The Observer

They were caught in the ultimate trap. They faced the ultimate terror.Five men and one beautiful woman. Marooned on a floating island of arctic ice. Together they had the equipment and skills to fight the freezing cold, the violently savage storms.Then suddenly from the angry seas the jaws of horror opened wide as nature's deadliest creature rose from the depths - a huge killer whale of enormous intelligence, incredible power, indestructible endurance, ravenous for human prey....This reissue of Peter Tonkin's bestseller Killer (1979), the first in decades, features a new introduction by Grady Hendrix and the original cover art by Ken Barr."Relentless, terrifying, chilling ... as good as Jaws!" - Lewiston Journal"Vivid, exciting ... a thriller not for the squeamish!" - Macon Telegraph News"A whale of a story!" - Arizona Republic

Young Errol Winston arrives in London in search of a job and a better life, but he finds himself homeless when the city's racist landlords refuse to rent to him. At last he seems to have a stroke of good luck when he accidentally winds up at the front door of Mr and Mrs Didcot, who offer to let him stay. The elderly couple seem kindly and harmless enough, but Errol will soon discover that behind the veneer of apparent respectability a dreadful truth lies hidden, a terrible secret that will be revealed in a horrifying climax.First published in 1971, Celia Dale's A Dark Corner is a chilling work of domestic horror that shows how true evil often lurks closer than we think, perhaps even just behind our neighbor's lace curtains ...'A macabre tale of quiet horror.' - Buffalo News'Celia Dale builds a snug picture and destroys it, chillingly. She is very good at delayed terror.' - Evening Standard'The queen of suburban terror.' - The Times (London)'Celia Dale has created an established corner in tales of domestic terror.' - Daily Telegraph

Josh and Maisie Evans are a seemingly ordinary middle-aged couple on holiday in Italy, where they meet Mrs. Fingal, an elderly woman living unhappily with her niece. Josh and Maisie have a spare room, and everyone might be better off if Mrs. Fingal moved in with them instead. After all, they're always glad to lend a helping hand. Especially to a lonely and wealthy old lady . . .First published in 1966, Celia Dale's A Helping Hand is a chilling work of psychological terror that explores the true evil that often lurks just behind a respectable façade.'The accuracy, understanding and quiet wit of Jane Austen - plus murder.' - H. R. F. Keating'Quiet, clever, subtle - and terrifying.' - Ruth Rendell'Celia Dale has created an established corner in tales of domestic terror.' - Daily Telegraph

'What are the possibilities of my strength? That is a thought I have never had before. What if some morning as the old woman stood at the head of the staircase she were suddenly to feel a weight thrusting against the back of her legs? What if she were to lunge forward, grasping at the air, striking her thin skull against the edge of a stair? What would become of me if she were found unmoving at the bottom of the stairway?'Such are the thoughts of Baxter, a sociopathic bull terrier on the hunt for the perfect master, as he contemplates the demise of his first victim. The basis for the acclaimed 1989 film Baxter, Ken Greenhall's utterly chilling and long-unobtainable Hell Hound (1977) has earned a reputation as a lost classic of horror fiction. This reissue includes a new introduction by Grady Hendrix.'An unsung classic of the bizarre that ranks with Crash and The Wasp Factory.' - Fright.com¿'Deserves to be much more well-known and not simply as a "cult classic" . . . I cannot recommend it highly enough!' - Too Much Horror Fiction'An author who has been criminally neglected by modern readers . . . It's time to start celebrating Ken Greenhall.' - Jonathan Janz

Additional edition statement from cover.