Valancourt Books discussion

In this thread I'll post announcements for books we're working on for release in 2022. As more contracts are signed, I'll edit this post and leave a comment below.

Thus far 2022 will bring us:

World Horror Stories spinoffs:

Swedish Cults by Anders Fager, translated by Henning Koch and Ian Lemke: This collection of five novellas and four 'fragments', most of them with a Lovecraftian bent, has become an underground sensation in Sweden, Italy, and France (where its publisher described it as 'Swedish Lovecraft on acid') and now makes its first complete English appearance.

A Different Darkness and Other Abominations (title subject to change) by Luigi Musolino: We introduced the English-speaking world to this master of Italian folk horror in World Horror 1, and now he's back with an entire volume of short stories and novellas that confirm his place as one of the world's most exciting young horror writers.

Untitled collection by Attila Veres, translated by Luca Karafiáth: This Hungarian author's tale 'The Time Remaining' was cited by many World Horror readers as their favorite in the book, so we are very pleased to offer this first-ever English collection of the author's best stories, featuring tales that range from psychological horror to cosmic horror to weird fiction and everything in between.

Untitled volume of horror stories from endangered languages: This spinoff from World Horror Stories will feature horror tales originally written in languages considered endangered by UNESCO, including Friulian, Frisian, Occitan, Basque, Romansh, and others. The stories will be presented bilingually, with the endangered language text facing the English translation. This will be a gift-quality hardcover limited edition.

Other titles:

Bezill (1962) by John Symonds, introduction by Phil Baker: An unusual Gothic fantasy by the friend and biographer of the infamous Aleister Crowley. A young man accepts a post as tutor to a strange young boy in an even stranger household, where the lady of the house has a passion for blood sports and her male companion, the tellingly-named Gayfere, is a connoisseur of flagellation.

The Second Window (1953) by Roy Fuller: An unusual hybrid, a crime novel written by an acclaimed poet, in which a middle-aged writer gets in over his head when he sets out to investigate the disappearance of an old school chum whom he hasn't seen in decades. There's an unexpected (and unexpectedly frank for the time) gay subplot, some vivid and thrilling pursuit scenes, and a memorably bleak and violent finale.

Facial Justice (1960) by L. P. Hartley: Though available in the UK as a Penguin Modern Classic, Hartley's dystopian novel has been unavailable in America for over fifty years. Better known for his delicate portrait of Edwardian boyhood, The Go-Between, in Facial Justice Hartley imagines English society in the days after the Third World War. The land is ruled by an unseen dictator, and the societal structure is based on a principle of total equality. Women who are deemed too attractive are expected to submit to surgery that replaces their face with a bland, expressionless mask, but one young woman rebels against the system.

The Harness Room (1971) by L. P. Hartley: Extremely discreet about his private life, Hartley published only this one gay-themed novel, which appeared when he was 76 years old, a year before his death, and is now exceedingly scarce. It's the story of teenager Fergus, whose father, a macho colonel, believes the boy is too soft and hires the chauffeur to 'make a man out of him' through physical training and boxing bouts. But the relationship between the two doesn't go quite as father planned....

The Glamour (1984) by Christopher Priest: Nobody writes mind-bending literary fiction like Christopher Priest, author of The Affirmation and The Prestige, and The Glamour, long unavailable in the U.S., is one of his best.

The House on the Brink (1970) by John Gordon: A novel often likened to M.R. James's work. Like Robert Westall's books, this was originally published as YA, but we think it'll appeal to all ages.

Carnosaur (1984) by Harry Adam Knight: Before Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park, there was Harry Adam Knight (aka John Brosnan)'s Carnosaur, which was also the basis for a cult B-movie by Roger Corman. Long out of print and very expensive on the secondhand market, this is a title we've had many requests for.

Progency of the Adder (1965) by Leslie H. Whitten Jr.

In a Lonely Place (1984) by Karl Edward Wagner

Mother's Boys (1988) by Bernard Taylor

The Luigi Musolino info sounds interesting. Any chance the World Horror Book 1 gets a audio version so I can check em out???

The anthologies won't have audiobooks because the audio rights aren't available to every story, unfortunately.

Man, all of these sound great!

I updated the original post to include two by L. P. Hartley: Facial Justice (1960) and The Harness Room (1971).

I updated the original post to include The Glamour (1984) by Christopher Priest.

Valancourt Books wrote: "The anthologies won't have audiobooks because the audio rights aren't available to every story, unfortunately."

Out of curiosity, are braille rights also a separate matter?

Most of the agreements allow for us to license the Braille editions to another publisher if one were interested.

Updated to add The House on the Brink (1970) by John Gordon.

Updated to add Carnosaur (1984) by Harry Adam Knight.

Valancourt Books wrote: "Updated to add Carnosaur (1984) by Harry Adam Knight."

Super stoked about all the new releases! Thanks Valancourt....you guys are the best!

Thanks, man!

Updated to add Progency of the Adder (1965) by Leslie H. Whitten Jr. This will be a Paperbacks from Hell release.

Updated to add In a Lonely Place (1984) by Karl Edward Wagner.

Ooooh!

Valancourt Books wrote: "Updated to add In a Lonely Place (1984) by Karl Edward Wagner."

Hi, Will there be a audio edition to the Karl Edward Wagner Collection?
.

There will be an audio for this one.

Valancourt Books wrote: "There will be an audio for this one."

Hooray!!!

Valancourt Books wrote: "Updated to add In a Lonely Place (1984) by Karl Edward Wagner."

Fantastic. I’ve been looking for a reasonably-priced copy of this for years!

Updated to add Mother's Boys (1988) by Bernard Taylor.