'B-Movie: Serial of Seven Stars' by Andrew Duncan

B-Movie: Serial of Seven Stars by Andrew Duncan, published recently, is a booklet text sequence inspired by Bram Stoker’s novel of Egyptian magic, The Jewel of Seven Stars (1903), or more exactly by a B-movie version of it. The poet explains: 'B- Movie: Serial of Seven Stars is an attempt to recapture the feverish and irrational mythology of the B-movie, initially based on the classic Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb . . .’

In the narrative, he goes on, ‘a cast of methodologically suspect occult scholars pursue seven figurines, the polychrome minstrels, said to contain matter which had leaked through from another universe, detected by subtle and eerie distortions of geology and building fabrics. This quest re-enacts the Storage Wars series, in which junk dealers bid on sealed, abandoned storage lockers.’

Some section titles of the sequence will give a flavour of its themes: ‘Lud’s Gateway’; ‘Pharaoh, Your kindgom will be shook down’; ‘Demon Beast Invasion’; ‘Shape Memory Terror’; ‘Act for the Dissolution of Monsters’.

I greatly enjoyed this rich, allusive and strange text, which has affinities to the literary form and style of T.S. Eliot, David Jones and Iain Sinclair, uniting high modernism with demotic and pulp elements, as well as to the occult thrillers of Charles Williams, Mary Butts and others. It is the sort of work where the cavalcade of images offers new resonances on each reading, and the approach is both stimulating and adventurous. 

When I last looked, I couldn’t see the title listed at the website of the publisher, Equipage, but orders for similar booklets are typically £4.50 post free in the UK, and are to be sent to menghamr (at) gmail.com or c/o Rod Mengham, Jesus College, Cambridge, CB5 8BL, U.K. Payment is by cheque made payable to Rod Mengham. It would probably be best to ask about any overseas orders.

(Mark Valentine)

Lost Tales by Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker: New Chapbooks

  

Withnail Books of Penrith, Cumbria, have just announced pre-orders for the latest in their series of limited edition chapbooks of rare literary works. This offers two lost tales: one, 'The Ghost of the Private Theatricals', is attributed to Mary Shelley and has been published before by the press in an edition of only 100 copies; the other, newly issued, is 'Gibbet Hill', a scarce story by Bram Stoker. 

'The Ghost of the Private Theatricals' is described as "a chilling short story, originally printed in the literary annual The Keepsake, credited simply to 'M.S.' ", and is accompanied by an afterword by Adam Newell presenting the case that this may be Mary Shelley.

 'Gibbet Hill' is 'an eerie short story by Bram Stoker, which was originally published in an Irish newspaper in 1890, but then forgotten until its recent rediscovery' by amateur researcher Brian Cleary in the National Library of Ireland.

Both chapbooks are in a limited edition of 250 copies on high quality stock and are accompanied by prints of scenes by J.M.W. Turner of the places that may have inspired the stories.

Publication is scheduled for week commencing 28 April, but orders are accepted now. Withnail's issues are not usually around for very long. 

 

Dracula's Forgotten Brides

Withnail Books of Penrith have just announced the latest in their series of well-designed chapbooks devoted to literary rarities and other arcana. This time the booklet is devoted to a film theme. 

Dracula’s Forgotten Brides: Dorothy Tree, Geraldine Dvorak, CorneliaThaw is a celebration of three elusive characters in Tod Browning’s celebrated 1931 Universal Pictures film starring Bela Lugosi.

Adam Newell, the author of this original study, notes: ‘Their combined time on screen is barely more than a minute. They remain entirely silent. Their names do not appear in the credits. And yet, for any viewer of Tod Browning’s classic 1931 film it is impossible to deny the impact of Dorothy Tree, Geraldine Dvorak and Cornelia Thaw as the brides of Dracula.’

The study includes ‘rediscovered interview quotes, more than 60 rare photos and illustrations, and new research’ and reveals surprising aspects of the actresses’ lives and careers. 

The 40pp chapbook is in a limited edition of 250 copies, with a specially commissioned frontispiece by World Fantasy Award-winning artist Les Edwards. Each copy also comes with a signed and numbered print by Sharon Gosling.