Doors to Elsewhere

Cover artwork by Bob Covington

Doors to Elsewhere collects Mike Barrett’s essays on late 19th / early 20th century horror and fantasy writers, including an overview of Arkham House:

• Arkham House – Sundry Observations
• Weaver of Weird Tales – Greye La Spina
• Narratives Out of Nightmare – Edward Lucas White
• From Simorgya to Stardock – Fritz Leiber
• Otherworldly Presences – Mary E Wilkins Freeman
• Screaming Skulls and Dead Smiles – F Marion Crawford
• Dark and Sinister Shades – Marjorie Bowen
• Mostly in Shadow – Mary Elizabeth Counselman
• Opportune Recitals at Convenient Intervals – Ernest Bramah
• West Indian Frights – Henry S Whitehead
• The Passion, the Magic, and the Outrageous – Theodore Sturgeon
• A Forgotten Disciple – C Hall Thompson
• Another Forgotten Disciple – Clifford Ball
• Tales in a Major Key – CL Moore
• Shapes and Sounds – MP Shiel
• Things of Darkness – GG Pendarves
• The Final Resting Place – Lord Dunsany

Arkham House! Weird Tales! Leiber! Sturgeon! Moore! Dunsany! Names that conjure much of the history of modern fantasy and horror fiction. Those who haven’t encountered them yet have a feast of treats ahead. Mike Barrett has written celebrations of these together with essays on other important writers. This collection is a fine guide for folk who are eager to broaden their reading, and a useful reappraisal for those who think they know the fields.

Only £10.99, Available from Amazon UK / Amazon USA plus Barnes & Noble, Book Depository and so on.

“The world of horror fiction review is full of writers who are far better qualified to review this rather than little old me. Doors to Elsewhere by Mike Barrett collects his essays on late 19th/early 20th century horror and fantasy writers such as Fritz Leiber, Clifford Ball, Theodore Sturgeon, and MP Shiel. It also includes a comprehensive overview of Arkham House.

Like the other books featured here [in McLeod’s roundup of 2013],Doors to Elsewhere has one very important factor that is common to all. And that is readability; this collection of essays could very easily have been a dry read. However Mike Barrett is a very gifted reviewer, and each and every one of these essays gives an engrossing look into the work of some of the genre’s founding fathers. This is an indispensable reference work that all fans of the genre, and in particular all of us who review horror fiction, should read. Intelligent, compelling and above all enlightening, Doors To Elsewhere is a must read.” — Jim McLeod / Ginger Nuts of Horror

“… terrific essays…” — Stephen Jones, Best New Horror 25