Spirits of the Dead - Ron Weighell

Sarob Press have just announced pre-orders for Spirits of the Dead, a new collection of stories by Ron Weighell.  This brings together eleven excellent stories, including three that are previously unpublished, and several others that are hard to find elsewhere.

Some are overtly in the style of M R James and Arthur Machen, authors whose work Ron greatly admired and understood well, others allude to Poe, De Quincey or Yeats, and all are informed by his deep interest in the esoteric and arcane.

In my introduction I discuss Ron’s beginnings in writing supernatural fiction and the particular background to the stories here. I conclude:

‘Ron Weighell’s stories deploy a library of arcane learning in a lucid and thoughtful way, they evoke a real sense of place and have plausible, unusual characters, they are salted with oblique wit and satire, and they convincingly conjure up barbaric and infernal forces. Above all, we always know we are in the company of a writer with a real relish and respect for his art, who is not only a keen scholar but a storyteller of magnificent zest.’

Spirits of the Dead will be published as a limited edition jacketed hardcover with artwork by Nick Maloret, and publication is currently scheduled for April 2024.

(Mark Valentine)

Child of the Dawn - Ron Weighell

Zagava have announced advance orders for Child of the Dawn, a previously unpublished novel by Ron Weighell, with an introduction by Damian Murphy and an afterword by Fran Weighell. It is due to be published in the Autumn.

The new book is a fast-paced occult thriller revolving around Aleister Crowley's time in Egypt, drawing on Ron’s rich esoteric knowledge. I have had the privilege of reading this beforehand and it is certainly hallmarked by Ron’s vivid prose and enthralling plotting. Rosemary Pardoe, the founder of Ghosts & Scholars and first publisher of Ron’s Jamesian stories, describes it as ‘Indiana Jones meets H.P. Lovecraft’.

The 199-copy numbered edition will be ‘bound in black fabric which is embossed in gold and comes with head- and tailbands and a silk ribbon marker.’

There will be a highly limited lettered edition signed by Damian Murphy and Fran Weighell and described as ‘bound in thin real copper (which will acquire a fine patina over the years) and . . . blind-embossed with a graphic of The Stelé of Revealing. It comes in a black clamshell with a large perspex window. The frontispiece drawing is by Ron’s great friend Nick Maloret.’

King Satyr - Ron Weighell

Sarob Press have just announced King Satyr, a full-length novel by Ron Weighell, inspired by the art of Austin Osman Spare and the occult scene of the late Sixties and the Nineteen Seventies.

This was left in an advanced draft form by Ron and has been edited by his wife Fran, who also provides an introduction about Ron’s life and work and an important bibliography of his writings.

As I noted in an earlier post, Ron drew inspiration from the work of Arthur Machen, M R James and Arthur Conan Doyle, but also had a strong personal vision informed by his deep knowledge of the esoteric. The novel richly reflects these influences and his profound scholarship.

All Ron’s previous books have soon become highly collectible and understandably so, and this edition is sure to attract strong interest. 

(Mark Valentine)