2014 marks the 75th anniversary of Arkham House's founding, and while the company is still largely unrecognized, it is still offering an outlet for the publication of "weird fiction." JOSHI", "Locus Online News April R. Derleth (1954-2011)", "SF Site News Obituary: April R. Derleth", "Longtime operator of publishing firm dies", Inventory of the Arkham House Collection at University of Texas Libraries, Picture of "Arkham House: A Retrospective" panel at the 2005 World Fantasy Convention, Madison Wisconsin (picture includes Walden Derleth), Picture of April and Walden Derleth representing Arkham House at the 2005 World Fantasy Convention, Madison, Wisconsin, Arkham House Still Publishing in Its 65th Year, "The Black Seas of Copyright: Arkham House and the H. P. Lovecraft Copyrights" by Chris J. Karr, "The Origins of Arkham House" by D.J. Other important Arkham House publications during this period were DARK MIND, DARK HEART, OVER THE EDGE, TRAVELLERS BY NIGHT and DARK THINGS, the four anthologies of original tales edited by Derleth and published between 1962 and 1971; the ten issues of THE ARKHAM COLLECTOR published from the Summer of 1967 through the Summer of 1971; and the debut books by Ramsey Campbell and Brian Lumley, two writers whose work was nurtured by Derleth and featured in his anthologies and various issues of THE ARKHAM COLLECTOR. The Arkham House Archive contains over 4000 letters and documents related to publications issued by Arkham House, Mycroft & Moran and Stanton & Lee between 1939 and 1971, as well as correspondence and business papers related to Derleth's activities as writer and editor for other publishers, including his editorial work as an anthologist in . In 1944 Arkham House published four books: THE EYE AND THE FINGER by Donald Wandrei, JUMBEE AND OTHER UNCANNY TALES by Henry S. Whitehead, LOST WORLDS by Clark Ashton Smith, and MARGINALIA by H. P. Lovecraft. Eyes on Milwaukee: Evers Proposes $9.3 Million For Iron District Stadium, MKE County: Family of Woman Who Died in Jail Speaks Out. To his surprise and delight, Lovecraft not only wrote back, but gave a detailed listing of his magazine stories and offered to send him some tearsheets to borrow and read. From 1950 through 1959 Arkham House published fourteen books, of which three were subsidized by their authors and a literary executor and two were co-published with Pellegrini & Cudahy. Much of Lovecrafts work was dubbed by Derleth as the Cthluhu Mythos, a series of connected storylines where curious minded explorers uncover godlike beings known as the Ancient Ones, like the squid-faced, bat-winged Cthulhu, or the space entity Yog-Sothoth, depicted as a mass of tentacles and glowing spheres. Arkham House editions are noted for the quality of their printing and binding. In 1945 Arkham House published five books: SOMETHING NEAR by August Derleth, THE OPENER OF THE WAY by Robert Bloch, WITCH HOUSE by Evangeline Walton (the first novel published by Arkham House), GREEN TEA AND OTHER GHOST STORIES by J. Sheridan Le Fanu, and THE LURKER AT THE THRESHOLD by H. P. Lovecraft and August Derleth. His own output was small as he focused a lot of his time on letter writing, ghostwriting and revision work. Highlights from this productive period include five books by Clark Ashton, beginning with THE ABOMINATIONS OF YANDO (1960) and ending with SELECTED POEMS (1971), "a landmark volume whose importance to weird literature -- and perhaps to American literature in general -- cannot be overstated" (Joshi); twelve books by H. P. Lovecraft, including the first three volumes of SELECTED LETTERS (1965; 1968; 1971), a long-awaited, important work and one of Arkham House's major publishing achievements; PLEASANT DREAMS -- NIGHTMARES (1960), the second Arkham House collection of Robert Bloch's short fiction; FIRE AND SLEET AND CANDLELIGHT (1961), a major anthology of weird verse from the 1930s to the 1960s edited by Derleth; THE DARK MAN AND OTHERS (1963), the second Arkham House collection of Robert E. Howard's tales; NIGHTMARE NEED (1964), the "first major volume" of Joseph Payne Brennan's "quietly understated but powerful weird verse" (Joshi); DEEP WATERS (1967), a selection of William Hope Hodgson's best weird tales, THE MIND PARASITES (1967) by Colin Wilson, "perhaps the most philosophically challenging Lovecraft pastiche ever written" (Joshi); 3 TALES OF HORROR (1967), three weird tales by Lovecraft richly illustrated by Lee Brown Coye; STRANGE GATEWAYS (1967), a long overdue collection of the best weird fiction of E. Hoffmann Price; and TALES OF THE CTHULHU MYTHOS (1969), an anthology compiled by August Derleth "that has come to be regarded as a definitive anthology of tales utilizing the framework of the "Cthulhu Mythos" (Joshi). [2] Arkham Asylum, a fictional mental hospital in DC Comics' Batman mythos, is also named after Lovecraft's Arkham.[3]. Many of Arkham Houses early books were collections of stories that had first appeared in the pages of the magazine and similar pulps inexpensive magazines published up until the 50s that commonly were themed to focus on the maxi-genre of weird fiction.. Publisher: Arkham House. Derleth would go on to publish Blochs first book, The Opener of the Way, in 1945. Rumors of his ill-health circulated for some time; he eventually suffered a stroke and his editorial duties at Arkham House lapsed due to this. Coppard, H. Russell Wakefield, William Hope Hodgson and Algernon Blackwood followed in 1947. Although THE OUTSIDER AND OTHERS took four years to sell out its only printing and the other three titles sold slowly as well, Derleth was convinced "that there was a distinct -- if relatively small -- market for collections of weird, fantastic, science-fiction short stories, and I determined to publish as many such collections as possible, with emphasis on the hitherto unpublished, but not scorning works long out of print" (Derleth). The company's name is derived from Lovecraft's fictional New England city, Arkham. Lovecrafts sudden death came as a shock and loss for his entire circle. A couple of days ago I had tried to visit their website and it said "This website is unavailable." Derleth and his business partner, Donald Wandrei, established Arkham House to preserve the legacy of H. P. Lovecraft with the publication of The Outsider and Others in 1939. Other modern. April earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1977. "Arkham House: Sundry Observations". The David Rajchel Arkham House Arkham House Archive documents extensively Derleth's work as a writer, editor, and publisher. Your uncles, your aunties, your cousins will all start to use crypto," he said. I stared at them, fascinated by the abundance of riches.. There were even pulps devoted exclusively to railroad yarns, pirates, WWI air combat. Derleth must have felt he was in the wrong field as Slan, with a print run of over 4,000 copies proved to be the fastest and best selling Arkham House of the 1940s. All rights reserved. Most of Lovecrafts life was spent in Providence, Rhode Island, where he boarded with his elderly aunts, living off a meager inheritance and occasionally selling his writing. www.princesshouse.com In 1945, Arkham House widened its range by publishing two novels, neither of which had seen print in any form before. The title of the imprint was inspired by characters from the Sherlock Holmes stories: Sherlock's brother Mycroft Holmes, and the villain Colonel Sebastian Moran. Answer: Head to the base of the lighthouse . Anyone able to shed any light on the matter? If I hadn't they would have been lost. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, and many others, is still going strong today and introducing new writers of weird horror and fantasy fiction. Writer and editor August Derleth, seen here at his desk in the Place of Hawks. Description and Calendar of the David Rajchel Arkham House Archive. Blochs favorite Weird Tales writer was a man relatively unknown outside of the magazines readership: Howard Phillips Lovecraft. Derleth was a fan and promoter of Lovecrafts work and Lovecraft, likewise, was a fan of some of Derleths work. House Clearance Music, Films, Books & Games Musical Instruments & DJ Equipment . Arkham House editions are noted for the quality of their . Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. The Outsider and Others was slow to sell, but the taste of publishing encouraged Derleth and Wandrei to encourage them to keep trying. American publishing house specializing in weird fiction. He began putting projects into production that had been laying dormant since Derleths death as well as acquiring new material, including a foray into projects more akin to traditional sci-fi. The Importance of August Derleth as Editor and Publisher, IV. UPDATED: As of three weeks ago, Danielle Hackett (co-owner/publisher) was notified about the website being down and let folks know that they're looking into the matter. Very rare Set, not available in stores anymore. "Derleth edited several horror anthologies for mainstream publishers in the 1940s that not only helped consolidate the contemporary market for such fare but also defined a state-of-the-art position for the genre in terms of literary quality Derleth's anthologies for Arkham House in the 1960s, beginning with DARK MIND, DARK HEART (1962) included stories by established authors such as Bloch, Brennan, John Metcalfe and Robert Aickman, as well as works by talented newcomers such as Ramsey Campbell and David Drake. Arkham House books have been some of the most highly sought after books by collectors for decades. Will Murray places Arkham in central Massachusetts and suggests it is based on the village of Oakham. He stored books all over the house, but mainly the basement and upstairs in a spare room where he packed the books and got them ready to ship, Walden said. Arkham (/rkm/) is a fictional city situated in Massachusetts. It was founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin, in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to publish hardcover collections of H. P. Lovecraft's best works, which had previously been published only in pulp magazines. Weird Tales was founded in 1923 and ran for 279 horror-filled issues before folding in 1954. Arkham House is a publishing house specializing in weird fiction founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to preserve in hardcover the best fiction of H. P. Lovecraft. By 1944, Arkham House was established as a successful small press, with four titles appearing (collections of works by Donald Wandrei, Henry S. Whitehead, Clark Ashton Smith, and a final Lovecraft omnibus). Over the years, they also published many of Lovecrafts abridged correspondence to friends and family. The house's publishing schedule slowed considerably between 2000-2006, with only nine books issuedIn the Stone House by Barry N. Malzberg (2000); Book of the Dead by E. Hoffmann Price (a collection of memoirs of writers known by Price, 2001); Arkham House's Masters of Horror (ed. Wisconsin. Arkham City followed and arguably perfected Asylum in every way, Origins faltered by comparison but proved solid still, and Knight capped off this legend of the Dark Knight in satisfying fashion. Non-Payment - If we do not receive payment in full, in good cleared funds, within seven (7) business days following the sale, we are entitled in our absolute discretion to exercise one or more of the following measures, in addition to any . Wandrei was succeeded as editorial director by James Turner. Derleth wrote in 1970, "[T]he fact is that in no single year since its founding have the earnings of Arkham House met the expenses, so that it has been necessary for my personal earnings to shore up Arkham House finances." That year Battered Silicon Dispatch Box issued four new volumes of stories by August Derleth under the umbrella title "The Macabre Quarto" under a joint imprint with Arkham House, which constituted the latter's only output since 2006. It is well known that much of the fiction Derleth churned out after 1939 was designed to raise money for his publishing program. Sign up for our free newsletter to get bookish news and coupons on books! #8 That same week, Trump trashed the Supreme Court Justices he and the Senate appointed. Most of these mentioned titles fall under the Arkham Horror brand, which is managed by the Fantasy Flight Games studio, and within it you will also find the popular board game of the same name. THE OUTSIDER AND OTHERS was the first of three projected volumes of Lovecraft's works Arkham House planned to publish. Kwing talks all things BATMAN while taking your questions about WBM upcoming Batman Reboot. Since Derleth frequently revised the texts of stories previously published as magazine fiction, with the permission and often the collaboration of the author, the versions published in his anthologies are in many cases the definitive texts. Derleth showed that a small specialty publishing house could make a place for itself along side the publishing giants" (Roald D. Tweet). Yet this bulls biggest contribution to American literature came not from his own writings, but from the writings of others, carefully curated and edited. Most of what is known about Lovecraft, everything from his writing habits to his great love of cats, is from examining the thousands of letters he wrote in his lifetime. Joseph Morales notes in his "A Short Tour of Lovecraftian New England" (web site) that Danvers "is mentioned in passing in some of Lovecraft's stories, and may also be the inspiration for HPL's fictional Arkham Sanitarium". This is a place to discuss horror literature. 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