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British Weird is a new anthology of classic Weird short fiction by British writers, first published between the 1890s and the 1930s.
About the author
James Machin teaches at the Royal College of Art, London. He is the author of Weird Fiction in Britain 1880–1939 (Palgrave 2018), and he co-edits Faunus, the Journal of the Friends of Arthur Machen. He has had short fiction published in various places including The Shadow Booth, Supernatural Tales and Weirdbook.
Summary
British Weird is a new anthology of classic Weird short fiction by British writers, first published between the 1890s and the 1930s.
Additional text
Review quotes for Women's Weird:
"Handheld Books…publish[es] tempting, macabre treats.” -The Washington Post
"The collection is a deliberate effort to attenuate, in the horror tradition, the dominance of men like M R James, Arthur Machen, H P Lovecraft and Ambrose Bierce, and restore to prominence innovative writers such as May Sinclair, Mary Butts and Margery Lawrence. They show the continuing influence of Gothic and supernatural tropes and the effect of their collision with a modernizing world and women’s changing roles within it." -Times Literary Supplement
"The range of authors and stories suggests that the Weird is perhaps more an approach than a genre, demonstrating the Weird’s ability to discomfort and disturb … Women’s Weird is an essential read for any fan or scholar of Weird fiction, and we are indebted to both Handheld Press and Melissa Edmundson for performing this service." -The Fantasy Hive
"This book is the perfect companion to an evening of weird … The stories explore a vast array of ideas and occurrences that feed into our human psyche, the scares and the fear that we hear about in folklore and legend come to the surface in these stories. In some cases, these tales go beyond our primal fears and go into the world of the surreal, opening up new ideas and new fears for us to process.’" -Black Sunday
"There are so many stories I loved in this collection, but the ones that stood out to me as unlike any of the weird fiction I’ve read before were those that located their horror within the mundane … “Couching at the Door” was perhaps my favorite story in the collection, and its exploration of the relationship between art and morality as well as the story of a hedonistic older man leading a beautiful young protege into depravity" -The Gothic Library
"A landmark anthology … Edmundson has curated a solid journey through weird landscapes … The notes/annotations at the back of the book by publisher Kate Macdonald should become an industry standard … This is an unmissable, urgent and era-defining work." -Gingernuts of Horror
