COMING SOON FROM WEIRD HOUSE PRESS

This two-volume deluxe hardcover set contains all of William Meikle's Carnacki stories, collecting together all 4 collections, the two CARNACKI / CHALLENGER crossover stories, stories that originally appeared only in Dark Regions Press deluxe editions, and six new stories written for this edition.

Carnacki resonated with me immediately on my first reading many years ago. Several of the stories have a Lovecraftian viewpoint, with cosmic entities that have no regard for the doings of mankind. The background Hodgson proposes fits with some of my own viewpoint on the ways the Universe might function, and the slightly formal Edwardian language seems to be a "voice" I fall into naturally. I write them because of love, pure and simple.

You may notice while reading that Carnacki likes a drink and a smoke, and a hearty meal with his friends gathered round. This dovetails perfectly with my own idea of a good time. And although I no longer smoke, writing about characters who do allows me a small vicarious reminder of my own younger days. I wish I had Carnacki's library, his toys, but most of all, I envy him his regular visits from his tight group of friends, all more than willing to listen to his tales of adventure into the weird places of the world while drinking his Scotch and smoking his cigarettes.

VOLUME 1 HEAVEN AND HELL The Blooded Iklwa The Larkhill Barrow The Sisters of Mercy The Hellfire Mirror The Tomb of Pygea The Beast of Glamis The Lusitania The Haunted Oak The Shoreditch Worm The Dark Island The Kew Growths The Cornish Owlman The Carriage Clock The Banshee Treason and Plot Captain Gault's Nemesis The China Dolls A Cold Christmas in Chelsea The Black Swan The Blue Egg Mr. Churchill's Dilemma Bedlam in Yellow The Watcher at the Gate The Gray Boats The Chislehurst Conundrum The Island of Doctor Monroe The Parliament of Owls Hogs Automated History

VOLUME 2 THE EDINBURGH TOWNHOUSE The Photographer's Friend Fins in the Fog The Cheyne Walk Infestation An Unexpected Delivery A Sticky Wicket The King's Treasure Mr. Churchill's Surprise The Edinburgh Townhouse A Night in the Storeroom Into the Light Funeral For a Friend The Hobbled Man The Lakeside Cottages The Hound The West Bow Townhouse Beneath the Greenwood Tree A Body in the Library The Lute in the Manor House Bats in the Belfry Strangers on the Shore The Grunting Man The Lock Keeper's Cottage The Keys to the Door The Glasgow House Starry Wisdom Requiem

Carnacki: Heaven and Hell takes the original Hodgson canon and deftly and confidently builds on it in order to make it Mr Meikle’s own original (and, dare I say it, superior) creation. - THE SCI-FI AND FANTASY REVIEWER

This is an excellent collection, worthy of the attention of any reader with a fondness for ghost stories. Meikle does a fine job, both in creating fresh material for the supernatural sleuth, and also for delivering the voice and feel of the classic Carnacki tales ... I urge you to seek out this book with all possible speed; I’m confident you won’t be disappointed. - Flames Rising

William Meikle does a stand up job here of capturing the tone of the original stories. He falls naturally into the more formal language of the period, without making it any less easy to read. - David Brzeski, British Fantasy Society

William Meikle has become one of my favorite storytellers--here with a trademark mingling of intrigue, suspense and fantasy in these linked tales. Part Sherlock Holmes, part Lovecraft, and all Meikle, these tales are perfect for curling up on a foggy night with a bottle and a fire." - Scott Nicholson

Meikle gets the style of the original stories so well that it is virtually impossible to distinguish his tales from the ones Hodgson wrote a century ago. In a couple of stories he brings in real world elements that Hodgson probably wouldn't have included; it doesn't distract at all. And Carnacki's four friends - who were VERY anonymous in the original stories - get rudimentary personalities (Arkwright is a bit of a twit). I am generally fond of pastiches - Sherlock Holmes, Lovecraftian tales etc. - and this is one of the best I've read for quite some time. - Stig Olsen

This version of Carnacki seems a bit more voluble than the one I remember, but horror stories of this type generally assume a more relaxed and intellectual air than most modern ones. It's a style of writing that I appreciate, and miss. - Don D'Ammassa

...worthy of sharing a bookshelf with its source material. - Pete Tennant, Black Static #30