“The Islington Mystery” is a classic horror mystery story by one of the modern masters of supernatural and horror fiction, Arthur Machan. Arthur Machen (1863 – 1947) was a Welsh author and renowned mystic during the 1890s and early 20th century who garnered literary acclaim for his contributions to the supernatural, horror, and fantasy fiction genres. His seminal novella “The Great God Pan” (1890) has become a classic of horror fiction, with Stephen King describing it as one of the best horror stories ever written in the English language. Other notable fans of his gruesome tales include William Butler Yeats and Arthur Conan Doyle; and his work has been compared to that of Robert Louis Stevenson, Bram Stoker, and Oscar Wilde. This chilling tale of inexplicable circumstances in London's borough of Islington is highly recommended for fans of the macabre and is not to be missed by collectors of vintage supernatural fiction. Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially-commissioned new biography of the author.
When an army officer's wife is found dead in the front hall of her home in Islington during the evening of Tuesday 23 March 1915, the police initially believe it to be a tragic accident. Then a bullet is discovered lodged in Annie Wootten's spine and the authorities belatedly realise they have a murder on their hands. The story becomes a national sensation when detectives dramatically arrest their prime suspect in a Central London bar. The case has all the ingredients of a classic murder mystery: a strange voice at the scene of the crime, a smouldering blouse, an anonymous telegram, a veiled lady, a missing revolver and even a dog which fails to bark in the night. Somewhat overshadowed in its day by reports of the trial of the 'Brides in the Bath' serial killer, George Joseph Smith, which took place in the Old Bailey at the same time as the trial of the accused murderer, it is surprisingly little known today but David Barrat uses unpublished documents held in the National Archives to bring the story back to life as he attempts to solve the riddle of who did it and how.
The journey that began with The Shadow of What Was Lostreaches its spectacular conclusion in The Light of All That Falls, the final chapter of the Licanius Trilogy by acclaimed epic fantasy author James Islington. After a savage battle, the Boundary is whole again -- but it may be too late. Banes now stalk the lands of Andarra, and the Venerate have gathered their armies for a final, crushing blow. In Ilin Illan, Wirr fights to maintain a precarious alliance between Andarra's factions of power. With dark forces closing in on the capital, if he cannot succeed, the war is lost. Imprisoned and alone in a strange land, Davian is pitted against the remaining Venerate. As he desperately tries to keep them from undoing Asha's sacrifice, he struggles to come to terms with his own path and all he has learned about Caeden, the friend he chose to set free. Finally, Caeden is confronted with the reality of a plan laid centuries ago -- heartbroken at how it started and devastated by how it must end. The Licanius TrilogyThe Shadow of What Was LostAn Echo of Things to ComeThe Light of All That Falls "Love The Wheel of Time? This is about to become your new favorite series." - B&N SciFi & Fantasy Blog
A Fragment of Life is a fantasy novella by Arthur Machen. Machen was an author and mystic known for his prominent paranormal, fantasy, and horror fiction. Excerpt: "So, day after day, he lived in the grey phantasmal world, akin to death, that has, somehow, with most of us, made good its claim to be called life. To Darnell the true life would have seemed madness, and when, now and again, the shadows and vague images reflected from its splendour fell across his path, he was afraid, and took refuge in what he would have called the sane 'reality' of common and usual incidents and interests. His absurdity was, perhaps, the more evident, inasmuch as 'reality' for him was a matter of kitchen ranges, of saving a few shillings; but in truth the folly would have been greater if it had been concerned with racing stables, steam yachts, and the spending of many thousand pounds."
The main character is born in 1894. The book contains her memoir, so the action goes back and forth in time, including Emmeline's childhood, through World War One and World War Two and up to "present day," which is 1968-1969.
The inimitable Richard Jury returns in the latest in the bestselling mystery series: “Martha Grimes has written a whodunit with terrific characters and a grand plot mixed with her unique droll wit. Vertigo 42 is one smart mystery!” (Susan Isaacs, bestselling author of Goldberg Variations) Richard Jury is meeting Tom Williamson at Vertigo 42, a bar on the forty-second floor of an office building in London’s financial district. Despite inconclusive evidence, Tom is convinced his wife, Tess, was murdered seventeen years ago. The inspector in charge of the case was sure Tess’s death was accidental—a direct result of vertigo—but the official police inquiry is still an open verdict and Jury agrees to re-examine the case. Jury learns that a nine-year-old girl fell to her death five years before Tess at the same place in Devon where Tess died, at a small house party. Jury seeks out the five surviving party guests, who are now adults, hoping they can shed light on this bizarre coincidence. Ultimately, four deaths—two in the past, two that occur on the pages of this intricate, compelling novel—keep Richard Jury and his sidekick Sergeant Wiggins running from their homes in Islington to the countryside in Devon and to London as they try to figure out if the deaths were accidental or not. And if they are connected. Witty, well-written, with literary references from Thomas Hardy to Yeats, Vertigo 42 is a pitch perfect, page-turning novel from a mystery writer at the top of her game.
The supernatural tales of the Welsh mystic author Arthur Machen have played an instrumental, though in recent times semi-forgotten part in the history of horror fiction. Famous tales such as ‘The Great God Pan’ and ‘The Hill of Dreams’ have intrigued readers for over a hundred years, retaining the same raw power that first shocked Victorian readers. This comprehensive collection offers the most complete edition of Arthur Machen possible in the US, with all the fiction except for one obscure short story collection. The compressive eBook provides numerous illustrations, informative introductions, many rare non-fiction works and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1) * Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Machen's life and works * Concise introductions to the novels and other texts * ALL four novels, with individual contents tables * Rare novels like THE GREEN ROUND appear here for the first time in digital print * Images of how the books were first printed, giving your eReader a taste of the original texts * Excellent formatting of the texts * Rare short story collections like THE CHRONICLE OF CLEMENDY, appearing in print for the first time in many years * Special chronological and alphabetical contents tables for the short stories * Rare uncollected tales – 105 grisly Machen stories for you to explore * Easily locate the short stories you want to read * Special criticism section, with Starrett’s seminal essay evaluating Machen’s contribution to literature * Features Machen’s first autobiography - discover the author’s early life and first inspirations * Scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres Please note: ‘The House of the Hidden Light’ cannot appear in this collection due to being published for the first time in 2003 and therefore not being in the public domain. Once new texts enter the public domain, they will be added to the eBook as a free update. Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles CONTENTS: The Novels THE HILL OF DREAMS THE TERROR THE SECRET GLORY THE GREEN ROUND The Shorter Fiction THE CHRONICLE OF CLEMENDY: OR THE HISTORY OF THE IX JOYOUS JOURNEYS. CARBONNEK THE GREAT GOD PAN, AND THE INMOST LIGHT THE THREE IMPOSTORS: OR THE TRANSMUTATIONS THE HOUSE OF SOULS THE ANGELS OF MONS THE GREAT RETURN THE SHINING PYRAMID, 1923 THE SHINING PYRAMID, 1924 THE GLORIOUS MYSTERY THE COSY ROOM AND OTHER STORIES THE CHILDREN OF THE POOL, AND OTHER STORIES UNCOLLECTED TALES The Short Stories LIST OF SHORT STORIES IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER LIST OF SHORT STORIES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER The Poems LIST OF POEMS The Non-Fiction THE MEMOIRS OF JACQUES CASANOVA DE SEINGALT, 1725-1798 THE ANATOMY OF TOBACCO HIEROGLYPHICS DR STIGGINS: HIS VIEWS AND PRINCIPLES MISCELLANEOUS ESSAYS The Criticism ARTHUR MACHEN: A NOVELIST OF ECSTASY AND SIN by Vincent Starrett The Autobiography FAR OFF THINGS Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles
A collection of 11 short stories including: The Great God Pan; The Inmost Light; The Shining Pyramid; The Red Hand; The White People; The Great Return; The Children Of The Pool; Change; A New Christmas Carol; Out Of The Earth; and, The Islington Mystery.
Arthur Machen is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His novella The Great God Pan (1890; 1894) has garnered a reputation as a classic of horror, with Stephen King describing it as "Maybe the best [horror story] in the English language." Machen was a great enthusiast for literature that expressed the "rapture, beauty, adoration, wonder, awe, mystery, sense of the unknown, desire for the unknown" that he summed up in the word ecstasy. The Novels THE HILL OF DREAMS THE TERROR THE SECRET GLORY EPILOGUE THE GREEN ROUND The Shorter Fiction THE CHRONICLE OF CLEMENDY: OR THE HISTORY OF THE IX JOYOUS JOURNEYS. CARBONNEK INTRODUCTION EPISTLE DEDICATORY MASTER PERROT’S DISCOURSE OF ALE THE PORTREEVE’S GAUDY-DAY STRANGE STORY OF A RED JAR THE SPIGOT CLERK’S FIRST TALE HOW THE FOLK OF ABERGAVENNY WERE PESTERED BY AN ACCURSED KNIGHT THE LORD MALTWORM’S FIRST TALE HOW A MAN OF CAERLEON FOUND A GREAT TREASURE THE RUBRICAN’S FIRST TALE THE TANKARD MARSHALL’S FIRST TALE THE QUEST OF CONSTANCY BY THE WAY THE SPIGOT CLERK’S SECOND TALE. THE PORTREEVE’S SOLEMNITY THE TALE TOLD BY THE SEIGNEUR OF LA ROCHE NEMOURS THE JOURNEY HOMEWARD SIGNOR PIERO LATINI’S TALE THE LORD MALTWORM’S SECOND TALE THE RUBRICAN’S SECOND TALE EPILOGUE THE GREAT GOD PAN, AND THE INMOST LIGHT The Great God Pan The Inmost Light THE THREE IMPOSTORS: OR THE TRANSMUTATIONS THREE IMPOSTORS PROLOGUE. ADVENTURE OF THE GOLD TIBERIUS. THE ENCOUNTER OF THE PAVEMENT. NOVEL OF THE DARK VALLEY. ADVENTURE OF THE MISSING BROTHER. NOVEL OF THE BLACK SEAL. INCIDENT OF THE PRIVATE BAR. THE DECORATIVE IMAGINATION. NOVEL OF THE IRON MAID. THE RECLUSE OF BAYSWATER. NOVEL OF THE WHITE POWDER. STRANGE OCCURRENCE IN CLERKENWELL. HISTORY OF THE YOUNG MAN WITH SPECTACLES ADVENTURE OF THE DESERTED RESIDENCE. THE HOUSE OF SOULS Introduction A Fragment of Life The White People The Red Hand THE ANGELS OF MONS Introduction The Bowmen The Soldiers’ Rest The Monstrance The Dazzling Light The Bowmen And Other Noble Ghosts Postscript THE GREAT RETURN THE SHINING PYRAMID, 1923 The Priest and the Barber The Spagyric Quest of Beroaldus Cosmopolita A Wonderful Woman The Lost Club Nature, or, The Splendid Holiday Drake’s Drum THE SHINING PYRAMID, 1924 The Arrow-Head Character The Eyes on the Wall The Search for the Bowl The Secret of the Pyramid The Little People THE GLORIOUS MYSTERY The Rose Garden Psychology, or, Fragments of Paper The Holy Things A New Christmas Carol THE COSY ROOM AND OTHER STORIES The Cosy Room A Double Return Munitions of War The Gift of Tongues The Islington Mystery Awaking Opening the Door The Compliments of the Season THE CHILDREN OF THE POOL, AND OTHER STORIES Children of the Pool Out of the Earth Change The Exalted Omega The Tree of Life Out of the Picture The Bright Boy UNCOLLECTED TALES Candletime Cidermas The Town of Long Ago Over the Gate Of the Isle of Shadows, and of the Strange Customs of the Men That Dwell There A Further Account of The Academy of Lagado Tales from Barataria Sir John’s Chef Rus in Urbe By the Brook The Autophone The Marriage of Panurge The Brook Farm A Remarkable Coincidence An Underground Adventure The Young Man in the Blue Suit The War Song of the Welsh The Light That Can Never Be Put Out Jocelyn’s Escape The Story of Sergt Richard Haughton and What Happened To Him on the Somme The Calvary of Azay 7b Coney Court Ritual Johnny Double N The Happy Children The Dover Road The Poems ELEUSINIA THE ASSEMBLING. THE SEA-SHORE THE FAST THE PROCESSION THE DAY OF TORCHES IACCHUS THE INITIATION THE REMEMBRANCE OF THE BARD THE PRAISE OF MYFANWY The Non-Fiction THE MEMOIRS OF JACQUES CASANOVA DE SEINGALT, 1725-1798 THE ANATOMY OF TOBACCO HIEROGLYPHICS DR STIGGINS: HIS VIEWS AND PRINCIPLES MISCELLANEOUS ESSAYS THE SECRET OF THE SANGRAAL THE STROLLER WHEN I WAS YOUNG IN LONDON THE GLITTER OF THE BROOK LONDON THIRTY YEARS AGO THE JOY OF LONDON RE-DISCOVERY OF LONDON DR JOHNSON’S DISAPPEARING ACT TOM O’BEDLAM AND HIS SONG THE ONLY WAY THE GRAY’S INN COFFEE HOUSE A NOTE ON POETRY
Arthur Machen (1863-1947) was a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His novella The Great God Pan has garnered a reputation as a classic of horror (Stephen King has called it "The best horror story in the English language"). Historian of fantastic literature Brian Stableford has suggested that Machen "was the first writer of authentically modern horror stories, and his best works must still be reckoned among the finest products of the genre". Table of Contents: Novels: The Three Impostors The Hill of Dreams The Terror: A Mystery The Secret Glory Short Stories and Novellas: A Fragment of Life The White People The Great God Pan The Inmost Light The Shining Pyramid The Red Hand The Angels of Mons: The Bowmen and Other Legends of the War: The Bowmen The Soldiers' Rest The Monstrance The Dazzling Light The Bowmen And Other Noble Ghosts Change The Children of the Pool The Bright Boy The Tree of Life Opening the Door The Marriage of Panurge The Holy Things Psychology The Turanians The Rose Garden The Ceremony The Happy Children The Cosy Room Munitions of War The Great Return A New Christmas Carol The Islington Mystery Out of the Earth Essays: Hieroglyphics Dog and Duck Dreads and Dolls Translation: The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798 Autobiography: Far Off Things Criticism: Arthur Machen: A Novelist of Ecstasy and Sin (With Two Uncollected Poems by Arthur Machen)
