VOTIVE OFFERINGS (Sarob Press 2026)

A new title from Sarob is always of interest, and I'm fortunate to have received a review copy from Rob Morgan. 

Superb owl by Paul Lowe

Votive Offerings consists of four stories by - in order of appearance - Mark Valentine, John Howard, Peter Bell, and Colin Insole. It does my old heart good to note that all have contributed to ST down the years. In this review, I will do my best to avoid spoilers. As a minor aside, I don't mind spoilers for books or films, but I know they drive some people bonkers. 

'Roman Masks' by Mark Valentine is set on the English side of the Solway Firth, where a group of art college teachers and students half-playfully immerse themselves in the landscape's pagan past. As always with Valentine's stories, I learned a lot from this one and enjoyed the process. There are some fine scenes, and touches of humour are balanced by a sense of the weird and numinous. Arthur Machen is invoked, and that gives you some idea of the overall mood. The main difference is that awe and mystery prevail, without the horrific ideas that drive some of Machen's most powerful stories.

'Desire Path' by John Howard has a slightly Machenesque feel, too. A retired, solitary man of a bookish turn of mind starts to experience odd flashbacks and dreams. He recalls, in fragmentary fashion, childhood experiences that involve a mysterious figure seen in the distance but never close up. This is connected to his walks across an old industrial town in the Midlands (probably), Gradually, things come together, but at the heart of it all is still a mystery. 

'Figures in a Landscape' by Peter Bell follows an academic into Gwent on a quest for a lost hill figure. This one has a distinctly M.R. Jamesian feel, with its focus on college rivalries, the professional aversion to 'crank' ideas, and a gradual unveiling of an ancient mystery. The tone is quite sprightly, and an intriguing plot is enlivened with Bell's excellent descriptive writing. Hill figures are fascinating in themselves, and this story only adds to their allure. Although, as the denouement reveals, you can get too close to a problem.

'The April Rainers' by Colin Insole stands in marked contrast to Bell's fairly traditional approach. An epigraph from Hardy tells us we are in old Wessex, and the story begins with a depiction of an ancient, evil force that dominated the region during the last glacial epoch. The nameless evil persists, but is repeatedly checked by the titular ancient fellowship, keepers of knowledge and power. There are enough ideas here for a novel, and the depth of lore and imagination is truly impressive. 

Considered overall, the book is a showcase for four different but equally valid approaches to weird fiction. The one is highly recommended for the discerning collector. It rewards careful reading and reaffirms Sarob's status as one of the best small press publishers of supernatural fiction. 

Issue 61 Coming Fairly Soon...

 Contents:

Veuf	Cliff McNish
Bright as a Button	Katherine Haynes
The Women in the Woods	Sam Dawson
Chico Rivera’s Guitar	Tim Jeffreys
The Miniaturist	Steve Rasnic Tem
Hagstone	Reggie Chamberlain-King

Cover art by Sam Dawson

THE WATER BELLS by Charles Wilkinson (Egaeus Press, 2025)

 

I received a review copy of The Water Bells from the author. 

This new collection contains one tale from ST 59, 'Fire and Stick', which I'm sure readers will agree is a first-rate tale of the strange and disturbing. In total TWB offers fifteen stories, and all are of the same high calibre. The illustrations, as astute folk might have noticed, are by Odilon Redon, and are well suited to the tales. Charles Wilkinson's world is an odd one, a liminal but very British domain. It lies, I think, somewhere between Aickman and de la Mare with a strong dash of M.R. James. 

A recurring them here is the solitary or somewhat awkward individual - usually male - who finds himself a fish out of water. Thus Theo Dodds who, having 'done nothing with his life for three years', is sent to care for a dying relative in 'Absent Below the Lip'. The title more than hints at horrors to come as Theo discovers - far too late - just what his uncle was and did. 

The Guild of St. Leon & St. Irvyne - by Cardinal Cox

 

Another poetry pamphlet from the laureate of the fens, Pete Cox. This one contains a handful of works on a mysterious medieval outfit founded by one Hugh Bardolph. The guild 'oversaw the construction and consecration (in 1235) of the so-called Dean's Eye' - a rose window in Lincoln Cathedral. Among other things...

The first poem deals with the imps of Lincoln and their role in the earthquake of 1185. Apparently 'their interference had been deduced/By mages skilled in ancient scrying art'. Which was a good thing, as 'holy magics' could be 'unloosed' on the little blighters. The imps turned to gargoyles. Serves 'em right.

'Hugh Bardolph and the Dragon' is a nice anecdote about the eponymous chap in his youth, arriving at court with what he claimed was the head of a dragon. Dinosaur fossil? Perhaps. As the poem reveals, Henry II and his advisors were not mugs. Hugh admits it's a fair cop...

'I found the skull among the rocks and sand

And then brought it here to the royal court

I meant to entertain with my tale and

Did not expect to be so quickly caught.'

Hugh would do well on Facebook, TikTok, or YouTube, the happy hunting grounds of every clickbait-hungry grifter pushing crackpot theories. 

'Tommy Lindrum and the Devil' is a tall tale featuring a cat being let out of a bag - literally. It's all about a confrontation between Old Nick and a wizard who offers up his soul in return for a causeway. The Devil is happy to oblige with some major engineering works. To be fair, he does have help.

'So some small imps mixed cobbles far away

Some tiny imps surveyed the sodden fen

Two imps argued over hourly pay

But each imp did the work of twenty men'

Getting payment for all this proves problematic for DevilCorp. Tommy Lindrum, who I imagine as a kind of working-class Gandalf, wins the game and 'just laughed at the evil one'. I'd never heard of this particular Tommy, but he was clearly the man for sigils and tomes. 

There are also some shorter poems, among which is 'Uproar in the Woods', which I particularly like. It tells of Herla and the Wild Hunt, riding 'upon horses and black he-goats'. There are copious notes to this one, and it seems the spectral hunters were very busy in East Anglia. But it was near Hereford that they met their match in 1155 in the form of a Welshman who 'accosted them' and forced them into the River Wye, where they promptly vanished. One Welshman took down King Herla and his boys? I suspect nationalist propaganda. 

The final poem concerns 'deep places - by the hollow lands' where sacrifices were made to a Snake Idol. The Guild frees the boggarts, victims of evil sorcery. Apparently in 1996 West Deeping saw the discovery of leaden tablets bearing the names of Gnostic Archons. This is all way above my pay grade but I find it all convincing. Suffice to say, these are poems garlanded with esoteric knowledge.

If you would like to learn more about Hugh and the Guild, send an SAE to Cardinal Cox at:

58 Pennington
Orton Goldhay
Peterborough
PE2 5RB

Cover and internal art for ST 60

 

Sam Dawson's cover and internal art for Steve Duffy's upcoming story 'Valparaiso'.

Definitely not AI-generated. 

ST will never use any form of AI content. 

A MIND TURNED IN UPON ITSELF: Writings on J.S. Le Fanu by Jim Rockhill (Swan River Press 2025)

 

Literary criticism is not everyone's cup of green tea, but this book is essential for anyone who loves the works of Sheridan Le Fanu. The bulk of the text consists of three introductions Jim Rockhill wrote for 1990s Ash-Three collections, now long out of print. Rockhill has updated what are very substantial essays, and added some extra matter pertaining to the author and his life. 

And what a life it was. The first essay, 'As On a Darkling Plain' covers the period 1814- 1861. On the face of it this seems a little odd, as Le Fanu died in 1873. But, as I read on, I came to realise that before the 1860s the author had occupied himself with a wide range of activities, of which writing was just one. Politics, the law, and family life all demanded his time and effort. He married, fathered four children, then in 1858 suffered the terrible blow of his wife's death. It was only then that Le Fanu took to writing full-time to pay off debts and provide for his offspring. 

Overall, the first essay is a good biographical piece and sets Le Fanu firmly in the context of a troubled society. The descendant of Protestant immigrants, Le Fanu was part of a privileged elite but also felt his position to be precarious. He flirted with nationalism and wrote sympathetically of the native Irish. But after the turbulence of the 1840s he retreated from the 'Young Ireland' movement that had attempted a full-on uprising. 

THE SILENT HOUSE AND OTHER STRANGE STORIES by Sophia J. Unsworth (Tartarus Press 2025)

I received the review copy pictured below from the publisher. I am, as always, impressed by the quality of the volume. Tartarus never lets you down - their books are built to last. The cover is simply entitled 'An Old House', a painting by Edith Abbott. I like it. 

Sophia J. Unsworth is a new writer - this is her first collection. However, as the biographical notes reveal, she is a late bloomer. A long-term resident of Tenerife, she recently retired from a career as a professional pianist and teacher. (You can listen to the author playing some pieces on this YouTube channel.) And the first story in the book concerns one of her areas of expertise: accompanying silent films.