Possessions and Pursuits, by John Howard and Mark Valentine

This is the third and final collection of stories, written by John Howard and Mark Valentine (separately, not in collaboration), influenced by the supernatural themes in the metaphysical thrillers of Charles Williams published in the 1930s-40s. John Howard contributes a novella "Fallen Sun" about the competition for the recently re-discovered mirror of Byzantium, which takes one to an alternate reality. Mark Valentine contributes two short stories: "Masque and Anti-Masque" describes an unusual seasonal festival in a small university town; while "The Prospero Machine," set in a resort town, finds odd magic recurring through the work of a strange Mazzaroth Society. All three stories are finely conceived and executed, bringing this admirable series to a high point in conclusion. The three slim volumes, all published in limited editions, would make an excellent trade paperback omnibus for wider distribution and readership.

This World and That Other, by John Howard and Mark Valentine

This collection of two novellas, one by John Howard and one by Mark Valentine, is another shared volume taking inspiration from the writings of Charles Williams, who is known for his supernatural thrillers, esoteric poems, and theological studies. It follows on the pair's similar previous volume, Powers and Presences (2020), which had one story by Howard and two by Valentine, also written in homage to Williams. In This World and That Other, the first novella, "All the Times of the City" by John Howard, is the more ambitious, and the more deeply-rooted in Williams' thought, particularly in his concept of co-inherence (in which mankind's essential relationship is compared with the unity of God and the Trinity), and with his use of the City in his final novel, All Hallow's Eve. Howard's story has two branches, one set in the mid-1940s just after the end of the War, and the other set somewhat contemporaneously, with one recurring character (a young man in one, a very old man in the other), and a setting around St. Paul's in London (an alternate St. Paul's in the contemporary strand). Howard manages the two strands skillfully, and the result is among the best of his stories that I have read, though I admit I would have understood it better if I were more up on the life and thought of Charles Williams (who appears in slightly distorted form). Valentine's novella, "Armed for a Day of Glory," unveils how some force is attempting to gather a number of ancient relics or talismans of Britain, for apparent sinister purpose, and how this might be thwarted. Both novellas are well-done in their aims and achievements.  

From Ancient Ravens

From Ancient Ravens is the third and final collection of three novellas by three authors, Mark Valentine, John Howard, and Ron Weighell, published as a series by Sarob Press.  I've reviewed the first two volumes previously, Romances of the White Day, and Pagan Triptych.  Here the common inspiration is a quote from Shakespeare's "The Rape of Lucretia":

To pluck the quills from ancient ravens' wings . . .And turn the giddy round of Fortune's wheel.

The first story is "The Fifth Moon" by Mark Valentine.  It is also the most Shakespearean in tone and content, and it concerns the legends of the supposed treasure lost by King John in the early thirteenth-century. It is also the standout story in the book.  Ron Weighell's "The Asmodeus Fellowship" is second, and rather disappointing.  Weighell often plays with esoteric and occult lore, but this story contains way too much of such imagined stories and volumes, so much so that the result gets boring. The tone is also rather rococo too. Parts of the story are fascinating and brilliant, but as a whole it doesn't work well.  John Howard's closing tale, "Between Me and the Sun," begins as a deceptively simple tale of the sexually-charged friendship of three teenage boys, turning into the meditation of middle-aged men on their lost friendship. I'm not sure Howard tied up all the loose ends (a re-read might make this clearer), but it still makes for a worthy and readable story.

In the Tradition of ... Lovecraft, Blackwood

Agents of Dreamlands is a new Lovecraftian novella by Caitlin R. Kiernan.  The storyline itself is interesting, but the prose is filled with Kiernan's usual blemishes—a large number of cliches, an overuse of pop-culture references, and an overall attitude or authorial persona that feels deeply phoney. And as usual the story progresses far before much context is given to the reader.  I think it very wrong that one needs to read the back-cover blurb so as to gain the basic idea of what the story itself is doing.  But that's the case.  Read the back-cover blurb.  It sounds very interesting, but you won't get most of this until you're past the half-way point of the story.

Pagan Triptych is the second of three volumes containing novellas (with afterwords) by three British writers, Ron Weighell, John Howard, and Mark Valentine.  This volume is supposed to contains stories in the tradition of Algernon Blackwood, but the definition of "in the tradition of" is rather slippery.  Ron Weighell's story is sort of in the occult detective tradition of Blackwood's John Silence.  John Howard's has to do with nature mysticism and a Londoner going native in the suburbs.  And Mark Valentine's is a shorter piece about how rituals work in our lives whether we see them as such or not.  All three stories are worth reading, but none are standouts. 

Old Things and a Beautiful Thing

Romances of the White Day (2015) is the first of three small press volumes by the same three authors, each contributing a novella and a short essay about their contribution.  The authors are John Howard, Mark Valentine, and Ron Weighell.  The publisher is Sarob Press.  This volume is a tribute to the writings of Arthur Machen, and each story involves some Machenian aspect.  John Howard's concerns some London adventures by three men, decades apart.  The gem of the book is the story by Mark Valentine, which concerns the enactment of an ancient ritual in modern Wales.  Ron Weighell's concluding story reveals the secrets behind a lost decadent illustrator and a portal to another dimension.  Each story is well-done and engaging.

I watched the film Beautiful Thing (1996) a few decades ago, and if I knew then that it was based on a 1993 play by Jonathan Harvey, I had long forgotten it.  I thought the film rather good, but had had problems with understanding the dialogue at times because of the heavy (South East?) London accents.  So when I stumbled on the play, I thought,  Good, here's a chance to read it in the original form.  Well, perhaps that's not the best thing to have done. I probably should have instead seen a production of the play.  From what I recall, the play isn't much different from the film, but the film feels much less claustrophobic. Still, Beautiful Thing is worth experiencing in any form.*

*Well, after writing the above I learned that there was an edition of the screenplay itself that had been published (cover below) to coincide with the film, and I got a copy and read it.  That's just what I needed, in lieu of English subtitles lacking from the DVD.  Now I can understand the extra witticisms I was missing.