Independent, inclusive and diverse Flame Tree Publishing nurtures a wide range of books, gift items and art calendars. We actively encourage new writers, illustrators, musicians and artists alongside our best-selling authors such as Ramsey Campbell, V. Castro and so many more. Recent highlights include Black Sci-Fi Short Stories, First Peoples Shared Stories, the CWA new crime stories Music of the Night and The Last Feather by Shameez Patel Papathanasiou.
Storytelling is at the heart of our publishing, from early myths through medieval tales to modern stories, from early art, to the impressionists up to the wonderful printmakers of today, such as Angela Harding whose prints are highlighted across our notebooks, jigsaw puzzles and calendars.
Some of our bestselling publications include Guitar Chords by Jake Jackson, African Myths & Tales and Alphonse Mucha Masterworks, (licensed by the family and estate of the artist).
35:58 -- As for Robert Bloch's horror stories, I think he did write some very good Mythos ones; "Fane of the Black Pharaoh" comes to mind. I also love Bloch's "The Man Who Collected Poe."
24:58 and onwards -- Mr. Campbell describes how James described the hideous thing's image early on in the story, so that when the actual creature appeared detailed description of its appearance would be unnecessary. This reminds me of two other works of fiction, the first being Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "Lot No. 249" (1892). This Egyptian horror story describes the mummy before it comes to life, so that when it actually starts moving around description -- while still certainly present -- is not as important. The second piece I am reminded of is Sir Henry Rider Haggard's "Heu-Heu; or, The Monster" (1924), part of the Allan Quatermain series. This book, like many of Haggard's tales, is an adventure story with strong supernatural and occultist elements. At the start of the book Allan Quatermain and his loyal sidekick the Hottentot Hans are exploring a cave in southern Africa when they find an ancient and hideous cave-painting depicting a huge ape-monster called Heu-Heu. The sinister Zulu wizard Zikali later sends Allan and Hans to look for this monster, who is worshipped as a god by a strange tribe. After reaching this tribe, Allan and Hans see Heu-Heu while watching a ritual of human sacrifice: "Behind the fire, at a distance of ten paces or so, was an awful object, an appalling black figure at least twelve feet in height, a figure of Heu-Heu as we had seen him depicted in the Cave of the Berg, only there his likeness was far too flattering. For this was the very image of the devil as he might have been imagined by a mad monk, and from his eyes shot a red light. "As I have said before, the figure was like to that of a huge gorilla and yet no ape but a man, and yet no man but a fiend. There was the long gray hair growing in tufts about the body. There was the great, red, bushy beard. There were the enormous limbs and the long arms and the hands with claws on them where the thumbs should be, and the webbed fingers. The bull neck on the top of which sat the small head that somehow resembled an old woman's with a hooked nose; the huge mouth from which the baboon-like tusks protruded, the round, massive, able-looking brow, the deepest glaring eyes, now alight with red fire, the cruel smile-all were there intensified. There, too, was the shape of a dead man into the breast of which the clawed foot was driven, and in the left hand the head that had been twisted from the man's body. "Oh! evidently the painter of the picture in the Berg can have been no Bushman as once I had supposed, but some priest of Heu-Heu whom fate or chance had brought thither in past ages, and who had depicted it to be the object of his private worship. When I saw the thing I gasped aloud and felt as though I should fall to the ground through fear, so hellish was it." While Haggard's works are adventure novels and not horror, they do have many instances of monsters, ghosts, visions, mystical drugs, occultism, prophecies, and _macabre_ elements. I would recommend them to anyone who enjoys adventure and fantasy. H.P. Lovecraft praised Haggard's "She" (1887) in "Supernatural Horror in Literature" (1927) as being "really remarkably good." Other writers, such as Rudyard Kipling, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (both of these were Haggard's friends), A. Merritt, Talbot Mundy, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Henry Kuttner, J.R.R. Tolkien, Ian Fleming all loved Haggard.
Hi, thank you for your feedback! These short videos are to show the design of our gothic fantasy books and highlight the embossed hardcovers in all their glory. The description details the contents of this particular title - an anthology of classic and contemporary short stories exploring good vs evil. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to reach out.
Excellent. I personally like to save James for Christmas Eve. But your tale, Ancient Images (1989), gives brilliant shades of James and H'ween spookery. An excellent read. Thanks, Mr. Campbell!
Hello! Not sure if you will see this, but do you know the GSM for your sketch books? If not, how did you find it for shading/sketching/drawing with different types of sketch pencils (8B-2H)?
Fantastic interview, I wish it had been on a bit longer, I could gladly listen to you both discussing horror writer's past and present. Very insightful.
Hi Rosie! We are so happy you enjoyed the discussion! You can sign up to our monthly newsletter for horror and sci fi themed flash fiction writing competitions every month that are showcased in the next issue's newsletter and advanced notice on open submissions for our beautiful short story collections. Sign up here: www.flametreepress.com/reader-exclusives/
Yes, there's an almost direct nod to Lovecraft's work in that bookshelf of Norman Bates, where Bloch mentions Murray's Witch-Cult book often cited in the Mythos.
Great chat from these horror luminaries. On one of Ramsey's points here The Beetle and Dracula were both published in 1897, so.. oh. Nevermind. S.T. Joshi's already addressed that!
Alas, there was a shooting on the highway and I got caught in the snarl of traffic. Very fitting for a horror writer. Great job, guys! Glenn, thanks for taking the reins.
Just caught up with this and it goes to show, you never stop learning. I picked up some great tips from these amazing writers. Great job everyone. Thank you!
I queried a manuscript (A Walk on the Edge) earlier this year with FTP and it was received by Don, so I checked his credentials. Having a friend or family read the book was tough enough, but having someone of Don's calibre read it made me feel super small and fragile. Luckily, Don was pleasant, professional and encouraging. Seeing him here only reinforces this - which for me was a warm and friendly introduction into this industry. Thanks for posting these chats as they are very informative and helpful for new writers like myself.
Thank you! We will pass this on to Don and we're so pleased that you got something out of these videos because that's exactly what they're there for ☺️
Just ordered a copy of Brian’s book. Glenn’s new book came in last week. Great video fellas and Flame Tree Press! Glad you were able to make it happen!
