Gina R Collia

In his day, R. Ellis Roberts was a well-known literary critic and writer. He contributed reviews and articles to a number of periodicals, including the Daily News, Observer, Empire Review, London Mercury, Bookman, Saturday Review, and Guardian. He was literary editor for the New Statesman and Time and Tide, and he hosted a book review programme for BBC Radio. In 1923, his only collection of uncanny short stories, The Other End, was published by Cecil Palmer and received glowing reviews. The critic for the Bookman declared the author 'as well able to write stories of his own as to criticise those of others', having achieved a mastery of his subject that at times 'challenges comparison with Poe and Hawthorne'. And Gerald Gould, in the Saturday Review, suggested that no nervous person should read the book when 'alone at night in a remote cottage on a lonely moor'. This new edition of The Other End includes four reviews written by R. Ellis Roberts about the work of Arthur Machen, of whom he was an admirer-for the Bookman, Daily News, and Sewanee Review-and a biographical essay by Gina R. Collia, 'R. Ellis Roberts: The Critic Who Read for Pleasure'.

Carlos Hullingham is a handsome devil: physically perfect but morally bankrupt. He is society's darling, 'but behind the sensuous charm of exterior there lurks the spirit of a fiend, ruthless in its cruelty and malice.' His first wife, Adelaide Hullingham, is dead... done to death... and now his second wife is proving troublesome. Originally published in 1897, 'The Master of Hullingham Manor' is a tale of wickedness, murder and revenge. With a cruel aristocrat, an imprisoned wife, a devious asylum owner, a fair bit of adultery, a vaulted room and a 'Phantom Recital' to boot, it is everything you'd expect from a 'shilling shocker'. In the introductory essay to this new edition, Gina R. Collia reveals the true identity of Bernard Wentworth and paints a full and vivid picture of the authoress's extremely troubled life.

Ellen Glasgow wrote only thirteen short stories during her long career, seven of which appeared in 'The Shadowy Third'. Published in 1923 by Doubleday, Page & Company, it was the only collection of short stories published during her lifetime. Of the seven tales it contains, only four are supernatural, but all have an eerie quality to them; in fact, 'Jordan's End', a non-ghost story, is the most ghostly story that the author ever wrote. This new edition contains the seven stories included in the first edition and adds to those tales a seventeen-page biographical essay by Gina R. Collia, 'Ellen Glasgow: The Solitary Spirit'.

Nancy Reynard is the youngest of seven children. She is the seventh child of a seventh child. In fact, as both of her parents are seventh children, she is a seventh child twice over. She is the daughter of Colonel Septimus Reynard and his wife Blanche, and she lives very happily with her family at the Warren in Minchester until she reaches the age of ten, when she discovers that she has the gift of second sight; unfortunately, it is more of a nuisance and inconvenience for poor Nancy. She starts 'seeing' things, in particular things about her sister Blanche's new fianc , and blurting them out for all and sundry to hear, much to his annoyance. And so begins Nancy's career as a reluctant psychic detective. And now, no liar, thief or murderer is safe when she is near... or thousands of miles away. Nancy is one of the earliest fictional psychic detectives, and she is unusual in being female and, when her gift makes its first appearance at least, just a child. 'A Seventh Child' was first published in 1894. John Strange Winter was the pen name of the Victorian writer Henrietta Eliza Vaughan Stannard. This new edition includes an introductory essay by Gina R. Collia: 'John Strange Winter: Author, Wife, Mother & Purveyor of Toilet Preparations'.

It is seventeenth century England, a country divided in the aftermath of the English Civil War, and paranoia and superstition are rife throughout the land. In the village of Rithycombe in Somerset, Bridget Conyngham, the squire's beautiful young daughter, is abandoned to the mercy of lawless soldiers and paranoid villagers. Matthew Hopkins, Witchfinder General, is going about the country torturing anyone he doesn't like the look of, and the villagers of Rithycombe, suspicious of Bridget's healing abilities, are determined to save Hopkins the trouble of burning their witch. The novel 'Mistress Bridget' was originally published in 1898. This volume also includes all seven of E. Yolland's incredibly rare short stories. Before now, not a single fact, not even the tiniest tidbit of information, had been discovered to shed light on the identity of E. Yolland. There was no clue to the writer's full name or sex, let alone anything more substantial. However, in the introduction to this volume, Gina R. Collia reveals the true identity of E. Yolland and paints a full and vivid picture of this forgotten Victorian author's life.

George R. Preedy is one of the pen names of Margaret Gabrielle Vere Campbell, the writer best known as Marjorie Bowen. First published in 1932, 'The Devil Snar'd' is an eerie tale of supernatural influence; it was described by the Daily Herald as a 'ghost story fit to stand beside The Turn of the Screw.' Grace Fielding and her husband Philip have taken a house-Medlar's Farm-at a remote spot in Northumberland to get away from London and repair their broken marriage. Philip is in love with Angela Campion, an actress much younger than himself, but Grace will not give her husband a divorce, and Angela will not have him without the prospect of marriage. Philip, a well-known author, intends to use the dark history of Medlar's Farm-a tale of adultery, jealousy and murder-to write his next book, but Grace, already unwell due to the strain caused by her husband's affair, begins to see parallels between her own story and that of the murdered woman, Susanna Vavasour, who she believes is guiding her actions. As Philip works on his manuscript, his behaviour becomes more and more suspicious, and as Grace's mental state deteriorates, a tale of adultery and marital discord soon becomes one of jealousy, obsession and murderous revenge. 'The Devil Snar'd' has not been reissued since its last publication in 1933. This edition includes an introduction by Gina R. Collia: 'The Many Masks of Margaret Campbell'.