Ex Occidente Press
 

Another small press has started, releasing books which may be of interest to members of this forum.

Ex Occidente Press

They have released books by Mark Valentine (editor of the journal Wormwood, and the author of two volumes about the decadent occuly detective The Connoiseur (and by some named the true heir of Machen)), Ray Russell (from my favourite publisher, Tartarus Press) - forthcoming is also a volume of new stories by Reggie Oliver, as well as a new collection by the brilliant Quentin S. Crisp, John Gale, Steve Duffy, and Joel Lane! Here is a list of other forthcoming titles:

About the press:

All in all, I think the prospects of Ex Occidente Press looks very promising indeed.

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

Thank you for sharing this, MadsPLP. I have heard about Ex Occidente Press some time ago when titles by Mark Valentine were announced (I think their site looked different back then), but I don't remember seeing the list of forthcoming books. Sounds fantastic. I'm especially looking forward to collections by Reggie Oliver and Joel Lane.

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

This is terrific news. I'd heard news of Ex Occidente Press a month or two ago with the announcement of Ray Russell's book . However, I could not find any further information about the publisher. I'm glad you were able to dig up some more info. Currently there are only a few publishers who print Decadent works, such as Tartarus Press and Dedalus Books. Having another added to their ranks should help tremendously. Besides printing the works of new authors, I look forward to see which older and long out of print titles they plan to make available.

I'm curious to see the quality of their books. If they're anything like Tartarus Press' books, I'll be very happy indeed.

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

I believe their website is brand new. At first, I don't think they had one. No wonder there wasn't time with that list of forthcoming titles [insert smiley which drops its jaw here].

The earlier version didn't have the list of forthcoming titles, as you correctly mention.

I wrote the publisher some time ago, and he seems to be a true gentleman. I have ordered both the collection by Ray Russell and Reggie Oliver, and will make a post about the quality of the books when they have arrived. Judging from the descriptions on the website, they seem to be something near Tartarus'. I'm looking forward to a new collection by Joel Lane too - The Lost District (esp. the title story!) was a magnificent collection, and I owe thanks to whomever it was at ligotti.net who wrote about it (Bleak&Icy perhaps?), and to VivaJune for letting me borrow his copy.

I agree with The New Nonsense that there are very few (far too few!) publishers who publish decadent literature. With Dedalus sadly being threatened (Don't Let Dedalus Die) one more publisher of decadent literature is very welcome indeed.

I don't know too many of the european names on the list of forthcoming titles, but I'm looking forward to learning more about them. The titles alone seem very intriguing.

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

I purchased and received their first publication, The Rite of Trebizond and Other Tales by Valentine and Howard. It's a nicely made little book, but may not be quite as spectacular as Tartarus Press books. It has a pictorial front cover but no dust jacket. It is not signed, as many limited, small press books are. The trade off is that the cost of the book (the cost of worldwide shipping included) was significantly less than the $50 to $65 that other presses ask.
Although I have a strong aesthetic sense regarding books, ultimately I buy books for the sake of their content, to read and enjoy, and it looks like Ex Occidente will be printing-affordably!-many quality authors.
The Reggie Oliver collection they plan on doing sounds promising, containing many stories, as well as some of his previously published essays (which I haven't yet read). I can't wait.

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

Looks like in March Ex Occidente will be publishing a collection of stories by Jean Ray, THE HORRIFYING PRESENCE AND OTHER TALES!!!

Ex Occidente Press - The Horrifying Presence

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

This is fantastic news. I love Jean Ray. I noticed there is zero duplication of stories from the Jean Ray collection MY OWN PRIVATE SPECTRES published by Midnight House in 1999. Thanks Slawek!

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

I've been told that one of their aims is to publish a lot of works which have never been translated into English before.

I will try and keep this thread updated with news from Ex Occidente as they come. It seems to rapidly become of one the most interesting small presses around.

There is also a new novella by Ray B. Russell coming up.

I have his debut collection coming in the mail, and may write some comments on it, when it has been received and read.
I never knew he writes himself.

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

Ray's a great writer; you're going to love his book.

Ex Occidente has a great lineup of authors coming; what's on the website now is just the start of what can officially be announced.

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

Mammon, why hast thou forsaken me?

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

This sounds almost to good to be true.
On secod thought the site doesn't have a proper imprint.
WHOIS gives this:



WHOIS Lookup
Find contact and registration information on existing domains
WHOIS Search Results for: exocccidente.com

Domain ID:
Domain Name: exocccidente.com
Created On: 22-Jan-2009 00:00:00
Expiration Date: 22-Jan-2010 00:00:00
Sponsoring Registrar: 'Check Whois' (MELBOURNE IT, LTD. D/B/A INTERNET NAMES WORLDWIDE) (MELBOURNE IT, LTD. D/B/A INTERNET NAMES WORLDWIDE)
Status: client_transfer_prohibited
Name Server: yns1.yahoo.com
Name Server: yns2.yahoo.com
Registrant ID: Unknown
Registrant Name: Dan Ghetu
Registrant Organization: Private Registration US
Registrant Street1: P O Box 99800
Registrant Street2: Unknown
Registrant Street3: Unknown
Registrant City: EmeryVille
Registrant State/Province: CA
Registrant Postal Code: 94662
Registrant Country: US
Registrant Phone: +1.5105952002
Registrant Fax: Unknown
Registrant Email: contact@myprivateregistration.com
Admin ID: Unknown
Admin Name: Admin PrivateRegContact
Admin Organization: Private Reg US
Admin Street1: P O Box 99800
Admin Street2: Unknown
Admin Street3: Unknown
Admin City: EmeryVille
Admin State: CA
Admin Postal Code: 94662
Admin Country: US
Admin Phone: +1.5105952002
Admin Fax: Unknown
Admin Email: contact@myprivateregistration.com

while the site claims to be romanian.
Also there seems to be a strange lack of mention of the forthcoming publications on the authors websites.

I might be wrong but this looks like an elaborate scam. :eek:

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

You are wrong; it's not an elaborate scam. Dan Ghetu is indeed Romanian, and is producing some very nice books. I've already received my copy of R.B. Russell's book and am expecting delivery of further volumes shortly.

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

Thank you for this clarification.
And sorry, Mr. Dan Ghetu.
:o

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

I received my copy of Putting the Pieces in Place yesterday. It didn't seem like a scam to me. The book was there, you know.

The postage stamps were Romanian, as were the sender's adress. In fact, Dan has proven to be a perfect gentleman. I could think of larger, richer groups to scam than readers of weird fiction of a certain quality.

Tartarus has putten some pages up for Putting the Pieces in Place, as well as mentioning the Valentine collection.

Btw, Putting the Pieces in Place is a very handsome book. The end papers, the frontispiece and the quality of the paper are all beautiful to look at and to feel.

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

I received my copy just this morning, and can second this.

I should probably also say, there are a number of reasons why I, for one, haven't mentioned my own collection with Ex Occidente much (actually, it has been mentioned briefly on my blog), largely to do with waiting for details to be finalised before I made any announcements. I was actually asked not to send the website URL around until the details written there were correct and so on, but, anyway, obviously the URL has been released or leaked or something.

Having received my copy of Putting the Pieces in Place, I'm looking forward more than ever to seeing All God's Angels, Beware! come out. I think it will be my best collection so far.

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

I believe the website designer hails from the States, hence the apparent anomaly. I think it's not always good to take that Internet code information at face value for many reasons. I know that my IP address doesn't show my actual geographical location, for instance, but somewhere quite different.

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

Though he does hail from the USA originally, Brian J Showers lives in Dublin now and has for some time. Anyone unfamiliar with his book "The Bleeding Horse" really ought to look into it, especially if one's tastes run toward LeFanu. Further proof, as Quentin suggests, you can't trust everything you see online. I believe, since Yahoo is the registrar, the USA based info comes from their primary servers.

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

Brian J Showers is the Ex Occidente Press website designer?? It's a small world!
"The Bleeding Horse" is a great book, btw. I've always been into Le Fanu and I'm glad to see other writers write supernatural fiction in this vain.

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

I've never heard of Brian J. Showers, though he sounds very interesting. So I looked him up and bought his book. What's truly strange is that he's originally from where I live, Madison, Wisconsin. Small world indeed!

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

Peter Bell will be releasing a collection too. I can't say I've heard about Mr. Bell, but the description sounds interesting.
http://www.exocccidente.com/lightoftheworld.html

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

Peter Bell, another great writer who doesn't write nearly enough. I must go preorder this one immediately.

I hope everyone noticed the Joel Lane book in the "Future Titles" section. I'm quite excited to see that one.

I know at least four other writers who have books in the queue and whose names I'd love to share but until the books are announced it seems improper. You'll be excited -- not Ligotti-excited, but excited nonetheless.

Keep watching Ex Occidente over the next few months!

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

@nomis> Could you possibly tell a bit more about Peter Bell? I tried googling him, but his name seems to be too common for anything useful to come up. Perhaps my skills at googling are not too efficient.

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

Peter is an author, historian, critic, and all around scholar. Most of his work can be found in places such as WORMWOOD, ALL HALLOWS, and SUPERNATURAL TALES. He's a fan of Aickman's strange sensibility, and tries to bring that to his work. He's English, of course, as 90% of modern traditional weird authors seem to be.

I believe this Ex Occidente book will be his first collection.

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

Ah, yes. Now I remember his name - he wrote that very enlightening essay about Aickman as an anthologist in one of the more recent issues of Wormwood. Thank you!

The other magasines, I've only heard (good things) about. Aickmanesqueness is almost always an interesting thing in a writer.

Thanks for the information!

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

I just received my order from Ex Occidente Press, The Rite of Trebizond by Mark Valentine and Putting the Pieces in Place by R. B. Russell. Both are very attractive books. I contacted the publisher to compliment him on the books. In his response he mentioned a bit of info on the forthcoming Reggie Oliver collection, Madder Mysteries, saying,

"We are going to do something very special with "Madder Mysteries". The book should be out from the printers in maximum two weeks."

Such teasing words! I can hardly wait!

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

Madder Mysteries by Reggie Oliver has arrived from the printer's, I've been told.

It looks very handsome - some photos have been attached, I hope. I do not possess the technical skills needed for actually uploading them in the thread, I'm afraid.

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

I've finished reading the Reggie Oliver collection. I absolutely love it. I may write more in the Reggie Oliver thread.

Here are my (very few and disparate) thoughts on Ray Russel's collection PUTTING THE PIECES IN PLACE:



I'm quite impressed with - even more when I remember it's a debut. He seems to belong in the same field of weird fiction
as Walter de la Mare or L.P. Hartley - some Aickmanesque touches as well, but here, the confusion about the possible supernatural nature [sic] of the events seems to be created more by what's actually happening, the events in themselves, whereas a de la Mare or Aickman often uses language as a tool for hiding the nature of the events.

Russel is more straight forward in his prose. A very interesting collection, some quite (quietly) humorous as well, and the stories work incredibly well - some of the most well crafted I've read in quite some time.

Brilliant pacing of the events, the climax either being an ambivalent one, or the stories stopping just just before some kind of climax (if any) is reached.

"In Hiding" and "Dispossessed" (the latter one more in the vein of Ramsey Campbell and Aickman) are my favourites.

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

There are three new titles listed for publication; two in May and one in June.
A new Joel Lane and a (short though) new Mark Samuels! And a Louis Marvick with whom I am not familiar.

Ex Occidente Press - The Terrible Changes
Ex Occidente Press - The "Star" Ushak


Apparently, the frontispiece for this will be An Abandoned Town by Ferdnand Khnopff, recently discussed somewhere else on this forum.
Ex Occidente Press - The Man Who Collected Machen and Other Tales

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

I wasted no time placing my orders for these. I'm very excited about them both.

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

Some thumbnails of the new Jean Ray collection. A collection which should be imminent.

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

I own two volumes out of four of Jean Ray's complete fiction in French and I promised myself that I shall be reading him in the original language (since not much supernatural fiction that interests me was written in French), but this collection looks so nice I'm really having doubts I will be able to refrain myself from ordering a copy one day!

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

The Jean Ray looks particularly attractive; I've ordered one on the basis of having seen the wonderfully bound Reggie Oliver volume. The Claude Seignolle looks very promising too.

It's pleasing to see a publisher promote European writers; no offence to my Transatlantic cousins, but there has been some less than accurate or wholesome revisionism in the horror genre, mostly because reference books are published by American universities and academics, who are understandably keen to promote their own.

Yet the horror story has its roots founded very firmly in the European Gothic tradition; English ghost stories dominated the late Victorian and Edwardian period, when Colonialism was at its height. After WW2 horror fiction became grimmer, more realistic and more psychologically disturbing. With the exceptions of writers like Poe, Lovecraft, Hawthorne and Bierce, the vast majority of horror writers have been British and European - yet you wouldn't think so to judge from the modern-day genre reference book. Mediocre American writers past and present are now more highly praised than their superior European counterparts, either because the editor has a commercial interest in promoting them, or because they are cronies.

Ex Occidente Press seems to going some way towards correcting this absurd revisionism. Their approach to production quality and subject matter reminds me greatly of the Ghost Story Press (I discount Tartarus purely because of the uniformity of their books, and partly because some of their books aren't quite up to scratch on the production front; but they score reasonably well on subject choice, even if they often reprint already-widely available work).

There probably isn't an American small press operating today that would publish Robert Aickman were he unknown. The same would probably go for Reggie Oliver. In many ways Thomas Ligotti has a very European / British approach to writing. That's probably why such writers are proportionately more popular in the UK than in the US, where the Stephen Kings and Stephanie Meyers reign supreme. Europeans produce the more obscure and innovative artists - and nurture them more attentively - than the bigger, brasher more middle-brow USA. That's not to say that there aren't a significant number of astute, intellectual, appreciative American readers out there, just that the publishing and reading climate is subtly different, and for me, that is most visible through the average small press horror book which gets produced in the States, and the bizarre revisionism which is occuring in many reference books.

JK










JK

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

I'm quite happy to get some overlooked European writers out.

There are so many significant American writers today that I doubt your sentiments above to a certain extent.
Of course, weird fiction sprang from Europe at first, and dominated weird fiction up until at least the 1930's, possibly up until the 1950's or 1960's. But in the lat 50 or so years, I think there has been so many great American writers of weird fiction in the latter half of the 20th Century that I am uncertain that you completely right.

It would be interesting if you would name names?

Which academics write up which mediocre American writers and write down which brilliant European writers? Which reference books?I think it's a very interesting subject, but I don't follow the politics of the scene too closely.


Still, there do seem to be far more European small presses of quality; it seems that many American small presses are more interested in SF and Fantasy, though I haven't looked too closely at the subject, only following the Tartarus-, Ex Occidente- and Ash-Tree Presses (though, to a certain degree, PS Publishing too) regularly.

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

I think reading habits between the UK and the US are more similar than you think. A casual look at the UK's Sunday Times reveals that one of Stephen King's recent books, Cell, held the #1 position in the "Hardbacks: Fiction" section. That's pretty popular. Also on the Sunday Times list, Stephanie Meyer held four of the top five positions in the Children's / Young Adult list; Twilight was #1 with New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn in second, third and fifth place, respectively. It appears these authors "reign supreme" in the UK as well. So it seems they're not just an American phenomenon, for better or worse.

The Sunday Times bestsellers - Times Online

http://www.littlebrown.co.uk/NewsEve...stseller-sweep

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

In Denmark, it's luckily only Stephenie Meyer who rules supreme. King doesn't sell anymore.
Some years ago, an Englishwoman ruled supreme. That is, if anyone remembers Harry Potter?

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

I very rarely read modern writers. They just don't compare to the 'golden age' masters and mistresses.

Oh, I don't doubt that since WW2 that there have been a great many commercially successful US horror writers, but few can stand comparison to Walter de la Mare, William Hope Hodgson or M R James.

Unfortunately many superb writers from the pre WW2 era are becoming increasingly neglected in reference books to make way for decidely inferior modern writers. Perhaps the most glaring and extreme example of this pernicious revisionism is Wikipedia which has become more advertorial than encyclopediacal. Wikipedia is used by the vainglorious to promote themselves; its objectivity is almost as flawed as its accuracy.

I like EF Bleiler's and Donald Tuck's reference books because they are opinionated, authoritative and they don't personally know the authors they are writing about; in contrast, I despise the reference books of Joshi, Dziemianowicz et al because they are cronies and work colleagues of many of the people they claim to objectively study.

Good grief, I might be able to provide an interesting insight into the work of Reggie Oliver because we are friends who have often worked closely on various projects, but I'd be the last person to ask for an objective critique of his work. For a person to accurately analyse and judge another person or that person's work then they (the judge) need to be suitably qualified in addition to being suitably distanced from the subject matter.

For example, Michael Dirda is according to Google a highly respected journalist with one or two decent awards under his belt. However, how can we be expected to take his judgmental introduction of Barbara Roden's forthcoming book as objective when Mrs Roden has beeen posting messages like this to his Washington Post message board for several years?

"On which note, thank you to everyone here for providing such a delightful haven and recommending so many wondrous books. Special thanks, of course, to our gracious, erudite, and witty host; I'll spare his blushes and not mention his rugged (yet sensitive) good looks. Imagine Bob Hope singing 'Thanks For the Memories' as the light fades and the curtain falls.

Barbara Roden, Ashcroft, B.C."


Mr Dirda's credibility as a critic and a judge of her work has to be called into question. Now, had he never known Mrs Roden, but was so impressed by her work that he offered to endorse it with an unsolicited introduction, it would obviously carry more weight.

Similar subterfuges exist in the case of Joe Hill (son of Stephen King). Much is made of the lie that "no one" knew who Hill really was when he started garnering favourable reviews and awards for his horror stories, but this is a lie. Quite a lot of people knew who he was - well-connected people who both wrote the praiseworthy reviews and recommended him for awards. Yet this fact has been quietly air-brushed out from history lest people dare speculate that Mr Hill has been given preferential treatmet; certainly it isn't mentioned in reference books or on Wikipedia. No, the lie that no one knew whose son the mysterious Mr Hill realy was has been cleverly spun instead, creating a false urban myth.

It's this sort of cynical revisionism and duplicitous behaviour that for me undermines the contemporary horror scene. Reference books have gotten worse as has the writing (although there are always exceptions).

JK

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

It's this sort of cynical revisionism and duplicitous behaviour that for me undermines the contemporary horror scene. Reference books have gotten worse as has the writing (although there are always exceptions).

I seem to recall some remarks by William Burroughs about how the UK literary scene was disgustingly incestuous, with a handful of writers inviting each other onto their respective radio shows and reviewing each other's books.

I think the best way not to become disgusted with a scene or genre is to limit yourself to reading the texts, and certainly not to try and write and publish them, or take an interest in the 'personalities'.

Sometimes, however, it seems as if the only people left in the world who actually read anything anyway, are writers, making incest, to some degree, inevitable. I'm always very glad and grateful when I meet a reader who doesn't write or try to write. They are the only ones who save literature from being utterly disgusting.

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

Part of that at least has been the tenet of 'Nemonymous' since 2001 and my interest in 'The Intentional Fallacy ' since 1967.

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

Good point. It reminded me of that refrain from the end of The Smiths song: "Everybody's clever nowadays."

My personal concerns first started with fans of M R James authoring appalling Jamesian pastiches in the pre-internet days, but at least many of those were tongue-in-cheek and the authors didn't take themselves too seriously. But then along came the internet, and discussion groups sprang up everywhere, where fans could cluster around their favourite authors in the hope of launching their own careers. Soon even a cat with an eye-patch and an internet connection could start its own blog and publish its own website, which it would then market and plug in a succession of similar genre-specific message boards. As the costs of publishing tumbled each cat could take it in turn to publish its fellow felines to such an extent that now almost every discussion group is crammed full of furiously scribbling kittens each jostling for a back rub.

Good God, it's got to the stage now where some cats have worked out how to use a microphone and a tape recorder so they are inflicting their dreadful nocturnal caterwauling upon us via blogs, as if they were also genius musicians.

If I come across as ailurophobic it's probably because I am. For me the bottom line is this: anyone can get published these days, but unless an independent publisher (small press or mainstream) is prepared to shell out a few thousand quid to produce or market your work, rather than your mate running-off twenty copies at a time via a POD service, then you probably don't deserve to call yourself a writer or a musician.

A laptop, a keyboard and an internet connection does not make you an artist.

JK

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Julian Karswell (Post 19384) Quote: Originally Posted by qcrisp (Post 19376) It's this sort of cynical revisionism and duplicitous behaviour that for me undermines the contemporary horror scene. Reference books have gotten worse as has the writing (although there are always exceptions). I seem to recall some remarks by William Burroughs about how the UK literary scene was disgustingly incestuous, with a handful of writers inviting each other onto their respective radio shows and reviewing each other's books. I think the best way not to become disgusted with a scene or genre is to limit yourself to reading the texts, and certainly not to try and write and publish them, or take an interest in the 'personalities'. Sometimes, however, it seems as if the only people left in the world who actually read anything anyway, are writers, making incest, to some degree, inevitable. I'm always very glad and grateful when I meet a reader who doesn't write or try to write. They are the only ones who save literature from being utterly disgusting. Good point. It reminded me of that refrain from the end of The Smiths song: "Everybody's clever nowadays."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Julian Karswell (Post 19384) My personal concerns first started with fans of M R James authoring appalling Jamesian pastiches in the pre-internet days...

Damn right. Working on one of those right now - I shall be sure inflict it on the internet when its done – possibly even in audio format.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Julian Karswell (Post 19384) Good God, it's got to the stage now where some cats have worked out how to use a microphone and a tape recorder so they are inflicting their dreadful nocturnal caterwauling upon us via blogs, as if they were also genius musicians. If I come across as ailurophobic it's probably because I am. For me the bottom line is this: anyone can get published these days, but unless an independent publisher (small press or mainstream) is prepared to shell out a few thousand quid to produce or market your work, rather than your mate running-off twenty copies at a time via a POD service, then you probably don't deserve to call yourself a writer or a musician. A laptop, a keyboard and an internet connection does not make you an artist. JK

Technically it does- whether the cat/author is very good at what they do is another matter entirely (a very objective one at that). On a more serious answer I think the increase in such publications is connected with the seeming decrease in the old fashioned small scale horror and science fiction magazines.