Joel Lane

[YellowJester]

The death of Joel Lane is indeed a sad loss, not only for those who knew him personally (a number that unfortunately I cannot count myself among) but also for ghost and gothic literature. Indeed, his contributions to these genres elevated their literary standing for over twenty-five years. All appraisal of this species of writing is now lessened by his absence. I recall marveling at the enviable and especially the urbane quality of his fiction in British fanzines as early as the 1980s, when he appeared in such publications as David Sutton and Stephen Jones’s Fantasy Tales and anthologies including Karl Edward Wagner’s Year’s Best Horror Stories. As I’ve remarked in interviews and elsewhere, I’ve always had a special admiration and appetite for British horror and ghost fiction, and Joel Lane was a master among his peers in that country. I also admired Joel as a literary critic. Among several examples of his critical acumen I relished was his essay on Robert Bloch’s contribution to the Cthulhu Mythos in the novel Strange Eons. This consideration of what is perhaps the best of Bloch’s novels stirred me to read and admire this work, which I had acquired from its publisher (Stuart Schiff’s Whispers Press) but had not yet read. On a personal note, I’ll always remember Joel’s extensive review of my omnibus collection The Nightmare Factory. His opening comment on the stories of mine that first appeared in this volume was simply the following: “They are excellent.” Coming from Joel, I felt confident that these new stories had succeeded, and a number of them have been since counted among my better works. I regret that I never communicated the appreciation and respect I held for him throughout his career.

[qcrisp]

I didn't know Joel well, but thought it might be worth recounting a little of my impression of him.

It must have been at John B. Ford's wedding that I first met Joel - I can't remember the year. What does stick in my mind was the conversation. We spoke a little about Lovecraft. I remember Joel saying:

"Lovecraft was a great writer, but sometimes he would write things that were incoherent. 'A glimpse of forbidden aeons' - how can you forbid an aeon? Or... [from 'The Haunter of the Dark'] 'the nave of the church was an almost eldritch place'. Why 'almost'? It sounded pretty ####ing eldritch to me. What more would it need to make it actually eldritch?"

This was characteristic of the conversation I had with him on the few times I met him - the humour, the love of obscure detail, and the playful sensitivity to words and their meaning.

The last time I met him was in Brighton in 2012. As I recall, he bought a copy of Jeremy Reed's Here Comes the Nice from the Chomu Press stall. He had bought other books from the stall that year and the year before. This is a small detail, perhaps, but these days, someone who can happily part with money for books (not as common as might be expected among writers, publishers and so on), and do so with an air of enthusiasm rather than 'I am dutifully supporting the small press' makes a favourable impression on me. I was also favourably impressed by his choices, and his obvious willingness (again, not as common as might be expected) to read outside the usual scene. In a brief conversation he proved himself very knowledgeable on the works of Jeremy Reed, and ended up by remarking that one review of a collection of Reed's poetry (featuring, among other things, a description of a penis as a purple banana) had been written under the heading 'Marooned'. I mention this, as it reminds me of the love of wordplay that he had shown at our first meeting.

I have read very little of Joel's work. The Terrible Changes and From Blue to Black sit on my shelves as yet unread, and I wish I didn't have to say I will read them only after the author has left this world.

[Nemonymous]

Some beautiful tributes above (thanks!) and elsewhere on the Internet.
A few of my own real-time memories in the comment stream here: My Joel Lane Reviews | DF Lewiss Gestalt Real-Time Reviews

[Sand]

I agree, Des. It's heartening (but also heart-breaking) to see how many lives Joel touched.

I have added a personal tribute by John Howard to Wormwoodiana.

[Nemonymous]

The witness has gone. Or he has stayed and we have gone.

[MadsPLP]

Joel Lane was one of my favourites within and without the weird fiction genre. Always poignant, always thoughtful. His essays on other writers were superb, often highlightning overlooked aspects in their writing; they made you think, "Hey, why didn't I think of that before?"; the reason was, of course, that there was only one Joel Lane, and now there is none, and that's utterly sad.

[nomis]

Quote Originally Posted by MadsPLP

...the reason was, of course, that there was only one Joel Lane, and now there is none...

That's absolutely crushing, Mads.

[Allyson]

Rosanne Rabinowitz has written a wonderful tribute and has added some others at the botton of the page

Joel Lane 1963-2013: “There’s always a link between deprivation and fantasy.� | Rosanne Rabinowitz ays-a-link-between-deprivation-and-fantasy/

It has been an awful week ....full of battles, grief and disappointment for me. I really miss Joel.

[J B Marcus]

I was unaware of Joel's work until I received an email from a publisher announcing his death. I investigated further and found him to be a writer of similar work to Mr Ligotti and R B Russell. Sad how it takes someone's death to flag to one that they existed in the first place.

[Allyson]

I've just found out via Steve Green, one of Joel's closest friends... 'I've spoken to Robin Hood Crematorium and confirmed that Joel Lane's service has been booked for 3pm on Monday, 23 December.'

I expect there will be an official announcement soon.