![]() Dust-jacket illustration by Frank Utpatel for Someone in the Dark | |
Author | August Derleth |
---|---|
Cover artist | Frank Utpatel |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Genre | Fantasy, horror |
Publisher | Arkham House |
Publication date | 1941 |
Published in English | none |
Media type | Print (hardback) |
Pages | 335 |
Someone in the Dark is a collection of fantasy and horror short stories by author August Derleth. It was released in 1941 and was the second book published by Arkham House. 1,115 copies were printed, priced at $2.00. In Thirty Years of Arkham House , Derleth implied that this title had sold out by the end of 1944.
However, more than twenty years later, in 1967, Derleth listed Someone in the Dark in an Arkham House bulletin with this announcement: "We have acquired a small stock of this title, Derleth's first collection of macabre tales, published in 1941. They will be sold at $5.00 the copy to patrons interested in acquiring the book..." Derleth was being disingenuous in suggesting these 'unearthed' copies were the 1941 edition. The additional 300 copies were printed in offset by Hunter Publishing Co. in Winston-Salem in 1965, the reprint probably authorized by Derleth himself. (In The Arkham House Companion, Sheldon Jaffery quotes a letter that seems to indicate this). The 1965 reprint are a quarter-inch higher than the originals, and are bound with headbands (not present in the 1941 first editions).
The 1965 edition is scarce. While it is not generally considered an official Arkham House publication, it is considered an essential acquisition for Arkham House completists.
A paperback reprint was issued by Jove Books in 1978. [1]
Someone in the Dark contains the following tales:
E. F. Bleiler noted that "the local, regionalistic American stories are best, while those in imitation of Lovecraft are weakest". [2] New York Times reviewer Louise Maunsell Field gave the collection a relatively favorable review, saying that "The stories are for the most part well told, and lovers of tales of the occult will find the volume entertaining and congenial, although it has little of either sensitivity or beauty." [3] Thrilling Wonder Stories commented that "Mr. Derleth writes quietly and with restraint, in beautifully measured sentences that stick to the essentials of the story he has to tell. His very restraint sometimes plays a trick on him -- and makes his writing appear at time to lack fire". [4]
Arkham House is an American publishing house specializing in weird fiction. It was founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin, in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to publish hardcover collections of H. P. Lovecraft's best works, which had previously been published only in pulp magazines. The company's name is derived from Lovecraft's fictional New England city, Arkham, Massachusetts. Arkham House editions are noted for the quality of their printing and binding. The colophon for Arkham House was designed by Frank Utpatel.
Dark Carnival is a short story collection by American writer Ray Bradbury, first published October 1947 by Arkham House. It was his debut book, and many of the stories were reprinted elsewhere.
The Outsider and Others is a collection of stories by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was released in 1939 and was the first book published by Arkham House. 1,268 copies were printed. It went out of print early in 1944 and has never been reprinted.
Marginalia is a collection of Fantasy, Horror and Science fiction short stories, essays, biography and poetry by and about the American author H. P. Lovecraft. It was released in 1944 and was the third collection of Lovecraft's work published by Arkham House. 2,035 copies were printed.
The Dunwich Horror and Others is a collection of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories by American author H. P. Lovecraft. It was originally published in 1963 by Arkham House in an edition of 3,133 copies.
Dagon and Other Macabre Tales is a collection of stories by American author H. P. Lovecraft, which also includes his essay on weird fiction, "Supernatural Horror in Literature". It was originally published in 1965 by Arkham House in an edition of 3,471 copies. The true first edition, unlike some other first editions of Lovecraft collections issued by Arkham House in the mid-sixties, is bound with head- and tailbands.
Out of Space and Time is a collection of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories by American writer Clark Ashton Smith. It was released in 1942 and was the third book published by Arkham House. 1,054 copies were printed. A British hardcover appeared from Neville Spearman in 1971, with a two-volume paperback reprint following from Panther Books in 1974. Bison Books issued a trade paperback edition in 2006.
Something Near is a collection of fantasy and horror short stories by American writer August Derleth. It was released in 1945 and was the author's second book published by Arkham House. 2,054 copies were printed. The collection has never been reprinted.
The Hounds of Tindalos is a collection of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories by American writer Frank Belknap Long. It was released in 1946 and was the author's third book. It was published by Arkham House in an edition of 2,602 copies with cover art by Hannes Bok. A British hardcover was issued by Museum Press in 1950. Belmont Books reprinted The Hounds of Tindalos in two paperback volumes, The Hounds of Tindalos (1963) and The Dark Beasts (1964), omitting three stories; Panther Books issued a complete two-volume British paperback edition as The Hounds of Tindalos (1975) and The Black Druid (1975).
The Survivor and Others is a collection of fantasy and horror short stories by American writer August Derleth. It was released in an edition of 2,096 copies. It was reissued in paperback by Ballantine Books in 1962 and 1971. The stories were based on and inspired by unused ideas of H. P. Lovecraft, and billed as "posthumous collaborations" with him. Derleth was in fact Lovecraft's literary executor after the latter's death in 1937.
Lonesome Places is a collection of fantasy and horror short stories by American author August Derleth. It was released in 1962 by Arkham House in an edition of 2,201 copies and was Derleth's fifth collection of weird tales. The collection contains the stories that Derleth believed to be his best of the preceding 15 years.
Dark Mind, Dark Heart is an anthology of horror stories edited by American writer August Derleth. It was released in 1962 by Arkham House in an edition of 2,493 copies. The anthology was conceived as a collection of new stories by old Arkham House authors. The anthology is also notable for including the first Cthulhu Mythos story by Ramsey Campbell.
Mr. George and Other Odd Persons is a collection of fantasy and horror short stories by American author August Derleth, written under the pseudonym of Stephen Grendon. It was released in 1963 by Arkham House in an edition of 2,546 copies. Most of the stories had appeared previously in the magazine Weird Tales. Two appeared in The Arkham Sampler. The title story was dramatized for the Thriller TV series.
The Inhabitant of the Lake and Less Welcome Tenants is a collection of fantasy and horror short stories by British author J. Ramsey Campbell, who dropped the initial from his name in subsequent publications. It was released in 1964 by Arkham House in an edition of 2,009 copies and was the author's first book. The stories are part of the Cthulhu Mythos. Campbell had originally written his introduction to be included in the book The Dark Brotherhood and Other Pieces under the title "Cthulhu in Britain". However, Arkham's editor, August Derleth, decided to use it here.
Harrigan's File is a collection of stories by American writer August Derleth. It was released in 1975 by Arkham House in an edition of 4,102 copies. The book collects all of Derleth's science fiction. The stories are about newspaper reporter Tex Harrigan.
Dwellers in Darkness is a collection of stories by American writer August Derleth. It was released in 1976 by Arkham House in an edition of 3,926 copies. It was the author's eighth collection of stories published by Arkham House. Two stories from Derleth's Judge Peck series are included in the collection. Also included is "Ghost Lake", the last story completed by Derleth before he died in 1971.
"In Re: Sherlock Holmes"—The Adventures of Solar Pons is a collection of detective fiction short stories by American writer August Derleth. It was released in 1945 by Mycroft & Moran in an edition of 3,604 copies. It was the first book issued under the Mycroft & Moran imprint. The book is the first collection of Derleth's Solar Pons stories. The stories are pastiches of the Sherlock Holmes tales of Arthur Conan Doyle.
Three Problems for Solar Pons is a collection of detective fiction short stories by American writer August Derleth. It was released in 1952 by Mycroft & Moran in an edition of 996 copies. It was the third collection of Derleth's Solar Pons stories which are pastiches of the Sherlock Holmes tales of Arthur Conan Doyle. The book was intended as an interim collection and all the stories are reprinted in The Return of Solar Pons. Because of the low print run, it is the scarcest Mycroft & Moran book.
The Casebook of Solar Pons is a collection of detective fiction short stories by American writer August Derleth. It was released in 1965 by Mycroft & Moran in an edition of 3,020 copies. It was the sixth collection of Derleth's Solar Pons stories which are pastiches of the Sherlock Holmes tales of Arthur Conan Doyle.
A Praed Street Dossier is a collection of detective fiction short stories, essays and marginalia by author August Derleth. It was released in 1968 by Mycroft & Moran in an edition of 2,904 copies. It was an associational collection to Derleth's Solar Pons series of pastiches of the Sherlock Holmes tales of Arthur Conan Doyle. The two science fiction stories, "The Adventure of the Snitch in Time" and "The Adventure of the Ball of Nostradamus", written with Mack Reynolds, were originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.