MIDNIGHT NEVER COMES

Octavo, original cloth, dust wrapper. xii + 223 pp. Dust Jacket illustration by Bob Suggs. A fine copy in a fine dust wrapper. In 1961, ghost story writer H.R. Wakefield stated bluntly, 'I believe ghost story writing to be a dying art . . .' This pessimistic statement has been echoed down through the decades since the Second World War, an event which, for many, seems to signify the end of the Golden Age of ghost stories. Are those people correct who claim that the modern world, with its all-too-real technological horrors, is no place for the ghost story, with its seemingly gentler terrors? Or is there still room today for tales that frighten without recourse to gruesome 'special effects', designed simply to appeal to a more and more jaded audience? Midnight Never Comes, the first anthology of all-new stories from Ash-Tree Press, clearly shows that the art of the ghost story is very much alive and well, and ready to enter the next century. Gathered together here are seventeen stories by contemporary writers in the genre, designed to prove that the traditional supernatural tale is far from a dying art. In a variety of styles and settings, the authors explore that dark world which, in these stories, exists beside-and often intrudes upon-our own, with results that range from the terrifying to the humorous. This is a collection of supernatural tales which will delight long-time enthusiasts of the genre, and at the same time show that there is something new under the sun, and that reports of the ghost-story's demise are very much premature. Contents: Stephen Volk: 'The Latin Master'; Colin Mackay: 'Mary King's Close'; Michael Chislett 'St Asphodel and St Jonquil'; 'Tina Rath: '"Father" O'Flynn and the Fressingfold Friezes'; Terry Lamsley: 'The Snug'; Rosemary Pardoe: 'The Sheelagh-na-gig'; John Whitbourn: 'Bury My Heart at Southerham (East Sussex); Jonathan Aycliffe: 'The Scent of Oranges'; Marni Griffin: 'Outside the Gates'; David G. Rowlands: 'The Galilean'; Ron Weighell: 'The Mouth of the Medusa'; G.W. Howarth: 'The Chinese Scholar'; Steve Burt: 'The Mason's Leech'; Rhys Hughes: 'Journey Through a Wall'; Simon Clark: 'Swallowing a Dirty Seed'; Jesse F. Knight: 'To Capture a Perfect Wave'; Steve Duffy: 'The Marsh Warden'.…