| Author | Message | ||
     R.B. Russell (Tartarusrussell) Username: Tartarusrussell Registered: 02-2010 Posted From: 86.141.53.46 |
Tartarus Press will be amongst those participating in the Halifax Ghost Story Festival on 29th-31st October, 2010. The venue is Dean Clough, Halifax, West Yorkshire. Tartarus will be at the festival on the 30th, 11am-1pm, in the project room. We have a number of items planned which will be confirmed in the coming week. This will be a free event, but you will need to book tickets in advance. Details will be available soon. In addition, 7-9pm in the Viaduct cafe, I'm meant to be appearing with Jeremy Dyson to talk about Robert Aickman. There will also be a screening of The Cicerones. Tickets will be £5, and will be on sale from 12th September. Hopefully some RCMBers will be able to make it? All the best Ray | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 88.104.135.73 |
Going to try, Ray! | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
Oooo, this sounds interesting - local to me too. I must admit, I didn't know Halifax had a Ghost Story Festival. Is there a website for booking, etc, Ray? | ||
| R.B. Russell (Tartarusrussell) Username: Tartarusrussell Registered: 02-2010 Posted From: 86.141.53.46 |
It's their first ever festival, I believe. I visited Dean Clough last week and it's an amazing venue. The official website should be up this week and the address will be: http://www.halifax-ghost-story-festival.org.uk The above is from their flier, which says that to be kept informed people can either phone 01422 250250 or email them at: pressoffice@deanclough.com I'll be adding info to my own page at http://www.tartaruspress.com/halifax.htm There should be readings, talks, book launches, artwork etc. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
Yes, this is local to me, too - I'm in Pudsey, which is also in West Yorks. I'll check my diary, and endevour to get there on the Saturday. | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.152.74.159 |
Too far away for us, sadly. | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
>>Yes, this is local to me, too - I'm in Pudsey, which is also in West Yorks.<< Speaking of which, I thought of you yesterday, Zed - when I was at New Pudsey train station en route to a Doctor Who convention in Sheffield.  | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
Oh, sorry Ray - I meant to say thanks for the info. Isn't this the same weekend as Grimmfest in Manchester? If so, I think I'm more likely to make it to Halifax than Manchester at that time of year. John/Kate - you should pull out all the stops to get up here. Nothing beats West Yorkshire for ghostly happenings! | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
Caroline - due to a geographical absurdity, New Pudsey Station is actually about amile away from Pudsey itself. But it was nice of you to think of me.  | ||
| R.B. Russell (Tartarusrussell) Username: Tartarusrussell Registered: 02-2010 Posted From: 86.141.53.46 |
It would be great if you could make it, Ally, Gary and Caroline. And anyone else, of course. The latest news is that Reggie Oliver will be reading his new story "Minos or Rhadamanthus" as a part of the Tartarus Press program at the Festival. | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
Oh wow! I missed seeing Reggie Oliver at WHC (or was it the last FCon, or both?) and I'd love to hear him read live. This is now an absolute must for me. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.171.129.71 |
Ahh. Dean Clough. For a while I used to work there in the dim and distant past (the late 80s), prepping the art studio for visiting installation artists. Tossers, mostly. Imagine Andy Warhol via Jackson Pollock via the Saatchis and you've got the majority of top end hucksters who plied their bullshit there for monumentally stupid fees. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.171.129.71 |
In fact, technically, the first thing I ever got published wound up in a limited edition hardcover art book, as I (along with a couple of other guys) created the visual apect of one US artist's display for him. And no, of course we didn't get copies of the book. We were just grunts, slave labour. Weren't even allowed to keep the faxed (as was the way in those days) scribblings of said artist, as the director insisted on keeping them towards aiding his early retirement. Up the revolution! | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.171.129.71 |
The one perk of the job was getting to meet the artists on occasion and seeing how pretentious you could get them to be with you before they realised you were low-end staff and taking the piss. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.171.129.71 |
And the less said about the owner of Dean Clough, Mr (now Sir, after much Tory party donating, a coincidence, I'm sure) E Hall - and his horrible son the better. | ||
| R.B. Russell (Tartarusrussell) Username: Tartarusrussell Registered: 02-2010 Posted From: 86.141.53.46 |
Gosh, the name "Dean Clough" obviously reopened a very painful old wound for you Mark. All I can say is that thirty years later the people I've met and dealt with at Dean Clough have been friendly, very accommodating, and totally unpretentious. (The big Abram Games show they have up at the moment is great, and Tom Flint's artwork is very interesting, especially for anyone into horror.) If you are able to come along to the Festival hopefully some old ghosts might be exorcised... | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
But you're not at all bitter about it, eh Mark?  | ||
| R.B. Russell (Tartarusrussell) Username: Tartarusrussell Registered: 02-2010 Posted From: 86.141.53.46 |
I'm really pleased to announce that Dr Gail-Nina Anderson will be participating in the Tartarus part of the program in the Halifax Ghost Story Festival with an illustrated talk: The Ghost in the Grave – a haunting image that won’t stay buried. Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti went on painting his wife Lizzie Siddal even after her death and burial. Images of her continue to provoke a growing mythology about love, loss and morbid beauty. A network of connections has grown up, drawing these representations onto a wider canvas of Victorian obsessions and superstitions. This illustrated talk explores a web of weird references which has spread to include Dracula, Jack the Ripper, Edgar Allan Poe and strange nocturnal happenings in Highgate cemetery. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.171.129.69 |
The place did send a shiver of dread down me, Zed! But that was back in Thatcherite Britain. In fact, she came and opened something there, I remember. Never saw her in person myself but apparently she's quite short. I would like to get across but I'll be in Kent. Pity. Sounds fun. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.23.61.249 |
Yes, short of wisdom. Short of brains. Short of humanity. | ||
| R.B. Russell (Tartarusrussell) Username: Tartarusrussell Registered: 02-2010 Posted From: 86.141.53.46 |
We will reclaim the reputation of Dean Clough! Folks here might like to know that Mark Valentine is the latest to be confirmed for the Tartarus thread at the Halifax Ghost Story Festival. He'll be giving a talk on W.F. Harvey. http://www.tartaruspress.com/halifax.htm | ||
| Mark_samuels (Mark_samuels) Username: Mark_samuels Registered: 04-2010 Posted From: 86.135.209.40 |
Wish I could afford to get along to this, it sounds great! Anyway, I hope it's a marvellous success. Mark S. | ||
| R.B. Russell (Tartarusrussell) Username: Tartarusrussell Registered: 02-2010 Posted From: 86.141.48.204 |
Mark Lynch might like to know that I visited Dean Clough in Halifax again today and I carefully brought up the subject of Sir E. Hall... Several current members of staff joined in the conversation - the man is still universally hated, loathed and despised. Mark - they insisted that you are entirely justified in all of your comments! | ||
| R.B. Russell (Tartarusrussell) Username: Tartarusrussell Registered: 02-2010 Posted From: 86.141.78.55 |
A quick update for anyone interested in the Ghost Story Festival in Halifax... Along with the previously announced talks and readings by Mark Valentine, Gail-Nina Anderson, Reggie Oliver and Jeremy Dyson, Tartarus will be launching the first of its Robert Aickman reprints: http://www.tartaruspress.com/aickmansubrosa.htm There will also be promotional paperback of Aickman's story, "The Inner Room", published in association with the festival: http://www.tartaruspress.com/aickmaninnerroom.htm Among the artwork on display in the gallery will also be Stephen J Clark'swonderful colour illustrations for the Aickman volumes, and a retrospective of some of the illustrations for the front covers of Tartarus books: http://www.thesinginggarden.co.uk/ http://www.tartaruspress.com/illustrations.htm All best wishes, Ray | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.55 |
Can one of you small press folkses here look at printing a definitive collection of Davis Grubb's short stories? I'd buy that one for definite. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.68 |
I wish I could be at the Halifax event, but I've two events of my own over that weekend. | ||
| R.B. Russell (Tartarusrussell) Username: Tartarusrussell Registered: 02-2010 Posted From: 86.141.78.55 |
It would've been good to see you there, Ramsey. It is intended to make the Halifax event a annual one, though, so perhaps next year? (The only problem is that Halloween is always going to be a busy time for those of us with spooky tastes . . .) | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.68 |
Well, do put the organisers in touch with me if you like, Ray, though I've already got one event booked for Halloween 2011! | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
I already have my tickets for the Halifax "bash", and I'm really looking forward to it. Hey, Ray, when I spoke to Reggie Oliver at FCon, he said that you've got a new collection of his coming out shortly. Will that be published in time for/available at Halifax? If so, I'll be wanting a copy. | ||
| R.B. Russell (Tartarusrussell) Username: Tartarusrussell Registered: 02-2010 Posted From: 86.141.78.55 |
Will do, Ramsey! Hi Caroline - our collection of stories by Reggie is likely to be launched at Fantasycon 2011, so there's a while to wait, unfortunately. | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
Oh dear, a long time to wait then. Never mind. I won't be at FCon 2011 - too far to travel - so I'll have to keep an eye on your website and pre-order when possible. So far, I've managed to miss all his collections - so I'm not going to miss this one! | ||
| Matthew Fryer (Matthew_fryer) Username: Matthew_fryer Registered: 08-2009 Posted From: 90.202.180.87 |
This sounds like a great event, and not too far from me. Very tempting... | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 92.232.199.129 |
Just bumping this thread back up to the top again, and wondering if anyone from the RCMB is going to this this coming weekend? Only I'll look out for you and say "hi" if you are. Looking forward to the event ... (PS: Look out for a short, middle-aged, plump lady with short curly hair and wearing glasses - it might be me!  ) | ||
| R.B. Russell (Tartarusrussell) Username: Tartarusrussell Registered: 02-2010 Posted From: 86.142.87.144 |
Do introduce yourself Caroline! All the best Ray | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 92.232.199.129 |
I certainly will do, Ray. | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 92.232.199.129 |
Well, I had a great time at the Halifax Ghost Story Festival at the weekend. Here's what I got up to, who I saw and what I thought about it ... First up for me was the Saturday morning Tartarus Press event - great to meet you, Ray. We had an interesting talk by Mark Valentine about the ghost stories of WF Harvey, an illuminating Powerpoint-illustrated talk about portraits of people "at the point of death" by an art historian (whose name I've forgotten - Ray, can you remind me who she is if you read this?), and the highlight for me - a Reggie Oliver reading. Now, he was reading the same story he'd read at FantasyCon and I thought I'd probably not enjoy it as much the second time round as, of course, I knew the ending. But I must say I found something new in it even then, and it again elicited a gasp from the audience at the final denoument. A truly brilliant story! Then I had one of my "idotic nerd" moments. I found myself standing next to Reggie and his wife in the cafe queue for lunch. You know how it is when you're quite shy, and somewhat in awe of the person standing next to you, you really want to say something sensible but you just don't know what to say? Well, the only thing I could think of to say to him was about how expensive his books were to buy! I mean, he must think I'm an absolute numpty! But, apparently, the collection which Tartarus are bringing out next year is going to be "more affordable". Please, Ray, make it so as I'm longing to own a Reggie Oliver collection. Oh, I did buy from Reggie a couple of signed chapbooks containing single stories - A Christmas Card and Bloody Bill. Read them both last night - wonderful! Next, there was quite a lengthy break so, as well as reading Simon Unsworth's chapbook about strange goings-on at the Pennine Tower Restaurant, I also took time out to look at some of the artwork on display in the gallery at the venue. I particularly enjoyed the "Drawing Blood" exhibition containing some fantastic artwork by Ray Russell and others (again, names have left me - perhaps you could enlighten us, Ray?). Let me say something about the venue too. Dean Clough Mills at Halifax is a great venue for the festival. I'd never been there before, so I was really pleased to see the way they've turned a once derelict textile mill complex into a fantastic self-contained "village" with art gallery, theatre, from what I can make out some thriving small business units, and even a Travelodge! The whole place has a fantastic "feel" to it - and it was just the right kind of venue for this event. Indeed, some parts of the place are pretty spooky in themselves! On to the late afternoon and evening's entertainment, which comprised three great contemporary ghost story readings from Mark Morris, Conrad Williams and Nick Royle, and Steve Volk showed us an excerpt from his TV series "Afterlife". This was followed by Jeremy Dyson ("League of Gentlemen") reading Robert Aickman's "The Inner Room". Oh, I forgot to say, I'd bought a copy of this special Halifax Ghost Story Festival "chapbook" of this story from Tartarus in the morning. The word "chapbook" is in inverted commas in this case, as Tartarus publications - even of single stories like this - are far too well-produced/well-presented to be called simple chapbooks! Anyway, I confess I'm not too familiar with Aickman's writing, but I thoroughly enjoyed this reading from Jeremy Dyson. The story is certainly one which leaves the reader thinking and haunts you afterwards, and it really made me want to seek out more of Aickman's work. I know you people here speak very highly of him too. By this time, I was exhausted so I didn't stay for a screening of Dyson's short film, "The Cicerones". I'd seen it a couple of years ago at the Fantastic Films Weekend in Bradford. I loved it then, and I wanted to see it again as I was sure I'd find even more in it second time around, but I feared I wouldn't be able to drive home safely if I didn't leave the event then as I was getting way too tired. Right, I'm going to post this message - which is getting much too long - and then cover Sunday in a separate post ... | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 92.232.199.129 |
OK, Sunday at Halifax Ghost Story Festival ... I only went to the afternoon/early evening session, which was devoted to Lawrence Gordon Clark's "Ghost Stories for Christmas", specifically the MR James ones. We saw "Lost Hearts" (my favourite), "The Treasure of Abbott (spelling??) Thomas" and "A Warning to the Curious". "The Ash Tree" was also due to be shown, but sadly they had a technical hitch when the film, borrowed from the BFI, broke. I'd seen all of these a few years ago on the big screen, again at Bradford's Fantastic Films Weekend, but it didn't matter as they're such great productions I can never get enough of these! (of course, I've seen them on telly a few times too) The great man, Lawrence Gordon Clark, was there himself too, for an interview in between screenings. Again, I've seen him interviewed before on stage at the aforementioned Fantastic Films Weekend, but that wasn't a problem - he's a really interesting guy and it was lovely to see him again. So that was it for me. There were other events going on during the course of the festival, but those were the ones I went too. It was lovely to meet Ray, to see Ally again, and I must say a few words about a lovely couple who many of you will know - David and Linden Riley. Somehow, they managed to make me feel like I'd known them for years, even though we'd only just met - a delightful couple. Thank you both very much for your company at the event. Anyway, I do hope they do another Ghost Story Festival at Dean Clough, Halifax next year - I'm already looking forward to it! Honestly, if you didn't make it to this one, keep an eye out for information about the next one - you'll love it. | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 92.232.199.129 |
>>but those were the ones I went too<< Argh! Silly typo there - sorry. |