About

John Stewart was a British artist specializing in intricate black & white line artwork. His art graced the pages of fanzines and professional journals in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror markets. He was also well known for his color work.

English writer John Metcalfe (1891-1965) was a major contributor to weird literature in the early decades of the twentieth century His two collections, The Smoking Leg and Other Stories (1925) and Judas and Other Stories (1931), contain an array of outstanding work Lovecraft thought that “The Bad Lands” contained “graduations of horror that strongly savour of genius.” The story may well have been an inspiration upon Lovecraft's own tale of regional horror, “The Colour Out of Space.” Metcalfe's work is unique in fusing supernatural and psychological horror, and the author is also adept in depicting social and domestic strife. “The Tunnel” is a chilling narrative of psychological horror about a man who perennially seeks to escape from unjust imprisonment.

N “Time-Fuse,” an experiment in spiritualism goes hideously wrong at the end. “The Firing-Chamber” tells of a cleric who becomes so fascinated with the accidental death of a man in a firing-chamber that he is impelled to undergo the experience himself…with unexpected results In the 1950s Metcalfe compiled a third volume, The Feasting Dead and Other Stories, and offered it to August Derleth of Arkham House erleth published the title novella (a superb vampire tale) as a separate book and included other tales from the collection in his anthologies.

Some of these tales venture into the genre of science fiction, while “Beyondaril” is an effective tale of fate and precognition his volume collects for the first time the complete short fiction of this skilled and distinctive writer, including numerous previously unpublished stories that Metcalfe wrote late in life This collection is enclosed in a handsome slipcase with ribbon marker and interior illustrations by Rainer Kalwitz, and a stunning dustjacket by Ben Baldwin.

THe complete contents are shown below The edition is limited to 400 signed and numbered copies, with around 20 unsigned copies ach copy is signed by S.

Edition Details

• Limited to 400 copies, each signed by S. T. Joshi with a facsimile signature by John Metcalfe.
• Slipcase, head and tail bands, full color wraparound dustjacket art.

Trivia

John Metcalfe's collection is more than a decade in making. The book came out in November 2024. However, editor S. T. Joshi became interested in compiling Metcalfe more than a decade ago as he mentioned in his blog on June 18, 2010:

I have become interested in the work of the British horror writer John Metcalfe, and may decide to assemble a comprehensive volume of his weird tales. Ash-Tree Press has already issued Nightmare Jack and Other Stories (1998), but this volume is long out of print and commanding fabulous prices on the used-book market, much higher prices, indeed, than the original editions of Metcalfe's own collections, The Smoking Leg (1925) and Judas and Other Stories (1931). [I once owned the original British edition of The Smoking Leg, but left it on an Amtrak train years ago!] Metcalfe is, of course, also the author of the effective werewolf novella The Feasting Dead (Arkham House, 1954). , S. T. Joshi, June 18, 2010

In January 29, 2011 he mentioned on his blog about the progress on this book as below:

Jerad Walters of Centipede Press has been kind enough to express interest in a major collection of the weird writings of British supernaturalist John Metcalfe. This volume, currently being assembled by David E. Schultz and myself, will contain all of Metcalfe's supernatural writings, both from his early collections, The Smoking Leg and Other Stories (1925) and Judas and Other Stories (1931), and uncollected stories, including the short novel The Feasting Dead (1954). , S. T. Joshi, January 29, 2011

And finally this quote from April 17, 2013 confirms that the text files were sent to Centipede Press. Out of other books mentioned, J Sheridan Le Fanu is yet to come.

I have assembled omnibuses of the work of David Case, Fred Chappell, John Metcalfe, Sax Rohmer, Dennis Etchison, Robert W. Chambers, and J. Sheridan Le Fanu, and am working on omnibuses of E. F. Benson and Robert Aickman (assuming that Centipede can get permission from Aickman's agents). , S. T. Joshi, April 17, 2013