Description
Few books ever become loved. Most linger on, undead-their sallow pages labyrinths of brittle stories and forgotten knowledge. And other things, besides... Paper-pale forms that rustle through their leaves. Ink-dark shapes swarming beneath faded type. And an invitation... Harris delights in collecting the unloved. He wonders if you'd care to donate. A small something for the odd, pale children. An old book, perchance? Neat is sweet; battered is better. Broken spine or torn binding, stained or scarred. And if you've left a little of yourself between the pages - a receipt or ticket, a mislaid letter, a scrawled number - that's just perfect. He might call on you again. To hell and back again (and again) through Whitby, Scarborough and the Yorkshire Moors. Enjoy your Mobius-trip.
Pulped fiction just got a whole lot scarier
About the Author
Bartholomew Bennett was born in Leicester to an American father and English mother. Since childhood he has been a dedicated reader of all manner of books, but especially tales of 'horror'. He has a First Class Honours degree in Literature from the University of East Anglia and is a longstanding member of Leather Lane Writers Group. He has had various jobs: primarily software developer, but also tutor, nanny, data-entry clerk, call-centre rep, decorator and handy-man. He has also been known to dabble in online bookselling. Currently he lives in southeast London with his wife and two children. And in fact, some of the paper-packed rooms that feature in The Pale Ones bear a remarkable resemblance to locales in his own abode...
Reviews
"The nameless narrator of Bartholomew Bennett's The Pale Ones is a washed-up thirtysomething whose girlfriend has left him and fled to Japan. Trawling charity shops for valuable books and selling them online, he meets a fellow dealer and is drawn into an ambiguous relationship with the obnoxious Harris. They leave London and head north, ostensibly to collect books from charity shops and split the proceeds. But Harris has a mesmerising hold over people - our narrator included - and takes more than he gives. Bennett's short novel is notable for the gradual, creeping unease with which he imbues a series of apparently mundane events, bringing to mind the subtle horrors of Robert Aickman's short stories. The leisurely, unsettling narrative includes some startlingly graphic images: 'The helix of his left ear partially eaten away by a sore the colour of a waterlogged raisin.' The Pale Ones is an impressive debut." - The Guardian; "The Pale Ones unsettles in the way of a parable by some contemporary, edgeland Lovecraft. The unnerving images which flicker in a sagging English landscape of charity shops, seaside bed and breakfasts and amusement arcades linger in my imagination ages after reading." - Anthony Cartwright, author of Heartland, BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime; "What begins as a dark comedy of book collecting gradually accumulates a profound sense of occult dread, which lingers long after the book is finished. It's a real addition to the literature of the uncanny and an impressive debut for its uncompromising author." - Ramsey Campbell, author of the Brichester Mythos trilogy
Book Information
ISBN 9780995534681
Format Paperback
Page Count 132
Imprint Inkandescent
Publisher Inkandescent
Pulped fiction just got a whole lot scarier
About the Author
Bartholomew Bennett was born in Leicester to an American father and English mother. Since childhood he has been a dedicated reader of all manner of books, but especially tales of 'horror'. He has a First Class Honours degree in Literature from the University of East Anglia and is a longstanding member of Leather Lane Writers Group. He has had various jobs: primarily software developer, but also tutor, nanny, data-entry clerk, call-centre rep, decorator and handy-man. He has also been known to dabble in online bookselling. Currently he lives in southeast London with his wife and two children. And in fact, some of the paper-packed rooms that feature in The Pale Ones bear a remarkable resemblance to locales in his own abode...
Reviews
"The nameless narrator of Bartholomew Bennett's The Pale Ones is a washed-up thirtysomething whose girlfriend has left him and fled to Japan. Trawling charity shops for valuable books and selling them online, he meets a fellow dealer and is drawn into an ambiguous relationship with the obnoxious Harris. They leave London and head north, ostensibly to collect books from charity shops and split the proceeds. But Harris has a mesmerising hold over people - our narrator included - and takes more than he gives. Bennett's short novel is notable for the gradual, creeping unease with which he imbues a series of apparently mundane events, bringing to mind the subtle horrors of Robert Aickman's short stories. The leisurely, unsettling narrative includes some startlingly graphic images: 'The helix of his left ear partially eaten away by a sore the colour of a waterlogged raisin.' The Pale Ones is an impressive debut." - The Guardian; "The Pale Ones unsettles in the way of a parable by some contemporary, edgeland Lovecraft. The unnerving images which flicker in a sagging English landscape of charity shops, seaside bed and breakfasts and amusement arcades linger in my imagination ages after reading." - Anthony Cartwright, author of Heartland, BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime; "What begins as a dark comedy of book collecting gradually accumulates a profound sense of occult dread, which lingers long after the book is finished. It's a real addition to the literature of the uncanny and an impressive debut for its uncompromising author." - Ramsey Campbell, author of the Brichester Mythos trilogy
Book Information
ISBN 9780995534681
Format Paperback
Page Count 132
Imprint Inkandescent
Publisher Inkandescent
