Queens of the Abyss: Lost Stories from the Women of the Weird

An anthology pulling together the stories of the forgotten women writers who pioneered and developed the ‘weird tale’ in the early 20th Century. The majority of the volume is never before republished material, exclusive to the BL collections. This title is a spiritual successor to Glimpses of the Unknown, an early Tales of the Weird title which has seen a positive response from fans, scholars and booksellers.

It is too often accepted that during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries it was the male writers who developed and pushed the boundaries of the weird tale, with women writers following in their wake – but this is far from the truth.

This new anthology presents the thrilling work of just a handful of writers crucial to the evolution of the genre, and revives lost authors of the early pulp magazines with material from the abyssal depths of the British Library vaults returning to the light for the first time since original publication.

Delve in to see the darker side of The Secret Garden author Frances Hodgson Burnett and the sensitively-drawn nightmares of Marie Corelli and May Sinclair. Hear the captivating voices of Weird Tales magazine contributors Sophie Wenzel Ellis and Greye La Spina, and bow down to the sensational and surreal imaginings of Alicia Ramsey and Leonora Carrington.

With contributions by:
Mary E. Braddon
Marie Corelli
Edith Nesbit
Frances Hodgson Burnett
Marie Belloc Lowndes
Alicia Ramsey
May Sinclair
Marjorie Bowen
Greye La Spina
Sophie Wenzel Ellis
G. G. Pendarves
Lady Eleanor Smith
Jessie Douglas Kerruish
Margaret St. Clair
Mary Elizabeth Counselman
Leonora Carrington