Conference with the Dead [Hardcover]

Terry Lamsley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1996

Originally published in a 500 copy edition by Ash-Tree Press, Terry Lamsley's Conference with the Dead has long remained almost unobtainable. A nominee for the World Fantasy Award, and winner of the International Horror Guild Award, this chilling collection of ghost stories set in England has remained out of print for far too long. Contents: * Introduction by Ramsey Campbell * Walking the Dog * Blade and Bone * The Break * Someone to Dump On * Running in the Family * Screens * The Toddler * The Outer Darkness * Inheritance * The Extension

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 252 pages
• Publisher: Ash Tree Publishing (March 1996)
• ISBN-10: 1899562109
• ISBN-13: 978-1899562107
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,591,982 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lamsley is amazing., December 20, 2007

By 

James Robert Smith (Matthews, NC United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Conference with the Dead (Hardcover)

I first discovered Lamsley's fiction when he was printed in the old DAW's Year's Best Horror edited by the late Karl Wagner. The story that I initially read was truly unique and exhibited a style and a voice and a point of view that was completely new. So I did not hesistate to purchase CONFERENCE WITH THE DEAD as soon as I learned of it.

I was not disappointed, and the years between my discovery of his work and the appearance of this collection have not diminished my impression. Lamsley's stories are just as I recalled them. His is a singular voice with a style unlike that of any of his contemporaries. His stories are extremely well executed, and very, very disturbing.

I look forward to his next collection.

4.0 out of 5 stars Misery, of the most horrifying kind!, September 22, 2011

By 

RIJU GANGULY "perceptive reader" (India) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Conference with the Dead (Hardcover)

The author of this book is one of the leading lights among the proponents of the kind of darkness (rather oxymoronic statement, I am afraid) that is envisioned by the followers of M.R. James. The stories are of a very high quality, and they are so polished that you would feel rather disheartened if you try to detect the tell-tale signs of craftwork in these stories (for that, you may go back to his first collection: "Under The Crust"). The contents are: -

(*) Introduction by Ramsey Campbell

1) Walking the Dog
2) Blade and Bone
3) The Break
4) Someone to Dump On
5) Running in the Family
6) Screens
7) The Toddler
8) The Outer Darkness
9) Inheritance
10) The Extension

Among all these stories, the most 'Jamesian' kind would be "Blade and Bone", while all others are of the most superior quality. BUT, I was rather stunned to find that in all these stories the protagonists, without doing anything wrong, kept coming to most unsavoury ends at the hands of the nasties, without any chance of retribution in sight. Some of these stories also veered towards Lucius Shepard territory, where you know that something horrifying is going to take place, but neither you nor the author nor even the protagonist shows the inclination to save himself/herself. Pretty frustrating in the end, and hence one star knocked off! Otherwise, a very good collection of horrifying stories, with emphasis upon the inflicting of pain & sorrow, and NOT on the supernatural.