I have just ordered the first two volumes of collected works of Jean Ray, the Belgian master of weird fiction, frequently referred to as the “Belgian Poe”. I’ve been trying to purchase any of his works for some time now. There are two collections of his stories in English, both of them very rare and pricey: My Own Private Specters from Midnight House (1999) and Ghouls in my Grave from Berkley Publishing Corporation (1965). After futile attempts at locating reasonably priced copies of these titles I decided to try buying Ray’s collections in the original language: French. Œuvres complètes de Jean RAY, tome 1 et 2, collects majority of his weird fiction (6 collections) except for his novel Malpertuis (which I’ll try to locate later) and his adventure/detective Harry Dickinson stories (in which I’m less interested). The order will come from France, and due to sheer weight of these volumes (over 2 kilograms) I had to involve my aunt in Orlean to provide me with her address. The book will be later recollected by my father who is currently returning from his yacht travel from Cuba and will be stopping at his sister’s house. Yes, it is a bit complicated. Sometimes it takes an international adventure to get some of the titles I’m interested in. Too much reading makes my tastes increasingly capricious. :(
These are dreams dreamed by dreamers who are awake. - GJ Ballard
Upcoming Subjects
PHANTOM LIMBS IN LUCID DREAMS, WHO WROTE "THE VANISHING LIFE AND FILMS OF EMMANUEL ESCOBADA"?, SKEPTICISM AND LUCID DREAMS, HYPNOPOMPIC NIGHTMARES, POKESCOPE
