Spectral Lights (preorder)

(preorder—due in July/August)

Cover Art by Ivica Stevanović.

Interior Illustrations by Aleksandra Dević

Introduction by Ramsey Campbell.

Published by Chiroptera Press.

“Dejan Ognjanović has far more eloquence and perceptiveness to offer. I’m off to reread some of the fiction in the light of his exegeses. He has achieved the best function of criticism - to make us look again at what we may have thought we knew.” —Ramsey Campbell

Spectral Lights: Six Masters of the Classical English Ghost Story

Written by Dejan Ognjanovic, Rue Morgue magazine contributor (2010—now), Rondo Hatton Award winner (2023) and Bram Stoker Award finalist (2022).

Spectral Lights is a study of the major works of the ghost story’s most skilled practitioners. We analyze how Sheridan Le Fanu originated the classical ghost story and matured into one of its supreme authors. We reveal the unsung mastery of Vernon Lee and explain why her art-themed ghost stories are the pinnacles of this subgenre. We dive deep into Henry James’s quintessential ghost novella “The Turn of the Screw”, uncovering the essential issues of the form reflected in it. We display M. R. James as an undisputed master of subtly evoked chills, but also a worthy theoretician of these stories’ content and craft. We demonstrate how Algernon Blackwood enriched the ghost story with his intellectual and mystical speculations, opening it up for undreamt potentials. And finally, we delve deep into the mysteries of Robert Aickman’s stories, unveiling how the rich national tradition and profound personal originality were joined to produce his uniquely puzzling tales.

With a new Foreword by Ramsey Campbell and laced with moody interior illustrations by Aleksandra Devic and the spooky covers by Ivica Stevanovic, this is a book which has a wealth of insights to offer both to novices and to seasoned connoisseurs.


Softcover specs:

• 6"x 9"
• 270 pages
• Smyth-sewn binding
• New Introduction by Ramsey Campbell
• Cover art by Ivica Stevanović
• Interior art by Aleksandra Dević
• French style cover flaps
• Offset printed on acid-free archival paper

Hardcover Specs:

• 6"x 9"
• 270 pages
• Smyth-sewn binding
• New Introduction by Ramsey Campbell
• Cover art by Ivica Stevanović
• Interior art by Aleksandra Dević
• Cloth bound (no dust jacket as issued) with metallic silver stamping
• Head and tail bands with ribbon marker
• Offset printed on acid-free archival paper