#Titanuary ‘Beyond Rue Morgue’ edited by Paul Kane and Charles Prepolec

About the book…

An anthology of stories based around the very first mystery detective, Le Chevalier C. Auguste Dupin, created by Edgar Allan Poe.

Dupin famously featured in ‘‘The Murders In the Rue Morgue’‘ (1841), then went on to star in two more investigations, ‘‘The Mystery Of Marie Roget’‘ (1842) and ‘‘The Purloined Letter’‘ (1844).

The anthology includes the original 1841 story and Clive Barker’s sequel, ‘‘New Murders In The Rue Morgue’‘ (which was first published in his ‘Books Of Blood’series) to bookend the stories.

Contributors include:Paul Kane, Charles Prepolec, Stephen Volk, Clive Barker, Mike Carey, Simon Clark, Weston Ochse, Yvonne Navarro, Jonathan Maberry, Joe R Lansdale, Elizabeth Massie and Lisa Tuttle

Even before opening the cover of‘Beyond Rue Morgue’, my black little heart was jumping for joy-well as much as it could, given its decrepit state- from the roster of genre names on the cover. What an absolute treasure trove of authors! Full respect is due to editors ‘Paul Kane and Charles Prepolec for not only the choice of subject, but also such a stellar contents list!

”Chevalier Dupin is a man who methodically preserves memories of the sights, sounds and odors produced by the horrors of this world,as I would methodically place books on my library shelves. He is the consummate archivist of the accoutrements of tragedy.”

This singular description, by Simon Clark, absolutely nails why Dupin made such an impact at the time Poe released his short stories about the detective. He deduces the truth of the situation from the facts available to him, applies logic and comes up with a solution. He was the the modern detective using forensics before they were even invented.

Re-reading the original tale, The Murders In  the Rue Morgue, is to be reacquainted with an old friend. A friend who has not been visited for quite some time and is overdue a social call. I have not read the stories and poems of Poe for way too many years, and this collection has reignited the spark of wanting to explore the lesser known Poe . As such, I have ordered the Wordsworth edition of the ‘Tales Of Mystery And Imagination’, and am looking forward to making the acquaintance of old friends, once more.

Walking the same tightrope between thrill, suspense, horror and barely restrained genius, each of the writers in this collection takes the central concept of Poe’s detective, and writes a tale with him as the focus using their own unique skills.

From the original which has spawned the anthology, which launches Dupin, he is then taken from France all around the world, via a vast range of talents and genres.

Ending with a modern twist on the tale, via Clive Barker, it is possible to see Dupin’s footsteps walking through the streets of New York, Paris, Arizona, in his parlays with Sherlock Holmes, meets his own creator, and  returning, in the final tale, to Paris, his original stomping ground.

It is pure joy to read these tales by authors I highly admire, and respect, and the way they convey their acknowledgement of Poe’s underrated genius (in my mind, at the very least, he is a genius) yet give it a twist with their own inimitable flare. The nameless narrator stays in place, focussing the attention in the titular , book loving detective, whilst we, the reader, stpe into the role of side kick and confidante.

It is such a pleasure to read a collection with heart, as this one is. It would have been easy to slap Poe’s most famous tale on the front and wring any old story out of it. However, here the editors have commissioned some truly outstanding fiction which pays homage to a grand master of horror and dark literature.

I suspect that Poe will have a more recognisable currency with the release of contributor Stephen Volk’s ‘Under A Raven’s Wing’ as well as forthcoming Mike Flanagan adaptation of ‘The Fall Of The House Of Usher’.

In the meantime, I cannot recommend seeking out the back catalogue of these other 9 writers, as well as the works of the 2 editors. Of particular note is the ‘‘The Dark Master’s Trilogy’ by Stephen as well as the classic Roger Corman films which I believe are available on Amazon Prime, or possibly Britbox?  Definitely worth checking them out as horror royalty Vincent Price has the best time chewing up the scenery in The Masque Of The Red Death’ alongside a baby Jack Nicholson and Jane Asher!!

About the  editors…

Paul Kane- has been writing professionally for almost fifteen years. His genre journalism has appeared in such magazines as Fangoria, SFX and Rue Morgue, and his non-fiction books are the critically acclaimed ‘The Hellraiser Films and Their Legacy’ and ‘Voices In The Dark’.

His award-winning short fiction has appeared in magazines and anthologies on both sides of the Atlantic (as well as being broadcast on BBC Radio 2), and has been collected in Alone (In the Dark), Touching the Flame, ‘Funnybones’, ‘Peripheral Visions’, Shadow Writer, ‘The Butterfly Man and Other Stories’, The Spaces Between and ‘Ghosts’. His novella ‘Signs Of Life’ reached the shortlist of the British Fantasy Awards 2006, The Lazarus Condition was introduced by Mick Garris – creator of Masters of Horror – ‘RED’ featured artwork from Dave (The Graveyard Book) McKean and Pain Cages was introduced by Stephen Volk (The Awakening).

As Special Publications Editor of the British Fantasy Society he worked with authors like Brian Aldiss, Ramsey Campbell, Muriel Gray and Robert Silverberg, he is the co-editor of ‘Hellbound Hearts’ for Pocket Books (Simon and Schuster), an anthology of original stories inspired by Clive Barker’s mythos – featuring contributions from the likes of Christopher Golden and Mike Mignola, Kelley Armstrong and Richard Christian Matheson – ‘The Mammoth Book Of Body Horror’(Constable & Robinson) – featuring Stephen King, James Herbert and Robert Bloch – and the Poe-inspired Beyond Rue Morgue (for Titan).

In 2008 his zombie story ‘Dead Time’ was turned into an episode of the Lionsgate/NBC TV series Fear Itself, adapted by Steve Niles (30 Days of Night) and directed by Darren Lynn Bousman (SAW II-IV).

He also scripted The Opportunity which premiered at Cannes in 2009, The Weeping Woman – starring Fright Night’s Stephen Jeffreys – and Wind Chimes (directed by Brad ‘7th Dimension’ Watson.

He is the author of the novels Of Darkness and Light, The Gemini Factor and the bestselling ‘Arrowhead’ trilogy (Arrowhead, Broken Arrow and Arrowland), a post-apocalyptic reworking of the Robin Hood mythology gathered together as the sell-out Hooded Man omnibus.

His latest novels are ‘Lunar’ (which is set to be turned into a feature film) and the short Y.A. book The Rainbow Man (as P.B. Kane). He currently lives in Derbyshire, UK, with his wife – the author Marie O’Regan – his family, and a black cat called Mina.

Links-http://www.shadow-writer.co.uk/

Charles Prepolec-is a former Mystery bookshop owner, currently freelance editor, writer, artist and reviewer with published contributions in a variety of books and magazines.

He is co-editor of Professor Challenger:New Worlds’(2015) and six Sherlock Holmes anthologies (with J. R. Campbell) – Curious Incidents Vols. 1 & 2′, Gaslight Grimoire: Fantastic Tales Of Sherlock Holmes’ (2008), Gaslight Grotesque: Nightmare Tales Of Sherlock Holmes’(2009), Gaslight Arcanum : Uncanny Tales Of Sherlock Holmes’(2011) and Gaslight Gothic : Strange Tales Of Sherlock Holmes’(2018); as well as co-editor (with Paul Kane) of Beyond Rue Morgue: Further Tales of Edgar Allan Poe’s 1st Detective (2013) for Titan Books.

At the turn of the century he served as news editor for actor Christopher Lee’s official website. Charles has been an active Sherlockian for more than 30 years and holds memberships in The Bootmakers of Toronto, The Sherlock Holmes Society of London, The Sydney Passengers of Australia and an investiture in The Baker Street Irregulars (The Man with the Twisted Lip). He lives in Calgary, AB, Canada with his wife Kristen and their cat, Karma.

Links-http://www.sherlocknews.com/

Twitter @TitanBooks @sherlockeditor @paulkaneshadow