Ghosts

Introduction by Mark Valentine. Cover image by yomgaille.com.

"I can barely conceive of a type of beauty in which there is no Melancholy." - Charles Baudelaire

Ghosts contains R.B. Russell's debut publications, Putting the Pieces in Place and Bloody Baudelaire. Enigmatic and enticing, they combine a respect for the great tradition of supernatural fiction, with a chilling contemporary European resonance. With original and compelling narratives, Russell's stories offer the reader insights into the more hidden, often puzzling, impulses of human nature, with all its uncertainty and intrigue. There are few conventional shocks or horrors on display, but you are likely to come away with the feeling that there has been a subtle and unsettling shift in your understanding of the way things are. This book is a disquieting journey through twilight regions of love, loss, memory and ghosts. This volume contains "In Hiding", which was shortlisted for the 2010 World Fantasy Awards. "Bloody Baudelaire" is soon to be filmed by 3:1 Cinema.

Contents:

• Introduction by Mark Valentine
• Putting the Pieces in Place
• There's Nothing That I wouldn't Do
• In Hiding
• Eleanor
• Dispossessed
• Bloody Baudelaire
• Acknowledgements

...and this volume comes with Russell's debut album of the same title as a bonus. "Ghosts presents a selection of tracks composed and arranged by Russell himself. Vocals for a number of tracks are provided by the incomparable Lidwine whose poignant voice is the perfect complement to the music. This is an album of haunting songs from ambient to rock, with both vocal and instrumental tracks. Guitar and piano creep in, in a ghostly manner, and sometimes a rhythm kicks in, only to disappear again... This is very melancholy, very evocative music." A sample selection of tracks can be heard here.