The ElementalTales of the Supernormal and the Inexplicable
Riding a line between Weird Fiction pulp and high-class Gothic, The Elemental: Tales of the Supernormal and Inexplicable has attained almost mythic status as a hard to find masterpiece of early 20th century horror.
Contained within this seminal collection are tales of haunted objects destroying all who touch them, damned musicians tormented by sinister music, and ancient mummies enacting revenge upon those who disturb their slumber.
Of special note is The Sumach, the cult-classic story of botanical vampirism. Considered by many to be one of the most unique approaches to the vampire concept in literature, it has been anthologised dozens of times in the century since its original publication.
Contents:
The Elemental
The Diary
The Garden That Was Desolate
The Sumach
Winds of Memory
The Hand of Glory
Matheson's Mummy
'H.F.'
The Bronze Devil
The People of the Hidden Room
The Apostate
A Lasting Legacy
The Other Occupant
As It Was Written
Scarlet Poppies
The Serpent
The Goblet
First published in 1919 by George Routledge & Sons and more recently by Solar Press in 2023.
Ulric Daubeney
Little is known about Ulric Daubeny. He was a scholar of Cotswold church history and woodwind instruments—publishing historical texts on both topics. In 1919 he published The Elemental, his only volume of fiction. Three years later, in 1922, he died, just 34 years old.
Despite his untimely passing, The Elemental remains a powerful legacy. Aging gracefully, the stories which comprise the collection are as inventive and unsettling today as they were upon the volume's publication in 1919.
Reviews and Comments
An esoteric collection of weird fiction that deserves to be better known than it is.