Back at the tail end of the horror boom, Ronald Kelly emerged as one of the very best writers in the genre, and probably the most Southern horror writer working. The collapse of horror publishing derailed his momentum before he became a household word, most if not all his work passed out of print, and Ron pretty much stopped writing for a number of years. This was a big loss to the genre and to you personally, if you didn’t have an opportunity to read his work the first time around.
At a time when most of the news, whether you’re talking about horror writing or the world in general, is bad, here is some positive words for you: Ronald Kelly is back. For the last year or so, he has become more visible in the field publishing a couple of chapbooks and giving a great reading at Hypericon. 2009 could well be the year of Ronald Kelly, since Full Moon Press has made the wise decision to reprint his early novels in deluxe hard covers, packaged as the Essential Ronald Kelly collection. There will be nine of these reprints, starting with Undertaker’s Moon and ending with Blood Kin. The new editions will come with an additional novella and the back-story on the book. These nine not-to-be-missed books will be paving the way for brand new material from Mr. Kelly. I don’t think there has ever been reprints I’ve been as excited about, and if you’re a horror fan (you’re reading a blog with the unimaginative but unmistakable title of Dead in the South; either you are a horror fan or you’re lost) you won’t want to miss any of these.
More information about the books can be found at Ronald Kelly’s website, and the books can be ordered through Full Moon Press.
1 comment:
I'm looking forward to reading Undertaker's Moon. Can't beat a good werewolf story.
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