The Elemental - Ulric Daubeney

The Elemental: Tales of the Supernormal and Inexplicable by Ulric Daubeney / ISBN 9781739353223 / 141-page paperback published in 2023 by Solar Press in the UK / light wear from international shipping

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Riding a line between Weird Fiction pulp and high-class Gothic, The Elemental has attained almost mythic status as a hard to find masterpiece of early 20th century horror.

Little is known about Ulric Daubeny. He was a scholar of 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.

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 anthologized dozens of times in the century since its original publication.