BOOK DETAILS
Trade paper ISBN-13: 978-1939140173 List Price: $16.99 U.S. Pages: 174 Published: 2013 |
Bury Him Darkly (1969)
John Blackburn With a new introduction by Greg Gbur Book Description
For two centuries, the body of Sir Martin Railstone, poet, artist, and libertine, has lain undisturbed in its crypt, amidst rumours that important artistic works of genius are buried with him. The Church of England has refused to allow the opening of the tomb, believing that Railstone was a murderer and dabbler in the black arts and that anything buried with him must be diabolical in nature. But now plans are in the works for a new dam, which will leave Railstone’s tomb under 100 feet of water, and a small group of fanatics obsessed with Railstone will stop at nothing to discover the crypt’s contents before they are lost forever. One of them, George Banks, opens the tomb and releases something ancient and evil. He dies a horrible death, raving mad, and whatever he has unleashed is not done killing. Four unlikely allies—a clergyman, an ex-Nazi scientist, a journalist, and a historian—must come together to stop it before it destroys all of humanity. . . . John Blackburn (1923-1993) was the author of more than thirty popular thrillers in which he blended the genres of mystery, horror, and science fiction in unique and often brilliant ways. Although recognized as the best British horror writer of his time, he has been sadly neglected since his death. This new edition of Bury Him Darkly (1969), one of Blackburn’s best, includes a new introduction by Greg Gbur. |
reviews
‘John Blackburn is today’s master of horror.’ – Times Literary Supplement
‘Another of Blackburn’s gripping, elemental confrontations of good and evil.’ – New York Times
‘He is bang on curdling form with this tale of a sealed tomb in a cathedral city and the Destroyer who lurks. Not for the timid.’ – Evening Standard
‘He is certainly the best British novelist in his field and deserves the widest recognition.’ – Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural
‘Another of Blackburn’s gripping, elemental confrontations of good and evil.’ – New York Times
‘He is bang on curdling form with this tale of a sealed tomb in a cathedral city and the Destroyer who lurks. Not for the timid.’ – Evening Standard
‘He is certainly the best British novelist in his field and deserves the widest recognition.’ – Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural
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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
John Blackburn was born in 1923 in the village of Corbridge, England, the second son of a clergyman. He started attending Haileybury College near London in 1937, but his education was interrupted by the onset of World War II; the shadow of the war, and that of Nazi Germany, would later play a role in many of his works. He served as a radio officer during the war in the Mercantile Marine from 1942 to 1945, and resumed his education afterwards at Durham University, earning his bachelor’s degree in 1949. Blackburn taught for several years after that, first in London and then in Berlin, and married Joan Mary Clift in 1950. Returning to London in 1952, he took over the management of Red Lion Books.
It was there that Blackburn began writing, and the immediate success in 1958 of his first novel, A Scent of New-Mown Hay, led him to take up a career as a writer full-time. He and his wife also maintained an antiquarian bookstore, a secondary career that would inform some of Blackburn’s later work. A prolific author, Blackburn would write nearly 30 novels between 1958 and 1985; most of these were horror and thrillers, but also included one historical novel set in Roman times, The Flame and the Wind (1967). He died in 1993.
It was there that Blackburn began writing, and the immediate success in 1958 of his first novel, A Scent of New-Mown Hay, led him to take up a career as a writer full-time. He and his wife also maintained an antiquarian bookstore, a secondary career that would inform some of Blackburn’s later work. A prolific author, Blackburn would write nearly 30 novels between 1958 and 1985; most of these were horror and thrillers, but also included one historical novel set in Roman times, The Flame and the Wind (1967). He died in 1993.