" P]robably the most distinguished writer of English prose in the novel form at present living. He cannot do other than write beautifully." - Humbert Wolfe
"The book abounds in glowing experiences of a world of colour and sensation, minutely imagined. . . . The description of dawn at Kew Gardens is so lovely that the reader will be tempted to endanger his respectability by emulating Judy and climbing the wall." - "Times Literary Supplement"
"Among the few highly important and significant novelists of the day." - "The Observer"
"There is poetry beneath Mr. Fraser's fantastic humour as there is a cunning grace in his prose." - "The Times"
"The erotic awakening of a young woman . . . Judy, a student at Kew Gardens . . . is engaged to a personable young man who does not have the ability to arouse her, though she likes him, and she is disturbed by the utilitarian, materialistic life-philosophy of her businessman brother. She becomes more and more sensitive to the hidden life of the plants at Kew, and comes to see them as personalities, with the giant orchid in the role of passionate lover. . . . Told with delicate imagery and fine perceptions, a minor rococoism of art deco literature." - E.F. Bleiler, "The Guide to Supernatural Fiction" (1983)
This first-ever reprinting of "Flower Phantoms" (1926), the best-known novel by Ronald Fraser (1888-1974), features a new introduction by Mark Valentine.

" G]rew upon me with every page, until I came to the dramatic climax . . . often brilliant . . . with] the brilliance of fever, almost of delirium." - "Punch"
"It is very shocking . . . Houghton] has proved himself to possess considerable talent." - "Spectator"
""Neighbours" is a novel about ideas concerning life. It is full of dialogue, and good dialogue. It has beautiful moments. It is original." - Arnold Bennett, "Evening Standard"
"His novels bring us the finest and most firmly thought-out exposition of the spiritual problem of modern times." - "New York Times"
"In Claude Houghton's work you have come to expect not only an unusual and fast-moving story, but one with its hidden excitements or seeming touch of fantasy, the significance of which may not be apparent until you have reached the last page." - "Sunday Times"
The narrator of "Neighbours" is a young writer who has taken a room in the attic of a lodging house, where he hopes to find a quiet atmosphere in which to work. One night, the sound of a man's laughter outside his door alerts him to the existence of Victor, a fellow lodger in an adjoining room. The narrator feels an immediate and inexplicable hatred for his unwanted neighbour, which develops into an obsession as he listens to Victor's fervent conversations and amorous adventures through the thin wall and records it all in minute detail on endless sheets of paper. His morbid fascination with Victor gradually begins to dominate his existence, leading to a shocking climax when he finally resolves to destroy his neighbour, the man he blames for ruining his life . . .
Claude Houghton (1889-1961) won a devoted cult following in the 1930s with novels like "I Am Jonathan Scrivener" (1930) and "This Was Ivor Trent" (1935), psychological thrillers with brilliantly sharp dialogue and unusual metaphysical themes. This edition of his astonishing first novel, "Neighbours" (1926), is the first in over 75 years and features a new introduction by Mark Valentine.

"An extremely interesting novelist, and a genuinely original one." - J. B. Priestley
"One of the most interesting and one of the most important novelists now writing in England." - Hugh Walpole
"At his best, he writes as well as any living man." - L.A.G. Strong
One dark, foggy night, the eminent novelist Ivor Trent is on his way to a flat in a sordid London lodging house where he plans to begin work on his newest book, undisturbed by his friends, who all believe him to have gone abroad. On his way there, he glimpses a figure in the fog and is struck with terror when he realizes it is a man from the future. He collapses on the front step of the house, where the proprietor finds him, raving and delirious. Meanwhile, Arthur Rendell, a lonely widower who found solace in one of Trent's novels, determines to find out more about the writer and takes a room in the same house, where he meets Trent's friends, associates, and lovers. To Rosalie Vivian, Trent is a god; to Vera Thornton, he is a devil; to Denis Wrayburn, he heralds a new race of supermen. But who is Ivor Trent, really? And what is the explanation of the terrible vision he experienced in the fog? Rendell intends to find out, but he is unprepared for the devastating truth.
Expanding on the themes first explored in his masterpiece "I Am Jonathan Scrivener" (1930) (also available from Valancourt Books), "This Was Ivor Trent" (1935) was a success in both England and America and was one of the best-known novels of Claude Houghton (1889-1961). Though admired by writers as diverse as P. G. Wodehouse, Henry Miller, J. B. Priestley, and Graham Greene, Houghton has fallen into neglect in the past half-century and awaits rediscovery by a new generation of readers. This edition is newly typeset from the first London edition and includes a new introduction by Mark Valentine.

"A striking contribution to the literature of darkness." - Humbert Wolfe
"A disturbing study of spiritual domination . . . subtle and terrifying." - Daily Telegraph
"Mr. Onions is an inspired writer . . . A poet of prose." - John Betjeman
When Peter Byles's father dies shortly before the boy's thirteenth birthday, the young orphan is sent to live at the Victorian Gothic mansion of his father's friend, Dr. Kornelius Voyt. Peter arrives at the dreary house, surprised to find that he sees nothing of the enigmatic Voyt, instead passing his time in lessons with a young German tutor. But it soon becomes clear to Peter that these lessons are only preparations for something much more sinister that Voyt intends to teach him. Voyt, unable either to hear or speak, has learned to compensate for his disability by developing extraordinary powers of the mind, powers which allow him to communicate telepathically, control the wills of others, and even inflict pain on those who anger him. Voyt has a terrifying vision of the world's future, and he is determined to use Peter as a pawn in his inscrutable plans. . . .
Best known today for his ghost stories, Oliver Onions (1873-1961) was also a masterful novelist, and all his talents are on display in "The Hand of Kornelius Voyt" (1939), which, as Mark Valentine writes in the new introduction to this edition, "is a formidable achievement in sustaining an atmosphere of uncanny dread." This edition, the first in nearly fifty years, reprints the unabridged text of the rare first edition and features a reproduction of the original dust jacket illustration.