Robert Aickman

Dark Entries

Robert Aickman (1914-1981) was the grandson of Richard Marsh, a leading Victorian novelist of the occult. Though his chief occupation in life was first as a conservationist of England's canals he eventually turned his talents to writing what he called 'strange stories.' Dark Entries (1964) was his first full collection, the debut in a body of work that would inspire Peter Straub to hail Aickman as 'this century's most profound writer of what we call horror stories.'

Patrick Book

Remarkable creepy stories! This is what I wish Lovecraft was like. Aickman has an incredible way with words, and an impeccable knack for the near-impossible in horror writing: knowing what to show the reader and what to leave to our imagination.

Mark Wadley

Feeling the Halloween spirit before October even hits with Aickman’s Dark Entries, a 1964 collection of strange tales, all of which fuckin’ slap. These stories really hit the horror sweet spot for me — foreboding houses, mysterious phenomena, complex eroticism. In each one, flawed protagonists trap themselves in cages of their own making, with evocative endings that decline to provide any answers.

I first read this collection a couple of years ago and it’s well worth the re-read. For me, the best horror is almost never about surprise or shock, but atmosphere and dread. It feels great to slip back into each of these micro-hells.

Bryan Alexander

Such delicious prose for splendidly weird tales. I wanted to read every story, every page out loud.

More notes coming up.

Dark Entries

Reviews