Retreats from Oblivion: The Journal of NoirCon

03/07/2024

BBC Interviewer: I understand that you turned down The Godfather and The Sting?
Nicholson: THE LAST DETAIL and CHINATOWN were the more interesting films.

Absolutely. RIP Robert Towne (born Robert Bertram Schwartz; November 23, 1934 – July 1, 2024)

Late author and producer Iain Johnstone interviews legendary Hollywood actor Jack Nicholson in 1982 for BBC's Film '82 special. Jack is infamous for only app...

22/06/2024

I finally received a review copy of Binge-Watching and Contemporary Television Research (Edited by Mareike Jenner) from Edinburgh University Press, with several interesting chapters. But the show stopper for me is the first, on marathon viewing on videotape. E. Charlotte Stevens focuses on sources that document group viewings dating back to the 1970s. These occurred at fan conventions and festivals, as cited in newsletters and fanzines which also discussed home viewing groups that documented their events. The central point is that the birth of the binge occurred long before streaming, with compelling, enjoyable evidence.
https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-binge-watching-and-contemporary-television-research.html

13/06/2024

Our June Black G*t book is DRINK WITH THE DEAD by Jay Flynn, an undercover story about bootleggers operating in Northern California. James Reasoner reviewed this 1959 gem on his "Rough Edges" site, and if you missed it, here's the link: https://jamesreasoner.blogspot.com/2024/06/drink-with-dead-jay-flynn.html

Available, as you might imagine, wherever books are being sold, including Stark House Press, where all our books are being offered at 25% off for the month of June.

29/04/2024

New on Retreats from Oblivion: The Journal of NOIRCON – William Blick reviews Thunder on the Stage: The Dramatic Vision of Richard Wright (University of Illinois Press): “More than an exploration of Richard Wright’s dramaturgical efforts, it is a story of the development of an artist.”
https://retreatsfromoblivion.com/2024/04/28/thunder-on-the-stage-the-dramatic-vision-of-richard-wright-2024-by-william-blick/

05/03/2024

My short interview with speculative poet/novelist Bruce Boston is now live at The Ekphrastic Review:

“I tend to view creative writing most often as a continuum.”

​ Poetry as Recreation: an Interview with Bruce Boston In a career spanning more than five decades, Bruce Boston has published speculative poetry that, while rooted in vivid images, reflects...

02/03/2024

Happy birthday to David Goodis (March 2, 1917 – January 7, 1967) – I had the pleasure of writing an introduction to one of his best novels for Stark House Press’s 2023 reprint, though my favorite is DOWN THERE: https://retreatsfromoblivion.com/2023/08/28/somebodys-done-for-by-david-goodis-excerpt/

29/02/2024

February begins with Carter Brown and three more Al Wheeler mysteries, The Tigress, The Exotic and Angel! Signet Books published them in the U.S. in the early 1960s, and they’re still a lot of fun sixty years later.

29/02/2024

The road to NOIR CITY: Philadelphia 2024 continues with Billy Wilder’s classic film. This is our second film in preparation for the return of Eddie Muller and NOIR CITY. Learn more about NOIR CITY here.

14/02/2024

“Rowena did wonder during one of the breaks whether she had ever been able to see another person accurately when she was enraged with them….” George Toles, “CUPID’S FIRE”:

Rowena decided to mix it up a little and attend another Rage seminar on Valentine's Day. She certainly didn't need to dredge deep on this Excluding holiday to give animosity some fresh fuel. She enjoyed hearing more talk about the fire within and all the mythological examples (such as the Bacchae) f...

03/02/2024

FREAKSHOW by Jacquin Sanders occupies a unique niche in underground American literature, the story of a love affair between a troubled, lonely drifter and Fish Girl, a beautiful but disfigured sideshow performer. This is Black G*t Book #54.

We just received two short reviews that we'd like to share from James Reasoner at his "Rough Edges" blog, and Richard Krauss, editor of "The Digest Enthusiast." Here are the links: https://jamesreasoner.blogspot.com/2024/02/freakshow-jacquin-sanders.html, and https://larquepress.com/

FREAKSHOW is available wherever books are being sold, and most especially at www.starkhousepress.com--in both print and ebook editions. You can't afford to miss it!

16/01/2024

Philadelphia noir fans: I’ll be introducing a screening of DARK PASSAGE (1947, DCP), based on David Goodis’s novel, this Sunday, Jan 21, 2024, 1:30pm at The Colonial Theatre. Post screening I’ll be a guest on a live podcast by Films at First Sight, who sponsored the event. Hope to see you there!:

Sign-up to receive updates about this and other events and films. The road to NOIR CITY: Philadelphia 2024 begins with ‘Dark Passage.’ This is our first film in preparation for the return of Eddie Muller and NOIR CITY. Learn more about NOIR CITY here.

04/01/2024

Hal Higdon’s true crime classic offers an unprecedented examination of the case. Beginning with a new author Preface, Higdon details Leopold and Loeb’s journey from privilege and promise to the planning and ex*****on of their monstrous vision of the perfect crime. Drawing on secret testimony, Hi...

31/12/2023

RIP Tom Wilkinson – one of the modern greats:

03/10/2023

This month we're reprinting a couple obscure short crime novels by Marty Holland, author of FALLEN ANGEL, which we brought back last March as part of our Film Noir Classics series. The latest Holland book is THE GLASS HEART/THE SLEEPING CITY. Here's what the critics have to say about GLASS HEART...

"Raw, unadorned, a little brutal, here is the authentic melodrama of the American scene…"—James M. Cain

“The Glass Heart is a grimy, hard-boiled tale of lust, murder and blackmail … Written with great snappy dialogue, the plot oozes noir.” —His Futile Preoccupations….

“As odd as the mix of noir and romance was in Fallen Angel, Holland’s brew for The Glass Heart was even weirder, with the antihero … caught up in strange romantic entanglements with a murder-minded landlady, a religious-minded lass, and a woman acting the part of femme fatale …”—Sarah Weinman, Los Angeles Review of Books

“The Cain manner and material for the story of Curt, a hideout from the police, as he takes a job as house man to a rich deadbeat… neat and nasty.”—Kirkus Reviews

“I found it all utterly addictive. The Glass Heart is, I confess, a guilty pleasure. I couldn’t stop reading and had to know where each ludicrous scene would lead and of course how it all would end. It truly is one of the best examples of a genuine B movie on paper… For lovers of noir, kooky melodrama and twisty plotting these books are a must have. Highly recommended… [a] genuine thrill ride that will leave you both gasping in awe and laughing in shock.”—J. F. Norris, Pretty Sinister Books

Coming soon to a bookstore near you, or available direct from starkhousepress.com.

24/08/2023

It was a treat to review John Stangeland’s Aline MacMahon, the first biography of a key star of the Pre-Code era, for the New Review of Film and Television Studies blog: “Like so many female stars of classical Hollywood, her talents far outshined the opportunities given to her. Stangeland’s account of the woman in full should encourage more studies and new fans of the one-of-a-kind star.” Link to review:
https://nrftsjournal.org/aline-macmahon/

18/08/2023

Discovering David Goodis back in the mid-1980s was a real revelation. I was sales repping for a guy who sold British paperbacks to American bookstores, and along with all the Dr. Who books he imported was a series of 4-books-in-one Black Box Thrillers featuring such vintage American authors as Jim T...

14/07/2023

When SO DEADLY FAIR by Gertrude Walker was first published in hardback in 1948, it was reviewed in the "Los Angeles News" with this florid write-up:
"It isn't often a reviewer has a chance to say, 'For Pete's sake, read this book, it's swell!' But I've said it, and once you have read the book you'll be glad I said it. So there! The plot isn't new, the people aren't new—you'll find most of them in the first chapter of Genesis. But I'll just say Wow! and leave it at that. Only don't read it if you're squeamish, or easily shocked. Believe it or not, it's the gal's first novel. Let's hope it's the first of many."

Turns out Ms. Walker only published two other novels. We've collected SO DEADLY FAIR and DIAMONDS DON'T BURN, her second book, in a new Stark House volume. There weren't that many women writing hardboiled fiction back in the last mid-century, but Gertrude Walker nailed it. As the "New York Times" book critic wrote, "Miss Walker's story starts with a real bang, and, like a roller-coaster to hell, seldom loses its momentum until it hits its bumpy final chapter."

If this sounds like your kind of reading, this 2-fer is available in both a print and an ebook edition wherever books are being sold.

13/06/2023

27/02/2023

New POETRY: “Hundreds dead outside our garden…Fear marks our quiet burden….”

POETRY: “Hundreds dead outside our garden…Fear marks our quiet burden….”

27/02/2023

New NYC novel by Kevin Pilkington:

Taking On Secrets - book trailer

21/11/2022

Andy Rausch’s new novel takes place “across town from the Amityville Horror house”….

The Amityville Murder House

05/11/2022

New fiction by Glen Bush: "Tom tried to nonchalantly brush the tears away. The number one thought in my head was a simple one: I’m going to nail this so*******ch."

FICTION: “I could feel his breath on the back of my neck. That made me even more nervous, so I started to turn around and answer him but that’s when he hit me with a hard punch to my kidney& #…

05/11/2022

New book review at RFO:

BOOK REVIEW: “Demonstrates a degree of mastery of plot, character, and structure as the mystery is solved with all twists and turns readers have come to expect from the genre….”