The Ghost Story Society The Ghost Story Society
P.O. Box 1360, Ashcroft, British Columbia, Canada V0K 1A0
Tel: (250) 453-2045; Fax: (250) 453-2075
e-mail:
nebuly@telus.netABOUT THE GHOST STORY SOCIETY
Interest in the ever-popular genre of the classic ghost story shows no sign of waning, despite many warnings to the contrary over the past fifty years. Many mainstream publishers pass over the genre as being not sufficiently sensational or gruesome for the tastes of modern readers, preferring to focus their attention on the ghost story's bigger, brasher cousin, horror.
Ghost stories, however, have been with us for as long as people have been telling each other stories and wondering what lay beyond the light of the fire. The classic English ghost story was born in the 1820s, and was popularized later that century by Charles Dickens, who promoted the idea of ghost stories at Christmas-time. For many people, the heyday of the ghost story was in the years between the turn of the last century and the Second World War: a time when book and magazine publishers provided a ready market for authors of supernatural fiction.
The Ghost Story Society was formed in 1988 to provide admirers of the classic ghost story with an outlet for their interest, and membership of the Society now numbers more than 400 worldwide. The Society offers members an opportunity to exchange thoughts and ideas through regular publication of its Journal, All Hallows, which averages 300 pages per issue and contains articles and letters concerning ghost stories past and present. The review section of All Hallows regularly provides the most in-depth coverage of any genre magazine of books being published in the field of supernatural fiction, and each issue features new supernatural fiction by established authors and newcomers to the field. All Hallows also features award-winning author Ramsey Campbell's regular column 'Ramsey Campbell, Probably.'
The Ghost Story Society is a not-for-profit organization owned by its members. It is an international group run on wholly informal lines. The society’s only income is drawn from members’ annual subscriptions, which finance the cost of printing and mailing three issues of All Hallows in each subscription year. The day to day organization of the Society, and production and editing of All Hallows, the Society’s Journal, is handled by Barbara Roden and Christopher Roden, the proprietors of Ash-Tree Press. An Internet forum for the discussion of the Society's activities and matters relating to All Hallows can be accessed at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/All_Hallows. Membership of the Discussion Group is available to members of the Ghost Story Society, and to those casual readers of All Hallows who wish to make a contribution to pleasant discussion. Please be aware, however, that in order to keep this discussion forum abuse free, you may be asked for identification details should you subscribe from a yahoo or hotmail address, or under an unrecognizable e-mail alias. Anyone applying for membership of the Society acknowledges and accepts the long-standing informality of the Society, and agrees, should they make application to join the Yahoo! discussion group, that they will accept the modest rules governing that group.
Whether your interest is in the classical stories of M. R. James, J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Algernon Blackwood, H. R. Wakefield, E. F. Benson, and A. N. L. Munby, or in the works or more recent authors such as Robert Aickman, Elizabeth Jane Howard, Terry Lamsley, and Jonathan Aycliffe, then The Ghost Story Society is for you.
The Society's Journal, All Hallows was the recipient of the International Horror Guild's Award for Best Periodical in 2003, and was nominated for a World Fantasy Award in 2004.
Our subscription year runs from March to February, and includes issues of All Hallows in June, October, and February. The Society is able to accept payment by personal cheque in Canadian and US dollars or Sterling; by International Money Order (in US or Candian dollars only); or by Visa or Mastercard. Current membership fees fare as follows:
Canada: Cdn$45.00
United States: US$45.00
Rest of World (airmail); £25.00 / Cdn$52.00
If you would like to become a member of The Ghost Story Society, please send your payment to:
The Ghost Story Society, P.O. Box 1360, Ashcroft, British Columbia, Canada V0K 1A0
© The Ghost Story Society 2008
http://www.ash-tree.bc.ca/GSSinfo.htm