Ron Weighell

Ron Weighell (1950 - 2020) was a British writer of fiction in the supernatural, fantasy and horror genre, whose work was published in the U.K., the U.S.A., Canada, Germany, Ireland, Romania, Finland, Belgium and Mexico.
Weighell's fiction is characterized by his knowledge of incunabula, architecture, art and art symbolism, mysticism, and the occult, and pays homage to his two primary influences, M. R. James and Arthur Machen. While his protagonists are typically scholars, archaeologists, and bibliophiles, much of his fiction moves beyond traditional antiquarian ghost stories to explore both wonder and terror in the presence of supernatural forces.
His stories were included in over fifty anthologies and published in six volumes containing his own work exclusively. Two of Weighell’s stories, Carven of Onyx and China Rose were chosen to appear in the 1992 and 1993 volumes, respectively, of the annual U.S. publication The Year's Best Horror Stories Two further stories, The Four Strengths of Shadow and The Chapel of Infernal Devotion appeared in the annual British publication Best New Horror, volumes 26 (2015) and 27 (2016), respectively.
Weighell's first published short story was in the small press Ghosts and Scholars magazine, devoted to the M. R. James tradition. From that point on, his work was published in those magazines and others such as AKLO, All Hallows, and in book anthologies with other writers initially. In 1986, Haunted Library Publications published Weighell’s first short story collection, entitled An Empty House and Other Stories.
In 1992, the Northern Musgraves Sherlock Holmes Society invited Weighell to produce a story for their ‘Aspects of Holmes’ weekend. The positive reception of The Shadow of the Wolf, read out at the society's annual dinner, led Weighell to write more Sherlock Holmes stories. His collection The Irregular Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, published in 2000, proved a popular work and was re-printed in 2018 by Zagava Press.
Weighell’s second collection of short stories, entitled The White Road, was published in 1997 by Ghost Story Press. The collection sold out and became a rarity, and today only an occasional copy crops up online to be purchased by collectors of his work.
During his writing career, Weighell was invited to submit articles to journals such as Warnings to the Curious: A Sheaf of Criticism on M. R. James, edited by S. T. Joshi and Rosemary Pardoe (2007).
Two further Weighell collections, Tarshishim (a box set), and Summonings, were published in 2011 and 2014 respectively.
In 2017, a new edition of The White Road was published by Sarob Press, with a few stories removed and new storis added. Both editions of The White Road were illustrated by Weighell’s lifetime friend Nick Maloret.
Further stories of Weighell's were published up to and including 2020. Weighell passed away in December 2020.
Category:Horror Author