Arkham House

Arkham House is a publishing house specializing in fantasy and weird fiction.

20th century
Arkham House was founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to preserve in hardcover the best fiction of H.P. Lovecraft. The company's name is derived from Lovecraft's fictional New England city, Arkham. Arkham House editions are noted for the quality of their printing and binding. The colophon for Arkham House was designed by Frank Utpatel.

In addition to volumes of H. P. Lovecraft's fiction, Arkham House has published a five volume edition of Lovecraft's Selected Letters which gives an overview of Lovecraft's correspondence to peers, friends and family. Among his correspondents were Arkham House founders, Derleth and Wandrei. (Arkham House's volumes of Lovecraft's letters are highly abridged; unabridged volumes of Lovecraft's letters to individual correspondents are progressively being issued by Hippocampus Press).

Arkham House also published fiction by many of Lovecraft's contemporaries, including Ray Bradbury, Robert E. Howard, Frank Belknap Long, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert Bloch, and Derleth himself; classic genre fiction by authors such as William Hope Hodgson, Algernon Blackwood, H. Russell Wakefield, Seabury Quinn, and Sheridan Le Fanu; and later writers in the Lovecraft school, such as Ramsey Campbell and Brian Lumley to whom Derleth gave their earliest publication in hardcover.

After World War II, Wandrei resigned his interest in the firm.

Despite the wealth of talented writers who appeared under the Arkham House imprint, it was not a financial success. Derleth wrote in 1970, "[T]he fact is that in no single year since its founding have the earnings of Arkham House met the expenses, so that it has been necessary for my personal earnings to shore up Arkham House finances."

After Derleth's death in 1971, Donald Wandrei briefly acted as editorial director but declined to resume his interest in the firm permanently.

He was succeeded by James Turner, who expanded the company's range of authors to include such prominent science fiction and fantasy writers as Michael Bishop, Lucius Shepard, Bruce Sterling, James Tiptree, Jr., Michael Shea and J. G. Ballard, often publishing hardcover collections of shorter works. Turner's acquisitions took the publisher away from its roots in weird and horror fiction, and he was eventually dismissed by August Derleth's daughter April.

21st century
April (Rose) Derleth became president of Arkham House in 2002, having appointed Peter Ruber as her consulting editor and the successor to James Turner. The house’s mission was to return to classic weird fiction, which Ruber sought to do. Ruber drew criticism for the hostile opinions of various authors he expressed in his story introductions within Arkham's Masters of Horror (2000). Rumours of his ill-health circulated for some time and it appears his editorial duties at Arkham House later lapsed due to this.

August Derleth's children April and Walden (Wally) Derleth co-owned the publisher. April ran the business while Wally has currently no direct involvement in its day-to-day operations. April earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1977. She became majority stockholder, President, and CEO of Arkham House in 1994. She remained in that capacity until her death. She was known in the community as a naturalist and humanitarian. April Derleth died March 21, 2011. The publisher's website announced in April 2011 that April Derleth's children will take over the running of the publisher - Danielle Jacobs has been named President, and her brother Damon Derleth as Vice President.

The house's publishing schedule slowed considerably between 2000-2006, with only nine books issued—In the Stone House by Barry N. Malzberg (2000); Book of the Dead by E. Hoffmann Price (a collection of memoirs of writers known by Price, 2001); Arkham House's Masters of Horror (ed. Peter Ruber, 2000); The Far Side of Nowhere by Nelson Bond (2002); The Cleansing by John D. Harvey (a horror novel, 2002); Selected Letters of Clark Ashton Smith (ed. Scott Connors, 2003); Cave of a Thousand Tales by Milt Thomas (a biography of pulp writer Hugh B. Cave, 2004); Other Worlds Than Ours, another collection by Nelson Bond (2005); and Evermore (a collection of tales in tribute to Edgar Allan Poe, ed. James Robert Smith & Stephen Mark Rainey, 2006).

No books have been issued under Arkham House's sole imprint since 2006. Books were previously published in almost every year since the publisher's founding in 1939 (except for 1940 and 1955/56), so the four-year gap 2006-10 could be seen to mark the lowest point thus far in Arkham House's publishing fortunes.

In early 2009 it was announced that George Vanderburgh of Battered Silicon Dispatch Box, and Robert Weinberg, would jointly take over the editorial duties at Arkham House. Battered Silicon Dispatch Box has issued in 2009 four new volumes of stories by August Derleth under a joint imprint with Arkham House which constitute Arkham House's only output since 2006.

Publishing activity seems to have begun to ramp up anew, however, with a reissue (2010) of The Arkham Sampler (1948-49), a limited ed (250 sets) two-volume facsimile reprint of the now-rare magazine issued by Arkham House that ran four issues a year 1948-1949. This work is being issued by Arkham House co-published with the August Derleth Society. Additionally a novel, Jon Lellenberg's Baker Street Irregular, has been announced for publication in Nov 2011.

George Vanderburgh's blog at Battered Silicon Dispatch Box has made the further announcements of a forward publishing schedule as follows:

=2011= Multiple pirated copies of this definitive text as well as corrupted text are available elsewhere. In addition this text is essentially in the public domain in other parts of the world since the author died in 1937. However this is the first authorized edition. These volumes are suitable for all forms of e-book readers. The entire set of volumes will be available individually for downloading, or all on one CD. Price not yet set.
 * Deadly Dimensions and Other Blasphemies A Novel and Short Weird Fiction by Lois H. Gresh  A hardcover edition limited to 1000.  ISBN 978-1-55246-923-1 … $39.95
 * The Gargoyle and Others: A Quarto of Horror by Greye La Spina. Four short horror novels from the early pages of Weird Tales magazine. Includes the classic werewolf novel “Invaders from the Dark,” along with “The Gargoyle,” “Fettered,” and “The Portal to Power.” An edition size has not been set.  ISBN 978-1-55246-910-1 … $39.95
 * The Arkham House H.P. Lovecraft The digital edition in 13 volumes

2014 – Seventy-Five Years of Arkham House
 * ISBN 978-1-55246-924-8 … Price not yet set.

Other imprints
Arkham House published under two additional imprints throughout its history.

In 1945], the Mycroft & Moran imprint was launched for the publication of weird detective and mystery stories, including Derleth's Solar Pons series. The title of the imprint was inspired by characters from the Sherlock Holmes stories: Sherlock's brother Mycroft Holmes, and the villain Colonel Moran. Some Mycroft and Moran titles since 1993 have also been issued by Battered Silicon Dispatch Box.

Arkham also introduced Stanton & Lee Publishers in 1945 with the intention of publishing cartoons by Clare Victor Dwiggins. Stanton & Lee Publishers went on to publish poetry and the regional writings of August Derleth.

Additionally, August Derleth sub-contracted certain books which were nominally published by Arkham House to other publishers including Villiers Publications of England, and Pelligrini and Cudahy of New York.

Recognition
In 2005, Arkham House was awarded the World Fantasy Award for Small Press Achievements—the trophy was a bust of H.P. Lovecraft.

2010s

 * The Arkham Sampler (1948-1949), edited by George Vanderburgh and Robert Weinberg (2010)
 * Baker Street Irregular, by Jon Lellenberg (2010)

2000s

 * The Macabre Quarto, by August Derleth
 * vol. 1: Who Shall I Say Is Calling & Other Stories edited by Stephen Dziemianowicz and Robert Weinberg (2009)
 * vol. 2: The Sleepers and other Wakeful Things introduced by Ramsey Campbell (2009)
 * vol. 3: That Is Not Dead introduced by David Drake (2009)
 * vol. 4: August Derleth's Eerie Creatures introduced by Brian Lumley (2009)


 * The Shunned House Facsimile, by H. P. Lovecraft and Robert Weinberg (2008)
 * Evermore, edited by James Robert Smith and Stephen Mark Rainey (2006)
 * Other Worlds Than Ours, by Nelson Bond (2005)
 * Cave of a Thousand Tales, by Milt Thomas (2004)
 * Selected Letters of Clark Ashton Smith, by Clark Ashton Smith (2003)
 * The Cleansing, by John D. Harvey (2002)
 * The Far Side of Nowhere, by Nelson Bond (2002)
 * Book of the Dead, by E. Hoffmann Price (2001)
 * Arkham's Masters of Horror, edited by Peter Ruber (2000)
 * In the Stone House, by Barry N. Malzberg (2000)

1990s

 * Sixty Years of Arkham House, edited by S. T. Joshi (1999)
 * Dragonfly, by Frederic S. Durbin (1999)
 * New Horizons, edited by August Derleth (1999)
 * Lovecraft Remembered, edited by Peter Cannon (1998)
 * Flowers from the Moon and Other Lunacies, by Robert Bloch (1998)
 * Voyages by Starlight, by Ian R. MacLeod (1997)
 * Synthesis & Other Virtual Realities, by Mary Rosenblum (1996)
 * Cthulhu 2000: A Lovecraftian Anthology, edited by James Turner (1995)
 * Miscellaneous Writings, by H. P. Lovecraft, edited by S. T. Joshi (1994)
 * The Breath of Suspension, by Alexander Jablokov (1994)
 * The Aliens of Earth, by Nancy Kress (1993)
 * Alone with the Horrors: The Great Short Fiction of Ramsey Campbell 1961–1991, by Ramsey Campbell (1993)
 * Meeting in Infinity, by John Kessel (1992)
 * Lord Kelvin's Machine, by James P. Blaylock (1992)
 * Gravity's Angels, by Michael Swanwick (1991)
 * The Ends of the Earth, by Lucius Shepard (1990)
 * Her Smoke Rose Up Forever, by James Tiptree, Jr. (1990)

1980s

 * Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, by H. P. Lovecraft and Divers Hands (1989)
 * Crystal Express, by Bruce Sterling (1989)
 * The Horror in the Museum and Other Revisions, by H. P. Lovecraft (1989)
 * Memories of the Space Age, by J. G. Ballard (1988)
 * A Rendezvous in Averoigne, by Clark Ashton Smith (1988)
 * Polyphemus, by Michael Shea (1987)
 * The Jaguar Hunter, by Lucius Shepard (1987)
 * Tales of the Quintana Roo, by James Tiptree, Jr. (1986)
 * Dreams of Dark and Light: The Great Short Fiction of Tanith Lee, by Tanith Lee (1986)
 * Dagon and Other Macabre Tales, by H. P. Lovecraft (1986)
 * At the Mountains of Madness and Other Novels, by H. P. Lovecraft (1985)
 * The Dunwich Horror and Others, by H. P. Lovecraft (1985)
 * Lovecraft's Book, by Richard A. Lupoff (1985)
 * Who Made Stevie Crye?, by Michael Bishop (1984)
 * Watchers at the Strait Gate, by Russell Kirk (1984)
 * One Winter in Eden, by Michael Bishop (1984)
 * The Zanzibar Cat, by Joanna Russ (1983)
 * The Wind from a Burning Woman, by Greg Bear (1983)
 * The House of the Wolf, by Basil Copper (1983)
 * The Solar Pons Omnibus, by August Derleth, edited by Basil Copper (1982)
 * The Darkling, by David Kesterton (1982)
 * Blooded on Arachne, by Michael Bishop (1982)
 * Tales from the Nightside, by Charles L. Grant (1981)
 * Collected Poems, by Richard L. Tierney (1981)
 * The Third Grave, by David Case (1981)
 * New Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, edited by Ramsey Campbell (1980)
 * Necropolis, by Basil Copper (1980)

1970s

 * The Black Book of Clark Ashton Smith, by Clark Ashton Smith (1979)
 * The Princess of All Lands, by Russell Kirk (1979)
 * In the Mist and Other Uncanny Encounters, by Elizabeth Walter (1979)
 * Half in Shadow, by Mary Elizabeth Counselman (1978)
 * Born to Exile, by Phyllis Eisenstein (1978)
 * In Mayan Splendor, by Frank Belknap Long (1977)
 * The Horror at Oakdeene and Others, by Brian Lumley (1977)
 * And Afterward, the Dark, by Basil Copper (1977)
 * Kecksies and Other Twilight Tales, by Marjorie Bowen (1976)
 * The Height of the Scream, by Ramsey Campbell (1976)
 * Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers, by L. Sprague de Camp (1976)
 * Dwellers in Darkness, by August Derleth (1976)
 * Selected Letters of H. P. Lovecraft V (1934–1937), by H. P. Lovecraft (1976)
 * Selected Letters of H. P. Lovecraft IV (1932–1934), by H. P. Lovecraft (1976)
 * Dreams from R'lyeh, by Lin Carter (1975)
 * The Purcell Papers, by J. Sheridan LeFanu (1975)
 * Nameless Places, edited by Gerald W. Page (1975)
 * The House of the Worm, by Gary Myers (1975)
 * Harrigan's File, by August Derleth (1975)
 * Xélucha and Others, by M. P. Shiel (1975)
 * Howard Phillips Lovecraft: Dreamer on the Nightside, by Frank Belknap Long (1975)
 * The Watchers Out of Time and Others, by H. P. Lovecraft and August Derleth (1974)
 * Collected Ghost Stories, by Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman (1974)
 * Beneath the Moors, by Brian Lumley (1974)
 * Stories of Darkness and Dread, by Joseph Payne Brennan (1973)
 * From Evil's Pillow, by Basil Copper (1973)
 * Demons by Daylight, by Ramsey Campbell (1973)
 * The Rim of the Unknown, by Frank Belknap Long (1972)
 * Disclosures in Scarlet, by Carl Jacobi (1972)
 * The Arkham Collector: Volume I, edited by August Derleth (1972)
 * The Caller of the Black, by Brian Lumley (1971)
 * Selected Letters of H. P. Lovecraft III (1929–1931), by H. P. Lovecraft (1971)
 * Songs and Sonnets Atlantean, by Donald S. Fryer (1971)
 * The Arkham Collector Number Ten: Summer, 1971
 * Dark Things, edited by August Derleth (1971)
 * Eight Tales, by Walter de la Mare (1971)
 * The Arkham Collector Number Nine: Spring, 1971
 * The Face in the Mirror, by Denys Val Baker (1971)
 * Selected Poems, by Clark Ashton Smith (1971)
 * The Arkham Collector Number Eight: Winter, 1971
 * The Horror in the Museum and Other Revisions, by H. P. Lovecraft (1970)
 * The Arkham Collector Number Seven: Summer, 1970
 * Other Dimensions, by Clark Ashton Smith (1970)
 * Demons and Dinosaurs, by L. Sprague de Camp (1970)
 * Thirty Years of Arkham House, 1939–69: A History and Bibliography, prepared by August Derleth (1970)
 * The Arkham Collector Number Six: Winter, 1970

1960s

 * The Folsom Flint and Other Curious Tales, by David H. Keller (1969)
 * Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, by H. P. Lovecraft and Others (1969)
 * The Arkham Collector Number Five: Summer, 1969
 * The Arkham Collector Number Four: Winter, 1969
 * The Arkham Collector Number Three: Summer, 1968
 * Nightmares and Daydreams, by Nelson Bond (1968)
 * Selected Letters of H. P. Lovecraft II (1925–1929), by H. P. Lovecraft (1968)
 * The Green Round, by Arthur Machen (1968)
 * The Arkham Collector Number Two: Winter, 1968
 * Strange Gateways, by E. Hoffmann Price (1967)
 * Three Tales of Horror, by H. P. Lovecraft (1967)
 * The Mind Parasites, by Colin Wilson (1967)
 * The Arkham Collector Number One: Summer, 1967
 * Travellers by Night, edited by August Derleth (1967)
 * Deep Waters, by William Hope Hodgson (1967)
 * Black Medicine, by Arthur J. Burks (1967)
 * Colonel Markesan and Less Pleasant People, by August Derleth and Mark Schorer (1966)
 * The Dark Brotherhood and Other Pieces, by H. P. Lovecraft & divers hands (1966)
 * Strange Harvest, by Donald Wandrei (1965)
 * Something Breathing, by Stanley McNail (1965)
 * The Quick and the Dead, by Vincent Starrett (1965)
 * Dagon and Other Macabre Tales, by H. P. Lovecraft (1965)
 * Poems in Prose, by Clark Ashton Smith (1965)
 * Selected Letters of H. P. Lovecraft I (1911–1924), by H. P. Lovecraft (1965)
 * Tales of Science and Sorcery, by Clark Ashton Smith (1964)
 * Nightmare Need, by Joseph Payne Brennan (1964)
 * Portraits in Moonlight, by Carl Jacobi (1964)
 * At the Mountains of Madness and Other Novels, by H. P. Lovecraft (1964)
 * Over the Edge, edited by August Derleth (1964)
 * Poems for Midnight, by Donald Wandrei (1964)
 * The Inhabitant of the Lake and Less Welcome Tenants, by J. Ramsey Campbell (1964)
 * The Dark Man and Others, by Robert E. Howard (1963)
 * Mr. George and Other Odd Persons, by Stephen Grendon (1963)
 * Who Fears the Devil?, by Manly Wade Wellman (1963)
 * Autobiography: Some Notes on a Nonentity, by H. P. Lovecraft: annotated by August Derleth (1963)
 * The Dunwich Horror and Others, by H. P. Lovecraft (1963)
 * Collected Poems, by H. P. Lovecraft (1963)
 * The Horror from the Hills, by Frank Belknap Long (1963)
 * 100 Books by August Derleth, by August Derleth (1962)
 * The Trail of Cthulhu, by August Derleth (1962)
 * Dark Mind, Dark Heart, edited by August Derleth (1962)
 * Lonesome Places, by August Derleth (1962)
 * Dreams and Fancies, by H. P. Lovecraft (1962)
 * The Shunned House, by H. P. Lovecraft (1961)
 * Fire and Sleet and Candlelight, edited by August Derleth (1961)
 * Strayers from Sheol, by H. Russell Wakefield (1961)
 * Invaders from the Dark, by Greye La Spina (1960)
 * Pleasant Dreams: Nightmares, by Robert Bloch (1960)
 * The Abominations of Yondo, by Clark Ashton Smith (1960)

1950s

 * The Shuttered Room and Other Pieces, by H. P. Lovecraft and Divers Hands (1959)
 * Some Notes on H. P. Lovecraft, by August Derleth (1959)
 * Arkham House: The First 20 Years, by August Derleth (1959)
 * Nine Horrors and a Dream, by Joseph Payne Brennan (1958)
 * The Mask of Cthulhu, by August Derleth (1958)
 * Spells and Philtres, by Clark Ashton Smith (1958)
 * Always Comes Evening, by Robert E. Howard (1957)
 * The Survivor and Others, by H. P. Lovecraft and August Derleth (1957)
 * The Feasting Dead, by John Metcalfe (1954)
 * The Curse of Yig, by Zealia Bishop (1953)
 * Night's Yawning Peal: A Ghostly Company, edited by August Derleth (1952)
 * Tales from Underwood, by David H. Keller (1952)
 * The Dark Chateau, by Clark Ashton Smith (1951)
 * A Hornbook for Witches, by Leah Bodine Drake (1950)

1940s

 * The Throne of Saturn, by S. Fowler Wright (1949)
 * The Arkham Sampler, Volume II, Number Four: Autumn, 1949
 * The Arkham Sampler, Volume II, Number Three: Summer, 1949
 * The Arkham Sampler, Volume II, Number Two: Spring, 1949
 * The Arkham Sampler, Volume II, Number One: Winter, 1949
 * Something About Cats and Other Pieces, by H. P. Lovecraft (1949)
 * Not Long for this World, by August Derleth (1948)
 * Genius Loci and Other Tales, by Clark Ashton Smith (1948)
 * The Arkham Sampler, Volume I, Number Four: Autumn, 1948
 * The Arkham Sampler, Volume I, Number Three: Summer, 1948
 * The Arkham Sampler, Volume I, Number Two: Spring, 1948
 * The Arkham Sampler, Volume I, Number One: Winter, 1948
 * Roads, by Seabury Quinn (1948)
 * The Fourth Book of Jorkens, by Lord Dunsany (1948)
 * The Web of Easter Island, by Donald Wandrei (1948)
 * The Travelling Grave and Other Stories, by L. P. Hartley (1948)
 * Night's Black Agents, by Fritz Leiber, Jr. (1947)
 * Revelations in Black, by Carl Jacobi (1947)
 * Dark Carnival, by Ray Bradbury (1947)
 * Dark of the Moon: Poems of Fantasy and the Macabre, edited by August Derleth (1947)
 * This Mortal Coil, by Cynthia Asquith (1947)
 * Slan, by A. E. van Vogt (1946)
 * The Clock Strikes Twelve, by H. Russell Wakefield (1946)
 * Fearful Pleasures, by A. E. Coppard (1946)
 * West India Lights, by Henry S. Whitehead (1946)
 * Skull-Face and Others, by Robert E. Howard (1946)
 * The House on the Borderland and Other Novels, by William Hope Hodgson (1946)
 * The Doll and One Other, by Algernon Blackwood (1946)
 * The Hounds of Tindalos, by Frank Belknap Long (1946)
 * The Lurker at the Threshold, by H. P. Lovecraft and August Derleth (1945)
 * Green Tea and Other Ghost Stories, by J. Sheridan LeFanu (1945)
 * Witch House, by Evangeline Walton (1945)
 * The Opener of the Way, by Robert Bloch (1945)
 * Something Near, by August Derleth (1945)
 * ''Marginalia by H. P. Lovecraft (1944)
 * Lost Worlds, by Clark Ashton Smith (1944)
 * Jumbee and Other Uncanny Tales, by Henry S. Whitehead (1944)
 * The Eye and the Finger, by Donald Wandrei (1944)
 * Beyond the Wall of Sleep, by H. P. Lovecraft (1943)
 * Out of Space and Time, by Clark Ashton Smith (1942)
 * Someone in the Dark, by August Derleth (1941)

1939

 * The Outsider and Others, by H. P. Lovecraft (1939)