Something Near Explained

Something Near
Author:	August Derleth
Cover Artist:	Ronald Clyne
Country:	United States
Language:	English
Genre:	Fantasy, horror
Publisher:	Arkham House
Release Date:	1945
Media Type:	Print (hardback)
Pages:	274

Something Near is a collection of fantasy and horror short stories by American writer August Derleth. It was released in 1945 and was the author's second book published by Arkham House. 2,054 copies were printed. The collection has never been reprinted.^[1]

Most of the stories had appeared earlier in the magazine Weird Tales.

Contents

Something Near contains the following tales:

• "A Thin Gentleman with Gloves"
• "Mr. Ames' Devil"
• "A Wig for Miss Devore"
• "Mrs. Corter Makes Up Her Mind"
• "Pacific 421"
• "Headlines for Tod Shayne"
• "No Light for Uncle Henry"
• "Lansing's Luxury"
• "Carousel"
• "Lady Macbeth of Pimley Square"
• "Here, Daemos!"
• "McElwin's Glass"
• "An Elegy for Mr. Danielson"
• "The Satin Mask"
• "Motive"
• "The Metronome"
• "The Inverness Cape"
• "The Thing That Walked on the Wind"
• "Ithaqua"
• "Beyond the Threshold"
• "The Dweller in Darkness"

Reception

E. F. Bleiler found the collection to be "Mostly routine work".^[2] Francis T. Laney recommended Something Near as "a worthy, if not outstanding, addition to the Arkham series", saying that "Derleth is a thoroughly competent craftsman, and his better efforts in the genre are well deserving of hard covers".^[3]

Sources

• Book: Jaffery, Sheldon . Sheldon Jaffery

. Sheldon Jaffery . The Arkham House Companion . Mercer Island, WA . Starmont House, Inc.. 10–11. 1989 . 1-55742-005-X.

• Book: Chalker, Jack L. . Jack L. Chalker

. Jack L. Chalker . Mark Owings . The Science-Fantasy Publishers: A Bibliographic History, 1923-1998 . Westminster, MD and Baltimore . Mirage Press, Ltd. . 1998. 28.

• Book: Nielsen, Leon . Arkham House Books: A Collector's Guide . Jefferson, NC and London . McFarland & Company, Inc. . 2004 . 0-7864-1785-4. 54.

Notes and References

1. Book: Joshi, S.T. . S.T. Joshi

   . S.T. Joshi . Sixty Years of Arkham House: A History and Bibliography . Sauk City, WI . Arkham House . 1999 . 0-87054-176-5. 30.

2. E. F. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction, Kent State University Press, 1983 (p.150)
3. "Banquets for Bookworms", The Acolyte, Summer 1945 (#11), p.28