A brief introduction to R.C.H.

[Gloomy Sundae]

R. Chetwynd-Hayes was 52 when his first collection of horror stories, The Unbidden was published in 1971 and made no bones about why he turned to horror: In those days all things supernatural and ghastly sold, and once he got going he was extraordinarily prolific.

His first professional sale was The Man From The Bomb to Science Fiction Magazine- one of Badger Books' offshoots from the lovable Supernatural Stories - in October 1959. He followed this with a novel, The Dark Man (Sidgwick & Jackson, 1964) and his first contribution to Herbert Van Thal's Pan Book Of Horror Stories (The Thing, 1966). Van Thal became his agent and Chetwynd-Hayes went into overdrive.

Prior to The Unbidden, he contributed Housebound and the brilliant Looking For Something To Suck to Fontana Horror volumes #3 and #4 (1968, 1969: Housebound also featured in Aiden & Nancy Chambers' Ghosts for Topliner in 1969. Another of those collections for the younger audience that do the job for adults). The following year it was The Monster (Fontana Horror #5) and The Bodmin Terror, again for Fontana, in Cornish Tales Of Terror which he also edited.
And then it was time for his first collection: The Unbidden, which, I hope, is where this board will pick up from ...

Ronald Chetwynd-Hayes: Bibliography

COLLECTIONS

The Unbidden (Tandem, 1971)
Cold Terror (Tandem, 1973)
Terror By Night (Tandem, 1974)
The Elemental (Fontana, 1974)
The Night Ghouls (Fontana, 1975)
Tales Of Fear And Fantasy (Fontana, 1977)
The Cradle-Demon (William Kimber, 1978)
The Fantastic World Of Kamtellar (William Kimber, 1978)
Tales Of Darkness (William Kimber, 1981)
Tales From Beyond (William Kimber, 1982)
Tales From The Other Side (William Kimber, 1983: US title, 'The Other Side', Tor, 1988)
A Quiver Of Ghosts (William Kimber, 1984)
Tales From The Dark Lands (William Kimber, 1985)
Ghosts From The Mists Of Time(William Kimber, 1985)
Tales From The Shadows (William Kimber, 1986)
Tales From The Haunted House (William Kimber, 1986)
Dracula's Children (William Kimber, 1987)
The House Of Dracula (William Kimber, 1987)
Tales From The Hidden World (William Kimber, 1988)
Shudders & Shivers (Robert Hale, 1995)
The Vampire Stories of R. Chetwynd-Hayes (Fedogan & Bremer, 1997)
Shock (British Fantasy Society, 1997)
Phantoms & Fiends (Robert Hale 2000)
Frights & Fancies (Robert Hale 2002)

NOVELS:

The Man From The Bomb (Badger SF series #21, October, 1959)
The Dark Man [aka 'And Love Survived'] (Sidgewick & Jackson, 1964)
The Monster Club,(Nel 1975)
The Brats (William Kimber, 1979)
The Partaker (William Kimber, 1980)
The King's Ghost (William Kimber, 1987) (US title, 'The Grange' (Tor, 1988)
The Haunted Grange (Kimber 1990)
Curse Of The Snake God (Inner Circle 1991)
Kepple (Robert Hale 1991)
The Psychic Detective (Robert Hale 1993)
Hell Is What You Make It (Robert Hale 1994)
World Of the Impossible Robert Hale 1997

NOVELISATIONS:

Dominique (Universal, 1978)
The Awakening (Magnum, 1980)

AS EDITOR:

Cornish Tales of Terror (Fontana, 1970)
Scottish Tales of Terror (as 'Angus Campbell', Fontana, 1972)
The 9th Fontana Book Of Great Ghost Stories (1973; RCH edited every volume through to the final 20th, in 1984)
Welsh Tales of Terror (Fontana 1973)
Tales of Terror from Outer Space (Fontana, 1975)
Gaslight Tales of Terror (Fontana, 1976)
Doomed To The Night (William Kimber, 1978)

.... With STEPHEN JONES:

Great Ghost Stories (Cemetery Dance, Carroll & Graf, 2004)
Tales to Freeze the Blood: More Great Ghost Stories (Carroll & Graf, 2004)

Thanks to John L. Probert for his invaluable help in compiling this listing.

Chetwynd-Hayes also edited the childrens series, "The Armada Book Of Monsters".

[Michel]

What I like about that Monster Club comic (John Bolton, wasn't it?) is that the caricature of RCH really does look like RCH and not John Carradine who played him in the movie! Well done the artist for doing his homework...

[Gloomy Sundae]

Hi Michel. Yes, it was John Bolton. I don't have the The Monster Club comic strip booklet (I believe it changes hands at ridiculous prices), but I've at least got the introduction and Shadmock story from the reprint in Halls Of Horror (#25 (which also includes your Spawn Of Psycho article). Bolton and Dez Skinn did a magnificent job on it.

[The Grim Reaper]

R. CHETWYND-HAYES Died Mar. 20, 2001

Acclaimed horror writer R. Chetwynd-Hayes died of bronchial pneumonia at age 81. Mr. Chetwynd-Hayes wrote over 200 short stories and dozens of novels. His short stories were used in the movie "Tales From Beyond the Grave." His book "The Monster Club" was turned into an interesting movie by workhorse director Roy Ward Baker. Mr. Chetwynd-Hayes served his country during WWII. He took part in the disastrous battle of Dunkirk and the D-Day invasion. He was an extra in a number of films made before WWII including "Goodbye Mr. Chips" and "A Yank at Oxford."

www.einsiders.com/features/columns/mar01obituaries.php