THE KINGDOM OF EVIL: A CONTINUATION OF THE JOURNAL OF FANTAZIUS MALLARE
Book Details + Condition: Arno Press (New York). First Edition thus, 1976. Part of Arno Press' hard-to-find "Supernatural & Occult Fiction" collection. Facsimile reprint of the original publication, originally released in 1924. Hardcover with purple boards and silver titling to front and spine. 211 pages. From the massive occult collection of King Lawrence Parker - academic, dissertation author, and book collector extraordinaire. Book is in near-new, unread condition, with firm binding, bright boards, and a clean interior. Please see our other listings for more rare Arno Press publications.
Author Ben Hecht (1893-1964) was a famous newspaperman, screenwriter and political activist. He wrote 35 books and was credited with over 70 screenplays – and in his early career, he explored horror and fantasy with two short novels, "Fantazius Mallare" and its sequel, "The Kingdom of Evil". It is profusely illustrated by Anthony Angarola, and was originally sold as a limited edition hardcover. From bedlamfiles.com: “As for the prose, it gives credence to the oft-repeated claim that Hecht could write in any style. Whereas FANTAZIUS MALLARE was patterned after the French decadents, THE KINDGDOM OF EVIL is more in line with the Weird Tales style of H.P. Lovecraft et al in its evocation of a nightmarish realm of otherworldly creatures. Here Mallare shuns reality altogether to retreat into a bizarre psychological netherworld. Therein he’s kidnapped, and put to work in a subterranean sweatshop manned by a freak who’s looking to create a vast kingdom of evil, filled with structures resembling ‘warehouse ectoplasms.’ Yet this isn’t enough, and before long Mallare and his fellow slaves construct a God to rule the kingdom of evil. Their initial attempts at creating this deity result in a variety of hideous monstrosities, the fecund descriptions of which are right out of Clark Ashton Smith".
