Another completely unexpected death of a major horror author:
Thomas Tessier died at the age of 78 on March 26th. If you've been reading Too Much Horror Fiction for long, you'll know he's one of my favorites; I discovered him in 1989 or 1990 while working in a used bookstore and picked up
Finishing Touches on a whim, thanks to its come-hither cover art. It was an honor to get that book and another favorite,
Rapture, reprinted by Valancourt Books in their
Paperbacks from Hell line.
When I wrote the intro for
FT, I was able to chat with Tessier over email, and I—and other fans, as I've learned on social media—found him personable, open, and fascinating (he was living in London in the Seventies and witnessed the birth of British punk rock first hand as a music magazine editor/writer).
In addition to his terrifying, malevolent novels, Tessier also penned some utterly brilliant and effective short stories, like "Evelyn Grace," "Addicted to Love," and "Blanca." Published in various horror anthologies throughout the late Eighties and into the Nineties and beyond, they've been gathered into a 2019 collection,
World of Hurt.
Pick up a
Tessier book today, and become acquainted with one of horror's quietest, most seductive, most penetrating voices. Godspeed, Mr. Tessier, and thanks for all the terrors.
4 comments:
Revisiting RAPTURE at the moment; Tessier was one of the good ones. RIP.
Hi Will. I desperately need your horror book expertise! I’m trying to identify a book I read in the late ’90s (I bought it used, so it may be much older). It was an adult horror novel about a young girl, probably around 9–12, who was adopted by a family that already had a son. She was creepy/evil from the beginning, killed or tortured animals, became strangely obsessed with and attracted to her adoptive father, and I think she tried to push her adoptive brother into a lake to kill him. I also remember there being some kind of supernatural/horror element, although I’m not 100% sure. After doing a ton of research I thought it was The Godsend but it’s not. I’ve been trying to find this book for years! Does this ring any bells? 🙏 Thank you for ANY help
Hi Will. I desperately need your horror-book expertise! I’m trying to identify a book I read in the late ’90s (I bought it used, so it may be much older). It was an adult horror novel about a young girl, probably around 9–12, who was adopted by a family that already had a son. She was creepy/evil from the beginning, killed or tortured animals, became strangely obsessed with and attracted to her adoptive father, and I think she tried to push her adoptive brother into a lake to kill him. I also remember there being some kind of supernatural/horror element, although I’m not 100% sure. I’ve been trying to find this book for years! After doing a ton of research I thought it was The Godsend but it’s not. Does this ring any bells? 🙏 Thank you for any help!
Hi, Will, just wanted to let you know that your readers miss you! However, you don't owe us anything; take your time.
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