The Old Tailor & The Gaunt Man
Brian J. Showers
Availability: Out of Print – Chapbook
“Here is a small treat from The Swan River Press in Dublin, Ireland: an old-fashioned ghost story in a hand-sewn binding with soft covers and its own ribbon marker. Brian J. Showers, an expatriate American writer living in Dublin, reveals an expert hand at deploying the shadows and portents, ironic disclosures, and gradual accumulation of detail, which still make the masters of supernatural fiction so chillingly entertaining to this day. His tale of a lonely old tailor eking out a miserable existence who discovers ‘there is still enough faith for dark things to walk the night’ is a delightful folkloric ghost story in a gently facetious and slightly antique tone reminiscent of Charles Dickens and Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. The text is complemented by Meggan Kehrli’s arabesque cover design, six full-page illustrations, and an equal number of spot illustrations, all of which add to the work’s eerie charm. This is perfect fare for solitary reading on blustery autumn evenings or a group gathered round the holiday fireplace in expectation of a Winter’s Tale.” – Jim Rockhill, All Hallows
- Reprinted in Acquainted with the Night (Ash Tree Press, 2004)
This limited edition chapbook is sold out.
Please check with our Booksellers for remaining copies.
Cover art by Meggan Kehrli
ISBN: N/A
Brian J. Showers
Brian J. Showers is originally from Madison, Wisconsin. He has written short stories, articles, and reviews for magazines such as Rue Morgue, Ghosts & Scholars, and Supernatural Tales. His short story collection, The Bleeding Horse, won the Children of the Night Award in 2008. He is also the author of Literary Walking Tours of Gothic Dublin (2006), the co-editor of Reflections in a Glass Darkly: Essays on J. Sheridan Le Fanu (2011), and the editor of The Green Book. Showers also edited four volumes of Uncertainties anthology series, and co-edited with Jim Rockhill, the Ghost Story Award-winning anthology Dreams of Shadow and Smoke. He lives in Dublin, Ireland.
Read more
“In the realm of literature, there is an often-unsung format that provides readers with just as much, and oftentimes more, bang for their buck. Novels can be ponderous things, clumsy in their dimensions and difficult to manage. Try reading The Stand, even the paperback version, on a subway between stops with your arms laden with packages and you’ll see what I mean. Literary magazines are often no better, as stories tend to get buried between pages of advertisements, or get split between sections of filler. As if in answer to the rapid transit problem, many authors publish chapbooks, containing stories too long for acceptance in magazines, but too short for the standard novel fare. And while chapbooks have long been preferred among poets, their pages are no strangers to horror. Ireland’s Brian J. Showers proves that a longer short story can pack a punch with his two chapbooks, The Old Tailor & The Gaunt Man and The Snow Came Softly Down. “The first tells, as the name implies, of an old tailor who finds himself replaced by the machine age. No longer do people clamor to buy his hand-stitched suits, preferring to purchase things made quickly and cheaply from modern clothing stores. When it seems his usefulness is over and he is to join his beloved wife in the grave, he receives a curious guest who wants a new suit, made to the old tailor’s exacting standards. “The Snow Came Softly Down is a Christmas tale, in the vein of A Christmas Carol. In it, a man struggles to cross a haunted forest to get home to his wife and children on Christmas Eve, and discovers the kindness of strangers, even if they happen to be ghosts. “While, at first glance, Showers’ chapbooks may look small and amateurish, the writing inside resonates with the voice of a seasoned professional. Bringing to mind the works of Edgar Allan Poe, Showers is able to conjure compelling stories, all the while giving the reader a taste of fear and of the macabre to keep fans of classic horror glued to the pages. There are no surprise endings. In fact, almost from the first paragraphs, the readers can see what’s coming. However, as a testament to his writing ability, Showers is able to keep the reader’s attention, weaving a heart-felt and chilling story until the last word.” – Dread Central
The Old Tailor & the Gaunt Man by Brian J. Showers. Cover art and illustrations by Meggan Kehrli; copyedited by Jim Rockhill.
001a. First Printing: Published in October 2003; A7-sized chapbook; limited to 150 copies; 150 gsm card wraps (Canford 072 Tangerine); 48 pages; laser jet printed on 80 gsm paper (Adagio Ivory); black polysatin ribbon bookmark (10mm); hand-sewn, saddle-stitched binding (Gütterman Heavy Black); printed by Swan River Press, Rathmines, Dublin; no ISBN assigned.
001b. Second Printing: Published in March 2005; A7-sized chapbook; limited to 100 copies; 150 gsm card wraps (Canford 072 Tangerine); 48 pages; laser jet printed on 80 gsm paper (Adagio Ivory); black polysatin ribbon bookmark (10mm); hand-sewn, saddle-stitched binding (Gütterman Heavy Black); printed by Swan River Press, Rathmines, Dublin; no ISBN assigned.
001c. Third Printing: Published in June 2006; A7-sized chapbook; limited to 150 copies; 150 gsm card wraps (Canford 072 Tangerine); 48 pages; laser jet printed on 80 gsm paper (Adagio Ivory); black polysatin ribbon bookmark (10mm); hand-sewn, saddle-stitched binding (Gütterman Heavy Black); printed by Swan River Press, Rathmines, Dublin; no ISBN assigned.
“Afterword”
“The Old Tailor & the Gaunt Man” originated with a morbid thought I once had while walking through Mount Jerome cemetery in Harold’s Cross, Dublin. Most people are buried in their Sunday best, but, like flesh and bone, clothing deteriorates. So who do the dead go to when their suits need mending? It can only be a mixed blessing when such a customer comes a-knocking at your door . . .
B.J.S.
December 2004
Rathmines, Dublin
