Ronald Weighell (1950 in Leeds – 2020) was a British writer of fiction in the supernatural, fantasy and horror genre. His stories appeared in over fifty anthologies and published in six volumes containing his own work exclusively. Weighell is listed as an author in the online Bibliothèque Nationale de France, with a selected bibliography. A short biography and limited bibliography are available in the goodreads.com website. A more extensive bibliography of his published work is available in the Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Weighell died on 24 December 2020, some weeks after suffering a stroke. Obituaries have been published by the Fortean Times magazine, the newsletter of The Sherlock Holmes Society of London, and Locus Magazine.
Two of Weighell’s stories, "Carven of Onyx" and "China Rose", were chosen to appear in the 1992 and 1993 volumes, respectively, of the annual U.S. publication The Year's Best Horror Stories. Three further stories, "The Four Strengths of Shadow", "The Chapel of Infernal Devotion", and "Under the Frenzy of the Fourteenth Moon" appeared in the annual British publication Best New Horror, volumes 26 (2015), 27 (2016), and 31 (2021) respectively.
Weighell's fiction is characterized by his knowledge of incunabula, architecture, art and art symbolism, mysticism, and the occult, and pays homage to his two primary influences, M. R. James and Arthur Machen. While his protagonists are typically scholars, archaeologists, and bibliophiles, much of his fiction moves beyond traditional antiquarian ghost stories to explore both wonder and terror in the presence of supernatural forces.
Weighell's first published short story, "Bishop Asgarth's Chantry," was in 1986 in the small press Ghosts and Scholars magazine, devoted to the M. R. James tradition. From that point on, his work was published in those magazines and others, such as AKLO and All Hallows,, and in book anthologies with other writers. In 1986, Haunted Library Publications published Weighell's first short story collection, entitled An Empty House and Other Stories.
In 1992, the Northern Musgraves Sherlock Holmes Society invited Weighell to produce a story for their "Aspects of Holmes" weekend. The positive reception of "The Shadow of the Wolf", read out at the society's annual dinner, led Weighell to write more Sherlock Holmes stories. His collection The Irregular Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, published in 2000, proved a popular work and was re-printed in 2018 by Zagava Press. In 1990 an interview with Weighell was published in Sherlock Holmes The Detective Magazine, Issue 37, along with a review of The Irregular Casebook of Sherlock Holmes.
Weighell’s second collection of short stories, entitled The White Road, was published in 1997 by Ghost Story Press. The collection sold out and became a rarity, and today only an occasional copy crops up online to be purchased by collectors of his work.
During his writing career, Weighell was invited to submit articles to journals such as Warnings to the Curious: A Sheaf of Criticism on M. R. James, edited by S. T. Joshi and Rosemary Pardoe (2007).
Two further Weighell collections, Tarshishim (a box set), and Summonings, were published in 2011 and 2014 respectively. In 2017, a new edition of The White Road was published by Sarob Press, with a few stories removed and new stories added. Both editions of The White Road were illustrated by Weighell’s lifelong friend Nick Maloret. Further stories of Weighell's were published up to and including 2024.
Before he was taken ill, Weighell had been putting the finishing touches to a new novel titled King Satyr. In October 2021, small press publisher Sarob Press announced that a limited edition of the novel would be published in late November/early December 2021. The announcement was covered by the Portsmouth area UK newspaper The News in its online and paper editions, by The Isle of Wight County Press, and by the Isle of Wight online news site On the Wight.
Weighell had supplied quotes to writer Sandy Robertson for an introduction Robertson was writing for James Blish's The Day After Judgment, as part of a set of Blish's After Such Knowledge quartet of books to be reissued by Centipede Press. This was published in 2022 with a note on Weighell's passing and a mention of the posthumous publication of his novel King Satyr.
Two of Weighell's stories, "Now Feel That Pulse No More" and "The Stryx" are listed in Literary Hauntings: A Gazetteer of Literary Ghost Stories from Britain and Ireland published by Tartarus Press in 2022.
Publications "Aquarius or Ragnarok?", article and book reviews of Haunted Britain by Antony D. Hippisley Coxe and The Dragon and the Disc by F. W. Holliday, in the WATSUPWessex Association for The Study of Unexplained Phenomena, a Hampshire-based group of British UFO (unidentified flying objects) spotters who met to discuss and investigate UFOs and other unexplained phenomena.WATSUP is mentioned in 'Raising the Devil: Satanism, New Religions, and the Media' by Bill Ellis, University of Kentucky (2000).WATSUP is mentioned in 'From Demons to Dracula: The Creation of the Modern Vampire Myth', Matthew Beresford, Chicago Press (2008).WATSUP is mentioned in 'The Primordial Pyramid' by M. Bromwyn Handley, Strategic Book Group (2010). Journal, Issue 2 (1974) "A View from Shamballah", article and book reviews of Supernature by Lyall Watson, The Politics of Experience by R. D. Laing, and The Tree of Life by Israel Regardie, in WATSUP Journal Issue 3 (1975) Book reviews of Quicksilver Heritage by Paul Screeton and Cults of Unreason by Christopher Evans in WATSUP Journal Issue 4 (1975) "A Question of Vision", article and book review of Forbidden Universe by Leo Talamonti, in WATSUP Journal Issue 5 (1975) "Dark Devotions: M. R. James and the Magical Tradition",Referenced in footnote 47 of the critical essay 'Amateur Error, Templar Terror, and M. R. James's Haunted Whistle', Fred Porcheddu and Patrick J. Murphy, Philological Quarterly, journal of the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts & Sciences (2013) article in Ghosts & Scholars 6, edited by Rosemary Pardoe (1984)A booklet titled 'Sliding Down the Snakes: Night of the Demon and the Charismatic Magus', by Kat Ellinger, contains a brief excerpt from 'Dark Devotions' and credits Weighell in a footnote. The booklet accompanied the Powerhouse Films 2018 special edition 2 disc Blu-Ray release of the 1957 film 'Night of the Demon'. "Two Masters: M. R. James and the 'Times' Correspondence", article in Ghosts & Scholars 7, edited by Rosemary Pardoe (1985) "Bishop Asgarth’s Chantry" in Ghosts and Scholars 8, edited by Rosemary Pardoe (1986) An Empty House and Other Stories, collection including "An Empty House", "Diminish Like the Word", "The Box Parterre", and "The First Turning of the Second Stair", Haunted Library Publications (1986) Sorcery and Sanctity: The Spagyric Quest of Arthur Machen – Artist and Mystic, edited by Mark Valentine and Roger Dobson, Caermaen Books (1986)Cited as a source in the bibliography of 'PANIC ON THE BRITISH BORDERLANDS: THE GREAT GOD PAN, VICTORIAN SEXUALITY, AND SACRED SPACE IN THE WORKS OF ARTHUR MACHEN', Ph.D. dissertation, Temple University, Jeffrey Michael Renye, January 2013. Angles of Coincidence: Rennes Le Château and the Magdalen Mystery, Haunted Library Publications (1987) "Bisschop Asgarth’s Rouwkapel" in Geesten & Geleerden, Horizon Publikatie, Belgium (1988) "Againbite", story; review of White Chappell, Scarlet Tracings by Iain Sinclair; and contribution to "Story Notes: 'Lost Hearts'", article with Rosemary Pardoe, David G. Rowlands, and John Alfred Taylor in Ghosts & Scholars 10, edited by Rosemary Pardoe] (1988) "The Fire of the Wise" in Aklo: A Journal of the Fantastic, edited by Mark Valentine and Roger Dobson (1988) "Arthur Machen and the Hermetic Mystery" in Avallaunius: The Journal of the Arthur Machen Society (1988) "The Lycurgus Cup" in Dark Dreams, edited by David Cowperthwaite and Jeffrey Dempsey (1989) "The Stryx" in Nocturne, Secundus, edited by Michael J. Lotus and Vincent L. Michael (1989) "The White Road: An Excerpt" in Aklo: A Journal of the Fantastic, edited by Mark Valentine and Roger Dobson (1989) "The Resurrection Brass" in Ghosts & Scholars 11, edited by Rosemary Pardoe] (1989) "Arthur Machen and the Abyss of Nature" in Avallaunius: The Journal of the Arthur Machen Society (1989) Contribution to "Story Notes: 'The Ash-Tree'", article with Rosemary Pardoe, David G. Rowlands and John Alfred Taylor in Ghosts & Scholars 11, edited by Rosemary Pardoe (1989) Review of Hawksmoor by Kerry Downes in Ghosts & Scholars 11, edited by Rosemary Pardoe (1989) "The Case of the Fiery Messengers" in Mystery for Christmas, edited by Richard Dalby, Michael O’Mara Books Limited (1990) "Lock Fast the Lock" in All Hallows (Journal of the Ghost Story Society), edited by Mark Valentine (1990) "Carven of Onyx" in Tales of Witchcraft, edited by Richard Dalby, Michael O’Mara Books Limited (1991) "The Boat Called Millions of Years" in All Hallows, (Journal of the Ghost Story Society) edited by Mark Valentine (1991) "The Circle of the Hieroglyphs" in Ghosts & Scholars 13, edited by Rosemary Pardoe (1991) "The Chestnut Husk" in Aklo: A Journal of the Fantastic, edited by Mark Valentine and Roger Dobson (1991) "Mater Dolorosa: A Fragment" in Aklo: A Journal of the Fantastic, edited by Mark Valentine and Roger Dobson (1991) Contribution to "Story Notes: 'The Residence At Whitminster'", article with Rosemary Pardoe, David G. Rowlands and John Alfred Taylor, in Ghosts & Scholars 13, edited by Rosemary Pardoe (1991) "Carven of Onyx" in The Year's Best Horror Stories XX, edited by Karl Edward Wagner, DAW Books (1992) "Hôn, Thôn, Fedar, Fen" in Aklo: A Journal of the Fantastic, edited by Mark Valentine and Roger Dobson, Tartarus Press (Autumn 1992) "China Rose" in Vampire Stories, edited by Richard Dalby, Michael O’Mara Books Limited (1992) "Sherlock Holmes and the Shadow of the Wolf", commissioned by The Northern Musgraves Sherlock Holmes Society, edited by Stuart Davies and Kathryn White (1992) "Second Death" in Dark Dreams 9, edited by David Cowperthwaite and Jeffrey Dempsey (1992) "Laid Down and Guarded" in Dark Dreams 9, edited by David Cowperthwaite and Jeffrey Dempsey (1992) "The Greater Arcana" in Horror for Christmas, edited by Richard Dalby, Michael O’Mara Books (1992). Also in paperback, Headline (1993) "Kiinanruusu", Finnish translation by Pertti Koskela of China Rose, in Vampyrit, edited by Richard Dalby, Book Studio (1993) "China Rose" in The Year's Best Horror Stories XXI, editor Karl Edward Wagner, DAW Books (1993) "The Greater Arcana" in Mistletoe & Mayhem: Horrific Tales for the Holidays, edited by Richard Dalby, Castle Books (1993) The Greater Arcana, Haunted Library Publications (1994) "The Ghosting from Channel 19" in All Hallows 9 (Journal of the Ghost Story Society), edited by Barbara Roden and Christopher Roden (1995) The White Road, collection comprising "The Lycurgus Cup", "Carven of Onyx", "China Rose", "The Ghosting from Channel 19", "The Secret Place", "Some Day I'll Find You", "Second Death", "The Shadow of the Wolf", "The Tunnel of Saksaksalim", "Mater Dolorosa: A Fragment", "Lock Fast the Lock", "The Boat Called Millions of Years", "The Greater Arcana", "In the Shaft", "Laid Down and Guarded", "Which Way I Fly", "The Stryx", "Necropolis", "Byerly Mount", "The Circle of the Hieroglyphs", "An Empty House", "Diminish Like the Word", "Bishop Asgarth's Chantry", "The Box Parterre", "Againbite", "The Resurrection Brass", "The First Turning of the Second Stair", "The Ram Head Ring", "The Case of the Fiery Messengers", "Hôn, Thôn, Fedar, Fen", "The Fire of the Wise", "The Chestnut Husk", and "The White Road," Ghost Story Press (1997) "The Mouth of the Medusa" in Midnight Never Comes, edited by Barbara Roden and Christopher Roden, Ash-Tree Press (1997)