Charles Prepolec
@sherlockeditor.bsky.social
Editor on the 'Gaslight Sherlock Holmes' series, 'Professor Challenger: New Worlds, Lost Places' and 'Beyond Rue Morgue' anthologies. Mostly, I just like to read... but will rage about Canadian politics as a federal Liberal and AB NDP supporter in Calgary.
In today’s mail from Telos Publishing is the limited hardcover of Terror Tales of Chaos edited by Paul Finch. Sprayed edges and gorgeous endpapers based on Jan Van Eyck’s Last Judgment. Excellent group of authors including four who had stories in our Gaslight Sherlock Holmes anthologies.
November 24, 2025 at 9:46 PM
In today’s mail from Telos Publishing is the limited hardcover of Terror Tales of Chaos edited by Paul Finch. Sprayed edges and gorgeous endpapers based on Jan Van Eyck’s Last Judgment. Excellent group of authors including four who had stories in our Gaslight Sherlock Holmes anthologies.
A happy 83rd birthday to the 'Big Yin' himself, Sir Billy Connolly CBE, who was born #OTD November 24, 1942. I don't think there's a comedian alive who has ever made me laugh harder or longer than Billy.
November 24, 2025 at 6:18 PM
A happy 83rd birthday to the 'Big Yin' himself, Sir Billy Connolly CBE, who was born #OTD November 24, 1942. I don't think there's a comedian alive who has ever made me laugh harder or longer than Billy.
Lazy Sunday reading on the couch with D.
November 23, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Lazy Sunday reading on the couch with D.
Happy 62nd anniversary to Doctor Who! Who first appeared on BBC TV at 17:16:20 GMT on Saturday, 23 November 1963 with the broadcast of An Unearthly Child... the rest is history!
November 23, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Happy 62nd anniversary to Doctor Who! Who first appeared on BBC TV at 17:16:20 GMT on Saturday, 23 November 1963 with the broadcast of An Unearthly Child... the rest is history!
Born #OTD in 1887. William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969) AKA the one and only Boris Karloff! He played a retired Sherlock Holmes, under the name Mr. Mycroft in the Elgin Hour ‘Sting of Death’ episode in 1955, an adaptation of H. F. Heard’s novel "A Taste for Honey."
November 23, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Born #OTD in 1887. William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969) AKA the one and only Boris Karloff! He played a retired Sherlock Holmes, under the name Mr. Mycroft in the Elgin Hour ‘Sting of Death’ episode in 1955, an adaptation of H. F. Heard’s novel "A Taste for Honey."
For info on known copies visit www.bestofsherlock.com/beetons-chri...
November 21, 2025 at 4:07 PM
For info on known copies visit www.bestofsherlock.com/beetons-chri...
Arthur Conan Doyle eventually sold the story, and rights, to Ward Lock & Co. for the meagre sum of £25. Today only 11 *complete* copies are known to exist and it is considered to be 'the most expensive magazine in the World' with a copy selling at auction in 2007 for $156,000 USD.
November 21, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Arthur Conan Doyle eventually sold the story, and rights, to Ward Lock & Co. for the meagre sum of £25. Today only 11 *complete* copies are known to exist and it is considered to be 'the most expensive magazine in the World' with a copy selling at auction in 2007 for $156,000 USD.
138 years ago #OTD November 21, 1887, the first story to feature Sherlock Holmes - A Study in Scarlet - was published in Beeton's Christmas Annual. Written in 1886, and rejected by a variety of publishers for being either too long or too short,
November 21, 2025 at 4:07 PM
138 years ago #OTD November 21, 1887, the first story to feature Sherlock Holmes - A Study in Scarlet - was published in Beeton's Christmas Annual. Written in 1886, and rejected by a variety of publishers for being either too long or too short,
A new bookstore opening in Calgary? It's a horror bookshop? Yeah, this I'll need to see! Full open this Saturday. www.nocturnebooks.ca
November 20, 2025 at 2:50 AM
A new bookstore opening in Calgary? It's a horror bookshop? Yeah, this I'll need to see! Full open this Saturday. www.nocturnebooks.ca
For fantasy casting that never was, I'm convinced Vivien Leigh would have made a formidable Irene Adler against Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes...
November 5, 2025 at 2:48 PM
For fantasy casting that never was, I'm convinced Vivien Leigh would have made a formidable Irene Adler against Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes...
Born #OTD in 1913, the incomparable Vivien Leigh (5 Nov 1913 – 8 July 1967). Immortalized forever on screen as Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind, but my favourite role of Leigh's is as Cleopatra opposite Claude Rains in Caesar and Cleopatra (1945).
November 5, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Born #OTD in 1913, the incomparable Vivien Leigh (5 Nov 1913 – 8 July 1967). Immortalized forever on screen as Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind, but my favourite role of Leigh's is as Cleopatra opposite Claude Rains in Caesar and Cleopatra (1945).
"There is a tremendous delicacy in preserving Holmes in other people's imaginations because there are a million different ways of seeing him. You try not to interfere with anybody's image." - Jeremy Brett (3 Nov 1933 – 12 Sept 1995)
November 3, 2025 at 2:39 PM
"There is a tremendous delicacy in preserving Holmes in other people's imaginations because there are a million different ways of seeing him. You try not to interfere with anybody's image." - Jeremy Brett (3 Nov 1933 – 12 Sept 1995)
A Hammer Halloween bookshelf… 😎
November 1, 2025 at 2:16 AM
A Hammer Halloween bookshelf… 😎
Happy Halloween!
"There was something awesome in the thought of the solitary mortal standing by the open window and summoning in from the gloom outside the spirits of the nether world." - Arthur Conan Doyle, Selecting a Ghost
"There was something awesome in the thought of the solitary mortal standing by the open window and summoning in from the gloom outside the spirits of the nether world." - Arthur Conan Doyle, Selecting a Ghost
October 31, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Happy Halloween!
"There was something awesome in the thought of the solitary mortal standing by the open window and summoning in from the gloom outside the spirits of the nether world." - Arthur Conan Doyle, Selecting a Ghost
"There was something awesome in the thought of the solitary mortal standing by the open window and summoning in from the gloom outside the spirits of the nether world." - Arthur Conan Doyle, Selecting a Ghost
Born #OTD in Toronto in 1886, the great Sherlockian writer, journalist and bibliophile, Charles Vincent Emerson Starrett (Oct 26, 1886 – Jan 5, 1974). For background on Starrett, and his fascinating life, visit Studies in Starrett at www.vincentstarrett.com
October 26, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Born #OTD in Toronto in 1886, the great Sherlockian writer, journalist and bibliophile, Charles Vincent Emerson Starrett (Oct 26, 1886 – Jan 5, 1974). For background on Starrett, and his fascinating life, visit Studies in Starrett at www.vincentstarrett.com
113 years ago #OTD October 15, 1912 - Arthur Conan Doyle's great SF novel THE LOST WORLD was 1st published in book form, after appearances in The Strand Magazine. Both the regular (10,716 copies. 6/-) and large paper (190 copies bound. 10/6) editions were released by Hodder & Stoughton on this day.
October 16, 2025 at 1:29 AM
113 years ago #OTD October 15, 1912 - Arthur Conan Doyle's great SF novel THE LOST WORLD was 1st published in book form, after appearances in The Strand Magazine. Both the regular (10,716 copies. 6/-) and large paper (190 copies bound. 10/6) editions were released by Hodder & Stoughton on this day.
133 years ago #OTD October 14, 1892 - THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES was first published, after monthly appearances in The Strand Magazine, in book form.
October 14, 2025 at 2:07 PM
133 years ago #OTD October 14, 1892 - THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES was first published, after monthly appearances in The Strand Magazine, in book form.
An October bookshelf… one that I face in my seat here in my home office. It is one of 6 shelves in that 7x4 foot bookcase opposite my desk.
October 13, 2025 at 4:28 AM
An October bookshelf… one that I face in my seat here in my home office. It is one of 6 shelves in that 7x4 foot bookcase opposite my desk.
In the mood for a bit of Buchan today, so revisiting what is probably my fave of his ‘strange’ stories, ‘No-Man’s-Land’.
Good intro from James Machin. Amused by the obligatory Doyle/Sherlock Holmes reference practically right out of the gate. 😉
Good intro from James Machin. Amused by the obligatory Doyle/Sherlock Holmes reference practically right out of the gate. 😉
October 11, 2025 at 8:39 PM
In the mood for a bit of Buchan today, so revisiting what is probably my fave of his ‘strange’ stories, ‘No-Man’s-Land’.
Good intro from James Machin. Amused by the obligatory Doyle/Sherlock Holmes reference practically right out of the gate. 😉
Good intro from James Machin. Amused by the obligatory Doyle/Sherlock Holmes reference practically right out of the gate. 😉
The incomparable Norwood appeared as Sherlock Holmes in forty-five short films and two feature-length films between 1921 and 1923. He also played Holmes on stage in 1923-4 in The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
October 11, 2025 at 1:53 PM
The incomparable Norwood appeared as Sherlock Holmes in forty-five short films and two feature-length films between 1921 and 1923. He also played Holmes on stage in 1923-4 in The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
"He has that rare quality which can only be described as glamour, which compels you to watch an actor eagerly when he is doing nothing." - Arthur Conan Doyle
Born #OTD in 1861 actor Anthony Edward Brett (11 October 1861 – 24 December 1948), better known by his stage name - Eille Norwood.
Born #OTD in 1861 actor Anthony Edward Brett (11 October 1861 – 24 December 1948), better known by his stage name - Eille Norwood.
October 11, 2025 at 1:53 PM
"He has that rare quality which can only be described as glamour, which compels you to watch an actor eagerly when he is doing nothing." - Arthur Conan Doyle
Born #OTD in 1861 actor Anthony Edward Brett (11 October 1861 – 24 December 1948), better known by his stage name - Eille Norwood.
Born #OTD in 1861 actor Anthony Edward Brett (11 October 1861 – 24 December 1948), better known by his stage name - Eille Norwood.
Just in from Blackwell’s UK. Shipped Sept 30, expected them stuck in postal strike, but, nope, delivered by Landmark courier. I love Buchan’s weird fiction (he was Governor General of Canada 1935-1940) and This Way Lies Madness features stories by a number of folks whose writing I very much enjoy.
October 11, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Just in from Blackwell’s UK. Shipped Sept 30, expected them stuck in postal strike, but, nope, delivered by Landmark courier. I love Buchan’s weird fiction (he was Governor General of Canada 1935-1940) and This Way Lies Madness features stories by a number of folks whose writing I very much enjoy.
Good old King Yrcanos. My illustration for a Doctor Who fanzine way back when...
October 10, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Good old King Yrcanos. My illustration for a Doctor Who fanzine way back when...
Wishing a happy 89th birthday (b. October 9, 1936) to the living legend that is the one, the only, Brian Blessed! 🙂
October 9, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Wishing a happy 89th birthday (b. October 9, 1936) to the living legend that is the one, the only, Brian Blessed! 🙂
The latest from Angela Slatter. Will get into it this afternoon. Looks to be perfect October reading. Titan sure is doing some nice work in producing these lovely little hardcover novellas lately.
October 8, 2025 at 3:39 PM
The latest from Angela Slatter. Will get into it this afternoon. Looks to be perfect October reading. Titan sure is doing some nice work in producing these lovely little hardcover novellas lately.