A novel charting a magical and pagan odyssey, written by a former Newport High School student, is due to be published posthumously next month, following the sad death of Ron Weighell.
Ron was a Portsmouth-based writer of horror fiction who grew up in Cowes and attended Newport High School.
Large body of work
His stories, in the English ghost story tradition of M R James and Arthur Machen, have been published with those of other authors in popular anthologies such as the ‘Best New Horror’ books as well as collections solely of his own work.
Ron’s stories have been published internationally, including in the USA, Canada, Ireland, France, Germany and Romania.
Hit by a major stroke
Sadly, Ron passed away in December 2020, at the age of 70, following a major stroke a few weeks earlier.
Before he was taken ill, Ron had been putting the finishing touches to a new novel titled King Satyr.
His wife Fran says,
“Ron always loved the traditional ghost story and in King Satyr, as in all his writing, he aims at the same atmosphere and sense of the strange and uncanny.”
All hands on deck
Fran, with help from short story author Mark Valentine and publisher Robert Morgan, has worked tirelessly to bring the novel to publication, presented initially in a beautiful hand-numbered limited edition jacketed hardcover for Ron’s many admirers.
King Satyr
King Satyr charts Cyrus Burton’s occult, magical and pagan odyssey, some years after a childhood encounter with a mythical creature in the woods, as he seeks the truth behind his mysterious experience.
Mostly set in the 1960s and 70s, the novel features characters inspired by some of the major figures in the occult world of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, such as artist Austin Osman Spare. It is replete with mythological and historical references from many cultures, reflecting Ron’s vast range of knowledge.
Passionate about writing
Ron was an interesting character. Educated at Newport High School before moving to the mainland, he had trained as a joiner and cabinet maker, and before retirement worked on the maintenance staff at the University of Portsmouth.
However, writing was his passion. Highly intelligent, articulate and well-read with many interests, you could have been excused for assuming that he was a senior academic at the University.
Although many fans of the horror genre are familiar with his work, he modestly had little interest in promoting his stories, as his main interests were the research and writing.
Buy the book
King Satyr is scheduled for publication by Sarob Press in late November/early December 2021 and can be ordered through the Website.
To find out more about Ron Weighell head over to the EverybodyWiki.
News shared by Nick on behalf of Sarob Press. Ed
