An Attempted Bibliography of the Works of Barbara Livesey — Stephen George Wallis (Pre-Order)

Pre-Order. Publishing July 2026

The Eden Book Society was a publishing house which produced horror novelettes for a private list of subscribers from its inception in 1919 until 2006, presided over by the Eden family. Handed down through the generations, the history of the Eden Book Society is intertwined with that of the Eden family itself - shrouded in mystery and occult intrigue, with many dark rumours emanating from their ancestral home of Irkwell Manor.

Although unpublished by Eden outside of the famed anthology Best Short Stories: 1952, the work of Barbara Livesey forms a part of The Eden Book Society's story. The first yellow envelope to show Livesey's return address in Norwich is postmarked December 1949; a  cover letter accompanying the manuscript within is signed "M.G.W." Further correspondence in the record is signed with the same initials and continues through the autumn of 1955, concluding in the manner detailed herein. Livesey's writing career survived the end of her dealings with Eden by four years, through July of 1959, after which the trail goes cold.

The Bibliography is by one Stephen George Wallis of Cambridge, who worked many years cataloguing books in the Cambridge library tower. His passion for accuracy led him to Barbara Livesey, whose work has been ill-documented prior to this publication. An avid bicyclist, Wallis has covered, among others, the Cambridge to Haverhill loop via the Old Roman Road, The St Ives and Ely loop from Cambridge, and the Rockland Broad and Norwich loop from Breedham in Broads National Park.

The Eden Book Society is a literary hoax perpetrated by Dead Ink in order to create a playground for today's horror authors to let their imaginations run wild. The real authors behind the 1993 collection are Chikodili Emelumadu, Grady Hendrix, Alison Rumfitt, Alex Pheby, Nina Allan, John Darnielle, Rowan Hisayo Buchanan & Kylie Whitehead.