John C. Pelan, author, editor and publisher, died April 12 of an apparent heart attack. He was 63.
"A significant figure in the dark fantasy and horror field, best known for founding numerous small presses and editing anthologies," Locus magazine wrote, Pelan founded Axolotl Press in 1986, publishing work by James P. Blaylock, Charles de Lint, Tim Powers, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Michael Shea, and more. In the 1990s, he founded Darkside Press, bringing classics of genre fiction back to print, and Silver Salamander, an imprint devoted to modern horror that published work by Brian Hodge, Thomas Ligotti, Elisabeth Massie, and more. At the same time, he co-founded Midnight House. In recent years, he ran the Dancing Tuatara imprint at Ramble House.
Pelan was a well-known anthologist, prolific essayist and reviewer. He also published more than 30 stories, some in collaboration with Edward Lee. Some of his short fiction was collected in Darkness, My Old Friend (2016). His longer works include The Colour Out of Darkness (1998) and two collaborations with Lee, Shifters (1998) and Family Tradition (2002).