About

Robert Murray Gilchrist (1868 - 1917) made just a single contribution to The Yellow Book, the highly regarded, unorthodox Victorian magazine of literature which flourished for three short years between 1894 and 1897 - the little known vampire story “The Crimson Weaver”. Gilchrist’s name, when it is mentioned at all today, is much better known for his highly regarded collection of short fiction, The Stone Dragon (1894), a rarity which is highly sought by genre collectors. Tradition has had it that following this single collection, Gilchrist turned away from the weird tale to devote his attention to his stories of the Peak District and his topographical studies; but this is not entirely true. In 1903, Hurst & Blackett published Gilchrist’s Lords and Ladies, which included an additional six weird tales; and the June 1905 issue of The London Magazine saw the appearance of a further vampire tale, “The Lover’s Ordeal”.