Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Michael Hayes

The 1978 hardcover edition


Michael Hayes  (fl. 1970s)

Michael Hayes edited and introduced some six hardcover collections of supernatural stories from 1976 through 1980, in addition to a collection (probably his most significant book) of Supernatural Poetry: A Selection, 16th to the 20th Century (hardcover 1978; trade paperback 1981).  All seven books came from the same publisher, John Calder of London. The blurbs about the editor on the dust-wrappers all say something to the effect that Michael Hayes was born and educated in Ireland, and that he has been in publishing for many years. His one other book, co-authored with his wife, Arlette Hayes, was Dining Out Beside the River Thames (1973).

His six collections are as follows:  The Supernatural Short Stories of Robert Louis Stevenson (1976); The Supernatural Short Stories of Sir Walter Scott (1977); The Fantastic Tales of Fitz-James O’Brien (1977); The Supernatural Short Stories of Charles Dickens (1978); The Ghostly Tales of Washington Irving (1979); and The Haunting Tales of Nathaniel Hawthorne (1980). 

The seven volumes make up a nice series.  Hayes and his wife were the dedicatees of Arthur Rex (1978) by Thomas Berger. They were apparently still living in London in the early 2000s.

NB: I’ll be grateful if anyone can provide further biographical information.