Joel Lane (1963 – 26 November 2013)[1] was aBritishnovelist,short story writer,poet,critic and anthology editor.[2] He received theWorld Fantasy Award in 2013 and theBritish Fantasy Award twice.
Born inExeter, he was the nephew of tenor saxophonistRonnie Scott. At the time of his death, Lane was living in southBirmingham, where he worked in health industry-related publishing. His location frequently provided settings for his fiction.
The majority of Lane's short stories can be categorised ashorror ordark fantasy, and he citedRobert Aickman,Ramsey Campbell andM. John Harrison as influences on his fiction.[2] His short stories were usually published insmall-press books and magazines. Lane's work was also anthologized by bothKarl Edward Wagner (in Wagner'sThe Year's Best Horror Stories series) andStephen Jones (in Jones'Best New Horror series).[2] Much of Lane's fiction is set inBirmingham and theBlack Country.[3] Lane's novels are more overtly mainstream.From Blue to Black (2000) is a portrait of a disturbedrock musician, whilstThe Blue Mask (2003) follows the aftermath of a brutal and disfiguring attack.
Something Remains, edited by Peter Coleborn and Pauline E. Dungate (Alchemy Press, 2016), is a collection of stories by other hands "based on and inspired by the notes left by Joel Lane".[4]This Spectacular Darkness, edited byMark Valentine and John Howard (Tartarus Press, 2016), is a collection of his critical essays on fantasy and horror fiction, together with appreciations of his work.[5]
Lane addressed theBirmingham Science Fiction Group in March 2002. Together with his friendSteve Green, he was a guest speaker atMicrocon 30 at Exeter University in March 2010.
Lane was described in an obituary as "a passionate supporter of equality and a tireless scourge of fascism",[3] was strongly left wing and opposed to the politics advocated byTony Blair andNew Labour.[3] He joined theSocialist Party in 2009 and contributed to its newspaper,The Socialist, and its journal,Socialism Today.[6]
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