Here’s Nicky with all the news.
The new year is still in its early stages so there’s not a massive amount to update you on.
Some of you have enquired about the signed edition of THE LONG WAY HOME by Richard Chizmar. I’m pleased to say that Richard has now signed the sheets and has posted them on to the artist, so fingers crossed that they don’t take too much of a ‘long way home’ (sorry) and come back to PS Towers pretty quickly.
We are also waiting for the signing sheets for the deluxe edition of THE WIND IN HIS HEART by Charles De Lint to arrive. They’ve been signed by Charles and the artists are now adding their signatures.
My other bit of news is that BEST NEW HORROR# 29 is in the final stages of production and should be going to the printer very soon but more about that in another newsletter.
That’s it for now.
|
|
Thanks, Nicky
I’m thinking today—right now, in fact—of time passing, so you’ll find me perhaps even more reflective than usual (and regular visitors to the PS newsletter must surely agree how daunting that prospect might be).
The occasion is a poignant one in that it concerns a great friend—Yvonne—who is nearing the end of her round-n-round ride on the merry-go-round, which she’s facing with enviable stoic. Nicky and I went up to see her for perhaps the last time and now we’re back home. During the return journey, I tried to figure out something book-related, something that might give a nod to bygone times.
So let’s try this:
Way back when the West Riding town of Leeds was indeed a town and not the sprawling Metropolis it is today, there were bookshops galore and, even aside from those, there was a myriad other shops and stores—both department types and ‘mom and pop’ outlets (as our chums across the Atlantic are given to call them) that carried literature—we’re going back a tad here, Billy but stick with me cos you might learn something and, hey, anyways, it’s sure to be fun).
There was one such of those places I’ve half-described above that occupied a special place in my heart.
|
|
|
Austicks was its name and, at its prime, the Austicks banner appeared on three outlets (well, three and a half—the half being a shared identity with the name ‘Walkers’). All of them were floor-to-ceiling spreads of rickety shelves containing reference tomes and learned treatises of an educational bent, travel extravaganzas, an entire wall of biography and autobiography and even some cookery volumes.
|
|
|
It was here I first ‘met’ the wonderful Joan Didion whose THE WHITE ALBUM (picked up to scrutinize in error, I confess: I thought it was a reference work on the Beatles’ album of that title) and her marvelous SLOUCHING TOWARDS BETHLEHEM (two indispensible volumes of social and literary commentary, and also—FEVERISHLY—the sixth annual volume of something enticingly titled THE COMIC BOOK PRICE GUIDE. It was the 1976 edition—the year Nicky and I were to get married. Looking back now at that volume, I see that, had I held onto my comicbook collection (yeah, ifs and buts and apples and nuts) I would now be worth several million pounds. Ah, sigh.
Also, I recall, I came across a trade paperback of Stephen King’s CUJO which had no price appended (it was an advance reading proof). I guessed what had happened and the fellow at the cash desk explained it had gotten onto the shelf in error but, he said, I could have it if I put 50 pence in the charity box by the till. Which, of course, I did.
|
|
And it was also here in Austicks . . .
|
|
. . . that I came across second edition copies of Ray Bradbury’s R IS FOR ROCKET and S IS FOR SPACE—15 October 1971 the receipt states: how appropriate, it being October and all . . . a rare month for boys, as we all know.
And so it is that PS is now once again bringing to the fore these two remarkable books . . .
|
|
. . . this time in one thick volume—with gorgeous colour artwork from Tomislav Tikulin—four pieces—and 33 full page b&w pieces from Glenn Chadbourne, one per story.
We’ve already advertised the regular slipcased edition signed by both artists (and we still have copies available) but now we’re able to bring to your attention the 26-copy super deluxe lettered edition, signed additionally by Ray himself several years ago in preparation for just such an event. And we managed to persuade Tomislav to give us another colour piece for the traycased edition . . . perhaps his finest work, particularly if, like me, you have a special fondness for Ray’s story ‘The Sound of Summer Running.’
So I do commend this book to you, both the regular slipcased edition and the super deluxe volume—the latter being a fine taster for Tomislav’s treatment of Stephen King’s THE DEAD ZONE due from PS later this year . . . which, as luck would have it, was yet another Austick’s purchase from way back in those oft-mentioned (by me) halcyon times.
|
|
OTHER PUBLISHERS
It's been a good while since we've showcased titles from our other publishing chums and its time to address that oversight. We've had some real corkers in recently from Cemetery Dance, Lonely Roads Books and SST Publications, so without further ado, have a look at the following:
|
|
|
|
|
This special Lonely Road Books edition is one of just 350 hand-numbered copies featuring a fine binding, two color printing throughout the book, a color frontispiece by Ben Baldwin, interior illustrations by Keith Minnion, a sewn-in ribbon page marker, and an illustrated signature sheet signed by STEPHEN KING and RICHARD CHIZMAR and the artists, all housed in a custom deluxe traycase with pullout ribbon featuring a numbered custom-minted coin minted in nickel.
We have just two copies left #151 and #152, so get in quick!
|
|
|
Brought to you by SST Publications and limited to 600 Copies, this slipcased edition features cover art and seven illustrations by the masterful Vincent Sammy.
Printed on 60# acid-free paper, Smyth sewn and bound in full-cloth with coloured head and tail bands this edition has full-colour embossed endpapers, hot foil stamping on the front boards and spine.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
THE LISTENER is about the kidnapping of two children and is set in New Orleans in 1934. This is a book I've been wanting to write for several years, since I discovered what an epidemic (a tragic epidemic, at that) kidnapping became during the desperation of the Great Depression. It got to be so bad that the New York Times began running a box at the top of the front page listing who had been kidnapped, and among those victims, which ones had been returned to their families. Desperate times, indeed. The Listener isn't exactly supernatural, though there is a "strange" element. I understand we all enjoy reading about vampires, werewolves, ghoulies, and other creatures of the night, but the most fearsome and deadly monster is the human being…and I believe I have created two of the most fearsome and horrific human beings in The Listener that you could ever fear to meet. And these people, I think, are likely the kind who would kidnap two children and not have much concern whether the kids lived or died. Grim stuff, but you can be sure there's someone in The Listener who embodies all the good qualities of the human kind who will move Heaven and Earth to find the children…though he's probably the last person anyone would think of as a "hero." —Robert McCammon
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jeff looked over his shoulder back to the hidden pigpen. Pearl was all he could see. Pearl. Sitting on his ass like a person might, his front hooves limp at the sides of his belly, his head was cocked slightly to the side, his pink ears straight high above his head. His bad eye looked dark, hidden, but his good one was fixed on Jeff. In it, Jeff saw an intelligence that scared him.
A half smile appeared under the pig's snout, or maybe it was just the way his lips naturally curled up at their ends.
Jeff fingered the latch. Pearl watched him. Staring. Assessing. Planning? Jeff pulled his fingers away. A streak of shame ran down his back, like he'd come close to letting something very bad out of the pen...
|
|
|
|
|
|
When "The Washingtonians" appeared on Masters of Horror, the cutting edge horror anthology series created by Mick Garris, fans everywhere experienced a glimpse inside the unusual mind of Bentley Little thanks to the teleplay by Richard Chizmar and Johnathon Schaech, and the directing of Peter Medak.
But the episode on Showtime was just the beginning of the story. Collected here for fans for the first time is Bentley Little's original short story, the original script by Richard Chizmar and Johnathon Schaech, an introduction by Mick Garris, and dozens of photos from the set that have never been published anywhere in the world.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
When 13-year-old Jace Wilson witnesses a brutal murder, he's plunged into a new life, issued a false identity and hidden in a wilderness skills program for troubled teens. The plan is to get Jace off the grid while police find the two killers. The result is the start of a nightmare.
The killers, known as the Blackwell Brothers, are slaughtering anyone who gets in their way in a methodical quest to reach him. Now all that remains between them and the boy are Ethan and Allison Serbin, who run the wilderness survival program; Hannah Faber, who occupies a lonely fire lookout tower; and endless miles of desolate Montana mountains.
The clock is ticking, the mountains are burning, and those who wish Jace Wilson dead are no longer far behind.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Best of The Scream Factory reprints more than 70 articles from the magazine's golden age, covering such diverse topics as: the best horror novels of the '80s; a viewer's guide to Godzilla movies; horror in the pulps; the worst in horror; dark suspense fiction; the influence of The Night of the Living Dead on fiction and film; horror on old-time radio; sci-fi/horror hybrids; western horror; werewolf fiction; British horror fiction and films; Canadian horrors; and horror in the comics.
In addition to the nearly 600-page selection of "greatest hits," the editors have penned a brand new 25,000 word introduction, diving deep into the sordid history of the magazine.
|
|
|
|
|
Big reductions on 'less than perfect' copies.
|
|
|
We sent out record numbers of books to our online bookselling partners over the festive period and it was inevitable that some of them would find their way back to us. Thankfully, not too many and mostly from our trade paperback line. On inspection, they are all in very good condition, but in all conscience we could not resell them as brand spanking new and so have reduced them by around 30% or more in some cases.
|
|
So there you have it.
Though there is scope for lots more stories from the bookstores of my past . . . and of yours, too, I’ll wager, all of which is appropriate fodder on Amazon’s 25th Anniversary, Jeff Bezos having started the company on 1 July 1994 and PS’s 20th to boot. So maybe we’ll talk some more on the subject, you and me, in front of a warm fire and an equally warming glass of something aromatic, the pair of us watching the fairies dance in the flames, as I was taught by my Nana in the early 1950s.
Have a great weekend, kids. Look after each other and happy reading.
Pete
|
|
|
|
