Low Stock Report and Some Interesting New Items

We are getting very low on copies of:

THE DEAD VALLEY AND OTHERS: H. P. Lovecraft’s Favorite Horror Stories Volume 2 edited by S. T. Joshi (Signed Limited Hardcover)

 

THE DEAD VALLEY AND OTHERS: H. P. Lovecraft’s Favorite Horror Stories Vol 2 edited by S. T. Joshi (Signed Limited Hardcover)

This is an advance order will will be shipping in approximately 90 days. Reserve your copy now to ensure you get a copy of this limited edition.

Limited to only 150 signed and numbered hardcover copies.  Each story is hand picked by Lovecraftian scholar S. T. Joshi, with introduction.

H. P. Lovecraft was a voracious reader of supernatural and fantastic fiction, and he was continually on the hunt for powerful and stimulating works in these genres. Many of the stories he read directly influenced his own writings

Here is the second volume in the very popular Lovecraft’s Favorite series.

Contents

• Introduction by S. T. Joshi
• The Diamond Lens by Fitz-James O’Brien
• The Horla by Guy de Maupassant
• The Moon Pool by A. Merritt
• Count Magnus by M. R. James
• The Damned Thing by Ambrose Bierce
• The Dead Valley by Ralph Adams Cram
• The Bad Lands by John Metcalfe
• Ooze by Anthony M. Rud
• Fishhead by Irvin S. Cobb
• The Harbor-Master by Robert W. Chambers
• Ancient Sorceries by Algernon Blackwood
• Cassius by Henry S. Whitehead
• The Spider by Hanns Heinz Ewers
• Blind Man’s Buff by H. Russell Wakefield

 

THE COLOR OVER OCCAM by Jonathan Thomas (Signed Limited Edition Hardcover) #2 in the Modern Mythos Series

 

Gorman County disappeared decades ago when floodwaters rose to fill a reservoir. So why should the ghosts of drowned villages resurface only now, in a new century? And what does the reservoir have to do with the grisly deaths, disease, and disappearances stalking the benighted little town of Occam?

Amateur paranormal sleuth Jeff Slater poses these innocent questions, only to encounter hostility, intimidation, and violence wherever he turns. In this saga of Lovecraftian horror, noirish detection, and festering corruption, Slater comes to understand how little he ever knew of his hometown’s macabre history and its bizarre present. Meanwhile, those who do know of Occam’s sinister past warn him with one voice: unearthly doom is on its way. Run or die. But Slater can’t abandon his search for the truth so easily. Can he alter the fate of a town facing cosmic annihilation without destroying himself?

This is the second in our Modern Mythos Series edited by S. T. Joshi and Larry Roberts. The Modern Mythos Series is dedicated to finding the best modern lovecraftian fiction being written today by both veteran and new talented genre authors.

One of only 150 signed and numbered hardcover copies.

 

Some interesting items that are new to the store:

THE BOOK OF THE SIXTH WORLD FANTASY CONVENTION by Robert Bloch, Fritz Leiber, Edgar Allan Poe (First Edition Hardcover)

THE BOOK OF THE SIXTH WORLD FANTASY CONVENTION by Robert Bloch, Fritz Leiber, Edgar Allan Poe (First Edition Hardcover) This copy also comes with the Sixth World Fantasy Convention Pocket Program. Both book and program are in fine condition.

Contents:

Contains the following Virgil Finlay illustrations:

Page 50: from Cholwell’s Chickens (facsimile).
Page 51: from Vercombie Station (facsimile).
Page 52: from The Houses of Iszm (facsimile).
Page 55: from Sjambak (facsimile).
Page 69: from The Tell-Tale Heart (facsimile).

Contents of book:

Frontispiece: Alicia Austin illustration form ‘The Last Castle’.
Page 4: Distinguished Guests.
Page 5: Fantasy will Endure.
Page 8: Excerpt from ‘The Book of Dreams’ by Jack Vance.
Page 9: Introducing Jack Vance by Poul Anderson.
Page 11: Jack Vance: A Bibliographic Checklist by Daniel J.H. Levack.
Page 17: The Fantasy Art of Boris Vallejo.
Page 18: Robert Bloch: A Few Words of Friendship by Harlan Ellison.
Page 18: ‘When Screwballs Meet …’ by Fritz Leiber.
Page 22: Past World Fantasy Awards.
Page 23: World Fantasy Award Nominees.
Page 24: World Fantasy Award Rules.
Page 30: Excerpts from ‘The Avatar’s Apprentice’ by Jack Vance.
Page 36: Edgar Allan Poe by Robert Bloch.
Page 38: Edgar Allan Poe – A Worthless Writer.
Page 39: A Facsimile from ‘The Bells’ by Edgar Allan Poe.
Page 41: Silence – A Fable by Edgar Allan Poe.
Page 50: A Portfolio from the Works of Jack Vance.
Page 62: Black Lotus by Robert Bloch.
Page 69: A Portfolio from the Works of Edgar Allan Poe.
Page 86: Past Conventions, (1975-1979) in photographs.
Page 93: Attending Memberships.
Page 95: Supporting Memberships.
Page 96: Colophon.

 

HE BLACK WHEEL by A. Merritt (Limited Edition Hardcover)

Abraham Merritt: The Black Wheel Limited Edition Completed and Illustrated by Hannes Bok. (New York: New Collectors Group, 1947), limited first edition bound by collector dealer Julius Unger, #537 of 1000 copies, 115 pages, black cloth with gilt lettering on front board, yellow illustrated dust jacket. Copyright affixed to copyright page.

Condition: Book is in near fine condition and the dust jacket is in VG++/Near Fine. The dust jacket would be in fine condition if not for the light rubbing and shelf wear. A fantastic copy of this rare edition!

 

NIGHT IMAGES by Robert E. Howard (Limited Edition Hardcover)

A very rare collection of Robert E. Howard, first complete appearance of “Oh Babylon, Lost Babylon.”

Book Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: VG++ to Near fine would be fine but the black cover has some light rubbing to else fine. Large 8vo. 102 pp; #813 of a limited edition of 1000 copies. Overall a fantastic copy of this difficult to fine title.

 

THE SOUND OF DRUMS by David Niall Wilson (Signed Ultra Limited Hardcover)

 

One of the rarest David Niall Wilson limited editions and the most limited Cargo Cult Title produced. Only 9 copies produced of the limited 6 that are numbered and 3 that are have the initials of the contributor.

This is one of the super rare contributor initialed copies. These copies were never for sale to the public and is a very tough find.

Book is in new unread condition.

 

THE DAMNED HIGHWAY by Brian Keene & Nick Mamatas (Signed Limited Edition Hardcover)

A Savage Journey Into the Heart of the American Nightmare.

January 1972.

Resenting his unexpected fame and suffering from severe writer’s block, America’s premier “gonzo” journalist decides to reinvent himself. He creates a new persona–Uncle Lono–and hatches a scheme to return to his roots, reinvigorating his patriotism and his writing in the process. On a freaked-out journey to Arkham, Massachusetts, and the 1972 presidential primary, evidence mounts that sinister forces are on the rise, led by the Cult of Cthulhu and its most prominent member–Richard M. Nixon! Will the truth set Lono free or simply drive him insane?

One of only 135 signed and numbered hardcover copies! This title is not yet in stock but we are expecting it in very soon. Reserve your copy now while they are still available.

Necronomicon Press Titles

We bought a large collection of Necronomicon Press titles.

A little about this fascinating genre press:

Necronomicon Press was founded in 1976, originally as an outlet for the works of H. P. Lovecraft, after whose fictitious grimoire, the Necronomicon, the firm is named. However, its repertoire expanded to include authors such as Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Ramsey Campbell, Hugh B. Cave, Joyce Carol Oates, Brian Lumley and Brian Stableford.

Necronomicon Press published critical works by such pioneering Lovecraft scholars as Dirk W. Mosig, Stefan R. Dziemianowicz, Kenneth W. Faig and S. T. Joshi.

Below is just a small amount of what we have in stock.

CLARK ASHTON SMITH: Letters to H. P. Lovecraft by Clark Ashton Smith (Chapbook)

CLARK ASHTON SMITH: Letters to H. P. Lovecraft by Clark Ashton Smith (Chapbook) edited by Steve Behrends

Collects correspondence between Smith and Lovecraft, with an introduction (and edited) by Steve Behrends.
Cover art by Robert H. Knox.
70 pages. Stapled illustrated wrappers. Stated “First printing – July 1987″ on the copyright page.

A fine copy. Very rare and tough find in this condition

 

WITCHES OF THE MIND: A Critical Study of Fritz Leiber by Bruce Byfield (Chapbook)

A critical guide to Leiber’s work plus a primary and secondary bibliography.
“First Printing” on copyright page.

Contents:

Introduction (Witches of the Mind: A Critical Study of Fritz Leiber) • (1991) • essay by Bruce Byfield
Lovecraftian Period (1936-1949) • (1991) • essay by Bruce Byfield
Gravesian Period (1949-1958) • (1991) • essay by Bruce Byfield
Early Jungian Period (1958-1972) • (1991) • essay by Bruce Byfield
Late Jungian Period (1973-Present) • (1991) • essay by Bruce Byfield
Bibliography: Primary Sources • (1991) • essay by Bruce Byfield
Bibliography: Secondary Sources • (1991) • essay by Bruce Byfield
Index • (1991) • essay by Bruce Byfield

Chapbook is in near fine condition with light toning due to age and very light shelf wear. Else fine.

Great copy of this rare edition.

 

THE DARK MAN #1: The Journal of Robert E. Howard Studies (Chapbook)

THE DARK MAN #1: The Journal of Robert E. Howard Studies (Chapbook)

Contents:

“Editorial”
“The Frost-Giant’s Daughter; An Early Draft” by REH

Articles
“Swords at the Acadamy Gates; Or, Robert E. Howard is There, Where are the Critics?” by Don Herron
“King Conan and the Aquilonian Dream”by Steven R. Trout
“Toward Other Lands: An Approach to Robert E. Howard” by Rusty Burke
“The Howard Complex” by Dan Stumpf
“Herbert Klatt” by Glenn Lord

Reviews:
“Echoes of Valor II” by Rusty Burke
“Post Oaks and Sand Roughs” by Charles Hoffmann
“Guidelines for Submissions”

Notes
Editor: Rusty Burke
Submission guidelines include Rusty Burke’s list of “pure” Conan sources.

Chapbook is in near fine condition with light toning due to age and very light shelf wear. Else fine.

 

 

DAY OF THE STRANGER: Further Memories of Robert E. Howard by Novalyne Price Ellis (Chapbook)

DAY OF THE STRANGER: Further Memories of Robert E. Howard by Novalyne Price Ellis (Chapbook)

Contents
“A Conversation with Novalyne Price Ellis” by Rusty Burke
“Day of the Stranger” by Novalyne Price Ellis
“Speech about Robert E. Howard”given by Novalyne Price Ellis

Notes: Compiled and with notes by Rusty Burke

Chapbook is in near fine condition with light toning due to age and very light shelf wear. Else fine.

 

LOVECRAFT STUDIES #2 Chapbook Magazine Spring 1980

CONTENTS OF ISSUE #2:

Reflections on “The Ousider”, by William Fulwiler
Humour Beneath Horror: some Sources for “The Dunwich Horror” and “The Whisperer in Darkness, by Donald R. Burlseon
Introduction to Hoag’s Poetical Works, by H.P. Lovecraft
Briefly Noted
Sources for the Chronology of Lovecraft’s Fiction, by S.T. Joshi
Briefly Noted
Reviews:

Selected Letters V, by H.P. Lovecraft edited by August Derleth & James Turner (Paul Buhle)

Lovecraft’s Providence & Adjacent Parts by Henry L.P. Beckwith, Jr (Donald R. Burleson)

Lovecraft’s Library: A Catalogue edited by S.T. Joshi & Marc A. Michaud(R. Boerem)

Contributors

Chapbook is in near fine condition with some light toning due to age.

 

LOVECRAFT STUDIES #22/23 Chapbook Magazine Fall 1990

A scholarly journal on all things Lovecraft

LOVECRAFT STUDIES #22/23 Chapbook Magazine Fall

Contents of issue #22/23

Notes on the Cinematic Interpretation of the Works of H. P. Lovecraft by Wheeler Winston Dixon
On Lovecraft’s Fragment “Azathoth” by Donald R. Burleson
“Pickman’s Model”: H. P. Lovecraft’s Model of Terror by James Anderson
The Outsider: A Woman? by Mollie L. Burleson
An Interview with Harry K. Brobst conducted by Will Murray
Six Views of Lovecraft by Donald R. Burleson, PeterCnnon, Les Daniels, Kenneth W. Faig, Jr,. S. T. Joshi, And Will Murray
Reviews
Correspondence

Chapbook is in near fine condition with some light toning to front and back and very light shelf wear.

To see all our Neconomicon Press titles click here

Very Cool New Arrivals!

Just in and in very limited quantities:

ALWAYS COMES EVENING by Robert E. Howard (Signed Limited Edition Hardcover in Slipcase)

Underwood Miller, San Francisco, 1977. Hard Cover. Book Condition: near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Poems compiled by Glenn Lord, illustrated by Keiko Nelson, leather bound, limited to 206 copies this being number 73, in slipcase with facsimile print of Howard’s handwritten poem “The Song of Yar Ali Kahn”. Contains one poem omitted from the original Arkham House edition. Hardback.

Book is signed by the illustrator

HARVEST HOME by Thomas Tryon (Signed Limited Edition Hardcover)

Thomas Tryon’s follow-up to The Other was an even better horror novel, rich with full-drawn characters, enough depth of theme for a hundred dissertations, and a slowly dawning horror that made it one of the decade’s most shocking, most emulated, and brilliantly written novels. It has been out of print for over thirty years.
This edition features a new introduction by Tim Curran, new interior artwork by Alex McVey, and the original hardcover artwork. It also includes a new afterword by a variety of Tryon associates. This handsome edition features a gorgeous dustjacket on Mohawk Carnival Felt, with a ribbon marker, head and tail bands, full black Brillianta cloth, a full color image inlay on the front board, sewn binding, and patterend endpapers. Each copy is signed by Tim Curran and artist Alex McVey.

• Limited to 200 copies, each signed by Tim Curran and Alex McVey.
• Introduction by Tim Curran.
• Artwork by Alex McVey.
• Full color dustjacket, full color illustrations, ribbon marker, head and tail bands, full black cloth, color image on front board.

 

CHERRY HILL by James A. Moore (Signed Deluxe Lettered Edition)

 

Welcome to Cherry Hill. Attendance is mandatory. The Cherry Hill Sanitarium isn’t a friendly place. The inmates are among the most mentally deranged and dangerous minds known to the world. It’s the sort of place that sane people would do well to avoid, if they value their lives.

John Doe is not a normal man. He can’t remember his name, nor much of his past. He’s almost certain he’s been dead for a while, and that the asylum that has become his residence is haunted by more than broken minds and twisted memories.

John isn’t wrong. Something dark is growing inside the walls of the asylum, something that festers and hungers to be free of its prison. That something has never lived before, but it wants to live now, even if it has to destroy everything it encounters to get its way.

John Doe might just be the only person in the world who can stop the madness that is trying to be born into the walls of Cherry Hill. He might be the only chance for the staff and the patients alike. The problem isn’t simply that he can’t remember how to help them. It’s worse than that. John Doe is almost certain that if he does remember his past, the knowledge could very well drive him mad.

One of only 26 signed leather bound lettered edition in custom traycase.

 

URBAN GOTHIC by Brian Keene (Signed Deluxe Lettered Edition Hardcover)

 

When their car broke down in a dangerous neighborhood of the inner city, Kerri and her friends thought they would find shelter in the old dark row house. They thought it was abandoned. They thought they would be safe there until morning. They were wrong on all counts. The residents of the row house live in the cellar and rarely come out in the light of day. They’re far worse than anything on the streets outside. And they don’t like intruders. Before the sun comes up, Kerri and her friends will fight for their very lives… though death is only part of their nightmare.

This is a rare signed deluxe lettered edition with color illustrations in custom traycase. Book and Traycase are in fine condition. One of only 26 copies!

 

VENDETTA by James A Moore (Signed Deluxe Leather Bound Hardcover in Traycase)

 

He has a perfect life. A beautiful wife, three loving children and an empire he’s spent a lifetime building. Robert Workham is happy, truly happy for the first time in as long as he can remember.

The last time he came close to this level of joy was a lifetime ago, when he was a very different entity, a violent, hateful thing that killed without remorse or compassion. In his time he has slain kings, leaders of industry and some of the most power figures in the history of mankind. But that’s all in the past.

But now his past is coming back for him… His name is Jonathan Crowley, and he is relentless and unforgiving.

This is a signed deluxe lettered edition in custom leather traycase.

 

Just Arrived and Shipping

Just click on the cover art to get more information about reserving your copy of any of the books below.

We recently received the new two volume set of CENTURY’S BEST HORROR FICTION edited by John Pelan and published by Cemetery Dance Publications. This has been over a decade in the making and is one of the most anticipated books of the year. If you haven’t reserved your copy do so quickly as we don’t expect these to last long.

About the Books:
Cemetery Dance Publications commissioned a spectacular two-volume anthology project under the editorship of noted author and historian of the horror genre, John Pelan.

John selected one story published during each year of the 20th Century (1901-2000) as the most notable story of that year — all 100 stories were then collected in this amazing two volume set to be published as The Century’s Best Horror Fiction.

The ground rules were simple: Only one selection per author. Only one selection per year.

Two huge volumes, one hundred authors, one hundred classic stories, more than 700,000 words of fiction — history in the making!

Trade Edition hardcovers bound in full-cloth and Smyth sewn with a full color dust jacket — two deluxe volumes

Table of Contents
1901: Barry Pain — The Undying Thing
1902: W.W. Jacobs — The Monkey’s Paw
1903: H.G.Wells — The Valley of the Spiders
1904: Arthur Machen — The White People
1905: R. Murray Gilchrist — The Lover’s Ordeal
1906: Edward Lucas White — House of the Nightmare
1907: Algernon Blackwood — The Willows
1908: Perceval Landon — Thurnley Abbey
1909: Violet Hunt — The Coach
1910: Wm Hope Hodgson — The Whistling Room
1911: M.R. James — Casting the Runes
1912: E.F. Benson — Caterpillars
1913: Aleister Crowley — The Testament of Magdelan Blair
1914: M. P. Shiel — The Place of Pain
1915: Hanns Heinz Ewers — The Spider
1916: Lord Dunsany — Thirteen at Table
1917: Frederick Stuart Greene — The Black Pool
1918: H. De Vere Stacpoole — The Middle Bedroom
1919: Ulric Daubeny — The Sumach
1920: Maurice Level — In the Light of the Red Lamp
1921: Vincent O’Sullivan — Master of Fallen Years
1922: Walter de la Mare — Seaton’s Aunt
1923: George Allen England — The Thing From—”Outside”
1924: C.M. Eddy, Jr. — The Loved Dead
1925: John Metcalfe — The Smoking Leg
1926: H.P. Lovecraft — The Outsider
1927: Donald Wandrei — The Red Brain
1928: H.R. Wakefield — The Red Lodge
1929: Eleanor Scott — Celui-La
1930: Rosalie Muspratt — Spirit of Stonhenge
1931: Henry S. Whitehead — Cassius
1932: David H. Keller — The Thing in the Cellar
1933: C.L. Moore — Shambleau
1934: L.A. Lewis — The Tower of Moab
1935: Clark Ashton Smith — The Dark Eidolon
1936: Thorp McCluskey — The Crawling Horror
1937: Howard Wandrei — The Eerie Mr Murphy
1938: Robert E. Howard — Pigeons from Hell
1939: Robert Barbour Johnson — Far Below
1940: John Collier — Evening Primrose
1941: C.M. Kornbluth — The Words of Guru
1942: Jane Rice — The Idol of the Flies
1943: Anthony Boucher — They Bite
1944: Ray Bradbury — The Jar
1945: August Derleth — Carousel
1946: Manly Wade Wellman — Shonokin Town
1947: Theodore Sturgeon — Bianca’s Hands
1948: Shirley Jackson — The Lottery
1949: Nigel Kneale — The Pond
1950: Richard Matheson — Born of Man & Woman
1951: Russell Kirk — Uncle Isiah
1952: Eric Frank Russell — I Am Nothing
1953: Robert Sheckley — The Altar
1954: Everil Worrell — Call Not Their Names
1955: Robert Aickman — Ringing the Changes
1956: Richard Wilson — Lonely Road
1957: Clifford Simak — Founding Father
1958: Robert Bloch — That Hell-Bound Train
1959: Charles Beaumont — The Howling Man
1960: Fredric Brown — The House
1961: Ray Russell — Sardonicus
1962: Carl Jacobi — The Aquarium
1963: Robert Arthur — The Mirror of Cagliostro
1964: Charles Birkin — A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts
1965: Jean Ray — The Shadowy Street
1966: Arthur Porges — The Mirror
1967: Norman Spinrad — Carcinoma Angels
1968: Anna Hunger — Come
1969: Steffan Aletti — The Last Work of Pietro Apono
1970: David A. Riley — The Lurkers in the Abyss
1971: Dorothy K. Haynes — The Derelict Track
1972: Gary Brandner — The Price of a Demon
1973: Eddy C. Bertin — Like Two White Spiders
1974: Karl Edward Wagner — Sticks
1975: David Drake — The Barrow Troll
1976: Dennis Etchison — It Only Comes Out at Night
1977: Barry N. Malzberg — The Man Who Loved the Midnight Lady
1978: Michael Bishop — Within the Walls of Tyre
1979: Ramsey Campbell — Mackintosh Willy
1980: Michael Shea — The Autopsy
1981: Stephen King — The Reach
1982: Fritz Leiber — Horrible Imagings
1983: David Schow — One for the Horrors
1984: Bob Leman — The Unhappy Pilgrimage of Clifford M.
1985: Michael Reaves — The Night People
1986: Tim Powers — Night Moves
1987: Ian Watson — Evil Water
1988: Joe R. Lansdale — The Night They Missed the Horror Show
1989: Joel Lane — The Earth Wire
1990: Elizabeth Massie — Stephen
1991: Thomas Ligotti — The Glamour
1992: Poppy Z. Brite — Calcutta Lord of Nerves
1993: Lucy Taylor — The Family Underwater
1994: Jack Ketchum — The Box
1995: Terry Lamsley — The Toddler
1996: Caitlín R. Kiernan — Tears Seven Times Salt
1997: Stephen Laws — The Crawl
1998: Brian Hodge — As Above, So Below
1999: Glen Hirshberg — Mr. Dark’s Carnival
2000: Tim Lebbon — Reconstructing Amy

We’ve also just receive some very collectable editions for your genre library.

a beautiful copy of SESQUA VALLEY AND OTHERS by W. H. Pugmire signed limited edition hardcover.

A very rare signed limited edition of Sesqua Valley and Other Haunts by W. H. Pugmire

This is one of only 250 signed and numbered hardcover limited editions.  Book is in fine condition in a fine dust jacket

Contents:

• O, Christmas Tree
• The Ones Who Bow Before Me
• Born In Strange Shadow
• Another Flesh
• Immortal Remains
• Selene
• The Darkest Star
• The Songs of Sesqua Valley
• The Heritage of Hunger
• The Imp of Aether
• The Million-Shadow One
• The Child of Dark Mania
• The Hands That Reek and Smoke
• The Host of Haunted Air
• The Woven Offspring
• The Place of Old Insanity
• The Zanies of Sorrow
• Beneath An Autumn Moon

THE INHABITANT OF THE LAKE & LESS WELCOME TENANTS by Ramsey Campbell (First Edition Hardcover)

The Inhabitant of the Lake and Less Welcome Tenants is a collection of fantasy and horror short stories by British author J. Ramsey Campbell, who dropped the initial from his name in subsequent publications. It was released in 1964 by Arkham House in an edition of 2,009 copies and was the author’s first book. The stories are part of the Cthulhu Mythos. Campbell had originally written his introduction to be included in the book The Dark Brotherhood and Other Pieces under the title “Cthulhu in Britain”. However, Arkham’s editor, August Derleth, decided to use it here.

The Inhabitant of the Lake and Less Welcome Tenants contains the following tales:

•     “A Word From the Author”
•     “The Room in the Castle”
•     “The Horror from the Bridge”
•     “The Insects from Shaggai”
•     “The Render of the Veils”
•     “The Inhabitant of the Lake”
•     “The Plain of Sound”
•     “The Return of the Witch”
•     “The Mine on Yuggoth”
•     “The Will of Stanley Brooke”
•     “The Moon-Lens”

References in popular culture

The band Iron Maiden’s song Still Life ( from the classic 1983 album Piece of Mind ) was inspired by the story The Inhabitant of the Lake. The lyrics deal with a man who sees spirits or beings in the lake and becomes obsessed with them. After many nightmares and visions of the images in the water, he eventually becomes insane and ultimately jumps into the pool with his female companion. The lyrics end with the ominous verse ” Oh,we’ll drown together. It, will be forever. Nightmares…forever calling me. Nightmares…now we rest in peace”, so the listener can safely assume the person has killed himself, as well the female.

FEAR ITSELF:THE HORROR FICTION OF STEPHEN KING with Stephen King, Peter Straub and more (Signed)!

A fascinating examination of King’s early novels (Carrie, Salem’s Lot, The Shining, The Stand, Firestarter, Cujo and The Dark Tower) and short stories. Contributors include Peter Straub, Burton Hatlan (King’s former English professor), Fritz Leiber, Alan Ryan, Deborah Notkin, Don Herron, and others.

This copy is inscribed, signed and dated to the owner of the book by both Stephen King and Chuck Miller  Date signed is 10/30/82

5000 copies of the first edition were printed and very few were inscribed by Stephen King. A true rarity!

This copy is in near fine condition in a near fine dust jacket.

The Arsenic Eaters of Styria

If you are a Robert E. Howard fan, you may recall the lotus eaters (lotophagi) and The Ride of Falume. “… The lotus buds there scent the woods where the quiet rivers gleam, // And king and knight in the mystic light the ages drowse and dream …”.  There is also the strange legend of the arsenic eaters of Styria.  For decades throughout the Victorian era, this was thought to be a myth or legend. How could anyone consume arsenic and live – especially in tremendous doses. Styria was (and is) a state located within Austria.

1897 Sears catalog

Arsenic was not only consumed by Europeans, but by Americans. It is rumored that Susan Lovecraft used arsenic in her youth to give her skin a pale complexion, then the culmination of beauty. (In the 1880′s, Caucasians looked down upon outdoor workers who were “sun-tanned” and frowned upon them  as rustics, bohemian, or low caste. Pioneers are frequently portrayed in “sun-bonnets” to keep their skin white and as different from Native Americans as possible. This probably assisted in the sale of arsenic to women who might have been slightly prone to darker skin. Only after the 1920′s, and the air travel opening of Florida to wealthy New Yorkers did “sun-tanning” become looked upon as desirable among Caucasians.)

In any event, many Europeans thought that the ingestion of arsenic was a cure-all of many things, a beauty product, and aphrodisiac. Folklorists discovered that the arsenic eaters of Styria consumed many times the lethal dose (300-400mg) of the metal in the form of arsenic trioxide with a tolerance built over time starting at around 30-40mg every few days culminating with 400mg. They felt the ability to breathe easier, a spike in courage, a boost in sexual potency, and as a prophylactic against infections diseases. They gave the same chemical to their horses to increase their stamina.

Scientists dismissed these claims until, in 1860, an analysis was done to prove that the chemical eaten by the peasants was actually arsenic trioxide. A Professor Roscoe showed two peasants who ate 300mg and 400mg respectively of arsenic trioxide to an audience and tested their urine for the presence of the chemical via the Marsh Test. The setback was that once ingested, severe withdrawal issues ensued once the person stopped eating arsenic.

So how the freak does one decide to eat arsenic? It seems that 15th century Viennese glass makers discovered that arsenic in glass was attractive, and the area near Glaz (now Styria, Austria) had the mineral in abundance. The peasants desirous of income, smelted the fumes in tents venting the fumes. They likely discovered – with assistance of alchemists such as Paracelsus – that plagues (especially bubonic) could be held off by traces of the arsenic (arsenic trioxide only), and the highs from ingesting it gave fantastic male potency, and a rush as blood thinned or blood chemistry altered. Women had a natural blush, which was considered highly sexual. The side-effect was birth contraception in women in many cases. Horses were next. However, in the late 16th century, witch hunts scoured our arsenic eaters as sorcerors (they survived plagues, so muct be magical) and were killed. This further isolated the peasants.

In the Carpathian mountains, arsenic was thought to ward off vampires. Note that arsenic trioxide has an eerily similar odor to strong garlic, thus giving rise to that mythic theory.

Romanticized by a Professor Johnson, a Caucasian woman who ingested small amounts of arsenic was sexually primed. He poetically styled:

Every one sees
and admires the reality
of her growing beauty;
the young men sound her praises,
and become suppliants for her favours.
She triumphs over the affections of all,
and compels the chosen one to her feet.

Horror takes its form in many guises.

The World of Gor

No not “gore” although critics may disagree.  After Robert E. Howard single-handedly created the “sword and sorcery” genre (with due apologies to John Carter of Mars and Tarzan) it vanished for a while upon his sad and untimely death.   A few picked up on the theme, and they did so-so, until L Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter had a brainstorm.  Why not bring it back with a vengeance and reinvigorate the fantasy genre.  It was temporarily, though grudgingly, adopted into the then popular science-fiction umbrella.  It was ‘savagely’ popular with eventually Lin Carter, de Camp, John Jakes (later North and South), Bjorn Nynorg, Karl Edward Wagner, and others jumping in to lesser or greater success.

However, in 1966, a literary curiosity appeared.  Totally smashing the popular and growing women’s liberation movement, John Norman created an alternate world story wherein even James Bond might have blushed at the male chauvinist hedonism.  Combining fantasy, science-fiction, magic, myth, and male-hormone-pumping eroticism no one had seen anything this soft-porn and yet well-written.  Tarnsman of Gor transmitted an ordinary person to another world and in that world the man had to fight like Conan, experience alienness like John Carter of Mars, and romanced better than the best Sean-Connery-James-Bond.  Oh, and did we mention the constant belittlement of women who when not parading about harem-naked, quickly submitted to any and all male whims while only lightly protesting.

Such a horrible story line could never be popular.

Could it?

Writers, never give up!

Twenty-nine installments have ensued with multi-million dollar paperback sales.  It was later revealed that this was the creation of a Princeton philosophy professor, John Lange (b. 1931) who pulled together every ancient lore and myth to create a panoply of flora, fauna, beasty –  and hot babe – one could imagine.

A Means to Freedom: The Letters of H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard

Click on any of the pictures below for ordering information.

A MEANS TO FREEDOM: The Letters of H. P. Lovecraft & Robert E. Howard

Edited by Rusty Burke, S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz

• Limited trade paper edition: $55.00 for two-volume set (individual volumes not sold separately)
• 1000 copy paperback print run
• Sewn signatures and french flaps, not print on demand

The Letters of H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard
Volume 1: 1930-1932

H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard are two of the titans of weird fiction of their era. Dominating the pages of Weird Tales in the 1920s and 1930s, they have gained worldwide followings for their compelling writings and also for the very different lives they led. The two writers came in touch in 1930, when Howard wrote to Lovecraft via Weird Tales. A rich and vibrant correspondence immediately ensued. Both writers were fascinated with the past, especially the history of Roman and Celtic Britain, and their letters are full of intriguing discussions of contemporary theories on this subject.

Gradually, a new discussion came to the fore-a complex dispute over the respective virtues of barbarism and civilisation, the frontier and settled life, and the physical and the mental. Lovecraft, a scion of centuries-old New England, and Howard, a product of recently settled Texas, were diametrically opposed on these and other issues, and each writes compellingly of his beliefs, attitudes, and theories. The result is a dramatic debate-livened by wit, learning, and personal revelation-that is as enthralling as the fiction they were writing at the time. All the letters have been exhaustively annotated by the editors.

The Letters of H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard
Volume 2: 1933-1936

In this second volume of the letters of H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, the two authors continue their wide-ranging discussion of such central issues as the relative value of barbarism and civilization, the virtues of the frontier and of settled city life, and other related issues. Lovecraft regales Howard with his extensive travels up and down the eastern seaboard, including trips to Quebec, Florida, and obscure corners of New England, while Howard writes engagingly of his own travels through the lonely stretches of Texas.

Each has great praise for the other’s writings in Weird Tales and elsewhere, and each conducts searching discussions of literature, philosophy, politics, and economics in the wake of the depression and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s election. World affairs, including the rise of Hitler and Mussolini, also engage their attention. All letters are exhaustively edited by the editors, and the volume concludes with an extensive bibliography of both writers as well as the publication of a few letters to Lovecraft from Robert E. Howard’s father, Dr. I. M. Howard, in the wake of his son’s tragic and unexpected suicide.

The letters will be reissued by Hippocampus Press in 2011 in a limited edition two-volume PAPERBACK set, with Smythe-sewn signatures, and with each volume individually shrink-wrapped.

New Arrivals From Robert E. Howard, William Peter Blatty, Richard Matheson And More!

POWER OF DARKNESS by Robert Aickman (Limited Edition Import)

This is a preorder and is expect to ship in late may. Choose “bill me” at check out and you won’t be invoiced until the book is ready to ship.

Robert Aickman (1914-1981) is considered by many to be one of the finest exponents of the modern ghost story, and he is certainly versatile. In this collection the reader is offered the experience of visiting a disused lead-mine, the Houses of Parliament, a séance in a dreary suburb, and a sun-drenched Greek island. The dust jacket for the first edition of Powers of Darkness (first published in 1966) stated ‘. . . in every case his readers will experience that authentic chill which is the hallmark of the supernatural.’
Mark Valentine points out in his Introduction to this new Tartarus Press edition that Aickman was striving to achieve something approaching poetry in his writing, and ‘he often does this in the service of the strange and sinister.’

Contents:

• ‘Introduction’ by Mark Valentine
• ‘‘Your Tiny Hand is Frozen’
• ‘My Poor Friend’
• ‘The Visiting Star’
• ‘Larger Than Oneself’
• ‘A Roman Question’
• ‘The Wine-Dark Sea’.

Powers of Darkness is a sewn hardback of 226+ xii pages, printed lithographically, with silk ribbon marker, head and tailbands, and d/w and limited to only 350 hardcover editions

THE EXORCIST AND LEGION Special Edition by William Peter Blatty (Signed Limited Edition)

About this Special Edition:
Featuring two classic William Peter Blatty novels in one beautiful volume for the first-time ever, this oversized deluxe special edition will be a must-have for any collector of horror! This incredible collector’s edition also includes original B&W artwork by acclaimed artist Keith Minnion and a career spanning interview conducted by Cemetery Dance Managing Editor Brian Freeman, covering Blatty’s life and career from the 1950s to the present. Both the Limited Edition and the Lettered Edition are signed by William Peter Blatty and there are no plans at this time to publish a trade edition of this special volume.

A Note From the Author:
“I have for many years envisioned The Exorcist and Legion to be one continuous read, even though the former is a fact-based, clearly ‘religious thriller,’ while the story of Legion delivers more excitingly on the level of a pure ‘entertain-ment.’ Never-the-less, it is Legion and not The Exorcist that is by far the more ambitious work in that the demonic homicides that police Lt. Kinderman is investigating are of much lesser concern to him than solving that case of cosmic homicide that for eons, and for so many and for so long, has been the foremost stumbling block to belief in a benevolent Creator, namely the so-called  ‘Problem of Evil,’ to which Legion brazenly offers a solution.”

A WITCH SHALL BE BORN by Robert E. Howard

“By the side of the caravan road a heavy cross had been planted, and on this grim tree a man hung, nailed there by iron spikes through his hands and feet. Naked but for a loin-cloth, the man was almost a giant in stature, and his muscles stood out in thick corded ridges on limbs and body, which the sun had long ago burned brown…”

— Robert E. Howard, “A Witch Shall Be Born”

book is in near fine condition in a near fine dust jacket.

Published in 1975

RED NAILS by Robert E. Howard

Pursing the beautiful Valeria in the Black countries, Conan happens upon a strange, walled city in the midst of a desert. Conan and Valeria become enmeshed in a civil war, a war driven by ancient hate and blood-lust that threatens the few surviving inhabitants of Xuchotl.

One of only 3,500 copies published and lavishly illustrated by George Barr.

This copy is in near fine condition with a very light bump to the bottom front corner.  Dust Jacket is in near fine condition with some light fading due to age.

Published in 1975.

THE WEIRD TALE by S. T. Joshi (Trade Hardcover)

The leading critic of supernatural literature here examines the roots of the “weird tale” (as Lovecraft called it) through detailed examinations of five “founding fathers” of the genre: Arthur Machen, Lord Dunsany, Algernon Blackwood, M.R. James, and H.P. Lovecraft. The result is a thorough study of the art, craft, philosophy, and aesthetics of an enduring genre of fantastic literature.

SOMEWHERE IN TIME / WHAT DREAMS MY COME by Richard Matheson (Signed Limited Edition)

Two classics SOMEWHERE IN TIME and WHAT DREAMS MAY COME in one signed limited edition hardcover in custom slipcase.

Published by Dream Press, published 1991

One of only 350 signed and numbered copies in slipcase this is number 67 Book is in fine condition in fine dust jacket. Slipcase has some light rubbing else fine.

Miskatonic Books Update!

SOME UNKNOWN GULF OF NIGHT by W. H. Pugmire (Signed Limited Edition Hardcover)  is now SOLD OUT. If you would like to get on the wait list for this title click the cover art below.

A few more items of note that just arrived in the store:

IN A LONELY PLACE by Karl Edward Wagner (1st edition inscribed)!

This is the first hardcover collection of the horror stories of Karl Edward Wagner to be published. This 250 page collection of eight of Wagner’s very best stories:

• In the Pines
• Where the Summer Ends
• Sticks
• The Fourth Seal
• More Sinned Against
• .220 Swift
• The River of Night’s Dreaming
• Beyond Any Measure

Book is a first edition hardcover inscribed by the author as follows. “To John, Ottawa World Fantasy Convention 10/12/84   Best wishes Karl Edward Wagner“
Book is in fine condition with a near fine dust jacket with some light rubbing and two small closed tears at the head of jacket else fine.

DEAD BUT DREAMING 2 edited by Kevin Ross is the latest preorder from the great new MISKATONIC RIVER PRESS…(no relation to Miskatonic Bookstore)

The preorder your copy click the cover image below and remember that you are never required to pay for a preorder until the book is ready to ship. Just choose “Bill Me” at check out.

Nowhere to Hide…

No one is safe. You aren’t safe. Ancient and inimical, the alien influences of the Cthulhu Mythos are all around us. In our cities, our nightclubs, our backyards, and heading for our front porches right now. From the dreaming city of Kingsport, Massachusetts, to the lonely northern woods and the barren western deserts. The urban sprawl and the distant lake. The depths of the Pacific and the freezing ruin of a starless Earth. They are here, destroying us, devouring us, shattering our minds with the one truth we cannot bear to admit: that no matter what we do we cannot escape the fact that, deep down, we are very much like them.

Dead But Dreaming 2 is the second volume of the critically-acclaimed anthology series from Miskatonic River Press. Herein are 22 tales of Lovecraftian horror from the modern masters of Cthulhu Mythos fiction:

• Scott David Aniolowski
• David Annandale
• Donald R. Burleson
• Cody Goodfellow
• John Goodrich
• T.E. Grau
• Rick Hautala
• Walt Jarvis
• Erik T. Johnson
• William Meikle
• Will Murray
• Daniel W. Powell
• Wilum Pugmire
• Joseph S. Pulver Sr
• Pete Rawlik
• Kevin Ross
• Brian Sammons
• Darrell Schweitzer
• Adrian Tchaikovsky
• Michael Tice
• Don Webb.

POST OAKS & SAND ROUGHS by Robert E. Howard (Limited Edition)

Post Oaks & Sand Roughs is a semi-autobiographical adventure novel by Robert E. Howard. It was first published in 1990 by Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. in an edition of 850 copies. The book contains an introduction and appendix by Glenn Lord where Lord identifies the real people who appear as thinly disguised characters in the novel.

Book is in fine condition in a fine dust jacket.

The Chapbooks Published by Roy A. Squires

Beginning in 1962 through 1979, Roy Squires, literary executor for Clark Ashton Smith, produced a series of small chapbooks featuring verse from some of today’s most notable authors.

Letterpress publishers, particularly those publishing poems by speculative fiction authors, can be a bit snobbish when it comes to letting new publishers into their inner cadre. However, letterpress publisher Rollin Milroy of Heavenly Monkey has been hard at work on a book about Roy A. Squires publishing and hopes to bring to light their beautiful productions and exquisite design to other letterpress publishing enthusiast.

Each of his publications are works of art. All are printed on fine parchment, with letterpress type and hand sewn wraps. Some were signed by the authors.

Below is a bibliography of Roy A. Squires publications:

• 1. The Hill of Dionysus/A Selection by Clark Ashton Smith 1962
• 2. The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury 1964
• 3. Nero / An Early Poem by Clark Ashton Smith 1964
• 4. Donde Duemes, Eldorado  y Otros Poemas 1964
• 5. The Demons of the Upper Air by Fritz Leiber 1969
• 6. Memory by H. P. Lovecraft 1969
• 7. Ex Oblivion by H. P. Lovecraft 1969
• 8. Nyarlathotep by H. P. Lovecraft 1970
• 9. What the Moon Brings by H. P. Lovecraft 1970  (Items 6-9 were first offered only as a complete set by subscription. August Derleth gave notice of them in the Arkham Collector. The very first order for the series came from Tim Powers.)
• 10. the Tartarus of the suns by Clark Ashton Smith 1970
• 11. The Palace of Jewels by Clark Ashton Smith 1970
• 12. In the Ultimate Valley by Clark Ashton Smith 1970
• 13. To George Sterling by Clark Ashton Smith 1970
• 14. Hail, Klarkash-Ton! by H. P. Lovecraft 1971
• 15. Old Ahab’s Friend, And Friend To Noah, Speaks His Peace by Ray Bradbury 1971
• 16. The Mortuary by Clark Ashton Smith 1971
• 17. The Road To Rome by Robert E. Howard 1972
• 18. Black Dawn by Robert E. Howard 1972
• 19. Sadastor by Clark Ashton Smith 1972
• 20. Night of the Demon by Phil Garland 1972
• 21. A Song of the Naked Lands by Robert E. Howard 1973
• 22. From the Crypts of Memory by Clark Ashton Smith 1973
• 23. The Gold and the Grey by Robert E. Howard 1974
• 24. That Son of Richard III by Ray Bradbury 1974
• 25. Altars and Jester, An Opium Dream by Robert E. Howard 1974
• 26. The Titans In Tartarus by Clark Ashton Smith 1974
• 27. A Song From Hell by Clark Ashton Smith 1975
• 28. The Potion of Dreams by Clark Ashton Smith 1975
• 29. The Ghost, That Bride of Time by Ray Bradbury 1976
• 30. The Fanes of Dawn by Clark Ashton Smith 1976
• 31. Seer of the Cycles by Clark Ashton Smith 1976
• 32. The Marriage of Sir John de Mandeville by 1976
• 33. Up, John Kane! & Other Poems by Robert E. Howard 1977
• 34. The Burden of the Suns by Clark Ashton Smith 1977
• 35. Prince Alcouz and the Magician by Clark Ashton Smith 1977
• 36. Sonnets to Jonquil and All by Fritz Leiber 1978
• 37. The Cats of Ulthar by H. P. Lovecraft 1979
• 38. The Aqueduct (A Martian Chronicle) by Ray Bradbury 1979

We recently purchased a collection of these chaps and will be adding some to the Miskatonic Bookstore over the next few weeks.  Below are some editions already put up. Click on any of the covers for a list of what is currently available. If you are looking for something specific from Squires press but don’t see it up please email us at Arcanewisdom@me.com an we might have it available but just not up on the site.