Brennan, Joseph Payne. Nine Horrors and a Dream. Arkham House, 1958. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine Mylar-protected dust jacket. Short story collection, and a good one. Jones & Newman, Horror 100 Best Books 56. Derleth, Thirty Years of Arkham House 53. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House 53. Jaffrey, Horrors and Unpleasantries 53. Nielsen, Arkham House Books: A Collector’s Guide 56. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 273. Barron, Horror Literature: A Reader’s Guide 4-54. Replaces a slightly less attractive copy.
Brennan, Joseph Payne. Stories of Darkness and Dread. Arkham House, 1973. First edition hardback, #74 of 100 copies signed and numbered by the author, a Fine copy in a Fine Mylar-protected dust jacket. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House 123. Jaffrey, Horrors and Unpleasantries 126. Nielsen, Arkham House Books: A Collector’s Guide 129. Strangely, none of the Arkham house references mention this post-publication “limited” edition, one of a handful of Arkhams done this way (Greg Bear’s The Wind from a Burning Woman and Lucius Shepard’s The Ends of the Earth are two others). Supplements an unsigned copy.
Jacobs, Harvey. The Egg of the Glak and Other Stories. Harper & Row, 1969. First edition hardback, a Near Fine+ copy with slight bumping at head, heel, and top rear point, in a Very Good dust jacket I’ll replacing with the better dust jacket on my existing copy, inscribed by Jacobs: “To Polly Lyons,/with all good wishes/for sunthings and/moonthings. Happy/wedding./Harvey Jacobs.” The signature seems to match other online examples of Jacobs signature. Replaces an existing copy. Bought for $13.50.
Martin, George R. R., editor. Texas Hold-Em: A Wild Cards Novel. Tor, 2018. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Bought for $8.99. I have the first twelve Wild Card Bantam PBOs (the first three signed by a significant number of contributors), the three Baen PBOs, the first six SFBC hardback reprints of the Bantam PBOs, the two iBooks hardback firsts, and a goodly number (but not all) of the Tor hardback firsts. So I need the Tor firsts of Busted Flush, Suicide Kings, High Stakes, Low Chicago, Knave Over Queens, Three Kings, Joker Moon, Full House, Pairing Up and Sleeper Straddle.
Another Half Price Books haul, with three signed copies of literary writer who dabbles in genre work. I spot-check the literary firsts, and my eyes were drawn to the Mylar dust jacket protectors on these, which made me check to see if they were signed. They were.
Oates, Joyce Carol. American Appetites. Dutton, 1989. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Near Fine, Mylar-protected dust jacket with a 1/16″ chip at front heel join and a trace of wear at points, signed by Oates. Bought for $7.19.
Oates, Joyce Carol. Man Crazy. Virago Press (UK), 1998. First UK hardback edition (the Dutton precedes), a Fine copy in a Fine, Mylar-protected dust jacket, signed and dated (“3 Sept. 1998”) by Oates. Though the Dutton precedes, signed copies of this UK edition comps out slightly higher, and one signed copy online has the same “3 Sept. 1998” signed date. Maybe she did a UK signing that day. Bought for $13.50.
Oates, Joyce Carol. You Must Remember This. Dutton, 1987. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with dust print to outer page block, in a Fine, Mylar-protected dust jacket, inscribed by Oates: “for Nash and Marrion/Joyce Carol/Oates/11/8/87.” Bought for $6.74.
Honestly, I was a bit ambivalent about picking these up. I’ve liked some of Oates short stories when they appeared in various Ellen Datlow anthologies, but I wasn’t wild about Zombie, the only Oates novel I’ve read, as she failed to convince me she had gotten into the mindspace of a Jeffrey Dahmer-esque serial killer. Also, while I got these for a bit less than they list for online, she’s something of a pill on the market. There’s a ton of signed Oates firsts online, at or below cover price.
But before I had no signed Oates firsts, and now I have three.
My story “Salvation” had been translated and published in Estonia as “Pääsetee” in Reaktor 150, March 2024.
Since “Crucifixion Variations” was translated and published Lithuanian, now all I need is to have a story translated into Latvian for the Baltic States Trifecta.
Lovecraft, H. P. (S.T. Joshi, editor) A Little Silver Book of Supernatural Stories. Borderlands Press, 2024. First edition hardback, #463 of 500 copies signed by Joshi, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Sampler of Lovecraft stories, including “Dagon,” “Nyarlathotep,” and “The Call of Cthulhu.”
SST did a signed, limited edition of Lansdale’s first mystery novel.
Lansdale, Joe R. Cold In July. Short Scary Tales (SST) Publications, 2023. First edition hardback thus, #101 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, with tissue closure sticker and shipping card laid in. Lansdale’s first mystery novel, and basis of the 2014 film.
This is the point where I’d usually say I’ll have copies available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, but not this time. Because Ziesing had already done a limited of Cold In July (sold in a slipcased set with Savage Season), I only ordered a few copies, and all sold the week it came in…
Swanwick, Michael. Nevermore: an Interview with the Raven. Dragonstairs Press, 2024. First edition chapbook original, #4 of 40 copies, a Fine copy. What the title says. Bought from the publisher at the usual discount.
I will have a small number of these available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
McDevitt, Jack. McDevitt, Jack. Doorway to the Stars. Subterranean Press, 2024. First edition hardback, #444 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Novella about a stargate set in the same universe as Thunderbird. Bought at the usual dealer discount. I will have copies of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Powers, Tim. After Many a Summer. Subterranean Press, 2023. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Novella. Bought for $20 (half price).
Reamy, Tom. Under the Hollywood Sign. Subterranean Press, 2023. First edition hardback, #395 of 750 numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. This is billed as “The Collected Stories of Tom Reamy,” and includes three works (“Dinosaurs,” “Sting!” and “Potiphee, Petey, and Me”) not in San Diego Lightfoot Sue, but doesn’t contain “Jenny’s Friends” or “The Wondrous Adventures of Grady Goodmonster or My Vacation,” two still uncollected Reamy stories. Bought for $22.50 (half price).
The first of two posts on recent Subterranean Press books that have come in.
Blumlein, Michael. Long: The Collected Novellas of Michael Blumlein. Subterranean Press, 2024. First edition hardback, #74 of 750 numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket.
Blumlein, Michael. Short: The Collected Short Fiction of Michael Blumlein. Subterranean Press, 2024. First edition hardback, #74 of 750 numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Both bought from the publisher at the usual discount. I will have precisely one set of these available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Carriger, Gail. Delightfully Deadly. Subterranean Press, 2022. First edition hardback, #971 of 1000 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Bought for $32.50 (half price). Omnibus of three book previously published as trade paperback originals.
Gallagher, Stephen. Comparative Anatomy: The Best of Stephen Gallagher. Subterranean Press, 2022. First edition hardback, #198 of 1000 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Bought for $22.50 (half price).
