Posts Tagged ‘Horror’

Library Addition: Charlotte Riddell’s A Little Purple Book of Sharp Wit

Tuesday, September 27th, 2022

Part of my standing order of Little Books from Borderlands:

Riddell, Charlotte (AKA Mrs J. H. Riddell) (Meghan Arcuri, editor). A Little Purple Book of Sharp Wit. Borderlands Press, 2022. First edition hardback, #462 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. The latest in their reprints of 19th century authors series. Riddell was a prolific writer in her day, only a portion of which were ghost stories, four of which are collected here. It will be interesting to see if this volume sells for them, given that she’s no Robert W. Chambers when it comes to collectability.

I will have one copy of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.

Library Additions: Clarke and Koontz Firsts

Wednesday, August 17th, 2022

Two more first editions from that private collector sale:

  • Clarke, Arthur C. Tales From The White Hart. Harcourt, Brace & World, 1970. First hardback edition (no statement of printing on copyright page, as per Currey), a Near Fine+ copy with what appears to be a 1″ slight sticker pull inside front cover and tarnishing to “o” in “from” gold metal colored lettering on spine, in a Fine- dust jacket with just a trace of edgewear at heel. A collection of “club stories,” sort of the English version of the American tall tale. Currey, page 115. Bought for $40.

  • Koontz, Dean R. Odd Thomas. Bantam Books, 2003. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy in a Fine- dust jacket with slight bumping at head and heel, slight haze rubbing to reflective surfaces, and one small spot of blind-side staining at heel. Another book Scott Cupp recommended. Bought for $7.20.
  • Library Additions: Three Stephen King Firsts, One Signed

    Wednesday, August 3rd, 2022

    All three of these were from a private collector culling his own collection:

  • King, Stephen. The Dead Zone. Viking, 1979. First edition hardback (“First published in 1979 by the Viking Press” on the copyright page), a Fine copy in a Fine, first state (price of $11.95 and code 0879 on the bottom of the flap), Mylar-protected dust jacket, inscribed by King: “To Brian —/Be well, hope you/like this/Stephen King/10/13/79.”). King’s seventh novel, and the fifth under his own name. Collings, Horror Plumbed, A7. Spignesi, The Shape Under the Sheet, pages 241-247. Waiter/Golden/Wagner, Stephen King Universe (Cemetery Dance edition), pages 187-194. Bought for $240.

  • King, Stephen. Gerald’s Game. Viking, 1992. First edition “preview edition,” one of 2,000 hardback copies with a handwritten note by King printed on the front free endpaper distributed at the 1992 American Booksellers Association convention, a Fine copy in a Fine printed and stapled cardboard slipcase, sans dust jacket, as issued. Collings, Horror Plumbed, A45. Waiter/Golden/Wagner, Stephen King Universe (Cemetery Dance edition), pages 285-290. Bought for $48.

  • King, Stephen. Pet Sematary. Doubleday, 1983. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Replaces a slightly less attractive copy. Collings, Horror Plumbed, A22. Spignesi, The Shape Under the Sheet, pages 301-304. Waiter/Golden/Wagner, Stephen King Universe (Cemetery Dance edition), pages 269-278 Bought for $15.
  • Library Addition: First of Dorothy Scarborough’s The Wind

    Monday, July 18th, 2022

    Scott Cupp mentioned this book many years ago, and it sounded like an interesting example of psychological horror, so I’ve kept an eye out for it, and a cheap copy finally turned up.

    Scarborough, Dorothy (as Anonymous). The Wind. Harper & Brothers, 1925. First edition hardback, a Good+ copy with spine cracked, front hinge cracked, spots and abrasions to cover, slight fraying to head and heel, with small former owner plate for Violet Hayden Dowell (a Dallas author and art collector) on inside front cover, and a different ownership name written on FFE, along with “[Scarborough, Dorothy]. Tale of a women in west Texas driven insane by the incessant blowing of the wind. The novel was the basis of the 1928 film starring Lilian Gish. Bought for $36.

    Library Addition: William Hope Hodgson’s A Little Aquamarine Book of Agitated Water

    Friday, June 17th, 2022

    Borderlands Press continues the classic authors theme of their current Little Book series:

    Hodgson, William Hope (Michael Bailey, editor). A Little Aquamarine Book of Agitated Water. Borderlands Press, 2022. First edition hardback, #462 of 500 copies signed by the editor, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Includes many (but by no means all) of Hodgson’s eerie stories and poems about the sea, something he really excelled in.

    I will have a few copies of this to sell in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog (currently in progress).

    Library Addition: Signed First Of Ray Bradbury Interview Book Listen To The Echoes

    Friday, May 20th, 2022

    Another addition to the signed Ray Bradbury reference works collection:

    (Bradbury, Ray) Sam Weller. Listen to the Echoes: The Ray Bradbury Interviews. Stopsmling Books, 2010. First edition trade paperback original (simultaneous with a small hardback run), a Fine copy, signed by Bradbury. Collection of interviews Weller did with Bradbury, plus a previously unpublished Paris Review interview. Bought for $40 from an online bookseller.

    Library Addition: Signed/Limited Four Volume Edition Of Joe Hill’s Strange Weather

    Thursday, May 19th, 2022

    What is the longest you’ve gone between ordering a book and it showing up on your doorstep?

    The following showed up five years after I ordered and paid for it. I had honestly forgotten all about it.

    Hill, Joe. Strange Weather: Aloft, Rain, Loaded, and Snapshot. Cemetery Dance, 2022. First edition thus and first separate editions of all four individual titles, all of which were originally published in Hill’s 2017 Strange Weather novella collection, each volume one of 948 copies signed by the artist (Charles Paul Wilson III for Aloft, Renae De Luz and Ray Dillon for Rain, and Zach Howard for Loaded), and Snapshot being numbered 781 and signed by both Hill and artist Gabriel Rodriguez, all Fine copies in Fine dust jackets and a Fine slipcase. (There was also evidently a 52 copy lettered edition offered for $1,000 I haven’t seen.) An attractive production. Bought for cover price, and sold out five years before publication…

    Library Additions: Three Joe R. Lansdale Firsts

    Friday, May 6th, 2022

    Three more Lansdale firsts for the collection, two of them signed, limited editions.

  • Lansdale, Joe R. Gothic Wounds. Short Scary Tales, 2022. First edition hardback, #101 of 550 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket with tissue paper sealing sticker, shipping thanks card and SST business card laid in. The fourth in the Lansdale collected stories series. Bought from the publisher at the usual discount. I will have copies of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.

  • Lansdale, Joe R. The Magic Wagon. Borderlands Press, 1991. First limited edition hardback, #597 of 750 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and Fine slipcase. Supplements an inscribed copy of the true Double-D western hardback first, the UK hardback first, and the BookVoice signed/limited hardback edition. Bought off eBay for $43.
  • Lansdale, Joe R. (with Timothy Truman and Sam Glanzman). Jonah Hex: Two Gun Mojo. DC Vertigo, 1994. First edition graphic novel (preceded by the individual comic issues), trade paperback format, a Fine copy. According to comics decoding, the “00111” code on the bar code on the back cover indicates issue 1, cover variant 1 (don’t think there were any others in this case), and first printing (the last 1). Bought off eBay for $9.99.
  • Library Additions: Little Books By Robert W. Chambers and “Robert W. Chambers”

    Tuesday, April 19th, 2022

    Two recent “Little” books from Borderlands Press, one with a hilarious typo right on the cover.

  • Chambers, Robert W. (Lisa Morton, editor). A Little Yellow Book of Carcosa and Kings. Borderlands Press, 2022. First edition hardback, #462 of 500 copies signed by Morton, a Fine copy, sans dust, as issued. Four linked horror tales, all reprinted from The King in Yellow, all set in a then-future United States. Now sold out from the publisher. I have one copy of this still available through Lame Excuse Books.

  • “Chambers, Robert W.” (i.e., Arthur Machen)(Bentley Little, editor). A Little Brown Book of Unnatural Narratives. Borderlands Press, 2022. First edition hardback, #462 of 500 copies signed by Little, a Fine copy, sans dust, as issued. Three stories (“The Inmost Light,” “The Shining Pyramid” and “The Novel of the White Powder”) all reprinted from previous Machen collections. Hilariously, Borderlands accidentally kept the author embossing for Chambers from the above volume on the cover design when they printed this Machen collection, which is probably the funniest mistake since “Karl Edward Wanger” on the first state dust jacket of Gods in Darkness. With inserted slip apologizing for the typo laid in. I’ll have a few copies of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.

  • Library Addition: Signed Edition of Joe Hill’s Strange Weather

    Monday, April 11th, 2022

    I’m not dead, just the next best thing to it: Doing my taxes.

    Here’s a book I tried to pick up cheaper than what was going on eBay, didn’t manage that and ended up having to pay a bit more.

    Hill, Joe. Strange Weather. William Morrow, 2017. First edition hardback, “Barnes & Noble Black Friday Signed Edition” as per the ISBN and copyright page (the first signed edition listed), one of an undetermined number with a signature page bound in (very similar to the one in Full Throttle), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Collection of four novellas. Bought for $40.05 from a fellow Biblio dealer.