Here’s a nicely creepy borderlands of science/urban legend/conspiracy theory video about a hole that has no bottom.
80,000 feet worth of fishing line found no bottom. Plus animals avoided it, and radios went crazy, when they weren’t picking up signals from 30 years before.
Then the government took it over.
Much more paranormal weirdness ensues
Was it real? Well, as real as anything else with a Wikipedia entry featured on Art Bell.
Saki (H.H. Munro) (edited by Stuart David Schiff). A Little Red Book of Wit & Shudders. Bands Press, 2023. First edition hardback, #462 of 500 copies signed by Schiff, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued.
I will have a small number of copies available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
This video features a complete play-through of Isle of Eras, which starts out as a search for a missing brother and quickly morphs into a weird cosmic horror/time travel game with giant monsters and nods to everything from Donnie Darko to 2001: A Space Odyssey. It’s amazingly elaborate for an indie game put together by a tiny team. The monster design is particularly impressive.
Three Subterranean Press books that came in recently:
MacLeod, Ian R. Ragged Maps. Subterranean Press, 2023. First edition hardback, #171 of 1,000 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and publisher’s plastic bag. Short story collection.
Swanwick, Michael. The Best of Michael Swanwick Volume Two. Subterranean Press, 2023. First edition hardback, #204 of 1,000 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and publisher’s plastic bag, with a Subterranean bookmark laid in. Supplements the first volume Subterranean did back in 2008.
Wolfe, Gene. The Dead Man and Other Horror Stories. Subterranean Press, 2023. First edition hardback, #870 of 1,000 numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and publisher’s plastic bag. Now out of print from the publisher.
I will have copies of all of these in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Lansdale, Joe R. Shooting Star. Pandi Press, 2023. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy with signed plate (and two bookmarks) laid in. At 43 pages long, it’s somewhere in the novelette/novella range.
Lansdale, Joe R. (edited by Christopher Golden and Brain Keene). The Drive-In: Multiplex. Pandi Press, 2023. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy.
Lansdale, Joe R. (and Andreas Guinaldo). Joe R. Lansdale’s The Drive-In. Avatar, 2005. First edition graphic novel original thus (no additional printings listed, preceded by four individual comic book issues), a Fine copy, signed by Lansdale. Graphic novel adaptation of the novel.
Note: Both the Pandi Press books say “First paperback edition,” but each is actually a true first (current ETA for the Thunderstorm Books signed/limited hardback of The Drive-In: Multiplex is December).
Another Avram Davidson chapbook from Temporary Culture.
Davidson, Avram. Naples. The Nutmeg Point District Mail/Temporary Culture, 2022. First edition self-wrappers chapbook original, one of 160 copies, a Fine copy, inside a black envelope with Mylar protective wrappers and with a mounted black and white photograph laid in. Bought for $150 (the subscriber price). Story reprinted from Charles L. Grant’s Shadows anthology.
I’m sort of a Davidson completists, but these chapbooks are starting to get a bit pricey for my budget…
Aquilone, James, editor. Shakespeare Unleashed. Monstrous Books, 2023. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued, with Monstrous Books card laid in. Original anthology of Shakespeare-related horror stories, featuring stories from Joe and Kasey Lansdale, Steve Rasnick Tem, etc. Adding up the various hardware bundles, it looks like there were just over 500 copies of this done. My name can be found on page 356. You can buy the book through Amazon, though no guarantee that you’ll get a first printing, or received it unbumped.
With:
Aquilone, James, editor. Shakespeare Unleashed One Shot. Monstrous Books, 2023. First edition graphic novel chapbook containing additional work.
Here’s a Kickstarter project that was a long time in coming that finally shipped earlier this year.
Lovecraft, H. P. Miskatonic Missives. Helios House, 2022 (actually 2023). First edition hardback, one of 521 Limited Collector’s Edition sets (given the number of kickstarter backers), containing three volumes, plus a fake box that’s actually a traycase to contain the ephemera extras, all Fine copies, sans dust jacket, as issued, in a Fine slipcase.
Each volume contains a reprint of one of H.P. Lovecraft’s most interesting letters, presented alongside related archival material such as contemporary short stories, art, maps, etc., as well as original art and new scholarship.
Each volume is also packaged with a set of exclusive extras—replicas of related contemporary materials such as photos, maps, ticket stubs, postcards, news clippings, and diary pages. The Collector’s set packages all of these extras in a custom box which nests in the slipcase alongside the three books. Each Limited Edition Collector’s set is supplied with a Certificate of Ownership signed by editors Andrew Leman and Sean Branney of the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society, and a collectible enamel pin.
This is just the loose extras; there are additional extras for each volume, in their individual envelopes in the Ephemera traycase.
with
Lovecraft, H. P. (Sean Branney and Andrew Lman, editors and annotators). The Spirit of Revision: Lovecraft’s Letters to Zeila Brown Reed Bishop. Helios House, 2022. Second Edition hardback (I believe the first edition was trade paperback only), a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Bought with the above as an add-in.
It’s an impressive assemblage, and one legions of Lovecraft fans will be kicking themselves over not picking up in years to come.
Baxter, Stephen. Xeelee: Endurance. PS Publishing, 2017. First edition hardback, letter D of 26 lettered copies, a Fine copy in a decorated boards and a Fine dust jacket and a Fine decorated slipcase. I collected Baxter for a while until he become too prolific for me to keep up with, but I did like the Xeelee books. Bought from Camelot Books for $50.
(Lovecraft, H. P.) Joshi, S. T. Black Wings VII: New Tales of Lovecraftian Horror. PS Publishing, 2023. First edition hardback, one of 200 copies signed by all the contributors, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine slipcase. Original anthology, including stories from John Shirley, Ramsey Campbell and Steve Rasnick Tem. Bought from the publisher at the usual discount. I will have a small number of these available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Silverberg, Robert. Monsters and Things. PS Publishing, 2023. First edition hardback, #100 of 100 signed, numbered copies in decorated boards signed by Silverberg, editor Stephen Jones, and illustrator Randy Brocker, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine slipcase, with erratum sheet laid in noting that one of these stories (many of them written under pseudonyms) actually was from Donald Westlake writing as Richard Stark. Oops! Already sold out from the publisher. I will have a small number of these available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
