In the Metroplex, I found a set of six Borderlands Little Books at Half Price Books for $120. I bought that, incorporated three I didn’t have into my own library, and am listing the other three (including their Ligotti volume, which is worth more than $120 all on its own these days) through Lame Excuse Books.
I have enough of these now that I’m thinking I should try to pick up a full set. Of the really “difficult” ones, I think I only lack the Gaiman volume.
Dark Regions Press had a 50% off sale so I picked up a few things:
Another book in my quest to get a signed copy of every Ray Bradbury-related book:
(Bradbury, Ray) Nolan, William F. The Ray Bradbury Companion. Gale Research, 1975. First edition hardback (no statement of printing as per Currey), a Fine copy in a sound, Very Good slipcase from which numerous small (tackhead sized and smaller) pieces of the affixed wrap-around paper label have chipped away, plus a few other touches of dust and wear, sans dust jacket, as issued, signed by Bradbury on page 37. Critical companion on Bradbury’s work. Currey, page 59. Tymn, Schlobin, Currey, 221. Bought off eBay for $59.
Trying to close out these purchases from last year:
(Lovecraft, H.P.) Joshi, S.T. (Don Webb, William F. Nolan, W. H. Pugmire, etc.) Black Wings VI. PS Publishing, 2017. First edition hardback, #138 of 300 numbered copies signed by all the contributors (including the recently deceased Pugmire), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and Fine slipcase, new and unread. New tales of Lovecraftian horror. Bought from the publisher at a steep discount.
Another odd item for the reference library:
(Francis, Bruce (uncredited), compiler/editor, with Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, Elvira, Rowena, and William F. Nolan.) The Undead (AKA The Book Sail 16th Anniversary Catalogue). McLaughlin Press, 1984. First edition hardback, #326 of 550 copies of the Deluxe (and only hardback) edition, a Near Fine copy with fading to spine, in a Near Fine slipcase, from which the cloth is starting to peel away at the bottom (which I intended to repair), sans dust jacket, as issued. An extremely elaborate affair for a book catalog, including a lenticular image of horror hostess Elvira (who has signed a signature page in the book) embedded in the cover, a Rowena full-page, full-color illustration, “Sorceress,” opposite her signature, which looks like something of a self-portrait, a signed Forward from Ray Bradbury, a signed story (“The Undead”) from Robert Bloch, and a signed William F. Nolan chapbook (“The Dandelion Chronicles”) inserted into a special pocket at the back of the book.
In addition to all that, there’s also an extensive book and manuscript catalog which makes up the bulk of the book, including a ridiculous amount of Lovecraft material, including amateur press publications, original manuscripts, letters, postcards, etc. It also includes Sonia Haft Greene Lovecraft’s passport, which I’ve seen at listed for sale/auction least twice since (from L. W. Currey and later listed by Heritage Auctions). Also includes many non-book rarities, including the first appearance of Siegel and Shuster’s Superman character in a fanzine (where he was a bald villain), an original stop-motion armature of King Kong, and Judy Garland’s contract for The Wizard of Oz.
I’ve long lusted after a copy of this book, which came out just before I started collecting, but it usually listed in the $350 range. Bought for $75 off eBay.
Note: The limited, leather-bound presentation state (not seen) evidently included an original, unique Hannes Bok drawing in every copy…
Three chapbooks, two (mostly) non-fiction, and one fiction round-robin to help complete my Joe R. Lansdale collection.
The coloration is actually even on the last two; the variation in the pics is a scanner artifact.
No particular theme this time: Just three interesting books I picked up.
As previously mentioned, I attended the World Horror Convention here in Austin, where I moderated a panel with William F. Nolan. I cheekily had him sign some books while I was on the panel (all in good fun), but the real treat was grabbing several more signatures during the mass signing, as he likes to do drawings when signing. Here’s an example (or at least as much as would fit on the scanner) of the art he put on the blank page of “The Final Stone,” his story in Dennis Etchison’s Landmark Cutting Edge horror anthology:
Click to embiggen.
Thanks Bill!
It looked like my Kodak Digital camera had died, but it seems to be working again after fiddling with it, removing the battery a few times, and plugging it in. Still, I’ll probably need to get a new camera before Apollocon in June, since the automatic shutter isn’t retracting all the way any more…
William F. Nolan and Rocky Wood, both of whom were with me on the “Horror Without Stephen King,” along with someone who wasn’t.
Bill Crider
Bill & Judy Crider.
Bill Spencer. A lot of Bills today, mainly because none of them had yet been signed into law.
Now THAT’s a HAT.
SF Signal’s John DeNardo, AKA “Mr. Saturday Night.”
Don Webb, in the one photo I took on my iPhone that didn’t completely suck.
Blogging has been a bit light as of late because I was finishing up my taxes and then cleaning my house in advance of a party, the two of which have eaten up almost all my previously spare time.
I will be attending the World Horror Convention here in Austin next week. In fact, I’ll be moderating a panel:
Horror Without Stephen King
1:00 PM Saturday, April 30 – Phoenix Central
Jack Ketchum, Lawrence Person (M), Del Howison, William Nolan, Rocky Wood, Bev Vincent
Stephen King is the undisputed grandmaster of modern horror. But what if he had never lived, or went right to publishing literary fiction without ever writing a single scary story. What would the field look like today without the man from Maine? Would there even be a horror genre as we know it?
William F. Nolan has been writing since before I was born. He was also good friends with Chad Oliver, the late, great dean of Austin science fiction writers. I”m sure he has many an interesting story to tell.
I’ll also be part of the big group book signing at 7:30 PM on Saturday, though I’m sure I’ll get more signatures than I give…