Halloween Horrors: Japanese Hell Temple

October 2nd, 2019

If you find yourself in east Osaka, Japan, you can visit Senkoji Temple, a shrine dedicated to giving you a glimpse of Hell, including hearing the voices of the damned:

Halloween Horrors: Watch Nightmare Bob Ross Unpaint the Centipede Tree

October 1st, 2019

Welcome to the Halloween Season!

Someone unleashed Deep Dream on reversed Bob Ross and the result is Grade A Nightmare Fuel:

Library Addition: Charnel House Edition of Dean R. Koontz’s Beastchild

September 24th, 2019

Picked up another Charnel House cheap:

Koontz, Dean R. Beastchild. Charnel House, 1992. First hardback edition, #612 of 750 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued, in a Very Good only slipcase with a couple of quarter-sized dampstains to back. Reprint of a 1970 PBO, dedicated to Lisa Tuttle (among three others). Bought off eBay for $65.00.

Library Addition: Gahan Wilson’s A Little Purple Book of Phantasies

September 21st, 2019

Picked up another in the Little Library series:

Wilson, Gahan. A Little Purple Book of Phantasies. Borderlands Press, 2019. First edition hardback, #88 of 500 numbered copies signed by editor Stuart David Schiff, a Fine copy in decorated boards (a Wilson illustration, natch), sans dust jacket, as issued. Short story collection, something of a best of collection, with a smattering of cartoons. Out of print before publication. I’ll have copies for sale in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, due out in November.

Looks like it’s past time to pick up another cheap scanner at Sam’s…

Adventures in Bad Bathroom Design

September 19th, 2019

Maybe you should consider not mounting the bathroom mirror so that the faucet handle hits the edge every time you use it…

Library Addition: Signed First of Ray Bradbury’s The Other Foot

September 16th, 2019

Picked up another signed Ray Bradbury chapbook:

Bradbury, Ray. The Other Foot. Perfection Form Company, 1982. First edition chapbook (presumed; no additional printings listed), a Fine copy, signed by Bradbury. As with The Veldt, this is a short story reader with questions for classrooms and reading comprehension questions in the back. Not in The Undead, which includes a number of other Bradbury chapbooks. Bought off eBay for $35.

Library Additions: Three TPOs

September 11th, 2019

Two of these I picked up at Armadillocon, one at Half Price Books:

  • Afsharirad, David. The Year’s Best Military and Adventure SF Volume 4. Baen, 2018. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Signed by the editor and contributor David Hardy.
  • Brown, Christopher. Rule of Capture. Harper Voyager, 2019. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Meant to get this signed by Chris at Armadillocon but didn’t quite manage it.
  • Wittkower, D. E., editor. Philip K. Dick and Philosophy: Do Androids Have Kindred Spirits? Open Court, 2011. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Non-fiction book of essays on Dick from various contributors. Bought at Half Price Books for $3.39.
  • Library Additions: Five Signed Firsts

    September 2nd, 2019

    All five of these books were picked up from Adventures in Crime & Space at Armadillocon, and all five came from the estate of late SF writer Carrie Richerson.

  • Banks, Iain. Canal Dreams. Macmillian (UK), 1989. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with a few pinpricks of light staining at head and a small wrinkle at top center to the first few pages, in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed to Richardson: “Yo, Carrie!/This one’s for you./Iain Banks/10 March 90/at Wiscon 14.” Supplements an unsigned copy. Bought for $15.00.
  • Banks, Iain. Espedair Street. Macmillian (UK), 1987. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy one light pinprick stain at head and slight ear at heel, in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed to Richardson: “To Carrie!/Weird regards/Iain Banks/10 March 90/at Wiscon 14.” Supplements an unsigned copy. Bought for $15.00.
  • Banks, Iain. The State of the Art. Mark V. Ziesing, 1989. First edition hardback, a Fine- with a few pinpricks of light staining at head, in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed to Richardson: “To Carrie!/best wishes from am on the/GS GCU Arbitrary/Iain M. Banks/10 March 90/at Wiscon 14.” Interesting that he puts the middle “M” on the signatures for the SF books as well. Supplements an unsigned copy. Bought for $10.

  • Butler, Octavia. Xenogenesis. Guild America Books, 1989. First edition hardback thus (an omnibus edition of Dawn, Adulthoode Rights, and Imago), a Fine- copy with slight bumping at head and heel, in a Fine- dust jacket with a trace of edgewear. Inscribed by Butler: “To Carrie/Good reading/Octavia E. Butler.” Supplements signed copies of the three individual first editions. Bought for $25.

  • Emshwiller, Carol. Carmen Dog. mercury House, 1990. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight spotting to head, in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed by Emshwiller: “To Carrie,/Carol Emshwiller.” Nova Express slipstream list. Bought for $7.50.

  • Library Additions: Three Signed Joe R. Lansdale Firsts

    August 17th, 2019

    All three of these were bought from Joe R. His Ownself’s table at this year’s Armadillocon.

  • Lansdale, Joe R. The Elephant of Surprise. Mulholland Books, 2019. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread, inscribed to me by the author. Hap and Leonard novel.
  • Lansdale, Joe R. and Kasey Lansdale. Terror Is Our Business: Dana Roberts’ Casebook of Horrors. Cutting Block Books, 2018. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy, inscribed to me by Joe Lansdale.
  • (Lansdale, Joe R.) Jabcuga, Joshua, Todd Galusha, and Horacia Domingues. Joe R. Lansdale’s Bubba Ho-Tep and the Cosmic Blood-Suckers. IDW, 2019. Trade paperback original, a Fine copy, inscribed to me by Lansdale. Graphic novel adaptation of Lansdale’s Bubba and the Comic Blood-Suckers.

  • Library Addition: Signed, Limited Edition of Philip Jose Farmer’s The Lavalite World

    August 8th, 2019

    Another signed Farmer first:

    Farmer, Philip Jose. The Lavalite World. Phantasia Press, 1983. First edition hardback, #192 of 250 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine slipcase. The fifth World of Tiers novel. Chalker/Owings, page 340. Bought off eBay for $34.99.