Gorgeous, gorgeous, utterly gorgeous cover art (artist unknown, alas - *update: it's actually George Ziel) for a novel I've only recently found out about, a sort of fantasy-horror about evil and mind-controlling plants. I love everything about it, and don't you? Gwen, in Green you can be sure has been added to my must-have list! Read a review here, which features the UK paperback.
Speaking of my must-have list: this past weekend I took a mini-vacation up to my hometown in South Jersey and was able to visit that used bookstore I worked at in the early '90s, now called Bogart's Books. Armed with that list, and with the memories of many vintage-era horror "classics" on the shelves, I went in Friday morning and... bought nearly 20 paperback horror novels!
I couldn't believe the stuff I found, couldn't even afford to buy everything I wanted. Some stuff I wanted but didn't buy because it was in poor shape - Skipp and Spector's The Cleanup, Strieber's The Hunger, Leiber's Night's Black Agents - but what I did pick up will keep this site in good stead for some time. There is Masterton and Garton and Wright and Etchison and Hodge and Rice and more, much more. Hell, I even snagged a copy of John McCarty's essential and completely thorough Splatter Movies: Breaking the Last Taboo of the Screen, from 1984 (cover image from Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll).
Also, my girlfriend is on her own little vacation and stopped in at the famous Powell's City of Books in Portland, OR, and called to say she'd found a few gems for me, some Grant, Matheson, and F. Paul Wilson, as I recall. Lucky me!
And on a personal note, I probably haven't mentioned it here but I've been laid off so far this entire year... till this week. Now that I'm back to full-time work I'm not sure if I'll be updating Too Much Horror Fiction as often as I have been. But I always make time to read - in fact, I don't even have to make time to read; I just read, and always have - and now I've got more than a dozen novels added to my shelves and to-read list. Oh well, I wouldn't have it any other way!
16 comments:
Congrats on your great finds and on your new job! I love finding gems in bookstores and video stores, especially since they are fading fast. So exciting.
Congrats on the job! Don't stop blogging, tho.
Your fan,
Dan
Sounds like you had an excellent weekend! Congratulations on the job. I look forward to future posts.
"Artist unknown"? Um....I identified him as George Zeil. Right here. LAST WEEK. Guess it slipped your mind, what with the giddiness over hitting pay dirt at the used-book store and the new job and everything :) . Congrats, by the way!
And yeah, Zeil's GWEN, IN GREEN is abso-fricking-lutely gorgeous all right, one of my all-time favorite paperback covers. Super-sensuous and super-spooky. Gotta get around to reading the thing someday...
Ha ha ha, Anon, yes you did! I did totally forget - you said not to Google him, there was nothing out there. Oops! Amended. Thanks for the reminder!
I can't imagine stopping blogging about horror fiction, though. Thanks guys!
I was at Powell's last month on a trip down from Vancouver. My apologies for snagging a second-hand copy of Ligotti's "My Work is Not Yet Done", which she surely would have bought you.
Keep on blogging.
that bookstore rules. I got a copy of Liggoti's GRIMSCRIBE there 5 years ago. Did you ever go to the place in collingswood on the main drag? can't remember the name. found a bunch of masterson and old skipp and spector stuff there a while ago.
Great news, Will. Congrats on the hefty fiction haul and the new job. You know I look forward to anything and everything you put out. Kepp on keepin' on, brotha!
Sounds like you hit the Mother Lode in the bookshop. And kudos to your swell gal for thinking of you in Powell's. GWEN IN GREEN looks stunning. I haven't read it. Now my hunt is on. Congrats on your job status, Will.
Good news about your job - best of of luck! Love the blog and hope you will continue to share your reviews with us. I'm envious about your trip to the bookstore you mention. Where I live there is only ONE bookstore and the horror pickings are slim and because of that I do most of my book shopping online.
I envy you the Grant and Matheson finds.
Very glad to hear you're back to work. That's marvelous news, especially in this economy.
Jeff P.
It's me again, pimping for George Zeil. Check this out, she could be "Gwen's" sister:
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/t/jill-tattersall/chanters-chase.htm
Some excellent finds indeed. Some of the best things about the books on your blog are the covers. You sure know how to pick them. Congrats on the new job :)
Some great finds Will - Skipp and Spector stuff seems rarer then hen's teeth these days.
Congratulations on the job as well. It's a double-edged sword though - more books, less time...
- Aaron
Thanks everybody! Ned, I haven't been to the bookstore in Collingswood... used bookstores are pretty rare in South Jersey, though.
Congrats on the book finds, and especially the new job! Always happy when somebody finds work, 'cuz I've been out of work myself enough times to know how nerve-wracking that is. Hope I never have to go through that again!
Looking forward to the new reviews. And I may have to look into this Gwen In Green thing. I read _The Revenant_ years ago and remember liking it quite a bit, so more of his stuff might be worth seeking out.
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