Too Much Horror Fiction

The Force and Spellcaster by J. Edward Ames: Crap Strikes Back

2012-02-10T10:25:00.000-05:00

Get that tagline: "His Evil Eye Will Turn Mardi Gras Into a Carnival of Blood!" It's his evil eye we have to worry about?! Spellcaster (Zebra 1989) probably is not going on my to-be-read pile.1987 Leisure/BMI BooksYeah, I can just hear that editorial meeting: "The Force? The Force. Hmm, The Force....? Nope, doesn't ring a bell; it'll be the perfect title for a horror novel!" Funny review here.

Mad House Mag: White Coats to Bind Me

2012-02-09T18:41:00.002-05:00

Something different, something fitting: a quick guest post from fellow horror scribe Joe Monster, bludgeoning blogger of the darkest arts; you may know him as the shadowy figure behind From Beyond Depraved (RIP!), Grim Tidings, or Mephisto's Castle. And if that's not enough, Mr. Monster's got more macabre mayhem up his bloodstained sleeve:AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO SINISTER SCRIBESAND OTHER VARIOUS

Kiss Not the Child by John Tigges (1985): I'll Put a Knife Right in You

2012-02-07T10:03:00.001-05:00

I should say not! But I have to wonder what this fantastic cover art has to do with the title. You got your skull and a pretty lady, what more do you want? John Tigges wrote lots of horror paperbacks for Leisure Books in the 1980s, most with some really cool and grotesque covers. I have to ask: are they any good? Are they anywhere near as good as the covers suggest? Hmm. Perhaps one day I shall

Dark Advent by Brian Hodge (1988): Countdown to Extinction

2012-02-05T11:06:00.002-05:00

Cursed with an utterly absurd and completely irrelevant cover, the post-apocalyptic horror novel Dark Advent is a passably okay work, Brian Hodge's minor-league version of The Stand (1978), Alas, Babylon (1959), or Swan Song (1987). You got your germ "warfare" gone wrong, the inadvertent regular-guy heroes and opportunistic bad guys, and large-scale horror setpieces as a flawed and violent

"All the children are insane..."

2012-02-03T14:37:00.000-05:00

Check out the scary mom jeans on this young-adult-fiction-looking girl of Salem's Children (1978)! But the ghostly figures behind her... anything creepier than 19th century garb? No - unless it's kids wearing it. Yikes.This Salem's Child (1987) looks like one of them - well, it's kinda not PC for me to say it, so I'll let this do the talking.Okay, I know, I know, 'Salem's Lot (1975 - this

You Should Play with Madness...

2012-02-02T16:42:00.004-05:00

...and watch this pretty amazing 2008 documentary on H.P. Lovecraft, directed by Frank H. Woodward. It's an incredible labor of love, accomplished and thorough, with lots of interviews with horror fiction icons Ramsey Campbell and Peter Straub, as well as horror and dark fantasy giants like John Carpenter, Neil Gaiman, Stuart Gordon, and others (like S.T. Joshi, who wrote the essential - and

Carnival by William W. Johnstone (1989): All Aboard, Nebraska's Our Next Stop

2012-01-30T17:48:00.002-05:00

Dig that green checked jacket and enormous blue bow tie! Now that's what I call horror.Somehow I missed this one when I featured some of Johnstone's book covers here.

The Stalker by Claude Teweles (1984): Just Crowding Up Your Human Face

2012-01-28T08:49:00.001-05:00

My goodness, those eyes! And an unexpected Peter Straub blurb too.

Act of Love by Joe R. Lansdale (1981): Feel the Knife Pierce You Intensely

2012-01-26T11:47:00.002-05:00

Why oh why did I not keep my brand-new copy of Joe R. Lansdale's debut novel, Act of Love? It was 1991, I'd just flipped out over The Nightrunners, and got my hands on all his books that were in print at the time (which were mostly crime and westerns back then). Well, as I read the reviews on Amazon, I was reminded this was about cops hunting a serial killer of women - not really my horror thing

Inhuman by John Russo (1986): She is the Lizard Queen...

2012-01-24T15:15:00.000-05:00

Are they lizard people or the walking dead? Get your horror tropes right yo.

The Everlasting by Leonard Bishop (1984): Please See for Me If Her Hair Hangs Long

2012-01-22T15:18:00.003-05:00

Yes, it does, and it's deadly too.

Hell House by Richard Matheson (1971): Come On Up to the Devil's Whorehouse

2012-01-18T17:03:00.003-05:00

Love this unlikely cover art for Hell House, the haunted house novel by the one and only Richard Matheson. Showcasing the classic Gothic romance elements that were then so popular in mass-market paperbacks, this 1972 Bantam paperback features a woman threatened and fearful of a house she cannot even see from the position she's standing in. Wonder how many old ladies picked this up thinking it

Avon Paperback Horror Anthologies edited by Charles M. Collins

2012-01-17T10:13:00.003-05:00

Quick post while I finish up a haunted house novel and prepare a review: I have no idea who Charles M. Collins is, but in the late 1960s he put together three anthologies of horror fiction of the classic sort, stories by Stoker, Bierce, Polidori, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Lovecraft, and other much lesser-known folks. Avon's cover art - artist unknown - is creepy and yet slightly comic at once.

Avon Books Horror Paperback Cover Art by Hector Garrido

2012-01-10T18:26:00.003-05:00

I do dearly love this series of Avon horror paperbacks from 1968 and '69 - such vintage-y and creepy goodness! The only one I own is the Matheson; I'd seen a couple here and there over the years and dug 'em, but it wasn't till today that I actually looked at the Stir of Echoes copyright page to find out the artist: Hector Garrido. He was quite prolific too. Great stuff, sir, and thank you. I hope

A Manhattan Ghost Story by T.M. Wright (1984): It Was Their Town, and It Always Would Be

2012-01-05T18:00:00.007-05:00

For weeks now I've been slowly getting through A Manhattan Ghost Story, the seventh horror novel by T.M. Wright. He's a prolific but rather cultish author whose first book, the oddly poetic and ambiguous Strange Seed, I read and reviewed last year; it left me nonplussed, unsure of how I really felt about it. But Wright had skill, a manner and tone I found intriguing, so I didn't give up on

Charles Beaumont Born Today 1929

2012-01-02T23:59:00.005-05:00

Born today in the barely conceivable year of 1929, Charles Beaumont is one of the forgotten figures in horror/science fiction/fantasy. Well, not at Too Much Horror Fiction! I originally featured Beaumont here. You can also watch his many episodes of "The Twilight Zone" on Netflix Instant. You ever find one of his vintage paperbacks in a used bookstore, buy it. I've got a few, but not these (

This List Goes to 11: Best Vintage Horror Reads of the Year

2011-12-31T17:39:00.003-05:00

The best, and/or my favorite, horror reads of the year. List is random because I'm so lazy. The Silence of the Lambs, Thomas Harris (1988) - A pinnacle of pop success that is also a damn great novel. Don't avoid it, as I did, because of the iconic nature of the movie adaptation.The Exorcist, William Peter Blatty (1972) - Ditto. It's kinda like if Dostoevsky's novel Possession (aka Demons) were

"...the most poetical topic in the world."

2011-12-28T19:50:00.002-05:00

"The death, then, of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world."E.A. Poe."The Philosophy of Composition" (1846)Lingard by Colin Wilson (1970)1980 Pocket Books cover art by George Zeil

Blackwater II: The Levee by Michael McDowell (1983): In the Darkness by the Riverbed...

2011-12-25T19:37:00.005-05:00

A few years after The Flood, the first book in the Blackwater series from the late Michael McDowell, a man named Early Haskew comes to the small Alabama town of Perdido to engineer the construction of, of course, The Levee. Accepting an invitation from matriarch Mary-Love Caskey, Early moves in with her and her 33-year-old spinster daughter known as Sister. Readers know that Early has stepped

Death Tour by David J. Michael (1978): Come On Along, Honey

2011-12-23T18:02:00.002-05:00

It might look like a Halloween mask on the cover but it's got a New York Times Book Review blurb! How could you resist Death Tour? It's an alligators-in-the-sewers deal by David J. Michael (don't know anything about him) but I haven't read it. I was kinda surprised to find a handful of reviews on the novel. I even found something on the artist, one Ivan Punchatz. So now you can enjoy your holiday

The Year's Best Horror Stories Series: The 1970s

2011-12-20T09:00:00.004-05:00

The Year's Best Horror Stories series ran for over two decades, from 1971 till 1994, collecting what one hoped actually were the year's best horror stories. Before Karl Edward Wagner picked up the mantle as editor in 1980 with volume eight, the series had two other editors: Richard Davis and then Gerald W. Page. But it's just the cover art I'm interested in for this post, not the stories within.

Horror Anthologies of the 1960s

2011-12-16T09:03:00.002-05:00

Such horrific delight. You don't get covers like these anymore. Enjoy.

Blackwater I: The Flood by Michael McDowell (1983): When You're Lost in the Rain and It's Eastertime Too

2011-12-13T18:37:00.002-05:00

What Easter but that first in Jerusalem had dawned so bleakly, or stirred less hope in the breasts of those who had witnessed the rising of that morning's sun?It is the early morning of Easter Sunday, 1919, and the Perdido and Blackwater rivers of Perdido, Alabama have flooded the small town - leaving only the spires and roofs and chimneys of the town's buildings to be seen above the foul and

Children of the Night by Margaret Bingley (1989): "Shut Up!"

2011-12-11T18:36:00.002-05:00

Another skull sporting a full head of luxurious locks! I do so love it. And the title too!

Satan Whispers "Evil" with The Devil's Breath

2011-12-09T15:58:00.002-05:00

See, I told you!All kidding aside, this is a quick post as I've begun reading a vintage '80s horror saga, a multi-volume series by an unfortunately neglected, and now late, Southern author.... Human forces war against nature's ravages, a dead woman's legacy, and an awesome, blood-curdling dismemberment. That's just the tagline! Hot damn.

Sleep by Lynn Biederstadt (1986): For I Will Walk Among Your Dreams

2011-12-08T15:41:00.002-05:00

Fearless photojournalist Matt Wicker earned a Pulitzer Prize for his daring picture of a firefighter engulfed by a wall of flame. Bad dreams rarely frighten Matt, until he finds himself ruled by Sleep, a demon within that releases a deeply buried blood thirst...Oh, it's "a horror story" - why, I never would have guessed. Never heard of this book or author till the other day, when I stumbled

Nightmare in Red (1981): The Strange Case of Jacqueline Marten

2011-12-06T17:19:00.001-05:00

Here's a true tale of woe and horror in the publishing world: Playboy Press published dozens of paperbacks throughout the '60s, '70s, and '80s, till its line was bought by Putnam and became part of their Berkley list. Boring behind-the-scenes stuff, yes, but one thing Playboy had done at its height was publish many titles that were basically historical romances with some darker, perhaps

Karl Edward Wagner Born Today 1945

2011-12-04T12:15:00.001-05:00

Today Too Much Horror Fiction celebrates another birthday, this one of a favorite writer and editor in the horror field, the late lamented Karl Edward Wagner. Happily I just found out that Centipede Press will be collecting all of Wagner's horror tales into two volumes: limited editions with illustrations by JK Potter and signed by the likes of Peter Straub and Stephen Jones. If you don't wanna

Brian Lumley: The Lovecraftian Titus Crow Paperback Covers

2011-12-02T16:36:00.005-05:00

On this day in the year 1937 the stars were right and born of man and woman was Brian Lumley, a British human whose tales of Lovecraftian and vampiric mayhem and mystery have been part of our beloved horror fiction for decades now. In addition to his ever-popular epic Necroscope series (many moons ago I got about 100 pages into the first volume and was overwhelmed by what I recall as ESP

Shadows, edited by Charles L. Grant (1978): "Soon You Shall Be As We"

2011-11-29T12:54:00.001-05:00

A stark and simple cover image introduces Shadows, first in the long-running quiet horror/dark fantasy anthology series put together by quiet-horror maestro Charles L. Grant. At this period in the 1970s horror fiction had apparently not yet quite found its full and singular identity in the publishing world; Grant solicited tales by fantasy and science fiction writers - and in at least one case,

The Paperback Covers of Shaun Hutson: Ain't Nothin' but a Gorehound

2011-11-28T14:53:00.003-05:00

Well, nobody asked for 'em but here they are: the covers of Shaun Hutson's pulp horror paperbacks from the 1980s, all published by Leisure Books. Hutson's reputation is that of a goremonger for gore's sake and often gets lumped in with the splatterpunks. Me, I'd put him in with Guy N. Smith and maybe James Herbert, and not Barker or Schow or Lansdale et al. Still, this being a horror fiction blog

The Blooding by William Darrid (1979): The Rabid Dog on Main Street Howls

2011-11-23T08:55:00.000-05:00

Well, it's certainly no The Bloodening. Alas.I really wanted to like this first novel by William Darrid, a paperback original with somber cover art and the perfectly '70s title of The Blooding. There are no reviews for it on Amazon, one on Goodreads, and one here, which is where I first found out about it. Interesting that one of the novels it's compared to isn't The Other or Rosemary's Baby, but

Clive Barker Paperback Covers: The UK Harper Voyager Editions

2011-11-22T11:45:00.004-05:00

Okay, they're not vintage and they're not collectible and they're not even available in the United States, but I recently found out that Clive Barker's novels have been reissued by Harper Collins under their Voyager imprint. I dig 'em; thought you might too. They're classy and accurate. How refreshing!Above you see The Hellbound Heart, his 1986 novella which was the basis for some movie or other.

Meat the Authors! John Skipp and Craig Spector 1988

2011-11-18T17:39:00.004-05:00

Ha ha ha - get it?! I had to share this awesomely ridiculous, or ridiculously awesome, illustration of splatterpunk maestros John Skipp and Craig Spector, which can be found in their rollicking 1988 rock'n'roll horror epic The Scream. Enjoy!

The Delicate Dependency by Michael Talbot (1982): You Can't Even Touch the Books They've Read

2011-11-16T21:58:00.014-05:00

I had always viewed the vampire as the interloper, but if they were interwoven in our history, if they were responsible for many of our ancient churches and monuments, how must they view themselves? They were not homeless ghouls or wanderers. They communicated with one another in ways we could not fathom. What sense of possession must they feel for this world, and how must they view us mere

Christine by Stephen King (1983): Out of Her Way, Mister, You Best Keep

2011-11-14T14:06:00.012-05:00

Argh. For more than two weeks I'd been trying to find an approach to my review of Christine, the first of two novels Stephen King published in 1983 (the second was Pet Sematary). This way, that way, whatever way, but I couldn't quite figure out what I wanted to say about the book. I had paragraphs but no overarching point other than something about baby boomers and American cars and independence,

Unholy Passion I Feel for You: The Erotic Horror Paperbacks of Russ Martin

2011-11-08T16:51:00.004-05:00

Now discovering this kind of horror paperback cover art is why I have this blog! Russ Martin is a name unfamiliar to me; none of my Google-fu turned up anything about him whatsoever, and even his bibliography is scattered and uncertain. I unknowingly featured his 1981 novel The Desecration of Susan Browning awhile ago here; I simply had no idea Martin had an entire series of

The Crabtastic Mr. Smith: The Dell Paperback Covers of The Crabs Series

2011-11-03T17:53:00.003-04:00

For your crustacean delectation, I present these paperback editions of Guy N. Smith's infamously crass yet undeniably charming Crabs series. Which is about giant man-eating crabs. Which of course you knew. Originally published in England by New English Library and Grafton, during the late 1980s the series was repackaged for American consumption by Dell. To which I'm sure pulp-horror fans shouted

Horror Fiction Help Vols. VIII and IX: Vampire Edition

2011-11-01T11:13:00.004-04:00

Okay, everybody have a great holiday? Of course we did! I'm exhausted, frankly. How about we get back to "work" and see if we can't help with two emails I received this past month:Dylan writes:I read it either in the late eighties or early nineties, but I don't know when it was originally published. At one point in the novel there was "at night the line between reality and dream was blurred" or

The October Country by Ray Bradbury (1955): The Season in My Veins

2011-10-28T09:17:00.003-04:00

That country whose people are autumn people, thinking only autumn thoughts... There's not much of an autumn here in the American South where I live. We get some chilly mornings and chilly nights, but they're more like winter cold, and at mid-afternoon the sun's glare can make you think it's mid-July and Halloween is a cruel lie. There's little of the crisp smoky coolness that signals the year's

October Reading Update!

2011-10-23T12:10:00.005-04:00

The ghoulfriend and I threw a monster of an early Halloween party last night; it took us 10 days to prepare for it so as you might imagine, I'm a bit behind on my seasonal reading. I've been making my way through the Weird Tales-era work of Ray Bradbury, collected in his classic The October Country, as well as re-re-re-reading a vintage King, both for future review. So here are some covers of

Schoolhouse by Lee Duigon (1988): Can't Even Think of a Word That Rhymes

2011-10-18T10:00:00.002-04:00

Can't get enough of horror paperbacks adorned with skeletons - who still have all their hair! This one of a creepy skeletal schoolteacher is especially hilarious. I'm doing some Halloween-appropriate reading while getting ready for a big Halloween bash this weekend, so no reviews this week, alas. Enjoy Schoolhouse!

The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum (1989): How Do the Angels Get to Sleep?

2011-10-13T18:49:00.021-04:00

Whew, where to begin? The Girl Next Door has, in the near quarter-century since its publication, achieved a notoriety few other modern horror novels can match. It was the third novel from Dallas Mayr, written under his now-famous pseudonym Jack Ketchum. Now, I hadn't even heard of Ketchum or this book until the last five or six years, I guess around the time it was reprinted by Leisure Books.

Horror Fiction Help VII: The Sinister Chauffeur

2011-10-11T20:30:00.003-04:00

Okay guys, I've got another horror novel for us to find. Reader Tim sent me a note earlier today:In 1980 or 1981 I read a paperback which I bought at a supermarket or drugstore. I think the book was published by Zebra or Leisure or another that I would have thought of as a cheapo publisher. What I remember about the book is that it was about a kid who was made to live in a creepy boarding

Seductions by Ray Garton (1984): Sweet Lovely Death

2011-10-10T18:10:00.003-04:00

Promising a tale of eroticized bloodshed and death, this first novel by proto-splatterpunk Ray Garton boasts a truly lurid and ludicrous cover image (thanks, Steve Kropp, whoever you are!). Sadly it is pretty much a miss for any horror-fiction fan. Not sure if this will surprise anybody. I really had fun with Live Girls (1987), but Crucifax (1988) left me feeling vastly indifferent. True, I like

Horror Fiction Help VI

2011-10-07T14:53:00.006-04:00

An email I received this week about a book that I am unfamiliar with. Any ideas? Simmie writes: I stumbled across your site last night while trying to find the title/author of a horror novel I read in junior high. All I recall from the book is that citizens of the town start turning evil once they have been exposed to a strange rainfall. I think there was also a scene where a girl is raped in

Happy Birthday Clive Barker!

2011-10-05T09:24:00.002-04:00

Too Much Horror Fiction favorite Clive Barker turns 59 today. Above you'll see him with a few other familiar horror folks - yes, that's Dennis Etchison, Karl Edward Wagner, and Charlie Grant, circa 1986, in London on the set of Hellraiser. One of the Barker books I've not gotten around to rereading yet is Cabal, aka Books of Blood Vol. 6 (kind of; see comments). So here's a preview of some of

The Horror Paperback Covers of Bernard Taylor

2011-10-02T17:36:00.003-04:00

Born today in 1937, British horror and suspense author Bernard Taylor probably isn't a very familiar name even to horror fans. However, his 1977 ghost story Sweetheart, Sweetheart was chosen by Charles L. Grant as one of the 100 best horror novels. I read it last year and quite liked it, although it does have a long, slow build-up that's oh-so-very British. But how about that Moorstone (St.

Frights, Night Chills, and Beyond Midnight: The '70s Anthologies of Kirby McCauley

2011-10-01T16:25:00.005-04:00

Loving these paperback covers from the horror anthologies that Kirby McCauley edited in the 1970s. McCauley wasn't a horror writer himself; he's a literary agent, and one of his early clients was Stephen King himself (among plenty others). The art on these books is a terrific example of the creepy and the surreal from that wonderful era.Frights (Warner Books, 1977), with cover art from George

The Cellar by Richard Laymon (1980): It's a Sick World, What Can I Say?

2011-09-28T21:11:00.013-04:00

We all know horror writers have a creepy reputation; any mainstream interview or feature about them must point out how, well, normal the writer seems. This surprises who exactly? Do people who don't follow horror think that all its writers - or filmmakers - are hunchbacked, drooling monstrosities with blood beneath their fingernails and fetid breath? My god. Non-fans seem to think that dreaming

13 Paperback Horrors: Where All It Ever Does Is Rain

2011-09-26T20:43:00.003-04:00

Down Bound Train (Popular Library 1974) by Bill Garnett. Don't you feel like you're a rider? This cover's got a Bradbury vibe for me; also the obligatory reference to surpassing The Exorcist. Yeahhh... no.Dark Prism by David Lippincott (Dell 1981) Creepy nuns, not quite as popular as creepy kids or clowns, but still up there. This one's particularly effective.The Midnight Tree by Charles Higham (

Junkyard by Barry Porter (1989): And I'll Lay Right Down in My Favorite Place

2011-09-19T20:53:00.000-04:00

Oh, Barry Porter, where are you now? Not only does this monstrous Junkyard dawg feed on terror... and blood!, it can also bend the rules of physics so it can fit in oil drums to hide out, waiting for unsuspecting teenagers necking, or hapless homeless folk. You know that's coming. Dark Souls also came out in '89; for the life of me I can't tell what's going on in that cover. Anyone...?

Horror Fiction Help V: Another Short Story to Find...

2011-09-19T14:24:00.018-04:00

Okay, for the fifth time, a reader seeks our help in horror! Reader Rayo writes:It's a short story I read 10 years ago. It was in a horror anthology from the mid-90s though the story could be older. The story (or perhaps part of a story) is a menu/recipe for preparing an exquisite cannibal feast. It breaks down the "meal" course by course in the language of fine dining, detailing how to prepare

Someone Like You (1953) and Kiss, Kiss (1960) by Roald Dahl: Keeping It Creepy

2011-09-13T12:54:00.008-04:00

World-famous for his singular children's fiction, Welsh author (and WWII fighter pilot) Roald Dahl was born today in 1916. But fans of the dark and the disturbing also celebrate his short stories: blackly comic, unsparingly ironic, finding fatal foibles in the class and taste distinctions of post-war British life. Dahl's language is plain but precise, scalpel-sharp, cool and confident, in stories

Horror Paperback Covers: The Good, the Erotic, the Ridiculous

2011-09-08T23:02:00.002-04:00

Dead of Night (Dell, 1957) I'm completely charmed by this cover - it reminds me of drawings I did when I was a kid! Super Halloween-style. Don Congdon was a behind-the-scenes guy in fantasy and horror.Invisible Men (Ballantine, 1960) How can you not love the framed boobies?! A humorous delight indeed.Ghosts and Things (Berkley, 1962) Classic writers, classic '60s horror art.Something Evil (Avon,

The Djinn by Graham Masterton (1977): Jean Genie Let Yourself Go!

2011-09-07T08:33:00.005-04:00

It's the return of Harry Erskine, Graham Masterton's dry-witted, comic-hardboiled phony "clairvoyant," first seen in the masterful The Manitou. This time Harry's tangling with The Djinn, an Arabian supernatural entity (from which we get the English word "genie"). But this is no lantern-bound wish-granting jokester; it has 40 monstrous manifestations and they're all, well, fatal for humans. A slim

The Foundling by Frank Lauria (1984): She's My Little Rock'n'Roll

2011-09-06T12:48:00.000-04:00

I know Frank Lauria is a trashy cult writer but I don't know anything about him. Looks like he was reduced to writing novelizations in the late '90s and early '00s, but back in the '70s and '80s his books were adorned with some pretty tasty horror fiction cover art. When I found The Foundling in New Jersey, I bought it solely for its cover alone. It epitomizes the absurd lengths to which

Horror Fiction Help IV: Do You Know This Book?

2011-09-02T19:19:00.009-04:00

This week I received another email from a reader asking me about a long-forgotten horror novel, and once again I need all my readers' help! Here's the description I was sent:Can't remember the title/author of a pulp horror book I read back in the day. Main character is a guide up in Canada or Alaska. Takes group of hunters on air tour of wilderness. They fly over a pack of wolves. Hunters

Incubus by Ray Russell (1976): Ain't No Devil, Just God When He's Drunk

2011-09-01T20:29:00.005-04:00

The town of Galen seems to have more than its fair share of attractive females. Maybe that's how the trouble started. Oh boy, you can be sure it was. You can be sure... What's all this then? Small California town invaded by outside evil. Teenage girls on the ripe cusp of womanhood ravaged and murdered. Young men plagued by dreams - memories? - of ancient evils. Steely-eyed men searching for a

Stephen King Paperback Covers: The 2011 Anchor Books Editions

2011-08-30T19:00:00.009-04:00

You guys know I rarely feature the latest mass market paperback editions of older horror fiction classics; let's face it, the cover "art" generally sucks. Mostly it seems like Photoshop or clip art hodge-podge of cliches, so terribly bland and boring we fans can only respond with indifference, i.e., not buying the book. Last week on the racks at my local supermarket I noticed an edition of Night

Books of Blood, Vol. 5 by Clive Barker (1985): In the Flesh

2011-08-29T18:59:00.004-04:00

But then monsters were seldom very terrible once hauled into the plain light of day...Four more stories of challenging, thoughtful horror in which our bodies and our world are transformed in ever more complex and illuminating ways. This penultimate volume of the Books of Blood, his famous series of short horror fiction, finds Clive Barker diving deep into the subconscious myth-pool and coming up

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice (1976): Ballantine First Edition Paperback

2011-08-26T13:31:00.004-04:00

This is one of those horror paperbacks that began my obsession with, well, horror paperbacks. Another one of my recent finds from the used bookstore in South Jersey (a choice find too as I lost my copy of this edition many years ago), this 1977 first mass market paperback of Anne Rice's influential Interview with the Vampire is luckily in excellent condition... and I think I paid $1.25 for it!

The Dark Country by Dennis Etchison (1982): Nightmares Stay with You

2011-08-23T11:00:00.003-04:00

For some time I've been searching for a copy of Dennis Etchison's first collection of short fiction, entitled The Dark Country. Finally found it on my recent trip to my hometown! Originally published by specialty publisher Scream/Press, this paperback is from Berkley in 1984. It consists of Etchison's stories from the 1970s, and his World Fantasy Award-winning 1981 title tale. Like Stephen King,

Friday I'm In Love 2: More Ladies of Paperback Gothics

2011-08-19T13:20:00.002-04:00

More Gothic lovelies for your darkest delectation today. You say it's not enough? Then check out My Love-Haunted Heart!

The Edge of Running Water by William Sloane (1939)

2011-08-15T22:20:00.003-04:00

Dig this super-creepy cover! The little-known novel The Edge of Running Water was one of only two written by William Sloane, who was born on this day in 1906 (his other book, To Walk the Night, I featured here). It was chosen for Jones and Newman's Horror: Another 100 Best Books in 2005. The above edition is from Bantam Books, 1967. For an appreciation of Sloan, be sure to read this. The

The Psycho Paperback Covers: We All Go a Little Mad Sometimes

2011-08-13T21:52:00.004-04:00

Today is the 112th birthday of Sir Alfred Hitchcock. I just wanted an excuse to feature some of the many paperback editions of Robert Bloch's immortal Psycho that have appeared over the years since its original publication in 1959. Now, if you're rather desperate to obtain some of these lovely paperback editions, why, I just know none of you would even hurt a fly. Enjoy... The edition at the top

Prime Evil, edited by Douglas E. Winter (1988): No Safe Place to Die

2011-08-11T20:35:00.005-04:00

"Horror is not a genre," writes editor Douglas E. Winter in his introduction to the classy anthology Prime Evil, "it is an emotion." Winter was really onto something there, I thought upon first reading it, and it's been something of a philosophical beacon for me in my choices of entertainment in the two decades since. Fans don't have to limit themselves to movies or books labeled "horror" to find

Gwen, in Green by Hugh Zachary (1974) and a Personal Update

2011-08-09T17:48:00.006-04:00

Gorgeous, gorgeous, utterly gorgeous cover art (artist unknown, alas - *update: it's actually George Zeil) 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

The Vampire: His Kith and Kin in Paperback Covers

2011-08-02T19:35:00.005-04:00

This cover for Dracula Began, a 1976 novel by Gail Kimberly, is stunning: you got Vincent Price from Tomb of Ligeia with misplaced eyes, big black bats, a Gothic castle, village people on the hunt, and a totally incongruous lady's head on a platter. Amazing. Artist George Zeil is a master of the vintage horror paperback cover! A repulsive old-man vampire adorns Karl Alexander's Curse of the

Abracadabra by Stephen Gresham (1988): Down the Rabbit Hole

2011-08-01T12:46:00.000-04:00

One of Zebra's finest, no? What else could one possibly say about it? I'm not gonna even try.

The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris (1988): Don't Wanna Go Down to the Basement

2011-07-29T12:00:00.009-04:00

Bought this battered, chewed-up (natch) paperback copy of The Silence of the Lambs off the 10-cent rack at a local bookstore last week and spent the next day and a half utterly immersed in it. Larry King's "double-dare-ya" is no joke, guys, as there's no putting this one down. About 10 years ago I read Red Dragon (1981) and was duly impressed, although today I remember little of it; I put off

Creature from the Black Lagoon by Carl Dreadstone (1977): Can't Figure Out Your Watery Love

2011-07-26T14:15:00.003-04:00

Writing under the unparalleled horror-fiction pseudonym of "Carl Dreadstone," Ramsey Campbell produced a series of novelizations of the classic Universal monster movies. They've long been collectors' items going for quite a few bucks despite being thin mass-market paperbacks from Berkley Medallion. But one day a month or so ago, browsing one of my usual used bookstore haunts, I happened upon

The Horror Paperback Covers of Zebra Books: What Happened?

2011-07-20T15:10:00.003-04:00

Zebra Books used some ludicrous and cheesy art for most of their paperback originals they published in the 1980s and beyond, but the horror titles they put out in the 1970s had much more vintage-styled covers. Definitely some quality work for their reprints of pulp kings like Robert E. Howard, Frank Belknap Long, and Robert Bloch. Gaze upon the mighty art of Jeff Jones above, in the 1976 edition

Splatterpunks: Extreme Horror, edited by Paul Sammon (1990): The Filth and the Fury

2011-07-14T20:38:00.020-04:00

I don't have to get into the origins of the term "splatterpunk" with y'all do I? Feels like I've done it a million times before, and if you have any interest in horror fiction you probably have a fairly good idea of its practitioners and artistic aims already. But just like every offshoot of a mainstream genre, people disagree over its identification and meaning. Basically, "splatterpunk"

Anno Dracula by Kim Newman (1992): A Bloodthirsty New World

2011-07-11T20:20:00.017-04:00

Look, I'm just gonna jump in head-first and not fuck around: Anno Dracula, the fourth non-pseudonymous novel from British film writer Kim Newman, is one of the most accomplished and thoroughly enjoyable novels I've read, not just for Too Much Horror Fiction, but, like, ever. Would that I read it upon its original publication, when I was working in a big chain bookstore and reading at a pace like

Horror Fiction Help III: Do You Know This Story?

2011-07-07T10:10:00.007-04:00

It's that time again! A reader emailed me describing a short story he once read but can no longer recall the title of, so I enlist you folks for assistance:I’m trying to find a short story I read in a horror anthology from the library a decade ago. It included a race of creatures that could control snakes, and I think the story was set in a museum that artifacts had been shipped to and one of

Night Cry magazine, Fall 1985

2011-07-05T14:55:00.003-04:00

This is issue #3 of Night Cry, with black-and-white illustrations by Paula Goodman. I like them lots better than J.K. Potter's from the previous post. The only story in this ish that I've read is David J. Schow's "The Woman's Version," which was in his fine collection Seeing Red. Pretty cool; you can see its illustration on the cover there, by Manuel Morales. I found that editor Alan Rodgers

Night Cry magazine, Winter 1985

2011-07-01T21:11:00.002-04:00

Few months back I found a handful of old Night Cry magazine issues, but I haven't read any of them. Night Cry was the digest-sized offshoot of Twilight Zone mag and didn't last too long; only 11 issues between '84 and '87 and this is issue #4. Lots of no-name authors mixed in there with bigger SF&F and horror folk. J.K. Potter, whose surreal collages adorned many a limited-edition horror work

Strange Seed by T.M. Wright (1978): Strange Eyes Fill Strange Rooms

2011-06-23T15:45:00.014-04:00

It's rare that I'm at a loss for words after reading a horror novel of any kind. Usually I can gather an argument somehow, pro or con, or even just wing a review going by gut instinct. But in the case of Strange Seed, a vintage horror paperback that's garnered a fair reputation over several decades as an effective example of "quiet horror," I'm a bit baffled. T.M. Wright's first novel, published

Friday I'm in Love: The Ladies of Paperback Gothics

2011-06-17T11:27:00.008-04:00

Though I've never read a word of these novels, I can't say I'm immune to the darker charms of the vintage cover art of the Gothic-romance novel, so popular in the 1960s and early 1970s. Long after midnight, with their ivory flesh and smoldering eyes, in flowing gowns and shawls, these ladies sweep down castle steps and through foggy moors, flushed with eroticized terror hoping to escape some

Skeleton Crew by Stephen King (1985): Many Dead at Many Scenes

2011-06-13T18:15:00.017-04:00

"I got to thinking about cannibalism one day - because that's the sort of thing guys like me sometimes think about - and my muse once more evacuated its magic bowels on my head. I know how gross that sounds, but it's the best metaphor I know, inelegant or not..." King on his 1982 story "Survivor Type"