Cemetery Dance Publications

The Woods Are Dark (The Original, Uncut Version)
Richard Laymon's Long Lost Second Novel As You've NEVER Read It Before!

"The Woods Are Dark plunges forward like a Tobe Hooper film based on a scenario by Charles Manson. Gruesome, frenetic, blood-curdling."
— Dean Koontz

"The Woods Are Dark is a roller-coaster ride through hell. More disgusting than The Cellar."
— Gary Brandner

The Woods Are Dark (The Original, Uncut Version)
by Richard Laymon

Featuring a special introduction by Kelly Laymon explaining the history of the manuscript, how this version came to exist, and why this edition is more than just 50 pages of deleted scenes added back in, but instead a totally different novel you've never read before!

About the Novel:
Neala and her friend Sherri only wanted to do a little backpacking through the woods. Little did they know they would soon be shackled to a dead tree, waiting for Them to arrive. The Dills family thought the small motor lodge in the quiet town of Barlow seemed quaint and harmless enough. Until they, too, found themselves shackled to trees in the middle of the night, while They approached, hungry for human flesh....

When this classic novel was first published in 1981, it was heavily cut, with nearly fifty pages removed. What remained was rewritten by both Laymon and a Warner Books line editor. Now, for the first time ever, the missing text has been completely restored—along with Laymon's original words and vision—and the novel can finally be read the way it was intended.

An excerpt from Kelly Laymon's special introduction to this edition:
"The version you're about to read was the one that was first submitted to Warner Books... Those of you who have read the Warner edition will notice that the two books are very different after, say, Chapter 8 or so. How did I do it? Especially since my father said it couldn't be done? I'm not sure. It was all there. But the pieces weren't in the same place. There were boxes of thirty year old manuscripts and I had played with the various drafts many times over the last six or seven years. I always believed it could be done. I sure had false starts though. I had to get to know each draft of the manuscript. Not by the content of the pages, but by the pages themselves. I evaluated them based on page numbering styles and other forms of continuity. I didn't want to read any draft until I had settled on what I believed was the true manuscript...."

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Stephen King: A Primary Bibliography of the World's Most Popular Author
by Justin Brooks

Weighing in at over 560 pages, Stephen King: A Primary Bibliography of the World's Most Popular Author is by far the most comprehensive Stephen King Bibliography ever produced, with 958 separate entries, each with a short description and full source data, from publication information right down to page numbers!

Author Justin Brooks spent five years compiling this outstanding reference work, with the assistance of many of the leading King researchers, collectors and 'super-collectors'. Covering all King's published and known unpublished works (and, for a VERY limited time only while supplies last, supplemented with two FREE chapbooks for material published since the book was sent to the printer--read on for details!) this volume reveals for the first time dozens of works and appearances previously unknown to King researchers.

Every known English language appearance of the nearly one thousand pieces of fiction and non-fiction (along with screenplays, plays, poems and even recipes and puzzles) are listed, some 100 of which were also previously unknown in the King community.

Working from original sources Brooks has identified and corrected numerous errors in the previous reporting of material--incorrect titles, dates, pagination and even publication information.

If you've ever wanted to build your King collection to ensure you have every piece it is possible to collect, in all their forms, this is the reference work you must have.

Introduced by noted King researcher Rocky Wood, author of Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished, the book also carries a comprehensive Index of titles and alternative titles.

Among new revelations in the book are:
• Two previously unknown King pieces from his high school days--sports reporting in the Lisbon Enterprise (and these are not the articles King describes in On Writing)

• The "Why I Love The Beatles Essay" that won King an award

• King's 1966 Batman and Robin script

• A 1967 column supporting the US troops in Vietnam

• A letter 14 year old King wrote to Forrest J Ackerman, published in a 1987 auction catalog

• Previously unknown articles and letters to the editor from The Maine Campus, including a review of the Spring 1969 issue of Ubris

• A large number of previously unknown letters to the editor

• Obscure appearances of pieces such as "Brooklyn August"

• Introductions to the work of other authors; and book reviews published in unusual venues

• Reprints of both fiction and non-fiction in obscure newspapers and magazines, including in the UK, Canada and Australia

• Original titles of published works

• Comprehensive details of King's non-fiction in the Bangor Daily News and other Maine newspaper, much of it controversial

• Dates and publications of 'lost' pieces such as the reprint of a King's Garbage Truck in a downstate newspaper; and such unusual venues as Chernobog

Old Flames by Jack Ketchum
A Brand New Original Novella!
Signed Limited Edition!

"Ketchum has become a kind of hero to those of us who write tales of terror and suspense. He is, quite simply, one of the best in the business."
—Stephen King

Old Flames
by Jack Ketchum

Featuring a special afterword by the author explaining the origins of the story!

When her lover betrays her and dumps her coldly, Dora's mind begins to crack. She tracks down her old high school love to recapture what she might have had. He's married with a family now, but Dora isn't about to let that stop her....

Excerpt from the story:
So here I am again, she thought. This is far too familiar.

There was pain of course but she embraced the pain as she always did. He was big and she was not, so she could count on pain with him. Tears and sweat were pretty much the same thing anyway she thought. She was opposed to neither.

But there was yearning. That old unwanted acquaintance.

She wanted—maybe even needed this time—to see his face. A face could speak what the body didn't. His body told her he was close to coming. As was she. But that was all it told her. A glance over her shoulder was insufficient. Especially in the dark. And Owen insisted on his bedroom dark the way he insisted on taking her from behind.

But here in this room on this bed while he filled her he was emptying her too. She could feel a winding down. She fought that. Pushed back hard into his tight flat belly as though the slap of impact flesh against flesh and his own sounds, his grunts and moans and harsh breathing could meld into an invisible wind that might whirl around and enter her again through her open mouth and ears and eyes.

She wanted to be filled. Instead she relinquished wanting.

It was all she could do.

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Serpent Girl by Ray Garton
Surprise New Original Limited Edition Shipping NOW!
Never Before Published!

Serpent Girl
by Ray Garton

Steven Benedetti's work has him driving the lonely highways at night, as it so often does. But tonight he passes a carnival and decides to stop for a break. At the carnival, Benedetti meets the Serpent Girl, a woman who stirs him like no other woman has, a woman who, like Benedetti, has a secret. They hit the night roads together and begin a journey that will change Benedetti forever....

Reviews & Praise for Serpent Girl:
"This intense tale of real-life horror may remind some readers of Dostroyevski's Crime and Punishment... Garton speeds the violent, X-rated action to its bleak, foreordained climax."
— Publishers Weekly

Excerpt from the story:
A garish tent at the rear of the carnival grounds caught my eye. Achubby, snaggle-toothed barker stood out front and talked into a bullhorn. Behind him, the front of the tent was colorfully painted. A girl wrapped in snakes stood on one side, with lots of writing on the other:

SEE THE SERPENT GIRL!
WATCH HER COMMUNE WITH THE SNAKES!
SEE HER TAME THE SERPENT
THAT ONCE TEMPTED MAN!

The barker shouted through the bullhorn: “She speaks with them, ladies and gentlemen! She has a psychic connection to these ancient serpents! She has stunned the audiences of Europe, and now she's here to perform for you! Come see the Serpent Girl! Another show coming up, you don't wanna miss it! The Serpent Girl, ladies and gentlemen.”

I went to the booth and bought a ticket, then went through the tent's entrance. About twenty folding chairs were set up in two columns. A few men were already seated. Up front was an empty stage. There were speakers in the four corners of the tent. I went to the front row and sat on the aisle.

A few minutes later, after a couple more men had come in, the lights in the tent went low. A man's voice came over the speakers: “Now, direct from the capitals of Europe to perform for you here tonight—Elise, the Serpent Girl!”

Music came up and a spotlight lit the center of the stage. She stepped into the light and began to dance in a tiny black, bejeweled bikini. In her arms, she held an enormous snake, probably a boa constrictor. She stroked the snake as she undulated, then put it over her head and across her shoulders. The snake slowly began to coil around her as she danced.

Some of the men in the tent applauded. One of them shouted, “Take it off, honey!”

She wasn't a terribly good dancer. By the time she held two snakes, she'd gone through all her moves and was just repeating herself. But she was beautiful, and I couldn't take my eyes off her...

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The BIG Jack Ketchum/Richard Laymon/Ray Garton announcement is almost here! We're just waiting on one last detail from one of the contributors and a final piece of cover artwork and then we'll be ready to announce these three great new books.

We're pleased to announce that the trade hardcover and signed Limited Editions of Kill Whitey by Brian Keene have arrived at our warehouse and we'll have them all ready to ship out the door next week! As you probably remember, the Limited Edition sold out very quickly, but there's still the trade hardcover edition available, so if you've never read a Brian Keene novel before, this is a great place to start. Read on for details!

From bestselling author Brian Keene comes another novel of dark crime and the supernatural, in the tradition of Terminal...

Larry Gibson longed for something different from his days as a dock worker and his lonely nights spent drinking with his friends.

When Larry meets Sondra Belov, a beautiful exotic dancer, he finally gets some excitement in his life — too much excitement.

Now, Larry's friends are dying and he's on the run from the cops, the Russian mob, and a seemingly invincible madman.

And if Larry wants to live another day, he'll have to figure out a way to kill Whitey...

Praise for Kill Whitey:
"This one is a strange mix of gangster story, horror story and romance. Yeah, that's what I said. It works though and works very well... I was hooked by page five, I was captivated by page fifty and completely blown away by the end of the book. I have liked every Keene novel I have read, but this one, this one my friends elevates Brian to another level. I have always known that he was something special, someone to watch, but there is no way I could have expected this. I realize that it still very early in the year of 2008 but I am betting that Kill Whitey will become one of if not THE genre novel of the year. It is really that good... Kill Whitey. Remember that title, folks are going to be talking about it."
— Dave Dreher, House of Horrors

We have two BIG new signed Limited Editions by Simon Clark in-stock and shipping from our warehouse NOW, so place your order right away if you don't want to miss out on these fantastic books! Here are the details:

Not far from the coastal town of Whitby is Leppington, nestling in the purple hills of the North Yorkshire Moors. Quiet, unassuming, a forgotten backwater – yet beneath Leppington's streets terrifying creatures stir. They are driven by ancient passion that has become obsession. They are united in their burning hunger. They share an unending craving. They are Nosferatu. And they have the power to drain your will to resist. To drain it so utterly that you will cheerfully, gladly, eagerly surrender yourself to their sharp, brutal teeth.

Vampyrrhic Rites is the sequel to Vampyrrhic — this time, we've got more vampires, more blood, and more sheer terror!

Eighteen-year-old Dylan Adams is on the verge of leaving his hometown for a life in the city, but his plans are dramatically changed when his old school friend Luke Spencer goes missing. A search finds nothing. All anyone knows is that he was last seen at Lazarus Deep. Then, in the dead of the night, Dylan's old friend comes calling. But he's not the same boy that everyone once knew.

Once more David Leppington, Bernice Mochardi and Electra Charnwood are drawn together to face the vampiric creatures that are Nosferatu: the undead. The desolate North Yorkshire Moors have held their secret for more than a thousand years. Now it is the turn of Lazarus Deep.

Featuring an exclusive introduction by a surprise author, over a DOZEN pieces of color artwork, color frontispieces by Dave McKean, exclusive artwork by Stephen R. Bissette (best-known for Swamp Thing, Taboo, '1963,' Tyrant, and co-creating John Constantine), and much much more, this deluxe oversized Cemetery Dance hardcover is going to be an incredible and beautiful special edition that no Neil Gaiman collection will be complete without!

Please note: This manuscript came in at over 1,000 pages, so it's going to be a HUGE oversized edition!

About the Book:
For over twenty years Neil Gaiman has been one of the world's bestselling authors, and his loyal following is like none other. But no one has ever undertaken the daunting challenge of cataloging and researching every work the man has ever created. Until now.

In Prince of Stories: The Many Worlds of Neil Gaiman, Hank Wagner, Christopher Golden, and Stephen R. Bissette take the reader on a detailed look at the man and his creations. Highlights include interviews with the author himself, collected rare works and previously unpublished writing, photographs, artwork, and conversations with Gaiman's beloved collaborators. Every story and every character are featured at length in this amazing overview of an incredible career. Gaiman's own comments are scattered throughout, shedding light on how he feels about the work he has created

Whether you're new to the worlds of Neil Gaiman or a long time traveler who knows these roads by heart, there is something new for everyone in this magnificent special edition of Prince of Stories. Exclusive to this oversized hardcover edition are a special introduction that won't appear anywhere else and several other amazing bonus features we can't discuss just yet! This is going to be the publishing event of the year and we don't expect copies to last long!