Detours Featuring Stephen King, William Peter Blatty, Dean Koontz, Clive Barker, Peter Straub, Michael Koryta, David Morrell, Michael Marshall and Michael Marshall Smith, Chet Williamson, Stewart O’Nan, and Owen King!

Detours edited by Brian James Freeman
Featuring Stephen King, William Peter Blatty, Dean Koontz, Clive Barker, Peter Straub, Michael Koryta, David Morrell, Michael Marshall and Michael Marshall Smith, Chet Williamson, Stewart O’Nan, and Owen King!
Just Announced And Already More Than 50% Sold Out!

Hi Folks!

We’re very pleased to announce we’ll be publishing Detours edited by Brian James Freeman, one of our most exciting anthologies in a long time featuring some of the biggest names ever collected in one book!

IMPORTANT COLLECTORS NOTE:
DetoursBoth editions of this title are already more than 50% sold out as we’re making this public announcement of the project, and there are no other editions anywhere in the world in the works at this time. It could be a long time before this anthology sees print again, if it ever does, so don’t wait to place your order!

About the Book:
Every now and then your favorite author takes a detour while writing a new novel: a chapter gets chopped, a connected short story is dreamed up, an essay about the book’s origins is composed, or an oddity is created on a day off.

Collected here together for the first time are detours by Stephen King, William Peter Blatty, Dean Koontz, Clive Barker, Peter Straub, Kelley Armstrong, Michael Koryta, David Morrell, Michael Marshall and Michael Marshall Smith, Chet Williamson, Poppy Z. Brite, Stewart O’Nan, and Owen King.

Join these bestselling authors as they share the other works they wrote while they were writing the books you already know and love.

Table of Contents:
“Introduction” by Brian James Freeman
“Memory” by Stephen King
“When I was Twenty-four and Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth” by Dean Koontz
“Peter and PTR: Two Deleted Prefaces and an Introduction” by Peter Straub
“An Abandoned Fragment” by Ray Bradbury
“The Hunt” by Kelley Armstrong
“Winter Takes All” by Michael Koryta
“Dead Image” by David Morrell
“The Curious Odyssey of James Deacon (AKA James Dean)”/ “Where Darkness is the Only Light” by David Morrell
“Spares: The Missing First Chapter” by Michael Marshall Smith
“The Straw Men: Excerpt from Ch. 29, First Draft” by Michael Marshall
“Ash Wednesday: The Missing Chapter” by Chet Williamson
“Lost Chapter From the First Draft of Lost Souls” by Poppy Z. Brite
“The Ghost Ship: An Unfinished Manuscript” by Stewart O’Nan
“If There Were Demons Then Perhaps There Were Angels: William Peter Blatty’s Own Story of The Exorcist” by William Peter Blatty
“The Curator” by Owen King
“A Night’s Work” by Clive Barker

Read more or place your order today while supplies last!

Thank you, as always, for your continuing support!

CARRIE by Stephen King: Sneak Peek At One of the Exclusive Interior Paintings!

Carrie: The Deluxe Special Edition
Sneak Peek At One of the Exclusive Interior Paintings!

We’re pleased to report that Carrie: The Deluxe Special Edition will be headed to the printer later this month and we thought you might like a sneak peek at one of the exclusive interior paintings by Tomislav Tikulin:

Carrie

Read more on our website or place your order while supplies last!

Lots of New Limited Edition Books Shipping in the Next Two Months!

Lots of New Limited Edition Books Shipping in the Next Two Months!

Hi Folks!

The following books will be published in the next two months, and many of these have already sold out pre-publication and the others could sell out soon, so don’t wait to place your order:

A Simple Plan

Dinner With the Cannibal Sisters

The Zombie Survival Guide

World War Z

The Language of Fear

Pure

The Prophet

Relic

Gideon's Corpse

Lucifer's Lottery

Cold Comforts

As always, thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm!

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King: LAST WEEK To Order Our Special Exclusive Slipcase For Your Book!

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
LAST WEEK To Order Our Special Exclusive Slipcase For Your Book!

Hi Folks!

Stephen KingWe are producing our popular custom-made slipcases for Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King, but THIS IS THE LAST WEEK we can accept preorders because our slipcase maker is almost ready to roll!

Don’t know what a slipcase is? That’s okay! You can see a sample image of another slipcase we’ve made at the bottom of this email. We’re using the same high-quality materials we have used for our previous Stephen King cases with one color hot foil stamping. The company who makes these for us is the best in the business and you won’t find a better way to protect your investment! (If you’re new to collecting, you can read more about slipcases on our Book FAQ page.)

We’re selling these special slipcases for just $24.95, making them an extremely affordable way to protect your book. We think our collectors will be very pleased with what we have in mind for these very special cases, so don’t wait to place your order!

Sample Photo of Previous Slipcase:

Sample Photos

Place your order today so you don’t miss out!

Thank you, as always, for your continued support and enthusiasm!

Production Update on December Park by Ronald Malfi!

December ParkRobert McCammon says:
“A complex and chilling tale of friends, family and the often murderous secrets that hide in the dark. Ronald Malfi takes you for a terrifying visit to December Park.”

December Park by Ronald Malfi
Signed Limited Edition Coming Later This Year Is More Than 75% Sold Out!

Hi Folks!
Our signed Limited Edition of December Park by Ronald Malfi is moving along nicely through production and we expect this one to sell out pre-publication due to the small print run, so place your order now so you don’t miss out!

About the Book:
In the fall of 1993, the quiet suburb of Harting Farms is shocked when children begin to vanish, and one is found dead near December Park—a great, sweeping expanse that is sunken below the streets and surrounded on three sides by vast woodlands—a place children believe is haunted.

Newspapers call the abductor the Piper because he has come to lead children away, while kids whisper darker names for him in the school halls. Angelo Mazzone and his friends discover a link to the dead girl and take up the search for the killer, vowing to stop the Piper’s reign of terror.

Their teenage pledge becomes a journey of self-discovery and an odyssey into the darkness of their own hometown…

Read more or place your order today while supplies last!

Thank you, as always, for your continuing support!

 

Stephen King: News from the Dead Zone #166

Mr. Mercedes debuted in the #1 position on the Publishers Weekly hardcover fiction list and #2 on USA Today’s mixed fiction list (which includes paperbacks). There is a lot of associational material to explore at King’s official website. For example, there’s The Basement, an interactive adventure that takes you into Brady’s domain, where you can delve into the things that are stored on his array of PCs. For some clues on how to get started, it helps to watch the video of Brady’s letter to Detective Hodges. There’s also a book trailer, a saucy TV commercial, an excerpt from the audio book, some “merch” at the Cafe Press store, and a letter from KingTemple Hill and Media Rights Capital have acquired the movie rights to the novel. King talks about the real-life incident that inspired the novel here, but to-date he has only given one interview. There’s also a collection of many of the reviews on his site, and I have another collection of reviews here.

Hodder & Stoughton also produced a whimsical series of promos in which the villain of Mr. Mercedes is introduced by the likes of Annie Wilkes, Carrie White, Andy Dufresne, Pennywise and Danny Torrance.

The big news, of course, is the fact that Mr. Mercedes is the first book in a proposed trilogy. King has already finished the first draft of the second novel, which will be called Finders Keepers. The tentative publication date is sometime in the first half of 2015. King says that the three books “seem to revolve around the City Center Massacre that opens Mr. Mercedes.”

Before we get to Finders Keepers, though, we have Revival, which comes out in November. The newly released paperback edition of Doctor Sleep contains an eight-page excerpt of that novel. And there is a good possibility of a collection in late 2015, bringing together all of the recent short story appearances, including some of those that you can find on my list here. No word yet on whether there will be any brand new stories in the collection. The third book in the Mr. Mercedes trilogy will presumably be out in 2016. I don’t think we’ve known King’s publication schedule so far in advance since 1986-7, when we knew about the next four books he planned to publish.

Big news for people who haven’t had a chance to see Ghost Brothers of Darkland County yet. The musical play will go on tour this fall, with dates in Orono, Toronto, Philadelphia, Durham, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Red Bank, N.J., Portland, ME, Boston, Providence, New York, Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Denver, Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Francisco in November and December. See the announcement here.

Just a few weeks until the return of Under the Dome, with the first episode scripted by King. You can see a 30-second clip of King reading the opening section of the episode. On June 23, CBS will run Inside Chester’s Mill, a one-hour special that features highlights from last season and new interviews with the cast and executive producers. In addition, the special will have an advance sneak peek at the season two premiere. The second season will be missing its original showrunner and executive producer Brian K. Vaughan.

Although it had a premiere in New York in April, there’s been very little news about the fate of the film version of A Good Marriage. Last week, though, it was announced that Screen Media Films acquired North American rights to the film, with plans to distribute it in early October, with a nationwide theatrical release accompanied by a day-and-date VOD platform release. “I’m delighted that A Good Marriage is going to be available to the movie going public very soon, and hope we can scare the hell out of millions of people,” King said. “To me, that’s always an exciting prospect.”

Josh Boone, currently riding high with his film adaptation of The Fault in Our Stars, promises a three-hour R-rated single film adaptation of The Stand with “an amazing A-list cast across the board…Every single one of those characters will be somebody you recognize and somebody you relate to. And it’s gonna be awesome.” The only person named as a potential cast member is Nat Wolff. Of course, Boone isn’t the first director to try to get a grip on this remake.

In other movie news, the story that is thus far only available in French and German, Bad Little Kid, has been optioned by Laurent Bouzereau , who wrote and directed the 2011 TCM film A Night at the Movies: The Horrors of Stephen King, which featured King discussing horror films and their popularity with moviegoers.

Oculus and Somnia director Mike Flanagan has committed todirect Gerald’s Game. Flanagan wrote the script with his writing partner Jeff Howard. There’s also an unconfirmed rumor that Gravity director director Alfonso has been approached to direct a prequel to The Shining titled The Overlook Hotel.

TNT is developing  a TV series called The Shop, billed as a sequel to Firestarter. The drama centers on the insidious agency responsible for kidnapping and attempting to exploit the psychokinetic powers of a young girl named Charlie McGee in the original story. Now it’s 20 years later and Charlie has been tracked down by one of The Shop’s former members, Henry Talbot, who introduces her to a group of people with their own unique abilities. From the announcement: “It turns out The Shop is very much alive, bigger and badder than ever, and its dark experiments are unleashing terrifying new entities on the world. It’s now up to Talbot, Charlie and the rest of the team to find The Shop and destroy it for good.”

Here’s a fun dialog between King and Damon Lindelof, as captured by Entertainment Weekly.

The Marvel graphic novel adaptation of the Dark Tower series returns in September with the five-issue series The Prisoner, which tells the backstory of Eddie Dean before he met Roland. You can check out the cover and the first pages here. The artist is Piotr Kowalski. Here’s the promo text: As this tale of urban crime opens, you’ll meet Eddie Dean as an innocent child who grows into a troubled young man gifted with the ability to open doors to other worlds. Can he survive family tragedy, a haunting addiction, and the deadly forces that conspire to stop him from challenging the Man in Black? Eddie faces trials and tribulations at every turn – and the badlands of Mid-World can’t hold a candle to the dangers of Brooklyn in the 1960s! Witness the story of a young man on the path to an unlikely destiny and the most important journey of his life.

Production Update on Fangoria: Cover to Cover!

Fangoria: Cover to Cover
edited by Anthony Timpone
Featuring A Foreword By Bruce Campbell

Huge Oversized Special Edition Hardcover Coming This Summer!

We’re very pleased to report that our World’s First edition of Fangoria: Cover to Cover is almost ready for the printer, but if you want to lock in your copy before we set the print run for the first printing, now is the time to place your order!

FangoriaFangoria: Cover to Cover
edited by Anthony Timpone
Foreword by Bruce Campbell
Afterword by Michael Gingold

About the Book:
Since 1979, Fangoria magazine has been the bible for horror fans worldwide.  Combining first-rate writing, reporting with unparalleled expertise on the fright-film genre, and eye-popping color photos, Fango has set a standard and become a name recognized by anyone who knows and loves scary cinema. One of the signature elements of the magazine has always been the eye-catching and controversial covers that have grabbed the attention of readers everywhere for the past three decades.

Fangoria: Cover to Cover is a lavish, oversized, and full color hardcover book that celebrates the magazine’s long history and the genre it reports on, reproducing every one of those terrifying covers in stunning full color and providing a history of modern horror cinema that has been thirty years in the making. This special edition volume collects a wealth of information, trivia, frightening photos, and every legendary cover of this acclaimed magazine, serving as a celebration of horror and a “coffee table” book that readers will turn to time and time again.

A Cemetery Dance Publications exclusive hardcover edition, there are no other editions planned anywhere in the world at this time!

Read more on our website or place your order while supplies last!

Thank you, as always, for your continued support and enthusiasm!

Coming This Fall! Revival: A New Novel by Stephen King!

Revival: A New Novel by Stephen King
A spectacularly dark and riveting novel about addiction, religion, fanaticism, and what might exist on the other side of life!

 

Hi Folks!

In case you missed the news, Stephen King has a 500+ page novel called Revival that will be published this fall and we’ll be getting some copies for our collectors!

About the Book:
Stephen KingIn a small New England town, over half a century ago, a shadow falls over a small boy playing with his toy soldiers. Jamie Morton looks up to see a striking man, the new minister. Charles Jacobs, along with his beautiful wife, will transform the local church. The men and boys are all a bit in love with Mrs. Jacobs; the women and girls feel the same about Reverend Jacobs—including Jamie’s mother and beloved sister, Claire. With Jamie, the Reverend shares a deeper bond based on a secret obsession. When tragedy strikes the Jacobs family, this charismatic preacher curses God, mocks all religious belief, and is banished from the shocked town.

Jamie has demons of his own. Wed to his guitar from the age of 13, he plays in bands across the country, living the nomadic lifestyle of bar-band rock and roll while fleeing from his family’s horrific loss. In his mid-thirties—addicted to heroin, stranded, desperate—Jamie meets Charles Jacobs again, with profound consequences for both men. Their bond becomes a pact beyond even the Devil’s devising, and Jamie discovers that revival has many meanings.

Add A Special Exclusive Slipcase To Protect Your Book!

Even though Revival by Stephen King is being published by another publisher, we will be producing one of our popular custom-made slipcase for this title like we have for the last few Stephen King books!

The easiest way to add a slipcase to your purchase is by selecting the “Trade Hardcover Edition with Exclusive Slipcase!” option above — you’ll also save on shipping by ordering this way! (You can order just the slipcase by itself on the Revival custom slipcase product page.)

Don’t know what a slipcase is? That’s okay! You can see some sample images of other slipcases we’ve made below. We’re using the same high-quality materials we have used for our previous Stephen King cases, with one color hot foil stamping. The company who makes these for us is the best in the business and you won’t find a better way to protect your investment! (If you are new to collecting, you can read more about slipcases on our Book FAQ page.)

We’re selling these special slipcases for just $24.95, making them an extremely affordable way to protect your book.  These cases will be produced after the book is published because we need a real copy of the book to get the sizing just right and your book and slipcase will ship together to save you on shipping. We think our collectors will be very pleased with what we have in mind for these very special cases, so don’t wait to place your order!

Sample Photo of a Previous Slipcase:

Sample Photos

Read more or place your order!

Thank you, as always, for your continued support and enthusiasm!

Update On Carrie: The Deluxe Special Edition!

“These were the ghosts which kept trying to come between me and what I was writing, kept insisting that I combine them, somehow, into a story that would tell what could have happened if there really was such a thing as telekinetic energy…”
— Stephen King, from the introduction

Carrie: The Deluxe Special Edition
Headed To The Printer This Month!

We’re pleased to report that Carrie: The Deluxe Special Edition will be headed to the printer later this month and everything is moving along right on schedule!

For those who are new to our list, we’ve signed an exclusive deal to produce a six volume set of special collectible editions of Stephen King’s early books that were originally published by Doubleday back in the 1970s and early 1980s! These books are Carrie, ‘Salem’s Lot, The Shining, Night Shift, The Stand, and Pet Sematary, six classics of the horror genre and all-time Stephen King fan favorites.

CarrieThese are the books that launched King’s career and made him a household name, and our special editions will be beautiful and oversized volumes like we’ve published for From a Buick 8, It, Doctor Sleep, and many other King books over the years.

The first title in this special six volume set is Carrie, which is available for preorder immediately. Other volumes in this series will follow approximately every six months after Carrie is published and several acclaimed artists are already creating stunning art for these books. These special editions will feature exclusive bonus features such as introductions, afterwords, artwork, and even deleted material in some cases.

We expect extremely strong demand for these special editions of Stephen King’s extraordinarily popular early books, and collectors who preorder Carrie directly from us will be the first collectors offered the opportunity to order the next volume before the general public.

Special Features Exclusive To This Deluxe Special Edition:
• an introduction by Stephen King detailing why he wrote the book
• a lengthy afterword by Tabitha King discussing the book’s unbridled exploration of adolescent terror, sexuality, and the unknown
• deluxe oversized design (7 inches X 10 inches) featuring two color interior printing as part of the page design
• printed on a heavy interior specialty paper stock that is much thicker than the paper in a normal trade edition
• epic wrap-around full-color dust jacket artwork by Tomislav Tikulin
• a different full-color dust jacket for the Artist Edition painted by Tomislav Tikulin
• six full-color interior paintings by Tomislav Tikulin
• interior artwork will be printed on a heavy glossy stock and tipped into the book
• high-quality endpapers and fine bindings
• full-page reproduction of the telegram Doubleday editor Bill Thompson sent Stephen King to announce the publisher was buying the book
• extremely collectible print run that is a tiny fraction of the TENS OF MILLIONS of copies of this novel you’ve seen in bookstores over the last 40 years!

Thank you, as always, for your continued support and enthusiasm!

Read more on our website or place your order while supplies last!

Free Read From Rick Dempsey’s Caught Stealing: Unbelievable Stories From a Lifetime of Baseball!

Rick Dempsey’s Caught Stealing: Unbelievable Stories From a Lifetime of Baseball
by Johnathon Schaech

Since the baseball season is in full swing now, we wanted to share the introduction to Rick Dempsey’s Caught Stealing: Unbelievable Stories From a Lifetime of Baseball by Johnathon Schaech for your reading pleasure in case you missed it:

FROM THE INTRODUCTION:

Rick Dempsey's Caught StealingWhen I grew up in Maryland, the Baltimore Orioles were a serious force in baseball. They played the Orioles Way, which was a belief that hard work and fundamentals were the key to winning and success.

Growing up with the Orioles in the 70s and 80s I learned to believe in magic—that anything is possible. Orioles’ magic became a part of me. That magic allowed me to become a dreamer and encouraged me to leave Baltimore for Hollywood to become an entertainer.

I was thirteen years old when the Orioles won the World Series—they did it with a lot of come-from-behind victories, with a new hero every game, and with a team philosophy of never quitting. All those things embody Rick Dempsey and that’s why he became the MVP of the ’83 World Series. He just never quit, no matter what.

I wanted to write a book about never giving up in a way that made the reader’s experience better as they read it.

My friend and fellow actor/entertainer, Josh Charles, says best what this book is all about: “When I was growing up in Baltimore, Rick Dempsey was my favorite Oriole because he always seemed like he was having so much fun between the lines. As a kid, that resonated with me in a profound way. His infamous Babe Ruth impersonations on the tarp during rain delays will forever be etched in my mind. He understood that this game is ultimately here to entertain people. Well, this book does that satisfyingly well and helps me remember, as an adult, why I love this beautiful game and the characters associated with it.”

When my childhood hero Rick Dempsey invited my writing partner, Richard Chizmar, and me to Camden Yards to watch an O’s game in 2002, you can imagine my excitement. Just before the game, Rick spotted us in the stands and gestured for us to come down on the field. It was the first time I had ever stepped onto a Major League playing field and I felt like a thirteen-year-old boy all over again.
Rick guided us to the dugout and began to tell us about a story that needed to be made into a movie. Chizmar and I were blown away by his story and began writing the screenplay. Spending so much time with Rick while pitching the screenplay, I found he was a great and charismatic storyteller and had more than just one unbelievable story to tell. Thus, this book.

I called up Chizmar and a bunch of other friends who love baseball as much as I do to help me put together this book.

As Tom Hanks would say, “There’s no crying in baseball.” But there’s certainly room to laugh. That is what this book will do. You won’t believe these stories are true, but by some sort of Rick Dempsey magic, they are.

I asked my buddy and fellow baseball lover, David Duchovny, to give it a read and this is what he said: “Caught Stealing manages to walk the fine line between fan and fanatic without straying too far into foul territory. It’s everything about baseball that you were afraid to ask. A perfect book to pick up again and again. Even though Johnathon is obviously an Orioles fan, I doff my aging Yankees cap to him.”

Thank you all—enjoy.

Read more on our website or place your order while supplies last!

Thank you, as always, for your continued support and enthusiasm!

Some Other Great Books We’ll Be Publishing This Year!

Some Other Great Books We’ll Be Publishing This Year!

As you know from our Production Updates page, we have a very busy second half of the year planned. In addition to the 12+ books already rolling at the printer, here are a few other titles that will be out this year and some of them are still available for preorder:

Carrie

Fangoria

Gone Girl

Submerged

The Revelation

The Mailman

The Summoning

The Dark Tower Companion

Stephen King's The Dark Tower: The Complete Concordance (Revised and Updated)

December Park

The Damnation Game

Shocklines

As always, thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm!

Stephen King: News from the Dead Zone #165

NFTDZ REVIEW: MR. MERCEDES

By Bev Vincent

In early 2011, en route from Florida to Maine, Stephen King watched the evening news in his roadside hotel. One item was about a woman who had an altercation with another in line at a job fair. The attacker got into her car and drove it into the crowd. King decided that he wanted to write about the incident, although he didn’t know how at the time.

He came up with what he thought would be a short story about a psychopath who deliberately runs his car into a crowd of people. After the detective handling the case retires, the perpetrator writes him a taunting letter, bragging about how much he enjoyed killing and maiming all those people. He won’t get caught, he states, because he doesn’t plan to do it again. The cop should just give up and eat his gun. The idea blossomed into a 450-page novel, King’s first foray into straight crime fiction at book length, although he has written a number of non-supernatural crime short stories in the past.

Mr. Mercedes opens with the attack at the job fair. In a dozen pages, King introduces us to a few characters, makes us grow fond of them as only he can, and then throws the 12-cylinder Mercedes into the fray, ripping apart everything he so carefully constructed.

Det.-Ret. Bill Hodges has been sitting at home for six months, watching afternoon reality TV shows and toying with the idea of killing himself. When he retired, he left behind a number of open/unsolved cases, including a serial killer and a Scott Peterson-style missing wife, so he isn’t obsessing over the so-called Mercedes Killer in particular. If the perpetrator had left well enough alone—if he hadn’t decided to poke Hodges with a sharp stick—then his reign of terror might have continued unchecked, culminating in his magnum opus, the incident that forms the book’s climax.

Brady Hartfield is beginning to think he’s invincible. When he plunged the car into the crowd, he thought there was a very good chance he’d be caught, perhaps even ripped to shreds by witnesses, and was okay with that. The fact that he got away has emboldened him. He tells Hodges in his carefully crafted letter that he has no intention of repeating his crime, that he’s content to relive it in his mind, but Hodges knows better. He’s caught many “perks” like his unknown interlocutor, and he has an idea that the Mercedes Killer will strike again.

The poison pen letter was meant to goad Hodges into killing himself, but it has the opposite effect: it spurs him into action. Rather than turning the letter over to his former partner in the police department of this unnamed, economically depressed Mid-West city (the same one that was the setting for Rose Madder?), Hodges opens his own file on the Mercedes Killer and embarks on an off-the-books investigation.

Aiding Hodges is Jerome, the computer-savvy, Ivy League bound teenager who mows his lawn. The Mercedes Killer offers to communicate with Hodges via an anonymous website called Under Debbie’s Blue Umbrella (hence the book’s cover image) but Hodges is afraid to use his own computer in case he inadvertently gives the killer access to his hard drive. Once the connection is established, it doesn’t take him long to get under his adversary’s skin. He knows it doesn’t take much to trip up a killer: Son of Sam was caught thanks to a parking ticket.

Thus ensues a cat and mouse game, though it’s often not clear who is pursuing whom. Hartfield is young, brash, profane, bigoted, and mostly lacking in conscience. He still lives with his alcoholic mother—his father died in a work-related accident—and his relationship with her makes Norman Bates look well-adjusted. His younger brother died under mysterious circumstances. He works two jobs that provide him with access to his targets without raising suspicions. In his basement he has a rank of computers and a sophisticated voice-activated security system to prevent his secrets from falling into the wrong hands. Ominously, he also has a cache of homemade plastic explosives.

The book’s contemporary action is told in the present tense, something King doesn’t often use. Past tense is reserved for flashbacks distributed throughout the book. Though the prose is generally straightforward, Mr. Mercedes has some very nice turns of phrase. He describes a room “as big as a politician’s promises” and a warehouse yard “filled with empty boxes that stood around like Easter Island monoliths.”

Hodges is an unlikely hero. He put in his forty years with the police, but in the process he lost his wife to divorce and has an adult daughter who calls dutifully once a week but whom he hasn’t seen in two years. He’s grossly overweight—a heart attack waiting to happen, assuming he doesn’t shoot himself with his father’s gun first. When he was on the job, though, he had one of the best records in the department, and he’s still near the top of his game when he sets his sights on the Mercedes Killer. He’s an everyman, eminently likeable. Someone readers can root for. He’s so desperate for something to keep himself from spiraling into depression and despair, though, that he makes a few questionable choices, paramount among them his decision to keep his investigation a secret from his former colleagues. Hartfield may have poked him with a stick, but he pokes back twice as hard, and goading a killer who revels in inflicting maximum harm to maximum people isn’t a good idea.

Hodges begins to question the way he and his partner treated Olivia Trelawney, the owner of the Mercedes SL that Hartfield drove into the crowd. She became collateral damage because they suspected she left her key in the ignition, thus providing the killer with his weapon. She was pilloried in the press and questioned mercilessly and repeatedly by Hodges and his partner. Eventually she overdosed on Oxy. However, Hodges now wonders if the killer somehow played a part in her death. Once he starts digging around, he learns things about Trelawney that didn’t turn up during the initial investigation. He also becomes involved with other members of Trelawney’s family, including her vivacious sister Janey, who inherited the substantial estate—much to the strident dismay of other relatives—and cousin Holly (“the Mumbler”), a fortysomething with emotional problems who acts like a teenager but who comes alive once she meets Hodges.

Though Hodges is the book’s protagonist, and it features several other engaging and lovable characters, Mr. Mercedes’ biggest accomplishment is the title character, Brady Hartfield, one of the most twisted villains in King’s oeuvre. King doesn’t hide the identity of the madman from readers, so this isn’t a whodunit. Hodges doesn’t know who the Mercedes Killer is until late in the proceedings, but readers see Hartfield going about his daily life, pretending to be human. He doesn’t have friends, but he can be friendly, in a Dexter Morgan kind of way. His mother loves him (maybe a little too much!) and he’s able to hold down jobs. His head is full of crazy thoughts, and it’s fortunate that he only acts on a fraction of them. King doesn’t make him the least bit sympathetic or likeable. There’s a tragic backstory, of course, but make no mistake about it: Hartfield is a human monster. He schemes to make Hodges’ life miserable by targeting those around him, but his plans don’t always work as intended. His first gambit goes tragically wrong for him, and his second has significant implications for Hodges, making him question his decision to take on a madman solo.

Once things kick into high gear and Hartfield starts planning his end game, the suspense never lets up. For a while, Hodges and his ragtag gang of helpers are so far off the mark that it seems like Hartfield might go completely unchallenged in his last hurrah, but the pieces start to fall into place, culminating in a tense and nerve-wracking finale.

Crossovers

Since Mr. Mercedes takes place in the “real world,” Keystone Earth if you will, the place where time runs in only one direction and there are no do-overs, you shouldn’t expect any significant crossovers to King’s other books. The Crimson King isn’t behind Brady Hartfield’s actions, and there’s no grand cosmic plan. The stakes are simple human lives. However, that doesn’t mean there are no nods to familiar King tropes. Christine is mentioned, as is Pennywise, but the references are to the fictional versions of them—the movie about the haunted car and the insane clown from that TV movie. In other words, they are referenced in the same way we would mention them: as popular fiction icons that come to mind in certain situations.

More Than Twelve New Cemetery Dance Books Rolling At The Printer And Many Are Selling Out Pre-Publication!

More Than Twelve New Cemetery Dance Books Rolling At The Printer And Many Are Selling Out Pre-Publication!

We currently have more than a dozen books rolling at the printer, including at least two surprise unannounced titles in the mix, but many of these have already sold out pre-publication and the others could sell out soon, so don’t wait to place your order:

A Simple Plan

Dinner With the Cannibal Sisters

The Zombie Survival Guide

World War Z

The Twelve

The Language of Fear

Pure

The Prophet

Relic

Gideon's Corpse

Lucifer's Lottery

Cold Comforts

As always, thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm!

Two HUGE New Anthologies Are Shipping Now And These Special Editions Won’t Be Reprinted!

Two HUGE New Anthologies Are Shipping Now And These Oversized Special Editions Won’t Be Reprinted!

Two of our largest books of the year have arrived and due to the incredible cost of printing books of this size, we’re not producing many extras and we also won’t be issuing a second printing, so don’t miss your chance to order while supplies last! (For two photos that show how massive these books are, visit this blog post.)

Screamplays
edited by Richard Chizmar and Martin H. Greenberg
HUGE Oversized Hardcover! 9 inches by 12 inches and 545 pages!

Featuring Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Richard Matheson, Richard Laymon, Harlan Ellison, Joe R. Lansdale, and Ed Gorman!

ScreamplaysFeaturing an introduction by Dean Koontz and nearly 30 pieces of interior artwork by Glenn Chadbourne and a creepy cover painting by Les Edwards!

This massive oversized special edition weighs in at 545 pages and a mind-blowing 9 X 12 trim size, just like The Secretary of Dreams by Stephen King! To make this an even more special edition, Glenn Chadbourne has contributed nearly thirty original drawings and paintings, which is another reason why some collectors are calling this a great companion to the The Secretary of Dreams!

About the Book:

SCREAMPLAYS. . . SCENE BY SCENE . . . SCREAM BY SCREAM… You don’t need a movie theater or a DVD player to savor the best in cinematic terror and suspense. All you need is your own imagination and this collection of spine-tingling scripts by the titans of shock storytelling. Whether you’re a movie buff or a thriller freak, you’ll savor these seven full-length film and TV scenarios, including Stephen King’s “General,” Richard Matheson’s “The Legend of Hell House,” and Richard Laymon’s “The Hunted,” plus chilling works by Harlan Ellison, Joe R. Lansdale, and Ed Gorman. With a fascinating introduction on fright films by #1 bestselling author Dean Koontz.

Read more or place your order today while supplies last!

Smoke and Mirrors
edited by Richard Chizmar
HUGE Oversized Hardcover! 9 inches by 12 inches and 435 pages!

Featuring original works by Neil Gaiman, William Peter Blatty, Stewart O’Nan, Frank Darabont, William F. Nolan, Joe Hill, Brian Keene & Michael Oliveri, Poppy Z. Brite, Kealan Patrick Burke, Mick Garris, Ray Garton, and Joe R. Lansdale!

Smoke and Mirrors

This Cemetery Dance Publications special edition is a World’s First and there are no other editions planned at this time, so place your order today if you don’t want to miss out!  This huge volume features a deluxe 9 X 12 trim size and weighs in at 435 pages, making it the perfect companion to Screamplays.

About the Book:
Tales of horror and the fantastic have been told in many ways over the centuries — around the campfire, on the stage, in books and movies, and even on television — but no form is quite so visceral and direct as the script.

Whether it’s a stage play, a feature film screenplay, or the script for a classic horror comic, these acclaimed authors aren’t just putting black text on a white page. The writing may seem clean and simple at first, but the authors are actually creating worlds; they’re luring you into their creations and before you know it, there’s no way out. You’re part of the story and you have to keep turning the pages until you reach “The End” or “Fade Out.”

The big question is: will you survive to see the final curtain call?

Come now, take your seat, and let the show begin. You have nothing to fear but your own imagination.

Read more or place your order today while supplies last!

Two Exciting Signed Limited Editions by MAX BROOKS At The Printer Now!

Two Exciting Signed Limited Editions by MAX BROOKS At The Printer Now!
World War Z: The Deluxe Special Edition

The Zombie Survival Guide: The Deluxe Special Edition

The Zombie Survival GuideWe’re pleased to announce the signature sheets have arrived back for World War Z: The Deluxe Special Edition by Max Brooks and The Zombie Survival Guide: The Deluxe Special Edition by Max Brooks, so both of these collectible signed Limited Editions are now rolling at our printer for August publication dates!

World War Z has already sold out pre-publication, with some people asking INSANE prices for their copies, so don’t let The Zombie Survival Guide get away when you can order our few remaining copies at the retail price today!

The Zombie Survival Guide is your key to survival against the hordes of undead who may be stalking you right now.

Fully illustrated and exhaustively comprehensive, this book covers everything you need to know, including how to understand zombie physiology and behavior, the most effective defense tactics and weaponry, ways to outfit your home for a long siege, and how to survive and adapt in any territory or terrain.

Top 10 Lessons for Surviving a Zombie Attack
1. Organize before they rise!
2. They feel no fear, why should you?
3. Use your head: cut off theirs.
4. Blades don’t need reloading.
5. Ideal protection = tight clothes, short hair.
6. Get up the staircase, then destroy it.
7. Get out of the car, get onto the bike.
8. Keep moving, keep low, keep quiet, keep alert!
9. No place is safe, only safer.
10. The zombie may be gone, but the threat lives on.

Don’t be carefree and foolish with your most precious asset—life. This book is your key to survival against the hordes of undead who may be stalking you right now without your even knowing it. The Zombie Survival Guide offers complete protection through trusted, proven tips for safeguarding yourself and your loved ones against the living dead. It is a book that can save your life.

Read more or place your order today while supplies last!