Cemetery Dance Publications

• Two More Great New Books Shipping This Week!
• The Big Book of Necon -- trade hardcover edition shipping now!
• Mind the Gap by Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon -- Limited Edition shipping now!

2 More Great New Books Shipping This Week!

With The Big Book of Necon trade edition and the Limited Edition of Mind the Gap: A Novel of the Hidden Cities shipping this week, we've now published five great new books in the last two weeks alone! There are ten more titles (both announced and unannounced) currently at our printers and another ten titles ready to go as soon as the printers catch up, so 2009 is set to be one of our biggest years yet!

In addition, Cemetery Dance magazine has reached another milestone with the publication of the last two issues of our great friend Bob Morrish's tenure as editor. Cemetery Dance #60 just finished shipping two weeks ago and Cemetery Dance #61, the Peter Straub special issue and the first to feature our new designer and staff members, is currently about 10 days away from shipping to subscribers. As you've already seen on the website, this issue will feature a totally new look and feel, but the same great content you've expect from Cemetery Dance over the last twenty years. Watch for the new issue in your mailbox in July.

Cemetery Dance #62, the William Peter Blatty special issue, is currently being proofread and will be ready for the printer at the end of July, right on schedule for the September release date. We haven't posted the contents on our website just yet, but if you look to the right, you'll see a small preview of the amazing Les Edwards cover artwork for the issue. And if you subscribe today, you won't have to worry about picking up the issue on your local newsstand when it comes out!

So far, we're off to a great start with our plan to get caught-up on our schedule in 2009, and some of our biggest releases of the year are still to come... including a few surprises (both new announcements and older preorders) that should make a lot of our collectors very, very happy.

Stay turned for details, and thanks for your continuing support!

The Big Book of Necon
Trade Edition Shipping Now!

Featuring contributions by Stephen King, Peter Straub, Neil Gaiman, Jack Ketchum, Rick Hautala, Thomas Tessier, Chet Williamson, Douglas Clegg, Brian Keene, Ramsey Campbell, Douglas Winter, Thomas Monteleone, Gahan Wilson, Jonathan Carroll, John Coyne, Alan Ryan, Lucius Shepard, Graham Joyce, Tim Lebbon, and over 30 other artists and authors who have made Necon the most popular convention of the horror genre over the last three decades!

Last month we sent the trade edition of The Big Book of Necon edited by Bob Booth to the printer earlier than planned. The signature sheets for the signed editions weren't ready yet, but we saw we had a chance to get the trade edition done early and out in time for this year's convention. The rest of the signature sheets will hopefully be finished next month, and then we'll get the signed editions going to the printer, too. But for those readers who ordered the trade edition, we're very pleased to announce the book has arrived at our warehouse and is beginning to ship right now. If you haven't placed your order, now is the time!

The Big Book of Necon edited by Bob Booth is a gathering of over 50 short stories, essays, poems, and pieces of artwork created by the incredible authors and artists who have attended this world famous convention over the last three decades!

Many of these pieces originally appeared in the annual program booklet, which is exclusively printed for the attendees each year—and in the case of the Necon XX volume, with its rare appearance of Stephen King's "The Old Dude's Ticker," now sells for as much as $250-$500 on eBay!

As eclectic and entertaining as the convention itself, The Big Book of Necon gathers together horror's finest authors in a rare celebration of what's unique and exciting about the genre. A once-in-a-lifetime event, this massive anthology is certain to be one of the most talked about books of the year!

Featuring over 130,000 words and works from over 50 contributors, just a few of the highlights include:

• fiction by writers from horror's golden age (Stephen King, Peter Straub, F. Paul Wilson, Alan Ryan, Jack Ketchum), by the genre's newer stars (Christopher Golden, Brian Keene, and many more), and by visitors from the British Isles (Neil Gaiman, Ramsey Campbell, Tim Lebbon)

• essays by Charles L. Grant and Thomas F. Monteleone, defining the Necon experience for the uninitiated

• artwork by Gahan Wilson, Glenn Chadbourne, Richard Sardina, and Courtney Skinner

Click here to visit the product page on our website to see the amazing Table of Contents!

Bob Booth and his wife Mary are best known for founding Necon, which, according to Stephen King, "has been the best horror convention since its inception—folksy, laid-back, and an all-around good time." Bob likes to bring people and stories together, and although he has published both horror fiction and non-fiction relating to the horror genre, his main contribution to the larger horror community has been behind the scenes. A "friend to the stars," the number of horror novels in which he is a character or which have been dedicated to him approaches twenty. Friend Les Daniels likes to refer to Bob as one of the "nine unknown," a shadow government that brokers deals in the horror/dark fantasy community. Dave Hartwell once referred to Bob as one of the "secret masters of fantasy."

Click here to read more about this amazing book or to place your order!

Mind the Gap: A Novel of the Hidden Cities
by Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon

We're pleased to announce the publication of Mind the Gap: A Novel of the Hidden Cities, an exciting new collaboration by Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon! This signed Limited Edition hardcover is a must-have for fans of these two incredible authors. And you never know where they might go with this amazing new series -- grab the first signed Limited Edition while you still can!

About the Novel:
You never know when you'll find yourself falling through one of the cracks in the world...

Jazz Hide Forever.

They were her mother's last words, and they were written in her own blood.

Now, suddenly on her own, Jasmine Towne is going to need every skill she's ever been taught to survive. For a cabal of enigmatic, black-clad strangers is after Jazz for reasons she can't fathom, and her only escape is to slip into the forgotten tunnels of London's vast underground.

Here she will meet a tribe of survivors calling themselves the United Kingdom and begin an adventure that links her to a destiny she fears only slightly less than those who'd commit any crime under heaven or earth to stop her.

Two of today's brightest stars of dark fantasy combine their award-winning, critically acclaimed talents in this spellbinding new tale of magic, terror, and adventure that begins when a young woman slips through the space between our everyday world and the one hiding just beneath it.

Praise for the novel:
"Super-fast pacing and creepy touches."
—Publishers Weekly

Click here to read more or to place your order!

Halloweenland by Al Sarrantonio!
Limited Edition Just Announced & Shipping TODAY!

A full-length Orangefield Halloween novel from Al Sarrantonio!

On a fallow pumpkin patch a carnival springs to life, bringing Death in its wake...

In Orangefield, Halloween is never normal, and this year is no exception. For this year, Orangefield, already the pumpkin capital of the world, is the new home to Halloweenland, a holiday carnival extraordinaire run by the mysterious Mr. Dickens.

Orangefield is also the home of Detective Bill Grant, who has seen it all, and who is on the track of a strange little girl who holds the fate of the Universe in her hands.

The trail will lead from Orangefield to Ireland, the ancient home of Samhain, Lord of the Dead, and back to Halloweenland—where, on what may be the last Halloween ever, the ultimate confrontation between Death and Life will take place.

And where Detective Grant, in the end, will find the strangest of allies...

Praise for the Author:
"No wordsmith since Ray Bradbury has crafted vivid pictures of the autumnal season quite like Al Sarrantonio."
—Horror Reader Exclusive Review

Click here to read more or to place your order!

Moonbane by Al Sarrantonio
Limited Edition In-Stock and Shipping Now!

After twenty years, the classic novel of lycanthropy by horror master Al Sarrantonio is back in print, in a beautiful new limited signed edition.

Moonbane asks the simple question: Why do werewolves howl at the Moon?

The answer: Because that's where they originally came from!

A fast-paced horror-thriller in the tradition of Richard Matheson's I am Legend, Moonbane explodes with a riveting opening reminiscent of H.G. Wells's War of the Worlds, and never let's up for a moment.

Moonbane has been hailed as "A great fast read with a super ending." (Rocky Mountain News; also one of their top book choices of the year); "Unabashedly violent...a raw power...that holds the reader's interest until the final pages." (Mystery Scene); "A great evening's read" (Charles de Lint); "A stylish B-movie of a novel. Fast-paced and poetic." (Joe R. Lansdale).

With a new Preface by the author, and with a cover by Alan M. Clark and beautiful interior artwork by Keith Minnion, Moonbane is published here for the first time in hardcover — in an edition that is bound to become a treasured collectible.

Click here to read more or to place your order!

Now that Cemetery Dance #60 has shipped out the door to subscribers (watch for your copy over the next couple of weeks!), we're very pleased to officially announce Cemetery Dance #61, the Peter Straub Special Issue, which is already at the printer.

Cemetery Dance #61 is going to be our first "Special Issue" for an author in a very long time. Peter Straub is the focus of this issue and he contributed some incredible material: a short story, a long excerpt from his next novel (A Dark Matter, which isn't due out until next year), and an insightful interview.

In addition, Hank Wagner wrote a wonderful essay called "The Peter Principles, Or Nearly Two Dozen Things You Need To Know About Peter Straub" and Bev Vincent contributed a long feature review of A Dark Matter. The stunning cover artwork for the issue is by Alan M. Clark and it represents a key scene in Peter's new novel.

Other fiction in the issue includes "Monsters" by Stewart O’Nan (a beautiful novelette that was originally published as a 226-copy signed Limited Edition chapbook by Lonely Road Books), "The Innocents at the Museum of Antiquities" by Douglas Clegg (part one of an original serial novella), and "Johnny" by Bruce McAllister.

Fiction

"Monsters" a novelette by Stewart O'Nan

"The Innocents at the Museum of Antiquities" by Douglas Clegg (Part One of an original novella)

"Variations on a Theme From Seinfeld" by Peter Straub

"A Long Excerpt From A Dark Matter" by Peter Straub

"Johnny" by Bruce McAllister

Features

"A Long Interview with Peter Straub" by Mathias Clasen

"The Peter Principles, Or Nearly Two Dozen Things You Need To Know About Peter Straub" by Hank Wagner

"A Dark Matter by Peter Straub Feature Review" by Bev Vincent

The Usual Suspects

"Words from the Editor" by Richard Chizmar

"The Mothers and Fathers Italian Association" by Thomas F. Monteleone

"Stephen King News: From The Dead Zone" by Bev Vincent

"MediaDrome" by Michael Marano

"Editorial Perspectives" by Don D'Auria

"The Last Ten Things I've Read" by Ellen Datlow

"Spotlight on Publishing" by Robert Morrish

"Fine Points" by Ed Gorman

"Horror Drive-In" by Mark Sieber

"Cemetery Dance Reviews" edited by Nanci Kalanta

"The Final Question" by Brian Freeman (featuring Kealan Patrick Burke, Simon Clark, Ray Garton, Ed Gorman, Rick Hautala, Brian Keene, Jack Ketchum, Edward Lee, Elizabeth Massie, Norman Partridge, and Peter Straub)

The trade hardcover edition of Elsewhere by William Peter Blatty is now in-stock and shipping to everyone who pre-ordered it! Now is the time to place your order so you don't miss out on one of the most acclaimed stories of the last decade:

"Horror old-timer Blatty (The Exorcist) takes a new route down an old road in this disorienting tale."
— Publishers Weekly

"William Peter Blatty's excellent haunted house/ghost story, Elsewhere, certainly brings into question Stephen King's recent assertion... that the traditional ghost story is dead."
— Michael Revel Reviews

"Innovatively constructed and skillfully written, the short novel is witty, scary, touching and thought-provoking."
— Chicago Tribune

"...may be the first truly original haunted house story in decades."
— Denver Rocky Mountain News

"William Peter Blatty, author of The Exorcist, returns to the horror genre with a story that is more subtle than that classic novel, but by no means less powerful."
— Tim Janson, Mania.com

"Blatty proves that a good haunted house story can still be written. Elsewhere is haunting and genuinely eerie."
— Peter David Schwotzer, Famous Monsters of Filmland

"Possession is the indisputable peanut butter to William Peter Blatty’s chocolate. The writer who gave us the landmark The Exorcist returns with Elsewhere, a short work from Cemetery Dance that represents his first novel since 1996."
— Rod Lott, Bookgasm.com

"William Peter Blatty's novella Elsewhere proves that the man who terrified us with The Exorcist still has the power to captivate and to scare the reader."
— Denise Dumars in Mania

"In many ways this excellent haunted house tale is a psychological suspense thriller as much of the story line (except for the climax) follows the quartet as the house coaxes them to reveal their secrets... Fans of Blatty will welcome his fresh approach of psychological paranormal paradigm twist to the haunted house horror sub-genre."
— Alternative Worlds

"...the author of one of history's most popular horror novels, subsequent made into a blockbuster film, The Exorcist, is back to scare you all over again with Elsewhere, a chilling haunted house tale... Disturbing full-page interior illustrations leap out at the reader like bogeymen, and the evocative cover photograph by award-winning photographer Bruce Haley exudes a sense of the dread awaiting the reader within."
— J. L. Comeau, Count Gore De Vol's Tomb of Dark Delights

As we mentioned in our last update for The Secretary of Dreams (Volume Two), all of the artwork is now in place, the book is undergoing one more proofread, and the signature sheets are almost done. This book is officially set for an end of year publication, just like Volume One was. We found that schedule worked very well considering how many extra warehouse employees we have to hire for the month this book ships. If you're on the CD Insider mailing list, keep watching your in-box for updates because we plan on doing one more special preview of new artwork.

Volume Two continues where the first acclaimed volume left off: combining classic tales of terror from the mind of Stephen King with the haunting artwork of Maine artist Glenn Chadbourne. This unique book displays an incredible and original blend of King's words with Chadbourne's one-of-a-kind illustrations: text and artwork brought together to tell these chilling stories in a whole new way.

As you venture into this new volume of The Secretary of Dreams you'll discover "The Monkey," "Strawberry Spring," and "In the Deathroom" presented on beautifully designed oversized pages. These stories are heavily illustrated with spot artwork, full page illustrations, and even multiple-page art spreads. Dozens of painstakingly crafted illustrations bring King's characters to life.

Also within this collection are "Gray Matter," "One for the Road," and "Nona," which appear for the very first time in full graphic format as imagined by Chadbourne. Not one word from King's original manuscripts has been left out. Instead Chadbourne presents the stories through a variety of techniques: traditional paragraphs of text merged directly into the artwork, handwritten bursts of dialogue to convey emotion, and even multiple fonts to match the mood of each scene.

Like the first volume, The Secretary of Dreams (Volume Two) is a new collection of Stephen King's greatest short stories presented in a way never before imagined. Glenn Chadbourne has spent over two years creating the artwork within these pages, digging deep inside the text to make each of these classic tales burst off the page.

There will be HUNDREDS of illustrations in the final book, but we just wanted to give you a taste of what's to come. Here is the link to the previous preview pages we've posted:

An original Cemetery Dance Publications publishing event, this deluxe oversized hardcover edition is the World's First Edition and there are no other editions planned of this title at this time. As with the first volume (of which there are only a few hundred copies remaining), we will not be selling this title at a discount, and we will not fill any orders for distributors who will be selling it at a discount. Amazon wanted over 2,000 copies of Volume One (which would have sold it out on publication), but The Secretary of Dreams (Volume Two) will only be available directly from Cemetery Dance and a few independent booksellers we've worked with for years.