I posted a while back about reconnecting with an old friend, Jason Brock. Which resulted in me getting to spend part of a day with William F. Nolan, one of the great writers of my youth.
Subsequently, Jason and Nolan decided to co-edit a hardback horror anthology called THE BLEEDING EDGE. Jason partnered with James Beach at Dark Discoveries to publish the book. It's going to appear as a classic limited edition, both signed and numbered, and as an unsigned edition. These books tend to be expensive, and I've had fiction appear in such books in the past, but it has frankly been a long time since I was invited to submit to this kind of anthology.
The lineup of artists is particularly impressive, with new material by Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Joe R. Lansdale, and a host of others. I'm looking forward to the book, as it will also be the appearance of my first short story in quite some time. I got away from short story work some years back and I rarely work in that form these days.
I wrote "Love & Magick" because I felt many horror writers seem to have forgotten what a horror story is supposed to be. Most horror stories seem to be not horror at all, but rather moral fables in the Judeo-Christian tradition wherein the "horror" is represented by a bad person getting their due in a most unfortunate (but deserved) manner.
Some years ago I wrote a story called "An Embarassment of Witches". It dealt with a witch who had been murdered by her husband, but who'd used a spell on herself that enabled her to come back to life and continue her marriage as before, all the while slowly rotting away (her powers only went so far). It eventually saw print somewhere (I forget just where), but initially I had submitted it to an anthology being co-edited by a fine fellow who had, at one time, been preparing to be a rabbi. He liked the technical aspects of the story but rejected it because "I don't see where she (the witch) deserved what happened to her". Alas, he was locked into that method of horror stories being as I described them--comeuppance tales. But of course a rabbi would see things that way.
My story in THE BLEEDING EDGE would definitely not be the kind of story where the bad guy gets what's coming to him. It's something else entirely. I'm hoping that most of the stories therein will be of a similar vein. I can only wait to see. The book is supposed to appear within the next couple of months, and I am looking forward to it. The best limited edition books are works of art. I have high hopes for this one.
Here are details about the book and how to order:
BLEEDING EDGE PRE-ORDERS...
We're getting ready to head to the printer's very soon, so we're opening up pre-orders now for just the Deluxe Signed Edition. There will be only 75 copies of this for sale and with advance interest, we anticipate it will sell out very quickly. The Deluxe Edition features a special handmade binding with textured faux leather, foil stamping, a reading ribbon, individual signed colophon author sheets, 7 art inserts, and a color dust jacket.
This anthology features all-new/previously unpublished work from an amazing group of writers. Here's the lineup:
Cover and Interior Art by Kris Kuksi
Foreword - S.T. Joshi
Introduction - William F. Nolan and Jason V Brock
"Some Of My Best Friends Are Martians…" - Ray ..Bradbury
"Just A Suggestion" - John Shirley
"Love & Magick" - James Robert Smith
"Madri-Gall" [A short play] - Richard Matheson & R.C. Matheson
"Hope and the Maiden" - Nancy Kilpatrick
"The Death and Life of Caesar LaRue" - Earl Hamner
"A Certain Disquieting Darkness" - Gary A. Braunbeck
"The Boy Who Became Invisible" - Joe R. Lansdale
"Getting Along Just Fine" - William F. Nolan
"The Grandfather Clock" [Twilight Zone teleplay; purchased, but unproduced] - George Clayton Johnson
"Triptych: Three Bon-Bons" [Three short-short stories] - Christopher Conlon
"The Hand That Feeds" - Kurt Newton
"The Central Coast" - Jason V Brock
"Omnivore" [Screenplay excerpt; Illustrated by O’Bannon] - Dan O'Bannon
"De Mortuis" - John Tomerlin
"I, My Father, and Weird Tales" [Essay] - Frank M. Robinson
"Silk City" - Lisa Morton
"Red Light" - Steve Rasnic Tem
"How It Feels To Murder" [A teleplay] - Norman Corwin
"At The Riding School" - Cody Goodfellow
To order, follow the link to our special page we've set up for the book. The Deluxe Edition is on sale for $175.00 (We're offering $20 off for pre-orders). Shipping will be a flat $15 in the US for Priority Airmail with Insurance and Delivery confirmation. More for overseas.
Purchase here
There will also be a Trade hardcover retailing for $65 ($55 with newsletter coupon or pre-reserve). These will be unnumbered and 400 copies will be done. These will be signed by the editors William F. Nolan and Jason V Brock We're not taking pre-orders for these as the number being produced is much larger, but you can drop us a note via email or post to reserve a copy for you.
James R. Beach of Dark Discoveries Publications
and
Jason V Brock of Cycatrix Press.
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