Dead Letter Press

Save 37% to 40% on Our Limited Edition Hardcover Books!

2011-12-26T10:44:00.000-08:00

Save 37% to 40% on our in-stock Limited Edition Hardcovers:
BOUND FOR EVIL: Curious Tales of Books Gone Bad is currently only $50! (That's 37.5% OFF the $80 Retail Price)

Rhys Hughes' ENGLEBRECHT AGAIN! is currently only $30! (That's 40% OFF the $50 Retail Price)

Stock of BOUND FOR EVIL is extremely low.

Dead Letter Press books

2011-02-09T04:00:00.000-08:00

BOUND FOR EVIL: Curious Tales of Books Gone Bad
edited by Tom English
Illustrated by Allen Koszowski

Deluxe illustrated, sewn hardcover;
Limited to 500 copies.
A finalist for the SHIRLEY JACKSON AWARD (Best Anthology, 2008)

View Table of Contents

"Bound for Evil: Curious Tales of Books Gone Bad edited by Tom English (Dead Letter Press) is a hefty, entertaining anthology of sixty-five stories about nasty, demented, or overly influential books and the people who love them (to their detriment). It's a good looking, limited edition hardcover tome of almost 800 pages, with half the stories original to the volume...."

--Ellen Datlow, Cemetery Dance #62, 2009

ENGELBRECHT AGAIN!

by Rhys Hughes

Illustrated by Keith Minnion

Deluxe sewn hardcover with illustrated bookplate signed by the author; Limited to 300 copies.

"Engelbrecht Again! is one of the funniest, funnest, original and highly imaginative books that I’ve read in a while. The exploits of the dwarf surrealist boxer are so downright whacky at times that you just shake your head and wonder how in the hell did Hughes come up with this scenario because he’s one of those writers that is popping with ideas. His throwaway ideas would be other, lesser writers' centerpiece ideas."

--BookSpotCentral

THE KING OF DEADTOWN

by Glynn Barrass
Cover art by Allen Koszowski

Stapled chapbook; Limited to 150 signed copies.

"...Telling you that this is a zombie story in the mould of Romero that includes a brief visit to a shopping mall in homage, you will be thinking 'ah, a Dawn of the Dead rip-off'. It’s the obvious comparison and is an error. Glynn makes no apologies for the genre nor does he try to disguise it and pretend he is doing something different – he embraces the genre but also writes something different. ...this is not a slavish retread of the zombie apocalypse genre. Glynn takes the familiar tropes and gives them a twist. Well worth reading."

--The Supplement, Issue 42, September 2008 (DJ Tyrer)

Just in time for Halloween: NEW Interview at Bibliobuffet.com

2010-10-25T17:09:00.000-07:00

Tom English (editor of Bound for Evil and the Literary Vampire series) discusses books, small press publishing, the ghost story, and the supernatural (among other things) in a new interview at Bibliobuffet.com

Check out last month's interview (on books and vampires) at Innsmouth Free Press.

Read Part One of his guest blog article:
"The Literary Vampire: A Bevy of Bloodsuckers"

Read Part Two of his guest blog article:
"The Birth of the Modern Vampire"

Indulge A MORBID FASCINATION while you still can!

2010-10-24T13:18:00.000-07:00

A MORBID FASCINATION, the latest volume in the Literary Vampire Series, hit the street on October 13th -- and then all but disappeared! Actually, the book sold out before publication. But take heart, copies are still available from the sellers listed below.

TO PURCHASE A COPY PLEASE CONTACT ONE OF THESE FINE SELLERS:

HORROR-MALL.com
DARKHOLLOWBOOKS.com
WRIGLEYCROSSBOOKS.com

Limited to 26 Lettered Copies. Saddle-stapled chapbook, 48 pages. Cover by World Fantasy Award-winner ALLEN KOSZOWSKI.

Contents:
"A Morbid Fascination" by Series Editor Tom English
"The Skeleton Count" by Elizabeth Grey (1st published vampire tale written by a woman!);
"The Vampire Bride" by Henry Liddell (1st take on a tale that became the basis for Tim Burton's animated film The Corpse Bride);
"The Adventure of the German Student" by Washington Irving (1st vampire tale by an American writer);
"Blood Brothers" by Sir Walter Scott (1st story in the book that's not a "first" in anything -- it's just a cool story!)

You can view the covers and contents of every title in the LITERARY VAMPIRE series here.

Buried with Engelbrecht!

2010-09-07T14:02:00.000-07:00

Check out Rhys Hughes' guest blog about The Exploits of Engelbrecht, the book that inspired his wonderful sequel, Engelbrecht Again!

More Praise for Dead Letter Press books

2010-06-30T18:16:00.000-07:00

Here's a quote from a recent email sent by another satisfied customer:

I received the package Tuesday. Wow! What a wonderful book Bound For Evil is. The overall presentation is very impressive. Very nice!

I have over some time, acquired a fairly large collection ... and typically, I avoided chapbooks ... mostly because the price didn't justify 2-10 pages of content, (and my being a bohemian musician, well, there's not too much money to throw at books). But, after reading The Collective of Blaque Reach, (along with the wonderful packaging of it), this is an area that I am going to delve into with more enthusiasm.

Bottom line: DEAD LETTER PRESS is great. I have tried to find flaw in your product, but everything just 'clicks' solidly. Well done !!!

---Saint Toad

Thanks for the kind words, ST!

The Flame has gone out (of print, that is) but it continues to burn bright!

2009-12-14T13:02:00.000-08:00

Orrin Grey's gothic novella The Mysterious Flame is now out of print. If you missed getting a copy you may still be able to find it at one of the fine booksellers that stock DLP books. Don't miss out on this wonderful debut novella by a rising voice in horror fiction!

Here's yet another great review (at Speculative Fiction Junkie) proving that The Mysterious Flame continues to burn bright!

"Despite its brevity, The Mysterious Flame manages to include an awful lot of action and disparate elements. Whether it's Narthos being awakened from the Spanish tower, Barnabus and his friend taking up residence in an abandoned movie theater, Barnabus hanging out in an isolated diner just to be around others for a bit, the raising of an army of reanimated corpses, or countless other things, this short book packs as much into its forty-four pages as is humanly possible without in any way feeling like it is overreaching or attempting to force too many disparate elements together. Additionally, for a book with such a potentially heavy subject matter, The Mysterious Flame manages to maintain a surprisingly light tone for the most part. Mr. Grey makes some welcome serious points about the nature of the mysterious flame by, among other things, contrasting the relationship between Barnabas and Daniel with the relationship between Narthos and Joy, but the book simultaneously remains a whole lot of fun.

Mr. Grey is a capable writer with occasional flashes of brilliant description. I haven't seen any other works from him but I will be keeping my eye open for him in the future.

BOUND FOR EVIL: 11 Honorable Mentions for Best Horror

2009-11-08T09:35:00.000-08:00

This year the list of Honorable Mentions in Ellen Datlow’s annual Best Horror of the Year anthology (published by Night Shade, 2009) was pared down to only the top 50. However, Ellen has posted the remainder of her list on the publisher’s website. Included on this list of the top stories of 2008 are 11 tales from Bound For Evil: Curious Tales of Books Gone Bad. The 11 stories cited for honorable mentions are:

“Mechanix” by Christopher Fulbright

“The Reading Room” by Orrin Grey

“Letters Home” by Erin MacKay

“Guidance” by Gary McMahon

“Recipe for Disaster” by John Llewellyn Probert

“Association Copy” by Barbara Roden

“The Dark and the Young” by Ian Rogers

“Leather, Dark and Cold” by Simon Strantzas

“Cormac’s Mirror” by Ben Thomas

“The Book of Cain” by Michael D. Winkle

“The Alzheimer’s Book Club” by Jill Zeller

Congratulations to these fine writers!

BOUND FOR EVIL Signed by Four

2009-07-21T17:23:00.000-07:00

A few copies of Bound for Evil signed by contributors Orrin Grey, Ian Rogers, Simon Strantzas, and editor Tom English are now available from Bill Morrison at Dark Hollow Books. These copies were flat-signed at Bill's Dark Hollow Books booth at ReaderCon 20 (July 11, 2009). When the con ended Sunday afternoon, Bill had only 4 of the signed copies left, maybe fewer. So if you'd like a copy of Bound for Evil signed by four of the writers, you may wish to proceed here as quickly as your mouse can navigate through cyberspace.

At right, one of the engraved river rocks used by the jurors of the Shirley Jackson Awards to "stone" the award-nominees. A nice, symbolic tribute to author Jackson's most famous short story, "The Lottery"!

Engelbrecht Triumphant!

2009-07-14T20:29:00.000-07:00

A new review of Engelbrecht Again! at BookSpotCentral has this to say about the Rhys Hughes novel:

"Engelbrecht Again! is one of the funniest, funnest, original and highly imaginative books that I’ve read in a while. The exploits of the dwarf surrealist boxer are so downright whacky at times that you just shake your head and wonder how in the hell did Hughes come up with this scenario because he’s one of those writers that is popping with ideas. His throwaway ideas would be other, lesser writers' centerpiece ideas."

Read the entire review here. Then grab your copy before the dwarf grabs you!

More Fame for Mysterious Flame

2009-07-03T11:55:00.000-07:00

Matt Cowan has posted a short review praising Orrin Grey's first novella, The Mysterious Flame, over at VintageHorror.com.

Orrin and I will be attending Readercon 20 (The Conference on Imaginative Literature) the weekend of July 10 - 12th. I'll be bringing the last few copies of The Mysterious Flame, so if you're in or near Burlington, MA, stop in and see us. Orrin will be happy to inscribe a copy of his novella for you. Chances are good you can catch us at the Dark Hollow Books section of the Dealers Room. Bill Morrison of DHB will be selling copies of my Shirley Jackson Award-nominated anthology Bound for Evil (the awards ceremony is Sunday the 12th at 11 am) and we'll be stopping by Bill's tables frequently to talk to readers and sign copies of BfE. Joining us there will be two more BfE contributors, Simon Strantzas and Ian Rogers. So stop by and get your copy signed by four of the contributors. (And possibly by a fifth contributor we hope will able to attend.)

BOUND FOR EVIL Nominated for SHIRLEY JACKSON AWARD

2009-04-17T16:23:00.000-07:00

I'm extremely proud to announce that Bound for Evil has been nominated for the prestigious Shirley Jackson Award in the Anthology category. The winners of this juried award will be announced on July 12, 2009, at ReaderCon 20 in Burlington, MA.

About the awards:
Shirley Jackson (1916-1965) wrote such classic novels as The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, as well as one of the most famous short stories in the English language, "The Lottery." Her work continues to be a major influence on writers of every kind of fiction, from the most traditional genre offerings to the most innovative literary work. National Book Critics Circle Award-winning novelist Jonathan Lethem has called Jackson “one of this century’s most luminous and strange American writers,” and multiple generations of authors would agree.

The Shirley Jackson Award will be voted upon by a jury of professional writers, editors, critics, and academics, with input from a Board of Advisors. The awards will be given for the best work published in the preceding calendar year in the following categories: Novel, Novella, Novelette, Short Story, Single-Author Collection, and Edited Anthology.

Gone in 60 seconds! (or something like that)

2009-03-23T05:50:00.000-07:00

The Kiss of Judas & The Death of Halpin Frayser, 23rd volume in the Literary Vampire series, is sold out. Actually, the book was sold out before publication. Who knew?

Here's the description from the envelope:
In 1893, while Bram Stoker was immersed in research for his novel Dracula, several other creative minds were also busy at work making significant contributions to the Literary Vampire genre.

Presented here are those curious and classic contributions: the Ambrose Bierce short story “The Death of Halpin Frayser”; Dr. Thomson Jay Hudson’s article “Origins of Vampires”; Norwegian painter Edvard Munch’s composition Love and Pain; and the strange, rarely reprinted title novella, “The Kiss of Judas,” by Julian Osgood Field writing as the enigmatic “X.L.” Also included is the informative Intro, “Children of Judas,” by Series Editor Tom English. Not to mention all the usual snippets of fascinating background info. Softcover chapbook limited to 26 copies only. Cover Illustration by World Fantasy Award-winner Dave Carson

“Limited but highly affordable, Tom English’s lovingly (and ghoulishly) handcrafted ‘Classic Vampires Revisited’ chapbook series should delight both horror fans and discriminating aficionados alike. Resurrecting classic and unde-servedly overlooked vampire tales published before and after Stoker’s Dracula, it is fast becoming the indispensable ongoing literary ‘history’ of Nosferatu and his heirs. As such, it’s not to be missed!”

— Joseph Wrzos, editor of August Derleth’s In Lovecraft’s Shadow and co-editor

of Night Creatures, a collection of Seabury Quinn’s classic weird tales.

THE MYSTERIOUS FLAME Burns Bright!

2009-02-01T14:05:00.000-08:00

Orrin Grey pays homage to the classic Gothic pulps, in a poignant but chilling novella that features a haunted monastery and a rundown movie palace; a vampiric monk and an army of animated skeletons; arcane magic and the search for a long lost secret; and caught in the middle of it all, a bewitched young woman and a reluctant hero made of clay!

The Mysterious Flame is being released as a softcover chapbook limited to 100 signed copies only. Cover art by World Fantasy Award-winner Allen Koszowski.

UPDATE (4/19/2009): MonsterLibrarian.com recently posted the following review as part of its "Spring into Terror" horror fiction review project:

"In The Mysterious Flame, the undead necromancer Narthos is hunting a golem, Barnabus, in an attempt to determine the secret of his existence and his soul. The plot summary suggests that the story is high fantasy, but it is actually set in the present day, and has a very elegant gothic feel. Grey does a great job of balancing storytelling, action, and character development in 44 pages. The Mysterious Flame is a chapbook, with a quality in writing and production similar to that of the high-quality chapbooks produced by White Noise Press. The cover art is by renowned horror artist Allen Koszowski, and is an excellent complement to the story.... Recommended for fans of horror and gothic tales."

Dead Letter Press featured in The Washington Post

2009-01-11T09:54:00.000-08:00

Dead Letter Press was recently featured in the Washington Post article "Michael Dirda on Unearthing Ghostly Tales of Today" (Sunday, 12-21-2008, Book World section, page 10). In his article, Dirda, a Pulitzer Prize-winning critic and former editor of Book World, mentions Dead Letter Press as being one of several fine independent publishers, and recommends two books we recently published:

Bound for Evil: Curious Tales of Books Gone Bad and the Rhys Hughes novel Engelbrecht Again!. Click on the link above to read the archived article at the Washigton Post website.

ROYAL REVIEW: The King of Deadtown

2008-12-28T12:18:00.001-08:00

The Atlantean Publishing magazine "The Supplement" recently reviewed The King of Deadtown. Below is an excerpt of the printed review:

The story opens with an outbreak of disease in Iraq. Given the title, it will not be too great a surprise to learn that it is the sort of disease which doesn’t keep you down for long. People transform into cannibalistic ‘virums’, the term adopted by a society scared of using a word so blatantly apocalyptic as ‘zombie’. Now, telling you that this is a zombie story in the mould of Romero that includes a brief visit to a shopping mall in homage, you will be thinking “ah, a Dawn of the Dead rip-off”. It’s the obvious comparison and is an error. Glynn makes no apologies for the genre nor does he try to disguise it and pretend he is doing something different – he embraces the genre but also writes something different. I’d like to tell you more, but it would spoil the surprise.
Suffice to say, this is not a slavish retread of the zombie apocalypse genre. Glynn takes the familiar tropes and gives them a twist. Well worth reading.
– The Supplement, Issue 42, September 2008 (DJ Tyrer)

The softcover chapbook novella The King of Deadtown is now available in an edition limited to 150 signed copies (in an illustrated envelope).
Cover illustration by World Fantasy Award-winning illustrator Allen Koszowski.

Handsome is Engelbrecht Again!

2008-11-23T09:47:00.000-08:00

Here are some glamour shots of Rhys Hughes' new novel, Engelbrecht Again! (limited to 300 hardcover copies).

The book can be purchased at select specialty booksellers, or order directly from Dead Letter Press by selecting one of the pay options to the right of these photos.

Engelbrecht has arrived!

2008-11-08T18:49:00.001-08:00

I'll post photos of the book soon, but until then this scan allows readers to see the beautiful gold design stamped on the cover of Engelbrecht Again!, Rhys Hughes' most ingenious book yet.

Read about the book at the official Engelbrecht weblog!

Books have begun to ship as follows: first, to all those who pre-ordered; then dealer orders will be filled; followed by review copies. Order Engelbrecht Again! today, before the lil' guy gets away.

The Triumphant Return of Engelbrecht

2008-05-16T07:32:00.000-07:00

Engelbrecht Again! by Rhys Hughes
Introduction by Jeff VanderMeer
Art by Keith Minnion
288-page, smythe sewn hardcover limited to 300 copies
ISBN-13: 9780979633546
Published October 2008

Engelbrecht is a dwarf surrealist boxer who does most of his fighting against clocks. His exploits were first chronicled by Maurice Richardson back in the 1940s in the pages of the esteemed Lilliput magazine. Engelbrecht is the most famous member of the Surrealist Sportsman’s Club, a very dubious society that spends the time it has left between the collapse of the moon and the end of the universe taking the concept of the 'game' to its logical limit, for instance arranging a rugby match between Mars and the entire human race, or playing chess with boy scouts and nuclear bombs as pieces.

Sixty or so years after his first appearance Engelbrecht has returned for another set of exploits that will take him on a voyage around the world, into space, down to Hell, into a labyrinth of plots and counter-plots that could mean the destruction of the entire membership of the Surrealist Sportsman’s Club. Running the gauntlet with gorgons, competing in the mesmeric tour-de-trance bicycle race, climbing the north face of the largest ego in existence, playing tug-o’-war with entire continents and even indulging in a round of lipograms with the monstrous Père Ubu – all these are in a day’s work for the plucky Engelbrecht!

Check out the Official Engelbrecht blog site!

Got Books? I SURE Do!

2008-02-28T16:15:00.000-08:00

BOUND FOR EVIL Arrives Monday, February 25th, All 1340 Pounds of It.

2008-02-23T12:20:00.000-08:00

BOUND FOR EVIL: Curious Tales of Books Gone Bad arrives from the printer on Monday, February 25th. This is actually about a week ahead of schedule. And what can I say, the book is beautiful! I'll start shipping copies on Tuesday, along with the free promotional chapbook, The Collective of Blaque Reach (by Matt Cowan, cover by Allen Koszowski). If you haven't yet ordered your copy, please see the links at the right.

So how much do 500 copies of an 800-page hardcover weigh? 1340 pounds, roughly half a ton of paper and ink and imagination. Shipping all these books should be a great boost to our flagging U.S. economy. (The USPS has even started sending me love letters.)

PHANTASMAPEDIA Makes the 2007 Stoker Awards Ballot

2008-02-16T12:50:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to author Mark McLaughlin for making the official ballot for the 2007 Stoker Awards! Mark's wonderfully witty collection of verse, Phantasmapedia, has been nominated for Superior Achievement in Poetry. This limited-edition Dead Letter Press chapbook is still available from select booksellers including Camelot Books, Wrigley-Cross Books, and Realms of Fantasy.

ENGELBRECHT Gets The Last Word !!

2008-01-30T17:18:00.000-08:00

Dead Letter Press is excited to announce the June publication of Rhys Hughes' humorous novel Engelbrecht Again! as a limited-edition hardcover. The book continues the outrageous adventures of the dwarf surrealist boxer created by Maurice Richardson in the late 1940's, but I must say, Rhys has seriously (a strange word to use in regards to Engelbrecht) ratcheted up the absurdity a healthy notch or two. Indeed, Rhys has outdone himself.

It's taken Engelbrecht a few years to get this far, but it just goes to prove you can't keep the little fellow down! More details on EA! coming soon.

Phantasmapedia and Blood Coven Make the Preliminary Ballot for the Stoker Awards

2008-01-24T15:47:00.000-08:00

Two Dead Letter Press books have made the Preliminary Ballot for the HWA Stoker Awards:
Phantasmapedia by Mark McLaughlin (for Superior Achievement in Poetry), and Blood Coven by Christopher Fulbright and Angeline Hawkes (for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction). In addition, Chris' story collection When it Rains and Other Wreckage (Doorways Publication) also made the list. Congratulations to Mark, Chris and Angeline!

Bound for Evil UPDATE: More Pages, More Stories, More Books Gone Bad

2008-01-23T17:23:00.001-08:00

Bound for Evil is now at the printers. The book is currently ahead of schedule for its early March debut. Before sending it to the printers, I did several things to enhance the book:

1. I added another 32-page "signature" making Bound for Evil now 800 pages.

2. I moved R. E. Hartman's creepy little tale "The Book of Faces" from the free promo chapbook, into Bound for Evil, bringing the number of stories to 64.

3. Unable to resist having a total of 66 stories (split up into 6 sections), I then added the classic Alfred Noyes weird tale "Midnight Express" and Eugene Field's humorous poem "Dibdin's Ghost."

4. I then sprinkled in well over 2 dozen illustrations by World Fantasy Award-winner Allen Koszowski.

5. Finally, I've placed yet another bookish story, hidden somewhere in the pages of Bound for Evil. I'll leave it to the reader to find it.

Upon publication, I may need to slightly increase the price of Bound for Evil in order to cover the additional printing costs. For now, I'll leave the pre-order price at $80. Pre-orders still receive a free promotional chapbook featuring an extra bookish story.

Here's the Table of Contents:

introduction: the secret lives & evil times of diabolical books Tom English.....xiii

bound for evil:
in the beginning
genesis for dummies Patrick LoBrutto.....3

scratch paper
the devil’s manuscript S. Levett Yeats.....7
the book Margaret Irwin.....22
the devil & nathaniel hawthorne Skadi meic Beorh.....36
the devil in manuscript Nathaniel Hawthorne.....41
the grimoire Montague Summers.....48
the book of cain Michael D. Winkle.....66
canon alberic’s scrap-book M. R. James.....85
flames in the night John R. Platt.....96
fine print Mark McLaughlin.....102
damek T. A. C. Amaral.....111
fahrenheit clark ashton Glynn Barrass.....127
boek van namen Lorne Dixon.....135
pact anthology John Teehan.....145

a not-too-gentle madness
the bibliomaniac’s prayer Eugene Field.....153
book worm Jeffrey Thomas.....154
leather, dark and cold Simon Strantzas.....162
limited edition Andrew J. Wilson.....173
windows to the soul JG Faherty.....182
if i had a hundred tongues Barry Baldwin.....190
a collection of true evils Barry Napier.....197
the incomplete works of william shakespeare Rick Moore.....215
the strange bequest of simon bray Tom English.....228
the story of edward hardiman Michael Lovell.....243
the door, the lock, the key R. Michael Burns.....252
happiness Ian Shoebridge.....269
dibdin’s ghost Eugene Field.....288

the romance of certain old books
the dunwich horror H. P. Lovecraft.....291
the adder Fred Chappell.....329
finding the book of sand Rhys Hughes.....347
worse than bones Ramsey Campbell.....354
letters home Erin MacKay.....367
prosecuted, banished, and shot Jeff Ryan.....387
the reading room Orrin Grey.....389
midnight express Alfred Noyes.....398
the book in the earth Lavie Tidhar.....403
the yellow sign Robert W. Chambers.....416
the book H. P. Lovecraft.....432
weird chronicle Rui Cruz.....435
the narconomicon David M. Fitzpatrick.....449

reference work
guidance Gary McMahon.....467
the almanack Saki.....477
practical time travel Vincent L. Scarsella.....482
a lesson in therapy Angeline Hawkes.....499
cormac’s mirror Ben Thomas.....513
recipe for disaster John Llewellyn Probert.....526
the guest book Gary Fry.....539
mechanix Christopher Fulbright.....557
an antique land John Shire.....565
the reference book Louise Norlie.....577
the book of faces R. E. Hartman.....591
the dark and the young Ian Rogers.....595
the book of revelation Mark Tullius.....620

misadventures in reading
association copy Barbara Roden.....634
a fatal distraction J. Michael Shell.....665
one copy only Ramsey Campbell.....671
the thief with two deaths Chris Willrich.....685
the alzheimer’s book club Jill Zeller.....706
readers digested Jeff Ryan.....714
the truth inside the lie Terri Nixon.....716
browsers Mark Leslie.....732
don’t read them after midnight Josh Vogt.....739
trunk story Kurt Newton.....749
lem’s last book Rhys Hughes.....754
the new words Jeffrey A. Rice.....766
literature abuse Michael McGrorty.....777

BOUND FOR EVIL arrives early March 2008

2007-12-28T21:34:00.000-08:00

BOUND FOR EVIL: Curious Tales of Books Gone Bad will ship in early March 2008.
Limited to 500 copies, of which only 375 will be offered for sale. Deluxe smythe sewn hardcover, bound in black imitation leather, and stamped in gold leaf with an original cover design by World Fantasy Award-winning illustrator Allen Koszowski. You may order using PayPal, by clicking the button to the right. Or avail yourself of more traditional technology, by mailing your personal check or money order made payable to

Tom English
PO Box 134
New Kent, VA 23124-0134
USA

What is BOUND FOR EVIL?
66 ingenious tales of lost knowledge and restless ghosts, secret libraries and forbidden texts, alternate worlds and ancient gods—written by 61 internationally-acclaimed writers, including Ramsey Campbell, Rhys Hughes, H. P. Lovecraft, Fred Chappell and Jeffrey Thomas!

BOUND FOR EVIL is a mammoth volume gathering together for the first time the very best stories of diabolical books: in which a disillusioned journalist searches for a missing girl in a midnight world of illegal coffee dens and black market books; an insomniac haunted by the death of his wife volunteers to take part in a bizarre research experiment; a wealthy bibliophile hires a thief to recover a book that has the power to change literary history; a bestselling writer confronts a menacing character from his past—the protagonist of his forgotten first novel; a shortsighted engineer stumbles across a book that’s not supposed to actually exist—a book that will forever alter the face of the earth. Just a few of the tales that await you in… BOUND FOR EVIL: Curious Tales of Books Gone Bad.

Both the living and the dead rest uneasy in new volume of classic vampire stories

2007-11-27T14:18:00.000-08:00

Classic Vampires Revisited: AN UNEASY REPOSE is now on sale at Horror-Mall.com & WrigleyCrossBooks.com (ZiesingBooks.com and DarkHollowBooks.com either are sold out or have not listed their copies).

AN UNEASY REPOSE is the 22nd volume in the Literary Vampire series, and is limited to 26 Lettered chapbooks.

Both the living and the dead rest uneasy in four tales of vampirism that ushered in the dawn of the twentieth century:
Following the appearance of Dracula in 1897, four writers continued to explore the vampire theme in these late nineteenth-century tales of bad news from beyond the grave. In H. B. Marriott-Watson’s classic novella “The Stone Chamber,” young Warrington has it all: a beautiful and devoted fiancée, wealth and good looks—and an ancient decaying abbey he’s recently purchased. So why isn’t he resting easy these nights? Just what in Hell is eating the poor guy, anyway?

Plus: F. Marion Crawford’s chilling novella “The Dead Smile”; “Will” by Vincent O’Sullivan; and “The Old Portrait” by Hume Nisbet. Plus all the usual, fascinating background info.

Cover by ALLEN KOSZOWSKI

“Limited but highly affordable, Tom English’s lovingly (and ghoulishly) handcrafted ‘Classic Vampires Revisited’ chapbook series should delight both horror fans and discriminating aficionados alike. Resurrecting classic and undeservedly overlooked vampire tales published before and after Stoker’s Dracula, it is fast becoming the indispensable ongoing literary ‘history’ of Nosferatu and his heirs. As such, it’s not to be missed!”

— Joseph Wrzos, editor of August Derleth’s In Lovecraft’s Shadow and co-editor of Night Creatures, a collection of Seabury Quinn’s classic weird tales.

Mark McLaughlin's Phantasmapedia now on sale

2007-11-04T13:34:00.000-08:00

Discover the ultimate destiny of life on Earth. Mark McLaughlin's Phantasmapedia is now on sale. The book sold out at Horror-Mall.com during preorders, but you can still purchase one of the few remaining copies of this ultra-limited edition (only 78 signed and lettered copies were done) at CamelotBooks.com or WrigleyCrossBooks.com
.
What's a Phantasmapedia?
Phantasmapedia is a chapbook collection of poems about 32 little-known creatures – demons, entities, mutants, and pseudo-biological aberrations. Even though you may not have heard of these beings, there is a good chance one or more of them could be influencing your life. Are you having difficulty losing weight? You could be the victim of Adipossums, or maybe Glucozoth, Lord of Candy. Having memory problems? Brown Creepers could be to blame. Is your computer acting strangely? Internet Witches may have sent a special virus your way. Are you hopelessly insane or terminally ill? Perhaps you’ve crossed paths with the Yellow-Tailed Satanus or the Oncoloscarabaeus. Phantasmapedia also reveals the ultimate destiny of life on Earth, as well as a variety of other arcane secrets. Visit the Phantasmapedia MySpace page.

This one-of-a-kind chapbook is being released in a signed, lettered limited edition of only 78 copies.

Good Books Wear Black!

2007-08-05T12:24:00.000-07:00

New items concerning Bound for Evil: Curious Tales of Books Gone Bad

1. Yes, I'm behind in reading subs and sending out responses. Thought it would never happen. (Not me, no sir!) But it did. Well, that's the bad news. The good news, by which I hope many will be cheered, is that I am still personally reading subs, still accepting stories, still writing checks, and I will respond to all writers. Promise! If you've not heard anything, you are still in the running. Meanwhile, keep writing stories.

2. Writers now may submit their stories as attachments.

3. My printer is delighted that I keep increasing the page count. I originally intended to fill about 300 pages, but now I'm shooting for about 500. (I've received too many good stories about a subject I love: books!)

4. Many of you should look good in black -- with gold stamping, no less. Bound for Evil is slated to be bound in black (imitation) leather with gold leaf titles and design.

Best Regards,
Tom English

BOUND FOR EVIL Submission Guidelines REVISED

2007-03-11T11:54:00.000-07:00

(NOW CLOSED TO SUBMISSIONS)

Stories should be about books that do not belong in a sane person's library; books that wreck havoc in the lives of their owners; books that are no damn good! The "bad" book in your story should be central to the plot. The book should exert an emotional, or a physical, or a supernatural effect on the characters, or on reality, or time, or space. The book should be the villain of your story. Perhaps a sympathetic villain, or an unwitting accomplice to evil---but nevertheless, the book should be a "character" in your story, play a major role, and be "on stage" for a good part of the tale. You can think of this as "the secret lives and evil times of diabolical books." In fact, that's the tag line.

Consider these classic examples: Lovecraft's "The Book" (the ancient tome transports the reader to strange vistas); Fred Chappell's "The Adder" (the book feeds on other texts in a bookstore); M R James's "Canon Alberic's Scrapbook" (the book comes complete with a demon).

Further illustrations: How about a book that steals time? (All books do in a way.) Or money? (A whimsical idea, yes, but one I continually have to deal with!) How about a book that supernaturally forces a man to spend his last dollar on it? Poor guy goes home and dies of starvation. The authorities later find his emaciated corpse lying in a house with the walls covered floor to ceiling with expensive volumes! (That would be laughable---if it hadn't really happened to one poor bibliomaniac.) Any variation on one of these themes might make a great tale.

Suggestions:

The typical "book that conjures a demon" story has been overdone. So unless you can put an original spin on this idea, then don’t try it. Please limit violence, sexual content and profanity to the absolute minimum necessary to tell your story. Sometimes suggestion is far more powerful than detailed description.

I will accept 4000 to 12,000 words. If it’s longer or shorter, it had better be GOOD! Pay scale is 1 cent per word and 2 copies. I will also pay $25 to $60 for reprint rights of previously published work.

Thanks!
Tom English