Cemetery Dance and pre-orders!

I'm a rather new to small press collecting so I have a few questions regarding Cemetery Dance that I hope that Brian or Richard Chizmar can answer.

First let me say thanks to Brian for communicating with their customer base at Shocklines, as it seems that the communication between CD and its customers has been rather uninformative of late.

It should be noted that Cemetery Dance is not lacking a great communication vehicle to get information to their customer base as I nearly daily receive grab bag offers, banged and dented book sale, signed author volleyballs (has anyone received theirs by the way…its now December). However, even with this great marketing vehicle customers never seem to receive viable or reliable updates on the books they purchase from Cemetery Dance.

Brian gave us a very nice update on IN LAYMON'S TERMS stating that the reason for the five plus year delay is due to one person's introduction. If Kelly is having some issues getting this to you…five years worth of issues, why not have someone give her a hand writing it…hell she could dictate it to them over the phone or bullet point it and have one of the authors ghost write a beautiful introduction. Should we expect another 5 year delay if Kelly doesn't find her muse? How about giving us a deadline…a real, honest deadline that this book will be in our hands on this date? Delirium Books can do this, Bloodletting Press can do this, and Centipede Press can do this. Even new publisher's like Cargo Cult, Chizine and Sideshow Press can do it and it amazes me that CD cannot.

Let's put aside IN LAYMON'S TERMS for a minute and let's even say that we'll give you guys a pass on that one, it's an important book and one we all want done right. However, Can you please give us an update on the 29 other titles that you've taken money for and not published or given accurate updates on? Furthermore can you give us some heads up on what Cemetery Dance is doing with the hundreds of thousands of dollars that they've taken in advance orders from customers that haven't been published and CD hasn't given reliable updates on?

I'm not stating hundreds of thousands of dollars lightly and please feel free to refute my numbers Brian or Richard. However all someone needs do is use a calculator and some simple addition to figure out that it's a very high number. Heck, between just three of your titles and only in lettered edition you're talking $114,000. LEGACIES $23,000 CENTURIES BEST $52,000 and Fifteen Year Celebration $39,000. I sure hope that customer's cash for these and other titles hasn't gone to purchase the movie rights to From a Buick 8 and others and it's still setting in your bank account.

I've listed them below for easy reference. I'm not talking about the update I'm used to getting from CD that states "we're deep in production" (which has come to mean we're three years away from even looking it) or "it's at the printer" (which has come to mean anywhere from 10 to 2 years out) or the inevitable "the signature sheets are making the rounds" (which is the kiss of death).

1. Blatty, William Peter: Elsewhere
2. Booth, Bob: The Big Book of Necon
3. Burke, Kealan Patrick: The Turtle Boy: Peregrine's Tale
4. Chizmar, Richard: Shocklines: Fresh Voices In Terror
5. Chizmar, Richard: Cemetery Dance: A Fifteen Year Celebration
6. Clark, Simon: King Blood
7. Clark, Simon: Butterfly
8. Clegg, Douglas: Afterlife
9. Etchison, Dennis: Got to Kill Them All & Other Stories
10. Furth, Robin: Stephen King's The Dark Tower: The Complete Concordance
11. Golden, Christopher: British Invasion
12. Golden, Christopher: Mind the Gap: A Novel of the Hidden Cities
13. Golden, Christopher: Prince of Stories: The Many Worlds of Neil Gaiman
14. Hautala, Rick: Occasional Demons
15. Howison, Del: Dark Delicacies: Original Tales of Terror and the Macabre
16. Keene, Brian: The Cage
17. Keene, Brian: Scratch
18. King, Stephen: The Secretary of Dreams (Volume Two)
19. Lansdale, Joe R.: The Horror Hall of Fame: The Stoker Winners
20. Laymon, Kelly: In Laymon's Terms
21. Lee, Edward: The Innswich Horror
22. Newman, James: The Forum
23. Pelan, John: The Century's Best Horror Fiction
24. Sauers, Michael: A Collector's Guide to Dean Koontz
25. Wilson, F. Paul: Sims (Book 5: Thy Brother's Keeper)
26. Winter, Douglas E.: Clive Barker: The Dark Fantastic
27. Wood, Rocky: Stephen King: The Non-Fiction
28. Sarrantonio, Al: Moonbane
29. Sarrantonio, Al: Halloween: New Poems
30. Chizmar, Richard, Legacies

Different Seasons by Trever Palmer from Sideshow Press

The residents of the idyllic little mountain town of Pikes Field, Kentucky love their church bingo and fear the hand of God. Everyone knows everyone, and serious crimes are unheard of.

By the light of the first full moon, the terror begins…

January The first victim is a young man working his way through college. The last bits of his corpse are surrounded by wolf tracks.

February A rejected woman reaches her final orgasm with the help of a creature that God didn't spawn. Now, as each full moon rises, so does the body count. A killer stalks the once-safe streets of Pike's Field, and it's up to the local sheriff to stop him.

A werewolf has come to town, and its bloodlust cannot be sated.

I have the lettered pre-ordered and am anxiously awaiting it's publication!!!! Sounds like a damn fine premise to me, and I LOVE Tom Moran's artwork for this one (in fact, I love ANY of his artwork)!!!

The limited and lettered editions of this are both STILL available for purchase at the Horror Mall HERE, and I am really surprised this hasn't sold out yet.
Don't miss out on a chance to get in on the ground floor from this new publisher with such a brilliant house artist!!! The price of the lettered is worth it just for the signed original piece of artwork by TOM MORAN on vellum.
Once Tom becomes more renowned, this piece will be sure to escalate in price!
OH YEAH!

Buy it HERE!

THE DEAD PARADE by James Roy Daley....debut novel!

I really enjoyed this book, from the first page to the last, 'cause it had me....right from page one, it had me. The novel was fast, frantic and blood-crazed...just how I like 'em! The main character is a likeable guy who does do horrible things, but I still felt for the guy! The inner monologues were relevant and well set-out. I read until I couldn't keep my eyes open last night, then woke up this morning and finished it off straight away.................... I HAD to find out what was gonna happen. Well written, well researched and explained, I also feel this is one of the best first novels I have read in a loooong time (maybe ever), and hope that James is working on more. I want MORE Daley!!! I HIGHLY recommend this one to all you readers, and will be reviewing it on myspace for all to see. BUY THIS BOOK and READ IT! Do it NOW!!!!! (I know I have said this a few times, but the quality of writing I have found in my recent reads has just been awesome, and James Roy Daley is no slack hack...this guy can really turn up the horror!


Available for purchase at Horror Mall.

Sex, Death & Honey by Brian Knight!

I just finished reading this manuscript, and just loved it. It will be published next year by Cargo Cult Press. Mr Knight certainly has a way with words, and his characters just come to life as you read. The way he handles the thought processes of his characters is just awesome. The side characters (such as Trouble) are very colourful and completely unforgettable, too! This story will just amaze all of you, and I suggest you get on the train and catch up to this one when it is published....you won't regret it. Brian is a master of the crime/horror novel, and manages to engage the reader from the first page, which is a difficult task he makes seem easy. Keep an eye on this author, ladies and germs...er.... gents, cause if you don't, you might find him peeping in your bedroom window, crazy eyes and hair all over the place. I loved this novella, and believe you will too.
KNIGHT ROCKS! OH YEAH!

MARKET ADJUSTMENT by Andersen Punty

I just finished reading this blood-drenched tale of old gods, revenge, bankruptcy, Haitian Vodou, and bizarro imagination. WOW! I loved it, with the only criticism I have is that it is TOO SHORT! Once this hits the shelves and TBR piles of all you readers, it will BLOW YOU AWAY. I cannot speak highly enough of Andy Prunty, a new up and coming writer breaking out of the bizarro genre into bizarro horror. I won't go into the story, as that is up to Brian of Cargo Cult Press (the publisher) and Andy to leak as they see fit, but it is a f@#!ing FANTASTIC read, and as Larry of Horror Mall noted in the thread at Horror Mall forums, very topical and relevant to the times we are living in. Andy has taken a page straight out of our times and transformed it into TRUE ART!
HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS ONE to all of you who actually take the time to read these blogs. BUY IT, once it comes up for pre-order at www. horror-mall.com , or forever live in the shame of not owning this excellent work by Andersen Prunty! Dark dreamer indeed!

Horror/Sci-fi/Fantasy book reviews coming soon

Reviews of old and new books and movies (and music) coming soon!

Hi-de-ho!

Hi everyone...Gaffa here, with horror blog goodness for all!

I am an Associate Editor for Sideshow Press Publications, and a highly valued (HA!) member of Horror Mall Forums. I read voraciously, and love to push my opinions of authors, books and publishers on the unsuspecting public!
I will post reviews of books I have read, publishers and authors I like, and just general sh!t that appeals to me.

Geoff aka Gaffa