Stephen Jones – Zombie Apocalypse! Fightback (October, 2012)

Coming in October

Stephen Jones  (Creator) – Zombie Apocalypse! Fightback  (October, 2012)

JoeRoberts.co.uk

Jo Fletcher – Tabloid Tales
Christopher Fowler – From Prof. Margaret Winn
Christopher Fowler – From Simon Wesley #1
Reggie Oliver – Lord Of The Fleas
Jo Fletcher – The Hobbs End Horror
Christopher Fowler – From Simon Wesley #2
Brian Hodge – Morphogenesis
Jo Fletcher – Hard News
Paul Finch – Dead Air
Amanda Foubister – Consent Form
Christopher Fowler – From Simon Wesley #3
Christopher Fowler – The Well Of Seven
Christopher Fowler – From Simon Wesley #4
Anne Billson – Paris When It Sizzles
Guy Adams – Pages From A British Army Field Manual
Sarah Pinborough – Peace Land Blood
John Llewellyn Probert – ZZ Experiment Camp
Neil Gaimon – Down Among The Dead men
Simon  Strantzas – #zOmBEY
Paul McAuley – Rendition
Brian Hodge – Fright Club
Peter Crowther – The World According To Bernie Maughmstein #1
Pat Cadigan – In The Cloud
Peter Crowther – The World According To Bernie Maughmstein #2
Peter Crowther – Corpse Gas
Peter Crowther – The World According To Bernie Maughmstein #3
Michael Marshall Smith – Getting It Right
Peter Crowther – The World According To Bernie Maughmstein #4
Roz Kaveny – A Shamble Of Zombies
Lisa Morton – Day Of The Dead
Amanda Foubister – To Serve Man
Peter Atkins – You Are What You Eat
Peter Crowther – The World According To Bernie Maughmstein #5
Robert Shearman – The Play’s The Thing
Peter Crowther – The World According To Bernie Maughmstein #6
Lisa Tuttle – Island Life
Peter Crowther – The World According To Bernie Maughmstein #7
Nancy Holder – My Fellow Americans

Picture credits: Reggie Oliver, Les Edwards, (MM) Smith & (S) Jones, Leonardo da Vinci & ‘Thomas Moreby’, Simon Strantzas, Shuttercock com.

Blurb:
Science Fiction
THERE IS NOTHING TO FEAR BUT FEAR ITSELF …. AND ZOMBIES!
Following the outbreak of Human Reanimation Virus — more commonly known as “The Death”— from a hidden crypt beneath a south London church, the centuries-old plague quickly spreads throughout the world, turning its victims into flesh-eating zombies.

As we learn more about the mysterious Thomas Moreby — “Patient Zero”— the surviving members of the human race begin their fightback against the legions of the walking dead, and the Infected themselves begin mutating into something … different.

Told through interconnected eyewitness accounts — emails, text messages, reports, diaries, found video footage, and graphic adaptations — the remnants of humanity battle to survive in a world gone mad.

Forthcoming Mammoth publications from Constable-Robinsons. October & November 2012.

Forthcoming Mammoth publications from Constable-Robinsons. October & November 2012.
Stephen Jones (ed.) – Zombie Apocalypse: Fightback (Robinson, October 2012)

Sequel to the bestselling Zombie Apocalypse! – 18,000 copies sold in the UK

This long-awaited follow-up to Zombie Apocalypse! is once again a ‘mosaic novel’ that weaves together contributions from big-name horror writers in the form of essays, reports, letters, official documents and transcripts to create a coherent and compelling narrative. In volume one, old-school, flesh-eating zombies spread ‘The Death’ around the world. Now, the fightback begins, spearheaded by an equally stellar line-up of contributors, from Neil Gaiman, Sarah Pinborough and Michael Marshall Smith to Lisa Tuttle, Roz Kaveney and Christopher Fowler, and master-minded by multi award-winning horror anthologist Stephen Jones.

This will be a must-have for the many fans of the first book as well as the ever-expanding legions of zombie and horror fans..

Stephen Jones (ed.) – Best New Horror 23 (Robinson, October 2012)

New volume in a series now into its 23rd year and winner of the World Fantasy Award, British Fantasy Award and International Horror Guild Award

Every single horror writer of note has contributed at some point to the Best New Horror series, compiled by internationally acclaimed horror anthologist Stephen Jones and dedicated to presenting the best in contemporary horror and dark fantasy fiction.

This year’s darkest, most exceptional tales of terror showcase new short stories from both contemporary masters of the macabre as well as exceptional newcomers. With top-name contributors – such as Joan Aitken, Ramsey Campbell, Christopher Fowler, Joe R. Lansdale, John Ajvide Lindqvist, Robert Silverberg, Michael Marshall Smith and Evangeline Walton – a comprehensive overview of the horror year, a necrology of recently departed luminaries and an exhaustive list of indispensable addresses, this series remains the world’s leading annual horror anthology and the key event in the horror calendar for all horror fans, young and old.

Peter Normanton – The Mammoth Book of Slasher Movies (Robinson, October 2012)

A classic gorefest for all horror lovers – the most gloriously gory slasher and splatter horror movies of the past sixty years.

You can scream all you want, but it won’t make them stop in this compendium of more than 60 grisly, gruesome years of slasher and splatter movies – from genre-hopping Danny Boyle’s first horror film, 28 Days Later, to gore-meister Lucio Fulci’s Zombie Flesh Eaters. Here you will find the low-down on some 250 movies, with entries from 23 different countries – assembled by born-again slasher fan Peter Normanton.

This wonderfully macabre compilation is a definite must-have for all aficionados of the slasher and splatter movie sub-genres and general horror fans alike. The index, which includes every movie mentioned in the A–Z and accompanying notes, runs to 540 movies. The book includes the full list of video nasties that the UK government has attempted to ban.

Marie O’Regan – Mammoth Book Of Ghost Stories By Women (Robinson, November 2012)

A mesmerizing spin on the modern dark tale – 25 haunting stories showcasing writing by women on the supernatural and the macabre

Ghost stories are a perennial favourite, and British Fantasy Award-nominated horror and dark fantasy writer Marie O’Regan has put together this unforgettable selection of dark, sensational, horrifying stories by acclaimed female writers.

Alongside a handful of reprints, both classic and contemporary, are spectral tales by outstanding talents, such as Kelley Armstrong, Muriel Gray, Nancy Holder, Nancy Kilpatrick, Sarah Langan, Gail Z. Martin, Elizabeth Massie, Yvonne Navarro, Sarah Pinborough, Lilith Saintcrow, Lisa Tuttle among others.

This haunting anthology is subtly beguiling, yet brings a new sense of daring to the modern dark tale and a hard-edged twist to traditional horror.

Details and, most likely, individual threads on each to follow over coming days/ weeks/ months. Five very exciting prospects, i’m sure you’ll agree.

Stephen Jones – Mammoth Book of Vampires: New Edition

Stephen Jones (ed.) – The Mammoth Book of Vampires:  New Edition (Robinson, 2004)

Introduction: The Children of the Night – Stephen Jones

Clive Barker – Human Remains –
Brian Lumley – Necros
Brian M. Stableford – The Man Who Loved the Vampire Lady
Michael Marshall Smith – A Place To Stay
Ramsey Campbell – The Brood
Nancy Kilpatrick – Root Cause
Robert Bloch – Hungarian Rhapsody
Christopher Fowler – The Legend Of Dracula Reconsidered As A Prime-Time TV Special
Richard Christian Matheson – Vampire
Hugh B. Cave – Stragella
David J. Schow – A Week in the Unlife
Frances Garfield – The House at Evening
Simon Clark – Vampyrrhic Outcast
R. Chetwynd-Hayes – The Labyrinth
Karl Edward Wagner – Beyond Any Measure
Basil Copper – Doctor Porthos
Paul McAuley – Straight To Hell
Dennis Etchison – It Only Comes Out at Night
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro – Investigating Jericho
Peter Tremayne – Dracula’s Chair
Sydney J. Bounds – A Taste For Blood
Melanie Tem – The Better Half
John Burke – The Devil’s Tritone
Manly Wade Wellman – Chastel
Howard Waldrop – Der Untergang des Abendlandesmenschen
Tanith Lee – Red As Blood
Tina Rath – A Trick Of The Dark
Graham Masterton – Laird of Dunain
F. Paul Wilson – Midnight Mass
Nancy Holder – Blood Gothic
Les Daniels – Yellow Fog
Steve Rasnic Tem – Vintage Domestic
Neil Gaiman – Fifteen Cards From A Vampire Tarot
Harlan Ellison – Try A Dull Knife
Kim Newman – Andy Warhol’s Dracula

The replaced stories are:
F. Marion Crawford – For the Blood Is the Life
Edgar Allan Poe – Ligeia
Bram Stoker – Dracula’s Guest
M. R. James – An Episode of Cathedral History
E. F. Benson – The Room in the Tower
Kim Newman – Red Reign
Neil Gaiman – Vampire Sestina [Verse]

See also: Mammoth Book Of Vampires (original edition)

Robinson Mammoths: Coming soon

These most caught my eye amongst the forthcoming batch. Judging from the amount of hits it receives on WordPress, several people found The Mammoth Book of Werewolves difficult to get hold of so full marks to the team for commissioning what looks like a revamped version. Wolf Men is due for publication in November.

Memo to Robinsons: The Mammoth Book Of  Best New Horror has won the BFS award more recently than 2002. How about last year, when it narrowly triumphed over the mighty Black Book Of Horror?!!!

Stephen Jones (ed.) – The Mammoth Book of Wolf Men (Robinsons, November 2009)

Find the beast that lurks within, in these 23 tales of terror and transformation

• Publication to coincide with release of the big-budget film of The Wolf Man (Universal’s classic monster revamped), starring Benito Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins.
• From an award-winning anthologist – Stephen Jones’ The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror won the 2002 British Fantasy Award for Best Anthology He is also a winner of the World Fantasy Award and the International Horror Guild Award.

This is the ultimate werewolf anthology, with terrifying tales from classic pulp novellas like Manly Wade Wellman’s The Hairy Ones Shall Dance and The Whisperers by Hugh B. Cave, to modern masterpieces such as David Case’s The Cell, Clive Barker’s Twilight At The Towers and the award-winning Boobs by Suzy McKee Charnas. Also collected are memorable stories by contemporary masters Ramsey Campbell, Les Daniels, Stephen Laws, Scott Bradfield, Dennis Echison, Karl E. Wagner and many, many more.

Praise for The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, also edited by Stephen Jones
‘The one essential collection people should be forced to read at gun point.’ – Time Out
‘Horror’s last maverick.’ – Christopher Fowler.

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The annual fright-fest. You already guessed the name contributors, but you may not have seen the cover..

Stephen Jones (ed.) – The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 20 (Robinsons, October 2009)

Special 20th-anniversary edition of the world’s premier annual showcase of horror and dark fantasy fiction

• The series has won the World Fantasy Award, British Fantasy Award and International Horror Guild Award
• From the world’s most acclaimed horror anthologist
• Anticipated annual event for horror fans, young and old – perfect for Halloween.

Here are the year’s darkest tales of terror, showcasing the most outstanding new short stories and novellas by contemporary masters of the macabre including Ramsey Campbell, Michael Bishop, Christopher Fowler, Tim Lebbon, Brian Lumlley, Ian R. MacLeod, Gary McMahon and Sarah Pinborough. Featuring the most comprehensive yearly overview of horror around the world, an impressively researched necrology and a lot of indispensible contact addresses for the dedicated horror fan and aspiring writer alike, this is required reading for every fan of macabre fiction.

Praise for The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror series:

‘The must-have annual anthology for horror fans.’ – Time Out
‘One of horror’s best.’ – Publisher’s Weekly
‘If you only buy one horror collection, make sure It’s this one” – Morpheus Tales.

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One for all you Paranormal Romance fans .

Trisha Telep (ed.) – Love Bites (Robinsons, August 2009)

From the biggest names in vampire romance, 24 tales of titillating bloodlust

• One of the fastest-growing genres in fiction
• Top names include Jennifer Ashley, Dawn Cook, Caitlin Kittredge, Diane Whiteside and Eileen Wilks.
• Compiled by an expert in the genre, a follow-up to The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance and The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance.

This bloodthirsty new selection of vampire short stories — compellingly original, wholly unexpected, from award-winning New York Times bestselling authors — features the specialist skills of Jennifer Ashley, Dawn Cook, Caitlin Kittredge, Diane Whiteside, Eileen Wilks and many others. Within these pages you’ll encounter vampires who’d feel right at home in a horror story or gothic romance; historical vampires and contemporary, gritty, urban vampires; fang-in-cheek comedy, boy-meets-girl sweetheart stories (if a little bloodier!) and erotic tales of inhuman passions and midnight pleasures. Look out too for short stories based on existing, familiar series; fantasy that develops more fully those characters whom you’ve only met before in walk-on parts.

Stephen Jones – Mammoth Best New Horror 19

Stephen Jones (ed.) – Mammoth Book Of Best New Horror #19 (Robinson, 2008)

Carlos Kastro

Stephen Jones – Introduction: Horror in 2007

Michael Marshall Smith – The Things He Said
Simon Kurt Unsworth – The Church On The Island
Christopher Fowler – The Twilight Express
Ramsey Campbell – Peep
Tim Pratt – From Around Here
Gary McMahon – Pumpkin Night
Simon Strantzas – The Other Village
Mike O’Driscoll – 13 O’Clock
Joel Lane – Still Water
Joe Hill – Thumbprint
Nicholas Royle – Lancashire
Marc Lecard – The Admiral’s House
Tony Richards – Man, You Gotta See This!
David A. Sutton – The Fisherman
Reggie Oliver – The Children Of Monte Rosa
Neil Gaiman – The Witch’s Headstone
Joel Knight – Calico Black, Calico Blue
Steven Erikson – The Rich Evil Sound
Glen Hirshberg – Miss Ill-Kept Runt
Joe R. Lansdale – Deadman’s Road
Mark Samuels – A Gentleman From Mexico
Tom Piccirilli – Loss
Christopher Harman – Behind The Clouds: In Front Of The Sun
Caitlin R. Kiernan – The Ape’s Wife
Conrad Williams – Tight Wrappers
Kim Newman – Cold Snap

Stephen Jones & Kim Newman – Necrology: 2007

Stephen Jones – Mammoth Book of Zombies

Stephen Jones (ed.) – The Mammoth Book of Zombies (Robinson, Oct 1993)

Luis Rey

Introduction: The Dead That Walk – Stephen Jones

Clive Barker – Sex, Death and Starshine
Ramsey Campbell – Rising Generation
Manly Wade Wellman -The Song of the Slaves
R. Chetwynd-Hayes -The Ghouls
Edgar Allan Poe – The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
Karl Edward Wagner – Sticks
Charles L. Grant – Quietly Now
Basil Copper – The Grey House
M. R. James – A Warning to the Curious
Nicholas Royle -The Crucian Pit
Brian Lumley -The Disapproval of Jeremy Cleave
H. P. Lovecraft – Herbert West: Reanimator
Lisa Tuttle – Treading the Maze
David Riley – Out of Corruption
Graham Masterton – The Taking of Mr. Bill
J. Sheridan Le Fanu – Schalken the Painter
David Sutton – Clinically Dead
Les Daniels – They’re Coming for You
Hugh B. Cave – Mission to Margal
Michael Marshall Smith – Later
Peter Tremayne – Marbh Bheo
Dennis Etchison – The Blood Kiss
Christopher Fowler – Night After Night of the Living Dead
Robert Bloch – The Dead Don’t Die!
Kim Newman – Patricia’s Profession
Joe R. Lansdale – On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folks

thanks to H. P. Saucecraft & Allthingshorror for providing cover scans.

see also Vault’s Mammoth Book Of  Zombies thread.

Stephen Jones – Mammoth Vampire Stories By Women

Stephen Jones (ed.) – The Mammoth Book of Vampire Stories by Women (Robinson, 2001)

Ingrid Pitt – Introduction: My life Among The Undead

Anne Rice – The Master Of Rampling Gate
Poppy Z. Brite – Homewrecker
Mary A. Turzillo – When Gretchen Was Human
Tanya Huff – The Vengeful Spirit Of Lake Nepeakea
Nancy Kilpatrick – La Diente
Tina Rath – Miss Massingbird And The Vampire
Freda Warrington – The Raven Bound
Nancy A. Collins – Vampire King And The Goth Chicks
Storm Constantine – Just His Type
Elizabeth Hand – Prince Of Flowers
Louise Cooper – Services Rendered
Janet Berliner – Aftermath
Yvonne Navarro – One Among Millions
Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman – Luella Miller
Lisa Tuttle – Sangre
Chelsea Quinn Yarbo – A Question Of Patronage
Ingrid Pitt – Hisako San
Kathryn Ptacek – Butternut And Blood
Wendy Webb – Sleeping Cities
E. Nesbit – The Haunted House
Roberta Lannes – Turkish Delight
Tanith Lee – Venus Rising On Water
Gemma Files – Year Zero
Mary E. Braddon – Good Lady Ducayne
Melanie Tem – Lunch At Charon’s
Elizabeth Massie – Forever, Amen
Ellen Kushner – Night Laughter
Christa Faust – Bootleg
Gala Blau – Outfangtheif
Pat Cadigan – My Brother’s Keeper
Caitlin R. Keirnan – So Runs The World Away
Gwyneth Jones – A North Light
Connie Willis – Jack
Jane Yolen – Vampyr

Blurb

Collected here for the first time are 34 strange and erotic tales of vampires, created by some of supernatural fiction’s greatest mistresses of the macabre. From the classic stories of Edith Nesbit, Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman and Mary Elizabeth Braddon, to modern incarnations by such acclaimed writers as Poppy Z. Brite, Nancy Kilpatrick, Tanith Lee, Caitlin R. Kiernan and Pat Cadigan, these blood-drinkers and soul-stealers range from the sexual to the sanguinary, from the tormented good to the unspeakably evil. Among these children of the night you will encounter Chelsea Quinn Yarbro’s Byronic vampire Saint-Germain, Nancy A. Collins’ undead heroine Sonja Blue, Tanya Huff’s vampiric detective Vicki Nelson and Freda Warrington’s age-old lovers Karl and Charlotte. Featuring the only vampire short story written by Anne Rice, the undisputed queen of vampire literature, and boasting an autobiographical introduction and original tale by Ingrid Pitt, the star of Hammer Films’ The Vampire Lovers and Countess Dracula, this is one anthology from which every vampire fan will want to drink deeply.

Peter Haining – Mammoth Modern Ghost Stories

Peter Haining (ed) – The Mammoth Book of Modern Ghost Stories (Robinson, 2007)

Cover: Joe Roberts

1. Raising Spectres: The Modern Tradition

M.R. James – ‘Oh Whistle, and I’ll Come To You, My Lad’
A.C. Benson – The House at Treheale
E.G. Swain – The Richpins
Arthur Gray – The Everlasting Club
A.N.L. Munby – Number Seventy-Nine

2. Ghost Writers: The “Golden Era”

Arthur Conan Doyle: Playing With Fire
Rudyard Kipling – The House Surgeon
John Buchan – The Grove Of Ashtroth
Somerset Maugham – The Man from Glasgow
D.H. Lawrence – The Last Laugh
Vladimir Nabokov – A Visit to the Museum

3. Phantom Ranks: Supernatural at War

Arthur Machen – The Bowmen
George Minto – The Ghost of U65
Algernon Blackwood – ‘Vengeance is Mine’
Lord Dunsany – The Punishment
Dennis Wheatley – The Haunted Chateau
Elizabeth Bowen – Pink May
Derek Barnes – A Gremlin in the Beer
Sir Alec Guinness – Money For Jam

4. The Ghost-Feelers: Modern Gothic Tales

Edith Wharton – The Lady’s Maid’s Bell
Marie Belloc Lowndes – The Duenna
Eudora Welty – Clytie
Daphne du Maurier – The Pool
Jane Gardam – A Spot of Gothic

5. Entertaining Spooks: Supernatural High Jinks

H.G. Wells – The Inexperienced Ghost
Alexander Wolcott – Full Fathom Five
James Thurber – The Night the Ghost Got In
Eric Keown – Sir Tristram Goes West
Kingsley Amis – Who or What Was It?
Ray Bradbury – Another Fine Mess

6. Christmas Spirits: Festive Season Chillers

Rider Haggard – Only a Dream…
Edith Nesbit – The Haunted House
E.F. Benson – The Light in the Garden
Marjorie Bowen – The Prescription
Howard Spring – Christmas Honeymoon
Hammond Innes – South Sea Bubble
Peter Ackroyd – Ringing in the Good News

7. Haunting Times: Tales of Unease

Fritz Leiber – Smoke Ghost
A.E. Van Vogt – The Ghost
William F. Nolan – The Party
J.B. Priestley – Underground
Joyce Carol Oates – Haunted
Philip Pullman – Video Nasty
Louis de Bernieres – My Beautiful House

Blurb:

This spine-chilling new anthology of 20th and 21st century tales by big name writers is in the best traditions of literary ghost stories. It is just a little over a hundred years ago that the most famous literary ghost story, The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, was published and in the intervening years a great many other distinguished writers have tried their hand at this popular genre – some basing their fictional tales on real supernatural experiences of their own.

See Vault of Evil forum on Mammoth Book Of Modern Ghost Stories

Peter Normanton – Mammoth Best Horror Comics

Peter Normanton (ed.) – The Mammoth Book of Best Horror Comics (Robinson, 2008)

That line-up in full!

Peter Normanton – Foreword

1. The Dark Age Of Comics: 1940’s – 1950’s

Famous Tales Of Terror (Yellowjacket #1, Sept. 1944)
Hitler’s Head (Weird Terror #1, Sept. 1952)
No Rest For The Dead (Journey Into Fear #12, March 1953)
He (Black Cat Mystery, Aug. 1952)
The Secret Files Of Dr. Drew (Rangers Comics #49, Oct. 1949)
The Corpse That Wouldn’t Die! (Web Of Evil #2, Jan. 1952)
Bride Of Death (Adventures Into Darkness #7, May 1952)
Dungeon Of Doom (Chamber Of Chills #6, March 1952)
Terror Of The Stolen Legs (Dark Mysteries #18, June 1954)
Den Of Horror (Weird Terror #3, Jan. 1953)
The Living Dead (Dark Mysteries #20, Oct. 1954)
Marching Zombies (Black Cat Mystery #35, May 1952)
Grave Rehearsal (Strange Fantasy #7, Aug. 1953)
A Glimpse Of The Pit (Horrific #9, Jan. 1954)
The Horror Of The Walking Corpse (Dark Mysteries #16, Feb. 1954)
The Thing That Walked At Night (Ghost Comics #9, Winter 1953)
Partners In Blood (Journey Into Fear #6, May 1952)
Dead Man’s Revenge (Shocking Mystery Cases #50, Sept. 1952)
The Hand Of Glory (Chilling Tales #13, Dec. 1952)
The Man Who Would Be Fate (Hand Of Fate #21, Aug. 1954)

2. The Terror Returns: 1960’s – 1970’s

The Master Of Dread End (Ghost Stories #1, Sept. 1962)
Santa’s Claws (Web Of Horror #3, Apr. 1970)
The Game Keeper (Ghostly Haunts #40, Sept. 1974)
Fatal Scalpel (Weird Vol. 2. #1, Dec. 1966)
The Weirdest Character I’ve Ever Known! (Ghostly Haunts #38, May. 1974)
Now … Another Maniac! (Psycho #18, May. 1974)
Through A Glass Darkly (Ghostly Tales #113, Feb. 1975)
Ghosts Walk Among Us (Psycho #15, Nov. 1973)
Tradition Of The Wolf (Nightmare #23, Feb. 1975)
Sea Of Graves (Web Of Horror #2, Feb. 1970)

3. The Faithful Few: 1980’s – 1990’s

Killer Planet (Death Rattle Vol. 2, #1, Oct. 1985)
Over His Head (Twisted Tales #2, Apr. 1983)
Christmas Carol (Demon Dreams #1, Feb. 1984)
Mr. Monster: His World (Dark Horse Presents #14, Jan. 1988)
Home Ties (Twisted Tales #6, Jan. 1984)
One Of These Days (Deadworld #6, Dec. 1987)
The Dunwich Horror (The Haunter Of The Dark & Other Grotesque Visions, 1999)
Dream Snake (Robert E. Howard Mythmaker, 1999)
Purgation (The Confessor Demonicus-ex-Deo, 1999)

4. A New Millennium Of The Macabre: 21st Century

Dread End (From The Tomb #12, Feb. 2004)
The Festival (Bedlam #5, July 2004)
The Crawlspace (From The Tomb #18, Christmas 2005)
Immortal: A Vampire Tale (Black Boar Press, 2003)
There Was An Old Woman (Fleshrot Tales From The Dead #2, 2003)
Cal McDonald: A Letter From B.S. (Drawing On Your Nightmares #1, Oct. 2003)
Luna’s Story: Little Red Riding Hood (Nightmares & Fairy Tales #8, March 2004)
The Graveswellers (Morbid #2, Feb. 2005)
Shuteye (Zacherley’s Midnight Terrors #2, 2004)

Acknowledgements.

Blurb:

In over 500 pages this book collects the finest tales of terror from the past sixty years of comic book publishing. It encompasses all eras of the genre, from the ‘weird menace’ horror of the perennially popular 1950s pre-Code comics published by EC, to the dark modern gems of the 90s and 2000s.

Discover the tales that drove the American youth of the 1950s into a frenzy and resulted in legislation to put an end to their gruesome content – the pre-Code comic book macabre that was Dark Mysteries, Chamber of Chills, Weird Terror and Journey into Fear. Contributors from these early years include Bernie Wrightson, master adapter of Lovecraft, Mary Shelley and Stephen King; Mike Kaluta, the man behind The Shadow, Metropolis, and The Spawn of Frankenstein; and Rudy Palais, the EC artist responsible for such twisted works as Marching Zombies.

Modern contributions include Pete Von Scholly’s The Graveswellers (the man behind The Shawshank Redemption, The Mask, and The Green Mile), David Hitchcock’s self-published Immortal – a Vampire Tale (creator of the Jack the Ripper comic Whitechapel Freak), Thomas Ott’s G.O.D. from Greetings from Hellville (acclaimed Swiss noir artist), Legendary Canadian counter-culture cartoonist Rand Holmes’ Death Rattle, and Vincent Locke’s One of These Days (famed for his underground hit zombie comic Deadworld), and comic-book legend Steve Ditko’s Disaster Doom Death

Not had a chance to give this anything more than a cursory browse yet, but it looks terrific! The second strip, from Weird Terror (Sept 1952) for example, is a delightful little thing entitled Hitler’s Head and who could resist The Terror Of The Stolen Legs? Review to follow ASAP but, in the meantime, has anyone else had the pleasure?

Paul Gravett – Mammoth Best Crime Comics

Paul Gravett (ed.) The Mammoth Book of Best Crime Comics (Robinsons, 2008)

Cover design by Peter Stanbury: Illustration by Jordi Bernet

Here is the first ever popular collection of crime comics – the 24 best graphic short stories in the crime genre, spanning all the colours of noir, from classic American newspaper strip serials and notorious uncensored comic books to today’s global graphic novel masterpieces.

This must-have collection is fully loaded with some of the greatest writers and artists in comics publishing, including Frank Miller, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Will Eisner, Max Allan Collins, Johnny Craig, Alex Toth, Joe Kubert, Bernie Krigstein – plus adaptations of/collaborations by famous crime writers, such as Dashiel Hammett, Mickey Spillane, Lesley Charteris and Raymond Chandler.

Meet a gallery of hard-boiled, iconic heroes and killers inside including:Dashiell Hammett’s smooth operator Secret Agent X-9, Will Eisner’s masked mystery man The Spirit, Mickey Spillane’s heavyweight tough-guy Mike Hammer, Muñoz and Sampayo’s brooding ex-cop Alack Sinner, Abuli and Bernet’s venal hitman-for-hire Torpedo 1936, Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty’s femme fatale investigator Ms. Tree, and Charles Burns’ Mexican wrestler and defective detective El Borbah.

About the Author:

Paul Gravett is the leading light in the UK comics industry. Freelance journalist, curator, and broadcaster, he has worked in comics publishing and promotion for over 20 years. He writes for publications as diverse as the Guardian, Bookseller and Comics International; and is author of Manga: 60 Years of Japanese Comics and Graphic Novels; Stories to Change Your Life.

Published by Robinson 18 July 2008, paperback, £12.99

I don’t do “bedside books” because I’m always far too busy having sex, but let’s pretend for a moment that I was like you poor fellows who lead a life of solitary vice and, most likely, wear pyjamas and comfy tartan slippers; then I’d have no hesitation in snuggling up in bed with a steaming hot cup of cocoa and a copy of The Mammoth Book of Best Crime Comics because it’s epic!

Only intended to flick through it for the time being but I wasn’t reckoning with the irresistible pull of Jack Cole’s drug soaked Murder, Morphine And Me (True Crimes, 1948), masked wrestler El Bordah (reluctantly dragging himself away from his copy of Bongo Butt magazine to investigate a bad show at the Sperm Bank in Charles Burns’ Love In Vein, 1987) and the squelchy horrors of Johnny Craig’s suitably malodorous The Sewer (William M. Gaines’ Crime Suspense Stories, 1951).

Ruthless Mr. Big’s, ultra-violent hoods, double-dealing dames, unscrupulous PI’s, cops of all stripe, stacked broads, the occasional juvenile delinquent – they’re all present and up to no good. I’ve not spotted any blackmailer’s or fat guys called ‘Mo’ yet, but chances are they’re in here. When I get time, I’ll try and give you the full table of contents for this and the companion volume of sorts – Mammoth Horror Comics – but hopefully this taster will at least give you some idea of the sickly treats in store.

Thanks, Sam!