AbeBooks' Reading Copy » horror

Stephen King Fan Publishes Jack Torrance’s Novel

Kathleen — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:27:28 +0000

In Stephen King’s The Shining, Jack Torrance is a frustrated writer who travels to an isolated hotel during winter in hopes of finding inspiration to write the novel he’s always wanted to start. Alas, “things” get in the way and Jack’s manuscript merely reads “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” over and over again. Not good when you’re aiming for a best seller.

Now New York artist Phil Buehler, a self-described Stephen King fan, has brought Jack Torrance’s book to press. Crediting the work to Torrance, Buehler has self-published a book that also repeats the phrase throughout but employs different formatting on each page, using the words to create various shapes.

I think I’ll go off and bottle my own Red Rum…

Read the article in The Guardian.

Stephen King’s Choices for the 10 Best Books of 2008

Kathleen — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 22:20:26 +0000

What titles does an author who has sold an estimated 300-350 million copies of his own books recommend?

Stephen King shares his top 10 picks for 2008 on EW.com. (Note: King does take liberties with choosing only 10 books.) In descending order his choices include:

10. The Good Guy by Dean Koontz

9. Old Flames by Jack Ketchum

8. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

7. Hollywood Crows by Joseph Wambaugh

6. Heartsick/Sweetheart by Chelsea Cain

5. Nixonland by Rick Perlstein

4. The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney

3. When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson

2. The Garden of Last Days by Andre Dubus III

1. The novels of Robert Goddard

Creepy Poe-etry

slaming — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 21:51:22 +0000

Just in time for Halloween we have put together a little feature on the life and poetry of Edgar Allan Poe as well as the 10 most expensive Poe works ever sold on AbeBooks.

American Psycho the musical

Richard Davies — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:29:44 +0000

American Psycho could be made into a musical reports the NY Times. What an excellent idea – doesn’t the book contain torture, rape, mutilation, cannibalism, and necrophilia? I can just imagine the Japanese tourists lining up to buy tickets on Broadway for that one.

Want a binding contract?

slaming — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 19:09:11 +0000

When nothing else will do, sign it in blood!

Finally I can get started on my own interpretation of the Necronomicon.

Book bound by human skin

slaming — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 17:54:06 +0000

A 17th century book believed to be bound in the skin of a priest executed for treason appears to bear a “spooky” image of his face on the cover, according to the auctioneers who are selling the book.

Sid Wilkinson, from Wilkinson’s Auctioneers in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, who will be selling the book on Sunday, said he could see the Jesuit priest’s face peering out from the cover. He said: “It’s a little bit spooky because the front of the book looks like it has the face of a man on it, which is presumed to be the victim’s face.”

From The Guardian

Halloween in Whitby

Richard Davies — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 18:17:17 +0000

To celebrate Halloween, The Guardian’s Sam Jordison visits Whitby in Yorkshire – a quiet seaside market town….and, of course, the scene of Dracula’s evil work.

Scary reading

slaming — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 21:21:53 +0000

Tis the season to be scared out of your tree. If you want to sleep poorly this weekend AbeBooks.com Avid Readers have voted on the 10 scariest characters in literature of all time.

Is there anyone YOU would have put on the list instead?

Stephen King defaces, er signs, books in bookstore

slaming — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 16:17:13 +0000

The prolific horror author was caught by a customer in an Alice Springs (Australia) bookstore, putting pen to page on six copies of his newest book, The Cell.

The customer went straight to management and explained that some jerk was wrecking the books. Turns out the manager had an idea that it might be Stephen King himself, and had her suspicions confirmed when she met the author in the produce section of a local grocery store.

When asked if it was the first time an author had simply come in a started signing,the store manager replied: “They don’t normally just open the books and go for it.”

The signed Stephen King books will be donated to various charities concerned with literature.

Story from The Age