The trade edition of Turn Down the Lights edited by Richard Chizmar is on the way to the warehouse from the printer and will begin shipping soon. Here are some of the early reviews:
“I read devoured the stories in an afternoon, trying to make them last, but unable to control myself. Isn’t that what we all want? Books that compel us to just keep reading – more, more, faster! Yeah, this book has that in spades.”
— SJ, Snobbery
“Turn Down the Lights doesn’t just celebrate Cemetery Dance magazine; it illustrates why the magazine is still such a vital publication a quarter of a century later. Chizmar’s eye for talent is impeccable, and his appreciation for all kinds of horror is essential to his success. These stories flow from the quiet to the surreal, from esoteric experimentation to Saturday matinee funhouse-style horror. For authors, an outlet like Cemetery Dance is a godsend. For readers, Cemetery Dance — including the magazine, this anthology and whatever projects come our way over the next 25 years — is a goldmine.”
— Blu Gilliand, FEARnet
“Turn Down the Lights functions as both a celebration and a summation; aptly, quite a few of these stories are about endings, quiet and loud… ”
— Kevin Quigley, FEARnet
My new short story “An Instant Eternity” will be published next month in Turn Down the Lights edited by Richard Chizmar, and I’m very pleased to show off GAK’s interior illustration for my story:
Table of Contents:
“Turn Down the Lights…” an introduction by Richard Chizmar
“Summer Thunder” by Stephen King
“Incarnadine” by Norman Partridge
“The Western Dead” by Jack Ketchum
“An Instant Eternity” by Brian James Freeman
“In the Room” by Bentley Little
“Flying Solo” by Ed Gorman
“The Outhouse” by Ronald Kelly
“Lookie Loo” by Steve Rasnic Tem
“Dollie” by Clive Barker
“The Collected Short Stories of Freddie Prothero” by Peter Straub
Afterword by Thomas F. Monteleone
My new short story “An Instant Eternity” will be published next month in Turn Down the Lights edited by Richard Chizmar, which features the most amazing table of contents of any book my work has appeared in. Read all about it:
It was December 1988: George Bush had just defeated Michael Dukakis in the Presidential Election. Pitcher Orel Hershiser and the Los Angeles Dodgers had beaten the Oakland A’s in five games to win the World Series. People were waiting in line at movie theaters to watch Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man. Tom Clancy’s The Cardinal of the Kremlin and Anne Rice’s The Queen of the Damned were atop the bestseller lists. The most acclaimed genre books of the year were Thomas Harris’s The Silence of the Lambs and Peter Straub’s Koko.
And twenty-two year old college student Richard Chizmar had just published the premiere issue of a horror magazine named Cemetery Dance.
Twenty-five years later, there have been seventy issues of Cemetery Dance magazine. There have been more than 275 signed Limited Edition hardcovers in the Cemetery Dance book line. There have been awards including the World Fantasy Award, the International Horror Critics Guild Award, and the HWA Board of Trustees Excellence in Specialty Press Publishing Award, as well as nominations for the British Fantasy Award, the American Horror Award, and the Bram Stoker Award, just to name a few.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of that premiere issue of Cemetery Dance, we’re proud to announce Turn Down the Lights, an anthology of authors who helped make the magazine what it is today. These original horror stories by Stephen King, Norman Partridge, Jack Ketchum, Brian James Freeman, Bentley Little, Ed Gorman, Ronald Kelly, Steve Rasnic Tem, Clive Barker, and Peter Straub capture the genuine love of the genre that pushes Cemetery Dance Publications forward year after year.
Now, turn down the lights, flip the page, take my hand, and start the dance…
Table of Contents:
“Turn Down the Lights…” an introduction by Richard Chizmar
“Summer Thunder” by Stephen King
“Incarnadine” by Norman Partridge
“The Western Dead” by Jack Ketchum
“An Instant Eternity” by Brian James Freeman
“In the Room” by Bentley Little
“Flying Solo” by Ed Gorman
“The Outhouse” by Ronald Kelly
“Lookie Loo” by Steve Rasnic Tem
“Dollie” by Clive Barker
“The Collected Short Stories of Freddie Prothero” by Peter Straub
Afterword by Thomas F. Monteleone
