It's that time again! Just a few updates and notes. After reading the last post I can see that our timetimeable got pushed back by about two to three weeks on some publications and for that I apologize.
First up we are now shipping out The Better Year by Bridget Morrow. Her first novel Master won the Los Angeles Black Book Expo Award for fiction. She is a great talent and we are pleased to publish her first novella. Here is a bit about the title:
Marcie fights the fear of cancer, her childhood, and something much darker. A haunting tale of troubled youth, love gone bad, and demons both real and perceived. Marcie is a woman haunted by two peoplw. A childhood loss and unconscious decisions made as a teenager, plunge her into a place of darkness she never imagined exsisted. The people haunting Marcie are obsessed with her. One tries to save her while the other is hell bent on destroying her. Both leave her soul at risk during the most vulnerable time in her like. The people tearing Marcie apart--are Marcie
Limited to 100 numbered copies, signed by the author. 63 pages. Art by Erin Wells. There will be NO letter edition for this title so if you are one of our letter buyers and want to keep that collection complete you gotta grab a copy of the numbered. We are more then half sold out, so don't miss out on this title.
Next we have Necropolis by John Urbancik. This is the third title we have done of John's and this is another great story. Fright.com did a small review about it:
An extended prose poem masquerading as a horror novella, this is a wondrously strange, occasionally gruesome tale, somewhat reminiscent of the poetic horror fests of T.M. Wright but very much the product of the extremely gifted John Urbanicik (whose other publications include the novels BREATH OF THE MOON and SINS OF BLOOD AND STONE).
In the midst of a vast cemetery, where “gravestones and mausoleums seem to go on forever in every direction,” several eccentric individuals are caught up in a drama involving murder, sacrifice, capture and escape. It all takes place over the course of a single night that leaves everyone involved irretrievably altered (in every possible sense of the word).
There’s Kelli, a photographer lured into the cemetery by an unseen flute player; Kevin and Jill, a couple in search of a wishing well; another couple, Anna and Darren, who are looking to perform a magical incantation. There’s also a ghostly individual named Auguste and a malevolent entity known as the Spider-Queen--who’s looking for her next meal! Auguste and the Spider-Queen dwell in the cemetery, while the others can’t seem to escape the place.
The overall nature of these peoples’ shared predicament isn’t exactly hard to figure out, although John Urbanicik’s aims aren’t as cut and dried as you might think. As one character comments, “Death comes in layers…you cross one just by being at the cemetery.” Hence the increasingly surreal exploits of Kelli, Kevin, Jill, Anna and Darren.
NECROPOLIS contains some good creepy-crawly stuff--a woman trapped in a crypt, a bloody stabbing, at least one mass spider attack--but its real virtues are in the dreamlike atmosphere and thoughtful narrative, which is packed with literary allusions (“The Raven” and “The Pied Piper of Hamelin” being the most blatant). The prose is engagingly frank and down-to-Earth; together with the fast 82-page count, this ensures a one-sitting read for those unafraid of fine writing that demands much and rewards more.
Here is a little about the book:
In the great city of the dead, night brings life to the gravesides. Spirits rise as the sun falls. Love is tested. Mysteries are presented. Strangers drift through the stones. Queens. Spiders. Goddesses. Death. In the great city of the dead, a dollar coin might buy your dearest wish. A photographer might capture her own heart. A breeze might reveal a raven. Listen to the sounds of the flute, listen to the soundless fireflies, listen to the ravensong.
It's not only ghosts that wander the Necropolis.
Limited to 150 numberd softcovers and 26 lettered hardcover copies, signed by the author. 100 pages. Filled with color and black and white photography by the author.
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(I love Jill Bauman)