Booth #5: ThoRns Grove - Where Books Eat YOU

[Thorngrub]

*high-5's patlogi*

[Thorngrub]

Back in March I put down for a pre -order of John Shirley's new book The Other End on Amazon.com (his alternative to those "Left Behind" nonsense books), and I did so because the publisher [Cemetary Dance] is selling it for $40 -- limited 1st edition, signed collector's hardcover; and Amazon is selling it for $26.50. Well that's a no-brainer; I put in my order and of course, Amazon won't charge my card until it ships.

Well they continually "bumped" the ship date, I had to keep replying that I still wanted it; eventually they settled on JUNE 6, and just a week ago they sent me yet another email explaining it would now not be shipped until the end of August or so.

That did it: I ordered the thing straight from Cemetary Dance for forty bucks. It should be arriving any day now, and I am psyched out of my mind.

I have until the end of June to tell Amazon whether or not to keep or cancel my order. I'm considering keeping it - so that I can have another copy to give as a present.

This book is going to RULE THE UNIVERSE.



The Other End
by John Shirley

Do you ever think that the human world is hopelessly out of balance, blighted, off track, and the only hope is some kind of apocalypse, some sort of end of the world that would allow the human race a new beginning, a fresh start without...ah...certain people?

You know you don't want—and can't believe in—the usual "End Times" scenarios that are predicted and ballyhooed by hysterical, superstitious people.

But when you look around at the world as it stands—you see Darfur, you see Somalia and the Congo, you see the modern slavery of indentured servitude, you see children sold into prostitution, you see millions starving, you see mindless wars, you see people you care about dying of Alzheimer's and children dying of cancer and millions of others trapped in schizophrenia or living lives of media-hypnotized desperation...

You see a planet beset by a loss of biodiversity, a depleted ozone layer, slash-and-burn destruction of rainforests, and the onset of global warming...

And you know that because the population of the Earth is increasing, it's only going to get worse. This can't go on; something has to change.

What if you could change it? What if you could design your own Judgment Day?

What if there were another end rather than one based on childish interpretations of religion, bias, bigotry, exclusion, and cultural narrowness?

What if Judgment Day came for the whole world and offered true justice?

It would be THE OTHER END.

Reviews and Praise:
"Veteran horror writer Shirley (Cellars) swaps gory for glory in this inventive if politically heavy-handed left-wing answer to Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins's evangelical Left Behind series. Child slavers, genocidal soldiers and corrupt statesmen have fourth-dimensional visions and abandon their wicked ways in the first part of the novel, narrated by Sacramento Bee reporter Jim Swift and his conspiracy-nut friend, Ed Galivant, in a style oddly reminiscent of C.M. Kornbluth's 'The Silly Season.' Readers of all persuasions will relish the repentance of these universally acknowledged bad guys..." — Publishers Weekly

About the Author:
John Shirley is the author of many novels and numerous short stories. As a screenwriter he is best known for The Crow. He has won both awards and disdain for his work. He's been called an outsider artist, a visionary, a gonzo surrealist, a "bad boy" of science fiction, the postmodern Poe, and a genre outlaw, Shirley's writing is often noted for as being edgy, risky, and bold...and now he's written this shocking polemic: The Other End—a novel that offers a phenomenology, an outrageously definitive and paradigm-shattering metaphysic, an inexorable transfiguration that is more terrifyingly believable, than anyone has heretofore imagined.

- - - - - - - -
the author's website & message board:

www.darkecho.com/johnshirley

- - - - - - - - -

the publisher's website if you want to fork over $40 for it:

www.cemeterydance.com/page/CDP/PROD/shirley03

[Thorngrub]

What an amazing book.
Just finished "Phase One",
and already I am choked up
with emotion.

[sisyphus]

Our Life with Mister Gurdjieff - Thomas de Hartmann

Tar Baby - Toni Morrison

The Tao of Breathing - I forgot his name

[Thorngrub]

Will have to suspend ultimate judgment until I'm finished with the book, of course; but for now, it is an engaging read. I'd recommend this to JACkory and Melaun, as well as to everyone else, really. It's a pretty intense story when you stop and think about it.

[skvorisdeadsorta]

Wow. He looks CRAZY!

[Thorngrub]

Yah . . . like the "mad monk Rasputin", really . . .

[Thorngrub]

Weed Species, by Jack Ketchum


This is a limited 1st Edition Hardcover, signed by the author


Jack Ketchum is one of the new burning bright lights in the horror field, along w/Ed Lee considered to be one of the sickest new bloods in the scene.


WEED SPECIES: In ecology. An invasive species, also called an invasive exotic, is an organism that is intentionally or accidentally introduced to an area where it is not native, and where it successfully invades and disturbs natural ecosystems, displacing native species. The term is most often applied to, but not limited to, plants. See also kudzu, water hyacinth, zebra mussel, Burmese python, eco-tourism, sociopath.

Please Note: In an interview we've excerpted here, Jack Ketchum calls this book "the most vicious thing I think I've ever done..." He goes on to say: "...if I don't make myself feel something, I'm not going to make you feel something. So in this case, I wanted to make you feel repulsed. So I had to repulse myself..." You may want to read the interview before you read the free excerpt or order your copy so you can have a better idea what the book is all about.


About the Author:
Jack Ketchum is the pseudonym for a former actor, singer, teacher, literary agent, lumber salesman, and soda jerk -- a former flower child and baby boomer who figures that in 1956 Elvis, dinosaurs and horror probably saved his life. His first novel, Off Season, prompted the Village Voice to publicly scold its publisher in print for publishing violent pornography. He personally disagrees but is perfectly happy to let you decide for yourself. His short story "The Box" won a 1994 Bram Stoker Award from the HWA, his story "Gone" won again in 2000—and in 2003 he won Stokers for both best collection for Peaceable Kingdom and best long fiction for Closing Time. He has written eleven novels, the latest of which are Red, Ladies' Night, and The Lost. His stories are collected in The Exit At Toledo Blade Boulevard, Broken on the Wheel of Sex, and Peaceable Kingdom. His novella The Crossings was cited by Stephen King in his speech at the 2003 National Book Awards.

-----

www.cemeterydance.com/page/CDP/PROD/ketchum06

[Thorngrub]

excerpt from an Interview with Jack Ketchum by Monica O'Rourke about Weed Species

This is an excerpt from the excellent interview that appears on feoamante.com. There's a link below to read the rest! We thank Monica and Feoamante.com for allowing us to reprint this portion here:





...
MO: Sort of like Weed Species, which isn't out yet. Based on actual events.

JK: Weed Species is a small novella. It's been illustrated by Alan M. Clark. He's done the cover, and Glenn Chadbourne is doing the interiors. They're quite nice. Almost allegory, because people aren't going to know what the hell this thing is until they open the book.

MO: I was really quite surprised by it when I read it.

JK: It's the most vicious thing I think I've ever done.

MO: It is brutal.

JK: And I think the reason it is so hard is, in this case I almost don't give you any sympathy for the characters. They're weeds. You need to pluck them. (laughs)

MO: When you and I discussed this story, you seemed almost put off by your use of graphic language in this story.

JK: It seemed to bother me? No, I wanted to bother you.

MO: Well it did. But I got the impression you were also put off by it.

JK: Well yes, of course I'm put off by it. Again, if I don't make myself feel something, I'm not going to make you feel something. So in this case, I wanted to make you feel repulsed. So I had to repulse myself. So I used those kinds of words, and I used that kind of dialogue, where for example at one point he's telling this rape victim to talk back to him like he's Daddy, like he's the best fuck she's ever had and all that shit. They do that. Most of this dialog was taken straight out of transcripts. And that's what they say. And yes, it turns me very, very off, so to turn you off, I used it.
...

*To read the entire interview w/Jack Ketchum, click below*

www.feoamante.com/Stories/Inter_views/Ketchum/Jack_1.html

[skvorisdeadsorta]

I've read a couple of excerpts from Head's autobiography and I have to admit I'm a little intrigued. What's it like? Have you finished it? Is he totally down on his old bandmates or does at least acknowledge that he had fun? I know I should probably just go read it, but still......I'd like your opinion on it since you're the Korn guy.

[Thorngrub]

I finished Head's book, and no, he is not down on his old bandmates at all, he loves them and they love him still. He just went through such shit w/meth, that he couldn't handle, the waters got muddied up a bit there between em. Everythings cleared up, and the book is an engaging read, you'll read it in a couple or three sittings.

What makes it so refreshing to read, is that his conversion to Christianity took place with all the fresh perspective of a child- - that's how he sees things. Like when he explains to his readers what "denominations" are, it just came across real earnest. And when he learns about speaking in tongues, that part is really fascinating, his openness and enthusiasm is pretty heartwarming.

And just to see him back with his daughter Jennea, it just makes me so happy that he survived his drug addiction (instead of ending up a corpse - - which he easily could have done).

He explains about the process of having written "3 albums worth" of songs, and that he was merely a vessel which God used to "download" the songs. He writes how every bit was clear to him, the drums, bass, guitar, choir, lyrics, everything. And that after a period of white-hot intensity chanelling all this music, it suddenly came to a full stop (which further proved to him it was "God" writing them, not him).

One of the songs is called "It's Time To See Religion Die", and he claims that for a bit, at the start, he tried writing "soft, prettier" type music, but that didn't work at all, and then he realized God wanted him to use his natural talent to continue writing the heaviest music possible.

I have an immense respect for him because he is currently engaged in a personal relationship with God, hence the title for that Religion Must Die song. It comes straight from the heart, he called that song a "fist pumper", lol.

After reading it, you really get the feeling we'll be hearing more from Brian Welch.

Oh yeah, he also talks about how JOsh Freese laid down the drum tracks for those songs. It really makes me psyched to hear them.

[Thorngrub]

Here is a very nice compilation of recent horror stories in the Lovecraftian tradition. Published by Elder Signs Press, they are at the forefront of the Lovecraftian revival. I've read the first 3 or 4 stories, and so far, they were pretty good reads. Recommended for fans of the creepy and macabre.

[skvorisdeadsorta]

DUDE! That looks quite good. Are at all familiar with Thomas Ligotti? He is one of my fav new authors in the Weird Fiction/Lovecraft Vein

[Thorngrub]

Oh yeah I've heard of him - he's a big name in the field. Been around awhile, too. Been meaning to check some of his stuff out . . . I'll keep an eye out for him man.

[skvorisdeadsorta]

There is a best of collection titled "The Shadow At The Bottom Of The Well" that is in a trade paperback format that is pretty cheap. I think it's 12 bucks and you can get it from Amazon. I think he might be the best of the field in a very long time.