Archive for the ‘Games’ Category

Library Additions: Four Paperback Originals

Thursday, January 11th, 2024

Three of these were bought at Half Price Books locations in the Dallas Metroplex, and two replace slightly less attractive copies.

  • Delany, Samuel R. Babel-17. Ace, 1966. First edition paperback original, a Fine copy, though with slight age darkening to the pages. Nebula Award winner and Hugo nominee. Currey, page 139. Replaces a slightly less attractive copy. Bought for $5 at Recycled Books in Denton.

  • Martin, George R. R. Wild Cards VIII: One-Eyed Jacks. Bantam Spectra, 1991. First edition paperback original, a Near Fine copy with mild spine creasing and a trace of wear at points. This completes my Wild Cards paperback collection. Bought for $2.49.

  • Moore, Ward. Caduceus Wild. Pinnacle Books, 1978. First edition paperback original, a Near Fine- copy with one tiny spine crease near front join, bookstore stamp inside, slight rubbing to rear cover, trace of magic marker left over price on front cover (Bestine took care of the rest), and touch of edgewear. Moore’s last novel. Replaces a slightly less attractive copy. Bought for $1.99.

  • Wagner, Karl Edward, and David drake. Killer. Baen Books, 1985. First edition paperback original, a Near Fine- copy with slight spine creasing, edgewear, and foxing to insider covers. Hunting an alien killer in ancient Rome. Bought for $1.49.

  • This is the last of the books picked up on the Thanksgiving trip to the Metroplex.

    MST3K’s 14th Season Fundraiser Going Slow

    Monday, November 20th, 2023

    You may have noticed that Joel Hodgson and MST3K gang are having a new kickstarter for the next season (for values of “kickstarter” that include “not on the Kickstarter platform”). There are five days left and they are only 38% of the way to the first goal of $4.8 million, which will be six features and six shorts.

    The last two Kickstarters they had blew past their goals.

    This one? Not so much. Despite announcing that Plan 9 from Outer Space will be among the riffed films.

    Donor fatigue? The Biden Recession? Not doing enough promotion? Not enough boost from a non-Kickstarter platform? Disgruntlement over how long it took people to get their promised rewards from the last campaign?

    I think it may be some combination of all the above.

    Maybe the usual Turkey Day festivities will kick it into higher gear. But if they don’t, this may be the first MST3K fundraising effort to fail.

    Halloween Horrors: Creepy Spider Light

    Sunday, October 29th, 2023

    Who wouldn’t like a lamp in the shape of a spider wandering around your house at night?

    Halloween Horrors: Steamed Hams as Terrifying Soviet Animation

    Thursday, October 12th, 2023

    Once again, The Simpsons “Steamed Hams” segment has inspired the Internet to produce an alternate version, this one in terrifying Soviet-style animation.

    The juggling Crusty is pure nightmare fuel.

    (Previously.)

    Halloween Horrors: Mel’s Hole

    Tuesday, October 10th, 2023

    Here’s a nicely creepy borderlands of science/urban legend/conspiracy theory video about a hole that has no bottom.

    80,000 feet worth of fishing line found no bottom. Plus animals avoided it, and radios went crazy, when they weren’t picking up signals from 30 years before.

    Then the government took it over.

    Much more paranormal weirdness ensues

    Was it real? Well, as real as anything else with a Wikipedia entry featured on Art Bell.

    Good luck finding it on map…

    Library Additions: Three Signed PS Publishing Titles

    Wednesday, August 23rd, 2023

    All signed, slipcased PS Publishing firsts:

  • Baxter, Stephen. Xeelee: Endurance. PS Publishing, 2017. First edition hardback, letter D of 26 lettered copies, a Fine copy in a decorated boards and a Fine dust jacket and a Fine decorated slipcase. I collected Baxter for a while until he become too prolific for me to keep up with, but I did like the Xeelee books. Bought from Camelot Books for $50.

  • (Lovecraft, H. P.) Joshi, S. T. Black Wings VII: New Tales of Lovecraftian Horror. PS Publishing, 2023. First edition hardback, one of 200 copies signed by all the contributors, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine slipcase. Original anthology, including stories from John Shirley, Ramsey Campbell and Steve Rasnick Tem. Bought from the publisher at the usual discount. I will have a small number of these available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.

  • Silverberg, Robert. Monsters and Things. PS Publishing, 2023. First edition hardback, #100 of 100 signed, numbered copies in decorated boards signed by Silverberg, editor Stephen Jones, and illustrator Randy Brocker, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine slipcase, with erratum sheet laid in noting that one of these stories (many of them written under pseudonyms) actually was from Donald Westlake writing as Richard Stark. Oops! Already sold out from the publisher. I will have a small number of these available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.

  • Library Additions: Two Signed Tim Powers Firsts+

    Wednesday, November 9th, 2022

    Three books, including two signed Tim Powers firsts.

  • Powers, Tim. Always Going On. Subterranean Press, 2020. First edition hardback, #183 of 250 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued, with Subterranean “packed by” slip laid in. Only available as a set with Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy 3 (see below).

  • Powers, Tim. The Skies Discrowned. Charnel House, 2022. First edition hardback, #54 of 200 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. “Handbound in Indigo Night Cave Paper (Belgium Flax dyed with Indigo & Walnut). This Cave Paper was made by hand for this edition. Each one of a kind sheet sheet guaranties that each book is unique. Exquisitely printed on 80lb Mohawk Superfine.” Part of a uniform prestige edition that Charnel House is doing of all Powers’ books. I will have one copy of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.

  • Schafer, William, editor. Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy 3. Subterranean Press, 2020. First edition hardback, #183 of 250 numbered copies signed by all the contributors, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, with Subterranean “packed by” slip laid in. Anthology with stories by Robert R. McCammon, Richard Kadrey, etc. Sold as a set with Always Going On, bought as a set from Subterranean for $75, 50% off the original cover price. Now sold out from the publisher.
  • Halloween Horrors: The Backrooms

    Sunday, October 30th, 2022

    The Backrooms are a liminal space CreepyPasta setting where you’ve “no clipped” out of reality into and endless office maze of office corridors decorated in ugly yellow wallpaper and brown carpets illuminated by buzzing florescent lights.

    Several video creators have run with this idea and produced some pretty convincing depictions of it. In the ones below, YouTuber Kane Parsons, AKA Kane Pixals, has filled in background lore where the Async Corporation has created (or possibly tapped into) The Backrooms as a potential money-making project, documenting their work as bland, 1980s-corporate speak promotional videos and handheld camera footage that have come down to us as grainy VHS copies. It’s a pretty-inspired mating of presentation format and subject.

    And the people exploring the Backrooms start to realize that the deeper you get, the weirder things seem to be, and that there’s something else wandering those yellow hallways…

    Evidently he’s doing all this in Blender, which you can download for free.

    And there are lots more YouTube creators doing their own versions of the Backrooms…

    PAX Coming to San Antonio in January 2015

    Saturday, April 12th, 2014

    Penny Arcade Expo is coming to San Antonio January 23-25, 2015. No venue was announced, but I can’t imagine they can hold that monster in anything smaller than the convention center, since PAX Prime in Seattle has drawn as many as 70,000 participants.

    This is what they call “a big deal.” And unlike Worldcon, expect most of the attendees to be under 30 rather than over 50…

    Ogre KickStarter Update

    Friday, May 11th, 2012

    The funding period ending for the designer edition of Ogre I previously mentioned.

    The total amount raised:

    I would imagine that Steve is a very happy camper right now, especially considering that the original goal was $20,000…