Archive for October, 2019

Ten Years of Blogging

Sunday, October 13th, 2019

Evidently I’ve been posting here for ten years, since my first post is dated October 12, 2009. Going back over those early posts, I’m struck by just how many of the links are dead. Also, I used to blog more about sports, which I largely stopped doing because there are a ton of other places that cover it, and I seldom have time to watch sports anymore.

My very first “library addition” post doesn’t show up until November 15 of the same year…

Halloween Horrors: Tarantula Stampede

Saturday, October 12th, 2019

Have a fear of spiders? Maybe you don’t want to hear that it’s tarantula mating season, with thousands of the eight legged creatures on the move in search of a mate:

But don’t worry, this amorous arachnid stampede is only happening in the far-flung locale of [checks notes] the San Francisco Bay area

(Hat tip: Derek Johnson)

Library Addition: Two Joe R. Lansdale Firsts

Friday, October 11th, 2019

Two books, one a small press signed/limited edition that I’ll have in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, the other anthology I just missed picking up when it came out:

  • Lansdale, Joe R. The Big Book of Hap and Leonard. Short, Scary Tales Publications, 2019. First edition hardback, #101 of 400 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Collection of Hap and Leonard stories. Includes everything in the Tachyon Hap and Leonard trade paperback, plus several additional pieces. I’ve also laid the three SST stickers affixed to the tissue paper wrapping the book ships with, because that’s just the sort of hairball I am.

  • Lansdale, Joe R., editor. Crucified Dreams: Tales of Urban Horror. Tachyon Press, 2011. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Reprint anthology. Some good stories in here.
  • Halloween Horrors: (More) Scary Nurse Stories

    Thursday, October 10th, 2019

    Remember those scary nurse stories I mentioned a few years ago?

    Well, here’s thirteen more.

    A sample:

    I was working in an icu. had a patient who would only repeat what was said to her and was with her all night. One time I went in the room and she started telling me all the ways she died. “I died because of a narcotic overdose, I died because I took too much insulin, I died on a sunny Sunday afternoon,” etc. Then later she looked up at the ceiling and said “they’re all still there.” I ran out of that room as fast as I could.

    Library Addition: Signed/Limited Edition of Michael Chabon’s Telegraph Avenue

    Tuesday, October 8th, 2019

    Another Chabon I was missing:

    Chabon, Michael. Telegraph Avenue. Harper, 2012. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with a bump at head and a pinhead red remainder mark at heel, in a Fine- dust jacket with wrinkling along that bump, with Chabon’s signature sheet bound in. ISBN is the same as the trade edition. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a presigned edition remaindered by a major publisher before. Maybe it got mixed in with the regular titles, or maybe it was due to the bump. Bought from Half Price Books for $12 (marked down from $15).

    Halloween Horrors: Japanese Hell Temple

    Wednesday, October 2nd, 2019

    If you find yourself in east Osaka, Japan, you can visit Senkoji Temple, a shrine dedicated to giving you a glimpse of Hell, including hearing the voices of the damned:

    Halloween Horrors: Watch Nightmare Bob Ross Unpaint the Centipede Tree

    Tuesday, October 1st, 2019

    Welcome to the Halloween Season!

    Someone unleashed Deep Dream on reversed Bob Ross and the result is Grade A Nightmare Fuel: