For some reason, I never managed to pick up the chapbook version of “The Ugly Chickens” while Howard was alive, so I jumped on this copy when I saw someone was selling one on eBay. Plus a bonus Waldrop-related item many of his fans will find obscure.
Includes one of the best pictures of Howard I’ve seen from his Oso sojourn:
Both of these books are signed by Positronic Publishing Editor/Publisher Warren Lapine, who I think also edited both of these (though that’s not mentioned on their covers or title pages).
Another signed first by this legendary bookseller.
Rosenbach, A. S. W. A Book Hunter’s Holiday. Houghton Mifflin, 1936. First edition hardback, #747 of 760 signed, numbered copies, a Very Good+ copy with a bit of wear to the cloth and a large sticker ghost on the inside front cover, with some sheets still uncut, sans dust jacket, presumably as issued (the trade edition had a dust jacket, but all online examples of the signed edition seem to lack the dust jacket), but lacking the slipcase. Essays on bookselling and collecting. Received as a Christmas gift from Dwight, and a companion volume for Books and Bidders.
Another SST Lansdale limited came in:
Lansdale, Joe R. Sugar on the Bones. Short Scary Tales (SST) Publications. 2025. First limited edition hardback, #101 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine slipcase (the slipcase was not included in the base price for the book, I had to pay extra for it). Signed, limited edition of the latest Hap and Leonard novel.
I will have one copy of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Another Tim Powers limited edition from Charnel House:
Powers, Tim. The Mills of the Gods. Charnel House, 2025. First edition hardback (according to Charnel House, both this and the Baen edition came out December 2, 2025), #54 of 150 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Supernatural fantasy set in 1925 Paris. Bought from the publisher at the usual discount.
I will have a single copy available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Updated with more first edition information from the publisher.
An odd chapbook find from my trip to Houston:
Lethem, Jonathan. K is for Fake. McSweeney’s Quarterly, 2000. First edition chapbook original, a Fine copy. Story about Franz Kafka from the then-forthcoming Kafka Americana. Bought for $10 from The Little Book House in the Woods in Spring, Texas.
Obviously I’m a sucker for weirdo SF/F chapbooks…
Been a while since we did served up a slice of SPC ECO, so enjoy “For All Time”:
Two more Houston Half Price Books finds, the only connection being two Texas authors I know personally.
Elizabeth Ann Scarborough is a writer I previously had one book for, The Healer’s War, because the Nova Express crew recommended it back in the day. But I found a signed copy of another Scarborough book I was intrigued about (mainly due to the title) quite cheap, so I picked it up.
Scarborough, Elizabeth [Ann]. The Drastic Dragon of Draco, Texas. Bantam Spectra, 1986. First edition paperback original, a Near Fine- copy with slight pine creasing and lean trace of edgewear and wear at tips, slight foxing and page toning, inscribed by Scarborough: “For Bobbi,/Not a tall tail but a long one./Elizabeth Scarborough/Ann[?].” Bought at a Half Price Books for $1.99.
I found several PBOs inscribed by Scarborough on the trip, the rest of which will be available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog (probably May).
Another Houston area Half Price Books find.
Burke, James Lee. In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead. Hyperion, 1993. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine, Mylar protected dust jacket, inscribed by Burke: “To Morey,/All the best,/James Burke.” I picked this up because I heard good things about it (and the author), and since there’s a ghost in it, it qualifies as slipstream. Bought for $9.99.
