In 2004, BBC 4 aired Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, a horror parody series satirizing the cheapness of 1980s BBC TV shows, created by Matthew Holness and Richard Ayoade, all supposedly the work of “Garth Marenghi” (Holness), “the only writer to publish more books than he’d read.” Last year, I showed these as the Halloween offering for our regular Saturday movie group. Dwight took that as a license to buy these two signed “Marenghi” firsts and give them to me as a birthday gift.
She just posted the good news.
Yesterday, my oncologist called to give me the results of my latest CT scan and it seems the thing that I didn’t think could happen, happened: there is no more cancer.
My mind is blown.
My original oncologist told me I might have two years or less. If you look up the prognosis for recurrent endometrial cancer, median survival is still given as 12 to 15 months. The five-year survival rate is 20% to 55% depending on how it recurs. I managed to hang in for eleven years, and now it’s gone.
That’s the limit of my coherence right now. There’s a wild party going on in my head.
Congratulations!
Another Borderlands Press Little Book came in:
London, Jack. A Little White Book of the Wild. Borderlands Press, 2026. First edition hardback, #463 of 350 copies signed by editor John DeChancie, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Five stories, the only one I’ve which I’ve already read is “To Build A Fire.”
I will have a small number of these available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Rainsong seem to be a pretty new Shoegaze band; their Facebook page only goes back to 2023, and “When You Were Leaving” seems to have only been posted to YouTube last week. It’s very pretty.
I had the first two Joe Kurtz books (Hard Case and Hard Freeze) signed by Simmons, but the third wasn’t, so I pick this up cheap when I heard about his untimely death.
Simmons, Dan. Hard as Nails. St. Martin’s Minotaur, 2003. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bend at heel, in a Fine dust jacket (taken from my existing copy), signed by Simmons. Bought for $14.95 plus shipping off eBay.
This Kickstarter from 2024 finally came in.
Aquilone, James, editor. Kolchak Meets the Classic Monsters Volume 1. Monstrous Press, 2026. First edition hardback graphic novel, a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued, with three cards laid in. Just what the title says, the latest graphic novel featuring dogged investigative reporter of the supernatural Carl Kolchak. Brought to you by the same people who previously brought you the 50th anniversary edition graphic novel compilation and the first hardback edition of the original Jeff Rice Night Stalker novel. Bought from the Kickstarter for $32.
From David Morrell comes the sad news that Dan Simmons has died:
My dear friend & incomparable author Dan Simmons died Saturday from a stroke at age 77. He defied literary norms, exploring historical fiction, horror, crime & other genres. His must-read titles include THE SONG OF KALI & HYPERION. He was one of a kind.https://t.co/NcBFT4hBc6 pic.twitter.com/kNbof3MPyG
— _DavidMorrell (@_DavidMorrell) February 27, 2026
Of all the modern writers I read and collect, Simmons had, next to Gene Wolfe, the most complete writer’s toolkit of any of them. Characterization, plotting, pace, point of view, voice, he was a master of them all. He could write science fiction, horror, hard-boiled mysteries and thrillers, mainstream, you name it.
After his World Fantasy Award-winning Song of Kali in 1985, Simmons would burst on the field like a supernova in 1989 with the publication of the Hugo-winning Hyperion, the Stoker-winning Carrion Comfort and the under-appreciated Phases of Gravity, and then it was off to the races. Simmons would be one of many writers tagged “The next Stephen King!”, and Summer of Night would make it onto the bestseller lists. But Simmons wouldn’t stick to horror for long, going on to publish more science fiction and a series of acclaimed historical novels that usually contained fantastic elements.
I met Simmons a few times, and even did an interview with him for Nova Express that, alas, had tape recorder problems, so it never appeared. He was one of the best writers of his era, in any genre, and will be missed.
Another PS Publishing book came in:
Matheson, Richard Christian. Bombyx. PS Publishing, 2025 (not shipped until 2026). First edition hardback, #58 of 200 copies signed by both Matheson and Mick Garris (who is co-credited with the story), a Fine copy in decorated boards and a Fine dust jacket. Novella of a guy graduating rehab who suddenly feels that everyone hates him.
I will have one copy of this in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
This PS Publishing anthology finally came in, after difficulties getting the signing sheets all around the world.
Schweitzer, Darrell. Cold War Cthulhu. PS Publishing, 2025 (though I don’t think this hardback edition was actually released until 2026.) First edition hardback (the hardback state was preceded by the trade paperback edition from PS’s Drugstore Indian Press imprint in May 2025), #45 of 100 signed, numbered copies signed by all the contributors, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Cthulhu Mythos stories set from 1950-1989. Includes familiar names like Paul Di Filippo, Harry Turtledove, and Don Webb (two stories). Bought from the publisher at the usual discount. Already sold out from the publisher.
I will have a very small number of these available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, hopefully in May.
This is a strange one, in that this original version of “See The Sun” from 2009 has under 10,000 hits, but some of the remixes has hit ranging up into the millions. And while it might qualify more as Synthpop than Shoegaze, it has that “floating” sensation that some of the best Shoegaze invokes. And Kate Louise Smith has a voice very reminiscent of Sarah McLachlan.
For contrast, here’s the longer, dance-oriented Aurosonic Remix, which I don’t like as much as the original.