In 1999, Stephen King began to write about his craft -- and his life. By midyear, a widely reported accident jeopardized the survival of both. And in his months of recovery, the link between writing and living became more crucial than ever. Rarely has a book on writing been so clear, so useful, and so revealing. On Writing begins with a mesmerizing account of King's childhood and his uncannily early focus on writing to tell a story. A series of vivid...

"Covering the latest in monsters and the macabre, horror expert Spratford's resource is ideal as both an introductory guide for novices and a fount of new ideas for horror-aware reference staff"--

A nostalgic and unflinchingly funny celebration of the horror fiction boom of the 1970's and 1980's, complete with story summaries and artist and author profiles.

Profusely illustrated with nearly 200 photos, color illustrations by celebrated "Dark Tower" artist Michael Whelan, and black-and-white drawings by Maine artist Glenn Chadbourne; supplemented with interviews with friends, colleagues, and mentors who knew King well; looking at King's formative years in Durham, when he began writing fiction as a young teen, his college years in the turbulent sixties, his struggles with early poverty, working full-time...

Presents a collection of sixty-eight stories and fifty poems by nineteenth-century American writer, Edgar Allan Poe along with several of his essays, criticism, and journalistic writings.

s/t: The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket & The Raven & Other PoemsOne of the World's greatest and most influential masters of the short story, Edgar Allan Poe has also claimed as the originator of such important styles of fiction. Poe's singular ability to probe into the caverns of the psyche and reveal, through the medium of imaginative prose and poetry, that combination of fear, guilt and obsession common to mankind has insured his permanence...

"When Tobe Hooper's low-budget slasher film, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, opened in theaters in 1974, it was met in equal measure with disgust and reverence. The film--in which a group of teenagers meet a gruesome fate when they stumble upon a ramshackle farmhouse of psychotic killers--was banned in several countries and was pulled from many American theaters after complaints of its violence. Despite the mixed reception from critics, it was enormously...

"In the Mountains of Madness interweaves the biography of the legendary writer with an exploration of Lovecraft as a phenomenon. It aims to explain this reclusive figure while also challenging some of the general views held by Lovecraft devotees, focusing specifically on the large cross-section of horror and science fiction fans who know Lovecraft through films, Role Playing Games, and video games directly influenced by his work but know little or...