"Squad D" in Shivers VIII (2018): King's long-unpublished story

[mae]

http://www.cemeterydance.com/shivers-viii.html

Cemetery Dance Publications is proud to announce the eighth entry in this award-nominated and best-selling anthology series! In addition to the affordable trade paperback edition for general readers, this volume will also be published as a signed Limited Edition hardcover and a signed and traycased Lettered Edition hardcover, both of which will signed by the editor for the collectors!

Shivers VIII contains chilling fiction from many of today's most popular authors of horror and suspense including Stephen King, Bentley Little, Ray Garton, Laird Barron, Jack Ketchum, Kealan Patrick Burke, David Niall Wilson, Brian James Freeman, Alan Peter Ryan, Adam Troy-Castro, Bev Vincent, Keith Minnion, and more than a dozen other authors!

Of special note to collectors: this special anthology will include "Squad D" by Stephen King, which was originally written in the 1970s for a famous anthology that was never published, and the story itself has been locked away in Stephen King's office ever since. Now, for the first time ever, the world can read King's chilling take on the ghostly, lingering horror of the Vietnam War.

Featuring original dark fiction with a handful of rare reprints, Shivers VIII is available only from Cemetery Dance Publications.

Table of Contents:
"Squad D" by Stephen King
"Gamma" by Laird Barron
"The Shrieking Woman" by Bev Vincent
"The Blue Cat" by Keith Minnion
"Gorilla in my Room" by Jack Ketchum
"The Chair" by Bentley Little
"Eyes Like Poisoned Wells" by Ian Rogers
"Above the Buried City" by Daniel Braum
"Open Wound" by Darrell Speegle
"Spice" by David Gerrold
"Dearly Beloved" by Bruce McAllister
"The Hour In Between" by Adam Troy-Castro
"Always and Forever" by Greg Kishbaugh
"Autophagy" by Ray Garton
"Sexual Exploration Is a Crime" by Alan Peter Ryan
"Lucien's Tale" by David Niall Wilson
"The Carbon Dreamer" by Jack Dann
"A House for the Wee Ones" by Michael M. Hughes
"Mama's Sleeping" by Brian James Freeman

Published as a Trade Paperback:
• Printed on 60# acid-free paper
• 12 point cover stock and notch binding to give the book greater durability
• Retail price just $20!

Published as a Signed Limited Edition Hardcover:
• Limited to just 750 signed copies, this edition will not have a second printing!
• Personally signed by the editor on a unique signature page
• Printed on 60# acid-free paper
• Bound in full-cloth with colored head and tail bands
• Featuring hot foil stamping on the front boards and spine
• Bound with full-color endpapers
• Smyth sewn to create a more durable binding
• Wrapped in a full-color dust jacket
• Limited ONE TIME printing of this special edition
• Retail price just $40!

Published as a Signed & Traycased Lettered Edition Hardcover:
• Limited to just 52 signed copies, this edition will not have a second printing!
• Personally signed by the editor on a unique signature page
• Printed on 60# acid-free paper
• Bound in leather with colored head and tail bands
• Featuring hot foil stamping on the front boards and spine
• Bound with marbled endpapers
• Featuring a sewn-in satin ribbon page marker
• Smyth sewn to create a more durable binding
• Wrapped in a full-color dust jacket
• Housed in a hand-made, custom traycase featuring a high quality covering material and color hot foil stamping
• Limited ONE TIME printing of this special edition
• Retail price just $175

[Mr. Rabbit Trick]

Squad D is not much of a story, only 2612 words.

[mikeC]

I've never read this but I thought it would have been an ok addition to Hearts in Suspension.
Please release an audio version as well!

[Bev Vincent]

I'm delighted to have a story in this one, too, keeping my streak of even-numbered volumes going...

[Brian James Freeman]

Squad D is not much of a story, only 2612 words.

Well, you know it's really not the number of words in the story that matters, but how the author uses them.

Brian

[NoAttitudeThisTime]

It's a good little story and I'm happy to see it finally reaching a bigger bunch of readers. But since it's an oldie (but a goodie), has King revised the story or is it untouched?

[herbertwest]

From the book "SK - uncollected, unpublished" Rocky Wood wrote :

"Interestingly, there are apparently two versions of this manuscript circulating. The manuscript reviewed in this chapter sets the suicide three years to the day after the death of the rest of Squad D (see below). However, Spignesi refers to the deaths as occurring eleven years later. In Michael Collings’ The Shorter Works of Stephen King, he also refers to the suicide occurring on the eleventh anniversary of the original deaths. Collings describes the tale as one “…of guilt and forgiveness, of peace growing out of turmoil.” As both these King experts have read the manuscript, one can only presume there are at least two versions in existence.

[Mr. Rabbit Trick]

"It was three years - three years almost to the day - after Billy's death on the bridge that Dale Clewson began to believe that he must be going mad."

"Dale's eyes fell on the dial of his wristwatch and read the date - not for the first time that day, but it was the first time it really sunk in. It was April 9th. Billy and the others had died eleven years ago yesterday. They -"

[mikeC]

Excited there will be an audio version, thanks for doing that CD.

[craigobau]

It would be nice to think that the release of this story might be the prelude to a wider release of most/all of King's unpublished work, particularly the really early works.

Hey, a guy can dream!

[mae]

Absolutely, and I too have been dreaming of something like this for a long time. It would be great if Cemetery Dance could come out with a volume like that, to collect all the uncollected and unpublished pieces - and they have weird stuff like this, too: http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/...lished-novella But it may only be a dream at this point. Eventually, I think it has to happen.

[herbertwest]

CD has already unearthed some early stories (the glass floor, weeds, man with a belly, the blue air compressor), and we know for a fact that they are the only owners of a partial chapter/story discovered last year or the year before, but that there werent any plans to release it.

Anyway, i am confident that they will try to publish some other unpublished/rare story if King allows them to do so

[Ari_Racing]

The story behind the story is interesting. Harlan Ellison rejected it ("'Stephen sent me a story for Last Dangerous Visions that needs to be rewritten . . . I was sent this short story, and I think there's a lot more in it than Stephen had time to develop. The story deserves better, the work deserves better, and Stephen's reputation deserves better.'") for a book that was never published but it's still supposed to be (The Last Dangerous Visions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_La...gerous_Visions). And in the middle, Kirby McCauley was pissed off at Steve for sending the story to Ellison.

[Randall Flagg]

Great background information.
Thanks.

[Kevbot]

The story behind the story is interesting. Harlan Ellison rejected it ("'Stephen sent me a story for Last Dangerous Visions that needs to be rewritten . . . I was sent this short story, and I think there's a lot more in it than Stephen had time to develop. The story deserves better, the work deserves better, and Stephen's reputation deserves better.'") for a book that was never published but it's still supposed to be (The Last Dangerous Visions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_La...gerous_Visions). And in the middle, Kirby McCauley was pissed off at Steve for sending the story to Ellison.

Why was McCauley pissed? This is the first time I'd heard that and I'm fascinated. I wonder if King rewrote it at all.

[Cordial Jim]

So glad this story is finally going to be published!

[Ari_Racing]

The story behind the story is interesting. Harlan Ellison rejected it ("'Stephen sent me a story for Last Dangerous Visions that needs to be rewritten . . . I was sent this short story, and I think there's a lot more in it than Stephen had time to develop. The story deserves better, the work deserves better, and Stephen's reputation deserves better.'") for a book that was never published but it's still supposed to be (The Last Dangerous Visions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_La...gerous_Visions). And in the middle, Kirby McCauley was pissed off at Steve for sending the story to Ellison.

Why was McCauley pissed? This is the first time I'd heard that and I'm fascinated. I wonder if King rewrote it at all.

Because Kirby knew Ellison would not publish it at the end, if I remember correctly.

[matt_1308]

Really cool back story on this. I am loving the depth of knowledge that is here.

I have this one ordered so looking forward to it being released.