Beehive Books

[St. Troy]

Although there won't be as much going on as with the Suntup and Cemetery Dance threads, I thought it was time we had a thread for Beehive Books.

I'm not sure when BB first came to my attention, but I believe I'd heard of them before I learned of their Dracula: The Evidence Kickstarter project (first mentioned on TDT by Munnecom, I believe), which is everything Dracula except a book. If you are a lover of Dracula (as I am; it is the only piece of "historic" horror (basically, anything older than King) that I find genuinely creepy (although I do enjoy Lovecraft, Poe, etc.)), you should be obsessed with this, but even if you aren't, I strongly recommend anyone who hasn't take a look at the video about it at the top of this page:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/beehivebooks/dracula-the-evidence/description


DRACULA: The Evidence is an entirely new way to experience Stoker's masterpiece: through an actual physical research file full of ephemera, correspondence, clues and artifacts. It's the entire original text of Dracula, presented as a gorgeously designed and curated briefcase full of maps, letters, diaries, newspaper clippings, telegrams, and phonograph records. We've teamed up with Dracula expert and Bram's descendent Dacre Stoker to bring you the most immersive way imaginable to experience this modernist masterpiece of gothic horror.

In our edition, you are not merely a reader – you are an explorer making your way through this archive of first-hand evidence, retracing this nightmarish story through the remnants it left behind: correspondence, charts and diagrams, memoranda, artifacts, photographs and much more. All housed in a custom designed briefcase, archival box -- or, in our most exclusive edition, a stone vault!

Some photos:

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/1022/medium/603688d7af5e8dc40758e3a8a2194a06_original.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/1022/ab909232b5d853659de0474b08c68ab6_original.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/1022/medium/5f93f74c718eaaf2cdbf5d241ecd7928_original.png

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/1022/medium/1e9e891e9724d44f304c3eb1052d40ea_original_1_.png

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/1022/medium/5a1b2e08134223ae0f7ba3a531930474_original.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/1022/medium/98affe0b9b8afd0d72207bf9f92cfc6e_original.png

[St. Troy]

...I was definitely interested in all of this, but the cheapest batch of "evidence" was $350. Cheaper items include the map ($40) and the vinyl ($100), which are both cool but probably of no use to me, given that I don't have a turntable (ok, I live with someone who does, but...) and have nowhere to hang the map (this package demands that I have a better lifestyle than I do, basically). There is also, for only $25, "The Files," which is a digital version of the physical evidence. I gave serious consideration to buying this (with neither cost nor storage space being an issue) but never pulled the trigger, which was fortunate because they later announced three hardcover editions of Dracula to accompany the Evidence project, which come with the files included:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/beehivebooks/dracula-the-evidence-hardcover-edition


It's the entire original text of Dracula, presented as a gorgeously designed and curated briefcase full of maps, letters, diaries, newspaper clippings, telegrams, and phonograph records. We teamed up with Dracula expert and the author's great-grand nephew Dacre Stoker to bring you the most immersive way imaginable to experience this masterpiece of Gothic horror.

In this book presentation of the project, we are photographing the handwritten letters, maps, typescripts, telegrams, manifests and other ephemera created for the briefcase editions, and using them to illustrate the original text of the novel in a brand new way.

It is 9" x 11", 352 pages.


It comes in three different editions:

- The HARDBOUND EDITION, which is the standard edition of the book

- The HARDBOUND EDITION: Signed & Numbered, which is signed by Dacre Stoker, Paul Kepple and Josh O'Neill and limited to an edition of 250

- The IMMORTAL HARDBOUND edition, which is signed, lettered in an edition of 26, and includes an IMMORTAL EDITION of the DRACULA: THE EVIDENCE box set.

The first two are $100 and $300; the third, depending on just how you order it (it come as part of an "Evidence" package), can be $800 or $1,600 (if I'm reading the page correctly). The $100 price point definitely worked for me; I jumped at that.

If you're losing track of what comes with what edition, peruse this:

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/1022/medium/f17cf6f72a585b71bad8fc14f631fdf5_original.png

Book photos:

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/1022/bd7d21ee0983116b4dbcd88b37184f47_original.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/1022/d3f809a0ba27d0cb978edbb0659eda89_original.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/1022/4fdcf656946aec4a0de1fc816430e246_original.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/1022/7b8db12c5830d17e91a15a7bce90b612_original.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/1022/e7baf3f51344610fd3f4b92062c6c762_original.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/1022/030bcc65ade131f707ab2d3b18a44535_original.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/1022/ff64050965f681af9b699aa2d9cbe0c2_original.jpg

http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/1022/e1f958d9e2bfcfae396de72f82dc617a_original.jpg

[St. Troy]

Of course, there is more to Beehive than Dracula; check out their $100 edition of The Island of Doctor Moreau, which I know is a favorite of some here: https://beehivebooks.com/shop/moreau


A slipcase hardcover edition of H.G. Wells’ THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU, lavishly illustrated by Bill Sienkiewicz and designed by Maëlle Doliveux. Each slipcase is die-cut, foil blocked, and embossed and debossed to create a three dimensional impression of Bill's beautiful artwork.

9x12”, 168 pgs. You will also receive a DRM-free digital edition of the book.

Among their other publications are Peter Pan and Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde.

Their Kickstarter projects https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/beehivebooks/created

...include a botanical tarot deck.

Their main site is https://beehivebooks.com/ - take a look.

[MikeDuke]

Looks like some good stuff.

[JeremyM]

I'll toss in my 2-cents here, as I've some familiarity with Beehive Books and Kickstarter in general.

I have the Paul Pope illustrated version of Algernon Blackwood's 'The Willows' they put out a few years ago, alongside 'The Island of Dr Moreau' and 'The Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde'. The book is oversized, printed offset on a heavyweight, but unremarkable paper with a sewn binding. The design and embossed slipcase are nice, and the art and Ramsey Campbell introduction make it really compelling. At the basic $100 price point, I'd recommend it - though I don't always love oversized editions. I paid a fair bit more for a signed/numbered, but only because Paul Pope is one of my favorite artists - not sure I'd go for the signed/number in future works as they're identical otherwise to the much cheaper editions. They certainly get 'A' talent artists for their books with McKean, Shimizu and Sienkiewicz also doing work.

As for Kickstarter in general, I've backed 150 projects and had non-delivery on 3 of them. My takeaways are:

- The project will be late, usually by a few months, occasionally a year or more
- Don't back projects that involve overseas manufacturing, unless the project team has worked extensively with overseas manufacturing previously. These almost always go south, are late and fail to live up to expectations.
- Books and creative projects I've always had good luck with (though they're still frequently late)

[racerx45]

I'll toss in my 2-cents here, as I've some familiarity with Beehive Books and Kickstarter in general.



- The project will be late, usually by a few months, occasionally a year or more
- Don't back projects that involve overseas manufacturing, unless the project team has worked extensively with overseas manufacturing previously. These almost always go south, are late and fail to live up to expectations.
- Books and creative projects I've always had good luck with (though they're still frequently late)

100% agree with this. All 4 of my non-delivered projects involved overseas manufacturing.
The book projects I have backed were late but not too bad by Kickstarter standards

[lotuz]

Beehive Books is solid. As JeremyM notes the "basic" $100 books are a good price point for what you get. I'm not sure I'd kick up to the S/L versions, as JeremyM notes above, I'm pretty sure the production values are identical to the non-signed. So maybe if it was someone you really wanted a sig from?

As for their Kickstarters, having supported them so far, I'll again echo Jeremy's general comments: the projects can be late. But I've had delays with almost every publisher I've bought from in a non-Kickstarter format and I'll say that Beehive's are no more or less remarkable than the typical production delays. And I've had plenty of Kickstarter delays from non-press projects. They have always followed through and the products are excellent for the price. I'm not sure why some of the presses choose to use Kickstarter - Thornwillow is another one, DRP has, Grim Oak, etc. - but I've never had non-delivery from a pre-existing press that used Kickstarter for funding and I generally don't worry about that any more. There are other folks here who have supported Beehive Books also (Clegane comes to mind) and I'd love to hear more from people who have the S/L versions what they think!

[becca69]

I have The Temple of Silence from Beehive books and it's just lovely and huge. I would recommend the slipcased edition but I'm sure the standard is just as nice:

https://beehivebooks.com/shop/the-temple-of-silence-slipcase-edition

[swintek]

As a somewhat "serious" Dracula collector (in my own idiosyncratic way)- I'm very interested in this. I didn't back the "Evidence" (lose items in the suitcase), but jumped on the $100 bookform edition. Looks like it's going to be an exceptional edition of Dracula, and I'm intrigued to see how they are going to present all their "evidence" in the book form. Unfortunately, they're predicting an October 2021 delivery date, right off the bat. That's a pretty long wait time, but, I've developed patience after all these years. Hope it turns out as good as it looks.

[St. Troy]

This is my first time backing a Kickstarter project (I've bought a product of such a campaign after the campaign had ended, when the product was ready to order, so there was no risk involved). I felt confident in doing so because BB is an existing publisher and their partners on the materials end (Headcase Design) are likewise experienced with this type of project (it's not as if I got together with a buddy and said "let's make a kickass book!" and then took a year to discover we had no idea what we were doing). Sure, something could go wrong, but I'm comfortable with the risk.

[Scoogs]

Give your money to a kickstarter project, wait a couple of years for it to be published.
Give your money to established small press publisher, wait 3-10 years for book to be published.

What was the issue with kickstarter again? ;)

[darkseer]

Give your money to a kickstarter project, wait a couple of years for it to be published.
Give your money to established small press publisher, wait 3-10 years for book to be published.

What was the issue with kickstarter again? ;)

God I love that :emot-roflolmao::wtf::lol::rofl:

[herbertwest]

Out of curiosity, have those orders been delivered?

[St. Troy]

Out of curiosity, have those orders been delivered?

Not Dracula, which (I think) is still around a year away.