"Summer Thunder": New short story

[mae]

http://www.cemeterydance.com/page/CDP/PROD/chizmar17

Turn Down the Lights

Editor: Richard Chizmar
Page Count: 176 (trade hardcover); 200 (signed editions)
Pub. Date: December 2013 (trade hardcover); 2014 (signed editions)
ISBN: 978-1-58767-437-2
Status: Forthcoming: At the Printer Now!


Featuring original short stories by Stephen King, Norman Partridge, Jack Ketchum, Brian James Freeman, Bentley Little, Ed Gorman, Ronald Kelly, Steve Rasnic Tem, Clive Barker, and Peter Straub!

Artist Edition and Lettered Edition feature artwork by Mark Geyer, Steven C. Gilberts, Will Renfro, GAK, Erin S. Wells, Keith Minnion, Jill Bauman, Glenn Chadbourne, Chad Savage, and Alan M. Clark!

Turn Down the Lights
edited by Richard Chizmar

Update for Collectors:
To be published in three states including a trade hardcover for general readers (shipping in December) and two special hardcover editions for serious collectors (shipping in 2014), but there are no other versions planned at this time!

About the Book:
Free US ShippingIt was December 1988: George Bush had just defeated Michael Dukakis in the Presidential Election. Pitcher Orel Hershiser and the Los Angeles Dodgers had beaten the Oakland A's in five games to win the World Series. People were waiting in line at movie theaters to watch Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man. Tom Clancy's The Cardinal of the Kremlin and Anne Rice's The Queen of the Damned were atop the bestseller lists. The most acclaimed genre books of the year were Thomas Harris's The Silence of the Lambs and Peter Straub's Koko.

And twenty-two year old college student Richard Chizmar had just published the premiere issue of a horror magazine named Cemetery Dance.

Twenty-five years later, there have been seventy issues of Cemetery Dance magazine. There have been more than 275 signed Limited Edition hardcovers in the Cemetery Dance book line. There have been awards including the World Fantasy Award, the International Horror Critics Guild Award, and the HWA Board of Trustees Excellence in Specialty Press Publishing Award, as well as nominations for the British Fantasy Award, the American Horror Award, and the Bram Stoker Award, just to name a few.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of that premiere issue of Cemetery Dance, we're proud to announce Turn Down the Lights, an anthology of authors who helped make the magazine what it is today. These original horror stories by Stephen King, Norman Partridge, Jack Ketchum, Brian James Freeman, Bentley Little, Ed Gorman, Ronald Kelly, Steve Rasnic Tem, Clive Barker, and Peter Straub capture the genuine love of the genre that pushes Cemetery Dance Publications forward year after year.

Now, turn down the lights, flip the page, take my hand, and start the dance…

Table of Contents:
"Turn Down the Lights..." an introduction by Richard Chizmar
"Summer Thunder" by Stephen King
"Incarnadine" by Norman Partridge
"The Western Dead" by Jack Ketchum
"An Instant Eternity" by Brian James Freeman
"In the Room" by Bentley Little
"Flying Solo" by Ed Gorman
"The Outhouse" by Ronald Kelly
"Lookie Loo" by Steve Rasnic Tem
"Dollie" by Clive Barker
"The Collected Short Stories of Freddie Prothero" by Peter Straub
Afterword by Thomas F. Monteleone

Artists for the Artist Edition and Lettered Edition:
"Summer Thunder" by Stephen King — Mark Geyer
"Incarnadine" by Norman Partridge — Steven C. Gilberts
"The Western Dead" by Jack Ketchum — Will Renfro
"An Instant Eternity" by Brian James Freeman — GAK
"In the Room" by Bentley Little — Erin S. Wells
"Flying Solo" by Ed Gorman — Keith Minnion
"The Outhouse" by Ronald Kelly — Jill Bauman
"Lookie Loo" by Steve Rasnic Tem — Glenn Chadbourne
"Dollie" by Clive Barker — Chad Savage
"The Collected Short Stories of Freddie Prothero" by Peter Straub — Alan M. Clark

[Merlin1958]

No, "blurb" regarding the King Short story yet? I am unfamiliar with this one if it has been previously released. Any info would therefore be greatly appreciated. Very affordable pricing from CD.

[mae]

Nope, brand new story.

[Bev Vincent]

Per CD: "it just might be one of the most heartbreaking post-apocalyptic tales we’ve ever read."

[Merlin1958]

Nope, brand new story.

Per CD: "it just might be one of the most heartbreaking post-apocalyptic tales we’ve ever read."

Cool!! I knew there had to be something teasing it!! Thanks, Bev

[mattgreenbean]

We're getting close to the next collection of short stories, aren't we?

[Merlin1958]

We're getting close to the next collection of short stories, aren't we?

There was a 2 year gap between JAS and FD/NS and FD/NS was in 2010 so you could be spot on there. Of course, I think we are still in for a few more "anniversary" reprints as well.

[mae]

We're getting close to the next collection of short stories, aren't we?

We should be. Just After Sunset was in 2008. King has had an average of about 7 years in between short story collections, I believe. So 2015 is very likely. There's a lot of material to be collected already. Hopefully the next collection also has some new unpublished stuff, and be a thicker than the last two collections.

[RichardX]

The book cover is neat. A bit campy, but in a good way.

[jhanic]

I read the story last night and I have to say it's not one of my favorites.

Spoiler:

It's a post-apocalyptic story about, essentially, two men and a dog surviving after a nuclear war. Maybe I was just not "in the mood" but I really didn't like it very much.

John

[TwistedNadine]

Hmm I really liked it. King's talent to develop characters you care about has never ceased to amaze me.

I read the story last night and I have to say it's not one of my favorites.

Spoiler:

It's a post-apocalyptic story about, essentially, two men and a dog surviving after a nuclear war. Maybe I was just not "in the mood" but I really didn't like it very much.

John

[Randall Flagg]

Marvelous story. It really moved me.

Spoiler:

A post apocalyptic adieu. So sweet it burns, and so tender it makes your chest hurt....really hurt.

[Bev Vincent]

I loved it -- it's almost a sequel to

Spoiler:

Graduation Afternoon

-- a quiet story, sad and poignant.

[wahlers]

There's a lot of material to be collected already. Hopefully the next collection also has some new unpublished stuff, and be a thicker than the last two collections.

By my records it should (ideally) contain:

Throttle
Ur
Morality
Mostly Old Men (poem)
The Bone Church (poem)
Premium Harmony
Tommy (poem)
Herman Wouk is Still Alive
Under the Weather
Mile 81
The Little Green God of Agony
The Dune
In the Tall Grass
A Face in the Crowd
Batman and Robin Have an Altercation
Afterlife
The Rock and Roll Dead Zone
Summer Thunder

I hope they include them all and make it as big as it needs to be. Something the size of Nightmares & Dreamscapes would be awesome to get for a change.

However with new novels coming out in June and November of next year is there any hope of a collection coming out the same year?

[herbertwest]

I forgot about "the rock and roll dead zone". Actually I dont even remember what it was about....

The other day, a french publisher asked me if i had a listing of what was unpublished in France. So I made what I think is sort of a comprehensive list, including older stuff
>>> http://club-stephenking.fr/3722-actualite

[RichardX]

My reaction to this one was "that's it?" Sometimes less is more, but not always.

[Mr. Rabbit Trick]

My reaction to this one was "that's it?" Sometimes less is more, but not always.

I tend to agree with you on this one.

[Bev Vincent]

I liked it a lot -- one of his better short stories in a while, in my opinion.