16. Turn Down the Lights
edited by Richard Chizmar
About the Book:
"It 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…"
My Thoughts:
I really enjoyed this collection of fine writing and wonderful artwork.
Each story was different and well written. Not all are horror, but still unique and chilling in their own way. The styles and voices of each author offered a little bit of something for everyone.
Started with Stephen King -- I just love the way he tells a story. Simple but powerful.
My least favorite entry was by Peter Straub. I appreciate the creative style he took, but the story itself was just meh.
And Clive Barker's story? Holy mother of God.
I would definitely recommend reading it just to get a nice big taste of variety.
CORRECTION: My book only had two pieces of visual art: The cover of the first Cemetery Dance Magazine done by Bill Caughron and the cover art by Alan M. Clark. I had myself mixed up on books and wrote my thoughts without my book in hand thinking there were many artists -- my apologies on that.
And for the record, the cover is very nice and that piece by Mr. Caughron is pretty good too.
When I wrote my thoughts on this book, I didn't have my book in hand so had some missteps which I've corrected and definitely added my thoughts on Clive Barker's story -- kingricefan -- when you get your book, let me know what you think about Clive's contribution. GNTLGNT -- what were your thoughts? Keep it PG please.