Horror

Arkham House, 1988. 1st edition. Introduction by Ray Bradbury. Dust jacket protected; not price clipped; top edge of flaps lightly toned; black cloth; binding good; text clean. VG/VG

Dark Harvest, 1989. Deluxe first edition limited to 600 individually signed and numbered copies; this is copy 505. Maroon cloth slipcase; dust jacket protected; maroon cloth; binding tight; text clean and bright. VG/VG

Romantic and Horrific Stories (2021) is a collection of short fiction by Bram Stoker. Although he is largely remembered as the author of Dracula (1897), one of the greatest horror novels of all time, Stoker was a versatile writer whose gift for transmitting terror is matched by his ability to craft convincing and moving tales of love.

"The Crystal Cup," first published in London Society in 1872, is the story of an artist who is forced to create a flawless crystal vase for the king. Having left his wife and home behind, he suffers under a series of constraints and grueling demands. "The Chain of Destiny" is a bestselling epistolary tale featuring hypnotism, magic, and supernatural elements that first appeared in The Shamrock in 1875. In Stoker's 1898 tale "Bengal Roses," A teenager from the country falls for a beautiful young woman, but soon discovers she loves an older cavalry officer. First published in Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper in 1899, "A Yellow Duster" is the story of two old men whose lifelong friendship is threatened by a mysterious secret. Curious about a dust rag found in his friend's display case, the story's protagonist asks the collector of rare and priceless objects why he has preserved something so seemingly worthless.

Other stories collected herein include "Our New House," published in the Boston Herald in 1895, as well as "The Burial of the Rats" and "A Dream of Red Hands," both of which appeared in Dracula's Guest and Other Stories (1914). Romantic and Horrific Stories compiles a dozen works of short fiction by Bram Stoker, the secretive and vastly underrated creator of Dracula, one of history's greatest villains. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Bram Stoker's Romantic and Horrific Stories is a classic of Irish literature reimagined for modern readers.

From the critically acclaimed author of Bunny comes a horror-tinted, gothic fairy tale about a lonely dress shop clerk whose mother's unexpected death sends her down a treacherous path in pursuit of youth and beauty. Can she escape her mother's fate--and find a connection that is more than skin deep?

For as long as she can remember, Belle has been insidiously obsessed with her skin and skincare videos. When her estranged mother Noelle mysteriously dies, Belle finds herself back in Southern California, dealing with her mother's considerable debts and grappling with lingering questions about her death. The stakes escalate when a strange woman in red appears at the funeral, offering a tantalizing clue about her mother's demise, followed by a cryptic video about a transformative spa experience. With the help of a pair of red shoes, Belle is lured into the barbed embrace of La Maison de Méduse, the same lavish, culty spa to which her mother was devoted. There, Belle discovers the frightening secret behind her (and her mother's) obsession with the mirror--and the great shimmering depths (and demons) that lurk on the other side of the glass.

Snow White meets Eyes Wide Shut in this surreal descent into the dark side of beauty, envy, grief, and the complicated love between mothers and daughters. With black humor and seductive horror, Rouge explores the cult-like nature of the beauty industry--as well as the danger of internalizing its pitiless gaze. Brimming with California sunshine and blood-red rose petals, Rouge holds up a warped mirror to our relationship with mortality, our collective fixation with the surface, and the wondrous, deep longing that might lie beneath.