Specimen #8

In honor of the release of my collection THIRTEEN SPECIMENS from Delirium Books (see my post of July 4), in oh-so-affordable trade paperback form, I am posting thirteen entries that will each feature an excerpt from one of the thirteen pieces in the book. In addition, each post offers an odd little specimen from my personal life. I’ll leave it to you to decide which, fact or fiction, is more compellingly disturbing. Here’s the next item on our tour… 

(1) From the story OCTOBER 32nd

I drove home from my second shift job at eleven-thirty PM, during the most depressing part of Halloween night.

This was when the magic drained out of the streets like smoke wisping from a blown out jack o’-lantern. This was when the orange of October threatened to char overnight to the gray-brown of November. With a decisive creak, the earth turned on its axis from autumn toward winter. Yes, the magic was still out there, like a storm front on a weather man’s map, but it was migrating south, toward Mexico, where tomorrow they would have their Day of the Dead. So the gate between the living and the dead was still open…just shifting, like the moon, from one sky to another. The two realms were still in communion, overlapping. Our reality and another, the material and the spiritual, yin and yang.

(2) HEALTH AGENT limited edition pre-order deal:

This will make you smile from ear-to-ear!

My Punktown novel HEALTH AGENT is a dark, twisty cybernoir thriller in the vein of DEADSTOCK and BLUE WAR, and might even be my favorite of my Punktown novels. Raw Dog Screaming Press, who released my novel EVERYBODY SCREAM! a few years back, are bringing out HEALTH AGENT very soon, in three editions: trade paperback, hardcover, and a special limited edition of 150 copies. I did the cover art for the standard edition myself, but each and every copy of the limited edition will feature a unique hand-painted cover, no two precisely alike! What an ambitious undertaking, but the artist claims to be up to it, and that person is the talented Steven Archer. His design portrays a major character from the novel, and the mysterious wounds she bears, but I can’t say any more about that. This is going to be an amazing collector’s item, and to add to its appeal is the fact that Raw Dog Screaming is offering $20 off their pre-orders! Yep, the pre-order price has been reduced from $95 to just $75 for this remarkable object. So have a look at a sample of the beautifully disturbing art, read a little about Steven Archer, and pre-order HEALTH AGENT lest I sic the evil genius Toll Loveland on you (you’ll have to read the book).

HEALTH AGENT limited edition pre-order: http://www.rawdogscreaming.com/agent_ltd.html

Boy, what to do with the money you save from this great pre-order offer? Why, order my collection THIRTEEN SPECIMENS, too, of course: https://www.horror-mall.com/THIRTEEN-SPECIMENS-by-Jeffrey-Thomas-Trade-Paperback-p-18122.html