T.E.D. Klein

Reading My Work is Not Yet Done AND The Ceremonies for the first time (I'm assuming that the latter is also the case based on what you've posted)? An enviable readerly position to be in! Hope you enjoy them as much as we have!

And while the opening of The Ceremonies does take a bit of getting used to, with regard to its pace, it's definitely well worth the read. I had a bit of trouble initially myself, and so did several others.
 
I'm doing a leisurely reread of Klein's Dark Gods. I've just finished "Black Man with a Horn." Oh, yeah. Klein observes: "If the Necronomicon actually existed, it would probably be out in paperback with a preface by Lin Carter." Mr. Klein was all but 100% prophetic. He published this in 1980, mind you. Lin Carter, gap-filler and flesher-outer (and love or hate him as you may), published "The Necronomicon: The Dee Translation" some nine years later in Crypt of Cthulhu. When it was reprinted in 1996's Robert M. Price Chaosium anthology The Necronomicon: Selected Stories and Essays Concerning the Blasphemous Tome of the Mad Arab, the introduction was by Price. Minor details, but points I missed the first time around. Perspective is everything. Well, almost....
 
Yeah, I laughed out loud at the Lin Carter reference. Then rushed to show it to a friend who is a HUGE Robert E Howard fan and who consequently hates Carter's Conan stories.
 
My third eye was itching, so naturally I rubbed it..

G. S. Carnivals";p="3483 said:
I'm doing a leisurely reread of Klein's Dark Gods. I've just finished "Black Man with a Horn." Oh, yeah. Klein observes: "If the Necronomicon actually existed, it would probably be out in paperback with a preface by Lin Carter."
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The above excerpt was from the 1986 Bantam reprint of Dark Gods.

In the story's original appearance in Ramsey Campbell's 1980 New Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, the sentence reads: "If the Necronomicon actually existed, it would be out in Bantam paperback with a preface by Lin Carter."

Yet another variant appears in the 1995 reprint in Jim Turner's Cthulhu 2000: "If the Necronomicon actually existed, it would probably be out in paperback with a preface by Colin Wilson."

I'm afraid to peek at my 1985 Viking Dark Gods at the moment. And my three or four different versions of "The Events at Poroth Farm" must be even more maddening....

My third eye doesn't itch anymore, but my mind does!
 
G. S. Carnivals";p="3518 said:
I'm afraid to peek at my 1985 Viking Dark Gods at the moment. And my three or four different versions of "The Events at Poroth Farm" must be even more maddening..
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I've looked. Curiosity. Obsession. The Bantam reprint of "Black Man with a Horn" agrees with the Viking version. Well, at least that sentence does. The rest of the text is for someone else to examine....

My best determination is that at least five different versions of "The Events at Poroth Farm" exist. Klein himself from Dagon 18/19:

" 'The Events at Porth Farm' (story) in From Beyond the Dark Gateway, Vol. 1, No. 2 (December 1972), edited by Edward P. Berglund

Reprinted (slightly revised) in The Year's Best Horror Stories, No. 3 edited by Richard Davis (London: Sphere, 1973)

Reprinted (slightly revised again) in The Year's Best Horror Stories: Series II, edited by Richard Davis (New York: DAW, 1974)

Reprinted (slightly revised a third time) in First World Fantasy Awards edited by Gahan Wilson (New York: Doubleday, 1977)"

As for later printings, a fifth version is extant in the 1990 Necronomicon Press chapbook of the tale. This is replicated in the anthology Return to Lovecraft Country edited by Scott David Aniolowski (Triad Entertainments, 1997). Mr. Aniolowski's acknowledgements read: " ... and Marc Michaud at Necronomicon Press for providing me with a disk of T.E.D. Klein's excellent contribution, and allowing me to reproduce the Necronomicon Press edition of the story here..."

The story is also in Eternal Lovecraft edited by Jim Turner (Golden Gryphon, 1998). I have no idea what this version is. Five again, or six? I'm not checking. Honest.

In uprooting my house, I discovered yet another copy each of the Bantam Dark Gods and The Ceremonies that I didn't know I had. I've been gifting my extras. candy gets lucky.
 
The long-anticipated T.E.D. Klein collection due from Subterranean Press has been named. Ironically, the title is Reassuring Tales. I can't wait for this one!
 
G. S. Carnivals";p="4317 said:
The long-anticipated T.E.D. Klein collection due from Subterranean Press has been named. Ironically, the title is Reassuring Tales. I can't wait for this one!
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I've been waiting three years already.

I'm tired.
 
I was informed by my procurer that Mr. Klein's Reassuring Tales would ship today. At long last. Both this and Teatro Grottesco within the same week or so is almost too much. Almost. I'll somehow put up with the burden of being overwhelmed...
 
I am pleased to announce that I own copy number 240 of T.E.D. Klein's signed and numbered Reassuring Tales published by my neighbors, Subterranean Press. Once again, Jason Eckhardt's excellent artwork complements Mr. Klein's work. The cover depicts a scene of the calmest domestic innocence; the exception is the posture and eyes of the family dog which betray a sense of foreboding. With the exception of "Renaissance Man" and a second instance of "Camera Shy," the contents agree with those listed above by Dr. Bantham way back in the Cretaceous Period. In light of what I discovered concerning the evolution of "The Events at Poroth Farm," I will consider this a completely new and original presentation of the stories. I look forward to reading both the stories I have read (in one form or another) and those which are new to me.
 
G. S. Carnivals";p="6017 said:
The cover depicts a scene of the calmest domestic innocence; the exception is the posture and eyes of the family dog which betray a sense of foreboding.
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That sounds interesting. Is there a link with a picture of the cover?
 
Karnos";p="6029 said:
G. S. Carnivals";p="6017 said:
The cover depicts a scene of the calmest domestic innocence; the exception is the posture and eyes of the family dog which betray a sense of foreboding.
Click to expand...

That sounds interesting. Is there a link with a picture of the cover?
Click to expand...
Karnos, I managed to isolate a nice image of the cover on my computer, but my ignorance prevents me from presenting it in this post by itself without the commercial trappings. Ah, well...

http://www.clarkesworldbooks.com/bookl_[KLEINUNT].html
 
G. S. Carnivals";p="6032 said:
Karnos";p="6029 said:
G. S. Carnivals";p="6017 said:
The cover depicts a scene of the calmest domestic innocence; the exception is the posture and eyes of the family dog which betray a sense of foreboding.
Click to expand...

That sounds interesting. Is there a link with a picture of the cover?
Click to expand...
Karnos, I managed to isolate a nice image of the cover on my computer, but my ignorance prevents me from presenting it in this post by itself without the commercial trappings. Ah, well...

http://www.clarkesworldbooks.com/bookl_[KLEINUNT].html
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link, GS!
 
I've recently came across this post by accident:

I’m a British film director, and I bought the film rights to T.E.D. Klein’s classic novella “Children Of The Kingdom” last year – from the author himself. I managed to get in touch with him through a labyrinthine series of emails to small press publishers, and he is an awesome guy, still represented by his legendary agent Kirby MacAuley. From things he mentioned in his emails I think Ted is a staff writer or editor for GQ magazine. But anyway, “Children Of The Kingdom” is now in development as a feature film, and I hope to do it proud.
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http://52books52.wordpress.com/2010/11/22/where-the-hell-is-t-e-d-klein/

I'm curious but given the way the film industry works, I hope it will one day see the light of day.
 
Nolon said:
don't know if it has been posted before, but i came across this recorded interview with t.e.d. klein
http://aboutsf.podomatic.com/entry/2012-04-27T10_41_03-07_00
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I'm bumping this thread, because I came across the podcast Nolon cites separately today and found it fascinating. (Lucky I searched TLO for the appropriate Klein thread to post it in first, huh?)

The original recording must have been made in the late 80s I'd guess. Lots of good stuff including his time on Twilight Zone magazine, his weird fiction, a long section on Machen, remarks on Leiber. And his "forthcoming" novel Night Town... (over thirty long years ago!)

It's interesting to put a voice to the email exchange I had with him ten or so years ago.

Oh, go listen. You know you want to.

Mark S.
 
My late friend, Jack Lewis and his girl Alice, met Klein at a Twilight Zone sponsored event in the 80's. Klein was, according to Jack, a very pleasant guy who signed his copy of The Ceremonies as well as posed with them for a couple of photographs.
On the same trip Jack scared the hell out of Elliott Gould who just happened to be in the wrong restaurant at the wrong time.

Jack was like that. God bless him.
 
Bumping this thread rather than creating a new one. Found a used but basically mint copy of Klein's Reassuring Tales at Borderland's Books in San Francisco. I've been looking for this book forever. Here's where it gets sweet... I got the book for $34! Plus, it's a signed and lettered copy (one of 26). I was freaking out. See the pic links below.

The guy running the shop was super cool and very knowledgeable. He had several Ligotti printings and made some good recommendations (Laird Barron being one of them). Overall, I was VERY impressed with the shop and their selection. Go and give them some love next time you're in SF. Also, if you're into metal, Aquarius Records down the street is great too!

Pics:

http://i.imgur.com/2YAC98b.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/AQ8ziWb.jpg?1
 
Great find, unknown. I hope to visit Borderlands when I next visit the bay area.
I got hold of a numbered, former library copy myself; having removed the offending stickers and such, it can pass as minimally harmed.
Also, Reassuring or not, your Tales seems to be a Publisher's Copy, which is neither numbered or lettered (or both, if you like). Neither better or worse, in my labyrinthine eyes.
 
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