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Dead & Buried
Dead and Chelsea Quinn Dead and Warner FIRST First Edition, First Printing. Not price-clipped. Published by Warner Books, 1980. 12mo. Paperback. Book is very good with very light toning to the page ends. Covers have some light shelf wear. 100% positive feedback. 30 day money back guarantee. NEXT DAY SHIPPING! Excellent customer service. Please email with any questions. All books packed carefully and ship with free delivery confirmation/tracking. All books come with free bookmarks. Ships from Sag Harbor, New York.Seller 349749 Pulp Paperbacks We Buy Books! Collections - Libraries - Estates - Individual Titles. Message us if you have books to sell!
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
9 people are currently reading
487 people want to read
About the author
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
259 books477 followersA professional writer for more than forty years, Yarbro has sold over eighty books, more than seventy works of short fiction, and more than three dozen essays, introductions, and reviews. She also composes serious music. Her first professional writing - in 1961-1962 - was as a playwright for a now long-defunct children's theater company. By the mid-60s she had switched to writing stories and hasn't stopped yet.
After leaving college in 1963 and until she became a full-time writer in 1970, she worked as a demographic cartographer, and still often drafts maps for her books, and occasionally for the books of other writers.
She has a large reference library with books on a wide range of subjects, everything from food and fashion to weapons and trade routes to religion and law. She is constantly adding to it as part of her on-going fascination with history and culture; she reads incessantly, searching for interesting people and places that might provide fodder for stories.
In 1997 the Transylvanian Society of Dracula bestowed a literary knighthood on Yarbro, and in 2003 the World Horror Association presented her with a Grand Master award. In 2006 the International Horror Guild enrolled her among their Living Legends, the first woman to be so honored; the Horror Writers Association gave her a Life Achievement Award in 2009. In 2014 she won a Life Achievement Award from the World Fantasy Convention.
A skeptical occultist for forty years, she has studied everything from alchemy to zoomancy, and in the late 1970s worked occasionally as a professional tarot card reader and palmist at the Magic Cellar in San Francisco.
She has two domestic accomplishments: she is a good cook and an experienced seamstress. The rest is catch-as-catch-can.
Divorced, she lives in the San Francisco Bay Area - with two cats: the irrepressible Butterscotch and Crumpet, the Gang of Two. When not busy writing, she enjoys the symphony or opera.
Her Saint-Germain series is now the longest vampire series ever. The books range widely over time and place, and were not published in historical order. They are numbered in published order.
Known pseudonyms include Vanessa Pryor, Quinn Fawcett, T.C.F. Hopkins, Trystam Kith, Camille Gabor.
After leaving college in 1963 and until she became a full-time writer in 1970, she worked as a demographic cartographer, and still often drafts maps for her books, and occasionally for the books of other writers.
She has a large reference library with books on a wide range of subjects, everything from food and fashion to weapons and trade routes to religion and law. She is constantly adding to it as part of her on-going fascination with history and culture; she reads incessantly, searching for interesting people and places that might provide fodder for stories.
In 1997 the Transylvanian Society of Dracula bestowed a literary knighthood on Yarbro, and in 2003 the World Horror Association presented her with a Grand Master award. In 2006 the International Horror Guild enrolled her among their Living Legends, the first woman to be so honored; the Horror Writers Association gave her a Life Achievement Award in 2009. In 2014 she won a Life Achievement Award from the World Fantasy Convention.
A skeptical occultist for forty years, she has studied everything from alchemy to zoomancy, and in the late 1970s worked occasionally as a professional tarot card reader and palmist at the Magic Cellar in San Francisco.
She has two domestic accomplishments: she is a good cook and an experienced seamstress. The rest is catch-as-catch-can.
Divorced, she lives in the San Francisco Bay Area - with two cats: the irrepressible Butterscotch and Crumpet, the Gang of Two. When not busy writing, she enjoys the symphony or opera.
Her Saint-Germain series is now the longest vampire series ever. The books range widely over time and place, and were not published in historical order. They are numbered in published order.
Known pseudonyms include Vanessa Pryor, Quinn Fawcett, T.C.F. Hopkins, Trystam Kith, Camille Gabor.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
May 13, 2023
Sheriff Dan Gillis has some mysterious cases of murder in Potter's Bluff. The victims were set on fire. First there is one case, then two more. What is going on in the little village? How is his wife Janet linked to those gruesome murders? Who is involved in those terrible crimes? What is the role of Dobbs, the mortician? An absolutely uncanny and eerie blast from the past with a great jaw dropping twist at the ending. This is the kind of horror I really like. This author knows how to scare you shitless. Highly recommended!
November 15, 2024
I love film novelizations, especially the ones like this that are based on the original screenplay play and first cut of the movie. this book fleshes out the story even more to the original intent of the director and screenwriter. Being a fan of the film this and knowing of the messed-up history behind this film it is fun getting the best version.
The characters and story are fleshed out a lot fuller than the film and adds more scenes and characters with richer depth and detail, probably the only difference I didn't like was that the main character was a total douche, where in the movie he just had gruff personality. It also contains the rich atmosphere of the movie which is a strong testament to the talent of the author Chelsea Quinn Yarbro.
Novelizations from this time period were treated like real novels and not like some cheap tie-in for a quick cash grab. So, if you're a fan of the film or just like good creepy horror novels i highly recommend you read this.
The characters and story are fleshed out a lot fuller than the film and adds more scenes and characters with richer depth and detail, probably the only difference I didn't like was that the main character was a total douche, where in the movie he just had gruff personality. It also contains the rich atmosphere of the movie which is a strong testament to the talent of the author Chelsea Quinn Yarbro.
Novelizations from this time period were treated like real novels and not like some cheap tie-in for a quick cash grab. So, if you're a fan of the film or just like good creepy horror novels i highly recommend you read this.
July 3, 2019
I read this book such a long time ago and never forgot it. It is rare when I like a Horror book as much as this. My tastes have changed over the years and I do not read much horror anymore but after I found this I reread it and I am happy to say it is as readable and creepy as ever.
SPOILERS:
I did have one issue and it is the same one I had when I read it as a kid. I am unclear on the ending. So was the whole town dead then? Was Dan himself dead? How would he have been able to think and to process if he was dead and why wouldn't he remember? And at the end, Janet says to him "try again". So she was dead and yet she could still think?
I put question marks because I am not really sure so if anyone knows and understands the ending please post here and explain to me. I loved this book but I thought, reading it as an adult I would grasp the ending more clearly and I did not.
Still scared the heck out of me and is worth reading.
SPOILERS:
I did have one issue and it is the same one I had when I read it as a kid. I am unclear on the ending. So was the whole town dead then? Was Dan himself dead? How would he have been able to think and to process if he was dead and why wouldn't he remember? And at the end, Janet says to him "try again". So she was dead and yet she could still think?
I put question marks because I am not really sure so if anyone knows and understands the ending please post here and explain to me. I loved this book but I thought, reading it as an adult I would grasp the ending more clearly and I did not.
Still scared the heck out of me and is worth reading.
July 14, 2023
Novelization of the movie with the same title. If you haven't seen it, my advice is to read first, watch later.
For fans of spooky shenanigans combined with small town America and its typical atmosphere. Welcome to Potter's Bluff; a new way of life. A place where nothing ever happens, but a lot is going on. And there's so much fun in finding out what that is. I just love the build-up of stories such as these.
Getting to know the townsfolk and their quirks, the first signs of horror, the clues of what is actually happening, who or what is responsible for it and an omnipresent uh-oh-feeling that slowly turns into an oh-no-experience; I can't get enough of it. And I don't mind things getting a little crazy either.
Dead & Buried has it all. With a killer ending as the icing on the cake. Of course the eighties came up with this.
For fans of spooky shenanigans combined with small town America and its typical atmosphere. Welcome to Potter's Bluff; a new way of life. A place where nothing ever happens, but a lot is going on. And there's so much fun in finding out what that is. I just love the build-up of stories such as these.
Getting to know the townsfolk and their quirks, the first signs of horror, the clues of what is actually happening, who or what is responsible for it and an omnipresent uh-oh-feeling that slowly turns into an oh-no-experience; I can't get enough of it. And I don't mind things getting a little crazy either.
Dead & Buried has it all. With a killer ending as the icing on the cake. Of course the eighties came up with this.
July 10, 2021
I don't usually read movie novelizations, but I've never seen this movie, and of course I'm not going to pass up something by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. It was a blast! A lot of fun, a lot of creeping dread, and an ending worthy of a Charlie Grant Oxrun Station novel. Several affordable copies on secondary markets, so be on the lookout for this.
December 11, 2019
The coastal town of Potter’s Bluff is small, insular and friendly, where everyone knows everyone else’s business and outsiders are easy to spot. So when dead bodies start to turn up - burned beyond recognition - Sheriff Dan Gillis doesn’t have a great deal to go on, except that his wife seems to be tied up in it. As the threads of his investigation start to come together, he realises his neighbours might not be everything he’d thought they were…
Based on the screenplay to the excellent film - though not, it appears, the shooting script - this is a decent attempt to create a suspenseful novel from a story that, I think, works best visually. In the film, we see the characters and get a sense of the almost surreal nature of what’s happening, while Yarbro is forced to explain bits and pieces that don’t really work once they’re laid out. Having said that, she writes well and the pace clatters along, with Dan taking the lion’s share of the POV - Janet, his wife, gets short-changed the most unfortunately, while others characters seem there purely to serve the plot. The suspense set-pieces - such as the out-of-town family pursued through a deserted house - are very well done and there’s a nice creepy sense over the piece, that lingers well into the last quarter where everything appears to turn on its head (no spoilers here). With a great eye for location - a small town with lots of sea mist - and atmosphere to spare, this is a worthy companion to the film (different enough to make it an interesting and intriguing read in its own right) and if you liked the movie, I’d very much recommend this.
Based on the screenplay to the excellent film - though not, it appears, the shooting script - this is a decent attempt to create a suspenseful novel from a story that, I think, works best visually. In the film, we see the characters and get a sense of the almost surreal nature of what’s happening, while Yarbro is forced to explain bits and pieces that don’t really work once they’re laid out. Having said that, she writes well and the pace clatters along, with Dan taking the lion’s share of the POV - Janet, his wife, gets short-changed the most unfortunately, while others characters seem there purely to serve the plot. The suspense set-pieces - such as the out-of-town family pursued through a deserted house - are very well done and there’s a nice creepy sense over the piece, that lingers well into the last quarter where everything appears to turn on its head (no spoilers here). With a great eye for location - a small town with lots of sea mist - and atmosphere to spare, this is a worthy companion to the film (different enough to make it an interesting and intriguing read in its own right) and if you liked the movie, I’d very much recommend this.
March 4, 2024
In this very scary folk horror tale, we watch what seems like half the villagers in town brutally murder one stranger after another, as the bewildered sheriff frantically tries to comprehend what is happening.
This is a novelization from director Gary Sherman's excellent film, sort of a coastal New England take on MESSIAH OF EVIL and CARNIVAL OF SOULS. The film emphasized the generation gap between boomers and WW2 generation as the townsfolk all sport natty 40's fashions and listen to big band swing records. It's effective but goes on slightly too long, so that the viewer can't help realizing the story is full of hearse-sized holes. I mention this only to credit Yarbro for streamlining the story to focus on the folk-horror basics. For example the novel expands the story of a city family visiting the town, shuffling the order of events to make their terrifying plight more of a central focus.
While the story is fine and the book is really very short, I have to credit Yarbro's exceptional writing for making DEAD & BURIED absolutely impossible to put down. I can't remember the last time I tore through a book so quickly! With Yarbro's pen and structural changes the story moves fast enough to keep the momentum and mystery building right up to the final, dreadful scenes.
This is a novelization from director Gary Sherman's excellent film, sort of a coastal New England take on MESSIAH OF EVIL and CARNIVAL OF SOULS. The film emphasized the generation gap between boomers and WW2 generation as the townsfolk all sport natty 40's fashions and listen to big band swing records. It's effective but goes on slightly too long, so that the viewer can't help realizing the story is full of hearse-sized holes. I mention this only to credit Yarbro for streamlining the story to focus on the folk-horror basics. For example the novel expands the story of a city family visiting the town, shuffling the order of events to make their terrifying plight more of a central focus.
While the story is fine and the book is really very short, I have to credit Yarbro's exceptional writing for making DEAD & BURIED absolutely impossible to put down. I can't remember the last time I tore through a book so quickly! With Yarbro's pen and structural changes the story moves fast enough to keep the momentum and mystery building right up to the final, dreadful scenes.
May 30, 2012
This novelization of a movie I don't recall seeing 30 some years ago, made me want to find the 'ol flick and see how the chills show up on the screen. This story of a small costal town with a morbid secret, was a very quick,fun read.I felt like I was watching an old horror movie on a Friday night, maybe a little cheesey...but, that's OK.
October 24, 2017
Highly recommended. I love finishing a book and sitting agape... Just wow.
July 14, 2021
An exceptionally slow horror novel.
At 304 pages Dead & Buried isn’t super long, but it feels an eternity longer as nothing of any importance or excitement happens till page 200.
Even the twist ending isn’t worth the time spent getting to it.
At 304 pages Dead & Buried isn’t super long, but it feels an eternity longer as nothing of any importance or excitement happens till page 200.
Even the twist ending isn’t worth the time spent getting to it.
Read
November 17, 2022I read this 1980 horror novel many years ago, and really can recall virtually nothing of it. I picked up the paperback version since I’d thoroughly enjoyed Ariosto, a Renaissance inspired fantasy novel by the same author. This one sounds like a Stephen King knock off in the premise that a young man, accompanied by his wife, finds the people in the small town to which they’ve recently moved seem to resemble people he’d known before but whom are all now dead. Are the deceased somehow finding a second existence in this small, isolated community? And why is his wife all of a sudden acting so strangely?
Seems like a plausible enough premise for an intriguing development, and maybe in a universe of infinite time I’d take the opportunity such would afford to read it again.
Seems like a plausible enough premise for an intriguing development, and maybe in a universe of infinite time I’d take the opportunity such would afford to read it again.
January 23, 2020
Even though this was a novelization of a screenplay, it still comes across as one of those cool horror paperback novels from the 70s and 80s. The kind that are creepy and enjoyable and not meant to be anything else. This one really flowed well and kept my interest the entire time. I will say the ending confused me, and really. there was a lot of things left unexplained that could have been clearer. That being said, if you enjoy old school paperback horror (and those of you who do know just what I mean), then this should be a good read for you. I haven't seen the movie yet, but plan to now. I've actually heard the novel was better than the film, which is unusual only because the film came first. Trivia note: the screenplay this was based on was written by the original creators/writers of the movie ALIEN.
March 15, 2010
In a small coastal town, where everyone knows everyone else, an unrecognized woman gets into an intensive-care room at the hospital and kills an unknown man. Oh! - and people are being doused with gasoline and set on fire! This is not a cozy mystery; it's not even a good variation on the 'Stepford Wives' theme. It was only my determination to complete a monthly challenge that kept me going to the bitter end - and really, that's not even a good enough reason!
August 21, 2022
This tale started out with a bang and didn’t let up. I couldn’t put it down bc I had to know what happened next.
Once things started falling into place, I thought I had it figured out, but nope. That’s what the author wanted you to think. I liked the twist at the end and it really rounded out the whole picture for me. The big reveal was devious and disturbing. It’s what makes horror stories like this worth reading.
Once things started falling into place, I thought I had it figured out, but nope. That’s what the author wanted you to think. I liked the twist at the end and it really rounded out the whole picture for me. The big reveal was devious and disturbing. It’s what makes horror stories like this worth reading.
February 1, 2025
This is another one of my dad's collection's as I slowly make my way through these books, I have sadness, but also great memories of him reading these when I was younger.
4 stars
From the moment I started reading this I was absolutely hooked. A photographer in town on the hunt for a perfect picture spots a women starts up conversation and ends up following her to an area she knows really well. He starts taking pictures of her with her blessing she even comes of as being into herself knowing she beautiful begins to pose more provocatively even topless. This is when he begins to realize something is very wrong. He notices strange people surrounding them and the worst part being they are all carrying weapons. This is when he realizes he needs to take the girl and get the hell out of dodge. When he tries to get her to follow him he becomes aware of the fact that she doesn't seem concerned and is in fact smiling. As he tries to escape he becomes increasingly aware that he isn't going to especially when his body is doused in gasoline and engulfed in flames he knows for sure then he has made a grave mistake.
Incidents like this has popped up over town of bodies being burned beyond recognition it is up to the sheriff to figure out what is going on in his little town.
When rumors begin flying about his quiet wife Janet meeting up with strange men at the local hotel she seems to always have a reason for the circumstances. The sheriff soon begins to wonder if the love of his life is actually telling the truth and just what the hell is actually happening to people in his town.
Really liked this one ! such a great read and didn't know which they would go in this but the author did a great job of wrapping it all up in the end.
4 stars
From the moment I started reading this I was absolutely hooked. A photographer in town on the hunt for a perfect picture spots a women starts up conversation and ends up following her to an area she knows really well. He starts taking pictures of her with her blessing she even comes of as being into herself knowing she beautiful begins to pose more provocatively even topless. This is when he begins to realize something is very wrong. He notices strange people surrounding them and the worst part being they are all carrying weapons. This is when he realizes he needs to take the girl and get the hell out of dodge. When he tries to get her to follow him he becomes aware of the fact that she doesn't seem concerned and is in fact smiling. As he tries to escape he becomes increasingly aware that he isn't going to especially when his body is doused in gasoline and engulfed in flames he knows for sure then he has made a grave mistake.
Incidents like this has popped up over town of bodies being burned beyond recognition it is up to the sheriff to figure out what is going on in his little town.
When rumors begin flying about his quiet wife Janet meeting up with strange men at the local hotel she seems to always have a reason for the circumstances. The sheriff soon begins to wonder if the love of his life is actually telling the truth and just what the hell is actually happening to people in his town.
Really liked this one ! such a great read and didn't know which they would go in this but the author did a great job of wrapping it all up in the end.
August 3, 2023
Nel 1981 uscì al cinema un B-Movie che rimase pressoché sconosciuto: "Dead & Buried" ("Morti e sepolti") fu una pellicola tra il thriller e l'horror che raccontava la storia di uno sceriffo di un'anonima cittadina di provincia americana, impegnato nell'indagine di una serie di omicidi inconsueti per quella realtà di paese e a dir poco raccapriccianti. A poco a poco tutte le sue certezze (anche quelle relative alla sua vita privata) iniziano a vacillare, fino a venire meno del tutto. Colpo di scena finale di grande effetto.
Un anno dopo, nel 1982, la scrittrice americana di genere dark/horror Chelsea Quinn Yarbro uscì in libreria con un romanzo che riportava lo stesso titolo del B-Movie dell'anno precedente: non era un caso, ma era il romanzo tratto dal film. Normalmente queste operazioni sono fallimentari e riescono a dare vita a prodotti scadenti e privi di qualsiasi pregio letterario. La Yarbro invece compì un piccolo miracolo: a partire da un filmetto di poche pretese, trasse un avvincente romanzo nero, ben scritto, dal ritmo incalzante e con un finale impeccabile.
Un anno dopo, nel 1982, la scrittrice americana di genere dark/horror Chelsea Quinn Yarbro uscì in libreria con un romanzo che riportava lo stesso titolo del B-Movie dell'anno precedente: non era un caso, ma era il romanzo tratto dal film. Normalmente queste operazioni sono fallimentari e riescono a dare vita a prodotti scadenti e privi di qualsiasi pregio letterario. La Yarbro invece compì un piccolo miracolo: a partire da un filmetto di poche pretese, trasse un avvincente romanzo nero, ben scritto, dal ritmo incalzante e con un finale impeccabile.
November 9, 2024
This is one of my favorite suspense “horror” movies! When I found out it was in book form, I had to read it. Though I already was aware of the ending, reading the story managed to build suspense still. Almost more eerie, cause I did know the ending. Either way is a win, I recommend reading and/or watching the movie! Both are excellent. Especially if you’re a fan of a “quiet, coastal town” vibe.
February 29, 2020
This is a great novelization of an underrated movie. The twist ending will wreak havok on your mind and have you questioning everything in your life. I don't even know who I am anymore.
July 22, 2021
Not sure about this one, was a fun read and liked the final twist but there was something missing ... s don't know yet for sure what to think about it.
September 29, 2021
Dan Gillis and his wife, Janet, live in the small town of Potter’s Bluff, where he is Sheriff and Janet teaches high school. It’s a sleepy little town where everyone knows one another and nothing much ever happens. That is, until one night Dan gets called out to investigate a killing. A man walking on the beach taking pictures was doused with gasoline and set afire. Before too long, other people start dying the same way. Dan is at a loss as to how and why these deaths are happening and he notices people around him, even Janet, are acting kind of strange. He’s determined to find the truth. This was a creepy little thriller that I had a hard time putting down. I really liked Dan’s character and his quest for the truth. Dan finally finds out the truth in the last couple of chapters and it was not at all what he, or I, expected.
April 23, 2012
I thought this novel was a really good read, once I started it I couldnt put it down. I read it in two days. Its basically about the dead coming back to life, and a Sheriff Dan Gillis has to investigate the murders that are happening. But stange events occur which makes the book addictive to read.
April 26, 2016
This was a wonderful horror novel with an ending that really yanked the rug out from under me.
May 4, 2023
Page turner until the satisfying ending.
July 18, 2020
One of the very few movie-to-book adaptions that actually turned out to be better than the source material.
What appears to be a quaint, small town with friendly, Potter's Bluff's helpful residents isn't what it at first appears to be. After their initial "welcome" from the townsfolk, visitors ultimately end up staying permanently, but are quite different from the people they were when they arrived.
The escape from an abandoned Potter's Bluff house comes off much better in story form than it does on screen, though the ending remains sort of a letdown whether in movie or book form.
By no means a horror masterpiece, and if you've seen the movie it's based on you know what's coming (natch). But it's better than it should be.
What appears to be a quaint, small town with friendly, Potter's Bluff's helpful residents isn't what it at first appears to be. After their initial "welcome" from the townsfolk, visitors ultimately end up staying permanently, but are quite different from the people they were when they arrived.
The escape from an abandoned Potter's Bluff house comes off much better in story form than it does on screen, though the ending remains sort of a letdown whether in movie or book form.
By no means a horror masterpiece, and if you've seen the movie it's based on you know what's coming (natch). But it's better than it should be.
January 25, 2018
This was a neat thrilling horror novel that is based on a screenplay. Sheriff Daniel Gillis starts an accident investigation and soon is investigating serial killings and strangers in town. Honestly, this graphic tale is mesmerizing but over-the-top. The novel is in the talented hands of Chelsea Quinn Yarbro who spins a memorable horror tale. The ending will grab you by the throat.
May 6, 2021
Potters Bluff is a small town with an eerie, creepy vibe and strangers who come to visit get doused in petrol and set on fire. The sheriff is running around trying to solve the mystery while more bodies turn up. His wife is becoming strange and dead bodies are disappearing. A great setting with a disturbing ending.
July 5, 2018
3.5. Enjoyable read, but for some reason I felt something lacking. Very fun twist ending, and since I never watched the movie I was surprised. I would recommend it, but again just felt it could have had a bit more punch, not counting the end. The writing was well done too.
December 9, 2023
It’s one of those books where you’re like, oh yeh of course. That doesn’t make it bad. And I enjoyed the townies and their quirks. But I felt the ending was lacking. How does it work? And how can the leader continue?
September 12, 2025
I bought this in either middle school or early high school (still have it). One of my favorite books that holds your interest. Check out the movie as well starring Jack Albertson (Willie Wonka) as the mortician. Good stuff Maynard!
July 20, 2018
My god, this sucked.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews