Supernatural Fiction Readers discussion

I am not sure where to post this - if this is the wrong location, some direction would be appreciated.

I have been looking for a book I read for a while. The problem? No clue on the title or author. Yep - one of those people.

I got it from the library and it was told from the point of view if a demon that got sent to earth. It was first person narrative and told like a memoir. The book itself had pages with fake unfinished edges and a fake leather type cover - hardback. I do remember the last page freaking me out and telling me to look behind me because reading the narrative set him free

I really want to try and buy the book because I enjoyed it. Google has been no help, so I thought I would turn to my fellow bibliophiles.

Thanks in advance!

I don't have a clue. I don't think bindings help much. When you say unfinished pages, was it a diary? Any dates?

There is a group here on GR that specializes in this sort of thing, "What's the Name of That Book?" group.

about all I can tell you is that I'm pretty sure it's not an older book, published before the mid 90s. I'm pretty familiar with a lot of fantasy from that era. This definitely sounds like a new work. I've seen those kinds of rough edges on books. That suggests it might be from a smaller, specialty publisher. Good luck.

I think this is MISTER B. GONE by Clive Barker.

Jim - I did not know there was a group for this. I will keep them in mind next time.

James - That is it!! OMG - thank you so much!!

I've long been frustrated by the fact that I can't list a really good supernatural fiction anthology I read, back in the late 80s or early 90s when it was newly published, just because I can't recall the title or editor. It would have been published in the period from late 1988 to 1991, in hardcover and by a publisher with enough cachet to be reviewed in Library Journal or Booklist. It's lightly illustrated with black and white drawings, and some of the included stories are: "The Fall of the House of Usher;" "The Statement of Randolph Carter" (Lovecraft); "Madam Crowl's Ghost" (Sheridan Le Fanu --I think that's the first story); "Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad" (M. R. James); and a story by Ambrose Bierce featuring a ghost with a missing toe on one foot (I don't recall the exact title). I suppose I can track it down someday by going through old library trade journal reviews online from those years (it's probably earlier in that period rather than later); but if anyone else can give me a clue to track it down without going to that trouble, I'd be grateful! (Jim, I know about the What's the Name of That Book group; but I'm in 18 groups already, and hate to join another one just for this question!)

Hmmm, the speculative fiction database page for "Madam Crowl's Ghost" (I picked that as the main search story) lists a few anthologies that it appeared in in the late 80s'/early 90s - but none that also feature the Lovecraft story:

http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cg...

BTW - "WHAT'S THE NAME OF THAT BOOK" helped me identify a suspense anthology I bought (and then lost) from the bookmobile as a kid back in the 70's!

Shawn, I checked out the link, and those are definitely different anthologies. Thanks anyway, though!

It looks like you already asked in "What's the Name of That Book". People answered you up to a year later. Check this topic out:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I tend to join that group briefly just for answering questions. Not to be a pig, I hang around & try to answer a few questions for a week or two, but there's so much activity I give up.

Could this be the book?
http://www.abebooks.com/book-search/a...

Or look through this list:
http://www.abebooks.com/book-search/a...

Jim, thanks for bringing that to my attention; I'd been in that group for awhile, back in 2008 when I'd first joined Goodreads (I left for the same reason you did; the amount of activity floods my group updates!), but I'd left before I ever read these responses. None of the books the lady suggested were the right one; but I rejoined the group just now to thank her anyway, and I'll try to stick it out there --for awhile, at least!

Also, thanks for the Abe Books links. No, none of the books listed there are the one I'm looking for; but they look like a cornucopia of great reading! :-)

Your reply will bubble the thread back up. Maybe someone will come up with the answer. Sorry I couldn't help. Good luck!

Thanks, Jim!

This was actually solved back in 2015 through the What's the Name of That Book? group, but I forgot to update this thread --my apologies! The anthology turned out to be Charles Keeping's Classic Tales of the Macabre. Part of the reason it remained unsolved for so long is because the Le Fanu story I mentioned in message 6 above is actually in a different anthology. I was conflating two different books in my faulty memory.