Back in the 1980s and 1990, small press publisher Dark Harvest published a fair amount of horror fiction, from novels, to anthologies and collections. At the time I bought a handful of these, but back then hardcovers were a premium in my eyes. I’ve recently started to look for their books that I failed to get, with Alan Ryan’s novel, Cast a Cold Eye the latest find. Originally published in 1984, this is a horror novel set in western Ireland.
I don’t often bid for books on eBay, but recently I’d seen several books there listed a low starting prices, and tossed my hat in for a few of them. In most cases the subsequent bidding exceeded my budget for any book, and I bowed out when that limit was reached. Cast a Cold Eye, to my surprise, was one that I ended up winning (alas, I missed out on another Dark Harvest book, not to mention many, many Arkham House books…).
My copy arrived today, and to my second surprise, this copy was not the trade edition, but the signed/limited edition in a slipcase. My copy is #92 of 200, signed by Alan Ryan, as well as illustrator Jill Bauman. For $15 plus tax and shipping, that’s probably the third surprise. (I will note, to my annoyance, that the copy-reader missed Brain for Brian on the second page, which does not bode well.)
