Thunderstorm Books

[Sock Monkey]

Today I received the lettered editions of both BEHOLD THE VOID and BENEATH A PALE SKY from Thunderstorm. Splync did a very nice unboxing of the the limited editions over on Youtube that you can watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV8YXVl4JXA if you are so inclined. Since I haven't seen any of these out in the wild yet and these are the first traycased lettered editions in Thunderstorm's Screaming Cacti line of books, I thought I'd post some pictures and my thoughts in comparison to what Thunderstorm normally does in their limited editions.

First, a warning: I am not a great photographer like Cyberghostface and these were taken with my phone, so please forgive my overall lack of skill. I also only included single photos of PALE SKY in a good portion of photos since the design elements are the same in both books.

1. The Traycase

I'll start with the traycases. The construction of the cases are actually very nice and feel sturdy and substantial in your hands. The material for the traycases are a bonded leather that's very similar to what the Black Voltage books themselves are bound in and, in fact, the stamping on the front of the traycase is the style as is used on the Black Voltage books as well. The back of the traycase has "Thunderstorm Books" stamped on them. What I thought was interesting was that the spine of the traycase only has the title and author's name, omitting any reference to the publisher. While this looks very simple in hand, I think it looks really sharp on the shelf, especially as a pair.

I don't have a large swath of lettered traycases to compare to, but these are a significant step up from, say, CD's standard lettered traycase. My closest comparison would be the traycase for OFF SEASON from Dark Regions, but the traycases for the Thunderstorm books, I'd say, are nicer than those as well. I can't speak to something like CD's King lettereds or Suntup's lettereds, but these are also a fraction of the cost of those editions, so they might not be a good comparison anyways.

Lettered Combo.jpgLettered Combo 2.jpg
Lettered Combo 3.jpgLettered Combo 4.jpg

[sholloman81]

Very Jealous! The Thunderstorm LE's of both books might be my favorite things that I read last year. They were amazing collections. Do you know if the interiors of the lettered editions differ from the LE editions at all, in terms of content, materials used, art, etc.; or is the traycase the only difference? May be a dumb question, but I've never purchased a lettered edition from Thunderstorm (or really any publishers due to price).


Another dorky question, but looking at your photos, do you sort your bookcases by Publisher? Looks really nice and I'm wondering if I should do that. I'm always torn, but usually end up sorting mine by author with a few exceptions here and there. 

[saginawhorror]

You know, reviewing the contents of these grab bags on this thread and I just have to say that these were some pretty darn nice grab bags, especially considering that it was, like, less than $20 a book. Very generous of Paul as he could have charged double and they still would have been a bargain when compared to publication prices. Â

I consider about 2/3rd of the price to be reasonable. I've picked up quite a few around that range.

[Ben Staad]

I'm in the club now. I agree there are three intriguing options.

[saginawhorror]

I thought briefly about the third but keeping the budget in case a black voltage I still need pops up.

[Sock Monkey]

Very excited by Paul's Clubhouse announcements yesterday. Ended-Up pre-ordering all three books. Boy is my wallet hurting!

Two are calling my name. I also want to pick up a copy of I Died Too, but as I just mentioned on the Sub Press thread, I'm trying to be better in my impulse purchases this year.

[saginawhorror]

2 out of 3 for me. Very exciting!

[Ben Staad]

Congrats to you for whatever you bought.

Sounds like I never signed up for the right thing.

Very excited by Paul's Clubhouse announcements yesterday. Ended-Up pre-ordering all three books. Boy is my wallet hurting!

[sholloman81]

Very excited by Paul's Clubhouse announcements yesterday.  Ended-Up pre-ordering all three books.  Boy is my wallet hurting!

[RonClinton]

All this reminds me that at some point I need to track down a copy of Strand's DEMONIC. I was on the Gleeful Macabre train until CYCLOPS ROAD, at which point I dropped off, and then forgot about DEMONIC.

[sholloman81]

You know, reviewing the contents of these grab bags on this thread and I just have to say that these were some pretty darn nice grab bags, especially considering that it was, like, less than $20 a book. Very generous of Paul as he could have charged double and they still would have been a bargain when compared to publication prices. Â

Just sent you a private message regarding one of your books, let me know what you think, no rush.

[sholloman81]

You know, reviewing the contents of these grab bags on this thread and I just have to say that these were some pretty darn nice grab bags, especially considering that it was, like, less than $20 a book. Very generous of Paul as he could have charged double and they still would have been a bargain when compared to publication prices. Â

For sure! When I heard the deal, I couldn't believe it. Most of their newer hardcovers are averaging around $125; so, I figured that as long as I hit on at least one book that I wanted in the grab bag, then I would be coming out ahead. I only had one dupe in both of my sets; so, I ended up quite happy. At least 6 of the books are definite keepers. The others, I could go either way on. I was also able to do a swap with Splync for a couple, making me even more happy. Big thanks to Paul.

Below is what I still currently have available to trade:

Jeff Strand, Allison, Gleefully Macabe
Jeff Strand, Cyclops Road, Gleefully Macabe
Michelle Garza & Melissa Lason, Scum Janitors vs. The Living Dead, VS Line
Briane Keene, School's Out, Maelstrom
Brian Keene, Good Things for Bad People, Nightmare Alley
Candace Nola, Desperate Wishes, Tempest
Mark Matthews, The Hobgoblin of Little Minds, Black Voltage

[Sock Monkey]

You know, reviewing the contents of these grab bags on this thread and I just have to say that these were some pretty darn nice grab bags, especially considering that it was, like, less than $20 a book.  Very generous of Paul as he could have charged double and they still would have been a bargain when compared to publication prices.  

[saginawhorror]

I don't know how big of a fan I'm going to be of having the eyes from the burial ground black voltage staring at me from my thunderstorm collection. Hahaha.

[sholloman81]

Still, if you wanna trade then only one of us will have a duplicate. ;-)

Just replied to your private message, let me know what you think whenever you have a chance.