About the Press

Lonely Road Books is dedicated to turning modern classics and future classics into deluxe Limited Edition works of art.

With extremely low print runs and the finest production materials available, these books will be designed with the ultimate collectors in mind. Because of the time required to produce the special editions these works deserve, we will only publish one or two books each year at the very most.

Founded by Richard Chizmar and Brian James Freeman, every Lonely Road Books signed Limited Edition has sold out quickly — often within hours or days of being announced. We've worked with the biggest names in dark literature including Stephen King, William Peter Blatty, Stewart O'Nan, Mick Garris, Guillermo del Toro, Chuck Hogan, Douglas Clegg, Ray Garton (writing as Arthur Darknell), and editor Kirby McCauley.

Our most recent announcement is The Exorcist: The 40th Anniversary Revised Limited Edition by William Peter Blatty, which features Blatty's completely revised text and FULL COLOR artwork by acclaimed artist Caniglia. This edition will be limited to just 374 copies of the Limited Edition and 26 copies of the Lettered Edition, making it an extremely collectible edition. With an oversized page size and an extremely low print run, this special edition will feature a high-quality paper stock, a deluxe binding selected from the finest materials available.

Our next publication due in from the printer is The Strain: The Deluxe Special Edition by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, featuring twenty ORIGINAL illustrations by acclaimed comic artist/director Troy Nixey. Guillermo del Toro, the visionary creator of the Academy Award-winning Pan's Labyrinth, and Chuck Hogan, a Hammett Award-winning author, have brought their imaginations to this series of bold, epic novels about a horrifying battle between man and vampire that threatens all humanity. The Strain is the first installment in this thrilling trilogy and an extraordinary international publishing event, and The Strain: The Deluxe Special Edition from Lonely Road Books is being designed with the ultimate book collectors in mind.

In February 2011, we published the signed Limited Edition and Lettered Edition of Blockade Billy by Stephen King, featuring ELEVEN black & white interior illustrations by Alex McVey, a color frontispiece by Glen Orbik, and Stephen King's first-ever signed baseball card.

In October 2010, we published Riding the Bullet: The Deluxe Special Edition Double by Mick Garris and Stephen King, featuring the complete original novella and screenplay, a unique two color design throughout, full-color and B&W artwork by horror legend Bernie Wrightson, plus exclusive storyboards, photos from the set, production notes, hand-corrected script pages, and more from the Top Secret "Director's Notebook" kept during the production.

If you want to look back where Lonely Road Books started, readers and collectors raved about our first release, Dark Forces: The 25th Anniversary Special Edition edited by Kirby McCauley, and many consider it a "must have" for any fine horror and suspense collection. Not only did every available copy of our special edition sellout within days of being announced, but copies were selling on the second-hand market for much more than the original retail price immediately upon publication. This incredible collection features stories by Stephen King, Robert Bloch, Ray Bradbury, Joyce Carol Oates, Ramsey Campbell, Charles L. Grant, Richard & Richard Christian Matheson, and over a dozen other masters of the genre. If you missed out on the Dark Forces special deluxe edition, you can view photos in the Photo & Artwork section of this website.

The Arthur Darknell Double by Arthur Darknell was our second title. This special deluxe edition was crafted in the tradition of the old Ace Doubles, so when you finish the first novel, flip the book over and start the other novel.

That's right! This book featured TWO original novels — never before published anywhere and currently not scheduled to be reprinted — and both the Limited Edition and the Lettered Edition sold out within days of being announced.

Lonely Road Books was proud to publish Arthur Darknell's first two novels together as a special deluxe Limited Edition "Double," but who is Arthur Darknell? Well, you might know him from the tales of terror he writes under the name of Ray Garton. If you're curious as to why Raydecided to try a new direction with his fiction, please check out his essay on our website.

Poe by New York Times bestselling author Stewart O'Nan, our third title, also sold out within days of being announced, and once again no other editions of Poe are planned anywhere in the world at this time. Featuring a special introduction from horror film legend Roger Corman, this unique production of Poe is only available as a Lonely Road Books special edition.

The Vampyricon Trilogy: The Definitive Special Edition by Douglas Clegg will be our fourth title. Visit the The Vampyricon Trilogy page to read more about this incredible epic and all of the "lost material" being included in our edition for the first time ever.

One other important note for collectors: when we announce a new book, we may offer a special feature just for customers who order the book within a certain period of time or who order a specific edition.

For example, customers who ordered The Arthur Darknell Double Lettered Edition, of which there are only 26 copies in the world, also received a deluxe Limited Edition chapbook entitled "The Most Interesting Prospect" by Arthur Darknell. This was an original story written exclusively for Lonely Road Books by Ray Garton, and at this time there are no plans for it to ever be reprinted or for Ray to even write another Arthur Darknell short story. This exclusive addition to our Lettered Edition made the book even more collectible.

Another example is the "Monsters" chapbook written by Stewart O'Nan. Clocking in at over 8,000 words, this was an original short story by one of our generation's finest authors of the short form. This deluxe Limited Edition chapbook was hand-crafted by artist Keith Minnion. These chapbooks were only available to customers who ordered Poe within five days of the book being announced. Because all 200 copies of the signed Limited Edition and all 26 copies of the signed Lettered Edition sold within that time period, there will only be 226 copies of the "Monsters" chapbook ever printed. Each was signed and hand-numbered by the author himself.

While you're here, don't forget to sign-up for our mailing list. Our newsletter subscribers will be the first to know about future projects, and there's a good chance our next special edition will sell out before the news is posted anywhere else.

If you'd like to get in touch with us, please check out our contact information.

Thank you for your interest in Lonely Road Books!