Haffner Press Newsletter - Aug. 5, 2021 - World of Wandrei: Slipcased IVY FROST and COMPLETE CYRUS NORTH!

In This Issue:

August 5, 2021

<< Worlds of Wandrei >>

• Slipcased Edition of THE COMPLETE IVY FROST
• Announcing THE COMPLETE CYRUS NORTH
• The Reviews Are in on THE COMPLETE IVY FROST

THE COMPLETE IVY FROST
Deluxe Slipcased Edition
Donald Wandrei
Introduction by D.H. Olson
Cover art by Raymond Swanland
Interior art by Chris Kalb
Edited by Stephen Haffner
720-page Smythe-sewn Hardcover with matching Slipcase
Signed by all contributors
Expected to ship in late September 2021

Price: $150

If you haven't dropped $50 for the 1000-copy trade hardcover (over 50% sold-through!) of THE COMPLETE IVY FROST, we're here to tempt you with the 100-copy slipcased edition. Those of you enrolled in our limited editions program already have your matching # reserved*. Which leaves us, in a COVID-ravaged landscape, around 35 or so copies unreserved for your consideration. For your extra space-bucks, with this edition you get:

THE COMPLETE IVY FROST (all 18 stories filling out 720 pages along with its four-color decorated endsheets) bearing a tipped-in limitation sheet signed by:

Raymond Swanland - Cover artist
Chris Kalb - Interior artist
D. H. Olson - Introduction
Stephen Haffner - Editor

Plus . . . an exclusive chapbook of 3 never-reprinted-stories:

THREE MORE MYSTERIES:
"Man-Hunt" Alibi May '34
"The Rod and the Staff" Black Mask Feb '37
"Make Me a Death Mask" Black Mask Aug '38

with arguably the last of the postcards adorned with Clem Haupers' life-size portrait of author Donald Wandrei.

And, as with the trade edition, your book will ship with the original first-state dustjacket wrapped on the book and the superior second-state dustjacket shipped rolled in a plastic protector.

All of the above is housed in a *very* sturdy matching custom Black Arlington Vellum slipcase.

* If you purchased one of the slipcased copies of FROST published by Fedogan & Bremer in 2000, we'll see if we can match your limitation # with our edition. 'Cuz we're dorks like that. ;)

THE COMPLETE CYRUS NORTH
Donald Wandrei
Cover art by TBA
Introduction by TBA
Edited by Stephen Haffner
500+ page Smythe-sewn Hardcover

The very last series of stories by Donald Wandrei to be collected, we're pleased to announce that we have permission to proceed with . . .

THE COMPLETE
CYRUS NORTH

Now, there's still a l-o-t of work to do on this title before we can begin to take preorders, but here' s a table of contents that might surprise some people:

Contents:
The Five Toothless Dragons. Clues Detective, Oct 38
The Three-Eyed Men, Clues Detective, Nov 38
The Head in the Parachute, Clues Detective, Jan 39
It Writes in Snow, Clues Detective, Mar 39
The Painted Nudes, Clues Detective, Apr 39
No Human Shape, Clues Detective, Jun 39
The Giant and the Dinosaur, Pulp Vault #14/15, 2011
Revelation in Green, (heretofore unpublished)

That's right, in addition to the 6 novellas originally published in Clues Detective Stories (and the cancelled tale from 1939 that was printed in a 2011 fanzine), there's a novella-length Wandrei story that you haven't read, or probably even heard about!

So, who is Cyrus North? What's his angle? Why are his tales so elusive? We can't spill all the beans now, but here's some of that unpublished Wandrei story-telling to tide you over:

"...A laboratory technician was standing under the overhead rail, watching the electromagnet carry the steel bar.
   The lights blanked out.
   Cyrus North hurled himself instantly, and automatically, toward the technician. Power failure of lights meant power failure of the electromagnet. Somewhere in the blackness the heavy bar was crashing down.
   He collided with a human body and sent it sprawling. The impact drove his left arm outward. The ponderous weight of the falling beam smote his arm. A sharp snap sounded. His dangling hand shot downward to his side and rebounded from his hip. As he fell to the floors trying vainly to protect the arm, his own weight crushed it again. Waves of agonizing pain surged from the broken arm and set fire to every nerve in his body.
   He heard the workman stumble to safety in the darkness ahead. The steel bar crashed with a dull concussion. Then the darkness filled with voices and confusion, until the lights flickered on again.
   North staggered up and walked to his office like a man who was drunk. The arm dangled helplessly, and every step he took jarred the bone sufficiently to send new waves of pain searing through him,
   His business secretary, Sarah Slocumbe, took one look at him and reached for a phone.
   He sat at his desk in his private office, motionless, while beads of sweat sprang out and trickled down his white face, The pain settled into a steady, hammering pulse. He groped in a drawer and brought out a tiny phial and an eye dropper. He was just able to reach to the watercooler standing by the wall behind him.
   Into a glass of water he carefully squeezed two drops of thick, yellowish fluid and drank the mixture. The lines of pain softened on his face, but his smoky eyes took on a fever-bright glow.

THE REVIEWS ARE IN . . . on THE COMPLETE IVY FROST

With first copies being shipped on December 22, 2020, THE COMPLETE IVY FROST has been circulating in the wild for more than 7 months. The 1000-copy trade hardcover edition is more than 50% sold-through so it's past time to share what is being said about this l-o-n-g anticipated tome:

"...Mixing Grand Guignol theatricality and nonstop comic-book action, the Frost and Moray adventures make for delightfully kitschy reading, as one would expect given titles like “Bride of the Rats” and “The Lunatic Plague.”
—Michael Dirda, Washington Post

"...These stories could serve as models for anyone writing thrillers or novels of suspense. The action is fluidly non-stop, leaping from one unpredictable set-piece to the next."
—Paul di Filippo, Locus Magazine

"Haffner Press has elevated Ivy Frost to the exact spot he belongs, near the top of the pulp world, just about two years before Superman blows up printing presses everywhere. These stories, nearly a hundred years old each, are still absolute fun for everyone."
—Mark Squirek, New York Journal of Books

A scattering of comments at Black Gate Magazine

A listing at Midwest Book Review

4.8 out of 5 stars at Amazon with 7 global ratings & 3 global reviews:
"...After reading 18 delightful Ivy Frost and Jean Moray stories, I wanted more!"—John R. O'Neill

".... Open this book and open the door to adventure, witty dialogue and a chilling draft of the macabre, complete with an introduction by D.H. Olson..."—John E. Boyle

"A great series of short stories well worth the price."—Joe S.

And some outliers at Goodreads and LibraryThing

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