Leisure Books 1979-89

[dem]

A project I've been meaning to get around to since Andreas sank his fangs into Zebra's impressive horror catalogue. I know little about Leisure's pre-eighties horror output, just that it includes D. Gunther Wilde's killer cats opus, Claws (1978), Mary Leader's Salem's Children (1979), Mason Burgess' Child Of Demons (1974), at least two likely contenders from Mark Andrew (Satan's Manor (1976), The Return Of Jack The Ripper (1977), and three tasty anthologies - Edward D. Hoch's Judge Of Hades & Other Simon Ark Stories (1971), Kurt Singer's Ghost Omnibus (1971), Robert Bloch's Cold Chills (1977). Could be they published hundreds more and there's a decent thread to be had from the subject?

The Leisure Books Horrors 1979-1989

Mary Leader - Salem's Children (1979)

William P.& Maureen McGivern - The Seeing (1980)
James Tarabilda - Black Sun (1980)
Bernard Taylor - The Reaping (1980, 1992)
J. N. Williamson - The Houngan (1980)
J. N. Williamson - The Offspring (1980)

George McKenna - Rites (1981)
David Robbins - Blood Cult (1981)
Clarissa Ross - Satan Whispers (1981)
T. A. Schock - Deadpan (1981)
Robert K Wilcox - Fatal Glimpse (1981)
J. N. Williamson - The Tulpa (1981)
J. N. Williamson - Premonition (1981, 1986)
Hugh Zachary - Blood Rush (1981)

Chet Hagan - The Witching (1982)
Shaun Hutson - Slugs (1982, 1987)
John Tigges -Garden of the Incubus (1982)
J. N. Williamson - Brotherkind (1982)
J. N. Williamson - Playmates (1982)


Mark Andrews - Satan's Manor (1983: originally Leisure 1976)
Dennis J. Higman - Pranks (1983)

Drake Douglas - Undertow (1984)
Kathryn Meyer Griffith - Evil Stalks The Night (1984)
Shaun Hutson - Erebus (1984)
Aden & Mary Romine - The Fellowship (1984)
William Schoell - Spawn Of Hell (1984)
J. N. Williamson - Ghost (1984)

Mason Burgess - Child Of Demons (1985)
Jay Callahan - Night Of The Wolf (1985)
Drake Douglas - Creature (1985, 1988)
Chet Hagan - The Witching (1985)
Ed Kelleher & Harriette Vidal - Madonna (1985)
Edwin F. Lambirth - The Rivard House (1985)
Eleanor Robinson - The Freak (1985)
William Schoell - Shivers (1985)
Robert D. San Souci - Blood Offerings (1985)
John Tigges - Kiss Not The Child (1985)
Mary Vigliante [Szydlowski] - Worship The Night (1985)
Robert W. Walker - Brain Watch (1985)
J. N. Williamson - The Longest Night (1985)

Katina Alexis - Scorpion (1986)
Mason Burgess - Blood Moon (1986)
Gordon Linzer - The Oni (1986)
T. M. Minton - Offerings (1986)
Robert Neville - Deathday (1986)
Owen S. Rachleff - The Image (1986)
David Robbins - The Wereling (1986)
Leona C. Ross - Resurrexit (1986)
William Schoell - Late At Night (1986)
William Schoell -Bride of Satan (1986)
David B. Silva - Child Of Darkness (1986)
Gary Thompson - Chumash (1986)
John Tigges - The Immortal (1986)

J Edward Ames - The Force (1987)
Mason Burgess - Graveyard (1987)
Drake Douglas & Stephen Kent - Death Song (1987)
William Essex (John Tigges) - The Pack (1987)
Stuart Friedman - Maniac (1987)
Jeffrey Goddin - The Living Dead (1987)
Shaun Hutson - Breeding Ground (1987)
Robert James - Blood Mist (1987)
Michael C. Norton - Abomination (1987)
Dana Reed - The Gatekeeper (1987)
Dana Reed - Sister Satan (1987)
John Tigges - As Evil Does (1987)
John Tigges - Hands of Lucifer (1987)
J. N. Williamson - Evil Offspring (1987)
J. N. Williamson - Noonspell (1987)
J. N. Williamson - The Ritual (1987)
Joyce Wolf - White Spider (1987)

Marc Brellen - Crossbearers (1988)
David Case - Wolf Tracks (1988)
Leigh Clark - The Feeding (1988)
Ehren M Ehly - Obelisk (1988)
William Essex (John Tigges) - Slime (1988)
Richard Forsythe - Fangs (1988)
Shaun Hutson - Spawn (1988)
Ed Kelleher & Harriette Vidal - Prime Evil (1988)
James Kisner - Strands (1988)
K. Karl Largent - Black Death (1988)
E. M. Love - Dress Up (1988, 1992)
Richard Louis Newman - On Wings Of Evil (1988)
Michael C. Norton - Blizzard (1988)
J. Bradley Owen - Dead Season (1988)
Edmund Plante - Garden Of Evil (1988)
Edmund Plante - Seed Of Evil (1988)
Dana Reed - Demon Within (1988)
David Robbins - Spectre (1988)
David Robbins - The Wrath (1988)
William Schoell - Saurian (1988)
David B. Silva - Come Thirteen (1988)
John Tigges -Book Of The Dead (1988)
John Tigges - Venom (1988)
John Tigges - Vessel (1988)
John Tigges - Unto The Altar (1988)
J. N. Williamson - The Banished (1988)

Sal Conte - The Power (1989)
Ehren M Ehly - Evil Eye (1989)
Ehren M Ehly - Totem (1989)
William Essex (John Tigges) - From Below (1989)
Kathryn Meyer Griffith - Blood Forge (1989)
Shaun Hutson - The Skull (1989)
K. Karl Largent - Pagoda (1989)
Edmund Plante - Trapped (1989)
Jerome Preisler - The Pact (1989)
Owen S. Rachleff - Enigma (1989)
Florence Ramie - Toyland (1989)
Dana Reed - Margo (1989)
William Schoell - The Dragon (1989)
Florence Stevenson - Household (1989)
Florence Stevenson - The Sisterhood (1989)
John Tigges - Evil Dreams (1989)
Steve Vance - The Abyss (1989)
J. N. Williamson - Playmates (1989)

needless to say, this is not offered as a comprehensive bibliography, just something for those of us who like this kind of thing to flesh out and have fun with.

[dem]

some details, etc:

Ehren M. Ehly - Evil Eye (Leisure, Nov. 1989)

Blurb:

Alexandria, Egypt - 1919

The exorcism was almost complete. The priests had overcome the old man's fierce resistance, and as if lancing a boil, had drawn the evil power from his body. But before they could finish the ceremony of purification, something happened - something that would change the world.

New York City - Today

The Forrester family was rich, powerful and nasty - the kind of people who would steal the pennies from a dead man's eyes. Arrogant and contemptuous, they ruined lives as easily as they bought and sold companies. Yet they were suddenly faced with problem: Tony Filestra. Although he was merely a pawn in their corporate empire, Filestra had an ally more ruthless than even the Forresters - an aged grandmother with a thirst for revenge and the incredible power of the .... EVIL EYE

"Shrill as a banshee howling in the night, the bloodcurdling screams started up again."

This is what it's all about! An opening line like that and you're pretty sure you're in the right territory and, five pages later, as the ghastly prologue concludes, you're certain. That's the Alexandria 1919 content disposed of, now we move on to the present day.

John Forrester, total bastard, is hassling Louis the porter to move on the semi-mummified old bag-lady who's squatting opposite his plush Upper East Side palace. That wet lib of a Mayor is visiting and he has some business propositions to bully him into, last thing he wants is some smelly old codger lousing up the street! Louis explains that its tricky as she hasn't broken any laws, and it wouldn't do to attract adverse publicity. Fair enough: "If she nutss on the sidewalk, I'll hold you personally responsible" advises Forrester, and heads indoors to sack some poor bastard to cheer himself up. This happens to be Tony Filestra. We just met his gran.

Soon both Forrester and Louis have horrible inflammations on their faces circling the eye, and the magnate screws up his chances with the Mayor by getting comatose drunk though he's sure he didn't put away as much booze as usual. His brother Joseph is furious - think of the bad press! - but, as John points out, if Joseph's son ever finds out that his father is screwing his wife, that's hardly going to do the company any good either.

That's as far as i got with the boring commentary, but there's a piece of card from a rizla packet near the p. 200 mark so i probably got further before forgetting to finish it.

David Robbins - Spectre (Leisure, 1988)

Blurb:
SHADOW SLAYER
A mound of freshly piled earth trembled fiercely; the sound of desperate clawing grew louder and louder, until finally a hand burst forth, pushing itself into the world
like a child from a hellish womb.

As silent and insubstantial as a shadow, it had the strength of ten men, and butchered its victims with a ferocity and brutality unmatched in history. It had come from beyond the grave — and no one knew how to send it back.

Had this hanging around for an eternity without yet feeling the least tempted for some odd reason. David Robbins is a prolific old school pulp hack who is likely better known to our post-apocalypse fiction devotees for his Endworld series.

Florence Stevenson - Household (Leisure, 1989)

Blurb:
TWICE BLESSED ....
with money and raffish good looks, Richard Veringer abandoned holy orders for the unholy life as an 18th century rakehell — a decision that brought down upon him and his family three hundred years of supernatural horror.
THRICE CURSED ....
by a scorned witch, the sins of the father were visited upon Veringer's sons and daughters, turning them into unspeakable creatures of the night... devourers of human flesh, drinkers of blood. Driven out of England by terrified townspeople, they roamed the earth for three centuries, searching for an end to the curse and their eternal torment. Little did they dream they would find the answer to their unsanctified prayers in the glittering Hollywood of the 1920s. Only in this unreal city could help be found —and the very real terror be stopped forever.

If we'd have been doing an end of the year round up in whatever year it was i read Household, Florence Stevenson's action-packed horror melodrama would have copped my vote for best novel. Now the only thing i can remember about it is being mightily entertained from cover to cover. Rematch a strong probability in 2012.

John Tigges - Venom (Leisure, 1988)

Blurb:
Nita Galforth wanted-nothing more than to be happy with the man she loved. But any thoughts of a peaceful future would have to wait until she could forget the insidious thing that had been done to her in the past. Her memories were cloudy, but as she slept, horrifying nightmares crowded her mind — images of frenzied natives writhing to the music of an ancient ceremony, of a little girl stripped and tied to an altar, and of a huge king cobra, its fangs dripping with venom, poised to strike....

Only just got hold of this (and Blood Of The Wolf, below) in the London Hospital Charity shop over Christmas, but i've read Tigges' Vessel (Elizabeth Bathory, undead and up to her old tricks in the USA) and Book Of The Dead (can only recall it had the occasional bad-sex interlude: Lilith features somewhere along the line). Tigges also wrote horror for Leisure as 'William Essex' (Slime is one of his), and i'm certain Star published at least one of his novels in the UK. They certainly ran an edition of Ed Kelleher & Harriette Vidal's Madonna.

Jeffrey Goddin - Blood Of The Wolf (Leisure, 1992)

Blurb:

WARNING. Before you read this book, there are two things you ought to know:

I. ly*can*thro*py/'Iik-an-thro-pe: the assump­tion of the form and characteristics of a wolf or other predatory animal held to be possible through the practice of witchcraft or magic.
2. Even a man who's pure in heart, And says his prayers at night, May become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms, And the moon shines full and bright.
JEFFREY GODDIN

Author of The Living Dead

Blood Of The Wolf. It flows through the veins of nightmare creatures.

[noose]

GARDEN of the INCUBUS is a John Holmes cover. Brilliant list, Dem!

[H_P_Saucecraft]

Mason Burgess - Blood Moon (Leisure 1986)

[jamesdoig]

Dec 31, 2011 19:58:27 GMT dem said:

I'm ashamed to admit I haven't read any of these, or similar 1980s horror lines - I read a couple of articles that argued horror fiction died in the arse in the '80s and onwards because of the reams of garbage that was published at the time. I still see lots of Leisure stuff around - White Spider, Saurian, Book of the Dead, Blood of the Wolf etc etc - but I've never given it a go.

[dem]

Jan 3, 2012 5:22:53 GMT jamesdoig said:

I read a couple of articles that argued horror fiction died in the arse in the '80s and onwards because of the reams of garbage that was published at the time.

yeah, i've read a few articles along those lines - the words 'chainsaws' and 'slime' feature prominently in one i'm thinking of - but it was the mid-nineties to early 00's period that did for this reader. anyhow some of Leisure's 'howling horror, timeless terror .....' titles i overlooked:

Chet Hagan - The Witching (1985)
Edwin F. Lambirth - The Rivard House (1985)
Mary Vigliante [Szydlowski] - Worship The Night (1985)
Eleanor Robinson - The Freak (1985)
E. M. Love - Dress Up (1988, 1992)
Leona C. Ross - Resurrexit (1986)
Dana Reed - Sister Satan (1987)
Richard Forsythe - Fangs (1988)

[dem]

1990-99

I rarely venture into 'nineties horror, so this list is likely to be even shyer of 'comprehensive' than the eighties one (which has been fleshed out some since the original post). Something you have to hand to Leisure at the time: for all the possibly dubious titles they fostered on we, the great undiscerning, they also introduced a number of Bernard Taylor classics to the US. I wonder how he sold over there?

Morgan Drake - Sacrifice (1990)
Shaun Hutson - Shadows (1990)
Ed Kelleher & Harriette Vidal - The Spell (1990)
K. Karl Largent - The Witch of Sixkill (1990)
Jack Olesker - Confessional (1990)
John Tigges - Comes the Wraith (1990)

Jeff Fain - The Burning (1991)
Ed Kelleher & Harriette Vidal - The Breeder (1991)
Maureen S. Pusti - Neighbors (1991)
Bernard Taylor - The Godsend (1991)
J. N. Williamson - Horror House (1991)

Jeffrey Goddin - Blood Of The Wolf (1992)
Ed Kelleher & Harriette Vidal - The School (1992)
Bernard Taylor - Sweetheart, Sweetheart (1992)

S. K. Epperson - Borderland (1993)
Ed Kelleher & Harriette Vidal - Animus (1993)
K. Karl Largent - The Lake (1993)
Bernard Taylor - Madeleine (1993)

Bernard Taylor - Charmed Life (1994)

Mark A. Clements - Lorelie (1995)
S. K. Epperson - The Moons Of Summer (1995)
Pyotyr Kurtinski - Thirst (1995)
David Robbins - Spook Night (1995)
John Tigges - Monster (1995)

S. K. Epperson - The Neighborhood (1996)
Kimberly Rangel - Shadows (1996)
Bernard Taylor - Evil Intent (1996)

Leigh Clark - Carnivore (1997)
Ed Gorman - Black River Falls (1997)
Mary Ann Mitchell - Drawn To The Grave (1997)

Donald Berman - Avatar (1998)
Douglas Clegg - The Halloween Man (1998)
Dan Schmidt - Silent Scream (1998)

Douglas Clegg - The Nightmare Chronicles (1999)
Max Allen Collins - Regeneration (1999)
Robert J Conley - Brass: Ancient Cherokee Horror (1999)
Ed Gorman - Shadow Games (1999)
Barry Hoffman - Eyes Of Prey (1999)
Gary L. Hollman - Ungrateful Dead (1999)
Elizabeth Massie - Welcome Back to the Night (1999)
Graham Masterton - Prey (1999)
Mary Ann Mitchell - Sips Of Blood (1999)
John Shirley - Wetbones (1999)
Melanie Tem - The Tides (1999)

[Will E.]

What glorious covers! Thanks for all the legwork in compiling this bibliography.

[dem]

Landed two more yesterday, including another from the mighty John "move over Stephen King" Tigges. It's a BMI effort but pretty sure they are/ were a Leisure subsidiary. The problem, as ever, finding the time to read 'em. The Ames is an obscenely generous 400 pages.

J. Edward Ames - The Force (Leisure, 1987)

Blurb
THE CAVERN
A malevolent glow snaked from the depths of a desert sanctuary contaminating all it touched.
It was pure mind-force, so powerful that it could destroy the human brain.
But it was only the harbinger of the horror to come ....
THE DREAM
THAT DESTROYS
THE DREAMER
Six-year-old Matt had known the pure stark terror of the dream.
The Force had twisted his young mind with sickening nightmare images, pushed him to the edge of insanity, to the verge of death.
Yet he was the key to a shattering evil that would make the blazing pits of hell seem like paradise.

John Tigges - Unto The Altar (BMI, 1985)

Blurb
YOUNG, INNOCENT -AND DAMNED
She had come to the remote island to recover from the shock of her parents' violent death. The other guests at Revillion Manor welcomed her with open arms, eager to make her feel at home — perhaps too eager, Adriana began to think. Over­whelmed by their solicitude, she sensed a mysterious purpose behind the ministrations of her incredibly attractive compan­ions, all of whom seemed to have discovered the secret of eternal youth and beauty.

And when Adriana found out the horrifying truth, there was nowhere to run, no one to turn. to, no way to save her immor­tal soul ...

[DemonSpawn]

Does a day every go by on this site without someone adding some book or other that is simply crying out for me to read it? ;D

[dem]

a far later Leisure. The covers were still impressive.

Ray Garton - Live Girls (Leisure, 2006: originally Pocket, 1987)

Blurb:
The garish neon lights of New York City's Times Square can be very seductive. And so can the promises of dark pleasures on the seedier side streets. To Davey Owen, the lure of a glowing sign advertising "Live Girls" was too hard to resist. He was looking for a little entertainment. He found instead a nightmare in the form of a beautiful but strangely pale woman. A woman who offers him passion, ecstasy — and eternal life — but takes in exchange his lifeblood and his very soul.

"Give me ..... a kiss."

I remember this novel caused a minor stir on initial publication on account of it's frequent and splatterpunk-graphic sex scenes. Our anti-hero, Davey Owen, is a patron of Live Girls, a strip club whose go-go hookers are bloodsucking vampires, and you poke your appendage through that peep hole in the wall at your own risk! A series of murders has attracted the attention of the police and the media and now, for the first time, Shideh, proprietress of both Live Girls and its classier variant The Midnight Club, is at risk of exposure. Read the Futura edition with the Ron Lesser cover artwork many moons ago and wasn't exactly knocked out, not Mr. Garton's fault, just that i'd already overdosed on vampire fiction by that point. Another for the never-ending to revisit list ....

[DemonSpawn]

I enjoyed "Live Girls" although I traded it (I've forgotten what for) as I didn't think I would ever want to read it a second time. Now I do.

[andydecker]

Jul 1, 2012 21:16:31 GMT dem said:

Read the Futura edition with the Ron Lesser cover artwork many moons ago and wasn't exactly knocked out

You are not alone in this. I also wasn´t that thrilled. This is one of the books which have acquired a reputation which overshadows the actual story. This happened to a lot of books from that time-period which were so relentlessly hyped by other writers in an effort to establish horror fiction as having finally arrived. Until that bubble burst.

[dem]

Ron Lesser

Here's the cover of the Futura 1987 edition. I bought it on the strength of the novella, Sinema in David J Schow's Silver Scream hoping for more of the same, and if nothing else, Live Girls is certainly that! Of the ludicrous amount of vampire novels published from the mid-eighties through the 'nineties, the one i really must go back to - surprised it has yet to appear on here - is John Steakley's Vampire$. I adored that the first time around.

[dem]

Another groovy pair for the gallery from the sick twisted world of Leisure. Will say this for the blurb brigade. They never knowingly undersold a novel. This first looks promising.

Steve Vance - The Abyss (Leisure, March 1989)

Blurb
ABANDON HOPE ALL YE WHO ENTER YORK HOUSE
It was such a lovely old house, elegant and airy, but it had one minor flaw. The people who checked in, never checked out — alive.

Undaunted by rumors of evil, Cathy Lockwood walked right into the festering heart of the crumbling mansion, deter­mined to find her brother. She was sure he was alive — in some form — and she swore she'd rip York House apart, timber by timber, to find him.

She thought nothing human or inhuman could scare her away — until she confronted the horrifying secret that waited for her in the dark, fetid, basement. Then she could scream to high heaven, but only hell would hear her.

And a creepy kids entry from just outside the remit of this thread, but who cares.

J. N. Williamson - Babel's Children (Leisure, Jan. 1990)

Blurb:
Shaitin Comes

Randolph and Gregory Shinar are adorable, healthy, normal five year olds.
Except...
They speak in a private language no one else can understand.
They share a psychic bond, one twin completing the thoughts - and actions - of the other.
And they have power Power to hurt. Power to kill.
Power to open the gate between our world and Hell.
And summon the devil.
They are Babel's Children