Ignatius Perrish spent the night drunk and doing terrible things. He woke up the next morning with a thunderous hangover, a raging headache… and a pair of horns growing from his temples.
At first Ig thought the horns were a hallucination, the product of a mind damaged by rage and grief. He had spent the last year in a lonely, private purgatory, following the death of his beloved, Merrin Williams, who was raped and murdered under inexplicable circumstances. A mental breakdown would have been the most natural thing in the world. But there was nothing natural about the horns, which were all too real.
Once the righteous Ig had enjoyed the life of the blessed: born into privilege, the second son of a renowned musician and younger brother of a rising late-night TV star, he had security, wealth, and a place in his community. Ig had it all, and more — he had Merrin and a love founded on shared daydreams, mutual daring, and unlikely midsummer magic.
But Merrin’s death damned all that. The only suspect in the crime, Ig was never charged or tried. And he was never cleared. In the court of public opinion in Gideon, New Hampshire, Ig is and always will be guilty because his rich and connected parents pulled strings to make the investigation go away. Nothing Ig can do, nothing he can say, matters. Everyone, it seems, including God, has abandoned him. Everyone, that is, but the devil inside.
Author(s): Joe Hill
First release: 2010
Shorts collection: No
Dedication: ‘To Leanora-love, always’
Nomination(s): No
Movie: Yes
The book/story is published with these cover(s):
(Click image to see full cover)
US editions:
Information about edition(s):
· The presigned hardcover from 2010 had a run of #1180 with a tipped-in signed page.
· 1000 copies of the US paperback had signed bookplates inside, 6 of them with a short story of the devil (40 words).
· The US paperback has included the short The Devil On The Staircase.
Suntup limited editions:
(Published editions may differ slightly from mockups and prototype designs)
Information about edition(s):
· Suntups Artist Gift edition of #1000 is slipcased, signed by Joe Hill and Magdalena Kaczan, new introduction by Joe Hill and includes deluxe bookmark.
· Suntups Signed / Limited edition of #265 is housed in a two-piece die-cut enclosure, signed by Joe Hill & Magdalena Kaczan, new introduction by Joe Hill and includes limited promotional artwork kit: Envelope with a print, postcard and deluxe bookmark. #250 copies numbered in black, #15 copies numbered in red (private distribution).
· Suntups Lettered edition is housed in a handmade pine box, signed by Joe Hill & Magdalena Kaczan, new introduction by Joe Hill, lettered in Morse code. Includes 12 page booklet featuring Merrin’s letter to Ig in Morse code and limited promotional artwork kit: Envelope with a print, postcard and deluxe bookmark.
UK editions:
Information about edition(s):
· The UK paperback, with ISBN 9780575099999, has 3 alternate covers.
PS Publishing limited edition:
9781848630550 S/L Hardcover PS Publishing 2010 |
9781848630567 S/L Hardcover PS Publishing 2010 |
Chapbook PS Publishing 2010 – |
Information about edition(s):
· There are #500 of the slipcased & signed by Joe Hill edition from PS, and #200 of the traycased & signed by Joe Hill and Vincent Chong. Some copies of the latter miss the bonus chapter: The Surrealist’s Glass.
· PS made chapbooks available of the missing chapter: The Surrealit’s Glass.
The story starts as follows:
Ignatius Martin Perrish spent the night drunk and doing terrible things. He woke the next morning with a headache, put his hands to his temples, and felt something unfamiliar, a pair of knobby pointed protuberances. He was so ill–wet-eyed and weak–he didn’t think anything of it at first, was too hungover for thinking or worry.
But when he was swaying above the toilet, he glanced at himself in the mirror over the sink and saw he had grown horns while he slept. He lurched in surprise, and for the second time in twelve hours he pissed on his feet.
Nomination(s):
–
Movie:
· Horns