#official replicas

[nowherepubliclibrary]

Misery's Return

TITLE: Misery's Return AUTHOR: Paul Sheldon ORIGIN: Misery (novel, 1987, written by Stephen King)

Misery's Return is arguably the most well-known of Paul Sheldon's best-selling Misery Chastain series of Victorian-era romance novels, due as much to the horrifying circumstances of its writing as to the story itself. Reportedly wishing to focus on more "serious" literature, Sheldon had ended the previous book in the series, Misery's Child, with the series protagonist dying in childbirth. Following a car accident in Colorado, however, Sheldon went missing for a period of several months. Sheldon has been reticent to share precise details, but reportedly he was held prisoner by a deranged fan of his work who, infuriated by Sheldon's attempt to end the series, forced him to write Misery's Return, in which Misery was revealed to have merely fallen into a death-like coma due to a bee sting allergy. Upon publication following Sheldon's escape, the book became an instant best-seller and has been acclaimed as Sheldon's best work.

This cover comes from the first mass market paperback edition of Misery's Return, and proved to be somewhat controversial among Sheldon's fans as the man on the cover does not match the descriptions of either Geoffrey nor Ian, the series's male leads, and actually looks like "kind of a weenie."

I. Fiction — Romance (historical) — Love triangles II. Trashy novels — Bodice rippers — Bosoms (heaving) III. Successes (resented) — Forced continuations — Not quite dead IV. Plot points — Goals — Or else

An unusual one that I can post something that originates in a book without needing to dip into an adaptation! This comes from Misery's first paperback edition, published by Signet in 1988. It came with the above cover as a secondary one underneath the book's actual cover, though sadly the book does not credit the artist and so neither can I.

The gentleman on the cover is, of course, author and noted beefcake Stephen King.

Original paperback cover:

[Source]

[nowherepubliclibrary]

Mister Babadook

TITLE: Mister Babadook AUTHOR: Unknown; possibly Amelia Vanek, or an external manifestation of her repressed grief ORIGIN: The Babadook (movie, 2014, written and directed by Jennifer Kent)

A delightful pop-up book for children featuring a funny little top hat-wearing creature who wants to come visit! You can tell he's there when there's a rumbling, and three sharp knocks — "ba BA-ba DOOK! DOOK! DOOK!" — but if you let him in, he'll never, ever want to leave, and soon you'll wish you were dead! He'll take off his disguise and try YOU on for size, letting out all of the darkest thoughts and feelings you've been trying not to feel since your husband's death… like maybe your son should have died instead of him, and maybe everything would be better, and just so much easier if he were to die now so you don't have to think those thoughts ever, ever again. If it's in a word, or it's in a look, you can't get rid of the Babadook… but maybe if you come to terms with your unacknowledged trauma you can learn to live with it.

I. Picture books — Pop-up books — Jump scares II. Children's books — Monsters and demons — It's only a story... right? III. Cursed objects — The cat came back — Your own inner demons

This is based on the limited edition official replica pop-up book that Causeway Films (the movie's production company) crowdfunded, commissioning paper engineer Simon Arizpe and illustrator Alexander Juhasz and published by Insight Editions. Arizpe says that they matched all the specs of the movie prop, including color, binding, and trim size, and used the pages shown in the movie while adding new ones to complete the story. I edited the image to try and replicate its more beat-up look after Amelia attempts to destroy the book but it reappears on her doorstep.

Screenshot:

Official replica:

Readthrough video: