Part of Series
When Off Season, a novel of horror and cannibalism in modern day Maine, was first released in 1980, it took readers by storm and sold over 250,000 copies However, the original edition was edited and content was removed from the story at the publisher's request. The whole effect of the book was deemed to intense, in particular the ending, which is completely restored in this edition. The Overlook Connection Press has released this edition in its original unexpurgated state for the first time anywhere. The author's original vision can now be read. This book has not been available in the US for almost two decades in any edition. We have a special introduction by Douglas E. Winter, who has championed this novel for years. Also an Afterword by the author Jack Ketchum.
Author
Dallas William Mayr, better known by his pen name Jack Ketchum, was an American horror fiction author. He was the recipient of four Bram Stoker Awards and three further nominations. His novels included Off Season, Offspring, and Red, which were adapted to film. In 2011, Ketchum received the World Horror Convention Grand Master Award for outstanding contribution to the horror genre. A onetime actor, teacher, literary agent, lumber salesman, and soda jerk, Ketchum credited his childhood love of Elvis Presley, dinosaurs, and horror for getting him through his formative years. He began making up stories at a young age and explained that he spent much time in his room, or in the woods near his house, down by the brook: "[m]y interests [were] books, comics, movies, rock 'n roll, show tunes, TV, dinosaurs [...] pretty much any activity that didn't demand too much socializing, or where I could easily walk away from socializing." He would make up stories using his plastic soldiers, knights, and dinosaurs as the characters. Later, in his teen years, Ketchum was befriended by Robert Bloch, author of Psycho, who became his mentor. Ketchum worked many different jobs before completing his first novel (1980's controversial Off Season), including acting as agent for novelist Henry Miller at Scott Meredith Literary Agency. His decision to eventually concentrate on novel writing was partly fueled by a preference for work that offered stability and longevity. Ketchum died of cancer on January 24, 2018, in New York City at the age of 71.
