Click cover for larger image.
 

By Wizard Oak (Halloween 2011)
A novel by Peter Crowther

Introduction by Rick Hautala
Art by Glenn Chadborne


Halloween


 

SYNOPSIS:

It’s just a book that the folks of the small town of Magellan Bend recall reading. A little gruesome, perhaps … and, in more than one instance, not the reader’s usual fare. But it’s just a book. Nothing more.
 
But when the town’s resident sleeper awakes from an eight-year nap, his memories are much more than mere words and phrases in a cheap and gaudy horror novel. And as he becomes more and more aware of the shocking truth, the knowledge spreads like graveyard mist sending a clarion call far and wide … but not only to the townsfolk. No, indeed. There are other things out there, things that ride the night winds on All Hallows Eve … and they know a lot more about the events recorded in the fabled By Wizard Oak And Fairy Stream.
 
Clearly, there is unfinished business in Magellan Bend this October and, as the night turns smoky and the world settles down for the onset of winter, the visitors arrive. Again.
 
And no, it’s not just a book.

No way.



By Wizard Oak will be released in the following editions:

500 numbered hardcovers, fully bound in cloth with foil stamping to the spine and front board, and signed by Crowther, $40

OUT OF PRINT
15 lettered, traycased hardcovers, book and traycase completely hand made using the finest materials, and signed by Crowther, Hautala, and Chadborne, $350 Inquire about a
Lettered Copy

Wizard Oak lettered edition
the lettered edition


PRAISE FOR BY WIZARD OAK:

“BY WIZARD OAK is a well-crafted, absorbing experience from start to finish. Crowther has the ability to convey the joys and scares of Halloween night.”
—Fangoria Magazine

“In this outrageously gruesome, moving, and beautifully written novel, Crowther presents us with the most terrifying witches in fiction, and gives us nowhere — and nowhen — to run.”
—Tim Lebbon, author of ECHO CITY

“In Magellan Bend, Pete Crowther has created a deliciously dark and magical Halloween tale. Beautifully crafted, this rich delight takes the myths and motifs of a Halloween witching story and twists them  into something all together the author's own -- something earthy and  raw and haunting. Magellan Bend will have you peering cautiously at shadows on that chilly All Hallow's night, and wondering if perhaps  you saw something move there, something that makes your memories stir and your blood chill.”
— Sarah Pinborough

“BY WIZARD OAK is the real deal....Scary? You bet'cha. Well-written? Ditto. Peter Crowther takes the 'typical' Hallowe'en story in amazingly new directions that are anything but typical. I guarantee you'll read it in one delicious gulp and wish there were lots more.”
—Rick Hautala

“BY WIZARD OAK is a wonderfully nasty bit of Halloween fun, with a disturbingly original take on witches and the most unsettling opening scene I've read in a very long time. As always, Peter Crowther's work is lyrical and dark, full of mood and tension.”
—Christopher Golden

“BY WIZARD OAK is everything a great horror novel should be. It grabs you by the throat from the beginning with an opening scene that will leave you severely shaken. It is a blast to read, and has wonderful characters, atmosphere and frights, and the most decadently evil witches since 'The Wicked Witch of the West'.”
—Horror News.net