Is My Dark Forces: New Stories of Suspense and Supernatural Horror a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The first printing is the Viking Press octavo in cloth-covered boards, collating approximately xvi + 553 pp., with the copyright-page statement 'First published in 1980 by The Viking Press' and no later-printing notation added
• The pictorial dust jacket on a trade first is priced at the front flap — price present at the flap, unclipped — and the book carries the first appearances of Stephen King's novella 'The Mist' and Edward Gorey's 'The Stupid Joke' among the twenty-three original stories
• Dealer descriptions of the trade issue are not fully consistent on spine-lettering colour (both red and silver are reported), so treat cloth colour and lettering as secondary and rely on the copyright-page statement plus the priced jacket
• The anthology won the 1981 World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology, and Viking issued it in the US in 1980 ahead of the British edition

How The Viking Press, New York marked a first edition

• From about 1937 onward: first printings state "First published by The Viking Press in [year]" or "Published by The Viking Press in [year]" with no later-printing notice; later printings were noted, and from the 1980s a n…

Full The Viking Press, New York first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
4. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
6. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

The US Viking Press 1980 edition is the true first — the anthology is an American original anthology and Viking's issue precedes the British one. The first British edition is Macdonald & Jane's (Macdonald Futura), London, 1980, published under the variant subtitle 'New Stories of Suspense and the Supernatural'; it is separately collected as the first UK appearance but does not compete for precedence. The Lonely Road Books 25th Anniversary Special Edition is a much later 'first thus' and is not a first edition of the text.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Book-club copies are documented bound in paper-covered boards with a black leatherette spine and red spine titling (versus the trade issue's cloth), and club jackets carry no price at the flap; a gutter code has also been reported on club copies. Club copies are commonly listed as 'Viking 1980' because the club used the publisher's year on the title page, so check the binding materials and the flap for a price rather than the date.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Dark Forces: New Stories of Suspense and Supernatural Horror a first edition?

A first edition of Dark Forces: New Stories of Suspense and Supernatural Horror by Kirby McCauley (ed.) (The Viking Press, New York) is identified by: The first printing is the Viking Press octavo in cloth-covered boards, collating approximately xvi + 553 pp., with the copyright-page statement 'First published in 1980 by The Viking Press' and no later-printing notation added.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. The US Viking Press 1980 edition is the true first — the anthology is an American original anthology and Viking's issue precedes the British one.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

Book-club copies are documented bound in paper-covered boards with a black leatherette spine and red spine titling (versus the trade issue's cloth), and club jackets carry no price at the flap; a gutter code has also been reported on club copies. Club copies are commonly listed as 'Viking 1980' because the club used the publisher's year on the title page, so check the binding materials and the flap for a price rather than the date.

I have a first edition of Dark Forces: New Stories of Suspense and Supernatural Horror — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.