# Is "Out Are the Lights" by Richard Laymon a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Out Are the Lights by Richard Laymon (New English Library, 1982) is identified by: New English Library (Sevenoaks, Kent) paperback original, 1982, ISBN 0-450-05496-9 (9780450054969), a slim volume of roughly 208 pages in an 18 cm mass-market format. The 1982 UK New English Library paperback is the true first; the US Warner Books paperback followed in 1983 with its own ISBN.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- New English Library (Sevenoaks, Kent) paperback original, 1982, ISBN 0-450-05496-9
- , a slim volume of roughly 208 pages in an 18 cm mass-market format
- As a paperback original there is no number line or hardcover state to reconcile; the first-issue points are the NEL imprint, the 1982 date, and the original ISBN and cover art on an unclipped wrapper
- The first US edition is the Warner Books (New York) paperback of 1983, ISBN 0-446-90519-4
- , likewise a paperback original identified by the Warner imprint and its distinct ISBN
- Publisher imprint reads New English Library
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Richard Laymon |
| Publisher | New English Library |
| Year | 1982 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | New English Library (Sevenoaks, Kent) paperback original, 1982, ISBN 0-450-05496-9 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
New English Library (Sevenoaks, Kent) paperback original, 1982, ISBN 0-450-05496-9 (9780450054969), a slim volume of roughly 208 pages in an 18 cm mass-market format. As a paperback original there is no number line or hardcover state to reconcile; the first-issue points are the NEL imprint, the 1982 date, and the original ISBN and cover art on an unclipped wrapper. The first US edition is the Warner Books (New York) paperback of 1983, ISBN 0-446-90519-4 (9780446905190), likewise a paperback original identified by the Warner imprint and its distinct ISBN.

## Is this the true first?
The 1982 UK New English Library paperback is the true first; the US Warner Books paperback followed in 1983 with its own ISBN. The first hardcover appeared only later from Headline (UK), 1993, an expanded issue that added short stories, so any hardcover is a much later state and not the first edition of the text.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
N/A (paperback original); there is no book-club edition, and the only hardcover is the later expanded Headline printing rather than a first-edition club issue.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Out Are the Lights* by Richard Laymon a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/out-are-the-lights
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.