One for the Road

An illustrated short story. Cover and interior art by James Hannah.

This much-loved tale is narrated by Booth, an elderly resident of a small Maine town that neighbors the infamous Jerusalem's Lot, and it takes place a couple of years after the events in King's novel. Booth describes a winter's night years ago, when he and his friend, a bar owner named Herb Tooklander (Tookey), receive a visit from a distressed motorist named Gerard Lumley, whose vehicle had become stranded in a ferocious blizzard... with his wife and daughter still inside. At first critical of Lumley for driving in such weather, both men are horrified when they realise that Lumley's car is stranded in Jerusalem's Lot, widely regarded to have 'gone bad'. Nevertheless, they still decide to drive out in a snow plough and attempt to save Lumley's family. Instead, they barely manage to save themselves.

Widely regarded to be one of King's finest short stories – itself a sequel of sorts to what so many feel is perhaps his finest novel – 'One For The Road' is the author working at the top of his form. For years, people clamored for another visit to 'Salem's Lot. Well, here it is... a wintry little coda to one of King's scariest works. All the classic elements are here: an empty town, heavy weather, Yankee accents... and the monsters, of course. Let's not forget the monsters.

This special landscape PS edition features 18 brand new full-page and full-color illustrations from PS favorite James Hannah, whose covers have featured on Elizabeth Hand's Illyria, Mark Samuels's The Face Of Twilight, Graham Joyce's TWOC, and Ray Bradbury's classic triptych of The October Country, The Halloween Tree and Something Wicked This Way Comes. The book will be in two states: an unsigned jacketed hardcover (500 copies) and a 100-copy slipcased hardcover signed by the artist. (There are currently no plans for the author to sign.)