Black Dog Books (BDB) located in Normal, Illinois, is one of the finest independent press operations in North America. Founded by publisher Tom Roberts to keep an outlet for adventure fiction alive,[1] they have expanded to publish fiction in the adventure, mystery, science fiction, and horror genres.
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Black Dog Books began operations in 1997. The first 40 titles in the BDB line appeared in a chapbook format, with some giveaway titles and memorial books added to that figure. In 2006, a trade paperback line was launched. As of this writing, Black Dog Books has more than 40 titles in print. They expect to be releasing 8 to 10 new titles a year.[2]
Since the first title, BDB has went out of its way to produce collections of material that is difficult to come by from rare magazines, and overlooked character collections.[3] This extra effort to rescue works from obscurity has brought praise from readers and reviewers alike: "Publisher Tom Roberts is but one of an ever-growing number of those doing a great service, not only for the science fiction and fantasy reader, but for all those who love reading exciting tales of yesteryear from any genre," says Dave Truesdale, publisher of Tangent Online, "by digging into archives and researching and bringing to light once again forgotten, overlooked, or early work by many a classic pulp magazine author. They are to be commended and enthusiastically supported." [4]
Many titles from Black Dog Books include informative introductions by well-known writers or genre-authorities such as Bill Pronzini, Peter Beresford Ellis, Robert Weinberg (author), Will Murray, James Reasoner and others; or additional material such as author bibliographies.
Some titles from Black Dog Books include The Good Die Young by Cornell Woolrich, The Empire In The Air by George Allan England, The Silver Menace by Murray Leinster and City of Corpses by Norvell W. Page. Other authors in their line of books include Roger Torrey, Laurence Donovan, James Francis Dwyer, Beatrice Grimshaw, G.G. Pendarves, Arthur B. Reeve, Robert Leslie Bellem, George F. Worts, Harold Lamb, Otis Adelbert Kline and H. Bedford-Jones.
The Lester Dent Library assembles for the first time in book form the early fiction of Lester Dent, the creator of Doc Savage and includes the titles: Dead Men's Bones, The Skull Squadron, Hell's Hoofprints, Fists of Fury (forthcoming) and Terror, Inc. (forthcoming).
The Talbot Mundy Library chronologically reprints the early works by the world renown adventure writer Talbot Mundy, and includes many previously uncollected stories. It will consist of eight titles. To date the following have appeared: A Transaction in Diamonds, In A Righteous Cause, and The Letter of His Orders. Forthcoming titles include "A Soldier and a Gentleman," "The Sword of Iskander" and "Love and War: The Battles of Billy Blain"
The Adventure Library reprints overlooked or forgotten works in the adventure genre, whether novels or single author collections of shorter stories. Titles include The Black Death by Marion Polk Angellotti, ("an exciting read of adventure that is sure to entice and keep people reading"—Midwest Book Review), In the Grip of the Minotaur by Farnham Bishop and Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur and King Corrigan's Treasure by H.D. Couzens.
Also under this banner is the anthology series, The Best of Adventure.[5] which will print collections of rare but deserving stories from the pages of Adventure magazine ("Readers like me will regard it a treasure trove"—John H. Miller, National Review Online).[6]
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McNulty, Thomas. 'Pulp Fiction Renaissance', Antique Trader, August 2010