Walpurgisnacht, the handbook (a prop, not a real book this time)
“In May I created a prop book for a movie currently in production. … The working title for the film is “The House at the End of the Lane.” It’s set in the first half of the 20th century, starting out in 1918. It has elements of horror, occult, and mystery, but basically it’s a tragedy—the story of a man who has lost something so dear to him he will go to any lengths to regain it. He eventually sets in motion a series of events that leads to a catastrophe far worse than his original loss.” ~Ross MacDonald
“Here are a couple of lines from the script: At times, it has the smell of living death—like gangrene in a hospital ward. At other times, its leather binding seems new. I mentioned that the cover … is leather. Well, that may be true—it may not. I believe the cover is human. Skin, Mr. Chambers”
B-A note: What a fun job! (And the movie sounds fascinating as well.) The article at tor.com contains more images of the book and a narrative of how he created it. (“I was all out of human skin, so goatskin had to suffice.”)
