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Something Lumber This Way Comes
The Lost Lansdale, Nacogdoches Texas 75961-9161: Vol. 2
Something Lumber This Way Comes is a children's book influenced by Ray Bradbury's classic novel (Something Wicked This Way Comes). It's inspired by, and set on the scene of, Lansdale's classic horror novel, The Nightrunners. While it shares that graphic novel's milieu, the focus here is on the atmospheric and spooky, making this truly a tale for all ages!
Something Lumber This Way Comes is a children's book influenced by Ray Bradbury's classic novel (Something Wicked This Way Comes). It's inspired by, and set on the scene of, Lansdale's classic horror novel, The Nightrunners. While it shares that graphic novel's milieu, the focus here is on the atmospheric and spooky, making this truly a tale for all ages!
- GenresHorror
80 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 1999
1 person is currently reading
50 people want to read
About the author
Joe R. Lansdale
822 books3,855 followersChampion Mojo Storyteller Joe R. Lansdale is the author of over forty novels and numerous short stories. His work has appeared in national anthologies, magazines, and collections, as well as numerous foreign publications. He has written for comics, television, film, newspapers, and Internet sites. His work has been collected in more than two dozen short-story collections, and he has edited or co-edited over a dozen anthologies. He has received the Edgar Award, eight Bram Stoker Awards, the Horror Writers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the British Fantasy Award, the Grinzani Cavour Prize for Literature, the Herodotus Historical Fiction Award, the Inkpot Award for Contributions to Science Fiction and Fantasy, and many others. His novella Bubba Ho-Tep was adapted to film by Don Coscarelli, starring Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis. His story "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road" was adapted to film for Showtime's "Masters of Horror," and he adapted his short story "Christmas with the Dead" to film hisownself. The film adaptation of his novel Cold in July was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and the Sundance Channel has adapted his Hap & Leonard novels for television.
He is currently co-producing several films, among them The Bottoms, based on his Edgar Award-winning novel, with Bill Paxton and Brad Wyman, and The Drive-In, with Greg Nicotero. He is Writer In Residence at Stephen F. Austin State University, and is the founder of the martial arts system Shen Chuan: Martial Science and its affiliate, Shen Chuan Family System. He is a member of both the United States and International Martial Arts Halls of Fame. He lives in Nacogdoches, Texas with his wife, dog, and two cats.
He is currently co-producing several films, among them The Bottoms, based on his Edgar Award-winning novel, with Bill Paxton and Brad Wyman, and The Drive-In, with Greg Nicotero. He is Writer In Residence at Stephen F. Austin State University, and is the founder of the martial arts system Shen Chuan: Martial Science and its affiliate, Shen Chuan Family System. He is a member of both the United States and International Martial Arts Halls of Fame. He lives in Nacogdoches, Texas with his wife, dog, and two cats.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 21, 2016
This used to be one of the rarest Joe R. Lansdale books. As a longtime Lansdale fan who has read the story in its two previous incarnations, I really enjoyed finally getting my hands on this one at last.
Even better, my six year old read it last night before bed and thought it was great! He thought the The Old House was scary in the beginning, and he thought the ending was very funny. His only complaint was the illustrations of the house itself were not as spooky-looking as the images in his head. (I explained that your imagination often produces better pictures than any artist can come up with.)
This children’s book is an illustrated update/adaptation of Joe’s short story “The Shaggy House”, which was itself inspired by a scene from his early novel The Nightrunners. In this iteration, Joe replaces the elderly characters of the prose version with two young boys and a feisty dog. He adds an extended climax and changes the ending to make it a little lighter and happier.
I would like to see Joe make his two other children’s books available as ebooks as well: “My Dead Dog, Bobby” and “In Waders From Mars”.
Even better, my six year old read it last night before bed and thought it was great! He thought the The Old House was scary in the beginning, and he thought the ending was very funny. His only complaint was the illustrations of the house itself were not as spooky-looking as the images in his head. (I explained that your imagination often produces better pictures than any artist can come up with.)
This children’s book is an illustrated update/adaptation of Joe’s short story “The Shaggy House”, which was itself inspired by a scene from his early novel The Nightrunners. In this iteration, Joe replaces the elderly characters of the prose version with two young boys and a feisty dog. He adds an extended climax and changes the ending to make it a little lighter and happier.
I would like to see Joe make his two other children’s books available as ebooks as well: “My Dead Dog, Bobby” and “In Waders From Mars”.
February 8, 2025
When I found out Joe R. Lansdale wrote a kids book inspired by Bradbury’s SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES I knew I had to read it! Sadly, out of print, and impossible to find in the library system or for a reasonable price.. until, Pandi Press re-released a pocket sized edition! I love Joe’s work and I loved this book; so will your kids, that is if they’re into monster houses.
August 5, 2019
Three-and-a-half. Light fare from the Champion Mojo Storyteller himself. Entertaining and well-told.
August 19, 2022
A children’s story of two friends, their dog, disbelieving parents and a house-like alien (vaguely similar to Lovecraft’s Elder Things). Too restrictive for my tastes.
April 10, 2025
Short, amusing YA riff on Bradbury's 'Something Wicked This Way Comes.'
August 19, 2016
Earlier this year, I read The Halloween Mouse by Richard Laymon. I didn't review it or add it to my list of finished books, because it was a kids' book, and it seemed too short, with too many full-page illustrations to consider it a full book. I've had Something Lumber This Way Comes for a while and started reading it this morning, when I had some time to kill, knowing it was a kids' book and expecting to treat it the same way I did The Halloween Mouse. It turns out that it's a bit lengthier, and more narrative-heavy, so I decided to include it. Besides, it was longer than some of the novellas I've added to my list this year.
The thing is, I don't really know how to review a kids' book. Not only do I not have kids, neither do I know what makes one kids' book better than another. What I do know is adult fiction, and this book ... well, it isn't for adults. It lacks any characterization or plot, relying instead on the idea of a vampire house to carry the entire book. For kids, maybe this is enough; for adults, the story is best viewed as a curiosity.
There's an afterword to the book where Lansdale tells us that he wrote this book shortly after The Nightrunners, using the image of a house he had in that story as its inspiration. He wrote the story and read it to his kids, and more or less forgot about it after that. Years ago, Subterranean Press put together a series of books called The Lost Lansdale, bringing back some long lost Lansdale stories, and this was one of them. It's fitting that a small press brought the book into print, since it doesn't hold much value outside of Lansdale's fans.
The story isn't terrible, but neither is it great. I mentioned in my review of Hot in December that Lansdale is more a writer you read for his style, and this book lacks it all together. There's a good reason for that -- Lansdale's normal style is definitely not for kids -- but it means that the product won't meet the expectations. It might be fun to read the book aloud to kids, like Lansdale did, but otherwise this is worth skipping, even for fans.
The thing is, I don't really know how to review a kids' book. Not only do I not have kids, neither do I know what makes one kids' book better than another. What I do know is adult fiction, and this book ... well, it isn't for adults. It lacks any characterization or plot, relying instead on the idea of a vampire house to carry the entire book. For kids, maybe this is enough; for adults, the story is best viewed as a curiosity.
There's an afterword to the book where Lansdale tells us that he wrote this book shortly after The Nightrunners, using the image of a house he had in that story as its inspiration. He wrote the story and read it to his kids, and more or less forgot about it after that. Years ago, Subterranean Press put together a series of books called The Lost Lansdale, bringing back some long lost Lansdale stories, and this was one of them. It's fitting that a small press brought the book into print, since it doesn't hold much value outside of Lansdale's fans.
The story isn't terrible, but neither is it great. I mentioned in my review of Hot in December that Lansdale is more a writer you read for his style, and this book lacks it all together. There's a good reason for that -- Lansdale's normal style is definitely not for kids -- but it means that the product won't meet the expectations. It might be fun to read the book aloud to kids, like Lansdale did, but otherwise this is worth skipping, even for fans.
January 23, 2017
Going into this novella I didn't realize that this was a children's book. It's the only one I know of, by Lansdale. But after reading this, I say he should do more.
This is Lansdale being wacky, it's about a street is slowly decaying, but only the children are noticing it; not the adults. And the children figure it's the new house in town, that mysteriously one night just appeared. And the book goes off of that, but it gets weird, and funny.
*** spoiler ***
I would have loved this book as a kid! It's about a vampire house from space, what's cooler than that to a kid? And, on top of that, it is well written. This was a really fun little story.
This is Lansdale being wacky, it's about a street is slowly decaying, but only the children are noticing it; not the adults. And the children figure it's the new house in town, that mysteriously one night just appeared. And the book goes off of that, but it gets weird, and funny.
*** spoiler ***
I would have loved this book as a kid! It's about a vampire house from space, what's cooler than that to a kid? And, on top of that, it is well written. This was a really fun little story.
January 12, 2014
Kind of cool to see Lansdale write a kid's story, albeit a kid version of a previous story.
September 28, 2014
The Lost Lansdale Volume Three.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews