On May 5, 1993, in West Memphis, Arkansas, three eight-year-old boys were brutally murdered. They were found bound ankle to wrist with their own shoelaces, severely beaten, and dumped in a nearby stream.

A month later, detectives finally made three arrests: Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley Jr--teenagers who just didn't fit in: they wore black, listened to heavy metal, and read horror novels. Despite the lack of evidence, the three young misfits were convicted. Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr are in prison for life, while Damien Echols, considered the "ringleader," is on death row, awaiting lethal injection.

The Last Pentacle of the Sun is the first collection of writings in support of the these boys known as the West Memphis Three. Collected in the book are dark fiction by some of the world's best, case-related essays by observers and participants, including lyrics by Metallica, and illustrations by Clive Barker.

The Last Pentacle of the Sun is a fundraiser for the Damien Echols Defense Fund. All material has been donated, and all proceeds will go towards legal efforts to ensure that this miscarriage of justice is reconciled.

Contributors include
Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, directors of the film Paradise Lost I & II (about the WM3)
Metallica frontman James Hetfield
journalist Mara Leveritt
WM3 activists Grove Pashley and Burk Sauls authors Caitlin R. Kiernan, James Morrow, Mike Oliveri, Peter Straub, and Poppy Z. Brite
comedian and activist Margaret Cho
and legendary horror writer Clive Barker

Illustrations by Clive Barker and photographs by Grove Pashley

M.W. Anderson is an artist, writer, and editor living in Birmingham, Alabama.

M.W. Anderson's profile page

Brett Alexander Savory is the Bram Stoker Award-winning Editor-in-Chief of ChiZine: Treatments of Light and Shade in Words (which has been in operation since 1997), Co-publisher of ChiZine Publications, has had nearly 50 short stories published, and has written two novels. In 2006, Necro Publications released his horror-comedy novel, The Distance Travelled. September 2007 saw the release of his dark literary novel, In and Down, through Brindle & Glass. His first short story collection, No Further Messages, was released in November 2007 through Delirium Books. He is now at work on his third novel, Lake of Spaces, Wood of Nothing. Savory is represented by The Carolyn Swayze Literary Agency. He lives in Toronto with his wife, writer/editor Sandra Kasturi.

Brett Alexander Savory's profile page

... the stories are all good reads.... The most striking inclusion, however, is an open letter to Stephen King and Anne Rice written by Mara Leveritt, asking why they've not voiced their support for the West Memphis Three who, after all, were persecuted for reading their books. Good question. Maybe they're waiting for volume 2?
-Rue Morgue Magazine

Rue Morgue

This is a definite must-read book for fans, et al.
-FAMILY & friends

FAMILY & friends