Black House Common
What it’s about
In the quiet town of French Landing, Wisconsin, a serial child-killer dubbed "the Fisherman" is terrorizing the community, and the police are out of their depth. Their only hope is Jack Sawyer, a brilliant retired homicide detective who has buried memories of a strange, otherworldly childhood — and who must confront the fact that this case reaches far beyond any ordinary crime. A dark-fantasy horror-thriller that blends small-town police procedural with a creeping intrusion of forces from another world.
Significance Co-written by Stephen King and Peter Straub as the sequel to their 1984 collaboration "The Talisman," it deepens the duo's ties to King's Dark Tower mythos and is one of only two novels the two horror titans wrote together.
How to spot a true first 30-second check
A true 1st/1st needs BOTH the book and the jacket verified. A first-state jacket on a later or book-club book — or the reverse — is a married copy, not a first.
What to look for
- Random House true first — NOT Doubleday: no gutter code; verify by spine color + priced jacket, not the number line.
- #1 trap: Book Club Editions sold as firsts. The number line does NOT help (both end in "2") — check SILVER (trade) vs GOLD (BCE) spine lettering.
- Trade jacket flap is PRICED $28.95; a true club jacket was printed with no price, a clipped trade jacket shows a cut corner.
- Watch for married jackets — a priced trade jacket on a gold-spine club book; confirm spine color and copyright statement independently of the jacket.
- ~2M first printing, so true firsts are abundant and cheap — premiums only on fine/fine unclipped (especially signed) copies.
- Don't confuse the US first with the UK HarperCollins 2001 (de-bossed crow, £65) or the 2002 Donald M. Grant limiteds (Rick Berry plates).
Verified listings marker-checked
Each copy screened against the seller's own photos. ✓ confirmed = a photo shows the decisive marker; ⚠ not pictured = the shot to ask for before buying. Condition grades are as-pictured.
Buyer beware — verify before you buy. These are our screening opinions, read from each seller’s own photographs; we can misjudge a copy or misread an image. A listing marked “1st/1st confirmed” is not a guarantee — independently confirm the decisive book and jacket markers with the seller before any purchase. Authentication and the buying decision remain the buyer’s responsibility.
A Random House 2001 trade first with both decisive tells photographed on the one copy — the jacket-off board spine carries SILVER titling rather than the club edition's gold, and the front flap is priced and unclipped — leaving nothing outstanding on the edition question.
- Binding — The decisive book tell: photo 7 shows the book with the jacket removed — black boards, the spine stamped in SILVER "Black House / STEPHEN KING / PETER STRAUB" with the Random House colophon at the foot, which is the trade binding and not the gold-stamped Book Club Edition.
- Jacket price — The decisive jacket tell: photos 4 and 5 show the jacket off the book with the upper front flap printed "U.S.A. $28.95 / Canada $42.95", the corner square and unclipped (a true club jacket was printed with no price at all); the Canadian figure legibly reads $42.95, not the $43.95 our rubric records.
- Copyright — Photo 3 gives the copyright page whole and legible — "First Trade Edition" with the printer code "DH" beneath it (a printer identifier, not a printing point), the Donald M. Grant limited-edition note, ISBN 0-375-50439-7 and LCCN 2001031657 — though this statement is shared with the club edition and so corroborates rather than decides.
- Number line — Photo 3 shows the line reading "2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3", the Random House first-printing pattern, which the Book Club Edition also carries and so cannot by itself rule a club copy out.
- Dust jacket — Photos 0, 1 and 6 show the correct first-state jacket — the ghosted title over the lit farmhouse, the rear-panel block reading ISBN 0-375-50439-7 / 52895 / EAN 9780375504396, and a rear flap with the King and Straub portraits, the Marc Cohen design credit and "Printed in U.S.A. 9/01".
- Endpapers / edges — Photos 8, 9 and 10 show the naked book from three angles with plain page edges, no topstain and no remainder spray or marker dot; the endpapers proper are not turned open in any frame, which bears on value rather than on edition.
✓ Decisive marker pictured — nothing outstanding to request.
Fully confirmed silver-spine trade first with a priced unclipped flap; only a rear-jacket price sticker holds it off Fine — a genuine bargain.
- Binding (silver spine) — Decisive tell pictured (photo 3): SILVER spine lettering with RANDOM HOUSE at the foot — trade first, not the gold of the Book Club Edition.
- Copyright / First Trade Edition — Copyright page (photo 6) states "First Trade Edition", number line 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3; printer code DH below is the printer, not a printing point.
- Jacket price — Front flap (photo 4) priced U.S.A. $28.95 / Canada $42.95, unclipped — first-state price, rules out the unpriced club jacket.
- Dust jacket — Correct first-edition Marc Cohen jacket art; ISBN 0-375-50439-7; Grant limited noted on copyright page.
✓ Decisive marker pictured — nothing outstanding to request.
A Random House copy whose copyright page and number line photograph cleanly, but both of those points are shared with the Book Club Edition, and the two markers that actually decide this title — the jacket-off board spine and the priced front flap — were never photographed at all.
- Copyright — Photo 4 shows the copyright page legibly — "First Trade Edition" with printer code "DH" below it, the Donald M. Grant limited-edition note, ISBN 0-375-50439-7 and LCCN 2001031657 — but our own rubric records this statement as shared with the club edition, so it corroborates and does not decide.
- Number line — Photo 4 shows "2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3", the Random House first-printing pattern, which the club edition also carries and which therefore cannot exclude a club copy.
- Dust jacket — Photos 0, 1 and 2 show the correct first-state jacket art with silver titling and the Random House colophon at the jacket spine foot, and a rear panel reading ISBN 0-375-50439-7 / EAN 9780375504396 — the "52895" price code above the smaller barcode is not legible in the frame.
- Binding — The decisive book tell is unphotographed — photo 1 shows the JACKET spine, which is silver on a club copy too; ask the seller to slip the jacket off and shoot the bare book's spine face-on in even light so the stamping can be read as SILVER (trade first) or GOLD (Book Club Edition).
- Jacket price — The decisive jacket tell is unphotographed — no frame shows the front flap at all; ask for a straight-on close-up of the upper front flap corner, since a club jacket carries no printed price and a clipped trade jacket shows a cut corner.
- Endpapers / edges — Not pictured — ask for a shot of the bottom page edge and the open front endpaper to check for a remainder spray or dot, which bears on value rather than on edition.
Fully confirmed silver-spine trade first with priced unclipped flap; a VG jacket and fore-edge soiling make it a sound reading copy, fairly priced.
- Binding (silver spine) — Decisive tell pictured: SILVER spine lettering (not gold) — rules out the BOMC Book Club Edition.
- Copyright / First Trade Edition — Copyright page states "First Trade Edition", number line 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3; printer code DH is the printer, not a printing point. ISBN 0-375-50439-7.
- Jacket price — Front flap priced U.S.A. $28.95 / Canada $43.95, unclipped — first-state price, rules out the unpriced BCE jacket.
✓ Decisive marker pictured — nothing outstanding to request.
A Random House 2001 trade first carrying both decisive tells in the same set of photographs — the bare board spine stamped silver and an unclipped priced front flap — so the edition is settled and nothing material is outstanding.
- Binding — The decisive book tell: photo 7 shows the jacket removed and the bare black boards, the spine stamped in SILVER "Black House / STEPHEN KING / PETER STRAUB" with the Random House colophon at the foot — the trade binding, not the club edition's gold.
- Jacket price — The decisive jacket tell: photo 3 lays the jacket out flat and the upper front flap reads "U.S.A. $28.95 / Canada $42.95", unclipped with the corner square (the club jacket was printed unpriced); as on the other flap photographed for this title the Canadian figure reads $42.95, not the $43.95 our rubric records.
- Copyright — Photo 8 shows the copyright page in full — "First Trade Edition" over the printer code "DH", the Donald M. Grant limited note, ISBN 0-375-50439-7 and LCCN 2001031657 — corroborating evidence, since this statement also appears in the club edition.
- Number line — Photo 8 shows the line "2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3" complete with no low numbers stripped, the Random House first-printing pattern, which the club edition shares and so cannot decide on its own.
- Dust jacket — Photos 0 and 1 show the correct first-state jacket front and rear — the ghosted title over the lit farmhouse, and a rear-panel block reading ISBN 0-375-50439-7 / 52895 / EAN 9780375504396 with the price code legible; photo 2 adds an angled view of the silver jacket spine with the Random House colophon, and photo 3 the rear flap dated "Printed in U.S.A. 9/01".
- Endpapers / edges — Photos 4, 5 and 6 show the bare book from three angles with plain cream page edges, no topstain and no remainder spray or dot visible; the endpapers proper are not turned open in any frame, which bears on value rather than on edition.
✓ Decisive marker pictured — nothing outstanding to request.
Confirmed silver-spine trade first; price read off the rear barcode, so ask for the front flap to nail the unclipped $28.95 state.
- Binding (silver spine) — Decisive tell pictured: SILVER spine lettering with Random House colophon at the foot — trade first, not the gold-lettered BCE.
- Copyright / First Trade Edition — Copyright page states "First Trade Edition", number line 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3; printer code DC is the printer, not a printing point. ISBN 0-375-50439-7.
- Jacket price — Rear EAN barcode reads 52895 = $28.95 priced jacket — indicates a priced trade-first jacket vs the unpriced BCE.
- Jacket price (front flap) — Front flap not photographed — price only inferred from the rear barcode. Ask for a flap shot to confirm the printed, unclipped $28.95 first state.
- Dust jacket spine head — Ask for a close-up of the noted top-edge crease and spine-head crinkle/rub to gauge the VG+ jacket grade.
Reads as a genuine trade first, but the decisive silver-spine shot is missing — get the spine and flap photos before treating it as confirmed.
- Copyright / First Trade Edition — Copyright page legibly states "First Trade Edition", number line 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3; printer code Q below is the printer, not a printing point.
- Jacket price — Rear barcode shows price code 52895 = $28.95 — a priced jacket, ruling out the unpriced BCE jacket.
- Dust jacket — Correct first-edition dark Black House jacket art; ISBN 0-375-50439-7; Grant limited-edition line present.
- Binding (silver spine) — The decisive tell — SILVER vs GOLD spine lettering — is not pictured. Ask for a clear spine shot; the number line alone can't beat the BCE trap.
- Jacket price (front flap) — Front flap not photographed; price inferred from the rear barcode only. Request a flap shot to confirm the printed, unclipped $28.95.
Full identification detail & sourcescopyright · jacket · binding · book-club traps · print run · value · references
The Random House 2001 trade hardcover is the true first edition. No paperback-original or small-press hardcover precedes it. The Donald M. Grant, Publisher limiteds are LATER (dated 2002, illustrated by Rick Berry): (1) the signed/numbered limited of 1,520 in full leather with traycase, and (2) the 3,500-copy gift slipcase set paired with The Talisman. Both Grant editions are collectible but are NOT the true first of the text. The HarperCollins UK 2001 (black cloth, silver spine titling, de-bossed crow to front board, £65) is a separate first issue, not the US true first.
First-printing points at a glance
Dust jacket
Sparse, eerie design: predominantly black with shades of black/gray; title and authors in silver and black; imagery evoking the "black house" (silhouette/architectural motifs; a shoe/boot-print element). Author photos of King and Straub typically on the rear flap. (The UK HarperCollins first uses a different design with a de-bossed crow-in-flight to the front board.)
Art / design: UNVERIFIED for the Random House trade-jacket designer/photographer credit (not named on the collector pages consulted). NOTE: the SEPARATE Donald M. Grant limited/gift editions are illustrated throughout by Rick Berry (22 full-color plates; art © 2002 Rick Berry) — that Berry art does NOT appear on the Random House trade jacket.
Also watch for: (1) BOOK CLUB EDITIONS mis-sold as firsts are the #1 hazard — the number line does NOT help (both start with "2"); check SILVER (trade) vs GOLD (club) spine lettering and a PRICED ($28.95) vs UNPRICED jacket. (2) PRICE-CLIPPED jackets hide the $28.95 and can disguise a club copy (clipped trade = cut corner; true club = no price ever printed). (3) MARRIED jackets — a priced trade jacket placed on a gold-spine club book or vice versa; verify spine lettering color + copyright statement independently of the jacket. (4) Ex-library copies (stamps/pockets) and remainder marks (sprayed/marker dot to bottom edge) reduce value. (5) Print run ~2M, so true firsts are abundant and cheap — premiums attach only to fine/fine unclipped (especially signed) copies; beware inflated "first edition" pricing on plain reading copies. (6) Don't confuse the UK HarperCollins first or the Grant 2002 limiteds with the US Random House true first.
Print run & scarcity
Format: hardcover trade first edition (Random House, 0-375-50439-7, Sept 2001). Quirk noted by collectors: the Random House first printing carries a number line beginning with "2" (not "1"), which is the true first state. Trade first printing announced at ~2 million copies. The signed limited edition was published the following year (2002) by Donald M. Grant, Publishers (not Random House): 1,520 signed & numbered, full-leather, traycased copies. No lettered-state count was surfaced. A ~3,500-copy gift edition was mentioned in one listing summary. No precise official figure beyond the announced 2M trade run is published by Random House; the 2M number originates from trade/collector reporting (e.g., stephenkingcollector.com).
First-state points & errata
No widely-documented internal first-state-vs-later-state TEXT erratum (typo/correction) is recorded for this title in standard collector references. The first-printing identity is the COMBINATION of: "First Trade Edition" stated + the Random House number line ending in "2" + SILVER spine lettering + the unclipped $28.95 priced jacket. The two-letter printer codes below the statement (DC/DH/Q etc.) are printer variants, NOT distinct states/printings. UNVERIFIED as to any internal text-state variant.
Limited & signed editions
Donald M. Grant, Publisher (Hampton Falls, NH; 2002): (1) Signed/Numbered LIMITED of 1,520 copies, bound in full deep-black textured leather with silver-impressed cover/spine titles, housed in a matching black leather wrap-around/clamshell traycase, signed by Stephen King, Peter Straub, AND illustrator Rick Berry, illustrated throughout, issued WITHOUT dust jacket; (2) GIFT edition of 3,500 copies — a two-volume slipcased set (black slipcase, each volume with illustrated DJ) pairing Black House with a matching The Talisman, signed by Peter Straub and Rick Berry only (NOT signed by King), with 22 Rick Berry full-color plates, issue price ~$150. A lettered state is UNVERIFIED.
Market value confirmed sales
$15–60 (true First Trade Edition, fine/fine, unclipped $28.95 jacket, silver spine lettering). Signed-by-both trade firsts $200–500; the Grant signed limited (separate book) $700–1,400.
Assumes a genuine first edition / first printing in near-fine to fine condition (clean copy, unclipped jacket). Lesser condition is worth less.
Confirmed sales: Unsigned First Trade Editions in collectible fine/fine routinely close $15–40 on eBay sold (2024–2025) — e.g. multiple HC/DJ "First Trade Edition" sold listings in the $20–35 band. Signed-by-both trade firsts (King+Straub) have sold roughly $250–450 on eBay sold/AbeBooks (2024–2025). Grant signed limited (1,520 traycased, signed King/Straub/Berry) trades ~$675–999 dealer, with sold/closed examples ~$700–900 (eBay sold, 2024–2025). No Heritage/PBA auction record located for the trade first — it's too common to consign; absence is itself the signal.
Book-club edition (the trap): $5–12. The Book Club Edition (BOMC) is near-identical to the trade first — same black cloth, debossed crow — which is exactly why it's the #1 trap on this title. Distinguish it by: (1) GOLD spine lettering on the BCE vs. SILVER on the true trade first, and (2) NO printed price on the jacket flap (true first jacket is priced $28.95). A BCE is essentially worthless as a collectible. — a fraction of a true first; never pay first-edition money for one.
PROMPT CORRECTION: this is a King/Straub Random House title, not Bachman/Doubleday — no Doubleday gutter code exists for it; that point belongs to King's Doubleday-era books (Carrie/Salem's Lot/The Shining). THE SINGLE BIGGEST TELL separating a true first from the mislisted copies of THIS title: SILVER spine lettering + a PRINTED $28.95 price on the unclipped jacket flap + number line "2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3" with "First Trade Edition" stated on the copyright page (note the deceptive line — there is NO '1', so sellers wrongly call it 'not a first' or call a later state a first). GOLD spine lettering and/or no jacket price = Book Club Edition, the trap. Condition sensitivity is mild on the unsigned trade first because supply is effectively infinite at 2M copies — even fine/fine tops out low; a price-clipped or jacketless copy is a near-zero book. Signed premium is where ALL the value lives: a clean signature of BOTH King and Straub on a trade first lifts it to the low-mid hundreds; King's signature alone is the value driver (his autograph is far scarcer than Straub's). Verify signatures against known exemplars — forged King signatures are rampant on this exact title because the cheap, ubiquitous trade first makes an ideal forgery substrate. For real money, buy the Grant signed limited, not a trade first.
- https://www.stephenkingcollector.com/1st/blackhouse.html
- https://stephenking.com/other/identifying_first_editions.pdf
- https://veryfinebooks.com/stephen-king-peter-straub-black-house-signed-limited-first-edition-929-1520-sealed/
- https://secure.grantbooks.com/books/black-house/
- https://www.ebay.com/itm/126054656352
Sources
- https://www.stephenkingcollector.com/1st/blackhouse.html
- https://www.stephenkingcollector.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=866&start=0
- https://www.stephenkingcollector.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=276
- https://johnatkinsonbooks.co.uk/book/stephen-king-and-peter-straub-black-house-first-uk-edition-2001/
- https://veryfinebooks.com/stephen-king-peter-straub-black-house-the-talisman-signed-limited-edition-3500-sealed/
- https://veryfinebooks.com/stephen-king-peter-straub-black-house-signed-limited-first-edition-929-1520-sealed/
- https://secure.grantbooks.com/books/black-house/
- https://www.rarebookcellar.com/pages/books/156692/peter-straub-stephen-king/black-house
- https://stephenking.com/works/novel/black-house.html
- https://www.rarebookcellar.com/pages/books/156692/peter-straub-stephen-king/black-house
- https://www.stephenkingcollector.com/1st/blackhouse.html
- https://veryfinebooks.com/stephen-king-black-house-signed-limited-first-edition-peter-straub/
- https://stephenking.com/works/novel/black-house.html
Verification notes: CORRECTIONS vs draft, preferring documented collector sources: (1) BCE TELLS REWRITTEN — draft claimed the Book Club Edition "LACKS the number line" and relied on blind-stamps; FALSE per stephenkingcollector.com forums (t=866, t=276): BOTH the trade first and the BCE carry a number line starting with "2", and the BCE has black boards too. The reliable tells are SPINE LETTERING COLOR (trade=SILVER, BCE=GOLD) and JACKET PRICE (trade=priced $28.95, BCE=unpriced). (2) Added a previously-missing point: a two-letter PRINTER CODE (DC/DH/Q etc.) appears below "First Trade Edition" = printer identifier across three printers, NOT an edition point (forum t=866, moderator: "all they stand for is the different printers. No other meanings"). (3) numberLine caveat added — cannot separate trade from club. (4) spineColor confirmed SILVER on trade first. (5) Gift set re-confirmed via veryfinebooks: 3,500 copies, signed by Straub + Berry but NOT King, Grant 2002, paired with The Talisman, ~$150 issue (draft correct). (6) Grant 1,520 leather/traycase signed King/Straub/Berry re-confirmed via veryfinebooks. (7) Added UK first (HarperCollins, £65, black cloth, silver spine, de-bossed crow) as a separate edition — NOT the US true first (johnatkinsonbooks). INDEPENDENT NEW SOURCES merged: stephenkingcollector forum threads t=866 & t=276 (used as primary BCE evidence), johnatkinsonbooks.co.uk (UK first), veryfinebooks 1,520 listing. OPEN/UNVERIFIED: exact trade-jacket designer/photographer credit; topstain/endpaper specifics.