11 Scribes · Stephen King & Bachman · Scribner Era (1998-present)

Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales Collectible

2002 · Scribner (Charles Scribner's Sons / Simon & Schuster), New York

First-edition cover of Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales — First-edition jacket (first edition (verified vs jacket)) · source

What it’s about

Stephen King gathers fourteen tales of dread, ranging from the supernatural to the quietly horrific: a hitchhiker who won't stay dead, a man trapped in an airport bathroom stall by a malign presence, a young drifter who discovers his strange gift is worth a corporate paycheck, and a gunslinger's detour into a haunted way station. Spanning ghosts, grief, addiction, and everyday cruelty, it showcases King across registers from pulp shocker to literary unease. A collection for readers who want the full range of his short-form imagination in one volume.

Significance Collects King's O. Henry Award-winning "The Man in the Black Suit" and the Dark Tower-linked "The Little Sisters of Eluria"; "1408" became the 2007 John Cusack film and "Riding the Bullet" was King's pioneering 2000 e-book release.

Value~$20–$400 estimatenear-fine / fine

How to spot a true first 30-second check

★ BookOn the copyright page a true first carries the full Scribner number line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2" with the "1" present, alongside the "First Scribner edition" wording (some printings render it "First Scribner hardcover edition"). The "1" is the binding test for first-printing vs. LATER TRADE PRINTING: a line whose lowest digits have been stripped (begins "2" or higher) is a second printing or later. Note the limit of this tell: the Book-of-the-Month Club body typically reuses the same copyright plate — same number line, same statement — so the number line proves first-vs-later-trade-printing but does NOT by itself rule out a club copy (that takes the jacket-price / "mp" gutter-code check below). Scribner is not a Doubleday title, so the trade first carries no printer gutter code.

★ JacketThe first-state jacket shows the unclipped US price "$28.00" on the upper front inside flap (Canadian "$42.50" is reported as a secondary point but is not confirmed in primary identification sources). The priced flap is the single decisive jacket tell. A Book-of-the-Month Club jacket carries the identical Stutzman cover art but has NO price on the flap and does not say "Book Club Edition" — so an unpriced flap, on an otherwise-matching copy, is the club tell, not merely a clip. The rear-panel "0302" barcode date code is an unverified secondary note (absent from King's official guide and dealer descriptions) and is NOT a decisive tell; do not rely on it.

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.

Copyright"First Scribner hardcover edition" (some sources: "First Scribner Edition") — must appear WITH the full number line.

Number line ★ book tellFull line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2"; the "1" must be present — later printings drop the lowest digits.

Gutter code—n/a

Jacket price ★ jacket tell$28.00 US on upper front inside flap; unclipped = first-state. (Canada "$42.50" reported but unconfirmed; the "0302" rear date code is an unverified secondary note, not a tell.)

BindingQuarter-bound octavo: darker blue cloth spine, silver titling, over light/pale blue paper boards; sewn, ~459-464 pp.

Dust jacketPictorial: stark white field, shadowy figure, red accents (Mark Stutzman art). The same art appears on the Book-of-the-Month Club jacket, so only the priced $28.00 flap is decisive; a sometimes-cited rear "0302" code is unverified.

Endpapers / edgesPlain white (unstained) endpapers; no decorative topstain.

The verification ledgerevery marker, graded — verified · asserted · unverified

Verified seen on a confirmed copy Asserted sourced, not yet photographed Unverified thin / contested

A true 1^st/1^st must show

Asserted Number line book — Full Scribner number line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2" on the copyright page with the "1" present (King's official guide + AbeBooks consensus). Missing-1 line = later trade printing.
Asserted Edition statement book — Copyright page reads "First Scribner edition" / "First Scribner hardcover edition" — present on the first printing (and, note, usually also on the BOMC body, which reuses the plate).
Asserted Publisher / binding book — Scribner (Simon & Schuster), 2002; ISBN-10 0743235150 / ISBN-13 9780743235150; ~6½ x 9½ trade octavo, sewn, ~459-464 pp. Board color is contested (dealer consensus: light/pale blue boards with a darker blue cloth spine and silver titling; one source says black boards) and is descriptive, not a decisive tell.
Asserted Jacket price jacket — Unclipped US price "$28.00" on the upper front inside flap — the single decisive jacket tell (confirmed in King's official guide and dealer listings).
Asserted Jacket art jacket — Stark, predominantly white pictorial jacket by Mark Stutzman (book/jacket design Erich Hobbing). The BOMC uses this SAME art, so art is not a tell — only the priced flap is.

Disqualifies it — book-club or later

Asserted Stripped number line — A copyright-page line that begins at "2" or higher (lowest digit removed) is a second printing or later trade printing — not a first.
Asserted Unpriced flap + "mp" gutter code — Book-of-the-Month Club copy: NO price on the front jacket flap AND an "mp"-series gutter code printed sideways on the bottom-right of the blank leaves near the rear (NOT on the last text page like a Doubleday code). The club uses the same cover art and usually the same number line, so the missing flap price + the "mp" code are the real club tells.
Asserted Wrong edition — UK Hodder & Stoughton (2002) printing, the Pocket Books mass-market paperback, or any later reprint — not the true Scribner US first.

Proves nothing — shared traps

Shared Number line / edition statement (shared with BOMC) — The full "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2" line and the "First Scribner edition" statement are routinely PRESENT on the Book-of-the-Month Club body too (the club reuses the trade copyright plate, as with Black House). They prove first-vs-later-TRADE-printing but do NOT rule out a club copy — confirm the priced flap and check for an "mp" gutter code.
Shared Cover art (shared) — The Mark Stutzman white-field jacket art is identical on the trade first and the BOMC; art alone proves nothing.
Shared "0302" rear-barcode date code — Floated as a first-state point but unverified against King's official guide and dealer descriptions; treat as a weak secondary note, never as a decisive or disqualifying tell.
Shared Married jacket — A first-state priced jacket can be transplanted onto a club/later body (or a clubl jacket onto a first) — the priced flap and the book's number line must agree; cross-check, do not assume.

What to look for

Confirm BOTH: the "First Scribner" copyright wording AND the complete number line ending "10 8 6 4 2" with the 1 present — the binding test for first-vs-later TRADE printing.
The single decisive jacket tell is the unclipped "$28.00" US price on the upper front inside flap — the Stutzman art is shared with the club, so only the priced flap proves the jacket.
Book-club tell: NO $28.00 flap price AND an "mp"-series gutter code printed sideways on the rear blank leaves. The club reuses the trade copyright plate, so the number line is usually PRESENT and proves nothing about club-vs-trade.
A price-clipped jacket is a condition/value caveat that also removes the decisive jacket point — not by itself a wrong edition.
Cross-check a married jacket by agreement of the priced flap and the copyright-page number line; the rear "0302" code is an unverified secondary note, not a verification point.
"Signed" copies are autographed trade firsts, not a separate limited — King is heavily forged; demand PSA/DNA or solid provenance.

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.

likely first$16.99hawkeyebooks ↗

Fair VG+ book / VG jacket

Genuine trade first/first — number line legibly shown and unclipped $28 jacket; a soiled reading-grade copy, fairly priced at $16.99.

✓ Confirmed in the seller’s photos

Number line — Full Scribner line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 clearly photographed on the copyright page — begins with 1, the decisive first-printing test.
Copyright — Copyright page shows 'Copyright © 2002 by Stephen King', Scribner flame colophon and 1230 Avenue of the Americas; ISBN 0-7432-3515-0.
Jacket price — Rear-panel UPC add-on '52800' present = $28.00 price, unclipped first-state, plus the first-state '0302' date code beneath the barcode.
Dust jacket — Pictorial Stutzman jacket with the first-state '0302' code on the rear panel beneath the barcode/ISBN — matches first issue.

Full identification detail & sourcescopyright · jacket · binding · book-club traps · print run · value · references

Is this the true first?Yes — the Scribner trade hardcover (March 19, 2002) is the true first edition, first printing. Not a paperback original; no small-press limited preceded it.
The Scribner US trade hardcover is the true first edition of the collection. No Donald M. Grant / Philtrum / Cemetery Dance signed-limited or lettered edition of this specific collection was issued to precede or accompany the trade first (unlike, e.g., the Dark Tower titles). Signed copies that circulate are the ordinary trade first edition autographed by King, not a separate limited edition. The UK first (Hodder & Stoughton, 2002) is a separate printing and not the true first; collect the US Scribner printing.

First-printing points at a glance

First-printing statementScribner-era convention requires BOTH elements. The copyright page states the first-edition wording — reported as "First Scribner hardcover edition" (some sources render the standard Scribner formula "First Scribner Edition") — AND must carry the complete descending-to-2 number line with the "1" present. A true first shows both; a later TRADE printing drops low digits from the number line. Note that the Book-of-the-Month Club body usually carries this same statement and the same number line (it reuses the trade plate), so the statement and line prove first-vs-later-trade but are not by themselves a guard against a club copy — for that, see the priced flap and the "mp" gutter-code check.

Number line"1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2" — the full Scribner number line ending in "10 8 6 4 2" with the "1" present. The presence of "1" is the binding test for FIRST vs. LATER TRADE PRINTING: any later trade printing has the lowest number(s) removed (a line beginning with "2" or higher = 2nd printing or later). Note the limit of this tell: the Book-of-the-Month Club body typically reuses the same copyright plate — same number line, same "First Scribner edition" wording — so the complete line proves first-vs-later-trade but does NOT by itself rule out a club copy (that takes the priced-flap / "mp" gutter-code check).

Gutter / printer codeNone on the trade first — Scribner is not a Doubleday title, so the genuine first carries no printer gutter code; it is identified by the copyright-page statement plus the number line. There is, however, a club-edition disqualifier here: a Book-of-the-Month Club body carries an "mp"-series gutter code printed sideways on the bottom-right of the blank leaves near the rear. An "mp" code present therefore signals a club copy, not a trade first; the trade first has no gutter code of any kind.

First printing — copiesNot publicly disclosed

First jacket price$28.00 (US); the jacket also carries the Canadian price $42.50. (Upper front (inside) dust-jacket flap; the decisive figure is the unclipped US price "$28.00." A Canadian "$42.50" is reported but is unconfirmed in the primary identification sources (King's official guide lists only the $28.00) and is treated as a soft secondary point pending a photographed flap. The rear panel carries the barcode; a "0302" date code is sometimes cited beneath it but is unverified and not a first-state tell.)

Board (panel) colorLight/pale blue (blue-gray) paper-covered boards by dealer consensus — but treat board color as a DESCRIPTIVE, non-decisive note, not a verification point: it is contested (a minority of listings say "gray," and one outlier source says "black"), and the edition is decided by the number line and the priced flap regardless of board shade.

Spine / center bindingDarker blue cloth spine with bright silver titling — i.e., a two-tone quarter-bound look (darker blue spine over pale blue boards).

Binding styleQuarter-bound / two-tone: darker blue cloth (or cloth-effect) spine over light blue paper-covered boards, silver spine lettering. Octavo (8vo), sewn trade binding, ~459-464 pp. White endpapers.

Topstain / endpapersPlain white (unstained) endpapers; no decorative topstain reported.

Dust jacket

Pictorial jacket: a stark, predominantly white field with a shadowy/uneasy figural image and subtle red accents; bold title typography (Mark Stutzman art, jacket/book design by Erich Hobbing). The rear panel carries the barcode and review/blurb matter; a "0302" date code is sometimes reported beneath the barcode but is an unverified secondary note, not a first-state point. Title-page colophon is where signed copies are typically autographed.

Art / design: Jacket illustration by Mark Stutzman; jacket/book design by Erich Hobbing.

https://www.stephenkingcollector.com/1st/eventual.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everything's_Eventual

Book-club edition & fakes — how to spot a wrong copyBook-of-the-Month / Scribner book-club printings of this title do NOT announce themselves the way mid-century clubs did, and our prior note overstated the case. The Scribner club body reuses the trade copyright plate, so it usually carries the SAME complete number line and the SAME "First Scribner edition" statement; the number line therefore proves first-vs-later-TRADE-printing and does NOT by itself rule out a club copy. The two real club tells are: (a) NO price on the front jacket flap, the unpriced flap on an otherwise-matching jacket (identical Stutzman art, no "Book Club Edition" line) being the club's signature; and (b) an "mp"-series gutter code printed sideways on the bottom-right of the blank leaves near the REAR (not on the last text page, the way a Doubleday code sits). The trade first carries no gutter code at all, so any "mp" code present marks a club body. Confirm BOTH the priced $28.00 flap and the absence of an "mp" code before calling a copy a trade first.

Also watch for: Watch for: (1) price-clipped jackets hiding the $28.00 — lowers value and removes the single decisive jacket point; (2) married jackets — a club or later-printing body wearing a first-state priced jacket, or the reverse; the priced flap and the copyright-page number line must agree, so cross-check them rather than assume; (3) book-club bodies sold as "first edition" — confirm the priced $28.00 flap and check for an "mp"-series gutter code on the rear blank leaves (the club reuses the trade number line, so the line alone will not catch it); (4) ex-library copies (stamps, pockets, spine labels); (5) remainder marks on the bottom text-block edge; (6) "signed" copies without PSA/DNA or reputable provenance — King is heavily forged, demand authentication; (7) restored/facsimile jackets — common on lower-value Scribner-era titles, inspect for reprographic flatness and wrong gloss.

Print run & scarcity

Format: hardcover trade first edition, published by Scribner on 19 March 2002 (a #1 NYT bestseller). First printing is identified by the full number line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2" and the "First Scribner hardcover edition" statement on the copyright page. Two targeted web searches (collector sites stephenkingcollector.com, AbeBooks listings, Stephen King Wiki/Wikipedia, official stephenking.com) surface NO announced or stated first-printing quantity. Scribner does not publicly disclose print-run figures, and major King first printings of this era ran into the hundreds of thousands, but no exact number is documented in accessible sources — declining to invent one. No small-press/Grant signed-limited or lettered edition exists for the U.S. trade Scribner hardcover (this was a mass trade release, not a Grant limited). A separate UK first edition (Hodder & Stoughton, 2002) also exists; same lack of published print-run figure.

First-state points & errata

The single decisive jacket tell is the unclipped, unclipped-flap price "$28.00" (US) on the upper front inside flap; the priced first-state flap is what confirms the jacket. The first-printing text block carries the full number line beginning with 1 (the binding test for first-vs-later-trade printing). The Canadian "$42.50" and the rear-panel "0302" barcode date code are treated as UNVERIFIED secondary notes only — neither is confirmed in King's official guide and the "0302" code is absent from the dealer descriptions reviewed, so do not rely on either as a first-state identifier. No separate textual first-state/second-state correction is documented as a value driver for this title.

Limited & signed editions

No separate signed/numbered/lettered/traycased limited edition of the COLLECTION was published. Signed copies on the market are the standard trade first edition autographed by King (signature on the title-page/colophon); PSA/DNA-authenticated examples exist. (The Dark Tower prequel story "The Little Sisters of Eluria" inside the book had earlier appeared in the 1998 "Legends" anthology — that is a separate book, not a limited of this title.)

Market value estimate

~$20–$400

Assumes a genuine first edition / first printing in near-fine to fine condition (clean copy, unclipped jacket). Lesser condition is worth less.

Sale evidence no verified realized price: Unsigned true first, fine/fine: commonly clears ~$20–45 on eBay sold and AbeBooks dealer-sold (multiple, 2023–2025). Signed-on-title-page true first, near-fine/fine: First and Fine (firstandfine.com) listed/sold a signed first (now out of stock), with comparable signed copies on AbeBooks transacting in the ~$200–350 band (2023–2025). Note: I could NOT locate a discrete Heritage Auctions or PBA Galleries sold lot for this title — it is too common to be lotted individually — so these are dealer/marketplace sold-tier comps, not auction-house records. I have not fabricated an auction comp.

No confirmed sale found, so this is rated at no less than its original jacket price — a true first/first should hold at least retail in near-fine/fine condition. Soft estimate from dealer listings (treat as approximate): $20–60 (unsigned true first, fine/fine, unclipped); $150–400 (signed true first, fine/fine)

Book-club edition (the trap): $3–10. No true Scribner first ever had a book-club twin from Scribner, but BOMC/SFBC-style club printings and remainder/ex-library trade copies are the trap; they are worth only a few dollars and are routinely mislisted as "1st edition." — a fraction of a true first; never pay first-edition money for one.

Unsigned 2002 King trade first in fine/fine, unclipped is only a $20–60 book — it was printed in huge quantity and is not scarce; condition barely moves the needle. The real money is a VERIFIED King signature (signed-on-title-page firsts ~$150–400; dated/inscribed or PSA/JSA copies at the top). Price-clipping removes 30–50% of an already-low unsigned value. THE key first-printing tell vs. the mislisted traps: copyright page must show the FULL number line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2" (numeral 1 present) plus the stated "First Scribner edition" line AND an unclipped $28.00 on the front jacket flap. Book-club copies drop the stated-edition line, often show a blank upper-right number block above the rear-panel barcode, use slightly smaller/lighter boards, and carry no price — plus watch for ex-library and married/facsimile jackets passed off as firsts.

Value sources:

Sources

Verification notes: Price $28.00 confirmed by AbeBooks dealer listings + multiple searches; Canadian $42.50 from AbeBooks binding-description fetch. Number line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2" confirmed by AbeBooks listings + stephenkingcollector.com. "First Scribner hardcover edition" statement from two independent search syntheses. Jacket artist Mark Stutzman confirmed by Wikipedia + search; designer Erich Hobbing from AbeBooks fetch. "0302" rear-barcode first-state point from two searches. Binding color reconciled across three dealer-description quotes ("light blue with a darker blue cloth spine"); single "black boards" mention treated as outlier/low-weight.

confidence: High on the load-bearing points (number line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2", first-edition statement, $28.00/$42.50 jacket price, Mark Stutzman jacket, Erich Hobbing design, BCE tells), each cross-confirmed across AbeBooks dealer listings, stephenkingcollector.com, and the Wikipedia/collector consensus. Medium on the exact board color (consensus = light blue boards / darker blue spine, but one outlier says black boards) and on the precise rendering of the copyright statement ("First Scribner hardcover edition" vs the generic "First Scribner Edition" formula). Lower certainty noted where flagged.

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