Even though The Last Drive-In has come to an end and he’s hard at work on his next show, Joe Bob Briggs has yet another exciting project on his hands. FANGORIA is excited to reveal that the horror host and beloved TV icon is writing the introduction for The End Times, the omnibus version of Ben Percy and Stephen King’s post-apocalyptic newspaper, coming in 2027 from Bad Hand Books.
Set in an eerily familiar version of the future where the world is struggling to begin again after a deadly pandemic, The End Times is a serial project that puts readers into the shoes of Mary Poole, a small-town Minnesota resident who revives an old printing press and publishes the titular newspaper. She quickly draws in new writers — including Richard Bachman’s widow Claudia Inez Bachman, if you know you know — but also discovers that a sinister agenda is at work in her town that will change it forever, and likely for the worse.
“For decades, Joe Bob Briggs has demonstrated the power of community-building through the shared experience of art,” said Bad Hand’s Doug Murano. “We need this message more than ever now, and it happens to be one of the core themes Benjamin Percy and Stephen King explore in The End Times. That's why I can't think of a better person to provide the introduction to the collected edition.”
No details on what Briggs’ intro will contain have been announced, but it’ll surely be a doozy based on what we already know about the omnibus. The End Times: Volume One will present the full text of the serialized newspaper printed in a traditional 8.5” x 11” novel size, as well as exclusive material that will appear only in the collected version. A dollar from each book purchased directly through Bad Hand is also being donated to mutual aid efforts in Minnesota, supporting rebuilding communities after its occupation by ICE.
A hardcover version of The End Times: Volume One hits shelves in 2027, and is available for pre-order now on Bad Hand Books’ website.
