Leisure Books

Not to be confused with the Greenleaf Classics' imprint Leisure Books.
Leisure Books
Parent companyDorchester Publishing (c. 1982–2010)
StatusDefunct (September 2010)
Founded1957
FounderHarry Shorten
Country of originUnited States
Headquarters locationNew York City
Key peopleJean Marie Stine (book acquisitions & development editor)
Don D'Auria[1][2] (Executive Editor, 1995–2010)
Publication typesBooks
Fiction genresHorror, Thriller, Westerns

Leisure Books was a mass market paperback publisher specializing in horror and thrillers that operated from 1957 to 2010. In the company's early years, it also published fantasy, science fiction, Westerns, and the Wildlife Treasury card series.

Leisure Books offered a book sales club service. Typically, two free books were provided as an initial inducement. After that two books were sent on a monthly basis. Readers would have ten days to keep or return. If kept there would be a discount on the purchase price.

From around 1982 onward, Leisure Books was an imprint of Dorchester Publishing, shifting the company's focus away from fantasy and science fiction and more towards horror. As such, Leisure published novels and collections by a number of horror's notable authors, including Douglas Clegg, Stacy Dittrich, Ray Garton, J. F. Gonzalez, Brian Keene, Jack Ketchum, Richard Laymon, Deborah LeBlanc, Edward Lee, Ronald Malfi, Graham Masterton, T. V. Olsen, and Sarah Pinborough.

Leisure horror titles won numerous awards, including the Bram Stoker Award[3] and the International Horror Guild Award.[4] In addition, a Leisure title was given the 2002 World Fantasy Award.[5]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference PW was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ St. John, Warren (March 26, 2006). "Market for Zombies? It's Undead (Aaahhh!)". The New York Times.
  3. ^ Horror.org Archived April 4, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "International Horror Guild". Horroraward.org. Archived from the original on 31 October 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  5. ^ "2002 World Fantasy Award : Winners and Nominees". Worldfantasy.org. Archived from the original on 10 December 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2015.