Anybody else remember this '80s Stephen King contemporary?

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duncanralston

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Dec 16, 2017
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Hi folks! First time poster but a Constant Reader since the late'-80s. I've come across something... mysterious to say the least, and as I peel apart the layers it appears as though I'm not the only one who remembers this horror author from the '80s - even though the only evidence of him ever having existed appears to be a Wiki page in "draft." I'd love to know what you all think. My initial post about it is here. In the second post things get far weirder. Actually, something happened today on Twitter which made me feel the need to post here to see if anyone else remembers Garrote, because it seems like it may go a lot deeper than I first thought. I'll know for sure soon, though. Thanks for taking a look!
 

osnafrank

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Jan 24, 2017
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duncanralston

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Dec 16, 2017
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....no idea dude, sounds like a prank of epic proportions to me....btw, glad to have you join us!....

Thanks, GNTLGNT! You could be right. I'm not too familiar with the psychology of false memory but I suppose my "memory" of him and this book could have stemmed from randomly coming across his Wiki page. I did read a ton of random horror authors back in the late-'80s/early-'90s, some of them blurred together!

Although, someone just suggested Rex Garrote could have been a defunct pen name of another of King's contemporaries, author Rex Miller. Miller died in 2004 - maybe he killed off his Garrote pen name in 1999 a la George Stark?
 

GNTLGNT

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Jun 15, 2007
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Thanks, GNTLGNT! You could be right. I'm not too familiar with the psychology of false memory but I suppose my "memory" of him and this book could have stemmed from randomly coming across his Wiki page. I did read a ton of random horror authors back in the late-'80s/early-'90s, some of them blurred together!

Although, someone just suggested Rex Garrote could have been a defunct pen name of another of King's contemporaries, author Rex Miller. Miller died in 2004 - maybe he killed off his Garrote pen name in 1999 a la George Stark?
....and all that aside, his mustache is SO fake...woolly bear caterpillar sleeps on his lip...
 

kingricefan

All-being, keeper of Space, Time & Dimension.
Jul 11, 2006
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I've checked abebooks, thriftbooks and ebay. Nothing. You're (or is it we?) being punked. I read tons of horror novels back in the 80's and never heard of or saw this name on any of the bookshelves I perused in all of the big name bookstores or anywhere else. Upon first glance my thought was it could be a non-de-plume of Ray Garton, but as I stated there's nothing that shows up under any searches. There's no publisher's name or imprint or price on the 'cover' either, although I do give kudos to whomever photoshopped this because they did at least show some fading to the colors on the spine. Good touch that! The word 'garrote' is of course a form of execution via strangulation.
 

Doc Creed

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Nov 18, 2015
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I've checked abebooks, thriftbooks and ebay. Nothing. You're (or is it we?) being punked. I read tons of horror novels back in the 80's and never heard of or saw this name on any of the bookshelves I perused in all of the big name bookstores or anywhere else. Upon first glance my thought was it could be a non-de-plume of Ray Garton, but as I stated there's nothing that shows up under any searches. There's no publisher's name or imprint or price on the 'cover' either, although I do give kudos to whomever photoshopped this because they did at least show some fading to the colors on the spine. Good touch that! The word 'garrote' is of course a form of execution via strangulation.
Yeah, It's the first I'm hearing that name, too. Also, Rex is Latin for King. Maybe someone having a little fun? One of the Incunks? heh