We’re taking orders for a great James P. Blaylock collection, The Shadow on the Doorstep, published a few short years ago. Think of it as part autobiography, part Best of, and wonderful in every respect.

Sit down. Grab a box of doughnuts. Make it a baker’s dozen, one for each story.

James Blaylock has carefully constructed these stories to fill the reader with wonder, looking at the magic just below the surface, and offering you a variety of different styles of fantasy.

If you like your fantasy filled with darkness, try “The Old Curiosity Shop,” in which Doyle Jimmerson must come to terms with the death of his wife and his own inadequacies that helped create the world in which he finds himself.

Or you might prefer the nostalgia-glazed fantasy. If so, bite into “Thirteen Phantasms,” where the discovery of an old box of magazines leads Landers to yearn for a simpler time when it was easier to find a sense of wonder.

You say the frosting of the paranormal is what makes you sit up? Try sampling “The Other Side” and just wait for the hairs on your arms to stand on end.

If you’re wondering why this sounds like it was written in a bakery, turn to “Doughnuts,” and find what Blaylock refers to as “the true quill.”

When you’re finished reading the stories in this collection, you’ll find yourself as full of goodness as your doughnut box is empty.

Trade: 1000 fully cloth bound hardcover copies: $30

Posted on Thursday, March 1st, 2012 at 10:18 am.