“The Sniper” by Richard Chizmar is a chapbook that was published exclusively for Brian James Freeman’s supporters on Patreon.

About the Chapbook:
A few years back, Richard Chizmar and I collaborated on Darkness Whispers, a novella that was published as a beautiful signed Limited Edition hardcover by Scarlet Galleon Publications and later as a trade paperback and eBook by JournalStone.

Here’s a little secret, though: Darkness Whispers is actually based on the very first short story Richard ever sold, way back in the 1980s, called “The Sniper.”

In early 2016, he was going through some old files in his office when he stumbled upon the original manuscript, as well as an acceptance letter and a contract — but a contributor copy was nowhere to be found, and he realized he had no memory of the story ever being published.

A comic adaptation of “The Sniper” had been included as a bonus item in Midnight Promises, his very first short story collection, but the prose version appeared to be unpublished after all these years.

Richard asked me if I would be interested in doing a rewrite and expansion of the story. I quickly agreed, and we traded it back and forth for a few weeks and came up with the novella that would become Darkness Whispers.

In this new chapbook I’m publishing exclusively for my Patreon Supporters, you will find Richard’s original draft of “The Sniper,” so you can experience the story as he originally intended it way back in the day.

Publication History:
Published as a chapbook for  Brian James Freeman’s Patreon supporters in January 2020.

Publication Format:
Each chapbook Brian publishes for his Patreon supporters is “housed” in a custom-printed envelope with a fine linen finish and our logo printed on it in silver metallic ink. The inside-covers feature faux marbling. Each chapbook is also signed and hand-numbered. Limited to a print run of 225 copies.