The Far Side Gallery by Gary Larson is a 192-page softcover published in 1984 by Andrew McMeel Publishing, LLC.  The cover has some light creasing and edgewear.  Inside, a name and address are written in ink on the title page.  The rest of the book is in very good condition. 

From Gary Larson

This is my brother's fault.

As a young boy, I was plagued with an overactive imagination--compounded by the fact that we lived in a house with your standard, monster-infested basement.  Occasionally, I would hear my father's command that never failed to horrify me:  "Go down to the basement, Gary, and bring up some firewood."  Death.

And so down I'd go, certain I was about to become the leading character in a story that would be told around campfires for generations to come.  ("Say, has anyone here heard, 'The Boy Who Went For Firewood'?)

My task nearly completed, I would begin my quick ascent back to the world of the living.  And then, as it had countless times before, it would happen.  With an audible click, followed by sinister laughter, the lights would go off.

Engulfed in blackness, I would scramble my way to the top of the stairs only to find the door held firmly shut.  From the other side, where the light switch was controlled, I would hear my older brother's voice begin to chant:  "It's coming for you, Gary!  It's coming!  Do you hear it?  Do you hear it breathing, Gary?"

Unbeknownst to my parents the deep grooves in that side of the door were not caused by the dog.

Now, many years later, here I am a cartoonist.  And if the cartoons I draw seem a little--well--different, I hope this story has scratched the surface of understanding my childhood:  a sort of "Theodore Cleaver Meets The Thing."

So, without further ado, let my brother's handiwork be revealed.  I hear something coming.

--Gary Larson