Dark Horse publishers has announced that it slayed the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer Tarot.” It will not be publishing this deck, despite the fact that almost all the art work was completed and much of the book written, and a huge number of people were excitedly writing about it on line! Supposedly there were contractual problems. Did the card, depicted above, predict this slaying? What do you think?
Here’s the notice I got:
“Due to circumstances beyond our control, Dark Horse will not be producing the ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ Tarot Deck. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, but no existing orders will be filled. We appreciate your support of this program, and again apologize to those who placed advance orders and to fans alike.”
Mary K. Greer has made tarot her life work. Check here for reports of goings-on in the world of tarot and cartomancy, articles on the history and practice of tarot, and materials on other cartomancy decks. Sorry, I no longer write reviews. Contact me
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11 comments
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June 26, 2008 at 6:51 am
Rachel
That is too funny. “Give Buffy a Bad Name”…..wow….people never fail to amaze me…Thanks for sharing!!!
June 26, 2008 at 7:05 am
ChrisC
I got the notice today, too, and was very disappointed. The sample cards looked really interesting. Bummer.
June 26, 2008 at 9:00 am
Sumiko
I’m seriously disappointed in this!
I wish that they would reconsider.
June 26, 2008 at 9:05 am
Paul Nagy
This is postively weird! Dark Horse is hardly a bastion of conventional morals!
Probably some twisted take on fantasy is make-believe, but tarotists are too serious about their make-it-real so the publishers want to remain above pandering to fantasts and uphold their dedication to pure fiction, thereby maintaining a moral neutrality?
Yea sure! Cowards all.
June 27, 2008 at 1:02 am
marygreer
I bet the publisher is as disappointed as the rest of us. After all, the announcement says “due to circumstances beyond our control . . .”
June 27, 2008 at 9:52 am
annie
wonders what/who coughed up a hairball where? hmmmmmmm. shame
~adp~
June 29, 2008 at 8:47 am
Patricia Haynes
My guess is that it had to do with the intellectual property rights. Buffy is an established IP mark/copyright, so who knows. It’s unfortunate since the cards, in use, are likely NOT confusingly similar to the established marks.
June 30, 2008 at 5:58 am
marygreer
Dark Horse had published other works under the Buffy franchise and the artist was involved in other licensed Buffy works. I’m not sure why this one didn’t go according to plan.
July 6, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Annette
Darn. Now that’s a deck I would have liked to have, simply for the novelty of it.
August 22, 2009 at 5:09 pm
FanYouDontKnow
I don’t get it! Are the Tarot cards canceled? Or are they still going on, and just the people who already ordered there orders, there orders are canceled? I dont know! somone please tell me! I want them, and I’m confused if there coming out or not!
August 22, 2009 at 7:29 pm
mkg
As far as I know the deck has been cancelled. All orders are therefore cancelled.