This Russian Cover for Frank Peretti’s ‘This Present Darkness’ Beats All the American Covers

All of This Present Darkness’s American covers are okay, but the most amazing cover graces the 2011 Russian-language edition.
on Mar 31, 2020

Last week for the Fantastical Truth podcast, we explored Frank E. Peretti’s classic thriller This Present Darkness.

Finding cover images for the podcast and SpecFaith article proved a bit difficult.

You see, Crossway first published Peretti’s book in 1986. At that time no one was uploading high-res cover art to the internet. Ultimately I had to scan my own paperback copy (autographed by Peretti himself) with frayed edges and all.

And since the internet, the publisher(s) has redesigned the cover once or twice:

This Present Darkness (1986), Frank E. Peretti

This Present Darkness (1986 edition)

This Present Darkness, Frank E. Peretti

This Present Darkness (2003 edition)

This Present Darkness, Frank Peretti

This Present Darkness (2012 edition)

All these work to some degree. But the all-time best cover for This Present Darkness is this Russian-language edition, which according to Goodreads was published in 2011.

Behold:

This Present Darkness, Frank Peretti (Russian edition)

This Present Darkness (Russian language edition, 2011)

E. Stephen Burnett explores fantastical stories for God’s glory as publisher of Lorehaven.com and its weekly Fantastical Truth podcast, and coauthored The Pop Culture Parent and other resources for fans and families. He and his wife, Lacy, live in the Austin area, where they serve in their local church. His first novel, a science-fiction adventure, arrives in 2025 from Enclave Publishing.

What say you?