Kevin Lucia's Blog, page 53

The Perseverance of Hope in the Midst of Horror

So, most - all - my fiction (links to stuff you can buy, links to free stuff) has found its home in the dark, horror/speculative market.  So, I write horror.  My soon to come "experiment" would be "quiet horror", and my current Billy the Kid "thingie" is essentially a gigantic genre mash that's equal parts Weird Western and Horror.  Hiram Grange & The Chosen One is certainly horror.

But I read LOTS of stuff.  Pretty balanced between horror/supernatural suspense/thriller and the stuff I teach, which would probably be called "literary".  So, my reading tastes are pretty varied, and I like LOTS of different kinds of stories.  Anything well written with pretty, pretty words, especially (see: Charles Grant, Ray Bradbury, Ron Malfi, Mary SanGiovanni, Gary Braunbeck, Al Sarranntino...I could go on...)

But, in the end: I'm a sucker for the following: hope.  destiny.  purpose.  sacrifice. meaning.  redemption.

And I think horror is the perfect vehicle for those things. Now, this is well-trod ground, so we won't go over it again, but here it is: horror is a really wide genre.  Plenty of stories for all sorts of tastes.  But as time goes by, I feel myself not only called more and more to refine my prose, but also to write stories whose cores center on the above themes.

Notice the distinct lack of "happy endings" up there.  Because you can't always have that, especially with the short story and novella form.  Those don't necessarily offer the same resolution found in novels, and, let's be honest....

Happy endings, in this world, aren't always possible.

But you know what?

Sometimes, they are. 

Lots of people take Dean Koontz to task over his overwhelmingly spiritual, "good" themes, especially in his later works.  And yeah, a couple of his most recent novels definitely read like he's phoned them in (but you know what? I'm of the humble opinion the man deserves it.) And, yeah, in Dean's world: golden retrievers = Jesus  or angels in disguise.

But you know what, I find myself coming back to his work again and again.

Because, every now and then...I need my golden retriever/Jesus story.  I NEED a hopeful story built on those themes that have come to mean so much to me as a writer.

I'm a firm believer that every story demands its own ending.  I've written several shorts that emphatically DO NOT end happy.  They - and by 'they', I mean the stories themselves - demanded differently.  And the experiment I'm planning may offer haunting resolution, but not something "happy".

But, deep inside, I have this overwhelming desire to write something beautiful, vibrating with those themes...

hope.  destiny.  purpose.  sacrifice. meaning.  redemption. 

I often write dark stuff.  That will probably never change.  But more and more, I'm finding that for ME (again, because this blog will NEVER be about telling others what to do or think or write), there's really only one good reason to write such darkness.

To further contrast the light.  Which is why the below trailer for a new series on FOX has got me really excited.  Because THIS is the type of story I dream of writing someday.  Was writing, in fact, before I got bit by the "Billy the Kid" bug.  Someday, I hope I to finish that story...and I hope you'll all get to read it...

 

Digitally Self-Publishing the Right Way, Part Two: Mike Duran's "Winterland"

Before I go into this lock, stock, and barrel, here's this:  writing is a personal journey.  Something someone does for the love of it.  There are many avenues to publication.  Years ago, it was "right" to submit and absorb rejection after rejection through traditional publishing, and "WRONG" to self-publish. In fact, for a mind-twisting look about how original publishing was ALL self-publishing, read this article here.

Then, along came POD (print on demand) publishing.  It became easier to format your own manuscript, upload, and print copies of your book out.  Cover art and formatting became a lot easier. And, lo and behold, digital epublishing sent the whole thing "off the hook".

People write and publish for lots of different reasons.  If you've found your way to this blog and you're an avid self-publisher, please don't take offense.  Obviously, when I say in my blog title 'Digitally Self-Publishing the Right Way", I mean from my perspective, and for folks who may share my perspective.  

In the end, that writing belongs to you - your blood, sweat, and tears.  So what you do with it, in the end, is ultimately up to you.  My concerns in writing these posts come from a recent comment made by friend and colleague and subject of tomorrow's post, Richard Wright, about the state of publishing today:

"There are, after all, so many ways to get it wrong now, and no sure ways to get it right."

So, in essence, this is me looking around the publishing world, and offering up examples of what I think are smart, safe, and most importantly: WELL DONE examples.  Certainly not me telling everyone else what to do.

And with that, on to today's post, and another good example of what I consider to be a pretty legitimate reason to digitally self-publish, novelist Mike Duran's novella, Winterland.   Now, Mike is an excellent, excellent writer.  His debut novel, The Resurrection , was excellent, and I eagerly look forward to his next offering, The Telling (and, apparently, I really like the word 'excellent' this morning.  Excellent!)  His short work has been published in a variety of venues, as has his nonfiction - even one nonfiction article on Christian Horror in an issue of Rue Morgue.

Mike believes in traditional publishing.  He's blogged many times about how his positive interactions with the editors at Realms have only served to make his novels better.  He has an agent, and doesn't believe that model should go away.   And, even as Realms Fiction has reconfigured their publishing strategy to something not so advantageous to the writer, Mike is actively seeking out mainstream publishers, rather than throwing his hands into the sky, declaring the death of traditional publishing and self-publishing his novels willy-nilly one right after the other.

But he chose to self-publish his e-novella, Winterland, for several reasons.  One, most of all, being that it was a novella (and a really AWESOME one, I promise you. Also something you should read!), and in the CBA, there's no market for that, really.   And, it was very much a dark fairy tale, a little different from his usual speculative venue.

Also, because epublishing has become so easy, releasing Winterland on his own timetable serves to help his career: with The Resurrection a year in the bag, The Telling not due until 2012, this serves as a nice "Hey! I'm still here! Don't forget about me!" reminder to his readers and to potential readers (We'll come back to this in a few days).

But he most emphatically has NOT given up on traditional publishing.  And he's very careful about everything he does.  Meticulous, and he KNOWS - because he still believes in traditional publishing - that before anything he writes goes out to the public, folks MOST look it over first, pull it apart, show its faults first.   So, in my humble opinion, THIS is another example of self-publishing that is smartly and well done.

And that "Hey! I'm still here! Don't forget about me!" thing?

Pretty much the core of my great experiment, which I'll detail in a few days, after talking about my last example of smart self-digital publishing tomorrow, in Richard Wright.

Clarification: Mike Duran, Phil Tomasso, Richard Wright and GOOD Digital Self Publishing

I'm a little more awake and a lot less grumbly than yesterday, so over the next few days, I want to clarify something I grumbled about yesterday (and have grumbled about in the past), and also throw a curve ball as an experiment is brewing in the old head.

First, the whole e-publishing, ebook thing.  I've sorta grumbled about this a lot in the past year, because quite simply, as a reader, I'm a book lover.  Always will be.  And I'm a little stubborn, border-line fanatical about it.  For me, the concept of ebooks - as a READER - isn't exciting at all. Throw in the bald fact that I really can't afford a Nook or Kindle, and won't be able to do that anytime soon, and you won't see me reading ebooks anytime soon.

However, as a WRITER....well, let's be honest. Ebooks are a force to be reckoned with, a viable market avenue here to stay. ALSO, after a year of upheaval and "doom and gloom" predictions about the death of print, it also seems that - while the mass market paperback may be on the way out, trade paperbacks will be around for a good while, and ironically enough, hardcovers still seem to be doing okay.  So, for now, ebooks and physical books can co-exist.

So, I guess my issue is - not to offend - how EASY (relatively speaking) epublishing is for the individual to  simply publish their work.  And I mean relatively speaking, because formatting something, editing, getting nice cover art, figuring out formats,  graphic layout, marketing - that stuff is a LOT of work.   So saying epublishing is "easy"?  Bit of a misnomer.

I guess, the long and short of it, is this: I'm still a fan of the gatekeeper.  I still believe in traditional publishing.  I still think we NEED editors to work with (good ones, hard to find sometimes, I get that) in order to make our stories the BEST they can be, not just "good enough".  I kinda don't want to be "good enough to be published". I want to be the best I can be.  And, no matter how you cut it, self-epublishing eradicates the gatekeeper, which, contrary to rising popular opinion, I DON'T think is a good thing.

NOW.

Here's the flip side.

I'm only concerned about this with writers who haven't proven themselves.  Folks who have cranked out their first book ever, and maybe have paid for professional edits and layout and cover design....but they haven't done their time in the trenches.  Haven't paid their dues, or proven themselves.  But hey: they don't have to, now.  They're published, after all.

Over the next three or four days, I'm going to highlight three PROVEN, established writers who are pioneering the digital publishing trail, folks for whom I believe the digital self-publishing craze is a GOOD thing: authors re-releasing out of print material,  (See NECON EBOOKS for this, also) established authors creating non-standard content that didn't necessarily fit in anywhere, and established authors releasing something digitally, while still striving away in the traditional market  (that's where my experiment will fall. Sorta.).  The authors in question:  Phil Tomasso, Mike Duran, and Richard Wright.  Today, I'll be looking at Phil Tomasso.

1. Phil Tomasso/Thomas Phillips: I'll admit, straight out before I pimp his stuff, Phil has become a good, good friend.  He's been a lot of help, given lots of great advice, and I've learned a lot from him.  He's visited with my Creative Writing and English students before, they love him, and he's solid writer, tells great stories, writes smooth prose, and he's a veteran, in his own right.  In his case, digital epublishing is a good, good thing.

In the nineties, Phil wrote and published several crime/thriller novels through a Leisure-esue midlist house, sold over 80 short stories to reputable horror/crime/thriller mags, got favorable reviews, won a few awards, and even saw a hardcover release. Unfortunately, he ran into some personal things and dropped out of the publishing scene for awhile.  Back in 2008 he reemerged under the pen name of Thomas Phillips with his first CBA (Christian Bookseller Association) release, The Molech Prophecy, a great suspense/thriller.  Looked like a brand-new start.  His then-publisher was talking a series, even.

And then they said: "Let's see how this first one does."

And then, they said: "I think this will be the only one."

Now, this is just my soapbox opinion, but the CBA failed in Phil's case.  An awesome writer with a deft touch (one of those few writers you can call "obsessively readable"), an industry veteran with a good grass-roots following, they basically left him out in the cold.  

So, after giving the CBA its fair shot, he resumed writing under his real name.   Also, he's decided to re-release several of his well-received but now out of print crime novels through Kindle, along with two previously unpublished novels he just wasn't able to find a home for.  Check them out here.  You really should read them.

But Phil hasn't abandoned the editorial process or traditional print publishing.  He just announced recently on Facebook that a publisher - albeit a small but reputable press - has shown interest in a vampire trilogy of his.  So he's certainly using digital publishing to his advantage, to re-ignite his career, build some momentum - even if it's just personal and motivational - but he's not leaving the system high and dry.  He still believes in the gate keeper. 

That, in my opinion, is a judicious, smart use of digital self-publishing.  

Maybe I'm too idealistic.

It's possible. I'm an idealist, I'll admit it.  But, in my humble opinion, even though the stigma of self-publishing is fading, there are times to "self-publish", and times not to.

Tomorrow, I'll look at Mike Duran's self-published novella, Winterland.

This is supposed to be fun...right?

Notice: tired rambling ahead.  You've been warned.

Anyway, so I'm sitting on the edge of the bed, trying to get my brain back into gear.  And, maybe I'm feeling a little frustrated about this whole writing thing.  We're all friends here, right?  So I'll indulge in a little wha-wha.  You've heard me whine before, so this isn't news.  But, since I've turned this blog primarily into an online, stress-release journal...

I saw a recent Facebook friend post something similar to this, but I didn't chime in.  Just sorta nodded to myself, "Word, Bro", pumped a fist and moved on.  But, here I am, dumping it out now.

Feels like I've hit a huge, massive wall.  Last three years, I've climbed over or knocked down lots of medium sized walls.  Now, I've run smack into one.    I'm stuck.  In more ways than one.  And I don't know if, when, or how I'm going to get moving again.

All the writers I know, who I started in this biz with, seem to be moving ahead of me.  Leaving me behind.  I see this writer signing this contract, that writer landing this big deal or placing a new story in that huge anthology.  Everyone chugging right along, while I sit here and spin my wheels in neutral.

Part of the problem is I've been engaged in long-range projects with no immediate returns. Spent most the last year grinding away on a novel that I set aside middle of the summer for this current novel project.  AND, after that, I've got a completely different, Charles Grantish novella/novel sitting on my desk, outlined, ready to go after I've completed the first draft of this novel. 

So, again...more long range projects to come, more of me with my head down writing, partly to keep my nose to the grindstone, but also partly so I don't keep getting rubbed raw (which I shouldn't be; I should be happy for all those folks, and really, I am) each time another writing colleague posts a new accolade or sale or whatever.

I've got stories out there.  Somewhere.  One has been with an editor for over a year, no word yet.  Another has been shortlisted with an anthology that also seems to have ground its wheels down into the mud.  Another, one I'm really excited about, is really being picky about it's TOC, which is AWESOME....but I'll admit it.  I just want some news, you know?  If only to help keep me going every morning.

Also, Cons.  On one hand, they're fun, refreshing, they recharge batteries. And, it's kinda cool that at the last couple, me the "middling" guy has hung out with a lot of newbies.  Not really being a mentor, but hanging out with them, talking, chilling.  BUT...

Hey.  I don't know WHO really reads this blog or not sometimes, but here's a risk: some of you folks who used to chat with me and support me and give me advice now and then...where are you?  Off "recruiting" other newbies under your wing?  Busy schmoozing and wheeling and dealing with bigger folks down the line?  Cause you used to be around.  And now you're not, really.  And it's not like I need you to prop me up, or anything.  I just like hanging with you.  Genuinely like you, and want to chill with you.

But you're busy and all.  I get it.  Because, hell...I'm NOT busy, am I?  And I'm not gonna lie... I kinda really WANT to be. So I think, pretty soon, I'm going to pick a new Con where I don't know anyone and just attend all by my lonesome.  Honestly, I might as well.  Why go to Cons to see people who won't be available most the time anyway?

And then there's the whole self-e-publishing thing, which I still haven't come to turns with.   Look, publishers e-publishing folks, fine.  Believe it or not, I'm a traditional guy, and that works for me.  BUt it's like we're in the 1960's of publishing: "Hey, if it feels good, self-publish your ebook! No one cares! Do your own thing! Down with publishers, man!  Fight the power! Self-e-publish!"  

And everyone's doing that, left and right, and, sorry...that just doesn't feel right to me.  BUT, with a handful of big names doing it also and telling everyone else they should do it or they're dummies, I feel old before my time, and fear being left behind in the self-e-publishing dust as that old "stick in the mud" who prefers the traditional method and WANTS a gatekeeper's approval.

That's part of the reason - well, a big reason - I participated in the Coffin Hop this year.  It was FUN.  Remember that word?  I blogged almost every day about cool stuff that I liked, and people posted comments and we interacted and stuff (note to self: maybe I should gave away free stuff more often).  It was fun.  I had fun blogging about my Halloween memories, and the people who posted comments seemed to have fun.

Fun.

Remember fun?

Anyway, for the newbies following this blog now because of Coffin Hop, please don't be put off by the whining.   It's not always like that around here, but fair warning, this has become my stress relief valve, so whining does happen occasionally.  But anyway, thanks again for having me on the Coffin Hop; it was fun.

Which is hard to remember, sometimes.  Because that's why I started to write in the first place, yeah?  Because I liked it.  It was fun.

And for me, writing really needs to become fun again.

Soon.

Winners of Coffin Hop Contests, Halloween Retrospective - Part 1

Sadly, Halloween is over.  Just like Christmas, it always passes through too quickly, and really.... Christmas has the advantage, because it pretty much lasts from Christmas Eve all the way through New Years, when you think about it.  Halloween - a one night affair that ends all too soon.

Anyway, I've got lots of thoughts to share about Halloween, dressing up for school - which I did for the first time this year - my first Coffin Hop, and some other things.   BUT, before I get to all that, which I'll probably post about later this week, it's time to name some winners and give out some free stuff (and yes, it goes without saying a lot of these winners were chosen arbitrarily, after a fashion.  Just the nature of the thing...). And, all winners, sometime this day I'll email you directly, asking for snail mail addresses and such.

So, without further ado:

Share your own "ghost story." And win "Five Strokes to Midnight."
Winner: Nora B. Peevy, for her creepy story about a haunted motel.
Who best supports your Halloween fix? And Win William Peter Blatty's "The Exorcist" & "Legion".
Winner: Julie Jansen, because you had me at "My mom read me Joyce Carol Oates"...   Best NON-Halloween, Autumnal Memory. And Win Brian Keene.
Winner: Rabid Fox, for his VERY Oxrun Station moment about the band that didn't exist....
Most Awkward. Costume. Ever. And Win Christopher Golden.
Winner: DEFINITELY JameyW's Green Hulk grease costumes! 
And, last but not least:
What's Your Favorite Halloween Memory? And Win Nate Southard.
Winner:  Jeanette Jackson's surprise gorilla!
Those of you whom I didn't contact - don't have email addresses - please email me post-haste at kevin.lucia at gmail dot com with your snail mail address, and I'll send your prizes out.  Thanks for playing, all!  Will have more to post later this week...

Coffin Hop 2011, Day Six: Share your own "ghost story." And win "Five Strokes to Midnight."

Welcome to Day Six of Coffin Hop 2011.  For a chance at Nate Southard's He Stepped Through, visit Monday's blog. For a chance to win an ARC of Chris Golden's short story collection, The Secret Backs of Things, visit Tuesday's blog.  For a chance to win The Cage and The Last Zombie, both by Brian Keene, visit Wednesday's blog.  For a chance to win the Cemetery Dance ARC of William Peter Blatty's The Exorsist and Legion, visit Thursday's Blog.
So.  We're all writers and lovers of the spooky things that go bump in the night.  And that's part of what Halloween is all about.   But how many of us have experienced ACTUAL spooky moments ourselves? Had our own "spooky" moment, when we heard something go "bump" in the night?
Believe it or not, I used to be a huge science fiction fan.  Loved my Issac Asimov, ate up my Star Wars and Star Trek novels like they were candy.  And, because of that, I wanted to write science fiction, too.  My first - and forever to be unpublished (because it SUCKS) - novel was part one of an epic science fiction space opera trilogy.  The next Issac Asimov, I was going to be.  [image error] Then, I had an experience.  A brief brush with something....else...that changed my perspective.  Now, I'm going to cheat a little, and direct you to an article I wrote for Flames Rising, detailing this experience.  Suffice to say, it involved an old, broken down Victorian home in the middle of an abandoned corn field.  Afterwards, I decided that  things lurking in the shadows here on our OWN world were far more interesting than aliens and space ships, and I wanted to write about THAT, instead.
SO.  Not exactly a ghost story, but a brush with something distinctly abnormal.  Do you have any ghostly, spooky stories that serve as your inspiration?  Or simple a brush with the abnormal that left you shaking...just a bit...even if the sun hung high in the sky at noon?
For the offering today is Five Strokes to Midnight, a collection offering the likes of Gary Braunbeck, Chris Golden, Tom Piccirilli, Debeorah LeBlanc, and Hank Schwable.  Here's the description:
[image error] Five Strokes to Midnight features multiple, all-new works from Bram Stoker Award-winner Christopher Golden , Bram Stoker Award-winner Gary Braunbeck , Bram Stoker Award-winner Tom Piccirilli , southern gothic sensation Deborah LeBlanc , and hard-hitting newcomer Hank Schwaeble . Each writer offering approximately 20,000 words of fiction -- comprising at least two stories per author inspired by a theme of the author's own choosing. For this first volume, readers can look forward to multiple tales on the subject of Folklore (Golden), Hauntings (Braunbeck), Loss (Piccirilli), Curses (LeBlanc), and Demons (Schwaeble).  So.  How about it.  Some real life scary stories, anyone....?

Coffin Hop 2011, Day Four: Who best supports your Halloween fix? And Win William Peter Blatty's "The Exorcist" & "Legion".

Welcome to Day Four of Coffin Hop 2011.  For a chance at Nate Southard's novella, He Stepped Through, visit Monday's blog. For a chance to win an ARC of Chris Golden's Cemetery Dance short story collection, The Secret Backs of Things, visit Tuesday's blog.  For a chance to win The Cage and The Last Zombie, both by Brian Keene, visit yesterday's blog.  
Every Halloween, I'm always thankful that my wife totally throws her weight behind the holiday and goes out of her way to make it special for the whole family.   
She decorates (though she does this for every holiday), gets into the kids' costumes, tolerates my love of it - being totally okay with the idea of me dressing up, even though this is the first year I'm doing it in a while - we read the kids Halloween books, have the Halloween countdown calendar with a pocket containing a prize for every day, we get into our Jack O'Lanterns, (having developed a routine, every year, of going to get the pumpkins a few weeks ahead) and we'll do the old fashioned Trick-or-Treating (not this Trunk or Treat business) to family and friends' houses Halloween night.
Now, you might think this isn't a big deal.  Most mothers are okay with Halloween, making holidays special in their home, right?  But, like me, my wife is a Christian.  And among some Christians - Halloween's a big "no-no".  Based on old,  evil pagan holiday, and all that.  Celebrating Halloween is right up there with offering your kids hard liqour, according to some of the more fundamentalist folks. 
Now, I don't get into matters of religion much - at all, really - on this blog, and I only converse about our faith as it plays out in our family's journey.  But I can't tell you how happy I am that my wife - Christian, like myself - isn't one of those folks who frown on Halloween's origins, or wrings her hands over such a "death and fear-oriented holiday".  
Does Halloween have pagan roots?  Sure it does (So does your Christmas trees and wreaths, by the way).  It was incorporated into the Catholic Church's tradition with All Saints Day, or All Hallow's Eve.  But for kids, it's the chance to wear cool costumes, get candy, and simply experience something different and special, and let's face it: something spooky-cool, with the night, and the glowing jack-o-lanterns. 
Abby is a wonderful Christian wife who makes Halloween special for all of us.  I'm thankful for TONS of things my wife does (more than I can name here), but during Halloween, I'm always thankful my wife more than tolerates it, she makes it special for the whole family.  Of course, that's just the way she is.  Halfway through November, the Thanksgiving decorations will be up, next. 
So that's today's "contest": who has supported your Halloween fix the most?  Are there any stories in particular, in which a family member or spouse or someone special stepped up to the plate and really supported your Halloween fix?  Up for the offering today is a Cemetery Dance ARC of two-novels in one, The Excorcist and Legion, by William Peter Blatty.  No description of this needed, I don't suppose...

Coffin Hop 2011, Day Three: Best NON-Halloween, Autumnal Memory. And Win Brian Keene..

Welcome to Day Three of Coffin Hop 2011.  For a chance at Nate Southard's novella, He Stepped Through, visit Monday's blog. For a chance to win an ARC of Chris Golden's Cemetery Dance short story collection, The Secret Backs of Things, visit yesterday's blog.

My memories of fall as a kid aren't all wrapped up in Halloween.  Actually, I've lots of memories that center more on autumn itself, which always served as precursors to Halloween, harbingers that the best dark and spooky time of the year was well on its way.   
Wooly-bear caterpillars.   Brilliant colors in the trees.   Raking said leaves into huge piles.  And, best of all...our basketball court-sized garden dying, because that provided PLENTY of amusement.  Old gourds no good for cooking, now rotten and ready to burst, which made GREAT bombs to chuck around the garden.  Lots of fun, watching them things burst apart.
Probably the best memory I have of tearing down the garden after harvest is reaping all the old corn stalks.  My dad always grew ROWS and ROWS of corn, and when all the ears had been picked, those stalks made GREAT "planks" for anything from lean-to's, tee-pees and forts of all kinds.  
Sure, they were a little dusty, got damp and a little moldy after awhile, and, yeah...buggy, too.  But for a kid, they offered limitless possibilities when it came to building stuff.  Nothing like having a fort or a secret place to hide in that YOU built, with your very own hands.
And that's when we knew Halloween lurked around the corner.  When wooly-bear caterpillars were out, leaves were turning color, and we were building forts and tee-pees with all the cornstalks pulled up from the garden.    We were ALWAYS hiding in those things.  I remember once getting yelled at in the morning before school, because I'd been in the backyard, playing in mine, lost track of time, while the school bus sat idling out by the driveway.
So.  Autumn isn't just about Halloween.  Lots of great other memories about Fall, too.  Share 'em if you got em, and up for the offering today: a Brian Keene  two-fer, The Cage, (Cemetery Dance), his sold-out novella, and an unopened, unread, first issue of his comic series through Anarctic Press, The Last Zombie.   Descriptions below.
For the employees of Big Bill's Home Electronics, it's just the end of another workday - until a gunman bursts into the store and begins shooting. Now, with some of their co-workers dead, the hostages are being slaughtered one-by-one, and if they want to survive the night, they'll have to escape... The Cage. 









  Follow the frantic journey of Doctor Ian Scott, a man seeking his one ray of hope in a post-apocalyptic nightmare United States. The zombies have come and (mostly) gone, but the disease is still out there, threatening the survivors. The country swarms with roving packs of wild animals—and worse, desperate humans—ready to do whatever it takes to survive. Through it all, one man must drive from Colorado to New York to reunite with the woman he loves...before it's too late for either of them!








Hey-up....hit me up with those crisp, apple-cider spiced autumn memories...

Coffin Hop 2011, Day Two: Most Awkward. Costume. Ever. And Win Christopher Golden.

Welcome to Day Two of Coffin Hop 2011.  For a full explanation of what that is, see this post. Also, for a chance at Nate Southard's limited edition novella, He Stepped Through, visit yesterday's blog and share your best-favorite-most vivid Halloween memory ever.


SO, we've all had the awkward costumes, I imagine.  Ideas  that just didn't pan out the way we'd hoped.  Now, this is going to crossover a little with yesterday's post for most vivid memories (see entry about the blue grease paint), but seeing as how it's a little more specific, I'm gonna run with it.  Most Awkward. Costume. EVER.
My most awkward costume ever came when I was about twenty-six or so.  Friends of my then-fiance, but NOT the girl I ended up marrying (another story for another time), decided to have a grown-up Halloween costume party (notice I didn't say "ADULT" Halloween party. But I digress).  Seemed like a good idea in theory. The guys planning it were real wild cards, and we figured on one heck of a time.
Eh...not so much.  Turns out EVERYONE had thought it'd be a good idea in theory, but when we got there, no one exactly knew what to do.  We all sat around in a basement den, dressed as cats and vampires and zombies and whatever, just doing...nothing.  I think Monster Mash was playing in the background, and I ALSO remember the dish someone had made: a clever little ice cream cake with crushed Oreo toppings to make it look like gravel, IE. kitty litter, AND, you guessed it: clumps of a brown substance that looked VERY much like cat droppings, but were really taffy and chocolate.
As it happened, our host had a little too much fun pretending he was eating cat poo.  Also, another story for another time.
Anyway, I decided that year to dress as Brandon Lee's The Crow.  Got the white face-paint, black eye paint, all black outfit with combat books, trench coat, and a black stringy wig.  Problem is, it'd been several years since The Crow had hit the theaters, and apparently,  not many people  remembered it.  Also, Brandon Lee was a lithe, wiry guy.  Me, not so much, with the big broad shoulders and chest.  SO, instead of looking like this:













I looked like this:
















So yeah, okay, I guess I looked a little like the wrestler Sting, pretty intimidating and all...but really totally not what I was going for.  AND, for my weapon of choice, I picked a battle axe from the dollar store. Who KNOWS why.
No one knew who I was supposed to be.  One guy said "Psycho axe murder".   Then, when I tried to explain about Brandon Lee and the Crow, he shrugged his shoulders and said, "Oh. Missed that movie."    At least my buddy did better.  He wore a simple white karate gi, and everyone said: "Hey! You're the Karate Kid, aren't you?"  
His name was even Dan.
Anyway, chalk up one AWKWARD Halloween costume that just didn't pan out.  So, my request for today?  Your - or someone else's - most AWKWARD Halloween costume.  If you've got photos, even better.  Up for the offering today: the ARC (advance reading copy) of The Secret Backs of Things, Christopher Golden's short story collection, published by Cometary Dance.  Description below:
A wide-ranging author of horror, YA, and comic books, Golden presents 18 striking short stories from all facets of the dark fantastic, accompanied by intriguing authorial afterthoughts and Glenn Chadbourne's unsettling mythic illustrations. Golden's first published story, "One," provides backstory to his Shadow Saga (Of Saints and Shadows, etc.). In "Pa-Kow," a youngster's shoot-'em-up game dooms him to disaster. The long out-of-print "The Shell Collector" pays homage to relatives who loved the sea's eternal mysteries. "Burning Questions" and "The Urge," replete with explicit nastiness, unmask the strange unconscious urges deep beneath human personalities. "Venus and Mars" is a savage denunciation of child molesters. The scorching "Pyre" mixes ancient Viking echoes with a Freudian Electra complex. 
These chillingly realized glimpses of the abyss are not for the faint of heart. (Nov.) (c)  Copyright © PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. 
And, don't forget....you can still toss your hat in the ring for Nate Southard's limited edition novella, He Stepped Through .  
So. Awkward costume attempts....?

Coffin Hop 2011, Day One: What's Your Favorite Halloween Memory? And Win Nate Southard.

Welcome to Day One of Coffin Hop 2011.  For a full explanation of what that is, see yesterday's post.  In short, it's a blog tour of over 90 horror authors blogging about Halloween, horror, Horrorween, and anything in between.  We're all offering tons of few stuff, too, so come along and play!
Anyhoo.  Memories of Halloween.  Honestly, most of my childhood Halloween memories blur together.  I remember images, mostly.  Of dark, autumn nights and looming, blue-black skies.  Of blazing Jack-O-Lanterns and houses decked out in all manner of spookery.   And of course, the never ending parade of costumes. 
One year I was Frankenstein.  Another year, I was a skeleton which, worked out really well, because I broke my wrist that year, so the cast fit in with my skeleton outfit nicely.  Also, in a stab against political correctness, one year I was a "little Indian", which was especially cool, because it was my dad's costume when he was a kid.
And of course, I remember the candy.  Boy HOWDY, do I remember the candy.
The most vivid Halloween memory I have, though was of a movie I ended up watching one Halloween night.  When my sister and I got older, our family used to stop at a close friend's home when our Trick-or-Treating was finished for the evening.  It was kinda cool, because when we got home - if on a school night - we really didn't have time to sort through our candy and trade our wares between us for our favorites.  Plus, these folks had a game room: pool table, dart board and some other cool stuff.
One year, however, my sister and I ended up in the den, for some reason, counting our candy while our parents visited with their friends in the dining room.  On TV was a movie.  And honestly...it totally blew my mind.  Scared the heebie-jeebies out of me.  Wasn't a "horror" movie, exactly, or about Halloween or demons or monsters or ANYTHING like that.
It was Saturn 3.

See, the movie threw me.  Started out a sci fi flick, right?  By the time  we were rolling, however...a murderous, homicidal cyborg powered by a whole buncha human brains is hunting down two hapless scientists stranded on a moon base.  I'm not sure what freaked me out more - the whole "brains in a canister" thing, or this one scene in which the cyborg butchers a little dog for fun - but whatever it was, that night is practically the ONLY Halloween night of my childhood that really, vividly stands out.

Now, I've never seen the movie since.  Mostly, I'm afraid it won't inspire the same chills it did that night, the memory won't come near the way I remember it.  But, I can honestly say it was my first brush with the concept of "horror"...and it wasn't necessarily bloody and gory or anything like that, and you didn't see the human brains stacked inside this thing so much.  You just knew they were there.  And that, my friends, for this former ten year old, was quite enough, thanks very much.

So, today's "contest".  Share with me in the comments your most VIVID - Strange - Memorable - Fantastic - Frightening Halloween memory.  I'll pick one as the winner (and it goes without saying, this whole thing is kinda arbitrary, no way around that), and the winner will be posted November 1st, over at the Coffin Hop blog.

Here's what's up for grabs today: He Stepped Through, (Bloodletting Press), by Nate Southard, which was limited to only 300 signed and numbered perfect bound paperbacks.

One gray morning, the words appear everywhere: on the lips of the men shooting up an inner city burger joint, scrawled across a bloody crime scene, and written on the wall of the only occupied apartment in a downtown slum. In the space of a single day, they infected Los Angeles. Crooked detective Walker wants to know what the words mean. Officer Megan Ricks can t get the words out of her head. Gang-banger 2Bit wants to get as far away from the words as possible. But the words can t be escaped. They're written in violence, and promise terror. When their meaning becomes clear, no one will be safe. 






And of course, there's always a copy of Hiram Grange & The Chosen One, up for grabs over at Goodreads...but a note, you DO have to be a Goodreads members to enter:

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Goodreads Book Giveaway Hiram Grange and the Chosen One by Kevin Lucia Giveaway ends October 31, 2011.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter to win
There you go, folks.  Hit me with those Halloween night memories...