Laird Barron's Blog, page 24
February 18, 2015
Watch This: The Backwater Gospel
Here’s an animated short feature that captures the fervor and passion of the gospels. It reminds me of the cheery gleam in my mom’s eye when she started rapping about the OT.
Not safe for work, or anywhere, probably. Thanks to Zebulon Whatley for the tip.
February 17, 2015
Fear Sun
Lois Gresh has posted the ToC of her upcoming anthology��Innsmouth Nightmares,��due from PS Publishing��later in 2015. Lois accepted one from me called “Fear Sun.” It’s about Innsmouth, but I think it deforms the topic with predjudice. A nice ToC including Wilum Pugmire, Tim Lebbon, Tim Waggoner, Nancy Kilpatrick and my old enemy John Langan.
INNSMOUTH NIGHTMARES (PS Publishing, 2015) will include stories by the following authors (in no particular order). I had to turn down some wonderful stories for INNSMOUTH NIGHTMARES, and some of the decisions were very difficult. In the end, the book tops 100,000 words and includes some of the finest weird tales I���ve ever read.
Caitlin Kiernan
Laird Barron
John Shirley
Lavie Tidhar
Wilum Pugmire
Steve Rasnic Tem
Paul Kane
Richard Gavin
Lisa Morton
Jonathan Thomas
John Langan
Bill Nolan
Jason Brock
Nancy Kilpatrick
Joe Pulver
Tim Lebbon
Tim Waggoner
Jim Moore
Nancy Holder
Don Tyson
S.T. Joshi
February 16, 2015
February 15, 2015
Read This: Damien Angelica Walters
There are several debut horror/weird collections on my radar for 2015-16.��Sing Me Your Scars��by Damien Angelica Walters is one, and it should ping yours as well. I read this a while back in manuscript form. Walters travels a spectrum of pure horror literature to the out and out weird. She writes of Cronenberg-esque body horror, ghosts, and murder. She writes of damage and trauma and fractured relationships, and does it with powerful affect that reminds me of Livia Llewellyn and Nathan Ballingrud for its lyric rawness. Like Llewellyn and Ballingrud, I think Walters will soon be recognized as an important voice in contemporary horror.
image via Apex Publications
February 14, 2015
Europa Report, Alaska, 1982, & Charles Manson
The main inspiration for “–30–” was an article��I read about a CSI team searching for bodies at the Manson Ranch. The vision of a team of investigators camped out on an (potential) old killing ground haunted me. A reviewer quipped something along the lines of my story being “The Shining in the woods” but after the Manson investigation, films such as Carpenter’s��The Thing��and Bass’��Phase IV��were bigger influences. Not so much as plot devices, but as points of reference for the mood of the piece and my own while writing it.
Probably the greatest influence upon how the story matured can be attributed to a year my family spent in the deep mountains near Glenallen, Alaska. Some of the events depicted in the story sprang from my family’s unsettling experiences in the summer & winter of ’82. There are definitely cultists in Alaska and our camp was once glassed by a crazed fellow armed with a hunting rifle.
The gentleman who will be adapting “–30–” wrote��Europa Report.��A creepy science fiction film and one of the best (alongside��Moon)��to hit in recent years.
February 13, 2015
Watch This: –30–to the Silver Screen
I wrote “–30–” as a raffle prize for the Shirley Jackson Awards back in 2010. Now Philip Gelatt backed by Reno Productions will be��adapting it for film.��Thanks, gentlemen. And thank you to Janet, Pouya, Bradley, and the team at FinePrint Literary Management and New Leaf Literary & Media.
I’ve spoken at length with Philip (writer of the spooky science fiction gem��Europa Report)��and am pleased with his concept for the adaptation. More news as it develops.
February 9, 2015
Seize the Night–Cover & ToC
Christopher Golden has put together Seize��the Night,��a vampire anthology for Gallery Books.��He took a novelette of mine called, “In a cavern, in a Canyon.”����
Preorders will be up in a month or so. Meanwhile, here’s a peek at the cover and ToC.
Table of Contents
Kelley Armstrong
John Ajvide Lindqvist
Laird Barron
Gary A. Braunbeck
Dana Cameron
Dan Chaon and Lynda Barry
Charlaine Harris
Brian Keene
Sherrilyn Kenyon
Michael Koryta
John Langan
Tim Lebbon
Seanan McGuire
Joe McKinney
Leigh Perry
Robert Shearman
Scott Smith
Lucy A. Snyder
David Wellington
Rio Youers
February 6, 2015
Operators Speak
Dan Boekner of��Operators is��interviewed at The Main��by Courtney Baird Lew. I enjoy The Alan Parsons Project, Depeche Mode, Primal Scream, Tangerine Dream, and this group fits somewhere along that spectrum. They are making some waves these days. Dan Boekner is a weird fiction fan. Gotta love that.��Rock on, Operators.
February 2, 2015
Giallo Fantastique!
Worde Horde is on the move again. Their latest anthology,��Giallo Fantastique, has a ToC and a cover. Looks fabulous, and soon it will be in our clutches…
image via Word Horde
