Laird Barron's Blog, page 26
January 16, 2015
Read This: Knife Fight and Other Struggles
David Nickle has a new book out:��Knife Fight and Other Struggles. I said this about it:
“Knife Fight and Other Struggles is a remarkable collection that drops some hi-fidelity weirdness on the scene. Nickle’s prose has gorgeous lines of symmetry and a steel spine.”
I read a lot of contemporary horror and weird fiction. Nickle is easily among a handful of top-flight stylists–when I talk about highly accomplished prose on a line level, I’m talking about Dan Chaon, Brian Evenson, Kelly Link, Aimee Bender, Conrad Williams, Joel Lane, and G.L. Valentine. That club.
Nickle is a smooth operator and his stories are some of the most weirdly horrific visions you’re liable to come across on the contemporary scene. Creepy, layered, and unsettling work. Highly recommended.
January 15, 2015
Watch This: Jekyll
I haven’t owned a TV in years, and even when I did, my writing career had already severely limited my free time. So, I tend to catch up with shows well after their original run. At the moment, I’m most of the way through��Jekyll, a BBC mini series that ran in 2007. As it happens, I went into this one cold (and cynical), thinking to watch EP 1 and see how they handled the Jekyll/Hyde transformation. What I didn’t expect was to discover one of the most compelling science fiction/horror/thrillers imaginable.
Review incoming.
January 14, 2015
Read This: The Hollow Man
Norman Partridge is a legendary figure in the horror field.��Here is an example of his gritty genius.
January 13, 2015
North of the Wall
Matthew Good says, “Gonna die in Coquitlam.”
This time of year, I used to say, I’m gonna die in Shaktoolik.
image via Iditarod.com
Third Eye
I’m hoping to write an essay about the��Third Eye��company responsible for all those ’60s and ’70s black light posters. ETA: I recently sold a vampire story wherein black light plays a small, but pivotal role, so this chance feels like synchronicity. Until then,��here’s a nice gallery��of their art. Groovy.
art by John Buscema; via Comic Book Resources
January 12, 2015
On Writing: The Weight
Writing well doesn’t get easier. It’s not supposed to get easier–as you gain power and skill, you load more weight onto the bar. The struggle between a writer and the weight of the infinite isn’t for the weak. The secret is, those hip-deep in the struggle are much stronger than they realize, else they wouldn’t be standing.
January 9, 2015
Happy Birthday, Lee Van Cleef
Gone, but not forgotten. Right in there with Clint Eastwood, James Coburn, and Lee Marvin among the heavyweight hard cases of classic cinema. You would’ve been 90 today. Instead, you’re immortal.
Lee Van Cleef: 1925-1989
January 7, 2015
Read This: Ten by Stephen King
The name-your-top-ten-favorite-Stephen-King-books-game has been going around since the start of the new year. Here’s mine; without commentary, not in order, and influenced by the fact that I read him voraciously in my teens and tend to favor that sweet, sweet early stuff.
1. The Talisman (with Peter Straub)
2. Salem’s Lot
3. The Stand ����
4. The Shining
5. Different Seasons ��
6. Night Shift
7. Skeleton Crew
8. The Bachman Books ����
9. It
10. The��Gunslinger
January 1, 2015
Weird Split
Having read extensively for the Jacksons and the Year’s Best Weird, the major split I’ve seen is between miserablist and non-miserablist philosophy. The latter (especially US writing) favors direct, precipitous action, bombast, and arrogance/ignorance. The former is often driven by themes of impotence, emasculation, and paranoia. Simon Strantzas theorizes that contemporary weird fiction in North America is defined by a “philosopher-explorer mindset.” I think he’s on to something. The loss of empire seems the root of much of British weird’s preoccupation with guilt and suffering.
December 31, 2014
Ears Prick Up
Goodbye to 2014, hello to the future. Thank you to Gerry and Sophie at SQMag for running my story about Rex, the cyborg war dog, Ears Prick Up. I believe this is my first pure science fiction publication. The issue cover art is by Christian Chatman and it’s lovely.
image courtesy SQmag
