Chad Eagleton's Blog, page 28

The Work The Shaped The Whistler in the Graveyard

The print version of Protectors 2: Heroes is now available for pre-order. Heroes is a massive book featuring work from legends, established writers, new comers, and even first-timers with all proceeds going to benefit Protect (view the current donation record here).

I'm very proud of my story in this anthology. And I've talked a bit about how "The Whistler In The Graveyard" is a product of my younger years reading, watching, and writing horror and weird tales. The thing I really...

A Little About The Whistler

Looks like the print version of Thomas Pluck's anthology Protectors 2: Heroes will be available for pre-order very soon. Included in the stories to benefit Protect is a stunning illustration by Dyer Wilk for my tale, “The Whistler In The Graveyard.”

Long before I ever read or wrote a crime story, horror and weird fiction were my first loves. "Whistler" is my YA occult detective story and the product of a childhood spent watching Kolchak while reading Christopher Pike, John Bella...

Protectors 2: Heroes

Thomas Pluck has posted the table of contents for Protectors 2: Heroes up at the brand-new Protectors Books website built by the talented Laura K. Curtis. I'm just as proud to be a part of this one as I was the first one. All monies from the anthologies go straight to Protect: a national pro-child, anti-crime membership association that lobbies for laws to protect children from physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. (Check out the Donation Record tab to see how much money and how of...

What If Batman V. Superman Is A Flop?

So the Batman V. Superman (still has to be one of the dumbest names for a movie I’ve ever seen) trailer leaked early and pretty much confirmed everything I suspected after Man of Steel—I have zero interest in watching it, ever. It appears that I’m not alone in that assessment. So, I wonder, what happens if it tanks? Because there’s a good possibility it will.
MoSwas not a runaway a hit. It had a great opening weekend, then plummeted as soon as word of mouth spread. Warner Bros. started talking...

Cleaning Up Your Potty Mouth

The Clean Reader app can remove profanity from eBooks if you choose. Apparently, there’s an adjustable setting for how much you want the app to “clean” the text you are reading. You know, so the lowest activated setting would only pick up the F bombs, whereas the highest setting would grab every single bit of profanity. My understanding is the app would then, if possible, alter the text displayed accordingly. So “goddamn” would become something like “goshdarn”.
I think you can see why this has...

Trigger Warnings

Every time I see Neil Gaiman’s Trigger Warning on a shelf, I shake my head. Not only is he thoughtlessly missing the point of a trigger warning but what a distastefully unnecessary way for a best-selling author to cheaply get press for their short story collection, especially when they absolutely do not need it.
Trigger warnings began in feminist circles as an informal act of compassionate courtesy and a way to acknowledge experiences with which the rest of the society would rather not be both...

Trigger Warnings

Every time I see Neil Gaiman’s Trigger Warning on a shelf, I shake my head. Not only is he thoughtlessly missing the point of a trigger warning but what a distastefully unnecessary way for a best-selling author to cheaply get press for their short story collection, especially when they absolutely do not need it.
Trigger warnings began in feminist circles as an informal act of compassionate courtesy and a way to acknowledge experiences with which the rest of the society would rather not be both...

Clark Ashton Smith: A Critical Guide To The Man And His Work

Clark Ashton Smith has long been my favorite of the Weird Tales triumvirate. So it’s refreshing to see him finally emerge from out of Lovecraft and Howard’s shadow with so much of his work being reissued and thoughtfully discussed. There’s a lot to like in Behrends’ Clark Ashton Smith: A Critical Guide To The Man And His Work. The book hits everything it should: Smith’s life, his poetry, the different story cycles, his stand-alone works, and his reoccurring themes. It’s a very thoughtful and...

Scavenger Hunt

Was a huge Christopher Pike fan when I was a teenager. Recently, I decided to go back and re-read some of his work to see how it holds up. I started with Scavenger Huntbecause I remembered it the least of all the books on my shelf. Happy to say that Pike's work holds up very well. Except for the lack of cell phones, the book doesn’t feel dated at all. He still offers great characterization of teenagers/young adults. The story is fast-moving and tense with a couple of good scares and some cree...

The Six Million Dollar Man

My favorite television show as a kid was The Six Million Dollar Man. I watched it incessantly in syndication and wore a red track suit everywhere my mother would let me—you don’t know how many times the neighbors watched me run in slow-mo down our driveway to check the mail. I cherished my 12-inch action figure with the Bionic Transport and Repair Station until my dog ate Steve’s good arm off. And Jaime Sommers was probably my first crush well before I even realized what a crush was.
Years lat...