Chad Eagleton's Blog, page 32

Simon Rip Redux

Very excited to finally be able to post this. I love the new artwork, and I think you’ll like what’s coming.

Beyond The Sea

I had the pleasure of editing the most recent story up now at Beat To A Pulp. Chris Irvin’s“Beyond The Sea” is a beautiful example of haunting, character-driven horror fiction.

I hope you’ll check it out if you’ve already.

New Year At Beat To A Pulp

Meant to post this earlier, but if you haven’t visited recently then you should check out Beat To A Pulp where the new year begins with a new site and a story from the one and only Frank Bill.
And, let me tell you, things are just getting started.

One Down

The Drifter Detective stories are probably one of the best things going in Indie crime fiction right now. From the beginning, I’ve been saying two things: this needs to be a TV show and we need a longer story from Elliott.

One down!

There's Nothing Fucking Funny About Peace, Love, and Understanding

I saw this picture of Henry Rollins the other day. I’ve been a fan of Uncle Hank’s for a long time, but I don’t think I’d ever seen his hair with this much length since his Black Flag days. To me, he looks a little like an aged Superman and a Clark Kent that put himself through community college working a crap manual labor job.
The more I looked at the picture, the more I liked that idea. Grant Morrison’s run on Action Comics followed these lines somewhat—Superman as more of a socialist, worki...

The Problem I've Come To Have With Realism

Realism tends to be used the way a lot of people use religion in their lives, by picking and choosing when to apply what’s convenient to their purposes while ignoring everything else.
In realism’s case? That’s usually the glaringly unrealistic.
Worst of all, though, realism has become the propaganda phrase that means: "thoughtless slathered in dark and gritty." That’s then often twisted into some kind of merit badge that’s supposed to automatically convey worth and also “excuse” genre work—as i...

The Super Hero Craze, Part II

Read Part I

Even the quickest google search on humans and storytelling will materialize reams of fascinating information covering everything from the history and evolution of the process to how a story affects our brains and why. To me though, the interesting thing has always been why we tell stories in the first place. Why is storytelling so central to the human experience? All that research shows our brains are hardwired for stories on an evolutionary level. I mean, no other sentient being o...

About Those Posts...

It’s that time of year when everyone is making posts about the previous year and the upcoming year. Here’s my thoughts on what I've seen:

“2013 was awful!”According to my Facebook and Twitter feeds, last year sucked for a lot of people. It’s not surprising. There was a lot of suffering going on in the world.

I know last year was fucking terrible for me. I feel like I could easily write out a list as long as my arm detailing every awful thing before I ever got to the legion of general worries an...

The Super Hero Craze, Part I

I see a lot people complaining about all the superhero movies, sequels, and remakes. I understand the griping, I really do.  However, I wouldn’t expect any of these to end anytime soon.
Look, there are some things you need to realize. Once you do, we will all be better off.
Yes, our creative landscape is shifting. Access to new technology and the shitty economy—unless you’re a millionaire, in which case the economy is awesome—has impacted the way we consume. Our buying, viewing, listening,...

The Drifter Detective

The Drifter Detective is a brilliant start to a promising new series. Jack Laramie, the eponymous hero, is the grandson of Edward Grainger’s already established western protagonist, US Marshal Cash Laramie. The premise of a WWII vet driving around Texas looking for PI cases while living out of the horse trailer he keeps hitched to his DeSoto just begs to be turned into a television show, and this first entry would make a fantastic pilot thanks to the expert pacing and the lurid shades of Jim...