Charlie Morgan's Blog, page 7

Real Horror Update and the rest

Okay, I know that a while back I posted something on my Facebook page about visiting a local area that has quite a bit of spooky history. With the way things have been with my health, I haven't been able to make it out there. The urge to go has been there for years but the bad back kept saying, "NO! You're going to sit here and suffer!"

Anyway things are doing a little better and I'm up and moving a lot more. I'm still not 100% (and probably won't be ever again) but a rare opportunity has presented itself and quite frankly I would be a fool to pass on it. The location itself is a pain to get to in its own right and for years there has been debate on the location of the graves (if you have no idea what I'm talking about I will fill you in a little later). A neighbor of mine has claimed to know exactly where they are and the plan is that him, my great uncle and myself, will go with him to the location. The plan is to attempt to get some pictures and document the location and so forth. The area is supposedly haunted therefore I will be in high hopes of snapping some pictures of the creepies that call the place home. They may show and they may not. Either way its a rare chance to get back up there after twelve years.

If the trip for some reason doesn't happen, I will still be doing an in depth article on the history of the place for this page. If things go really well, it may be compiled together and made into my first non-fiction release.

As always, I shall keep you fine folks posted on whatever happens.

As for books, I'm getting back into the swing of things after taking some much needed time off from just about everything under the sun (a huge thanks to David Edney and Renee Torres for their help on that). The extended edition of Sticks and Stones is coming along pretty well, as is the sequel. My next release looks to be Misery Machine - a ghost story that involves a young man in a muscle car being tortured by his past as well as an angry spirit. That should be out this summer. I'm also tinkering with something I can't really talk about just yet since its not confirmed. I will say that if it does pan out, it will be really cool!

If parts of this are screwy, I apologize. Its 5:17 am and insomnia has kicked in. Some people drunk text, I insomnia blog!

Keep watching this space. Things will start to trickle in shortly. Until then, g'night, sleep tight and all that.

Special thanks to the following people for their support recently. Its been a huge help.

Glen Morgan, Elizabeth Veezer, Laurief Peterson, David Edney, Renee Torres, Red, Mayela Herrera, Sandy Shelonchik, Jim Mavity, Sean Thompson, T Bone McGraw, Robert Butt and Steven Seay. 

Still here

Its officially May 24. Made it one more year.

So who the hell is this guy?

Taking a page from one of my absolute favorite authors, Brian Keene. If you haven't checked him out, I highly recommend doing so. Click HERE to visit his site and tell him I sent you. He will more than likely say, "hey, how are you? Thanks for dropping by. Who the hell is Charlie Morgan?"

Well here's the answer for the newer folks.

My name is Charles Glenn Morgan Jr. I'm 28 years old, I live in a small corner of Western North Carolina and I scare people for money. For the past ten years I have been a volunteer fireman for Green River Fire and Rescue - Station 13 (pretty appropriate, don't you think?) I was raised by my father, grandmother and great uncle on our farm. Living in the rural south, you are going to grow up hearing all sorts of ghost stories and legends. I can remember my grandmother telling me about a place, not far from the house, called the "Devil's Footprint." I've actually heard of a couple of these footprints. One is said to be a place where nothing will grow. The other is supposedly an actual footprint in a stone that looks rather demonic in nature. I've never seen either and had to use my childhood imagination to conjure up the required imagery. Perhaps that's where my interest began with the world of horror. It was then fueled by my father who grew up on healthy doses of Shock Theater. I spent countless hours watching scary movies with him. I still do today. One of my favorite haunts was a little video store called Video King which was owned by Pam Travis. At any given time you could probably find me floating around the center of the store in the horror section looking for the scariest thing I could get my hands on. The store is gone now. I can't begin to tell you just how much I miss it.

Naturally the time came when I began to create my own tales of monsters. I can't tell you how many stories I wrote and thought they were the scariest things around. At some point I got my hands on a typewriter, then they really started to churn out.

After picking out my favorites, I put them all together, drew a cover of a horned beast hovering over a cemetery, packed them into an envelope and shipped them off to a publisher. I just knew my collection "Tales From The Demon" was going to be a hit! I never heard back from the publisher. Sadly I had sent the only copy of the stories. I wish I had kept them. It would be nice to see them again and travel back to that point in my life.

In junior high, after an argument with an English teacher, I was asked what I wanted to do when I grew up. My answer was that I wanted to be a writer. The teacher laughed and said in a voice that could shatter paper, that it would never happen.

Four years later, I was published for the first time. Several times, in fact. I had found a publisher looking for poems and had to try my luck. You can imagine my shock and the thrill when I got that first letter saying that my poem, Black Hills, had been accepted in a book called From The Mountaintop. For the next month I strutted around in an over-the-top display of manliness with a permanent grin on my face. After a while, I moved away from writing. I would still pen the occasional story here and there but it was never seriously sought after at that point.

The next few years were spent dating, raising hell and being a typical teen in a small town. On May 23, 2003, I was on my way to work when I got out of school. I took the back way through the country and suburbs because the drive was peaceful. I was within sight of town and the mall where I worked when a drunk woman (with her 13 year old daughter) pulled out from Forest Lawn cemetery, fishtailed into my lane and hit me head on. I wasn't seriously injured but I took a hell of a hit. The accident even made.the paper. This was my first real close call, but it would not be the last.

May 23, 2005. Two years later to the day and one day after my grandmother's birthday. I had bought her a necklace as a gift. It was a mother's necklace with the birth stones of my father and I. The day before her birthday, she had joked and tried her best to get me to give it to her early. Finally I caved. She had said jokingly that she may be dead the next day. I brushed the comment off and handed over the loot. Little did I know her prediction was accurate. She just missed it by a day.

We had to go to the grocery store. She decided to drive and off we went. We just made it through the deep curve passing Lake Summit when a speeding car slammed into us at around 75 mph. When I awoke, I was facedown in cold water with no memory of what had happened. I was the sole survivor. My grandmother had been killed along with the man who hit us. I came away with a broken back, eye socket and nose.

The following years were rough as hell. The pain in my back kept getting worse and working a regular job became less and less feasible. Then, like an old friend, the writing came back. I wrote as a way to occupy my mind and it became my therapy. I decided to pursue publishing again. Within a few months, my first short story "Isolated Incident" was published by Knightwatch Press for the Rhonny Reaper's Roadkill Cafe anthology. As time passed, more stories came. My first novelette, Sticks and Stones, was about overcoming the pain of a failing marriage to an unfaithful partner (with bloodthirsty monsters thrown into the mix). It went on to become my first international best seller, topping out at #19 in the US for horror (just behind Max Brooks' World War Z). It even won an award.

Today my time is still spent writing. I have a few lined up over the next few months, including the possible collaboration with one of my literary heroes (no details yet. Not set in stone).

My time has also been spent talking with someone very important. Earlier this year, my short zombie story, Birthday Wish, was picked up by Robber Ant Productions and is currently in the stages of pre-production. All I will say right now is that I've read an early draft of the script and am as pleased as can be. It was initially supposed to be filmed as a short but things may shift towards a feature. You'll see details as they come in.

Well that's me in a nutshell. You can find links to my books in the section above. If you are new here then stop by my FACEBOOK PAGE and say hello. I always welcome meeting new people, especially horror fans.

And as always, to the junior high English teacher.... fuck you.

- Charlie

Scarecrow Fields Publishing

I would like to formally introduce my new publisher, Scarecrow Fields. It is mine. From now on, all of my books will be published under this banner instead of eBook Nightmare. Its something I've wanted to do for quite a while and the time felt right. What this means is that there will be new stuff on the way very soon.

First of all, there will be a paperback reissue of Sticks And Stones. It will be the extended cut that contains a storyline that was initially removed and will have Just In Sight at the end. Parts 2 & 3 will follow soon. There will also be a reissue of Campfires: A Collection of Horrors with some new stories thrown in for good measure. Finally there will be what looks to be my first novel called SWAN POINT.

SWAN POINT is a mix of 1930's crime noir and Lovecraftian gothic horror. I'm really excited about all of this and hope to be churning them out soon!

At this time I am not taking on new authors for SF. That day may come in the future but not now. If it does, I may start with a charity anthology and see how it goes but its too early to be thinking of that.

That's all for now. In the words of the great George A. Romero, "stay scared!"

Full Moon classics

Any horror fan from the late 80's - early 90's has more than likely heard of Charles Band's Full Moon Films. The company has produced tons of films in the horror/sci fi genres. Here's the thing, they're great! Full Moon was the Hammer Films of my youth. They hold a special place in my little black heart.

The one series that stands out most to me is Ted Nicolaou's Subspecies. Thus far there are five films
Subspecies
Bloodstone: Subspecies II
Bloodlust: Subspecies III
Bloodstorm: Subspecies IV
and The Vampire Journals ties into them. There is rumors that a part 5 is in the works (Ted, if you read this, please say this is true. The fans desperately want it!)

The films follow the vampire Radu (Anders Hove) through the beautiful Romanian setting as he tries to capture, the equally beautiful, Michelle Morgan (played by Denice Duff).

I found the complete chronicles on Amazon.com for a very reasonable price. All five films on five discs complete with the behind the scenes segments on each. The transfer, picture, sound is all very well done. If you're like me and remember these gems, this is well worth the price. All of these films are cult classics. I should know... I'm one of the cultists!
}:-)~

Click HERE to get your copy

There is also a pretty cool FACEBOOK page you can check out as well

Nightmare at the Movies!

When I first picked up the pen to start writing, my original intent was to write screenplays and work on short films. Somewhere along the way I found myself writing literary fiction. I'm not complaining, mind you. Not at all. I love writing these stories and hearing from all of you. But there has always been that part of me that has nagged, "hey, when the hell are we finally going to do the movie thing?!"

Well I am VERY happy to report that a movie IS in the works!

Many of you have told me before that you enjoyed my zombie story BIRTHDAY WISH. Since its initial release by Knightwatch Press in 2011, its became a reader favorite. Today I have been told that work has begun on the screenplay and is being produced by Robber Ant Productions.

It will be written and directed by (HUMAgeddon comic book author) Robert Butt. I've seen a clip from his current film project (The Divine Wraith) and am confident that my story is in good hands!

I will continue to provide updates as they come. In the meantime, its back to work on Sticks and Stones 2.

Have a look at the first teaser poster as well.

There is also a facebook page. Please swing by, give it a like and get all the goods first!

CUT AND RUN: STICKS AND STONES PART II BOOK TRAILER

Watch "Sticks and Stones 2 Book Trailer" on YouTube

Broadcast of the Apocalypse

So Friday was my first ever radio interview. The show was ZOMBIEPALOOZA: DEAD AGAIN and I couldn't be more pleased with how everything went.

Everything was very professional. The host, Jackie Chin, had some great questions and some interesting information to pass along. Anyone looking for a really good show to go on, I highly recommend this one. I have been invited back for a vampire show, a general horror show and a return to zombies to do a show with, the one and only, David Moody! So there's some awesome stuff coming up. Thank all of you who were able to tune in and for the great feedback I've received. If you missed it, its okay because the show will be uploaded to the Z Talk Radio site. I will post that link when I can.

I also uploaded the Sticks and Stones 2 book trailer on YouTube today! It has an exclusive excerpt. That will be posted in just a sec.

Oh! And eBook Nightmare broke 100 posts!

Hell is just warming up

Cover sneak for CUT AND RUN: STICKS AND STONES PART II

The original Sticks is still very dear to me. It helped me through a marriage that was on its last legs and long periods of depression were spent pounding away at the keyboard to churn out what I thought was going to be just another story. In ways, I was.right. In others...so very wrong!
Sticks and Stones went on to be a beast. Ravenous and vicious as it moved up the amazon.com horror top 100. In the end, it reached a peak of #19 in the US and won an award for best novella. I was floored!
There has always been plans to continue the story. I could have left it as it was, with the hulking beasts staring down RJ Laymon's logging crew, and never looked back. But it wouldn't leave me. No matter what story I worked on, the creatures of the Lowe Road were always there glaring at me with fire in their eyes and begging for another round. Well... their time is coming. Welcome back to the Lowe Road, ladies and gentlemen. And prepare yourselves.
HELL IS JUST WARMING UP.

ZombiePalooza - Dead Again radio interview!

Hi, guys. Big announcement that I'm pretty excited about.
On friday, February 22, I will be a guest on the ZombiePalooza - Dead Again radio show from 9 - 10 pm. I will be discussing zombies, books, my time as a volunteer fireman and even talking about the issues of PTSD and how I dealt with things after my accident. Its gonna be a fantastic show with several other guests and I hope you fine fiends will tune in!
Click HERE for their website