Brian Keene's Blog, page 102

FAST ZOMBIES SUCK wins three awards

FAST ZOMBIES SUCK, a short film based on my short story of the same name, was shown at the 2015 Imaginarium Film Festival in Louisville, KY this past weekend, where it earned three awards:

* Best Short Film Overall

* Best Short Film Genre

* Best Screenplay

Thanks to everyone who made this possible. A reminder that FAST ZOMBIES SUCK is available to watch for free on my YouTube Channel.

ON SCREEN, ON THE AIR, AND IN PERSON (with movie, radio, and signing news)

Brian and Kasey Lansdale

Another week, another weekly Blog entry. This past week I worked on novels HOLE IN THE WORLD, RETURN TO THE LOST LEVEL, and a new edition of J.F. Gonzalez’s PRIMITIVE.

In between all that, I also left the house to get together with Kasey Lansdale, Tim Truman, Chet Williamson, Kelli Owen, Robert Ford, Robert Swartwood, and Mike Lombardo. Because sometimes an author must force themselves to walk away from the keyboard and socialize.

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I also finished the final draft of a radio script called “No Such Thing As Monsters”. It’s for the Twin Cities Horror Festival’s live radio show featuring comedic and scary radio plays written by myself, Joseph Scrimshaw, Tim Uren, Tansy Undercrypt, Jeff Strand, Molly & Nick Glover, and Tim Wick. Also featured will be original music and commercials. It will be a little bit funny and a little bit scary. There will be a lot of blood but you won’t be able to see any of it. Imagine a Prairie Home Companion. With zombies. There will be two performances. The first is on October 25th at 7:00 PM and the second is on October 31st at 7:00 PM. Each show will feature different content! For complete details, check them out on Facebook.

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Storyboard from THE NAUGHTY LIST

THE NAUGHTY LIST, Paul Campion’s film adaptation of my short story “The Siqqusim Who Stole Christmas” (in which Ob from THE RISING series possesses Santa Claus and then encounters mob enforcer Tony Genova) has some very big news coming soon. You won’t want to miss it. To ensure that you don’t miss it, follow The Naughty List on Twitter and Like them on Facebook.

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If you live in Louisville, KY, the Imaginarium Film Festival will be screening FAST ZOMBIES SUCK next weekend. Full details can be found here. FAST ZOMBIES SUCK is a film based on my short story of the same name. If you don’t live in Louisville, KY, you can watch the movie for free on my YouTube Channel.

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I’ve got two appearances left for this year. That’s it. And I haven’t scheduled anything yet for next year.

The first is at the Albatwitch Festival in Columbia, PA on September 26th. I’ll be signing books throughout the day (but will have to leave early as I’m also officiating a wedding that evening).

The second is the Merrimack Valley Halloween Festival. I’ll be signing there all day, along with friends like Joe Hill, Mary SanGiovanni, Christopher Golden, Rio Yours, Jack Haringa, and dozens more. Complete details can be found on their Facebook page. In addition to signing, I’ll also be doing the following two panels:

5pm: We Get the Horror We Deserve — Joe Hill, Brian Keene, Izzy Lee, Mary SanGiovanni, Bracken MacLeod (M)

6pm: Live Reading THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE — Jack M. Haringa, Bracken MacLeod, Brian Keene, Kat Howard, John Langan, Gardner Goldsmith

When The World Keeps Running Down…

The Huffington Post has a new interview with me, in which I discuss why horror is more popular than ever, J.F. Gonzalez’s passing, recent support from Stephen King, influences, the origins of GHOUL, writing for media properties, forthcoming books, and more. Read it here.

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In the Huffington Post interview, I talk a bit about PRESSURE, a new novel I have coming out next year from Macmillan. This marks my return to mainstream publishing, something I’ve avoided since Dorchester/Leisure. Here is the publisher’s description:

Off the coast of tropical Mauritius, an ecological catastrophe with global implications is occurring. The ocean’s floor is collapsing at a rapid rate. World-champion free diver and marine biologist Carrie Anderson joins a scientific expedition determined to discover the cause-and how to stop it. But what they uncover is even more horrific. Deep beneath the surface, something is awake. Something hungry. Something…cold. Now, the pressure builds as Carrie and her colleagues must contend with the murderous operatives of a corrupt corporation, an unnatural disaster that grows bigger by the day, and a monstrous predator that may spell the extinction of all mankind.

Jaws meets Alien in this hot new thriller from bestselling author and World Horror Grandmaster Award winner Brian Keene. Pressure is the perfect summer read for fans of Michael Crichton and Douglas Preston.

The trade hardcover is up for pre-order. Click here to reserve your copy.

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Nickolaus Pacione is a mentally unstable, racist homophobe from Morris, IL who lives (mostly) unsupervised in his dead grandparent’s basement. Over the last 15 years he has terrorized, stalked, abused, harassed, and threatened over five dozen professionals in our field — mostly women — as well as a number of minors. Threats have included kidnapping one author’s children, destroying the school of another author’s child, and laughable attempts at extortion and blackmail.

Despite the fact that dozens of individuals have lodged complaints with his local police department — the Grundy County Sheriff’s Office — and despite the fact that law enforcement agencies in at least three states have filed reports with them, local authorities continue to ignore Mr. Pacione’s behavior — including provable criminal acts which have been well-documented.

I recently asked them why via their Facebook page. As you can see, despite over 200 Likes from both local residents and those Pacione has terrorized from afar, and despite several other professionals speaking in the comments section about the abuse they’ve personally suffered from Pacione over the years, the Sheriff’s department has yet to respond. Maybe more people will have to ask them via Facebook. Or, if you don’t have Facebook, their phone number is (815) 942-0336.

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Apparently, 30 episodes in, some of you are still unaware that I have a weekly podcast. You can find out more about it here. This past week’s show included an in-depth interview with Edward Lee and my thoughts on the Culture Wars, among other things.

The Testimony of the San People Concerning Meeble: The Lost Chapter of LIBRA NIGRUM SCIENTIA SECRETA

By now, those who purchased LIBRA NIGRUM SCIENTIA SECRETA by myself and J.F. Gonzalez have had a chance to read it (if not, there are 1 or 2 copies here). And they know that most of the back story in our mythoi has now been filled in. What they probably don’t know is that there is a chapter missing from the book. See more, after the cut.

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The original manuscript for LIBRA NIGRUM SCIENTIA SECRETA included a story by myself entitled “The Testimony of the San People Regarding Meeble”. In real life, the San People – also known as Bushmen or Basarwa – are members of various indigenous hunter-gatherer people of Southern Africa. They have a legend about a village whose population vanished overnight. The story involved Meeble exterminating that village. Because many of the early San People used petroglyphs, I thought it would be fun to tell the story via pictograph rather than text, similar to a comic book — except that there would be no words, only pictures.

So, I wrote up a script for it. Unfortunately, art delays pushed the book off it’s release schedule, and waiting for the assigned artist to finish this chapter would have put us even more off schedule. The publisher decided to cut it from the book, and I agreed that was the prudent thing to do. I replaced it with a reprint of “The Resurrection and the Life” instead — titled “First John, Chapter Eleven (Alternate Translation)” in the book.

But it continues to bother me that folks who purchased the book didn’t get to see that missing chapter, so I’m reprinting my original script below, for your enjoyment.

THE TESTIMONY OF THE SAN PEOPLE CONCERNING MEEBLE

ART NOTE: This entire chapter is going to be depicted as a series of primitive petroglyphs (Google for imagery ideas). Please note – there is no text. The early San people told stories orally and via petroglyphs before ever developing a written language. Please remember to make these crude and primitive — just a step above stick-figures. Clothing should be minimal and relegated only to animal skins. Weaponry should be spears and arrows and clubs. Dwellings are crude mud huts.

Script Follows:

A Note on the Transcription

The San People of Southern Africa were an ancient tribe who told stories orally and via petroglyphs. The following petroglyphs depict a conflict between the San People and the offspring of Meeble, and of Meeble’s subsequent attack on their village.

FIGURE 1: A thriving San People village, consisting of mud huts. A communal fire burns in a pit in the center. We see men, women, and children. The sun is depicted overhead, along with a few crudely squiggled birds in the sky.

FIGURE 2: A San mother nurses a baby.

FIGURE 3: San children play in a river.

FIGURE 4: A San hunting party kills an elephant.

FIGURE 5: A celebratory feast takes place in the San village. This scene takes place at night. A crude moon and stars hang in the sky.

FIGURE 6: The village is attacked by a tribe of crudely-depicted ape men (reminiscent of the creatures from CASTAWAYS).

FIGURE 7: A battle between the ape men and the San people. The ape men should not be armed, but are vicious and use their claws and superior physical strength.

FIGURE 8: We see the ape men retreating from the village, with the San people giving chase.

FIGURE 9: The ape people are worshiping around an altar.

FIGURE 10: Meeble stepping out of a hole in mid-air. For reference on what Meeble looks like, see illustration in TEQUILA’S SUNRISE. Note, he should be taller and bigger than the ape men or the San people.

FIGURE 11: Meeble attacks the village.

FIGURE 12: A San warrior hides two children beneath a large basket.

FIGURE 13: A jumbled pile of corpses lie in the village center. Meeble stands near them, approached by the San warrior from previous petroglyph.

FIGURE 14: The warrior leaps at Meeble with spear outstretched.

FIGURE 15: The warrior is torn in half by Meeble, who is clutching the halves of his corpse in each hand, while the spear juts from his back.

FIGURE 16: Meeble is entering another hole in mid-air.

FIGURE 17: The two children emerge from beneath the basket.

FIGURE 18: The children stand amidst the chaos. Their village is in ruins and corpses litter the ground.

END

BRIAN KEENE IN A KILT

I’ve got a lot of love for Armand Rosamilia and Mark Tufo. Both of them are fellow writers. Both of them are fellow network mates on the Project iRadio network (they host the Arm n Toof podcast). And both of them are supporting a charity that is near and dear to my heart.

Mark and Armand have taken it upon themselves to help raise money for Scares That Care. You can see all the prizes and goals on their Go Fund Me page. Of note — if they reach $2,500, I will wear a kilt at next year’s Scares That Care Weekend III.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE. Even if it’s only a dollar, you’ll be helping the charity. And you’ll be that much closer to seeing me in a kilt. Which has to look better than me in a dress, right?

One Day Only!

On Diversity, the Approaching Maelstrom, Delayed Books, and More

I pay for and order 30 books for Lifetime Subscribers. 20 books arrive, 10 of which are damaged. I order 20 more (10 to replace the damaged ones and the 10 I was shortchanged on). They arrive, 7 of which are damaged. I order more. Which is how I pretty much spent last week.

I’m working on manuscript reviews for people this week, and also answering questions for an interview with The Huffington Post (I suspect they think I’m somebody else). And somewhere in between those two things, polishing the last five chapters of a novel. I’ve also got a 7-year old starting second grade this week and a 24-year old who seems to have inherited his father’s knack for crashing his car into various things and walking away. So yeah, busy.

In fact, I’m so overwhelmed that I’m letting Dave and Coop do a solo show on the podcast this week. What could possibly go wrong?

(I’ll still be on the podcast however, in the second half, which is a prerecorded interview I conducted with Sephera Giron. All of this madness airs Thursday night at 7pm).

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I teased this on Twitter last night, but here it is in writing. The third book in this year’s Maelstrom set is THE DAUGHTERS OF INANNA, an anthology featuring four original novellas by Chesya Burke, Rachel Deering, Amber Fallon, and Livia Llewellyn. The table of contents is as follows:

Musings of a Middle-Aged White Guy: An Introduction – Brian Keene

Husk – Rachel Deering

The One That Comes Before – Livia Llewellyn

Cut. Pour. – Chesya Burke

The Terminal – Amber Fallon

“But Brian,” some nitwit is shouting from the back, “if we’ve reached true diversity within the horror genre, then why publish an anthology with only women? That doesn’t seem fair. Why no men? Why only women?” Well, because I’m Brian Keene, and because I felt like it. I’m not an SJW any more than I am a Sad Puppy (I see the two as different sides of the same coin), but I don’t need to be one to champion diversity and new voices in my field. Diversity should be supported by all, regardless of your political affiliation or any other identifier. I’m lucky enough to have some power and a voice in this field, and I think I have a pretty good track record of drawing attention to things I believe in. In this case, I believe in these four authors, all of whom have delivered four horrifying, gut wrenching novellas that were informed by their unique perspectives and their own individual voices — and that is what good fiction is made of.

For new readers, Maelstrom is my own imprint at Thunderstorm Books. Each year, we publish a signed, limited edition three book set targeted at collectors and fans of my work. Each year, one of the books is by an author I think my audience will enjoy, because this is a great way to introduce them to that author and convince them to spend money on that author. This year, it just happens to be four authors instead of one.

Pre-orders are coming soon. You have about one month to set aside some money.

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But if expensive collectible editions aren’t your bag, my latest collection, WHERE WE LIVE AND DIE, came out last week in paperback, Kindle, and Nook. It’s a collection of fictional stories about writing. It is not, however, any sort of writer’s guide or reference book. I’ve seen some folks online comparing it to Laymon’s A WRITER’S TALE or King’s ON WRITING, and while I appreciate the sentiment, folks looking for something like that will be disappointed. (However…I am, in fact, working on what I guess could be considered my A WRITER’S TALE. It’s a memoir I started for my sons, but quickly realized it would be for a lot more people than just them).

Click here to buy the paperback.

Click here to download to Kindle.

Click here to download to Nook.

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Armand Rosamilia did a short interview with me for his podcast. You can listen to it for free here. It was recorded at this year’s Scares That Care charity horror convention.

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Myself, Joe Hill, Mary SanGiovanni, Christopher Golden, Sarah Langan, Paul Tremblay, and many more will be signing this October at the Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival in North Andover, MA. Complete details can be found here.

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Some folks have been asking when they’ll see ALL DARK, ALL THE TIME (the follow-up to BLOOD ON THE PAGE and the second volume in The Complete Short Fiction of Brian Keene series). This year, I promise.

The hold up is me. J.F. Gonzalez wrote me a really sweet and funny introduction for it, and then he passed away a short time later, and I just haven’t had the emotional fortitude to go back and re-read it and edit the book and put it out there yet. You can either dig that, or you can’t.

But yes, sooner or later, I’ll look at it, and it will be published by December, I’m sure.

WHERE WE LIVE AND DIE On Sale Now

The muses are monsters.

With them, we live and die.

Since his earliest stories, Brian Keene has deconstructed the mystique of the writing life. Isolation, relationships lost, long hours, inconsistent paychecks, and professional heartbreak are all part of the job. Keene has unflinchingly laid bare the realities of the full-time writer.

WHERE WE LIVE AND DIE collects Brian Keene’s best stories about writing, including his metafictional ghost story masterpiece “The Girl on the Glider,” a glimpse of Adam Senft (from Keene’s DARK HOLLOW and GHOST WALK) in Hell, and more.

WHERE WE LIVE AND DIE is a masterful collection by a Grandmaster of Horror and a fictional guidebook for the working writer.

ON SALE NOW IN PAPERBACK – $12.95 – Digital editions forthcoming

Important Things, and Thing Less Important

Welcome to this week’s Blog entry. I am house-sitting for my second ex-wife, which means this is being typed in my former office, the place where I wrote everything from the final draft of DARK HOLLOW to the first chapter of ENTOMBED. You can see what it used to look like in DEMONSTRATION OF THE DEAD (free to watch on YouTube). It doesn’t look like that anymore. These days it’s just an empty concrete bunker, devoid of all books and furniture. But there’s still a lot of creative energy inside, as evidenced by how much I’ve gotten done over the last few days.

I still feel bad about missing the Lewisburg Literary Festival, but on the plus side, I’m pretty much recovered, and I have to reluctantly agree with the doctor. I think another trip so close to the others would have probably done me in. That’s something to keep in mind when I start setting up next year’s signings and appearances.

While I was recovering, another immediate family member went into the hospital late last week for similar reasons. That person is recovering now, as well, but it was just another reminder of genetics, and the things we carry with us, and what is important, and what is less important. And time. Everything these days comes down to time.

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This Thursday, electronic artist Xander Harris will be playing at The Chameleon Club in Lancaster, PA. Xander should be no stranger to my readers and fans. His well-received debut album, URBAN GOTHIC, was based on/inspired by my novel of the same name.

I’ll be at the show (barring anyone else dying or going to the hospital) , as will my podcast co-host Dave “Meteornotes” Thomas. If you’re close to Lancaster, please consider coming to hang out. Cover charge is only five bucks. I may even buy you a drink. Or you can buy me one. Or we’ll buy them for each other. Here’s all the event details.

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This month’s issue of Locus has remembrances of Tom Piccirilli by myself, Nick Mamatas, Ed Gorman, Linda Addison, and Jack Haringa. It’s not available online. Only on newsstands and in bookstores.

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Publisher’s Weekly gave a starred review to the forthcoming SEIZE THE NIGHT, a vampire anthology edited by Christopher Golden which I have a new story in. They said one of the highlights is “Brian Keene’s restrained, heart-wrenching The Last Supper, in which a vampire’s loneliness eclipses his need to feed in a plague-devastated world.” This makes me happy, because it’s a personal story for me, and I put a lot into it.

The book is available in paperback and digital this October. You can pre-order it here.

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I’m told that my new novel KING OF THE BASTARDS (co-written with Steven Shrewsbury) is doing very well in its first few weeks of release. It’s available now in paperback, Kindle, Nook, Kobo, etc. Click here to purchase.

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That’s all until next week. Podcast to record. Manuscripts to mail. Books to sign and mail. Things to write. People to spend time with and tell them I love them. Do the same for yourself and the people who you love this week. You might not get a chance later.

What Comes With Autumn – with Faith No More, New Book Announcements, and Others

Three old men at a metal show.

Three Blog entries three weeks in a row, with a few breaking news announcements interspersed between them. It’s like the Hail Saten days again, and suddenly I’m feeling nostalgic…

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Last Sunday, my oldest son David, Coop, our friend Tomo, and I saw Faith No More at Merriweather. We ended up in the front row just a few feet from the stage. FNM is my all-time favorite band. It was wonderful to share the experience of possibly seeing them for the last time with two of my best friends and one of my sons.

This is how close we were.

It was also an exercise in aging. The last time I saw Faith No More (in the 90s) I had joints for my friends. This time, I had Advil, which both Coop and I took in advance just so we’d be able to move. The last time I saw Faith No More, the only thing on my mind (other than enjoying the show) was meeting girls. This time, it was whether or not my fading vision would hold up against the stage lights. Tomo’s concern was whether his bad hip would up up against standing for so long. Coop’s concern was whether his bad shoulder would hold up against any potential moshing or pogoing. And David’s concern was that he wouldn’t meet any girls because he was stuck babysitting three middle-aged men, all of whom are looking at fifty looming in the headlights.

Turns out David didn’t have to worry. We met the girls for him. Special hello to Dawn who is wise like an owl, and her girlfriend whose name I can’t remember. And another shout out to Mike (?) and his wife, who recognized me and came up after the show and said hello, and thus afforded David his first public glimpse of “My Dad is somebody other than my Dad”.

The show itself? Easily one of the Top Three best concerts I’ve ever attended. Refused were the opener, and they were phenomenal. And Faith No More has never sounded better or tighter. They looked like they were having fun, and that feeling was infectious among the crowd. This tour has featured a different set list every night. We got “The Real Thing” for an opener, followed by “Land of Sunshine”, “Caffeine”, and fifteen more beloved songs both old and new, including “RV”, which they haven’t played live in the U.S. since 1993. The crowd sang along with them all.

I left the show feeling happy and good and at peace with the autumn I find myself surrounded by.

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Other than the concert, I’ve been taking it easy, as per doctor’s orders (and in truth, I took it easy during the concert, as well. Before the encore, my body told me to sit down or it was going to drop me. So I listened to my body and headed for the back of the stadium). Taking it easy is defined as not writing more than 8 hours per day, and getting in an evening walk, and trying not to stress over the insane amount of things I’m behind on or have failed to finish up as of yet. Thanks to everyone who asked last week, or sent well-wishes. I still feel terribly guilty about canceling my upcoming appearance at the Lewisburg Literary Festival, and I hope to make it up to you next time it comes around.

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Here is the cover for THE CRUELTY OF AUTUMN. It’s a new short story collection and one of the books that will be included in this year’s Maelstrom set from Thunderstorm Books. As with some of the titles from previous year’s sets, it will only be available as a Maelstrom hardcover, and will never be reprinted.

For new readers, Maelstrom is my own publishing imprint, specializing in signed, limited edition hardcovers produced for the collectible market. Each year, it features two books by me and one by an author I think more folks should be reading. Previous years have included Kelli Owen, John Goodrich, John Urbancik, Sarah Pinborough, and more. This year’s set will feature four authors, all female, all fantastic, and all of whom will be announced shortly.

The fact that I’m posting this teaser means that you should start setting aside the funds for this year’s set now. As I said, full details will be announced soon, but I believe this year’s set is going to be very much in demand.

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WHERE WE LIVE AND DIE, another new collection, will go on sale later this month from Lazy Fascist Press. I could tell you about the book, but why do that when you can read the cover description for yourself? (Althought, do note, this might get tweaked a bit before publication).

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In case you were under a rock last week, my friends and I made a short film called FAST ZOMBIES SUCK and put it on the internet for free. Click here to watch it. If you like it, please consider leaving a comment and sharing the link with friends.

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Also, reminders that my new novel KING OF THE BASTARDS (co-written with Steven Shrewsbury) is on sale now in paperback and digital. And if you’re an X-Files fan, I’ve contributed a new story to THE X-FILES: TRUST NO ONE, also on sale now.