Brian Keene's Blog, page 128
October 15, 2013
“But what about Mike?” or, Better Funding Through Dentistry
With the cancellation of The Cage Kickstarter campaign, many of you have asked, “But what about Mike? He was tied up in your garage and you were torturing him for contributions! What happens to him?” Well, here are the unaired promotional videos Mike and I made for Weeks 3 and 4. Enjoy!
October 13, 2013
THE CAGE Kickstarter Cancelled
Damian and I have mutually agreed to pull the plug on the Kickstarter campaign for THE CAGE.
As of 6pm (EST) this evening, we had raised a little over $15,000. 95% of that money came from you, my readers. Unfortunately, that figure represents a mere 18% of our goal, leaving us a scant 17 days to make up the other 43%. That is simply is impossible at current sponsorship rates. We said from launch that my readers would do their part, but that we’d have to reach the audiences of others involved with the project. Unfortunately, for reasons I don’t understand, some of those involved with the project have been reluctant to include their audiences. Other factors include the number of people who have been reluctant to donate even a one dollar bill, and those who have promised “to kick in later” — which translates as “not kicking in at all” since it’s been explained several times that you aren’t charged until a) October 31st b) And then only of the project makes its goal and c) You can increase or decrease your pledge amount at any time.
But I digress. A sincere and very heartfelt thank you to everyone who DID participate, be it financially or just helping to spread the word. Your pledges will be automatically canceled and your cards will not be charged. As for me… well, after 15+ years of nothing but professional wins, I reckon I was overdue for a professional loss, finally. I’ve no regrets. I know I did my part, and that those of you who are true F.U.K.U. did yours, as well. If you are so inclined, please consider donating the funds that would have gone to this Kickstarter to either Ray Garton, who is facing throat cancer, or Steve Niles, who just lost everything in a flood. Click here to help Ray. For Steve, PayPal donations to HelpSteveNiles@gmail.com (which is being operated by Steve’s friend Belinda Hernandez).
October 12, 2013
MAELSTROM IV On Sale Now (UPDATED)
3-book set – Limited to 333 signed, numbered hardcovers – $125 – Going Fast
CLICK HERE TO ORDER (Update: 60% sold out as of 10/14)
This set includes:
LAST OF THE ALBATWITCHES by Brian Keene
Brian Keene’s popular occult detective Levi Stoltzfus is back in an all-new novella!
There’s an old Pennsylvania Dutch legend about the forest surrounding Chickies Rock — how it’s the home to a reclusive race of Sasquatch-like creatures known as the Albatwitches. Levi Stoltzfus has long thought these gentle forest-creatures to be extinct, but after investigating a young woman’s strange death, he’s not so sure.
Now, Levi’s racing against both the Cryptid Hunters reality television team and a squad of private security contractors from the mysterious Globe Corporation, to unravel the source of the legend and determine what manner of monster has turned the forest into a killing ground. But even if he solves that riddle, he still has to figure out why his magical abilities have suddenly stopped working… and what that means for the future of those he is sworn to protect — and himself.
THE RISING: 10th ANNIVERSARY EDITION by Brian Keene
The classic that helped start a pop culture phenomenon — back in print and UNCUT!
Since its 2003 debut, Brian Keene’s THE RISING is one of the best-selling zombie novels of all-time. It has been translated into over a dozen languages, inspired the works of other authors and filmmakers, and has become a cultural touchstone for an entire generation of horror fans.
THE RISING is the story of Jim Thurmond, a determined father battling his way across a post-apocalyptic zombie landscape, to find his young son. Accompanied by Martin, a preacher still holding to his faith, and Frankie, a recovering heroin addict with an indomitable will to survive, Jim travels from state to state and town to town, facing an endless onslaught of undead hordes, and the evils perpetrated by his fellow man.
This brand-new, author’s preferred edition, restores nearly 30,000 words of material that was cut from the original edition. These new chapters, which have never been seen by anyone before now, expand the original story, adding new depths to characters and more horrific situations. You may think you’ve read THE RISING, but you haven’t read it all until you read this edition!
A NECESSARY END by Sarah Pinborough and F. Paul Wilson
Life came out of Africa….
But now it’s death’s turn….
It spreads like a plague but it’s not a disease. Medical science is helpless against the deadly autoimmune reaction caused by the bite of the swarming African flies. Billions are dead, more are dying. Across the world, governments are falling, civilization is crumbling, and everywhere those still alive fear the death carried in the skies.
Some say the flies are a freak mutation, others say they’re manmade, but as hope of beating them fades, most turn to the only comfort left and see the plague as God’s will. He sent a deadly deluge the last time He was upset with mankind. This time He has darkened the sky with deadly flies. And perhaps that is true, for so many of the afflicted speak with their dying breaths of seeing God coming for them.
But not everyone dies. A very few seem immune. They call themselves mungus and preach acceptance of the plague, encouraging people to allow themselves to be bitten by “the flies of the Lord” so that they may join Him in the afterlife.
Nigel, an investigative reporter, searches the apocalyptic landscape of plague-ravaged England in search of Bandora, a kidnapped African boy. On a quest for personal redemption as well as the truth, his search takes him away from the troubles he can no longer face at home, and into the world of the head mungu, a man who speaks truth in riddles and has no fear of the African flies. A Necessary End is about apocalypse, about love, about the fragile bonds that hold marriages and civilizations together. But mostly it’s about truth — how we find it, how we embrace or reject it, and how we must face the truths within ourselves.
THREE COLLECTIBLE EDITIONS, ONE LOW PRICE! CLICK HERE TO ORDER
MAELSTROM IV On Sale Now
3-book set – Limited to 333 signed, numbered hardcovers – $125 – Going Fast
This set includes:
LAST OF THE ALBATWITCHES by Brian Keene
Brian Keene’s popular occult detective Levi Stoltzfus is back in an all-new novella!
There’s an old Pennsylvania Dutch legend about the forest surrounding Chickies Rock — how it’s the home to a reclusive race of Sasquatch-like creatures known as the Albatwitches. Levi Stoltzfus has long thought these gentle forest-creatures to be extinct, but after investigating a young woman’s strange death, he’s not so sure.
Now, Levi’s racing against both the Cryptid Hunters reality television team and a squad of private security contractors from the mysterious Globe Corporation, to unravel the source of the legend and determine what manner of monster has turned the forest into a killing ground. But even if he solves that riddle, he still has to figure out why his magical abilities have suddenly stopped working… and what that means for the future of those he is sworn to protect — and himself.
THE RISING: 10th ANNIVERSARY EDITION by Brian Keene
The classic that helped start a pop culture phenomenon — back in print and UNCUT!
Since its 2003 debut, Brian Keene’s THE RISING is one of the best-selling zombie novels of all-time. It has been translated into over a dozen languages, inspired the works of other authors and filmmakers, and has become a cultural touchstone for an entire generation of horror fans.
THE RISING is the story of Jim Thurmond, a determined father battling his way across a post-apocalyptic zombie landscape, to find his young son. Accompanied by Martin, a preacher still holding to his faith, and Frankie, a recovering heroin addict with an indomitable will to survive, Jim travels from state to state and town to town, facing an endless onslaught of undead hordes, and the evils perpetrated by his fellow man.
This brand-new, author’s preferred edition, restores nearly 30,000 words of material that was cut from the original edition. These new chapters, which have never been seen by anyone before now, expand the original story, adding new depths to characters and more horrific situations. You may think you’ve read THE RISING, but you haven’t read it all until you read this edition!
A NECESSARY END by Sarah Pinborough and F. Paul Wilson
Life came out of Africa….
But now it’s death’s turn….
It spreads like a plague but it’s not a disease. Medical science is helpless against the deadly autoimmune reaction caused by the bite of the swarming African flies. Billions are dead, more are dying. Across the world, governments are falling, civilization is crumbling, and everywhere those still alive fear the death carried in the skies.
Some say the flies are a freak mutation, others say they’re manmade, but as hope of beating them fades, most turn to the only comfort left and see the plague as God’s will. He sent a deadly deluge the last time He was upset with mankind. This time He has darkened the sky with deadly flies. And perhaps that is true, for so many of the afflicted speak with their dying breaths of seeing God coming for them.
But not everyone dies. A very few seem immune. They call themselves mungus and preach acceptance of the plague, encouraging people to allow themselves to be bitten by “the flies of the Lord” so that they may join Him in the afterlife.
Nigel, an investigative reporter, searches the apocalyptic landscape of plague-ravaged England in search of Bandora, a kidnapped African boy. On a quest for personal redemption as well as the truth, his search takes him away from the troubles he can no longer face at home, and into the world of the head mungu, a man who speaks truth in riddles and has no fear of the African flies. A Necessary End is about apocalypse, about love, about the fragile bonds that hold marriages and civilizations together. But mostly it’s about truth — how we find it, how we embrace or reject it, and how we must face the truths within ourselves.
THREE COLLECTIBLE EDITIONS, ONE LOW PRICE! CLICK HERE TO ORDER
October 11, 2013
Four For Friday
A DARKLING PLAIN by Mary SanGiovanni
Brand-new short story collection available in both paperback and Kindle. Includes “Kins”, “The Nurses of Haversham”, “The Eleventh Hour Syndrome”, “Andi”, “Skincatchers”, “Deadsies”, “The Amazing Morpheus”, “Goth and Crow”, “The Days After the World Went Away”, “Letting Go”, and many more.
PAPERBACK – $6
KINDLE – $2.99
BLOOD AND WHISKEY by Bryan Smith
Out of work and reeling from the fallout of a busted marriage, Johnny Doyle spends most of his days drinking at the Delirium Lounge. Then one day he hears a troubling story about his ex-wife, never suspecting that he will soon find himself caught up in a cyclone of lies, murder, and betrayal.
PAPERBACK – $8
KINDLE – $2.99
DYING IS MY BUSINESS by Nicholas Kaufmann
Given his line of work for a psychotic crime boss, Trent finds himself on the wrong end of too many bullets. Yet each time he’s killed, he wakes completely healed of his wounds but with no memory of his past identity. What’s worse, each time he cheats death someone else dies in his place.
PAPERBACK – $9
KINDLE – $8
LOVE IS THE LAW by Nick Mamatas
In 1989, punk-rock girl “Golden” Dawn has crafted an outsider’s life combining the philosophies of Communism and Aleister Crowley’s black magic. One fateful day she finds the dead body of her mentor. To find the murderer, she will encounter dark and twisted truths for which no book, study, or basement show could have prepared her.
PAPERBACK – $7
KINDLE – $7
Ray Garton medical fund
Legendary horror novelist Ray Garton has been diagnosed with throat cancer. The biopsy of his left vocal cord revealed that he has squamous cell carcinoma-in-situ, meaning it was found just before becoming invasive cancer. He needs surgery to have the precancerous tissue removed before it reaches the next stage. Like most writers, Ray lives paycheck to paycheck, and his insurance will cover very little of this procedure. CLICK HERE TO HELP.
October 10, 2013
SIXTY-FIVE STIRRUP IRON ROAD up for pre-order
The signed limited edition hardcover of SIXTY-FIVE STIRRUP IRON ROAD — a collaborative novel by myself, Edward Lee, Jack Ketchum, Bryan Smith, J.F. Gonzalez, Wrath James White, Nate Southard, Shane McKenzie, and Ryan Harding — is now available for pre-order. Paperback and e-book editions will be published at a later date.
All proceeds from this book go to support Tom Piccirilli after his successful fight against brain cancer.
This edition is signed by all the authors and includes an Introduction by Tom Piccirilli.
October 9, 2013
Let’s Spend the Night Together (UPDATED)
Many of you have asked about the Visiting Rights incentive on The Cage Kickstarter campaign, and what exactly it entails. I’ll expand on it here.
You, or you and a group of friends, are guests in my home for two nights. I cook you three meals a day. We stay up late talking. We sit around the campfire in my backyard drinking beverages of our choice and telling ghost stories. You peruse my library at your leisure. If you see a book of mine that you don’t own, I hook you up. During the day, I take you on a guided tour of many of the real-life locations that have inspired my books. Rehmeyer’s Hollow, which was the inspiration for LeHorn’s Hollow from DARK HOLLOW and GHOST WALK. The cemetery from GHOUL, where I used to play as a kid. The abandoned industrial park from KILL WHITEY. Fell’s Point and Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, destroyed in both DEAD SEA and CLICKERS II. The walking tour from TAKE THE LONG WAY HOME. And many more, including the location of THE CAGE itself. There may even be surprise visits from other local authors such as J.F. Gonzalez, Mary SanGiovanni, Robert Ford, or Kelli Owen. Bring books along with you and we’ll turn it into a signing.
Now, there are a few caveats. If you’re inclined to stalk, you should be reminded that I have a conceal carry permit and an obscene amount of weaponry at my disposal. But 98% of you are good, normal, regular folk, so I’m sure that won’t be an issue. The other caveat is lodging. If you’re staying at my home, and you want to bring a partner or spouse or friend, I can accommodate you. My guest room holds two comfortably. However, if you and your friends pool your money for this and there are, for example, five of you in the party, then some of you will have to opt for the couch or sleeping bags on the floor.
$5,000 gets you all that. You can buy the package for yourself, or you can get some friends to each chip in $500 and I’ll host the lot of you. The only thing you are responsible for is your travel. Everything else will be personally comped by me. There are only two of these packages available. And you will not be charged until October 31st. After that, you can let me know when you’d like to visit (personally, I recommend Spring or Summer, since that’s when the Hollow is at it’s spookiest).
If this sounds good to you, CLICK HERE TO BID, and select the Visiting Rights incentive.
UPDATE: In the comments below, and on my Facebook page, folks are looking to join forces and chip in on the package together. I’m totally fine with this (see the caveats above). However, I’m required to post a legal disclaimer stating that I’m not financially responsible (should one person run off with everyone else’s money — not that you guys would do that to each other). If you guys get enough people together before the campaign ends, let me know and I’ll help facilitate it so that everyone feels safer about their money.
October 8, 2013
KICKSTART THE CAGE: WEEK 2
New incentives! New rewards! New fun as I continue to torture Mike for money!
Philip Nutman R.I.P.
Philip Nutman died last night after a short hospitalization. Best known for his absolutely seminal zombie novel, Wet Work, (which was a profound influence on my own The Rising), Phil was also a screenwriter, comic book writer, editor, actor, journalist, and lecturer. Other books included Cities of Night. His filmography includes The Girl Next Door, Abed, Thunderhead, and The Last Blood. He was a major contributor to Fangoria, as well as being featured regularly in Metal Hammer, Twilight Zone, Gorezone, Penthouse, Gallery, and Comics Scene.
It has been a hard year for our genre and industry, and this is another great loss. If you’ve been in this business long enough, you probably have a favorite Phil Nutman story. Some will probably be told in the next few days. Others should probably stay private. My own involves a particular NECON where Phil decided to make a movie, show it once, and then destroy it. He was adamant that Tim Lebbon and I appear in the film, but we were reluctant to do so, and thus ensued a weekend-long game of cat and mouse, ultimately ending on the final night of the convention, when Tim and I were hiding in a darkened hotel room, and Phil, camera in hand, finally tracked us down. I never did get to see that movie…
