Brian Keene's Blog, page 194

Alan Ryan R.I.P.

Nancy Holder and Bob Booth are reporting that author/editor Alan Ryan passed away in Brazil on Friday, June 3, from pancreatic cancer. A three-time nominee and one-time winner of the World Fantasy Award, a nominee for the John W. Campbell Award, and winner of the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Award, Ryan was the author of four genre novels and two short story collections. He also edited five anthologies. He is perhaps best remembered for Dead White, The Kill, Cast A Cold Eye, The Penguin Book Of Vampire Stories, The Bones Wizard, and Halloween Horrors. He also edited the very first Night Visions anthology (which featured Charles L. Grant, Steve Rasnic Tem, and Tanith Lee). His non-genre work earned him bylines in such diverse publications as Playgirl, Smithsonian, and The American Scholar. Ryan had been in the midst of a comeback, with recent appearances in Postscripts, the Shivers anthology series from Cemetery Dance, and a number of forthcoming small press releases.

I'm Really Not Ignoring You

Pre-reader Tod Clark's office.

I spent Thursday scripting the rest of The Last Zombie: Inferno. On Friday, I worked on Clickers vs. Zombies. Saturday was spent working on Binky and a novella for Apex, as well as proofing the Deadite Press edition of Kill Whitey.

A sound philosophy

Today was spent answering email. There are 687 unanswered emails in my inbox. Those aren't spam. They are emails from regular people. People like you. And now you understand why I haven't responded yet.

Things will be quieter than normal this week, as I'll be caring for my youngest son. In the brief hours when he's not here, I'll be focusing on the Lifetime Subscribers and the revamped and redesigned Newsletter.

J.F. reacts to Clickers vs. Zombies.

I'll also need to write a new Deluge chapter (so people don't holler at me), and continue working on all the things listed above (Binky, Clickers vs. Zombies, Apex novella, etc.). On Friday, I have to deal with a personal matter. And then next weekend, I'll do it all over again.

But I really will get to your email eventually…

Teddy Goes Fishing

Promotional cartoon by Italian author and artist Danilo Giovannelli for I Vermi Conquistatori (the Italian edition of my novel The Conqueror Worms). Speaking of which, scientists have discovered "worms from hell" living two miles beneath the Earth. I warned you about this, just like I warned you about fucking around with particle accelerators and dead things.

The Week in Review

Busy week. Here are some things you might have missed: Deluge returned (for real). Dead Sea was reprinted in paperback as an all-new, Author's Preferred edition. (Digital editions will follow). I gave you details on how to get ChillerTV from your cable provider, so you can watch the movie version of Ghoul when it debuts. I also gave you a free book soundtrack to listen to while you read Take The Long Way Home. Author Weston Ochse stopped by with a special Memorial Day message. People said very nice things about Entombed and The Damned Highway. I opened the vaults to show you a pitch for a Devil Slayer sequel that never happened. And there was an update on all the comic stuff I have in the pipeline.

F.U.K.U. Marching Orders: HOW TO GET CHILLER TV

Unless you've been living under a rock, then you know that the movie adaptation of my novel Ghoul will debut on ChillerTV later this year. Sadly, many of you don't get Chiller. So it's time to throw the combined weight of the F.U.K.U. (Fans 'Uv Keene United) around once again. CLICK HERE. Enter your zip code and your cable provider. If it says Chiller is not available in your area, click again and enter your first and last name. It will then automatically email your cable provider and request Chiller for you. There are approximately 70,000 of you in the F.U.K.U. There is no reason why we can't bum rush these cable providers and force them to give ChillerTV wider distribution. Go forth and make it so!

DELUGE (Part 74)

Sarah regained consciousness while Henry helped Novak and Gail pack the supplies. She moaned, and her eyes fluttered. When she sat up, her expression was confused and alarmed. Henry rushed to her side.

"You're okay," he said. "You just passed out."

"Who…?" She pointed at the new arrivals, unable to finish the sentence.

"Don't you remember? They're here to rescue us."

Frowning, Sarah shook her head. "Everything… everything is messed up. I can't think straight. What's wrong with me, Henry?"

"Stress? You're tired. I don't know. But we're safe, Sarah. Once we get onboard their ship, you can get lots of rest. And I'll watch over you."

Smiling, Sarah touched his cheek. "You remind me of… Kevin. He would have liked you."

Henry opened his mouth to respond, but a shadow fell over them. He glanced up, and Gail stood there, holding several black garbage bags.

"Put these on," she said. "You'll have to tape or tie them around you."

"What for?" Henry asked.

"To keep yourself from getting infected. You're both clean now. We need to keep you that way until we get to the ship."

"Make no mistake," Novak added. "If either one of you comes into contact with the fungus between here and there, we'll have to leave you behind. I don't like saying that, but you deserve to know it before you go outside."

The tower trembled and groaned again, silencing further debate. It listed to the side, and this time, it didn't right itself.

"Jesus…" Gail whistled. "We need to go. This thing won't hold much longer."

"You two prep," Novak said. "Gail and I will finish with the supplies. You guys will carry them, while we take the front and the rear. We'll take care of anything that crosses our path. You think you're up to hefting supplies, Sarah?"

She nodded. "I'm better. I promise."

He studied her carefully, and finally said, "Okay."

While Novak and Gail finished packing, Henry and Sarah covered themselves in plastic. They taped the bags around their ankles, wrists, waists and necks. Then added smaller bags to cover their hands. Then they fashioned ponchos out of more trash bags, covering their heads. When they were finished, only their eyes and noses were exposed. Novak and Gail helped them shoulder the packs.

"We appreciate what ya'll are doing," Henry said. "But I've got to tell you, it don't feel right going outside without a weapon."

"Understandable," Gail said, "but can either of you manage a weapon and the supplies?"

"I've got a Taurus," Sarah replied. "It's a short barreled .357, and I can holster it over the plastic."

"How about you?" Gail nodded at Henry.

"Just a hatchet," he said, "and this here knife. It belonged to our friend, Mr. Garnett. I reckon I can tape the knife to my hip and carry the hatchet."

"Okay," Gail agreed. "But understand—if those things are close enough to fight off with a hatchet, then chances are you're going to get infected. And we won't hesitate to fire."

Henry nodded. "Fair enough."

He and Sarah quickly armed themselves.

"Ready?" Novak asked.

They nodded.

"Then let's do this. I'll take point. Gail will bring up the rear. Stick close. If we get spread apart out there, they'll be on us in seconds. Just let me clear a path with the flamethrower, and then follow right behind me."

He opened the door and stepped out onto the stairwell. Swallowing hard, Henry followed. He heard Sarah rustling along behind him, and then the light disappeared as Gail shut the door.

"Soft…" a chorus of voices rasped from below. "Soft…"

Henry said, "Oh shit…"

The Devil Slayer Sequel That Never Happened

Last week, a major comic book company asked me to pitch some things to them. While I was typing up the pitches, I came across this rejected pitch for a sequel to my Dead of Night: Devil Slayer mini-series from Marvel. It was never picked up because shortly after issue #5 of the original series, my editor left Marvel and I found myself orphaned (as did several other creators). Anyway, I thought you guys might get a kick out of seeing this.

In this sequel to Dead of Night: Devil Slayer, we find Danny Sylva on the coast of Somalia, tracking a group of ruthless modern-day pirates who are worshipping the demon known as Chthon.

The Somali coast is a lawless, apocalyptic region, shattered by years of rebellions, coups, genocide and warring factions. It is rife with thugs, criminals, rebels, terrorists, and mercenaries out to make a quick buck. It is also undergoing an economic boom thanks to the efforts of the pirates, who sail out to international waters where the maritime laws don't apply, capture ships and abduct their crews, and then hold both for ransom. Or so our leaders and the media tells us.

In reality, the Chthon-worshipers are indeed capturing ships and their crews. But they are selling the ships to the highest bidder and using the crewmembers as sacrifices to Chthon. Their most recent capture is a steamer called the U.S.S. Cerberus (in mythology, Cerberus guards the gates to Hell). The ship is owned by the Trident Corporation, of which Damion Hellstrom, the Son of Satan, is the main shareholder. Indeed, Trident is one of Hellstrom's many corporate assets.

Unbeknownst to Devil Slayer, Hellstrom has also traveled to Somalia to free his property and his employees in his own fashion. The two confront each other and do battle, but soon they must join forces to defeat Chthon.

The instability of the region allows us a broad spectrum for warfare and battle scenes. It is a festering sewer of violence and horror—the perfect setting for a Devil Slayer tale.

Quotes of the Day

"That's Pete talking – a recently divorced former hotel employee, and one of the 25 survivors in the bunker. It's a tough road that life laid out before him, leading to his time in the bunker. His divorce put him in a dark place and the zombie uprising only served to make the place darker. As Pete struggles with the isolation, hunger, and social minefield that define existence in the bunker, he slowly (or maybe not so slowly) begins to slip into a madness that is truly terrifying in its utter plausibility."

The Word Zombie's review of Entombed (copies of which are still available here)

"…Damned Highway is a work of fiction, standing somewhere between pastiche and homage. It's essentially Nick Mamatas and Brian Keene doing Hunter S. Thompson-as-Lono doing H. P. Lovecraft. It's a work of fiction, and, as such, it neatly straddles homage, pastiche, and loving parody: mix the manic chemical weirdness of Thompson with the cosmic eldritch weirdness of Lovecraft, and strain through the sensibilities of two of the leading modern weird horror writers. Also, there's an orgy with Henry Kissinger."

Editor Rachel Edidin on what it was like to edit The Damned Highway (pre-order here)

DEAD SEA: Author's Preferred Edition

In 2003, Brian Keene's The Rising revived horror literature's dormant obsession with zombies. In 2007, Keene's Dead Sea knocked that obsession on its ass.

Deadite Press is proud to present this Author's Preferred version of Keene's over-the-top cult classic, which includes never-before-published material!

Click here to order in paperback. (Digital editions coming soon).

A note regarding the new material:  Dead Sea was originally published in 2007 in paperback and hardcover (by Dorchester Publishing and Delirium Books, respectively). This special 'Author's Preferred' edition of Dead Sea contains material that was not included in the previous versions. Some material was originally cut from the book due to length requirements (most publishers have a required word count, and authors are often asked to make cuts from their manuscript to meet those requirements). None of the missing material was particularly earth-shattering, but I liked it, and I wanted to include it this edition.

In truth, you probably won't even notice much of the added material, but for those who want to know, in this new edition, the

relationship between Lamar, Tasha, and Malik is expanded upon, as is the budding romantic relationship between Chief Maxey and Carol at the end. This new edition also provided me with a chance to fix a rather glaring continuity error from the original edition—the matter of Lamar's backpack. In the original edition, Lamar packs a backpack full of food, water, and gear before fleeing his home. Yet, when he arrives on the Spratling, he no longer has it, nor is it ever mentioned again. A number of readers have pointed this out over the years, and it's been fixed for this new version. I also took advantage of the opportunity and cleaned a few typos here and there that had somehow crept into the original published editions.

This afterword also allows me to address something else readers have asked about over the years. Despite the cameo appearance of

Frankie (Mitch's son's heroin-addicted girlfriend), Dead Sea does not take place in the same universe as my novels The Rising and City of the Dead. Yes, Frankie is a main character in both of those books, but this is not that Frankie.

Long-time readers know by now that all of my work—everything I've ever written—is loosely-connected in an overall story-arc sometimes referred to as the Labyrinth Mythos. The main premise of this mythos is that there are different worlds and different realities. On one of those worlds, Earth might be destroyed by zombies. On another, it might be giant worms. On a third, it might

be a hungry, sentient darkness that eradicates mankind. So, while Frankie does indeed appear in this book, she is the Frankie of Dead Sea's Earth, rather than the Frankie of the Earth from The Rising and City of the Dead. I'm glad I finally got an opportunity to clear that up.

Doctor Doom's Guide to the Universe

Special Memorial Day Guest Video Blog by Weston Ochse

"In honor of the men and women who have trained, fought, and given their lives for America, I've created a dramatic and profane narrative about my real and not so real experiences in U.S. Army basic training. This is the story of one young man's indoctrination into the world's largest street gang, as well as a love song to what it means to be a soldier. Thanks to my fellow warrior Brian Keene for premiering this video."