Brian Keene's Blog, page 26
September 16, 2020
Exploring the Labyrinth: Kill Whitey
Kit Power’s Exploring the Labyrinth is a regular column at Gingernuts of Horror in which Kit reads all of my books in order and then writing about them.
This month, he turns his attention to KILL WHITEY. Click here to read it.
September 14, 2020
Vermi Conquistatori II – Diluvio
VERMI CONQUISTATORI II — DILUVIO (the Italian-language edition of EARTHWORM GODS II: DELUGE) is on sale now in paperback and for Kindle. It is available for purchase regardless of where you live (though International Shipping may apply). Click here to order the physical book and here to download to your Kindle.
September 10, 2020
Dissonant Harmonies
Cemetery Dance has announced the signed, limited edition hardcover of DISSONANT HARMONIES by myself and Bev Vincent. The book is at the printer. It is only available to members of the Cemetery Dance Collector’s Club, which you can join for a one-time fee by clicking here.
* An exclusive Signed "Not For Sale" Limited Edition Hardcover Produced ONLY For Members
One of our most popular Bonus Items of all-time is our "Not For Sale" signed Limited Edition hardcovers, which are printed only for members of the CDCC and not sold to retailers or the general public, and this year we have something special we think our collectors will really love... a brand new book by Brian Keene and Bev Vincent!
This special edition contains TWO full-length novellas (The Motel at the End of the World by Brian Keene and The Dead of Winter by Bev Vincent), and the book is already designed and reader for the printer! The authors have set aside time to sign the signature sheets as soon as we know the print run, which is determined by the number of members in the club.
September 4, 2020
Finale - The Horror Show 279
September 3, 2020
Career Longevity and How to Weather the Storm
The Writing In The Dark: Horror Writing Symposium is a three day online event happening September 11 through the 13th. Guest speakers include Tim Waggoner, Mary SanGiovanni, John Edward Lawson, Jeff Strand and countless more. I’ll be presenting an hour long speech entitled ‘Career Longevity and How to Weather the Storm’ on September 13 from 1PM to 2PM. This speech will not be rebroadcast. Click here to purchase your ticket.
September 1, 2020
Nemesai Final Orders Friday
A reminder that Friday, 9/4, is the last day you can pre-order NEMESAI…
NEMESAI
by John Urbancik & Brian Keene
It starts with the red dreams. Everyone has them every night. But they’re just a precursor, because something deep within the bowels of the earth has awakened—something we defeated and sent back thousands of years ago. First, there are scouts which decimate cities, and the armies of humanity find their weapons impotent.
Enter Atiya Destine, professional adventurer and mercenary. She and her team with venture deep into the middle of China to follow the scouts back to where they came from: a hole in earth once protected by thousands of warriors awaiting the return of humanity’s Nemesai.
Enter Jane, a survivor of the destruction of Shanghai. Enter Stefan, trying to put down the unstoppable Nemesai with his fists.
They’ll enter the tomb of China’s first emperor, untouched for thousands of years, with rivers of mercury and pearls as stars in its sky hiding an underground city. Somewhere in that tomb, Atiya Destine hopes to find a way of driving back the rising army before it’s too late.
Enter the Nemesai. They cannot be stopped.
This book will have a print run based on the number of pre-orders taken between 8/23 and 9/4. $66 plus $5 shipping (US).
August 28, 2020
Brian Hodge - The Horror Show 278
One of horror fiction's greatest living writers, Brian Hodge, sits down with Brian Keene and Mary SanGiovanni for a career-spanning interview on creativity, professionalism, and surviving the publishing industry's cyclical waves. Plus, the Horror Writers Association gets health care options and a new diversity grant, Gwendolyn Kiste gets a two-book deal, and Jeff Strand joins the show to talk about his new Gleefully Macabre imprint.
Listen for free on iTunes – Spotify – Libsyn – iHeartRadio – Stitcher - YouTube
August 27, 2020
Curtain Call
Today I decided to end The Horror Show with Brian Keene podcast.
We had a great six year (almost seven year) run, but it is clear to me that the time has come. With each passing year, the show has become more and more popular, but with that popularity comes more work and more headaches and more time away from writing.
I understand the role the show plays in people’s lives, and I understand, as my friend Hillary Monahan said “you're an important voice…and the community will miss you.” And as Christopher Golden pointed out, “You've done a lot of good with The Horror Show, brother. That includes respect for the history of the genre and lifting up new generations of writers. The constant melee of social media is poisonous and maybe it doesn't need the oxygen you give it. But that other stuff? It does.”
But here’s the thing. If you’re going to do a show that — at least in part — focuses on fairly presenting news that impacts the horror genre and industry — then you’re going to have to give oxygen to some of that poisonous stuff. And when you give oxygen to the poisonous stuff, it slowly takes your own oxygen away.
Here lately, I’m having trouble breathing.
(And yes, it occurs to me that “I can’t breathe” has very particular connotations in our society right now, so let me take this as an opportunity to reiterate that Black Lives Fucking Matter, and if you disagree with me, that’s okay. Stop buying my books).
But I digress…
Hillary and Chris are both right, in that the show serves other important purposes — namely, giving a platform to other voices and shining a spotlight on the genre’s history. I enjoy doing both of those things. Those things don’t take away my oxygen.
So…while The Horror Show with Brian Keene is indeed ending with next week’s episode, that doesn’t mean I’ll stop giving a platform to other voices and shining a spotlight on the genre’s history. I intend to continue doing both of those things via semi-regular livestreams on YouTube. I say semi-regular because I don’t want to be tied to a schedule, the way i was with the podcast. Coming up in the next two months on The Horror Show, I had intended to interview Gabino Iglesias, Stephen Graham Jones, Cina Pelayo, Tim Waggoner, Wesley Southard, and Somer Canon. I’ll still be doing that, but on YouTube, rather than a podcast, and I’ll focus ONLY on giving them a platform, rather than a format where they have to share the spotlight with whatever terrible fucking thing happened in the industry that week. And I’ll also use that platform to examine the genre’s history. (I’ve been dying for an opportunity to show off stuff like my 90s horror zine collection and uber-rare Richard Laymon works, and stuff like a letter from Robert Bloch to J.F. Gonzalez).
All 280 episodes of The Horror Show with Brian Keene will continue to be available for free. They are an important document and I would not deprive future genre enthusiast’s of their value. Episodes like Jack Ketchum’s final interview are priceless and important.
I will continue to record weekly episodes of Defenders Dialogue with Christopher Golden as that has never impacted my time to write or my ability to breathe.
I would like to thank everyone who has appeared on the show these last six and a half years. Thanks to Project iRadio who hosted us our first year. Thanks to Armand and Shelly Rosamilia and all of our former Project Entertainment Network sister shows who put up with us through years two through five. Thanks to Dave Thomas, Mary SanGiovanni, Matt Wildasin, Coop, Phoebe, and Dungeonmaster 77.1.
And thanks to you, the listeners. It’s been a pleasure. Thank you for inviting us into your homes and cars and commutes every week. Thanks for allowing me to do something that — for a very long time — brought me joy. I hope it brought you some, as well.
— Brian Keene
PS: Between this announcement and the announcement earlier in the week that we were pulling the plug on Maelstrom — don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not going anywhere. Ultimately, this all leads to more time to refocus on writing. And that’s a good thing.
Defenders Dialogue 113
As Howard the Duck falls, only Man-Thing and his remaining companions stand against the collapse of reality itself. Plus, F.A. Schist seeks revenge against the muck monster, but so do a motorcycle gang. Christopher Golden and Brian Keene discuss Marvel's Man-Thing issues 1 and 2.
Listen for free on iTunes – YouTube – Libsyn – iHeartRadio – Stitcher
August 25, 2020
Der Hexenbaum
DER HEXENBAUM is the German signed hardcover edition of LAST OF THE ALBATWITCHES. All 999 copies sold out in pre-order. You can add to your wishlist here. It ships in September.
