Stephen Kozeniewski's Blog, page 23

In Memoriam: Frank Michaels Errington

Frank and I at the York Emporium, Horrible Saturday 2016I recall vividly when Richard Nixon died.  I asked my father, "Aren't we happy about this?  Wasn't he a bad guy?"  My father told me, "No, you should never be happy that someone died."  And I've taken that to heart.  Never speak ill of the dead, they say, and I think that's important.  It's what makes us human and not ghouls.  Still, It's always struck me that there are different kinds of grief.  It's one thing when a beloved family member dies, another thing entirely when a celebrity who touched your life passes, and yet another when a childhood enemy dies.  All grief of a sort, but all different.

For the most part, when someone in the horror industry dies, I take note, but that's about the long and short of it.  When I hear that the key grip for "Friday the 13: Part II" passes away, I usually think, "Oh, that's a shame.  I'm sure his family will miss him, and the world is a bit less vivid without him."  But that's about it.  Occasionally, a titan like George Romero or Jack Ketchum passes, and I feel a different, perhaps stronger sense of grief.  These are people who have affected my life and work, even if I've never met them.

Today is something else entirely.  Today a man passed who I counted as a friend and a kindred spirit.  Frank Michaels Errington was, of course, most importantly a husband and a family man.  But to horror authors he was one of a handful of truly prolific reviewers.  I count him among the top tier of horror reviewers, alongside Christine Morgan, Sharon Stevenson, Nick Cato, and C.T. Phipps.

Frank read every single one of my books.  He certainly didn't care for them all, but I never felt, as I sometimes do, stung by his negative reviews.  Fundamentally, Frank was a decent person, and I think he understood that authors are people, and that slinging shit across the internet might be fun in a perverse way, but it doesn't help anyone improve their craft, and it doesn't do readers any good.

Frank's reviews were always excellent and, perhaps more importantly, correct, in the sense that any review can be "correct."  As I said, he never felt the need to slam an author, even if he didn't like his or her work.  He was fair and detailed and his thoughts rang true.

What I think people don't necessarily know about book reviewers is that they're generous.  Generous with their time, generous with their thoughts, and generous with their money.  But Frank was a special case.  He was a fixture in the central Pennsylvania horror community, which is quite a feat, considering he hailed from Norristown, my hometown.  I know that drive well.  That's a two hour plus drive along a toll road. 

But I can't recall ever attending a signing, film debut, convention, or event in this area without Frank appearing at some point.  And never once did I see Frank when he didn't buy one of my books.  That streak, sadly, will remain unbroken.  The last time I saw Frank, at the White Rose Comic Con, he told me he had all of my books (obviously) but was still going to buy one of my re-releases because he like to support authors.

He liked to support authors.  Perhaps that's all that needs to be said about Frank.

But there's more, of course.  Frank led a great, rich, and full life.  He was thoughtful.  And kind.  He was a gentleman, in every meaningful sense of that word.  He was warm and kind and inviting, and, as I said, he was there.  Always there.  Always supportive.  He was beloved and recognized by everyone in the community (you need only glance at your Facebook feed this morning to feel that in full force.)  And yet I always found his humility striking, if striking is the right word for someone so humble.  People always recognized him and embraced him warmly, but he always affected an "Aw, shucks" sensibility, like he was nobody very important.

But he was important.  To all of us.  One of the greats, as I said earlier, in the community of reviewers.  And one of the greats in the community of mankind.  We are diminished by his loss.  But most diminished, of course, is his family, and I wish them great strength in facing the grief ahead.  If it means anything to you, know that Frank was recognized by his adopted horror family, that we will miss him.

BRAINEATER JONES $0.99 Sale!

Hey, everybody!  I'm very pleased, in conjunction with our good friends at BookBub, to announce that BRAINEATER JONES is on sale for only $0.99 across all platforms in the United States.  I hope you'll pick up a copy.

Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Kobo
Google Play
iTunes

Free Audiobooks!

Hey Splatter fans, I've got a free audiobook (or three) for each of you:

- THE GHOUL ARCHIPELAGO
- BILLY AND THE CLONEASAURUS
- BRAINEATER JONES (available in the US only)

As you may have heard, Audible promo codes are expiring in November. So if I don't get rid of them now they'll just go to waste. So e-mail me (skozeniewski at yahoo) for one, two, or, hell, all three. Hope to hear from you!
Click on the covers below to learn more!

ASOIAWTF (Redirect)

Hey, everybody!  Hope you all enjoyed the penultimate "Game of Thrones" last night.  I wrote about it a bit over on the group blog.  Check it out!

My Appearance on Necrocasticon!

Hey everybody!  I was delighted to be featured as the guest on the season premiere of Necrocasticon.  Click on the banner below to check it out!

White Rose Comic Con Autopsy (Redirect)

Hey, everybody! 

I know I promised this for last Wednesday, but I just have not been able to get my mind right lately.  Anyway, the lowdown on last month's WRCC is up now over on my group blog, Across the Board.

Oh, and regarding that first paragraph...

New Release Announcement: BRAINEATER JONES (Authors Preferred Edition)

Hey, everybody!  I'm very pleased to announce the re-release of my debut novel, BRAINEATER JONES under my personal imprint French Press!  I haven't exactly been advertising it, but some of you have no doubt noticed the novel has been unavailable for the past few weeks.  That's because rights reverted from my publisher to me and I was going through the laborious process of formatting, finding an illustrator, and publishing.  But the final result is well worth the wait, and the novel is now available in more stores than ever before.  And if you've purchased it before, I think you'll also be pleased to find some bonus content in the form of a short story.  I hope you'll check it out!

Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Kobo
Google Play
iTunes

Last Chance to Own! (Three Original Novels)

Hey, all!  White Rose Comic Con was very good to me last weekend.  (More on that on Wednesday, hopefully.) 

It was so good, in fact, that I am almost out of the original versions of BRAINEATER JONES, THE GHOUL ARCHIPELAGO, and BILLY AND THE CLONEASAURUS.  The rights for all three of these novels have reverted to me and I have republished them all.  That means shiny new covers for the future...

...but that also means that the original covers are now collector's items.  No one can ever publish another one again, not even me.  Only about twenty of them still exist, and all in my personal collection.

So, I wanted to offer this last opportunity to you, my fans, before it goes away forever.  I suspect after Scares That Care in August these books will all be gone.  So reach out to me now, utilizing the info in this link, and I will send you your very own autographed copy of one or more of these novels.

Horror Metal Cast Interview!

Hey, everybody!  I need to take a minute to write about White Rose Comic Con soon, as well as what may be your last opportunity to purchase the original versions of BRAINEATER JONES, THE GHOUL ARCHIPELAGO, and BILLY AND THE CLONEASAURUS.  But, instead of unpacking either of those complicated dealios right now, I've got a special treat for you all today.  On Monday this week I had a great interview with the crew over at Horror Metal Sounds, including metal drummer Joe Moore and my good friend and co-author Stevie Kopas.  We take a deep dive on writing SLASHVIVOR!, plus breaking news on BRAINEATER JONES and an exclusive on an upcoming novella of mine.  I think you're going to love it.  Check it out!

The Post-Nigh World (redirect)

Hey, everybody.  I know I've been scarce about the blog lately.  It's mostly been custodial work and interviews.  Not a lot of fresh thoughts.  The reason for that is that I've been in an existential funk lately and I knew that my next blogpost would have to address that, or else I'd just be dodging the issue.  So I've been avoiding writing it.  But now that it's my turn over at the group blog Across the Board, I finally addressed my nagging, apocalyptic concerns.  I hope you'll check it out.