May 2025 Updates and Year-End Lists
I am currently drawing my third graphic novel while I prep The Bookie & the Bruiser,' which will be my fourth motion picture as writer/director/musical co-composer. There are some strong additions to the cast, including Theo James in a leading role opposite Vince Vaughn:
https://variety.com/2025/film/global/...
I acquired the publishing rights for Hug Chickenpenny, which is now available to order once more for reasonable prices on Amazon. This gothic orphan fable is quite different from my other books, but also my favorite published work.
https://www.amazon.com/Hug-Chickenpen...
I am a fan of making year-end lists, and below are three of mine (books, comics, and boardgames) and links to one for movies and another for albums.
The Top 10 Books I read in 2024:
--Hell’s Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men by Harold Schechter
(This is an atmospheric, evocative, frightening, and often funny book. It ranks with Ed Yong’s An Immense World as my very favorite nonfiction book ever.)
--The Human Stain by Philip Roth
(This is the best of the half dozen Roth books I’ve read by a significant margin. Roth expertly and fluidly moves though minds, time, events, and histories while exploring what can be done better in a novel than in any other art form.)
--Cold, Thin Air, Vol. 2 by C.K. Walker
(See my review on this site: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...)
--Valuable Humans in Transit and Other Stories by qntm
--Lush Life by Richard Price
--Rontel by Sam Pink
--The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
--Cold, Thin Air, Vol. 1 by C.K. Walker
--Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud
--The Gorgon’s Head by Florence Hurd
My 15 favorite 2024 comics and new reprints editions that came out this year are:
--Smoking Kills by Thijs Desemt
--Peepshow #15 by Joe Matt
--Dreadstar vs the Inevitable by Jim Starlin
--Donald Duck "Mystery of the Swamp" by Carl Barks
--What We Mean By Yesterday Vol. 1 by Benjamin Marra
--Who Raped My Horse? by Johnny Ryan
--Nancy & Sluggo’s Guide to Life by Ernie Bushmiller
--Alley by Junji Ito
--Processing: 100 Comics That Got Me Through It by Tara Booth
--Distant Ruptures by C.F.
--Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Theatre by Tom Scioli
--I Wish I Was Stupid by Yoshikazu Ebisu
--Forces of Nature by Edward Steed
--12 by Manix Abrera
--Tender by Beth Hetland
Here is a link to my IMDB list of favorite new movies and revival house screenings in 2024:
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls595638939...
Here is a link to a list I posted on rateyourmusic of my favorite albums released in 2024:
https://rateyourmusic.com/list/S_Crai...
The best boardgames I played in 2024 were: Kanban E.V., an elegant heavy weight euro designed by Vital Lacerda, Vinhos (2010), another heavy euro made by the same brilliant fellow, Clank!: Catacombs (the best installment in this excellent series), Innovation, Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar, Android: Netrunner, and Cave Evil, my #1 favorite game of all time.
For the first time, I checked out some visual novels, a time-consuming storytelling format fusing manga, anime, and audio books that may or may not have some limited gaming aspects as well. Of the five vns I completed, Lunaria: Virtualized Moonchild was the best by far, though Chaos;Head Noah was also worthwhile.
Below are some accolades I received for my second graphic novel, a huge-scale, hard sci-fi work published by Dark Horse Comics called Organisms from an Ancient Cosmos. Below the blurbs are some lists of and links to my 2023 favorites in books, music, movies, and comics.
"Zahler continues to amaze me. I got goosebumps." - Justin Lin, director Fast Five and Star Trek Beyond
"Yikes, what scary talent!" - Geof Darrow
"What a fantastic read!" -Patton Oswalt
"I had the best time reading this graphic novel. I never knew where it was going or how." -Brian Michael Bendis
Order on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1506733077/...
The debut album of my experimental/power electronics/noise project Mindscrubber is now available on CD and digitally from Chondritic Sounds:
https://chondriticsound.bandcamp.com/...
https://variety.com/2025/film/global/...
I acquired the publishing rights for Hug Chickenpenny, which is now available to order once more for reasonable prices on Amazon. This gothic orphan fable is quite different from my other books, but also my favorite published work.
https://www.amazon.com/Hug-Chickenpen...
I am a fan of making year-end lists, and below are three of mine (books, comics, and boardgames) and links to one for movies and another for albums.
The Top 10 Books I read in 2024:
--Hell’s Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men by Harold Schechter
(This is an atmospheric, evocative, frightening, and often funny book. It ranks with Ed Yong’s An Immense World as my very favorite nonfiction book ever.)
--The Human Stain by Philip Roth
(This is the best of the half dozen Roth books I’ve read by a significant margin. Roth expertly and fluidly moves though minds, time, events, and histories while exploring what can be done better in a novel than in any other art form.)
--Cold, Thin Air, Vol. 2 by C.K. Walker
(See my review on this site: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...)
--Valuable Humans in Transit and Other Stories by qntm
--Lush Life by Richard Price
--Rontel by Sam Pink
--The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
--Cold, Thin Air, Vol. 1 by C.K. Walker
--Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud
--The Gorgon’s Head by Florence Hurd
My 15 favorite 2024 comics and new reprints editions that came out this year are:
--Smoking Kills by Thijs Desemt
--Peepshow #15 by Joe Matt
--Dreadstar vs the Inevitable by Jim Starlin
--Donald Duck "Mystery of the Swamp" by Carl Barks
--What We Mean By Yesterday Vol. 1 by Benjamin Marra
--Who Raped My Horse? by Johnny Ryan
--Nancy & Sluggo’s Guide to Life by Ernie Bushmiller
--Alley by Junji Ito
--Processing: 100 Comics That Got Me Through It by Tara Booth
--Distant Ruptures by C.F.
--Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Theatre by Tom Scioli
--I Wish I Was Stupid by Yoshikazu Ebisu
--Forces of Nature by Edward Steed
--12 by Manix Abrera
--Tender by Beth Hetland
Here is a link to my IMDB list of favorite new movies and revival house screenings in 2024:
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls595638939...
Here is a link to a list I posted on rateyourmusic of my favorite albums released in 2024:
https://rateyourmusic.com/list/S_Crai...
The best boardgames I played in 2024 were: Kanban E.V., an elegant heavy weight euro designed by Vital Lacerda, Vinhos (2010), another heavy euro made by the same brilliant fellow, Clank!: Catacombs (the best installment in this excellent series), Innovation, Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar, Android: Netrunner, and Cave Evil, my #1 favorite game of all time.
For the first time, I checked out some visual novels, a time-consuming storytelling format fusing manga, anime, and audio books that may or may not have some limited gaming aspects as well. Of the five vns I completed, Lunaria: Virtualized Moonchild was the best by far, though Chaos;Head Noah was also worthwhile.
Below are some accolades I received for my second graphic novel, a huge-scale, hard sci-fi work published by Dark Horse Comics called Organisms from an Ancient Cosmos. Below the blurbs are some lists of and links to my 2023 favorites in books, music, movies, and comics.
"Zahler continues to amaze me. I got goosebumps." - Justin Lin, director Fast Five and Star Trek Beyond
"Yikes, what scary talent!" - Geof Darrow
"What a fantastic read!" -Patton Oswalt
"I had the best time reading this graphic novel. I never knew where it was going or how." -Brian Michael Bendis
Order on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1506733077/...
The debut album of my experimental/power electronics/noise project Mindscrubber is now available on CD and digitally from Chondritic Sounds:
https://chondriticsound.bandcamp.com/...
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Timothy
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Jan 03, 2025 11:24PM
I love The Exorcist 3, your style definitely reminds me of the great dialogue between Kinderman and Dyer.
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Thanks for the kind words. I tend to wait for movies to come around in revival theaters in 35mm, and the October screening at Anthology Film (NYC) was my first time ever seeing Exorcist III. I found the picture exceeded my expectations and was incredibly creepy and heavy throughout with a lot of nuanced and genuinely frightening stuff...and perhaps the best jump scare of all time (though both Smile movies have a number incredibly well conceived shocks).
Hopefully you can find a screening of Blatty’s ‘The Ninth Configuration’, which has one of the most satisfying brawls ever filmed.
Thanks James. I'm still looking for a publisher who will properly support my new fantasy novel while I work on moving other projects forward.
If you don't mind me asking a sincere if impolitic question, does the Oscar buzz around The Brutalist help or hurt The Bookie?Truly can't wait.
If The Big Stone Grid ever moves forward, look into the abandoned SEARS building on Olympic Blvd in Los Angeles. Been shooting there the past couple of days and can't help but think it would be a perfect location.
Really looking forward to hearing more about The Bookie & The Bruiser. Your previous films exhibit a solidity and energy all too rare in current cinema.
Bryce wrote: "If you don't mind me asking a sincere if impolitic question, does the Oscar buzz around The Brutalist help or hurt The Bookie?"Having actors of the calibre of Vince Vaughan and Adrien Brody certainly can't hurt a project!
Massive fan of your movies and all of your books. Really looking forward to The Bookie & The Bruiser as it gets closer to production. Can you shed any light as to why there are not audiobook versions of your novels? I've read them but would love to listen to audio versions as well.
Thanks for the support. Although I don't listen to audiobooks myself, I am open to my novels being made into audiobooks if an established company with a good track record approaches me.
I can't get into audiobooks myself because my mind wanders. It is easier to read a book for me as if my mind wanders I can reread passages.
Bryce wrote: "If you don't mind me asking a sincere if impolitic question, does the Oscar buzz around The Brutalist help or hurt The Bookie?Truly can't wait."
I think now we know the answer to that question.
