[Letters From the Labyrinth]
I sent last week's newsletter at around 5am from a hotel in Haverhill, MA. Then we hit the road.
A few hours later, the universe reminded me that I am not immortal.
(No, I didn't catch on fire again).
About six months ago, I took a punch to the jaw. I walked away from that altercation thinking I was unscathed. Turns out I had cracked a tooth and didn't know it. The only reason I found out is that it got infected while in Haverhill, and as a result, I’ve been battling a very nasty bacterial infection for the last week.
Having no health insurance, I started with homeopathic solutions. I ate an entire jar of fresh, minced garlic, a package of oregano, and turmeric right out of the container. And these things helped...for a bit. But this was no ordinary infection and by Mondday morning, I was in bad shape. It had spread along my jawline and into my ear and my lymph node.
I went to our local urgent care facility, and paid $179 for the first doctor said I had a virus and told me to take Flonaise. So I went home and took Flonaise and things got worse. On Monday night, I went back to the urgent care facility and paid an additional $49 for a different doctor to explain to me that the first doctor was an idiot. The second doctor gave me antibiotics.
By Wednesday morning, I still hadn't improved. Indeed, the infection had grown worse. I went back to the urgent care and paid another $49 and this time saw two different doctors. The first one was convinced that the infection was heading to my brain and wanted to send me to the hospital. The other was insistent that we give the antibiotics more time, and suggested I supplement them with garlic.
By Wednesday afternoon, I could no longer speak. Talking made my jaw feel like it was going to fall off.
On Wednesday evening, a nurse called to follow-up (I didn't have to pay for this consultation). She said the doctors all agreed that if I wasn't better by morning, I needed to go to the hospital. And they also all agreed that the Flonaise doctor was still an idiot.
I took a hot bath Wednesday night, and sweated out the massive amounts of garlic I'd been consuming. Folks, let me tell you something -- I have never smelled or felt anything grosser in my life. My sweat had a pungency and feel to it that I've never experienced before. It was like a film of oil seeping out of my pores, and I swear I could see the sheen in the bathwater. And the smell? Revolting.
Thursday morning, I woke up and felt a little better. A trip to the hospital was put on the back-burner. By Thursday night, I'd improved. Friday was spent continuing to improve.
Yesterday, I felt good enough to go over to J.F. Gonzalez's wife's house. She had a few trees that she wanted me to cut down for her. I'd told Christopher Golden earlier in the week that physical labor and working outdoors had always seemed to agree with me, and this was no different. By the time I'd turned the chainsaw off and hauled away a load of debris, I felt a lot better.
And that has continued through to this morning.
After the infection is completely gone I'll get the tooth taken care of. And i'm sure the new Rising novel that I'm working on (THE FALL) will now include a guy who can seemingly survive anything but is dying of stupid bacterial infection because there are no doctors or antibiotics in the zombie apocalypse.
Or Flonaise, either.
I would like to thank Thomas Sniegowski for filling in for me on last week's episode of Defenders Dialogue, and Matt Wildasin for filling in for me on The Horror Show with Brian Keene.
I didn't get much of anything done, including writing, but I did manage to pen a new short story called "Friday Night in Damascus". You can read it on my Patreon right now.
People often ask me what the difference is between Splatterpunk and Extreme Horror. In most cases, the difference is one of social commentary. "Friday Night In Damascus" is a good example of the difference. It is firmly Splatterpunk, given the social and political commentary. Mary says it reminds her of a cross between John Skipp and David J. Schow, so I reckon I did it right.
Enjoy the story! Click here to read it.
Apex Publications are offering a promotional bundle of all the books they’ve published in 2019 so far—Hole in the World by Brian Keene, Do Not Go Quietly edited by Jason Sizemore and Lesley Conner, Pimp My Airship by Maurice Broaddus, Coil by Ren Warom, Snow Over Utopia by Rudolfo A. Serna, and Ration by Cody T Luff—for only $65 for the trade paperback editions or $25 for the digital editions. Click here for details.
Anyone who orders the 2019 bundle will receive a coupon code for 50% off their next order! This coupon code will be distinct for each customer, can be used one time, and doesn’t expire.
Marvel Entertainment and Serial Box present THOR: METAL GODS, an 8-part audio and prose series written by Brian Keene, Aaron Stewart-Ahn, Jay Edidin, and Yoon Ha Lee. THOR: METAL GODS launches in December and is available for pre-order now. Click here to pre-order.
Behold the cover!
This Week's Podcasts:
Asher Ellis - The Horror Show with Brian Keene - Episode 240
Asher Ellis joins Brian, Mary, and special guest John Urbancik for a pre-recorded discussion on screenwriting, playwriting, his new novel PET, James Fry, and much more. This week, Matt hosts the show and gives some of his Top 5's for topics such as: Novels, Video Games, Food, Comics and Horror Movies.
Listen for free on YouTube – iTunes – Spotify – Project Entertainment– iHeartRadio – Stitcher
Defenders Dialogue - Episode 80
Tom Sniegoski (filling in for Brian Keene) joins Christopher Golden to discuss the disjointed lunacy of Iron Man Annual #4, featuring The Champions, the absurdly gigantic head of MODOK, the best silly villain of all time, and very little logic! Excelsior!.
Listen for free on iTunes – YouTube – Project Entertainment – iHeartRadio – Stitcher
MIDNIGHT RITUALS is a free 100-copy limited edition chapbook with stories by myself, Robert Swartwood, Kelli Owen, Wesley Southard, Robert Ford, Stephen Kozeniewski, and John Boden, and non-fiction by Mary SanGiovanni.
Yes, free.
The only way to get one is to be one of the first 100 people who show up Saturday October 26th from 2pm to 5pm at 2nd & Charles, 3501 Paxton St, Harrisburg, PA 17111. That’s where Mary, Kelli, Wesley, Robert, the other Robert, John and Stephen will be signing books. (In addition to Midnight Rituals, the store will have copies of PRESSURE and WHITE FIRE on hand).
Okay, that's it for this week. As always:
PATREON - Where I post new short stories, writing advice essays, two serialized ongoing novels, and behind-the-scenes stuff.
TWITTER - The only social media outlet I still use regularly.
YOUTUBE - Where I'm posting free stuff each and every day.
I'll see you back here next week!