Letters From the Labyrinth 183 - Brian Keene
Hi. I'm Brian Keene and this is the 183rd issue of Letters From the Labyrinth, a weekly newsletter for fans of my work. Previous issues are archived here.
So, all of the movie options that were in the works before the pandemic are now officially kaput. Urban Gothic, Darkness on the Edge of Town, The Last Zombie, and all the rest. The final one to go, the one we'd held out hope for, was The Cage, but Paul Campion and I have had to finally pull the plug on that one, as well. It's unfortunate and demoralizing, but it's also very much the nature of this business, pandemic or no. You never ever get excited or celebrate until principal photography has begun and your first check has cleared. That's a lesson they don't teach you in the How To be A Full-Time Novelist self-help books, but it's an important one, so allow me to be the one to tell you that.
Not all hope is lost. Paul and I retain all rights to The Cage, so we'll launch another attempt down the road. And when the pandemic is over and folks can go to the theater again, I know that Mark Meer's one-man stage adaptation of The Damned Highway will be making it to more cities in the United States and Canada, so we have those to look forward to.
Despite these setbacks, it was a good week, production-wise. I worked on edits of Suburban Gothic and Nemesai. You know what Suburban Gothic is, of course, but this is the first time I've mentioned Nemesai, and I think I'll keep you guessing as to what it is for a little while longer.
I also sent the manuscript of The Seven: The Labyrinth, Book 1 off to Paul Goblirsch at Thunderstorm Books. Look for that hardcover later this year, with art by Chris Enterline.
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It's Saturday evening as I type this, and as I type it, I've received texts from Mary, and from friends Kasey Lansdale, Pam Blazi, and Wrath James White, as well as a group text I have going with some guys I served in the Navy with.
I miss people. Mary especially. All of those folks mentioned above are ones I would have seen here in the next few months. Instead, we have to rely on text messages and video conferencing. It sucks, particularly when it comes to Mary. I'd like to tell her that I love her by whispering it in her ear instead of whispering it over a phone.
Speaking of Wrath, you probably heard by now that KillerCon, which was supposed to take place in August, has been cancelled now. He and I are discussing plans to stream the Splatterpunk Awards online. I'll have details for you on that as they become available.
And speaking of Kasey, I'd like to plug her Instagram, if you'll allow me. As I recently told her, Kasey's Instagram posts read like hopeful entries from a daily inspirational quote desk calendar. And I mean that in all sincerity. Her light and positive thoughts have really been a boon to me, particularly on extra lonely days like today. You might find them positive and helpful as well. Click here and give her a follow.
As I said, I'm typing this on a Saturday evening. This time tomorrow (Sunday) I've got a tele-conference with the rest of the Board of Directors for Scares That Care. After that's over, I'm sure I'll be missing people all over again for another evening.
We're gonna have one helluva party at some point in the future, folks...
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Ghoul is being re-released as a special limited edition mass market paperback as part of the Night Worms Summer 2020 Book Club package. This special edition, produced by Poltergeist Press, contains a brand-new Introduction by me, talking about the book’s origins, it’s enduring popularity, the film adaptation, and what it all means to me, looking back. It also features a brand-new cover by Frank Noble. Again, this is a special edition and is ONLY available by ordering the Night Worms ‘Boys of Summer’ book club package — which you can do by clicking here.
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There is a new German-language documentary about me courtesy of Creepy Creatures. It’s free to watch. Click here to view it. It has a lot of rare footage and photos you probably haven't seen before.
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Midnight Rituals is an anthology featuring myself, Mary SanGiovanni, Robert Swartwood, John Boden, Kelli Owen, Stephen Kozeniewski, Wesley Southard, and Robert Ford.
It was originally published as an extremely limited edition print chapbook. We are now offering it as a free e-book to help distract everyone from the real-world horrors taking place right now.
April 31 will be the last day you can download it. After that, it will no longer be available.
Click here to download it as either an e-pub or mobi file (acceptable for all e-readers).
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Speaking of free, don't forget about Not Alone, a brand-new zombie short story that is set in the worlds of my novels Dead Sea and Entombed. It is available for free exclusively from Serial Box as both prose and audio. Click here to start listening or reading for free right now.
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Currently Watching: Waco (Netflix)
Currently Reading: Clown In A Cornfield by Adam Cesare
Currently Listening: Prince's cover of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love"
Seriously, if you haven't heard the Prince Led Zeppelin cover, stop what you're doing, click here, and watch it.
The man was a god, sent down here to Earth for a little while...
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Speaking of music, my friend and synth-god Xander Harris has just released a new single. Check it out for free here.
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This Week's Podcasts:
The Green List - The Horror Show with Brian Keene - Ep 262
Brian, Mary, Matt, Kelli, and Dave discuss the 2019 Bram Stoker Award winners and the fast-moving changes in both book and comic book publishing, and what readers can do to support their favorite authors during this crisis.
Listen for free on iTunes – Spotify – Libsyn – iHeartRadio – Stitcher - YouTube
Defenders Dialogue - Ep 98
Doctor Doom and Namor uncover the origins of the Deathlok project and face off against the Fantastic Four and the mysterious Shroud, as Christopher Golden and Brian Keene discuss Marvel's Super-Villain Team-Up issues 4 through 6.
Listen for free on iTunes – YouTube – Libsyn – iHeartRadio – Stitcher
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That's it for this week. As always, a few reminders:
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 week.
I'll see you back here next week!