Letters From the Labyrinth - Brian Keene 200
Hello again. I'm Brian Keene and and this is the 200th issue of Letters From the Labyrinth, a weekly newsletter for fans of my work. The previous 199 issues are archived here.
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NEMESAI
by John Urbancik & Brian Keene
From Thunderstorm Books
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).
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As long-time readers know, Maelstrom was my publishing imprint through Thunderstorm Books.
Paul Goblirsch and I founded Maelstrom a decade ago with a simple mission statement — each year we would produce three books: a novel length work by me, a novella length work by me, and a novel length work by an author that I thought more readers should know about. And over the years we did just that, shining a spotlight on authors such as Rachel Autumn Deering, Chesya Burke, Michael T, Huyck Jr., John Goodrich, Livia Llewellyn Bracken Macleod, Geoff Cooper, John Urbancik, and many more. You can click here to see a gallery of them all.
For seven years, we never missed a package. Then I got injured and nearly killed in 2018, and then Paul had some stuff happen, and that knocked us off schedule, but we got back on schedule late last year.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Paul and I talked about how both of us were feeling, and how our priorities were changing, and how both of us felt it was time to retire Maelstrom and build the next part of the future. We decided this for a couple of reasons.
The first reason was that Paul didn’t need me to help find new authors anymore. Probably more so than any other limited edition hardcover publishing small press, Paul has his pulse on the up-and-comers in this genre. There have been many times in the past two years, where I considered someone for Maelstrom, and then suggested it only to find out that Paul was already aware of them and going to publish them. That is a great thing.
The second reason was because we wanted to make room for new imprints, like the just announced Jeff Strand Gleefully Macabre imprint, and Mary SanGiovanni’s Tempest (which Paul is prouder of than anything he’s ever published).
And finally, I wanted to ease up on myself. In the last year, I’ve gotten my groove back, as far as writing and output goes, but at the end of the day, I’m 52, and at 52, I don’t write as fast or as furiously as I did at 32 or even 42.
So…Paul and I agreed to end Maelstrom. We intended to announce it before the pandemic, but then we decided to wait until he was able to get Tempest primed and ready, and announce some other things (most of which you now have heard about).
There are two final books I had intended to release under the Maelstrom imprint — a novel by Errick Nunnally, and a book about Ruby Jean Jensen by Regina Garza Mitchell -- that will still be published by Thunderstorm — just not under the Maelstrom imprint.
It’s also important to note that this does not mean I’ll no longer be publishing with Thunderstorm. Quite the contrary. Paul and I have big plans for the future — THE LABYRINTH series, and SUBURBAN GOTHIC, and a bunch of things I’m not allowed to tell you about yet. But for now, consider NEMESAI by myself and John Urbancik (which you can pre-order here) a sort-of Maelstrom coda.
My thanks to Paul Goblirsch and the rest of the Thunderstorm Books team for ten years of Maelstrom, and to all of the other authors and cover artists who participated in this then-new experiment, and to all the readers and collectors who bought the books.
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Last week's episode of The Horror Show with Brian Keene featured both Brian Hodge and Jeff Strand. Jeff talked about his new publishing imprint, and Brian talked about his career and dropped some truth that all writers should hear. I think his interview is one of the best we've done in our six -- almost seven -- years on the air. You can listen to it for free wherever you listen to podcasts, or via this link.
We didn't know it when we recorded last week, but this week's coming episode will be our last. We had a great 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. The endless toxicity that continues to spill out of the Matt Hayward - Poltergeist Press - Kelli Owen - et all debacle has poisoned the air. There is a very small group of people who have made it unbearable. This very small group of people believe that the main actors were treated unfairly, and that my podcast -- rather than their actions -- is to blame.
It wasn't me or the podcast who originally harassed these women. It wasn't me or the podcast who has continued to harass them. It wasn't me or the podcast who created multiple fake social media accounts to further engage in harassment of them. It wasn't me or the podcast who -- at one point -- had one of those fake social media profiles falsely accuse another writer of harassment, and tag the women he allegedly harassed, only to have that claim refuted by the women who it supposedly happened to. It wasn't me or the podcast who berated people in private. It wasn't me or the podcast who made demands of people in private.
It wasn't me or the podcast who did any of that, but it has become increasingly clear that these people will not stop. Some do it publicly. Some do it behind the scenes. All they had to do at any point during this was be quiet for a moment, and leave people alone. But they do not seem to know how to do that. I'm tired of it. The victims are tired of it. The general public is tired of it.
So...no more podcast. If you won't be quiet, then I will. And now you have nothing to harass people about.
I should be clear...this isn't the only reason I've made this choice. In truth, I've been dancing around this decision for at least a year. The podcast used to take one work day. Then two. Then three. And it got to the point where the podcast took over the vast majority of my work week. But this was absolutely the straw that broke the camel's back. And it's the right decision. I know that because I instantly felt a weight vanish from my shoulders the moment I said it out loud. I know that it's the right decision because my hypertension has been lower in the last few days than it has been all year. It's the right decision because people whom I respect and look up to -- people like Joe R. Lansdale and F. Paul Wilson -- tell me it's the right decision. And so do the people I love, like Mary and my son.
Hillary and Chris are both right, however, 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).
Once those livestreams have been posted to YouTube, I'll have Matt clean them up and format them and they will also be posted to The Horror Show with Brian Keene's podcast feed. This means that if you are subscribed to the podcast, you will still see occasional new content show up in your feed. But I can't stress enough -- it will be very different from what currently airs. It will not be The Horror Show with Brian Keene. There will be no news. No commentary. No co-hosts. No Dave, Mary, Matt, Phoebe, Coop, or Dungeonmaster 77.1. No theme music or sponsors or advertisements. It will be me and a guest, one on one in conversation. And again, it will not be weekly. It will happen when I have the time to do so.
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. The latest episode of that is here.
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.
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Between the cancellation of the show, and the retirement of 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.
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Several years ago, Bryan Smith and I wrote a Harley Quinn comic story called "Crazy For You". It was illustrated by Kyle Baker. Much of Kyle's original artwork from the comic is up for auction. Click here to see the pages.
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You may have noticed missing O's, I's, and N's in this newsletter. That's because those keys are still cracked on my keyboard. A new UBS keyboard is supposed to show up today. So, soon it won't look like I'm in the depths of a whiskey binge when I type.
(Okay, it will still look like that but at least it will be with those letters restored...)
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FINISHED READING:
Happiness Will Follow by Mike Hawthorne
Merciless by Bryan Smith
I'll post reviews to Goodreads this week.
CURRENTLY READING:
Slaves To Gravity by Wesley Southard and Somer Canon
A Place For Sinners by Aaron Dries
I'll post reviews to Goodreads when I'm done.
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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.
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Work continued this week on the final, final draft of SUBURBAN GOTHIC. It really is almost done now. I'm excited about it. And I think readers will be, too. As everyone knows, my books and J.F. Gonzalez's books take place in the same shared universe. That was something Jesus and I decided a long time ago, when we wrote CLICKERS II: THE NEXT WAVE. And some of Steven L. Shrewsbury's books take place in that same shared universe, as well. And over the years, we've let other authors offer their own contributions -- Leigh Haig, Brett McBean, and Mike Oliveri have written stories set in THE RISING, John Urbancik has done several things centered in my mythos, and all of the stories in CLICKERS FOREVER obviously take place there, too.
With SUBURBAN GOTHIC, Bryan Smith found a neat way to tie some of his fictional universe in, as well. It was his idea, and I love it. It's organic, it fits perfectly, and I cannot wait for you to read it.
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That's it for this week. Remember to pre-order NEMESAI, if you have the means. CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER
As always, a few reminders:
PATREON - Where I post new short stories, writing advice essays, three serialized ongoing novels, and behind-the-scenes stuff EVERY SINGLE DAY.
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!