Letters From the Labyrinth - Brian Keene 213

Hey there. I'm Brian Keene and this is the 213th issue of Letters From the Labyrinth, a weekly newsletter for fans of my work. Previous issues are archived here.
Here's something that you, dear subscribers, are the first to know. If you pre-ordered the hardcover edition of SUBURBAN GOTHIC by me and Bryan Smith, they should begin shipping from Thunderstorm Books on Monday, December 14th. So, you'll have them well before the holidays!
Copies of NEMESAI by me and John Urbancik have all shipped, as well.
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I'm typing this up on Saturday night, while Mary and I binge-watch The X-Files. I was a huge fan of the series during its original run, and while I've been lucky enough to write for the property, and while there's even a minor character named after me in the comics (see below), I've never gone back and re-watched the entire series from beginning to end. I've watched certain episodes multiple times, but never the entire series.
Author Geoff Cooper started rewatching a few weeks ago, and that inspired Mary and I to do the same. We have worked out a schedule incorporating all eleven seasons, the two feature films, the lone season of The Lone Gunmen, and all three seasons of Millennium.
I suspect that while a lot of younger readers might enjoy the show, and recognize it for the classic genre icon that it is, they don't realize how influential the program was during its original run, and how its impact can still be felt on cable and streamer shows. It was seismic, for the time, and the aftershocks can still be felt across television.
Anyway, for a giggle, here's me and Geoff Cooper working for the Cigarette Smoking Man (courtesy of comic writer and artist Matthew Dow Smith)

And here's Mary and I with William B. Davis (the Cigarette Smoking Man) and Mitch Pileggi (Walter Skinner).

People often ask me what franchise I'd love to work on. As I said, I've already been lucky enough to write something for this franchise, but I hope to one day write more.
While I'm wishing, I'd love to play with John Carpenter's Snake Plissken and They Live, as well...
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Join me, Cullen Bunn, Brian Quinn, Adam Cesare, Michael Patrick Hicks, and Heath Amodio — the authors of the shared world horror anthology CENTRALIA — for live panel discussion on Wednesday, December 9th, at 7:30 pm EST. They’ll gather to discuss their characters, their stories, their Centralias, and what comes next! Watch via YouTube or Facebook.
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F.A. Schist may be dead, but his influence is still present in the swamp. On this past week's DEFENDERS DIALOGUE Christopher Golden and I recap the second issue of Marvel's Giant-Size Man-Thing, guest-starring Iron Man and the Fantastic Four. Listen here or wherever you listen to podcasts.
(Yes, Marvel Comics really published a comic book called Giant-Size Man-Thing. It was the 1970s...)
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Some of you have asked if I could start listing the previous week's Patreon entries here in the newsletter. Your wish is my command. This past week I posted:
* Chapter 54 and Chapter 55 of SUBMERGED: THE LABYRINTH, Book 2
* A new short story called "The Hatching"
* A very, very rare short story called "Other Worlds Than These"
* J.F. Gonzalez's notes on a novel we had planned called DAY OF TERROR
* Chapter 9 of "The Mines of the Dark Elf"
* A Top Secret Cover Reveal for my next collection, STORIES FOR THE NEXT PANDEMIC.
All of these -- and everything else that's available on my Patreon, can be read for just five bucks per month. Use this handy index to search through everything and find what you are looking for.
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If you've been missing your weekly dose of The Horror Show with Brian Keene...well, know that I am much more relaxed and writing a lot more now that I am free of it. However, my former co-hosts Mary SanGiovanni, Matt Wildasin, and Dave Thomas have started their own podcast -- called The Ghost Writers Podcast -- and they've added author Somer Canon as a fourth co-host. Truthfully, if you're missing The Horror Show, this will probably fill your fix. The first four episodes are now live. Check them out here or wherever else you listen to podcasts.
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Work this week was pretty focused on PROJECT CASTLE (the name I've given to a project I can't say much about publicly yet, but fans have guessed -- given Twitter exchanges between myself, Stephen King, Richard Chizmar and Bev Vincent, that it involves Castle Rock -- and thus the codename Project Castle). I've got a lot of the set-up finished now, and can start going bonkers with it this coming week. Very much looking forward to that.
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This is the BLOOD TIGER -- a custom 5-string lefty bass that I commissioned Rob Errera to build as a Christmas present for my oldest son. You can hear Rob testing it out here.
In addition to building great custom guitars, Rob is an author. He writes everything from horror novels to books about raising kids with autism. You can learn more about all of these here.
The pandemic has been tough on both of my boys, but it has been particularly hard on my oldest. He works on the front lines as a social worker, and thus, he has gone the entire year without seeing his mother, and only seeing me three times -- and then at a distance and wearing a mask. He takes the virus seriously, so his social life has taken a hit too. He turned 30 this year. That's one of the best ages, but instead of enjoying it, his days consist of going to work and then coming home and quarantining. He hasn't been able to see his friends much, and I guess dating has cratered in the midst of the pandemic.
His passion is music. He approaches it the same way I did writing when I was his age. So I wanted to get him something that would continue t encourage that, but also give him solace and comfort through what is probably going to be a very rough winter. I can't wait to give it to him.
It is also not lost on me that it is you, my readers, who made it possible for me to have this made for him. I grew up middle-class and blue collar. I have also known poverty. At 53, I'm still firmly middle-class and blue-collar. I'm lucky enough to be able to pay the bills as a writer, but it's seldom I can do something like this. So, what happened? I got a nice royalty check back in August, and was able to pay the bills and have a little left over. That little that was left over paid for this.
So, seriously. When I say thank you, I mean it. I appreciate your support.
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My youngest son and my ex-wife finally have a new place to live, so I'll be taking off work next Thursday, Friday and Saturday to help them move. That means there will be no newsletter next Sunday.
In the meantime, take care of each other -- and take care of yourselves. Make time this week to read, or watch a film, or listen to music, or go for a walk. This blasted hellscape of a year is almost over. Let's see it out together, okay?
-- Brian Keene