Letters From the Labyrinth 220 - Brian Keene

Hey there. I'm Brian Keene and this is the 220th issue of Letters From the Labyrinth, a weekly newsletter for fans of my work. Previous issues are archived here.
I spent the weekend reading THE DRIVE-IN: MULTIPLEX manuscripts by Owen King, Stephen Graham Jones, Elizabeth Massie, Jonathan Janz, and Rachel Autumn Deering. Which, all things considered, is a pretty great way to earn a living.
The first draft of WITH TEETH is finished. I still have to post the finale to Patreon. Next week I'll begin the job of reading through it, and tearing it apart, and rewriting and revising. Then I'll send it off to my pre-readers. I suspect there will be some major changes between the Patreon raw first draft and what is eventually published in book form.
Speaking of Patreon, Weston Ochse and I are going to be teaming up in March for a cross-Patreon project called THE MONSTERS OF SAIPAN. I don't want to say too much about it yet, but I will say that you don't have to subscribe to both of our Patreon pages to enjoy it. The story will be available via both of our Patreons simultaneously.
I also suspect SUBMERGED: THE LABYRINTH Book 2 will be wrapping up some time between the end of February and mid-March. THE SEVEN: THE LABYRINTH Book 1 should be out in hardcover from Thunderstorm Books this spring (along with STORIES FOR THE NEXT PANDEMIC) so that will be good timing.
Speaking of Thunderstorm Books, SUBURBAN GOTHIC has now shipped to all who pre-ordered it. My author copies arrived Friday, and the book looks great! I'm enjoying reading people's reactions to the story on social media. It's definitely the most messed up thing Bryan and I have ever written, I think. Folks have been asking about when Deadite Press will be releasing the paperback and e-book. I don't have a date to pass along to you, but last I heard, Alan Clark was working on the cover.
And circling around to Patreon again, this February is the 12th Annual Women In Horror Month. WiHM is an international, grassroots initiative, which encourages supporters to learn about and showcase the underrepresented work of women in the horror industries. Whether they are on the screen, behind the scenes, or contributing in their other various artistic ways, it is clear that women love, appreciate, and contribute to the horror genre.
While I still like the idea behind Women In Horror Month, I don't like how it has basically become a month where people just post social media lists of women horror writers. One list might be a good resource, but when there are 2,000 people posting 2,000 lists to Twitter, it all becomes overwhelming white noise and the very women who are supposed to be spotlighted get lost in the competing din.
And understand, I'm not denigrating anybody with this observation. The fans and professionals posting these lists are doing so with the absolute best intentions. And yes, before one of you stands up and points at me like Donald Sutherland in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, I posted my own lists back when WiHM was new. But as the annual movement progressed, I tried to do more. The Horror Show with Brian Keene ran for six years. I think it was in our second year where we had an on-air discussion about how blogs and podcasts and webzines and magazines all rush to have women guests on for WiHM, and then go back to business as usual for the other eleven months of the year. That always seemed counterproductive to me, and that's why The Horror Show had women on throughout the year.
I'm not saying this to toot my own horn. I'm saying this to illustrate that -- as a collective industry -- it is easy for us (myself included) to grow complacent in this regard, and not even be aware of it.
I was thinking about all of this last weekend, and I said to Mary that it seemed to me that if the literary side of WiHM is meant to spotlight women in the field, then the best way to do that -- at this point in the 12th year -- might be to get their work into the eyes of readers, rather than simply including their name on a list or doing an interview with them on a Blog. And again, let me say it loudly -- I am NOT denigrating those efforts. They are important. But I also think we need to get beyond that, and get to something more substantive.
So...for the month of February. on my Patreon, I will be spotlighting stories by women you may not have read yet. They will be paid for those stories. I have selected authors with the following qualifications;
1. You -- a Brian Keene reader -- may not be familiar with them yet.
2. Their work represents a good cross-spectrum of all of horror's various styles and sub-genres, meaning their will be quiet, supernatural, extreme, splatterpunk, etc. A little bit of everything, just like you get from me.
The stories by these women will be posted on my Patreon every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The rest of the week will be business as usual.
It is my hope that in reading these stories, you'll discover a new author that you like, and that you will then seek out their works the other eleven months of the year.
I can't imagine anyone having a problem with this, but just in case, I'd like to point out that this is not the first time I have had guest contributions on Patreon. In the past, my Patreon supporters have been treated to stories and non-fiction from Mary SanGiovanni, John Urbancik, J.F. Gonzalez, Nicholas Kaufmann, Leigh Haig and many more. This is offered in that same spirit.
I hope you are as excited about this as I am.
For more information on Women In Horror Month, click here.
Author and screenwriter David J. Schow (The Crow, Leatherface, The Outer Limits, The Shaft) was my guest on the second Keenestream, and Geoff Cooper was my guest co-host. We talked for two hours about everything from Robert Bloch and the Creature From the Black Lagoon to the origin of Splatterpunk and writing for Hollywood. Watch for free!
The next night, I was very happy to be a guest on Blue Collar Heresy, along with theologian Jim Majors and BCH host Geoff Cooper. Lot of fun discussing ghosts, trauma and fear. The entire show is about 45 minutes long. You can view it here.
An update on the Splatterpunk Awards:
1. Like many industries, production on our statues for the 2020 awards was delayed by Covid. We are happy to report that we have found a new company to caste them, and will ship the statues out as soon as they are completed.
2. Time is running out to nominate works for the 2021 Splatterpunk Awards, which honor superior achievement in the sub-genres of Splatterpunk and Extreme Horror fiction published in 2020.
The categories are:
BEST NOVEL (for works of more than 50,000 words)
BEST NOVELLA (for works from 15,000 to 50,000 words)
BEST SHORT STORY (for works from 500 to 14,000 words)
BEST COLLECTION (for single-author works over 50,000 words)
BEST ANTHOLOGY (for multiple-author collections over 50,000 words)
To cast your recommendation, email it to SPLATTERPUNKAWARDS@GMAIL.COM. Please include the category, title of work, and the author or editor of the work.
Please Note: THE WORK MUST HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED IN 2020 TO BE ELIGIBLE. Reprints and works published in other years will be disqualified unless a case can be made that they were significantly revised. Works by award founders Brian Keene and Wrath James White are also ineligible.
The deadline for recommendations is midnight (Eastern Standard Time) February 14, 2021.
After all recommendations are tallied, a final ballot will be announced, along with this year’s judges.
The awards will be presented during a ceremony at the 2021 Killercon Convention, taking place in Austin, Texas.
In addition to the Splatterpunk Awards, author John Skipp will receive this year’s J.F. Gonzalez Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the field, following previous honorees David J. Schow, David G. Barnett, and Edward Lee.
A reminder that THE DAMNED HIGHWAY: FEAR AND LOATHING IN ARKHAM by myself and Nick Mamatas is coming back into print. The new paperback and e-book editions are now available for pre-order.
Click here to pre-order the paperback.
Click here to pre-order the e-book.
There will also be an audiobook adaptation forthcoming later in the year. It will be read by actor Mark Meer, who also starred in FEAR AND LOATHING AND LOVECRAFT -- the stage adaptation of the novel.
Currently Watching: If, like me, you loved the television series Jericho, and miss it terribly, there's a new movie on Shudder called Before The Fire that has some decent Jericho vibes. I enjoyed it. You might, too.
Currently Reading: I finished Antisocieties by Michael Cisco, and I gave it this official blurb: "In what almost seems to be a guidebook for these dread-inducing modern times, Michael Cisco's ANTISOCIETIES is an unsettling, surreal and terrifying meditation on loneliness and isolation. Highly recommended."
Currently Listening: More of you are enjoying the Alphabetical Album Experiment than I thought would be, so here's what I listened to this week:
ANTHEMS - Anthrax
WORSHIP MUSIC - Anthrax
BEST OF THE BEACH BOYS VOL. 1 - The Beach Boys
THE BEATLES' SECOND ALBUM - The Beatles
SOMETHING NEW - The Beatles
THE EARLY BEATLES - The Beatles
YESTERDAY...AND TODAY - The Beatles
REVOLVER - The Beatles
SGT, PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND - The Beatles
THE WHITE ALBUM - The Beatles
LET IT BE - The Beatles
HEY JUDE - The Beatles
ROCK 'N ROLL MUSIC VOL. 1 - The Beatles
RARITIES - The Beatles
1967 - 1970 - The Beatles
BEVERLY HILLS COP ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK - Various Artists
PIANO MAN - Billy Joel
STREETLIFE SERENADE - Billy Joel
TURNSTILES - Billy Joel
Okay, that's all for this week, I think. I hope that all of you are doing well. Continue to hunker down as best you can. Spend time with those you love if you're able. Read good books. Listen to good music. Watch good films. We'll get through.
See you next week!