[Letters From the Labyrinth] Official Brian Keene Newsletter 2/12/17

Hi. My name is Brian Keene and this is the 28th issue of Letters From the Labyrinth. If you're a new subscriber, previous issues are archived here.

This week, I'm going to drop at least one exclusive, unannounced bit of news. It is movie-related. To see what it is, keep reading...

In last week's newsletter, I talked a bit about the forthcoming CLICKERS FOREVER: A J.F. GONZALEZ TRIBUTE -- an anthology featuring all-new fiction and non-fiction based on the world and works of J. F. Gonzalez. There are Clickers stories in the anthology, of course, but there are also stories featuring Jesus's other creations and settings, as well as some wonderful essays on the man, his impact on the genre, and his various works. For example, Wrath James White wrote a powerhouse of a piece about what it was like to collaborate with Jesus, not only as a fellow writer, but as a fellow writer of color. Wayne Allen Sallee turned in one of the best essays I've read in years -- a lengthy look back at his friendship with Jesus that also serves as a walking tour of the early World Horror Conventions and the Splatterpunk scene.

But yes, there are Clickers stories, too. Adam Cesare -- one of the most popular and promising names to emerge out of this coming-to-prominence next generation of horror writers -- wrote one. Earlier this week, he told his friend, artist Chris Enterline, about it, and Chris got so excited he drew the following fan art.

(There should be an image above. If not, you can view it on my Twitter and Facebook feeds).

If you are a publisher or author interested in viewing more of Chris's artwork, he's on Twitter as @artsyenterline and on Instagram as @ENTERLINEDRAWS.

THE NAUGHTY LIST is a short comedic-noir film directed by Paul Campion (THE DEVIL'S ROCK) and based on my short story "The Siqqusim Who Stole Christmas". You can watch it for free here.

The film is now making the festival rounds. So far, we've been selected a Finalist in the FILMSshort Competition, and were a winner in the One-Reeler Short Film Competition.

Here's the movie poster we've been using for the film festivals. It will also be the cover to the forthcoming DVD. Artwork is by Graham Humphreys.

Pretty sweet, right?

That reminds me, I promised you folks some exclusive, unannounced news in this issue, didn't I?

Okay, let's do that next.

Some time in April (we don't have an exact date yet) there's going to be a Brian Keene and Paul Campion Film Festival in Central Pennsylvania.

We will show THE NAUGHTY LIST, as well as other films connected to us (like FAST ZOMBIES SUCK, NIGHT OF THE HELL HAMSTERS, and possibly even GHOUL and THE DEVIL'S ROCK if we can get permission to screen them). We will also screen the original pitch reel and a brand new sizzle reel for DARK HOLLOW, which is what we are focused on getting greenlit now (and oh my God, I wish I could share some of the studio feedback with you. I can't, but I wish I could. Some of it is excellent. And some of it...well, some of it makes you wonder how any good film ever gets made).

Paul and I will also do a Q&A with the audience, which I'll record for the podcast. We'll talk about THE NAUGHTY LIST, our struggles getting DARK HOLLOW greenlit, our plans for KILL WHITEY, and whatever else you want to ask us about.

I don't have a firm date yet. I'll let you know as soon as I lock that down with the venue. But yes, some time in April, plan on traveling to Central Pennsylvania for this one-time only special event!

Speaking of DARK HOLLOW...

As previously announced, Crossroads Press are bringing most of my backlist out in audiobook. The first release was the audiobook adaptation of THE COMPLEX, read by Chet Williamson. The second release, DARK HOLLOW, is available now via Audible, and is also read by Chet Williamson. Click here to order.

Since DARK HOLLOW serves as a prequel in the Levi Stoltzfus series, GHOST WALK, A GATHERING OF CROWS and LAST OF THE ALBATWITCHES (all three read by Chet Williamson) are currently in production, as are the author's preferred editions of THE RISING and CITY OF THE DEAD.

CURRENTLY WATCHING: Nothing
CURRENTLY READING: Inkstains - August by John Urbancik
CURRENTLY LISTENING: Purple Rain by Prince

And by currently listening, I do mean as in right now, as I type this, side two of Purple Rain is spinning on the turntable. Easily my favorite album of all time. No contest. It was pretty much in constant rotation my junior year of High School (which I perhaps best summed up in the prologue to GHOUL).

Listening to it, especially on vinyl, makes me happy and sad and nostalgic. It makes me want to dance, air guitar, fuck, and fall in love. It makes me think of girls I knew back then -- of Cara and Brooke and Lanie and Becky and Karen and Erica and Kim and Penny and Diane, and especially a girl named Jenny. No doubt you all had a Jenny in your lives. Jenny was my Jenny. You know how that goes. They're all you can think about at 16, and you think you'll be together forever, but of course, you aren't. And for years, you still think of them. Then you reach middle age and maybe you don't think of them at all, or only on occasion. But you throw on "Take Me With U" (side one, track two) and BOOM... you just shot me back through time, and it all comes back crystal clear.

You put on Purple Rain and I'm 16 again and the only things that matter to me are being in love and getting the hell out of this paper mill town. You put on Purple Rain and I see myself rebelling against my parents and school administration and anybody else in my life -- not even understanding why I'm rebelling -- just knowing that I'm wired that way, without understanding it. You put on Purple Rain and I'm sitting in detention, writing a terrible pastiche of Stephen King's "The Mist" but knowing, even then, that this is what I want to do. You put on Purple Rain and I'm kissing Jenny at sunrise outside the YMCA, and Brooke backstage after a school musical, and Lanie after the prom, and Becky at the lake after Friday the 13th Part Whatever, and giving Cara a ride home from school and working up the nerve to kiss her (I never did -- something she laughs about now). You put on Purple Rain and I'm sneaking out of the house, after being grounded, and Penny is giving me a ride to Jenny's, because seeing her was so intensely important that night. You put on Purple Rain and I'm in my 1981 Mustang, taking these twisty Central Pennsylvania back roads at a speed that defies the laws of physics, getting away from the cops just as often as I got pulled over. You put on Purple Rain and Ronald Reagan is back in the White House and MTV still plays music and David Lee Roth hasn't left Van Halen yet and Prince...?

Prince is still alive.

You put on Purple Rain and for just a little while, I'm young again.

And hello to Cara and Erica and Penny, all of whom I suspect are signed up for this newsletter.

Because some people are stupid, I feel I should add a disclaimer to the above portion of the newsletter. Yes, I look back with fondness on my High School years, but I am perfectly happy these days. I have two happy and healthy sons, and an incredibly loving girlfriend, and a great ex-wife, and some wonderful friends, and a pretty solid career giving back to a genre that has given me so much enjoyment throughout my life, and I'm rarely in trouble with the law anymore, for the most part. I have no complaints. For the first time in a very, very, VERY long time, I am content.

But sometimes music and books and films actually do work like time machines.

Art. Art can be a motherfucker. That's all I was saying.

(I've been mulling over a sequel to GHOUL. The idea has been in my head for years, but I keep telling myself, "No." But this week, the idea came back strong again, and said, "What if...?". And I suspect a lot of the stream of consciousness stuff I just typed above is my muse trying to convince me to do it...)

Art can be a motherfucker, indeed.

That's it for this week. If you're still here, thanks for not unsubscribing. I really enjoy doing this every week, as well as the podcast. But the podcast is work. This newsletter isn't. It feels more intimate, and serves as a release for me. I hope you're getting something out of it, too.

See you back here next week. And don't forget:

END OF THE ROAD - My weekly column for Cemetery Dance

PATREON - Where I post new short stories, a serialized ongoing novel, and behind-the-scenes stuff.

TWITTER - The only social media outlet I still use regularly.