[Letters From the Labyrinth] Official Brian Keene Newsletter

My name is Brian Keene and this is Letters From the Labyrinth, a weekly newsletter for fans of my work. If you're a new subscriber, previous issues are archived here.

Last week's tongue-in-cheek rant about a pack of cycling enthusiasts who didn't want to share the road resulted in four angry emails and five unsubscribes. Which is unfortunate, because it means those people are going to miss out on this.

This is the cover to the Special Definitive Edition of Richard Laymon's FUNLAND, which goes on sale from Dark Regions Press next Tuesday, June 6th.

The resort of Boleta Bay is not the carefree place it used to be. A series of unexplained disappearances, and holiday-makers threatened by an army of leering bums, casts a shadow over summer pleasures. But now Boleta Bay is fighting back and their campaign leads them to the abandoned Funhouse.

The Funland Amusement Park provides more fear than fun these days. A vicious pack known as the Trolls are preying on anyone foolish enough to be alone at night. Folks in the area blame them for the recent mysterious disappearances, and a gang of local teenagers has decided to fight back. But nothing is ever what it seems in an amusement park. Behind the garish paint and bright lights waits a horror far worse than anything found in the freak show. Step right up. The terror is about to begin!

A constant favorite among Laymon fans, FUNLAND is one of his most representative and enduring works. This new edition featuring an introduction by Jack Ketchum, a lengthy afterword by myself, and over 50 pages of unpublished author notes and scanned pages from the Laymon archives. Artist Malcolm McClinton has supplied a fantastic wraparound dust jacket artwork and five full page interior illustrations based on the novel.

Published in the following formats:

* 500 signed and numbered hardcovers signed by Brian Keene and Jack Ketchum.
* 26 deluxe lettered traycased hardcovers signed by Brian Keene, Jack Ketchum, artist Malcolm McClinton, and editor James Beach.

Both editions are printed offset on premium acid-free paper with Smyth sewn case binding for maximum durability and longevity.

Here's the link. It goes on sale this Tuesday, June 6th.

There are still a few remaining copies of the Lettered Edition of NOTHING O'CLOCK, signed by myself, Neil Gaiman, and Joe Hill as well. Click here to get yours.

Things were finally going great. The new office/studio was finished and I was settling back into a routine and getting work done again.

This past Friday was my son's last day of school. I promised him he could go see the Captain Underpants movie after school. I didn't pre-order tickets, because I (incorrectly) assumed everyone in York County would go see Wonder Woman. When we arrived at the theater on our end of town, we learned that it was sold out through Sunday. So we quickly raced across town to West York, hoping to catch a showing there, only to learn that they were sold out, as well.

Then, on the way home the u-joint in my Jeep went out, making steering and acceleration a challenge. Smoke began pouring from underneath the vehicle. The driveshaft began making fun noises. So we sat roadside until my ex-wife got there, and then, while she drove our son safely home, I drove the Jeep -- at three miles an hour -- to my mechanic. At one point, a group of kids on bikes pulled alongside me and asked if I needed help or a push. We had an entire conversation at three miles per hour.

Upon reaching my mechanic, I found out he's on vacation until next week. So I am without a vehicle. Yesterday, my ex-wife and son were kind enough to run me to the grocery store so I could stock up, but she leaves for a work trip today, so my son and I will be walking everywhere this week. Easy task if you live in a city. Not so easy if you live in a rural area like we do.

Although, I imagine the only place he and I will walk this week is through the woods to our favorite swimming hole. It's about a mile from the house. We go there all the time, and when he's not with me, I also walk that trail for my evening exercise, which gives me an opportunity to smoke the day's only cigar, and to think, and to keep in some sort of shape.

On those walks, I always bring along my grandfather's walking stick. It is a smooth, straight, aged length of hickory wood, and it still holds the shape of the contour of his hand. Now it has begun to hold mine, as well. My son understands the importance and weight and value of the walking stick. When we are out there, hiking through the woods or strolling along the river or trekking to our swimming hole, it is easy to feel that my grandfather is there with us. When I die, the stick goes to my son. It is my hope that he will take both my grandfather and myself on walks with his own children.

During which he can tell them stories about their grandfather's stupid fucking Jeep and all of the stupid fucking repairs it needed and how although everybody owed their grandfather money, and everybody wanted their fucking books and stories and comics and Introductions and Afterwords on time, nobody could seem to send the fucking checks in a prompt manner, especially when the Jeep needed repairs.

CURRENTLY READING: Hex-Rated by Jason Ridler
CURRENTLY WATCHING: The Office (American version)
CURRENTLY LISTENING: "Sing" by Travis

Post-Britpop is hit and miss with me. I like some of it, but am indifferent to a lot of the offerings. But in re-watching The Office, I got to that classic scene where Jim and Pam share earbuds and a song. That song is "Sing" by Travis, and lyrically and musically, it speaks to my soul right now, and thus, it has been on repeat here at Casa Keene all week long.

Oh, and I really NEED to tell you about the best book I've read so far this year, which is HEX-RATED by Jason Ridler. My dear friend Nick Mamatas approached me and asked me if I'd consider blurbing it. I'm behind on shit, and normally would have said no, but there's not much I wouldn't do for Nick, so I told him to send it along.

Confession: most authors don't always read the books they blurb. Instead, they skim them and craft a blurb based on that. This was what I intended to do with HEX-RATED, but the story grabbed me and swept me in, and I spent two glorious days with it, cover to cover. It's fucking amazing. Here is my blurb:

"Jason Ridler's HEX-RATED is deliciously uncomfortable, wonderfully gritty, and a worthy successor to the occult detectives of old." Brian Keene - Bestselling author of THE COMPLEX and PRESSURE

Seriously, if you like horror-crime mash-ups, or noir so dark it's obsidian, or gritty and sleazy fiction, then you need to read this. One of the smartest, fun, transcendent pulp novels I've read in a long, long time. Click the cover below to pre-order for Kindle or paperback. (If the cover isn't showing in your email, here's a direct link to Amazon).

THE NAUGHTY LIST continues to crush at every film festival it appears at. It is now an Official Selection at the long-running Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal. We are all very proud of this.

Don't forget, you can watch the film for free on YouTube. If you enjoy it, please favor us with a Like and a comment and a share.

That's it for this week! A few reminders:

GHOST TOWN WRITER'S RETREAT: One of my few public appearances for this year.

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.

Take care.