Letters From the Labyrinth 250
Hi. I’m Brian Keene and this is the 250th issue of Letters From the Labyrinth — a weekly newsletter for fans of my work. You can read previous issues here. You should note, that’s a new link, as I have migrated this newsletter from Mailchimp to Substack. It was a fairly easy and painless process that took about a half an hour of my time. It won’t impact any of you other than the newsletter itself might be easier to read on your screens. On my end, it’s saving me about $50 a month.
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You’re reading this on Sunday. If you live in or near Pennsylvania, I’m signing books and comics today at the Harrisburg Comic Con, taking place at Harrisburg Mall 3501 Paxton St., Harrisburg, PA 17111. Tickets available at the door. I’ll be there until 5pm sharp. Mike Hawthorne, Wesley Southard, and Somer Canon are signing there, too. Had a good time hanging out with them yesterday. Had lots of laughs with Somer and Wes, and talked industry stuff going on behind the scenes with Mike. Come catch us today!
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Previously in Letters From the Labyrinth, you’ve been enjoying the cat updates. For new subscribers who may be wondering “Cat updates? I thought this guy was a horror writer or something?” — I live in rural Pennsylvania, along the shore of the Susquehanna River. Feral cats are common here, but they usually stay away from civilization. A few months ago, one of them began hanging out in my yard. I dubbed her Josey Wales, after one of my favorite Western films. We formed an uneasy bond. She is completely wild — never domesticated — but she also figured out that I was a source of food and relative safety, so she decided to live on the porch.
Well, it turned out that Josey Wales was pregnant. And for the last month I’ve been feeding and protecting both her and her six kittens. The litter has two sets of twins. There are two male gray twins named Stripe (because of the thin black stripe running down his back) and Dallas (named after our friend Jack Ketchum, who adored cats). The other set of twins are both tigers, one of whom is the runt of the litter. There is also a beautiful but very timid silver kitten, and Spidey, who is black and white and so named because of his ability to scale walls in an effort to get away from humans.
Stripe is fearless and playful and an explorer. He’s a cat after my own heart, and he instantly bonded to me. Dallas was friendly with me but also very timid. The other kittens were afraid of me. But slowly — very slowly — Josey has begun to come around, and that is where we left off in last week’s newsletter.
So… I’m typing this on Thursday morning. First let me briefly describe the interior of our home. It’s a two-story house. Living area and kitchen are downstairs. Upstairs are my office, Mary’s office, our library/game room, and a second bathroom. These two floors are connected by a stairwell.
So, on Monday, I shut the door leading into the downstairs area, and I opened the door to the stairwell. Then I put their food at the bottom of the stairs. Josey tested it first, and then the kittens followed her inside. My plan was to close the door behind them and effectively give them run of the second floor until I could find homes for them all. That way, they’d be safe and easy to catch. Everything was going well until I stood up to close the door — at which point all of the kittens except Stripe ran back outside.
I repeated the process Tuesday, and Stripe messed it up by deciding to chase the other kittens around. However, I call it a win because Josey actually gave me a little head butt of affection and allowed me to pet her for 10 seconds or so.
On Wednesday, all of the kittens and Josey were inside, except for Stripe. I crept around the far side of the house, intent on shutting the door behind them, when suddenly, Stripe brought me a very long blade of grass that he’d killed for me, and dropped it at my feet on the porch right outside the door. he then proceeded to play with it, at which point the other kittens ran outside and played with it, too.
I noticed throughout the rest of the day that Spidey was nowhere to be found, and I mentioned to Mary he might have gotten shut inside the house. Well, sure enough, at 4:45 on Thursday morning, Mary’s cat, Spike, woke me up meowing at something. I walked into the stairwell to find Spike trying to befriend a terrified and traumatized Spidey. When the kitten saw me, he scaled the wall, leaped over the banister, and ran up the stairs into Mary’s office. I hurried to shut the door, trapping him inside the room.
So, that was one.
I went back downstairs and Stripe decided to climb my leg and get my attention. I scooped him up, carried him upstairs, and put him in with Spidey. That was two. I then managed to catch Dallas, so now I have three. That leaves the two tigers, the silver, and Josey herself. One of the tigers is going to be adopted by reader Joe Ortlieb (who lives locally). Spidey is going to be adopted by author and podcaster Matt Wildasin. Mary and I are keeping Stripe and Dallas. So I still need to find homes for the other tiger and the silver one. As for Josey, I don’t know that she would ever be able to be completely domesticated, but I want to at least take her to the vet and get her spayed and all of her shots, so that she can live a long, happy life as a barn cat.
Spidey is still very timid and won’t allow me to pick him up, but he comes out when I enter Mary’s office. Stripe and Dallas are very happy and playful and eager for me to pet them and pick them up. Dallas likes to sleep in Mary’s laptop bag. Stripe likes to get into everything.
"Whatever happened to Brian Keene? I used to really dig his books and comics and stuff."
"Oh, he runs a cat rescue now."
Here are two pics from this week. There are tons more on my Instagram and Twitter.
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A reminder that the signed, limited edition hardcover of the Author’s Preferred Edition of TERMINAL is up for pre-order from Thunderstorm Books. Pre-orders will be open from now until October 1st.
CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR COPY
For over two decades, fans of Brian Keene's cult-classic novel Terminal have heard rumors of an uncut version that was never published. Now, for the first time anywhere, Thunderstorm Books is proud to present that version, as the author originally intended.
Tommy O’Brien once hoped to leave his run-down industrial hometown. But marriage and fatherhood have kept him running in place, working a job that doesn’t even pay the bills. And now he seems fated to stay for the rest of his life. Tommy has just learned he’s going to die young– and soon. But he refuses to leave his family with less than nothing–especially now that he has nothing to lose. Over a couple of beers with his best friends, John and Sherm, Tommy launches a bold scheme to provide for his family’s future. And though his plan will spin shockingly out of control, it will throw him together with a child whose touch can heal—and whose ultimate lesson is that there are far worse things than dying. Now, one man's war with God my impact us all.
“A powerful, unique novel with a fascinating plot and characters, and echoes of Stephen King’s working-class voice.” — Ed Gorman
“If Brian Keene's books were music, they would occupy a working class, hard-earned space between Bruce Springsteen, Eminem, and Johnny Cash.” — John Skipp
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I finally finished the edits on this new edition of TERMINAL last Wednesday. I sent it off to Thunderstorm Books so it should go into production very soon.
I should have been done last week, but it’s difficult to edit a book about a guy dying of cancer when another of your best friends is dying of cancer in real life.
I am, of course, referring to Dave Thomas. Most of you know him as the guy who co-hosted The Horror Show with Brian Keene podcast with me for nearly six years. He’s also a host on The Ghost Writers Podcast, along with Somer Canon and former The Horror Show with Brian Keene co-hosts Mary and Matt.
Dave’s cancer treatment isn’t working, and he’s made the decision to start home hospice care. The doctors have given him weeks to a few months to live. While his friends have known for a bit now, he revealed it to the public last Monday. The outpouring of love and support from the horror community has been amazing, and it means the world to him. He’s been too weak to reply to every single person, but he’s reading all of the notes and emails and comments and tweets as best he can. Know that it means a lot to him.
What would also mean a lot to him is your financial help. Obviously, Dave can’t work any longer. Home hospice care is expensive, as are funeral costs and burial arrangements. Dave’s GoFundMe (set up to help him with the costs associated with his treatment) is still active. Please consider donating ten or twenty dollars if you have the means and ability. it will mean a lot to all of us who care about him.
As I said above, after The Horror Show with Brian Keene ended, Dave, Mary, Matt and Somer launched The Ghost Writers Podcast. Several weeks ago, they’d asked if I would come on to do a retrospective on The Horror Show with Brian Keene, now that it has been off the air for a year. I said I would. That appearance took on a whole new meaning once Dave’s final diagnosis was delivered, however. And so, we recorded what will probably be me and Dave’s final podcast together. It’s available to listen to for free on both The Ghost Writers Podcast channel and The Horror Show with Brian Keene’s channel (because I never closed that feed down).
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Currently Listening: Various Faith No More albums
Currently Watching: Malignant
Currently Reading: The Compendium of F, Vol 1 by F. Paul Wilson
I am thoroughly loving Vol 1 of The Compendium of F, particularly the chronological biographical segments and story notes. This is required reading for any fan of F. paul Wilson’s, and it is fascinating reading for any writer (or anyone who wants to be a writer). And for genre scholars, it serves as a wonderful bookend to Richard Laymon’s A Writer’s Tale.
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“Book buyers, beware: New books will be in short supply for the rest of 2021. Publishers are warning sellers and consumers that supply chain issues have forced a major slowdown in book production and threaten a shortage of certain titles for the rest of the year…” Full Article here.
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A reminder that CLICKERS NEVER DIE is also up for pre-order:
The seminal horror series created by J.F. Gonzalez, Mark Williams, and Brian Keene reemerges from the depths with the weirdest, most brutal installment yet!
Washed-up oceanographer Cameron Custer is hoping a mysterious living fossil discovered in the South Pacific could breathe new life into his career. Instead, Custer’s new specimen points him toward a heavily guarded secret — the truth behind the Guadalcanal Campaign. During World War II the U.S. Marine Corps had more than just the Imperial Japanese Army to contend with. They also had to wage a vicious battle against the amphibious Dark Ones and an onslaught of their deadliest servants.
Now, an ocean heaving with blood and guts, a battlefield teeming with rage and terror, a man’s demented love affair with a fish monster, and a boy’s heartwarming friendship with a prehistoric crab monster will all combine to prove that… CLICKERS NEVER DIE!
Splatterpunk Award nominated author Stephen Kozeniewski (THE HEMATOPHAGES, BILLY AND THE CLONEASAURUS) and Splatterpunk Award winning author Wile E. Young (THE MAGPIE COFFIN, CATFISH IN THE CRADLE) join forces for one of modern horror’s most anticipated reboots!
CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR COPY! Comes with two bonus Clicker and Dark One figurines!
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And that’s it for this week. See you back here next Sunday!