My 14-year old and I played hooky on Friday. I played hooky from writing and he played hooky from Jane Eyre and playing Fallout 4, Dusk and Far Cry 3, and we went to the York State Fair. I’ve been going to the fair since I was around eight years old, and he’s been going his entire life. I am 54. He is 14. And despite our age difference, we both agree that the fair was bigger when we were younger.
The fair opened at 11am. We arrived at 10:45, paid a guy $6 to park in his yard (the people who live around the fairgrounds make bank every year with parking), and then paid $15 for the two of us to get in. The first thing we did was go to the farm show portion of the fair. It has always been a favorite for us both. This year, it was a disappointment. There were perhaps two dozen anemic-looking cows, two horses, a few alpacas, four goats, and a pig that was about to give birth. That was it. The section that houses birds, chickens, ducks, rabbits and other small animals was closed entirely. I overheard someone say it was because of bird flu, but I don’t know if that’s true or not. Maybe there will be more animals later in the week?
Next, we headed out to the midway. Neither of us wanted to ride the rides. At 14, he’s become quite the amusement park ride connoisseur, and the handful of rinky-dink deathtraps assembled on the midway didn’t hold a candle to what he’s experienced at Hersheypark and Disney World. And at 54? I can’t ride those things anymore. I’m still an adrenalin junkie, but roller coasters and other jarring rides have a unique way of rattling every aching joint and bone in my body — a body that is in constant pain due to the first fifty years of my life. But even if we had wanted to ride the rides — the assemblage was smaller than previous years, and none of them were operational. Even though the fair had been open for forty-five minutes at this point, we were told that the rides weren’t yet allowed to be open. We decided to get something to eat — some Italian sausages or funnel cakes or fried Twinkies or other totally unhealthy and completely delightful fair food. But all of the concession stands were closed, as well.
Next, we went inside the grandstand, which in past years was absolutely packed with vendors selling everything from t-shirts to local produce to toys to… well. anything and everything. This year, there were maybe a dozen vendors. One sold candy. One sold stuffed animals. One sold soap and dresses. And a few sold food. He bought three Pokemon and a pack of candy cigarettes. I bought his mother some gluten free fudge. And then we ventured back outside, where we simultaneously agreed that the fair wasn’t like we remembered it. So we left.
It was a good day, regardless. We talked music (he’s now very much into Queen and Eminem). We talked about Queen’s Live Aid performance and how I watched Live Aid from a barracks in San Diego. We talked about high school (which he’ll be starting next month). We talked about bullies and how to deal with them as you get older, versus how to deal with them when you’re a kid. He told me about video games I should try and I told him about music he should try, and we talked books and writing and current events. And we talked about this newsletter, which he reads every week.
And since you’re reading this, kiddo, you should know that it was never about the fair. It was about spending time together, and finding ways to connect with you even though we’re both getting older. One day you and your brother will both have kids of your own, and you’ll find that as they get older, and become young adults themselves, you’ll have to come up with new ways to stay engaged and involved with them. New ways of making sure those lines of communication stay open. Sometimes, no matter what you come up with or how hard you try, you will fail. That comes with raising a teenager. But you keep at it, and when it does work out? Well, that’s magic.
Even if it’s on the midway of another part of America that’s now a shadow of its former self.
Good morning. I’m Brian Keene and this is Letters From the Labyrinth, a weekly newsletter for friends, family and fans of my work.
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I resurrected Brian Keene Radio this past week. Rio Youers talked me into bringing it back when he visited last month.
For newcomers, Brian Keene Radio is a free internet radio station that’s an off and on hobby of mine. I’ve had many jobs in this life, but the two I’ve enjoyed the most were Writer and Disc Jockey. This is a way of combining them both.
It’s available on your computer, phone, tablet or other devices. I play a mix of stories, readings, interviews, the best of The Horror Show with Brian Keene, Defenders Dialogue, Mary SanGiovanni’s Cosmic Shenanigans, and much more, including lost and lots of music. If you listened earlier in the week, and didn’t hear much of a selection, music-wise, be patient. I’m adding more every night. Including music by friends of mine (such as Kasey Lansdale, Church of Disgust, Anthrax, Xander Harris, Broken Hope, MJ Withers, YOB, Witch Mountain, Dot Com Intelligence, Sick Of It All, Belle Morte, Veer, Roswell Six, Geoff Tate, Discipline Theory and other pals).
There are four ways to listen: You can listen via this player on my website, or access it via MP3, M3U (compatible with most players) or PLS (compatible with Windows Media Player, iTunes, VLC and WinAmp).
As I said, it’s free. And it’s a hobby. If you dig it, cool. If not, no worries. I will occasionally turn the mic on and talk, as well, but you won’t know that unless you’re listening.
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CLICKERS FOREVER will be going out of print at the end of this month. It will come back into print at some point, but only after I’ve cleared that with each of the contributors. When it does come back into print, it will be a different edition, so if you don’t yet own the original, get one before the 31st.
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Pre-orders for the autographed limited edition of SUBMERGED: THE LABYRINTH Book 2 have ended. There are 40 copies leftover, so those are up for grabs to anyone who wants to purchase one. Click here to do so, but do it quick, because they won’t last.
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To celebrate the upcoming video game adaptation of THE RISING, the developer has released a new mini-game -- THE RISING: BAKER’S AQUARIUM. You can play in browser or download. Try your luck against zombie goldfish! Click here to play.
And now you know what that Havenbrook Lab Twitter account is all about. It’s for the video game.
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There’s a new, lengthy interview with me over at Uncomfortably Dark. You can read it in full here. If you need a teaser, here’s an excerpt:
the times we got entirely off topic and just laughed for an hour or two. Those were always nice. But I don't know... we were on the air for almost six years. It was a very popular show. But it became too popular, almost... in a way. There's a lot of emotional pain that I still associate with the show, there at the end. I don't need to rehash it here. People who listened will know what I'm talking about. People who didn't listen...well, its old news anyway. Suffice to say, there were things there at the end that took an emotional toll on me, and on Mary, and on Dave, as well. Dave carried that with him for a long time. And he's gone now, so he's beyond it. But Mary and I still have some scars that I doubt will ever truly heal. It's hard for me to remember the good times. I only remember the trauma.
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Work this past week was productive. Progress continued on the edits of GWENDY’S BUTTON BOX and INVISIBLE MONSTERS, the first drafts of ISLAND OF THE DEAD and SPLINTERED: THE LABYRINTH Book 3, and a short story I’m cowriting with Steven L. Shrewsbury, who got Covid last week and spent 24 hours in the hospital on a ventilator, and still managed to write his part of the story. That’s dedication. That’s writing. That’s Shrews.
Anyway, props to Shrews for getting off the ventilator and returning home to fight another day. And props to Jeff Strand and Bridgette Nelson who also fought Covid this past week and came out the other side.
I also worked on stuff for next weekend’s Scares That Care Charity Weekend, and stuff for the Splatterpunk Awards.
Today (Saturday), I was in Baltimore all day, filling my vehicle full of books from Dave’s estate. The vast majority will be transported to Virginia next weekend. Deena will be at Scares That Care and she will have a table either inside or next to the Author Reading Room where she will be selling many of Dave’s horror paperbacks. So if you’ve missed out on the eBay auctions, this is another way you can get a memento.
John Urbancik and Bob Ford were supposed to come by tonight and sit out on the dock and drink whiskey and talk shop. But I’m too exhausted from hauling books, so I begged off. Tomorrow I’m supposed to record a podcast with Billy Chizmar about Magic the Gathering for his Patreon.
Mary is at Necon this weekend. I stayed home because we had no one to watch the cats for that long, and because she’s Guest of Honor and I want her to enjoy that and not have people talking to me instead of her, and also because I’ve got Scares and KillerCon coming up back-to-back, and also because — as I was telling Bob Ford today after begging off drinking tonight — I’m getting burned out on conventions in general — as are a lot of folks I talk to. The convention scene is quickly changing, and I suspect you’re going to see more and more authors taking a break from the big fan conventions — the kind that feature actors and cosplay and such — and instead focus on trade shows and author-centric conventions such as StokerCon, Necon, AuthorCon, etc. next year.
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Currently Listening: Consumed By Slow Putrefaction by Church of Disgust, O.G: Original Gangsta by Ice-T, Death To Tyrants by Sick Of It All, and Honky Tonk Heroes by Waylon Jennings.
Currently Reading: Just finished Tethered To Darkness by Justin Holley and still continuing with Jane Eyre.
Currently Watching: Better Call Saul (AMC).
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My pal Tim Lebbon’s new post-apocalyptic novel, The Last Storm, came out in paperback, eBook and audiobook here in the U.S. this past week. I agree with Paul Tremblay’s assessment that this is Tim’s best novel to date — and that’s saying something given that Tim’s been doing this as long as I have, and is as prolific as I am, and has a considerable and formidable body of work in his backlist. He’s also no stranger to writing post-apocalyptic stories, and for this one, he did something new and fresh and exciting and terrifying.
This is an important book for Tim. And it’s an important book for the health of the genre. So, if you’ve never read Tim before, or if it’s been a while since you read him, or if you read everything he’s written but haven’t gotten to this one yet, I encourage you to check this one out. Your local bookstore may have one or two copies on the shelf, so your best bet is ordering it online.
And to sweeten the deal, let’s do a contest. Purchase The Last Storm — either in paperback, eBook or audiobook form. Tweet me photographic proof of purchase (make sure you block out your personal identifiers like your address or credit card info or your kid in the background), and you will be entered into a drawing to win a paperback copy of SUBURBAN GOTHIC signed by me, a paperback copy of HOLE IN THE WORLD signed by me, a paperback copy of TRIGGER WARNINGS signed by me, and a paperback copy of Carver Pike’s Faces of Beth, signed by both Carver and myself. Contest is open to U.S. residents only! I’ll pick two winners. I’ll leave the contest open until midnight next Saturday, and will announce the winners here in the newsletter next Sunday.
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If you are a horror writer, artist, audiobook narrator, editor, publisher, actor, director, or otherwise employed in this business, and you’re on Fitbit, consider joining the Horror Writers of Fitbit group. When you search for us, we’re the group with Cthulhu as our picture, rather than pictures of healthy people exercising. We’ve got a group of 13 of us right now competing in weekly challenges, with positivity and no judgements. If you can’t find the group, then just send me a friend request on Fitbit and I’ll make sure you get in. (My profile name is Brian K. and you’ll see my face in the profile pic).
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And that does it for this week. I hope you’re staying cool, wherever you are. As always, thank you for reading this, and for your support. I appreciate it, and I’ll see you back here next week.
— Brian Keene
Love this weekly newsletter, Brian. I wish that I had discovered your writing from 2007-2011. I could have used all of those book in Iraq and Afghanistan. I had the fine luck of being stationed on Marine Cops, even smaller than fobs and those books sure as hell would have killed the time. I'm here now though, and loving every minute.
I really like the Brian Keene Radio concept. Also, good job on being a great father.