Letters From the Labyrinth 309
I hope that those of you who celebrate the holiday had a great Thanksgiving. Mary and I left Wednesday and drove to the mountains north of Lewisburg, West Virginia to be with my extended family. On the way down, we stopped in Martinsburg, West Virginia and saw an old friend.
Yes, that’s a vintage G.I. Joe and a vintage footlocker. And he and I are indeed old friends. I’ll have more on that reunion in a moment. But first, good morning. I’m Brian Keene and this is Letters From the Labyrinth, a weekly newsletter for friends, family and fans of my work.
So, Mary and I stopped in Martinsburg to meet up with Scott Edelman — a writer whom I first discovered as a kid (back when he was writing Captain Marvel, Thanos, Scarecrow, Defenders, and other stuff for Marvel and Welcome Back Kotter over at DC Comics). As an adult, I’ve become dear friends with Scott. He’s one of the nicest, kindest, most gentle people in this business. But there will always be a little part of me that — whenever we get together — will want to jump in a time machine and go tell 8-year old Brian, who is busy reading Giant-Size Defenders issue 5 and Logan’s Run issue 6 “Hey, you’re gonna be friends with that guy one day!” Indeed, in my office there’s a picture of me, Mary, Scott, F. Paul Wilson and Tom Monteleone, and I often glance at it, grin, and marvel that I’m friends with all three of those guys, all of whom have brought me so much joy over the years.
But I digress. Scott also hosts one of the best writing podcasts on the air — Eating The Fantastic. (Available at that link and wherever else you listen to podcasts). The thrust of each episode is that he sits down with writers and other creatives from the worlds of prose and comics and talks to them about their process, etc. The catch is that these discussions take place over a meal. As someone who has appeared on the podcast several times now, let me just say that this unique ambience allows for deeper, more thoughtful and honest answers than what you’re getting elsewhere. There’s something disarming and relaxing about having a meal together, and it really opens things up and brings ones walls and defenses down.
Mary and I were returning guests (we’ve both been on the show, but never simultaneously) and Scott picked The Blue White Diner (located on Queen Street in Martinsburg) as the recording location. Mary and I parked a little further down the street, and then joined Scott at the diner. Unbeknownst to us, he’d purchased an adorable wedding cake topper and had the waitress put it atop a sweet roll to present to us upon our arrival.
The interview was a lot of fun. We talked about the forthcoming trade edition of THINGS LEFT BEHIND, and some of the individual stories in the book, and what it’s like to live with another full-time writer, and we talked about Gene O’Neill, F. Paul Wilson, and Tom Monteleone. We talked about how the protégé of Richard Laymon and the protégé of Charles L. Grant ended up engaged to each other. (Dick and Charlie didn’t always get along). We talked about how Mary is envious of writers like Bryan Smith and J.F. Gonzalez, and how I am envious of writers like John Langan, Laird Barron, Livia Llewellyn, and Paul Tremblay. And through it all I devoured country-fried steak, hash browns, and bacon.
I believe the episode will air in January?
After we said bye to Scott, we returned to the car. While I was waiting for it to warm up, I noticed that we had parked in front of what appeared to be a toy store. It was called Engage! and a little slogan beneath that sign urged us to ‘Read. Play. Listen. Collect.’. I suggested to Mary we peek inside real quick, so we turned the car off and walked inside…
…and that is where I ran into G.I. Joe and his footlocker.
G.I. Joe with Kung-Fu Grip and his footlocker were my very first toys. The footlocker came with an assortment of weapons and outfits. It also came with a membership to the G.I. Joe Adventure Team fan club and an issue of the Adventure Team magazine. In time, I also got Joe’s helicopter, A.T.V., and more accessories. He and my Six-Million Dollar Man action figure and my Mego superheroes had all sorts of adventures together in my backyard.
This was in the early 1970s, when toys were purchased for children rather than adults, and were meant to be played with and loved, rather than placed on a shelf inside their packaging, serving only as backdrops for overweight, bearded YouTubers who want less Brie Larson and people of color in their Marvel superhero movies. And I played with that G.I. Joe until he quite literally fell apart.
During the pandemic, I completed reconstructing my childhood comic book collection (and I have since gone on to begin collecting other comics from that era — ones I didn’t own as a kid, but always wanted). Mary also managed to get me the 1975 and 1976 Marvel Comics Topps bubble gum cards and stickers, which I absolutely loved to pieces as a kid. But the one thing I hadn’t tracked down was G.I. Joe and his footlocker.
I didn’t buy this one, because the footlocker was missing most of the accessories and I need to put my money toward Christmas shopping for others (and the only person I know who’d want Joe and the footlocker as a Christmas present is my pal, actor John Anderson, and I’m pretty sure he already has them). But it was nice to see Joe, regardless. I hope he finds a home this holiday season.
Engage! is a fantastic store, full of comic books and records and books and models and toys. If you’re passing through Martinsburg, I highly recommend stopping in. They’re located at 149 North Queen Street. They’re also on Facebook. I’ll be stopping in there to spend money on each trip I take down that way from now on.
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I spent some time restructuring the shopping experience on my website. All products are now together in a single Store rather than the way it was before. (Previously, books, audiobooks and eBooks had their own page, and comic books had their own page, and movies had their own page). Now, everything is together for easy shopping. In addition, and this is the important part, each individual item lists alternatives to Amazon, whenever possible. So, for example, if you are purchasing a copy of CASTAWAYS, for example, there may be links to Amazon, B&N, BAM, Waterstones, etc.
With the holidays soon upon us, I encourage you to check out the new Store. I think it will make things a lot better for everyone.
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Huge congrats to my pals (and two of my absolute favorite filmmakers) Aaron Moorhead and Justin H. Benson, whose new film Something In The Dirt is nominated for an Indie Spirit Award! Here's where you can stream it.
And seriously - if you love cosmic horror, and you haven't checked out their previous filmography, you're doing yourself a serious disservice. I recommend maybe starting with Spring or The Endless, but you really can’t go wrong with any of their movies.
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Only 14 seats remain for Borderlands Boot Camp 2023. Click here to reserve your spot.
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I’ll be putting some more books from Dave Thomas’s estate up on eBay next week. Lots or rarities and signed editions. Here’s my eBay profile, in case you want to camp out. Note: the current auctions — THE RISING Russian hardcover, DARK HOLLOW Russian paperback, and the complete Doom Patrol archives, are my stuff, rather than Dave’s. His stuff will go live once those auctions end.
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From now until Monday, Apex Book Company has:
All three books in THE LOST LEVEL series for $21 total.
All three books in the BASTARDS series (cowritten with Steven L. Shrewsbury) for $20 total.
That’s six trade paperbacks for $41! They make wonderful holiday gifts. Click here to take advantage of the sale.
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Readers have noticed that paperback and eBook editions of CLICKERS, CLICKERS II, CLICKERS III, CLICKERS VS. ZOMBIES, and CLICKERS FOREVER are out of print. That’s because the estate wanted to reobtain the rights to them. New editions will be coming soon, beginning with CLICKERS, and then the rest of the series. In addition, the new edition of CLICKERS FOREVER will contain some new material not included in previous editions.
In the meantime, I would remind you that all of the books (with the exception of CLICKERS FOREVER) are available in audiobook format. And CLICKERS NEVER DIE by Stephen Kozeniewski and Wile E. Young is available in the followng formats:
Paperback: Amazon - BAM - Book Depository - Waterstones
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Currently Watching: Avenue 5 (HBO Max), Survivor season 43 (Paramount+), Tulsa King (Paramount+), and Criminal Minds: Evolution (Paramount+)
Currently Reading: Dust Bowl Children by Wile E. Young and Emily Young and Drabbles After Dusk by Richard Chizmar and W.H. Chizmar.
Currently Listening: Brian Keene Radio
The early seasons of Criminal Minds were way better than formulaic television had any right to be. Unfortunately, Criminal Minds: Evolution suffers from the same two issues that marred later seasons — sloppy/mediocre writing/dialogue and the increased presence of character Penelope Garcia. We’ve watched the first three episodes, each of which is full of telling rather than showing, with characters repeatedly engaging in ham-fisted, unnatural dialogue that serves only to explain things to the viewer. They’re also increasingly reliant on Garcia, and every time the narrative shifts to her, the entire show screeches to a halt and then crashes headfirst into a retaining wall, flaming out in a ball of mangled, molten steel. Seriously, there are entire Reddit communities devoted to viewers who dislike Garcia — and it’s not a misogynistic neckbeard thing. It’s viewers from all walks of life. I’m not a member of those communities. I simply stopped watching the show when she took over more and more of the spotlight. My hope was perhaps there would be less of that with this mini-series, but those hopes are dashed.
Ultimately, Criminal Minds: Evolution is like McDonalds. It’s not necessarily good for you, but it is filling, and sometimes you just really went some empty, caloric food that you forget about as soon as you’re done eating it. And to symbolize that one item on the McDonalds menu that is divisive and people either love or hate, there’s Garcia — the McRib of formula television dramas.
I wasn’t feeling this season of Survivor at all until this past Wednesday’s episode. Talk about going from the bottom to the top to the bottom again! (I won’t say why to avoid spoilers for those who like to binge the entire season). Suffice to say, now I am engaged, even though at this point Owen is the only one I can in good conscience root for. I’d like to root for Gabler, but the moves he’s making in the game are bewildering to me.
Avenue 5, meanwhile, is the funniest thing on television right now, and if you’re not watching it, you’re missing out. A very clever, biting satire, and Hugh Laurie is fantastic in it.
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This Week’s Blog Entries:
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And some forum discussions you might find of interest:
1. Douglas E. Winter now has his own forum!
2. So does Shane McKenzie!
3. Paul Tremblay’s new collection gets a cover reveal.
4. How do you know if you’re writing a short story or a novel?
5. Perspectives on the current state of the horror genre from countries other than the U.S.
As of Saturday afternoon we have 1,192 registered members and haven’t yet had to ban or discipline anybody. Join us!
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And that is it for this week. I hope that you’re weekend was a good one, and that this newsletter was a nice little recharge before we venture headfirst into another week. Thanks for reading. I’ll see you back here next Sunday.
— Brian Keene
Eating The Fantastic ~ Thank You for the tip!
Awesome!