Letters From the Labyrinth 314

Happy New Year. I’m Brian Keene and these are My Top Ten Books of 2022.

A few caveats before we start:

1. Books on the list must have been published in 2022. For example, David J. Schow’s Weird Doom, Nick Mamatas’s The Second Shooter, and Mason Winfield’s The Prince of the Air were three fantastic books I read last year, however, they were published in 2021, rather than 2022, and therefore ineligible for this list.

2. Books that I was involved with, such as writing an Introduction or Afterword, are also ineligible for the list. For example, Wesley Southard’s They Mostly Come At Night and Carver Pike’s Faces of Beth both contain material written by me, and I acted as a pre-reader for Robert Swartwood’s high-octane thriller Bullet Country, so again, not included here.

3. A note about nepotism: whenever I used to post these lists back in the day, some people would invariably accuse me of nepotism. That’s because these lists were influential on book sales and the people who were complaining were pissed off that their books weren’t on it. Let me be clear — I’ve been writing for a living for nearly 25 years, and I’m a pretty outgoing guy. I know everybody. I’ve met everybody. Nepotism does not play a part in this.

4. At the end of the day, this list is simply the ten books I enjoyed the most this year. It’s has been a number of years since I did one of these lists, because I got tired of people arguing about them and fighting over them and taking them as if I was Methuselah come down from the mountain. This is simply, “Here are ten books I really enjoyed, and you might like them, too.”

So, let’s get down to it. I read 117 books in 2022 (not counting comic books). That’s a low count for me, but Bell’s Palsy seriously impacted my ability to read for a few months. They were a mix of new releases, recent releases from the previous year that I hadn’t yet gotten to, and old favorites. In going back over the list, I was surprised by how many old favorites were on there. I guess 2022 was a year for me to revisit old friends again. Out of those 117, here were my Top Ten Favorite Books of 2022.

1. Illuminations by Alan Moore (Bloomsbury Publishing)

It seems strange that this is Alan Moore’s first short-story collection. When you look back at some of the monumental moments of his career — comics such as Swamp Thing, Watchmen, V For Vendetta, and Neonomicon; novels such as The Voice of the Fire and Jerusalem; short films; poetry; and audio-spells such as the highly underrated The Highbury Working — you would think he’d have released a short story collection long before now. This one was worth the wait. In addition to the short stories included herein, there is also a full-length novella called “What We Can Know About Thunderman”. That alone is well worth the price of the book. It’s a harrowing, horrifying, hilarious, and heartbreaking mashup of cosmic horror and real life comic book industry history. It will be more powerful if you’re a comic book fan, or you’ve worked in the comic book industry, but I imagine that even non comic book people will find it satisfying. In my opinion, it ranks alongside Moore’s best work. Available in hardcover, paperback, eBook and audiobook here.

2. Last of the Ravagers by Bryan Smith (Stygian Sky Media)

I think we can all agree by now that if there’s one heir to inherit the space carved out by Richard Laymon, it’s Bryan Smith. His work has that same compulsive plotting and style. But if you buy me a bourbon or a beer somewhere at a signing or convention next year, I’ll argue that Bryan’s stuff doesn’t just appeal to Laymon fans. There’s a lot in his prose that would attract fans of Quentin Tarantino, Ray Garton, Jack Ketchum, and Elmore Leonard. And it’s the latter in particular that is summoned in this weird western novel. It reads like Elmore Leonard and Tarantino wrote a horror western together. Violent, funny, stylish, insanely fun. I’d love to see Bryan tackle a straight western next, with no monsters or supernatural underpinnings. Available in paperback here.

3. Southern Fried & Horrified by Ronald Kelly (Stygian Sky Media)

Speaking of Richard Laymon, FINALLY there is a worthy successor to his criminally out-of-print and long sought after by legions of writers and fans memoir, A Writer’s Tale. This is Ronald Kelly’s memoir — recounting his life as a horror writer, and the trials and tribulations that have come from that chosen vocation. I’m a sucker for horror history, so this was a very welcome and long overdue addition to my library. A fascinating read for anyone who enjoys horror fiction, regardless of whether you’ve read Ron or not, and an absolute must-read for anyone who wants to enter this field. Available in paperback and eBook here.

4. A Fine Evening In Hell by Kristopher Triana (Blood Bound Books)

It’s been interesting watching Kristopher Triana make the gradual but (in my opinion) necessary evolution from extreme horror writer to something much more mainstream, because — like Jack Ketchum, whom Triana lists as an influence — he’s doing it on his terms, and without holding anything back. This gut-wrenching, white-knuckled crime thriller is the distillation of that process. Easily marketable to folks who like those 2 hour kidnapping/heist movies that fill our queues on Netflix and other streaming services, but… but… SURPRISE — this is no paint-by-numbers crime story. Triana pulls no punches and asks for no quarter. This is a novel by a writer at the full height of his powers — self-assured and knowing his voice. Available in paperback and eBook here.

5. The Museum of Curiosities by John Urbancik (DarkFluidity)

LitReactor. Thomas F. Monteleone. Ronald Malfi. Jay Wilburn. Four very disparate sources and yet, do you know what they have in common? All four have praised John Urbancik as one of the best short story writers of our generation. (And Jay went one step further and said John was the best rather than one of the best).

And they are absolutely right. It has been my singlemost frustration these last 25 years that John’s work isn’t more widely-read. He’s probably the best kept secret in dark fantasy and horror fiction, with a style that would appeal to any fan of Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, or China Mieville. Gathered here are 69 reasons why. Yes, you read that right. 69 short stories in one book. And that doesn’t even scratch the surface of his prodigious output (indeed, it occurs to me that John may, at this point in his career, have written and published more stories than even D.F. Lewis, another best-kept secret in dark fantasy and horror). Discover what Malfi, Monteleone, Wilburn, and LitReactor are talking about. Available in paperback and eBook here.

6. We Came From An Island by Cynthia Pelayo (Thunderstorm Books)

Cynthia is fast becoming one of my favorite authors from horror fiction’s “new” generation. Like Kristopher Triana, she’s at a point where she has full mastery over her voice and full control over her storytelling. She reminds me of Tom Piccirilli in many ways — her prose has that same lyrical quality to it. This three short story chapbook is equally moving and horrifying. Sadly, this limited edition signed hardcover is now out of print, but Camelot Books (one of my favorite booksellers) has copies here for a reasonable price.

7. The Last Storm by Tim Lebbon (Titan Books)

Tim Lebbon and I have been writing for about the same amount of time. We sold our first short stories around the same time, our first novels around the same time, and our bibliographies are about the same length. Tim had great early success at the start of his career with the post-apocalyptic White, just as I head great early success at the start of my career with the post-apocalyptic The Rising. And while it’s awesome that people still talk about and love those books, it can also be frustrating in the wee hours of the night, because the thought creeps into your mind “I’ve written so much more stuff since then. Does none of it hold a candle to that first book?”

(Personally, I always thought Tim’s best book is The Thief of Broken Toys, but White surely kicks ass, as well).

Anyway: Tim Lebbon has written a new post-apocalyptic novel that firmly ranks as one of his overall best of all time, and given the size of his bibliography, that’s saying something indeed. If you’ve never read Tim, start here. Or, if you read and loved White, and it’s been a while since you read anything by Tim, then buy this. Available in paperback, eBook and audiobook here.

8. Magnolia Lane by Donald Guillory (Independently Published)

I had the pleasure of hearing Donald read the first chapter of this short at StokerCon last year, and it immediately grabbed me. The prose is dangerously hypnotic because it lulls you with its beauty and then when you are distracted, Donald does very bad things to your brain. After his reading was finished, I bought a copy, and I absolutely blew through it. Poetic, engrossing, and full of frights, Magnolia Lane is a beautifully written horror story that pulls no emotional punches. Standing ovation! Available in paperback and eBook here.

9. Bishop by Candace Nola (Uncomfortably Dark)

Wendigos are a sadly underused monster in horror fiction — or at least, sadly underused by competent writers. Algernon Blackwood and Graham Masterton did great things with the monster back in the day. And there have been various hits and misses since then. But Candace Nola knocks it out of the park with this horror-thriller. Fully-realized characters and a sense of place real enough that you’ll feel the cold on your fingertips. This is a fantastic adventure, ripe for a Hollywood adaptation. Available in hardcover, paperback, eBook and audiobook here.

10. The Compendium of F, Volume Three by F. Paul Wilson (Borderlands Press)

This is the third volume in a trilogy of books that collect all — ALL — of F. Paul Wilson’s previously uncollected short fiction. It’s a must have for anyone who is a fan of his work, but what I love most about the trilogy are the biographical notes and segments. Much like Ronald Kelly’s Southern Fried and Horrified, these segments give the reader a real, solid look behind the scenes. It answers a lot of fanboy questions that I always wanted to ask Paul but never did because I didn’t want to come off as a fanboy. As a writer, I find them illuminating and reassuring. Published as a signed limited edition and now out of print, copies are available on the secondary market. Cemetery Dance has the signed limited hardcover on sale here, and the publisher still has some lettered editions available here.

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And that does it for this week. It is Saturday afternoon as I type this. I’m about to take a nap. Then I have to pick up some pizzas for my youngest son (he and author Somer Canon’s boys are having their own New Year’s Eve party. Meanwhile, we adults are heading to a party at author Stephen Kozeniewski’s house. I’ve been put in charge of DJing, so I need to make some last minute tweaks to my playlist.

I hope that you’re safe and relatively happy, or at least at peace. I’m not one for resolutions, but I do view the new year as a chance for renewal and rebirth. I hope that it brings both to you. Thanks for reading, and thanks for buying my books. I appreciate the support, and I’m grateful for you.

— Brian Keene