Letters From the Labyrinth 361

To the Swifties, From the Tramps

Dec 17, 2023

Dear Swifties,

My name is Brian Keene. I'm 56 -- old enough to be a father to many of you (and I suppose a grandfather to some of you, as well).

I'm writing to you on behalf of the Tramps -- the collective name given to fans of Bruce Springsteen. I want you to know that we see you, and we value you, and we have your back. Like you, we get crap from others for having the audacity to joyously celebrate an artist whose music means so much to us. And like you, we firmly extend both middle fingers to those people. We stand with you in solidarity.

Like Mother, the Boss has never easily fit into one musical genre. He's too rock for the country crowd. Too country for the rock crowd. Too folk for the pop crowd. And too pop for the folk crowd. He's a musical chameleon, and his songwriting reflects that, regardless of which genre he's playing in. Like Taylor, he possesses both a literary and a melodic sensibility, and storytelling skills that are rare amongst his peers (perhaps Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, or Neil Young might come close, but that’s about it). Bruce writes and sings about people we know, including ourselves. The Boss's songs are songs about love, heartbreak, hope, hate, self-awareness, friendship, dread, darkness, and insecurities. Like Mother, he's delved into toxic relationships ("Spare Parts" and “Stolen Car”), the downside of fame ("Better Days" and “I Ain’t Got You”), nostalgia (“Glory Days” and "My Hometown"), and an endless array of imagined characters and story arcs that we all know by heart and sing along with. There’s "Rosalita", Eddie from "Meeting Across the River", Mary from "The River", the Chicken Man from "Atlantic City"… (heck, really the entire Nebraska album), Magic Rat and the Barefoot Girl from "Jungleland", the unnamed narrator of "Born In The USA", Wendy from "Born To Run"... the list goes on and on.

His concerts are not concerts. Calling a Springsteen show a concert is like calling Stephen King a midlist horror writer. A live performance by the Boss is more akin to a secular church revival meeting. The energy transference between him and the crowd is a fully-charged, neverending circuit. It is a celebration. His showmanship and stage presence transforms giant stadiums into intimate club settings, and turns small, quiet venues into raucous amphitheaters. And the only artist alive today who even comes close to also doing that -- and indeed, may actually beat it -- is your girl, Taylor.

You've been given a rare gift -- a once in every lifetime sort of thing. You have an artist whose music started around the same time that you started, and who will sing about the things that matter to you as you experience them. Her music will grow as both you and she grow, and it will just get deeper and resonate more the older you both get.

So ignore the haters and celebrate. Dance if you want to. Sing and shout.

It feels like one of those nights we won't be sleeping. And we're all gonna get to that place where we really wanna go and we'll walk in the sun. Tramps like us were born to run.

And you can run with us, if you want.

(My thanks to my friend and resident Swiftie Mom, Pam Blazi, who helped me articulate what was in my head regarding the plethora of similarities between Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen).

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This is Letters From the Labyrinth — a long-running weekly newsletter for fans, friends, and family. Like what you want to like. Enjoy the things that you enjoy. And if others try to take that joy away from you, punch them and tell the cops I gave you permission to do it.

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A reminder that the 99 cent sale ends on December 26th. That’s 20 of my titles for just 99 cents each on Kindle, Nook, and Kobo. Full list and direct links here. They’ll return to their regular prices on the 27th.

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I know that I share a lot of readers with author Ronald Kelly. He got some bad news earlier this month. His son-in-law, Chase Reeves, was diagnosed with cancer. So, right now, all of the sales made through Ronald’s website are going to support Chase. That includes all books, t-shirts, artwork, etc. Also, Ron says that prayers and positive thoughts for Chase and Ron’s daughter, Reilly, “are greatly appreciated”.

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Work this past week was focused on three things — the adaptation of GWENDY’S BUTTON BOX, a new short story for Apex’s The Map of Lost Places, and behind the scenes stuff for the bookstore.

I placed my initial orders for new books from Crossroad Press/Macabre Ink and Cimarron Street Books, and have spent two days working on my initial order from Ingram, which will include pretty much everyone from the last four decades of horror fiction (except for the folks who’ve been mean to me over the years). I placed advance orders for upcoming releases from Grady Hendrix, Stephen Graham Jones, Christopher Golden and many others. Like, literally there are well over 450 different authors on order. And I still need to put together direct orders from Valancourt Books, Broken River Books, Eraserhead Press/Deadite, and many more.

I learned that it costs a shocking amount of money to fully stock a bookstore, and we’re not even halfway done, so I won’t lie — your donations to the GoFundMe are greatly, greatly appreciated. If you have the means, and think an East Coast/Mid-Atlantic bookstore specializing in horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and bizarro is a good thing, please do contribute. And if you can’t, that’s okay. We understand. Maybe share it with folks who can? That will also help.

While we are still unsure of the actual opening day, we’re confident it will be sometime in March. We’ve begun setting up some signings and events, including Jeff Strand, Somer Canon, John Urbancik, Bridgett Nelson, Stephen Kozeniewski, Jessica Eppley, Wesley Southard, Matt Wildasin, and Wile E. Young. And there’s a bunch more folks who haven’t been added to the schedule yet, such as Todd Keisling, Justin Lutz, John Boden, Robert Poff, Maurice Broaddus, and David Simmons. You can check out the list of events on the store’s website. And hey, while you’re there, subscribe to our free newsletter. If you like this one, you’ll like that one, too.

Work this coming week will be spent on GWENDY’S BUTTON BOX and the Lost Level stories that many of you commissioned earlier this year. There were a total of 32 Lost Level stories that folks paid for. I just finished number 9 last week. Trying to make each one extra special so it takes a little longer. Appreciate everyone’s patience!

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I’ve learned that if I don’t post a cat pic at least once a month, the number of views on this newsletter goes down, so here is your obligatory cat photo — Dallas, being Dallas.

Some folks have asked if the bookstore will have a cat or cats. It will not. We want to be a welcome envirnment for all, and last thing we want to do is set off someone’s allergies. I know hairless cats are a thing, but I prefer rescuing feral strays, and there are no hairless ferals in the wilds of Pennsylvania.

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Currently Playing: Clash of Clans and Fallout 76

Currently Listening: Brian Keene Radio

Currently Watching: Wu-Tang: An American Saga season 2 (Hulu), Survivor season 45 (Paramount Plus), Family Guy season 22 (Hulu), and Fargo season 5 (Hulu). Also a what must be the 50th rewatch (in my lifetime) of Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (written by David J. Schow, starring Ken Foree, and my favorite in the franchise).

Currently Reading: Incidents Around The House by Josh Malerman and Sleeping Beauties by Stephen and Owen King.

Sleeping Beauties is a reread for me. Owen was kind enough to send us a bunch of signed books for the store — including one for us (and thanks to everyone else who has done that, as well).

The new Josh Malerman book is absolutely outstanding. Might be one of the best haunted house novels I’ve ever read. I know that’s a bold statement, but I’ve read every haunted house novel from The Haunting of Hill House to The Amityville Horror to The Perfectly Fine House, and I’m telling you, this is right alongside them. I’ll write my official cover blurb this week, and share it with you all (if I’m allowed). Seriously, though… you’re going to want to preorder this one.

I wasn’t feeling this season of Survivor when it started, but my gosh. This second half has been one of the best seasons in years! Really looking forward to seeing who makes the final five. With Drew gone, I’m now rooting for Dee or Austin. But I was always a sucker for Amber and Boston Rob’s love story, too. Anyway, great season. There’s still a lot of vitality and excitement left in this game as it approaches season 50.

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It is Saturday as I write this. My oldest son, my stepdaughter, Mary, and I are off to see Godzilla Minus One. Christopher Golden, Paul Tremblay, B. Harrison Smith, and a lot of other people have raved about it, so I’m excited. This will be the fourth time my oldest son has seen it, and he says it’s his favorite in the entire franchise. (He was big into Power Rangers when he was little, and from there I turned him on to Godzilla).

So a very busy day. Thanks, as always, for spending a little bit of your Sunday with me. I appreciate you all. See you back here next weekend.

— Brian Keene