Letters From the Labyrinth 362
And To All A Good Night
Good morning. This is Letters From the Labyrinth — a weekly newsletter for fans, friends, and family. Keene Claus would like to take a moment to wish each of you a safe and happy holiday season. Or else…
That is a behind the scenes shot from a promo we recorded for Reel Splatter Productions many years ago.And speaking of Reel Splatter Productions, I have a whole bunch of things to announce in that regard.
We had a nice surprise earlier in the week when Bloody Disgusting included I’M DREAMING OF A WHITE DOOMSDAY at number one on their 12 Days of Creepmas list. Thanks to them for that.
For new folks, I’M DREAMING OF A WHITE DOOMSDAY is a multi-award winning feature-length film written and directed by Mike Lombardo and produced by me. It is indeed a Christmas movie, but probably not one you want to watch with small children, as it will traumatize them. It is available to stream on Prime, Roku Channel, Plex, Tubi, Apple and many other places. The DVD and Blu-Ray are available for purchase from Amazon, Walmart. and our distributor Scream Team.
Why am I bringing all of this up? Is it because it’s a Christmas movie? Well, sure. That’s part of it.
But earlier this week, Mike released a brand new comedic short, inspired by the movie! BOMB SHELTER COOKIE RECIPE is available to watch for free right here. And that will hopefully hold you over until…
…next year, because Spring 2024 we will begin shooting a brand-new movie. I’m signed on as a producer and began location scouting and taking care of permits and paperwork this past week. I can’t give you any other details than that for now. We’ll announce things soon, though.
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And hey, after you’ve watched I’M DREAMING OF A WHITE DOOMSDAY, why not make it a double feature and watch THE NAUGHTY LIST, as well? It is available for free on YouTube.
THE NAUGHTY LIST is based on my short story “The Siqqusim Who Stole Christmas”. It is directed by Paul Campion (The Devil’s Rock, Lord of the Rings, Constantine) and stars Vincenzo Nicoli as Tony Genova, Sebastian Knapp as Vince Napoli, and the great Mac Elsey as Santa Claus.
So, there you go. Three holiday films to watch. That’s your Christmas sorted.
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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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An important note to all of you who’ve been ordering signed books from the Manhattan On Mars website. You may have noticed I’m letting the stock run down and not replacing items. That is on purpose. On January 1st, we will take the website down for approximately three months. When it reopens, it will be with a new URL (linked to at the Vortex Books and Comics website).
Why are we doing this? Because when we open, Vortex Books and Comics will be selling signed books — not just by Mary and I, but by anyone who does a signing at the store. You will also be able to preorder signed and personalized copies once the online store is back up.
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Work this past week was focused on the LOST LEVEL stories that folks commissioned earlier this year, Christopher Golden’s House of Last Resort Weekend (I should have the programming schedule posted next weekend), and behind the scenes stuff for the bookstore.
Those LOST LEVEL stories will all be collected in a book called THE LOST LEVEL: EXCURSIONS, which will be released after BENEATH THE LOST LEVEL (which is finished and just needs to be given a polish and then sent off to pre-readers).
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Last Thursday, I missed a Scares That Care board meeting because I attended my youngest son’s winter concert instead. As a result, I was drafted to appear dressed in a diaper as the Baby New Year if the charity reaches a certain funding goal. The full details of this will be released on social media on December 26th, so stay tuned for that.
And that does it for this week. I promise I’ll post a feral cat uodate next week for those of you who’ve been asking.
If you celebrate any holiday this time of year, I hope that you enjoy it. Stay safe, and thanks, as always, for spending a little bit of your Sunday with me. I appreciate you all. Hope you enjoy the movies.
See you back here next weekend.
— Brian Keene
Yo Brian, send out a last minute Christmas link to your fundraiser for your book store. I’m sure you’ll get a few donations from people in the holiday spirit.
Brian and Mary - MERRY CHRISTMAS! Good luck with Vortex in the new year and looking forward to the feral cat update (YES, I am one of those people LOL).