Letters From the Labyrinth 387

Cons

Hey there. I’m Brian Keene and this is Letters From the Labyrinth — a long-running weekly email newsletter for fans, friends, and family. Previous issues can be read here. I’m typing this on Saturday afternoon from my secondary office in the back of my bookstore.

Seems like everyone except me is at a convention this weekend except. I saw on social media that Matt Serafini is at a comic con. I talked on the phone with Laurel Hightower and James Sabata last night while they were at Imaginarium. And I talked via phone with Chris Golden and Maurice Broaddus who are at Necon (I’m told that air conditioning, however, is not attending Necon this year).

One of the purposes of opening Vortex Books & Comics was so that I wouldn’t have to do as many conventions going forward. But Wrath James White and Shane McKenzie are forcing me to attend KillerCon next month, so I’m sure I’ll see some of you there.

Speaking of conventions…

New readers might be unaware that I serve on the Board of Directors for Scares That Care — a 501c3 charity composed of horror professionals and fans. To date, we have raised well over $300,000 for children with cancer, women with breast cancer, and burn victims. We have also helped the underprivileged and members of our own community, as needs arise. We are an all-volunteer organization. You can read more about me and the other board members here.

One of the ways we raise money for our beneficiaries is through our very popular AuthorCon events. Speaking of which, AuthorCon IV is taking place in St Louis this October 4th through the 6th — specifically at the Marriott Renaissance Airport Hotel. We’ll have over 100 horror authors and publishers in attendance. Our guests of honor and full info can be found here. That is also where you can buy your ticket to attend. Please note — there are a few surprise Guest of Honor announcements to come, still.

If you are an author who has purchased a vendor table, we’ve now begun putting together Programming for the event. If you would like to participate with a reading or panel discussion, then I need you to fill out this quick survey. It won’t take more than two minutes. If you don’t fill out the form, then you can’t be on programming.

We have some very big plans for Scares That Care heading into 2025 and 2026. Thank you, on behalf of our beneficiaries, for your continued support. As we continue to expand our mission, we'd like to remind the community that 'AuthorCon' is a registered trademark of the charity. We ask that if you are an individual or an organization using that phrase for your event or as part of your branding, that you please change it so as to not confuse the public, whose donations we rely upon. Thank you for your understanding and your attention in this matter.

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If everything goes as planned, we will announce the line-up for THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT: NEW TALES FROM STEPHEN KING’S THE STAND right here in this newsletter next week. So, tell your friends they should subscribe. Send them a link and remind them it’s free.

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Only ten days left to back Strange New Moons — a new werewolf anthology from French Press, edited by Kozeniewski and Kayleigh Dobbs, and featuring brand-new fiction by Mary SanGiovanni, Simon Clark, Amanda Headlee, Tim Lebbon, Somer Canon, John Durgin, and Rebecca Rowland. View the Kickstarter here.

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The special Lettered Edition of my novel WITH TEETH is almost sold out. This edition is limited to 52 copies. It is signed by me. Red cover foil and frontis art by Alex McVey. You can get your copy here.

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Currently Watching: The Boys season 4 (Prime), Mayor of Kingstown season 3 (Paramount+), and Narcos seasons 1 through 3 (Netflix). Narcos is a rewatch for me, but Mary had never seen it. I think it works even better the second time.

Currently Reading: A Cure For the Sickness by Brian James Freeman and My Quirky Little Memoir by John R. Little.

Currently Listening: Brian Keene Radio

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A reminder that if you enjoy this newsletter, you might also enjoy the weekly Vortex Books & Comics newsletter, which you can subscribe to here.

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And that does it for this week. Thanks, as always, for reading. I’ll see you back here again next Sunday.

— Brian Keene