Letters From the Labyrinth 415
It's Muggsy's world. We just live in it.
Good morning. I’m Brian Keene and this is Letters From the Labyrinth — a long-running weekly newsletter for friends, fans, and family. And this…
is my little buddy Muggsy Parker Schow.
I say my little buddy but in truth, he’s the horror genre’s little buddy. We’ve got a lot of cute dogs in this industry. Stephen King and Joe R. Lansdale’s dogs. Geoff Cooper’s kaiju-sized dog. Sarah Pinborough’s always photogenic dog. Lots of cats, too. A few lizards. Not so many snakes since J.F. Gonzalez’s passing. (Jesus, knowing my deep, abiding, lifelong loathing of snakes used to get his out of the enclosure when my back was turned and chase me around the basement with it).
But Muggsy rules over them all. He’s smaller than most of them, but he’s got heart twenty times bigger than he is. For the past three years he’s suffered from chronic lung infections, and it turns out he has Dynamic Principal Bronchus Collapse. So, David and Kerry have launched a GoFundMe to help with the veterinary costs (which are around $10,000). If you can chip in five bucks, know that many of your favorite horror writers and filmmakers would appreciate it.
There are about a dozen signed, limited edition hardcovers of BENEATH THE LOST LEVEL available for preorder via the Thunderstorm Books website. It is limited to 168 copies and costs $110. (The paperback, eBook, and audiobook editions will be available Summer of 2026).
Set in 1990s Los Angeles, CONVERSION is J.F. Gonzalez's long lost first novel, finally back in print after two decades!
Ron is at a crossroads in his life. Infatuated with a mysterious woman he met at a charismatic church that caters to the Los Angeles goth crowd, Ron begins feeling increasingly weak and confused in the daylight hours...and more alive at night.
Joel is at a similar crossroads. Bored with his life, he drifts aimlessly until one night when he sees his best friend murdered by something that can only be described as a vampire.
Cindy is infatuated with vampires. She finds them sexy. She fantasizes about living forever. Surely the old horror movies got the legends wrong. They can't be soulless, bloodsucking fiends. What's so evil about desiring immortality?
In one week of bloodshed and violence, Ron, Joel, and Cindy will come together at odds with each other. One determined to destroy the creature that killed his friend, one determined to save him, and one who simply wants to stay alive... And live forever.
Includes a special introduction by Brian Keene.
On the latest episode of HOW TO SURVIVE 2025 — drills and practice runs allow us to test our plans and gear in a reasonably safe and controlled environment. Jim, Dacia, and I discuss how to learn from making mistakes without too much risk.
Listen free via: Web Browser ~ Spotify ~ iHeartRadio ~ Apple ~ Amazon/Audible ~ YouTube ~ Podbean ~ Player FM
I posted a new installment in BRIAN KEENE’S SECRET HISTORIES — the new series where I go through my books in chronological order and talk about their origins, creation, and what I think of them now. This week’s installment focuses on SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL. Watch them all here.
Currently Watching: The Gorge (Apple+ and Prime), The Sinner season 1 (Netflix), and Severance Season 1 (Apple+ and Prime).
Currently Reading: The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower by Stephen King. (A re-read).
Currently Listening: This past week was heavy on The Cure, Al Green, Sick Of It All, Biohazard, Don Henley, Kris Kristofferson, Mr. Bungle, The Commodores, Adele, and Cheap Trick.
The Gorge is an absolute delight — a multi-genre mash-up of horror, science-fiction, action, and romantic comedy. Indeed, it’s the best horror romance I’ve seen since Benson and Moorhead’s Spring. So much fun.
I’m loving Severance. About halfway through season one, and it’s a slow burn, for sure, but engrossing, and deft at ratcheting up the sense of doom and paranoia and sheer what-the-hell-ness with each subsequent episode. Sort of like Office Space meets Mr. Robot.
And that does it for this week. Thanks, as always, for reading. I’ll see you back here again next Sunday.
— Brian Keene
Loved THE SINNER.
Hi Brian,
I have been avid reader of your stories for yeeaarrrrrs, and always purchase your books in psysical form, be it paperback or hardcover. This is the first time I am having big probs getting hold of one. That one being 'The Rising: More Selected Scenes From The End Of The World'.
I usually buy them through Amazon (the Dutch one, as I live in The Netherlands), but in this case even UK, Germany, France don't sell them, only what seems like untrustworthy sellers.
Any tips on how to get a hold of it? Thanks
Take care,
Dave Rawlins
PS. I LOVE the BRIAN KEENE’S SECRET HISTORIES!!