Letters From the Labyrinth 449
The Fisherman
Let’s start with some good news this week! The November 2025 Pandi Pack — featuring THE BEST OF BRIAN KEENE by me and FOUR PAST MEAT NIGHT by Gemma Amor, laurel Hightower, R.J. Joseph and Hailey Piper, edited by me — has sold out. Not only has it sold out, but Pandi Press reports it was their bestselling Pandi Pack of the year. So thanks to all of you who purchased one. It is appreciated.
As you are reading this on Sunday morning, I’ll be on the road, as I have been for most of the past week. Last Wednesday I drove up to New Jersey to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with Mary’s extended family. Friday I drove back to Pennsylvania. Saturday, I left for Williamsburg, Virginia to do some stuff at the Scares That Care hotel. Today, (Sunday) I am en route from there to West Virginia to visit grandma. And then tomorrow (Monday) I am on my way back home.
My back is better (thanks for the well wishes) but some new medical things have made themselves known to my doctors. When I get back next week, I get to enjoy the experience of taking more tests and having more blood drawn, which is to say, not at all is the amount I will enjoy that. Only things I hate worse than having blood drawn are snakes and flying. The worst thing I can imagine is giving blood on a plane cruising at 30,000 feet while snakes run amok up and down the aisles.
Which would make for a cool novel, I suppose.
Anyway… good morning. I’m Brian Keene, and this is Letters From the Labyrinth — a long-running weekly newsletter for friends, fans, and family.
The new Vortex Books and Comics online store is taking shape. Already there are hundreds of books — new, used, rare, and signed — and comics — new, graphic novels, and back issues — as well as audiobooks, Blu-rays, and much more. And more will be added weekly as the transition to online only continues. Check it out!
New episode of my podcast is live:
Romantasy For Misanthropes - Keeneversations Ep 27
Brian and Mary discuss the history and appeal of the post-apocalyptic genre, ranging from 1901’s The Purple Cloud through modern contributions such as Fallout, Waterworld, Mad Max, and zombies. Why does it appeal to a portion of the populace, particularly in the aftermath of the recent pandemic, and what might it portend for the future?
Available on Spotify, Apple, and Patreon. Click here to listen.
Currently Watching: Survivor season 49, South Park season 28, Plur1bus season 1, and Steve (Martin): A Documentary In 2 Pieces.
Currently Reading: The Long Low Whistle by Laurel Hightower
Currently Listening: AVTT/PTTN by The Avett Brothers and Mike Patton, Get the Knack by The Knack, After the Gold Rush by Neil Young, and Sometimes Y by Yelawolf and Shooter Jennings
Finished my reread of The Fisherman by my pal John Langan at the start of this previous week, and was moved to write about it.
There are a lot of things that I won’t miss once Vortex finishes the transition to online only. But one of the things that I will miss is the vicarious thrill of hand-selling The Fisherman to customers who aren’t sure what they want to read, or customers who learned to trust my recommendations. Part of that thrill is getting to talk about the book when they come back after finishing it. The Fisherman isn’t for everyone, of course. No book or film or album will appeal to every single person on Planet Earth. But it does indeed appeal to a wide cross-spectrum of readers. All you’ve got to do is get the book into their hands.
Over the years, there have been a number of readers who have brought up the kinship between The Fisherman and my own Earthworm Gods (originally published as The Conqueror Worms). A few critics and reviewers have done the same over the years. And yes, there is indeed a spiritual kinship between the two novels. Both feature aging widowers as their main protagonists. Both are a mix of cosmic horror and grief horror. Both feature water, rain, and flooding as a sinister force. Both have an “other” space encroaching upon our world. And both have giant aquatic monsters named Leviathan. And no, John and I didn’t crib from each other. It was another case of Alan Moore’s Ideaspace (which we’ve talked about before in relation to the strange simultaneous synchronicity between THE RISING, 28 Days Later, and The Walking Dead.
Despite the similarities between the two novels, it should be very clear to all that they are two remarkably different bodies of work. Mine is a pulpy monster mash that will appeal to fans of Stephen King, James Herbert, or William Schoell. It’s fun, and yes it plays for keeps, but at the end of the day it’s a pulp novel. With The Fisherman, John delivered what is, in my considered opinion, the best literary horror novel of the last decade, and one of the best of all time. It’s very easy to say it will appeal to fans of Peter Straub, Steve Rasnic Tem, or H.P. Lovecraft, but that’s cheating… because the book has massive appeal beyond fans of just literary horror. Put this in the hands of a hipster snob who turns their nose up at horror and then invite them to shut the f*ck up. Put it in the hands of a teenage reader whose only exposure to the genre so far has been extreme horror or bizarro, and watch their horizons broaden and minds blow up. in real time. Hand it to someone in their seventies who thinks the last good horror novel was TED Klein’s The Ceremonies. Yes, fans of cosmic horror and grief horror fall all over this book, but it will also appeal to folk horror readers, and fans of surrealism, and historical horror, and just plain old horror. And… it appeals to non-horror readers, as well. I have pushed this book on actors, musicians, adult film stars, and at least three politicians, and the feedback is always gracious and enthusiastic after they’ve finished it.
Writing is a strange form of immortality. We tell ourselves that our memory lasts as long as people are still taking about our books. But as I get older, I see that’s a fleeting sort of immortality, because the truth is, you reach a certain age and readers have already quit talking about your books, even while you’re still alive. For most writers, anyway. Oh sure, there are some who live on forever. But the vast majority? Forgotten. Consigned to the 2 for $1 table at the local library sale.
Not so The Fisherman. This one will outlive John. Outlive his friends like Paul and Laird and myself. Outlive the critics. Outlive us all. It will be taught and discussed at colleges 100 years from now. And deservedly so. No film adaptation could ever do it justice. A graphic novel adaptation might work, but would ultimately mute its power. The Fisherman is a powerful work of art distilled into book form, and it demands that you experience it at least once in your life.
And as I learned this past week, experiencing it a second time in your life is even better.
The Fisherman is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook here.
And that does it for this week. Thanks for reading. See you back here next Sunday.
Happy and safe travels and now I have to look for The Fisherman
Hope blood draw is not too traumatic and health concerns are not serious. Online store is looking great!