Letters From the Labyrinth 457
The Beastie Boys of Norfolk
Been a while since I posted any sort of broad work update, so that’s how I want to start this issue. I’m writing this Friday morning on the set of DEAD FORMAT, so I guess it makes sense to begin with an update on that.
In case you’re new here, DEAD FORMAT is the latest feature film by Mike Lombardo (I’M DREAMING OF A WHITE DOOMSDAY, THE STALL), and I’m one of the producers. By the time you read this, we’ll be on Day 23 of filming, and while not finished, we can see the finish line up ahead. Then post-production will begin. (We’ve been editing footage that’s already been shot so that we can get a head start on that).
If you would like to preorder a copy of DEAD FORMAT by contributing to the campaign, click here.
While we’re discussing movies, a production company wants to make a documentary about me — one that focuses deep on the creative process and the impact of this life on my family and friends. In discussions, they said they’d like to also highlight my struggle with INVISIBLE MONSTERS, the long-delayed next Levi Stoltzfus novel which I’ve now been working on for seven years, and which I’m still not anywhere near satisfied with.
DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN is under option. Not sure what I am allowed to say about it and what I can’t, so let’s just go with: It’s a major studio, with major horror producers and a major horror screenwriter attached. Screenplay is being written right now.
And there are various other things in development, movie and TV-wise, but none to the stage where they can be talked about yet.
Turning to writing, here is what I am currently, actively working on (and when I say currently, actively I mean just that. Each of these are in progress, and I work on at least two of them every day):
OPERATION LITTLE GOLDEN BOOK — I talked about this a few issues ago (see what happens when you miss a week of my newsletter?) — the codename I’ve given to me and Christopher Golden’s follow-up to THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT: NEW TALES OF STEPHEN KING’S THE STAND. We are currently at the stage where the contributors are beginning to turn in their stories, and we are editing them as we receive them.
Short Story #1 — For an anthology edited by Jim Cobb.
Short Story #2 — For an anthology edited by Jamie Flanagan.
Short Story #3 — For an anthology edited by Michael Bailey.
Short Story #4 — For an anthology edited by Nick Roberts.
FALLING ANGELS: THE LABYRINTH Book 4 — First draft is 80% done, and then will go off to prereaders. You’ll definitely see it this year.
ONE-EYED MONSTER — A novel I’m co-writing with with Laurel Hightower.
THE LOST LEVEL: EXCURSIONS — A collection of short stories, many of them commissioned by readers, all taking place within the setting of THE LOST LEVEL. The stories are 75% done. You’ll see a limited edition of it late this year, followed by a paperback, eBook and audiobook at a later date.
You should see a paperback, eBook, and audiobook release of BENEATH THE LOST LEVEL later this year. It was delayed due to all the maleficence surrounding the bankruptcy of Diamond Distribution, which impacted the publisher, Apex.
You will also see volume 4 of THE COMPLETE SHORT FICTION OF BRIAN KEENE this year, probably at the start of summer.
On the backburner, some things that I will return to after I clear off some of that active in-progress list above are MONSTERS OF SAIPAN (with Weston Ochse), FINAL RETREAT (with J.F. Gonzalez), a CLICKERS novel with Bryan Smith, DISSONANT HARMONIES II with Bev Vincent, and a collaboration with Ryan Harding in which we do our version of The Running Man.
Chris and I were delighted to learn this week that THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT: NEW TALES OF STEPHEN KING’S THE STAND (available here) is a finalist for the 2026 Audie Awards and appears on the preliminary ballot for the 2026 Bram Stoker Awards. Our sincere thanks to all involved on behalf of ourselves, the contributors, and the publisher.
Currently Watching: Fallout season 2, Stranger Things season 5, and Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.
Currently Reading: Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (a reread), and manuscripts by Todd Keisling and Bev Vincent.
Currently Listening: Licensed To Ill by the Beastie Boys, Built To Last by Sick of It All, Gold by Olivia Newton John, and (on Sirius/XM) Howard 100 and Howard 101.
I can’t overstate the nostalgia that sweeps over me every time I hear a track from Licensed To Ill. The album dropped when I was 19-years old and in the Navy. Myself, Dan Blumenthal (from Trenton), and Lee D. Miller (from Nacogdoches) absolutely lived and breathed it for an entire Mediterranean deployment.
Each of us already liked hip-hop — Eric B. and Rakim, Run-DMC, Ultramagnetics, LL Cool J, Whistle, Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick, the Krush Groove soundtrack, various underground mix-tapes, etc. Hell… we even listened to the Fat Boys.
But when the Beastie Boys dropped? The three of us went insane. We absolutely wore that cassette tape out. We memorized every song, traded lines in the berthing department (I did MCA’s part, Blumenthal did Ad-Rock’s, and Miller handled Mike D), and generally annoyed the hell out of everyone else on ship to the point that Dave Reed (from North Philly) approached us and said, in the most serious of tones: “I like y’all, but if you don’t stop with the ‘Ali Baba and the forty thieves’ shit? The rest of the brothers and your fellow white boys are gonna throw your asses overboard.”
To this day, when “Rhymin and Stealin” is on, and it gets to that part of the song, I grin.
And we deserved their ire, because we were utterly and completely ridiculous about the Beastie Boys, to the point where we were rewriting lyrics to make our own rhymes about our situations. At one point, we even formed a weird garage band called Schizophrenic Interlude that was half inspired by the Beastie Boys and half inspired by another band we all loved — Suicidal Tendencies.
The 1980s were a tense time, and I can’t imagine that we did anything to help improve international relations or U.S. military preparedness, belting out “Rhymin’ & Stealin’” and “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” and “She’s Crafty” wherever we went. Imagine you’re some poor old man in Jordan or Egypt or Israel and here come these three American sailors, absolutely pickled on cheap wine and whatever the local beer was, singing Beastie Boys songs at the top of their lungs.
Miller passed away from cancer a few years ago, but Blumenthal and I are still kicking.
Anyway… yeah, I was listening to that album a lot this past week.
And that does it for this week. I have been Brian Keene and this has been Letters From the Labyrinth, a long-running weekly newsletter for friends, fans, and family. If you enjoyed this, you might also enjoy my free daily journal, Algorithm Zero.
The Beastie Boys absolutely defined the late '80s and early '90s for me.
So cool to see that Navy & Beastie Boy Brotherhood stand the test of time.