I Know What I Did This Summer

So, it would appear that I’m back from my annual blogcation, that annual respite I allow myself during the month of July. Truth is, I’ve been swamped with projects and have been teetering at that frustrating crossroads in every writer’s life – between day job and writing – so the time away did me good, allowed me to catch up and regroup a bit.

In any event, I suspect this blog entry will be a hodgepodge of odds and ends meant to catch you up and finish some unfinished business. I sense a bulleted list on the horizon!

So, what did you think about HARPER’S ISLAND? First, I have to give some serious props to CBS for running the entire limited-run series – even if the network did screw the pooch a bit by relegating the show to Saturday nights (aka television’s graveyard shift). The show gained some serious momentum by the second half of its run, establishing genuine tension, peppering the proceedings with red herrings galore, and delivering a respectable body count. I was completely wrong in my guess of whodunit – suspecting that the unseen slasher was Maggie, the seemingly kindly wedding planner. Perhaps confirming why Agatha Christie stumped me every single time, it would appear that Maggie was, indeed, just a kindly wedding planner after all. (But, seriously, did they really have to let the poor thing’s body swing there outside the bar for so long?). I won’t ruin the big reveal for those of you waiting for the forthcoming DVD, but, suffice to say, the ending was fairly unpredictable and kept you guessing. Not surprised that CBS opted not to renew the series (the idea would have been to have another limited-run story arc play out with a new cast and new storyline) since the ratings were low by network standards despite respectable marketing efforts, but I hope some forward-thinking cable outlet will give the concept of another mystery/slasher limited-run series a shot. I hear some book called THE LITERARY SIX would make for some excellent source material!

During my blogging hiatus, I also managed to catch up on a few films I missed in the theaters. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed MIRRORS, especially going into it with the preconceived notion that it would suck ass. Far from the greatest horror film ever made, it nonetheless held my interest and gave me a few calculated shivers. I was equally surprised by how not-totally-bad the remake of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL was. Now, I preface that statement with the disclaimer that I want to be reincarnated as Kathy Bates and that I’d watch her sit on a stool and talk into a camera for two hours without blinking. But, like MIRRORS, I could think of far worse ways to spend a few hours of down time. Same goes for ONE MISSED CALL – the weakest of the lot – but still far from the worse films I’ve ever seen. OK, not exactly ringing endorsements, so want an actual recommendation? COLD PREY. I’m late to the game on this Norwegian-lensed snowbound slasher, but this film is the real deal. It’s everything fans loved about the old school slashers (relatively attractive cast making bad decisions in an impossibly isolated location with more flawed logic than Proposition 8), with the added appeal of genuinely tense direction, a truly frightening, believable villain, and a refreshing lack of self-referential humor and one-liners. This is a balls-to-the-wall slasher film – nothing groundbreaking, but authentic to its core.

Project-wise, I’ve made the tough decision to push THE RENEWED to the side right now, opting instead to pour all of my concentration into FINAL GIRL. I’ve got so many pans in the fire right now that limit my available writing time as it is, so I had to pick one to focus on. After taking an insightful online workshop with my friend Alex Sokoloff a few months ago, I determined that FINAL GIRL simply has more commercial appeal. During Stoker Weekend this past June, I pitched the novel to two publishers, both of whom asked to see it when it’s done. So, what’s it about? Here’s the logline (with special thanks to both Chad Helder and Ms. Sokoloff for lending me their ears in Burbank to get it just right):

A former criminal psychologist with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, a cub reporter who once jeopardized an old case, and a gay film historian form an unlikely alliance in tracking a serial killer targeting former scream queens and murdering them in elaborate re-creations of murder set pieces from 80’s slasher movies.

Oh, yes, my fellow slasher brethren, there will be trivia bits aplenty and more inside nods and winks to the diehard slasher fan than Sarah Palin makes political faux pas. This one’s decidedly a thriller with strong horror overtones. In the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing more with you during new installments of ‘Writerly Stuff’.

Now that submissions have closed, editing on BUTCHER KNIVES & BODY COUNTS has commenced. This is going to be a whopper of a tome, and I’m very excited about the quality of the essays submitted. I’ll be making the long-delayed announcement about the remaining contributors who’ll be rounding out the collection as soon as one or two stragglers (and you know who you are!) submit their pieces. I think it’s safe to say that the book is on target for its April/May release, and there are some exciting plans in the works for the launch party (Hint: Think film premiere!). I’ve also been approached about editing a themed anthology by another publisher and am now waiting to hear back on the formal proposal. Details will follow if the publisher bites back.

Loving the new season of TRUE BLOOD! Thrilled that Jason Stackhouse is done with that Fellowship of the Sun church business and hope he soon gets back to his lothario (read: naked) ways. Looks like the plotline involving Maryann the Maened is escalating just in time for Sookie, Bill, and company’s arrival back in Bon Temps. Say what you will about that sharp-clawed, shapeshifting she-beast, but she sure knows how to throw one hell of a party!

Trashy pop culture-wise, I enjoyed a wonderful season of Kathy Griffin’s MY LIFE ON THE D-LIST and am now in the thick of things on the new BIG BROTHER and HDTV’s DESIGN STAR. On the former, I’m thrilled that prissy, preening Jesse is gone and hope nerdy Michele has the cajones to put loud-mouthed Chima and the spoiled brat-like Natalie on the block in the upcoming double eviction week. On the latter, I’m rooting for the adorable Dan Vickery to win because 1) he’s good with power tools and 2) HDTV needs another drop-dead hunk with piercing eyes hosting one of its shows.

I've also added a virtual bookshelf to the blog. These are all books that either influenced my writing or just gave me countless hours of reading pleasure over the years. In most cases, a little of both. I'm proud to call some of these writers friends and colleagues now, so I hope you'll give the list a glance. Maybe grab a copy of one or two of the books on my list from your local independent bookstore or library and help keep reading alive and well.

Finally, the League of Tana Tea Drinkers has remained quite busy these past few months – adding several new worthy members to its ranks: Cinema Fromage, Cinema Suicide, Classic Horror, Day of the Woman, Evil on Two Legs, Fascination with Fear, I Love Horror, Igloo of the Uncanny, and Uranium Café. The blogroll at the right has been updated with the LOTT D’s current lineup, so please take a few moments and visit these intriguing blog worlds. Plus, want to know something about the bloggers themselves? Then check out the new member profiles at the LOTT D homepage.

Final Girls, Divas, and Nasty Nurses

So the Unspeakable Horror anthology has continued to garner good reviews – most notably from Fangoria (issue #283) and the online Horror Bound Magazine. I’m really thrilled that my first outing as an anthologist has been so well-received, the experience so positive. Honestly, I even enjoyed the submissions process – reading through the slush, responding with what I hope was constructive criticism. So many editors bellyache about this aspect – about how it’s laborious and tedious – but I found it to be equal parts challenging and rewarding. I loved discovering the new voices we selected for the project and thrilled at receiving submissions from writers I greatly admire. The Bram Stoker nomination was pure icing on the cake, and I’m excited to meet up with Chad Helder (co-editor on the project) and some of our contributors – Lisa Morton, Maria Alexander, Michael Hacker – for our group signing at the famed Dark Delicacies in Burbank on June 11th before the Stoker Awards Banquet that weekend.

I received my contributor copy of My Diva: 65 Gay Men and the Women Who Inspire Them a few weeks ago and have been reading through the other contributions with great interest. Editor Michael Montlack really did a stellar job putting this collection together, and the University of Wisconsin Press produced a gorgeous looking book. In a word, this collection is celebratory – a real salute to women of all shapes, sizes, and talents from (primarily) the entertainment industry who have inspired greatness in those who love them. The book is a real revelation, exposing fan worship in a positive light and articulating the gay man’s love of strong, opinionated, sexy – often tragic – female figures. So often fandom gets relegated to the preconceived ghetto of celebrity stalking. This book will smash those misconceptions and really demonstrate the genuine affection we have for our divas. Writing my own contribution on Jamie Lee Curtis – “When the Artist Met His Muse” – was a really cathartic in some ways, a chance to articulate something that’s been part of my persona since the age of ten.

I also received my contributor copy of Malpractice: An Anthology of Bedside Terror (Stygian Publications). This is one of those themed horror anthologies that can sound great in concept but bomb in execution. Since I’ve yet to delve into the book, I can’t yet state with any certainty into which category Malpractice falls. But the few reviews that have appeared online are favorable so prospects seem good. My contribution to the anthology is “The Night Nurse of Cobblestone” which tells the tale of a bedbound nursing home patient who is subjected to terror masquerading as medical care at the hands of his sadistic night nurse. Those who know that I’m a nursing home administrator by profession may be horrified at first by the brutality of the story and wonder aloud if this is based on some true experience. Truth is, this story is a response to the prevailing public image of nursing homes as being horrible places where people lay rotting in their beds amidst squalor and abuse. Having lived and breathed nursing homes for over two decades, nothing could be farther from the truth. So “Night Nurse” is an exaggeration of the public’s collective misconception, as well as an allegory for the internal horrors of growing older and becoming reliant upon the kindness of others.

Lastly, can I just share with you how much fun working on the Butcher Knives & Body Counts project continues to be? For a slasher queen like me, this has been a dream come true. Fun with a capital “T”. We’ve accepted just over 50 essays for the collection to date, and expect to add another 10-20 in the last four weeks of the open call for submissions. There are some truly spectacular essays coming in, really insightful pieces that really celebrate the slasher genre and demonstrate an as-yet-untapped depth. I’m delighted by Adam (Going to Pieces) Rockoff’s commitment to pen the Foreword and director Adam (Hatchet) Green’s introduction.

And I really love the eleventh hour stuff that happens on projects like this – folks who hear about it and want in, ideas that springboard into expansions of the project. Although not officially announced, I can share that we’ve got Don D’Auria (editor extraordinaire from Leisure Books) onboard, have added writers Scott Nicholson and Kim Paffenroth, and have gotten interest from a certain well-known horror entertainment magazine editor in contributing something – we’re hoping for an Afterword. But the best part (and this is a scoop for my loyal blog followers that has not been officially announced anywhere yet) is that we’ve decided to intersperse interviews in between the essays. And with whom might these interviews be? I know what you’re thinking: the usual convention circuit crowd – Savini and Palmer and Soles and Hodder and that sort, right?

Nope.

No, for this project – the ultimate intellectual celebration of the slasher film – we’re digging much deeper than that. We’re tracking down those lost actors and actresses from the slasher films of yore, those victims and villains we loved but never saw again (or infrequently) after their 15 minutes of slasher movie fame. I’m talking about the obscure denizens of the slasher universe here, those whose time with us on the silver screen – brief as it was – nonetheless made an indelible mark. I can hear your frustrated screams: “Stop baiting us and spill already!”

Nope. Not just yet.

But, since I’m not a total tease, I’ll give you some hints. We’ve already chatted with a hapless ice skater, a terrified bride-to-be, a sexy sorority sister, a redhead who runs afoul of rednecks, and a killer who favors public transportation(!).

Caution. Fun stuff ahead...

Drop Your Shorts, Then Turn Your Head and Scream...

Tired of waiting for the new book? If so, pick up a copy of the new short story collection Malpractice: An Anthology of Bedside Terror, which features a new original short story by yours truly. “The Night Nurse of Cobblestone” is set in a senior healthcare facility and involves some unpleasantness with bedsores and bad bedside manners. “Cobblestone” is dark, allegorical take on the horrors of aging – with a howling good twist!

Published by Stygian Publications, Malpractice features eighteen original short stories and thirteen 100-word pieces of flash fiction revolving around a fictional hospital. From the back cover copy:

Are you scared about going to the doctor?

Maybe you should be.

From the outside, a hospital is a place of safety and recovery, where the injured go to regain their strength to face the world again. Sadly, within the sterile white walls of Bloom Memorial, evil burns through every room. Every lab. Every corridor. The so-called doctors are impersonators. Lab-coated viruses infecting all they touch, they labor toward their own purpose.

Death.

Be warned. With 18 short stories and 13 100-word bites from some of the best horror writers, this collection of medical terror will cut you to the bones.

Some early praise for Malpractice: An Anthology of Bedside Terror:

“There are no HMOs where you are going. Malpractice is a gut-wrenching and visceral collection of horror stories that feverishly compounds our worst hospital fears. Although I may never be able to visit a hospital again without my knees rattling, I thoroughly enjoyed these well-crafted tales. Thematically, this anthology is a brilliant concept and ultimately flawlessly executed.” – Tim Deal, Shroud Magazine

Order your copy here.

My Diva

The appropriately titled My Diva: 65 Gay Men on the Women Who Inspire Them is a forthcoming anthology of essays on, well, gay men and the women who inspire them. Happily, I'm one of the titular number and get to espouse the virtues of (wait for it)...some broad from Halloween named Jamie Lee Curtis.

Edited by poet Michael Montlack, My Diva is slated for release from the University of Wisconsin Press this coming May. Here is the official cover text:

“From Elizabeth Taylor, Bette Midler, and Diana Ross to Queen Elizabeth I, Julia Child, and Princess Leia, these divas have been sister, alter ego, fairy godmother, or model for survival to gay men and the closeted boys they once were. And anyone—straight or gay, young or old, male or female—who ever needed a muse, or found one, will see their own longing mirrored here as well.

These witty and poignant short essays explore reasons for diva-worship as diverse as the writers themselves. My Diva offers both depth and glamour as it pays tribute with joy, intelligence, and fierce, fierce love.”

The collection is getting some terrific advance buzz, too:

“Inspiration is contagious—and inspiration, excitement, and appreciation resonate through these essays. This is a story about how in the worst of times, there are the best of women—women in whom we find our courage and sometimes our heartbroken tenderness. My Diva is an act of love, well deserved and without reservation. Read it in the spirit in which it was made—this act of adoration, awe, and yes, love.”—Dorothy Allison, author of Bastard Out of Carolina

“A completely fascinating and lovely book. In every case the diva is a kind of saint—for her suffering, for the emotional warble in her voice, as she sang, as she spoke those classic lines. It’s hard to miss the dovetailing of the gay male writer’s psyche and the voluptuous (much more than her body) voice of the diva. She shines her light on the way. Man, does she ever.”—Eileen Myles, author of Sorry, Tree

Pre-order a copy of what promises to be a fascinating look at diva worship.

Unspeakably Busy

Jeez Louise. Where does the time go? Seems like the year was just beginning and it’s already coming to a close. Sorry I’ve neglected the blog a bit, but it’s been hectic with a capital “H” around here.

Some of you may know that a new book I co-edited with Chad Helder was just released. Unspeakable Horror: From the Shadows of the Closet is an anthology of 23 original short stories that melds horror and queer themes. Chad and I assembled an incredible roster of talent for the collection, including personal favorites like Lee Thomas (Lambda Literary Award winner for The Dust of Wonderland), Sarah Langan (Bram Stoker Award winner for The Missing and author of the equally outstanding The Keeper), Kealan Patrick Burke (Bram Stoker Award winner for The Turtle Boy and author of one of the year’s best collections, The Number 121 to Pennsylvania), and too many more fabulous writers that I could go on about for days on end. Check out more about the anthology.

This is my first attempt at editing anything of this scope and size, and I really hope readers respond favorably to the book. Waiting for the reviews to come in is always the worst part. The experience itself was most enjoyable (slush pile and all!). I hope you’ll mosey on over to Amazon or the Horror Mall and pick yourself up a copy. Chad and I also did a few interviews in support of the collection, which you can read here and here.

I’m also editing a new non-fiction collection of essays on (surprise!) slasher films for Dark Scribe Press. A call for submissions went out last month, but the incoming traffic has been slow. Hopefully, after the holidays my inbox will be bursting. This will be a very cool project, with essays on individual slasher films and more general pieces of the genre. There will be lots of trivia and interactive slasher quizzes to test your fanboy IQ, as well as some exclusive interviews with some of the great (albeit underrated) scream queens of the 80’s. We’ve already got interviews completed with Lesleh Donaldson (Happy Birthday to Me, Curtains), Jodi Draigie (The House on Sorority Row), and the super-reclusive Meg Tilly (Psycho II). This will be the ultimate in reading pleasure for slasher fans. Now, hopefully, we can get the submissions rolling in. Otherwise, I may just be penning the book myself.

Even with these larger projects, I still found time to do a little writing of my own. My short story “The Night Nurse of Cobblestone” will be appearing in the medical-themed Malpractice: An Anthology of Bedside Terror coming early next year from Necrotic Tissue. I’ve also contributed two poems to an intriguing themed poetry project called Death in Common: Poems from Unlikely Victims (Daverana Enterprises), edited by Rich Ristow. Both “Tyro” and “Chatroom Hustler” recount the last hours in the lives of two victims of a fictional serial killer. Finally, I’ll have an original essay appearing in the non-fiction anthology My Diva: 65 Gay Men on the Women who Inspire Them (University of Wisconsin Press) that was edited by Michael Montlack. One guess who my diva subject was(!). Still have one or two short stories out to various markets, so there may be more announcements if the acceptance gods smile kindly upon me.

Dark Scribe Magazine celebrated its one-year anniversary this past October. The wonderful Editor-in-Chief that I am, the milestone was completely overlooked until last week. To celebrate, the magazine is running an amazing contest that features a signed hardcover book club edition of Bentley Little’s The Academy and a one-of-a-kind (well, one of two — he signed one for me, too) signed publicity photo. If you know anything at all about Little, you know that he never does book signings or much PR for his books, and he related to me that he has never signed an author photo before (and then proceeded to tell me with his inimitable honesty that he’d never sign one again!). To enter, you’ll need to become a registered reader of DSM. Once registered, you can log in and the contest link will appear. Once you’re a registered reader, you can also vote in the magazine’s annual awards program, the Black Quill Awards. Nominations were just announced.

The Renewed and Final Girl are waiting patiently for their literary draftsman to put his pen to paper and resume their creation. Plus, Chad and I have been fleshing out a novel collaboration. Not sure if that’s ambitious or just plain crazy with all that’s on our collective plates.

Man, if there were only a few more hours in each day.