Laird Barron's Blog, page 7

Athena is fourteen today; Valentina, our little potcake rescue dog will be one tomorrow. Jessica and I are grateful to have them in our lives. Photos by Jessica M.

Jesse Turner does a rockin’ good illustration of Rex, star of “Ears Prick Up” from Swift to Chase.. Congratulations to Jesse and co. on the release of their video game, Viking Squad.

My kind is swift to chase, swift to battle. My imperfect memory is long with longing for the fight. Gray and arthritic in the twilight of retirement from valorous service to the Empire, my hackles still bunch at the clink of metal on metal. My yawn is an expression of doom sublimated. I dream of chasing elk across the plains of my ancient ancestors. I dream of blizzards and ice fields that merge with the bitter stars. In my dreams, I always die.

Rex by Jesse Turner

Bob Pastorella profiles my career for This is Horror.

Swift to Chase received a nice review at Publishers Weekly.  ” Few writers would have the imagination to transform the late performance artist Andy Kaufman into a figure of deadly menace, but Barron does so brilliantly in “Andy Kaufman Creeping Through the Trees,” backing up the counter-intuitive conceit with pitch-perfect execution that turns Kaufman’s “dopey, amiable peasant smirk” into a chilling threat.”

Congratulations to the winners and nominees of the 2016 World Fantasy Award. Thank you to the committee and my fellow judges. Everyone worked hard, but Elaine Isaak and Kay Kenyon especially so. Additional thanks to Peter Dennis Pautz and Gordon Van Gelder for their responsiveness and professionalism during the process.

Finally, a special word regarding the life and legacy of David G. Hartwell: I never knew him well, but he welcomed me into the field with a warm smile and a clap on the shoulder. He and Kathryn Cramer reprinted three of my stories in their acclaimed Year’s Best Fantasy series. David Hartwell also endorsed my debut collection. That meant the world to me, coming from the legendary editor of The Dark Descent, a book that has done much to shape my writing over the years.

Rest in peace, Mr. Hartwell. Thank you.

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I had a discussion with Benoît Lelièvre at Dead End Follies. We covered Lovecraft, Alaska, my new collection, and a lot of ground between.

Procession of the Black Sloth is available for free as a Baen Books preview. Happy Halloween.

Bob Pastorella has an essay about the rising popularity of cosmic horror at Dead End Follies. If cosmic horror is something that intrigues you, but you aren’t sure where to start, allow me to recommend:

H.P. Lovecraft: The Shadow Out of Time  (the granddaddy of cosmic horror)

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Michael Shea: Polyphemus (One of the boldest and most psychedelic takes on modern horror)

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TED Klein: Dark Gods (a seminal collection of horror novellas)

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Like it says on the tin… Read the interview, then go buy his latest novel, Disappearance at Devil’s Rock.

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Man alive, I love Dave Kendall’s depiction of a pivotal scene in my story, “Blackwood’s Baby.”

Mr. Kendall is wizard.

Sam Reader at Barnes & Noble profiles nine books for Halloween. Nice to see Swift to Chase on the list, alongside titles by Datlow, Hunt, Langan, and Tremblay, among others.

The Fisherman is an epic goody.

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In other book news, Matthew Summers posted a nice write-up of Swift to Chase over at Smash Dragons.

One of the contemporary greats, Victor LaValle is interviewed at Nightmare Magazine. Excellent at short and long forms, LaValle traverses the divide between horror and generic lit and between pulp and mainstream styles. A powerful humanitarian impulse drives even his darkest narratives; a quality that elevates him into the upper echelon, not among horror writers, but the profession in general.

Slapboxing with Jesus

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