Pod of Horror #44: Piccirilli, Braunbeck...and Clinton???

Pod of Horror #44 brings you two titans of terror! Tom Piccirilli takes us down the dark, mean streets of Noir as he discusses THE COLD SPOT and crime fiction. Gary A. Bruanbeck talks about COFFIN COUNTY and the future of Cedar Hill. Nanci puts on her best PJs for The Call of Kalanta, and the pile of prizes grows larger in The Tomb of Trivia (plus a special guest appearance by Bill Clinton. No, really). Pod of Horror is hosted and produced by Mark Justice.



Download it at I-Tunes or direct to your desktop .

Get Pod of Horror merchandise .

Visit our MySpace page.

Be sure to drop by the Justice & Wilbanks message board.

and Mark's MySpace page.

PoH Stuff

There's a new Pod of Horror coming this weekend with a solid lineup. Meanwhile, here's a nice plug for the show. Thanks to the mysterious Mr. Allard.

Bonus points for anyone who knows where the name "Kent Allard' originated.

There's No Reason To Post This

But I'm doing it anyway.

That's right, it's the opening credits for BJ and the Bear.

Flash Fiction

You Can't Always Get What You Want
By Mark Justice

Pinwheels of light in his eyes. Snakes crawling through his head.

So it had been when he was killed, so it remained as he stumbled, shucked and hopped across America, a rotting, flaking marionette whose strings were controlled by vengeance and an indifferent universe.

Indifferent, though not without a wicked sense of humor. Resurrection, with an eternal chaser of the meth he had swallowed in the car before the show and the gun.

The gun...did that come before the jangling electric caress hit his nerves?

Didn’t matter. For nearly twenty years only one thing did.

When the good, clear thoughts hit, he remembered a leather vest and eyes deader than his own, while words pounded into his skull: asiamesecatsquirmingdogthesweetestpet

He had tried to kill the dancing devil, the slithering beast, that much he knew, then came the sharp thing over and over and the bludgeoning and he was done. They dumped him in the ground, where he stayed until that beat slammed into his brain again, and he woke up still cranked, digging out of the grave and dancing across the desert, the words scorching his torpid thoughts:

asiamesecatsquirmingdogthesweetestpet

Searching for the leather vest and dead eyes.

Legends sprang up around him. He felt the whispers and knew the names they called him: The Dust Man, Easu, Lonely Boy. They felt him in their dreams as he passed. The dark light of his craving casted shadows on their souls. Some had seen the leather vest, and those memories guided him from one side of the country and back again. He walked between thoughts, his feet never touching earth, until it ended back where it had began.

The leather vest was gone, the dead eyes replaced by first recognition, then fear. Words sputtered forth in a cacophony of desperation. They might have said I’m sorry or don’t hurt me or under my thumb. It didn’t matter. Nothing did.

Soon enough it was done. As his murderer floated away, he fell to his knees, waiting for the rhythmic babel to finally end, to free him. To end him. But as the moonlight spiraled comet trails of colors, the words

asiamesecatsquirmingdogthesweetestpet

grew louder, and he could not scream.

A tall thing detached itself from the surrounding darkness. A hidden observer.

It was Him. The Beast.

A hand was extended, and a crimson tongue caressed ruby lips.

“Please to meet you,” the Beast said to him. “Hope you guess my name.”

And he knew, The Dust Man knew, he wasn’t finished yet.


© 2008 Mark Justice

Happy Cinco de Mayo

Iron Avenger

Like the rest of America, I saw Iron Man this weekend, and I came away with increased respect for Marvel.

In case you didn’t know, Marvel has taken over the production/financing of their own films. They partner with a distributer (Paramount, in this case) but Marvel is calling all the shots. And to my total and complete surprise, they have a success on every level. Directing, acting, script, effects...it all works. Robert Downey, Junior as Tony Stark was one of those didn’t-see-it-coming bit of casting, yet, in retrospect, he was the perfect choice.

In a cool bit of inspired film crafting, they even included the now-obligatory after-the-credits scene that, in Iron Man’s case, was a nod and a wink to comic book fans everywhere.

It makes me hopeful for The Incredible Hulk in a few weeks.

***

News on The Avenger Chronicles: since my last posting about it, I have now completed a second story, this one a collaboration. And I was just told by Moonstone that both stories will be in the trade paperback and limited edition hardcover. Yay me.

The Bighead

A project I spent a fair amount of time on has finally been released. It’s the audio version of Edward Lee’s hillbilly horror novel, The Bighead. Delirium Books commissioned me to narrate it, and to say I’ve had a blast would be the understatement of the century.

If you’re a horror fan, then you know Lee’s work. If you have never read Lee, then let me offer this caveat: The Bighead, like a lot of Lee’s work, is graphic. No, let’s make that Graphic. There are tons of gore and sex and cussin’ and violence and weird sex and scatological bodily function oddness. Hey, you remember what those good ol’ boys did to Ned Beatty in the film version of Deliverance? There are things in The Bighead that are at least a thousand time worse than that. Off the top of my head, there are three or four scenes that will make you either laugh like a donkey or puke. Or do both at the same time (and that ain’t easy; believe me, I know). Just something to keep in mind.

If you decide to order it, I think the recording turned out pretty well, and so do some other people whose opinion I respect. I had a great time bringing to life Lee’s hilarious dialogue, especially the scenes with Dicky and Balls. If you’d like to snag it, here’s a link.