Pod of Horror # 57: Edward Lee, Mike Oliveri and Moonshine Matinee

Get ready to have your giblets rocked. Edward Lee visits Pod of Horror #57 to talk about the differences between his mass market and small press fiction. Mike Oliveri tells us how The Pack will roam the world of prose fiction and graphic novels. Michael Vance discusses the pulp influences that went into the writing of Weird Horror Tales. The Call of Kalanta covers the news and the Thanksgiving menu. You can win free books in The Tomb of Trivia. And we debut the new movie feature Moonshine Matinee with Jason L. Keene. Get it at iTunes or download it at here. Pod of Horror is hosted and produced by Mark Justice.

Reading, Writing and Packing

It’s been too long since I’ve talked about books here.

Ed Lee’s new novel, Brides of the Impaler, is both a departure from what most fans expect from Lee, and a bloodsucking success. Lee’s setting is uber-urban: a midtown New York populated by excess-addicted yuppies, calloused cops and crackhead whores. Add to the mix an artifact that may contain the spirit of Dracula, and this book’s off to the races. Lee proves he can deliver the scares in the back woods and the big city. And there’s plenty of sex and gore to satisfy longtime fans of Lee.

The Given Day is another departure, this time from Dennis LeHane, author of Gone Baby Gone and Mystic River. Set in Boston, at the end of the first World War, this epic encompasses racism, baseball, the influenza epidemic, police corruption, labor unions, immigration and the devastating Boston police strike. It’s a potboiler and a page turner, with writing that is, in turns, literary and pulpish. My only question is: will Scorcese be directing the movie?

A racially-charged incident from 1972 propels The Turnaround by George Pelecanos. Three white teens drive into a black neighborhood. Epithets are shouted, violence ensues, and one of the teens is killed. In the present, Pelecanos catches up with the survivors of the incident. Some have prospered. Others haven’t done so well. When Pelecanos finally brings the survivors together, each is looking for something different: forgiveness, redemption, even payback. The story concludes in a way that is surprising and moving. Possibly Pelecanos’ best novel to date.

***

I had a story accepted for an anthology this week. One more commitment out of the way. I’m trying to finish another promised piece this week, before we head out of town.

***

We’re going to a resort in Mexico next week. I’ll be out of the country on election day, and will miss voting for the first time since I was 18.

Norma and I went to our courthouse Friday to cast our absentee ballots. The election officials told us that absentee turnout was huge, and they hoped the number of ballots cast on election day would be record-setting. So do I. In the past, a 30% voter turn out in Kentucky has been considered good. Oh, really? 70% percent of the citizenry stays home and that’s good thing? If this election causes more people to participate in the process, regardless of who they vote for, that’s a victory.

Now I have to face my greatest challenge of the year: what books to pack.

Hardcovers are out. Since I have to pay if my bag is over fifty pounds, I’m not taking any chances. I can stuff more paperbacks into my carry-on.

At the moment, I’m leaning toward a few Hard Case Crime novels, a couple of Leisure paperbacks and the last few issues of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. That’s subject to change, of course. In fact, I’ll probably be adjusting the book lineup on the way to the airport. I’m sure my fellow book lovers will understand.

The beach, books, no election commercials and unlimited alcohol? Just what the doctor ordered.

Steve King and Me--The Book of Lists: Horror

The Book of List: Horror goes on sale September 16th. It has lists from an eclectic lineup that includes Stephen King, Johnny Ramone, Ray Bradbury, Edward Lee, Eli Roth...and Mark Justice???

How the hell did he get in there?

Anyway, it's a huge collection of horror-related lists from writers, film makers, musicians and such.

My list involves my favorite horror stories from the bloody pulps.

You can pre-order this bad boy here.

Lee Rocks

I've been waiting to read Edward Lee's Brides of the Impaler since I first heard about it. I mean, the only thing that would make me want to read a vampire novel these days is if you told me Lee or Gary Braunbeck had written it.

Imagine my surprise when my copy of Brides came in the mail today, I flipped to the Acknowledgments page and found my name listed there.

A cool moment for a die hard Lee fan.

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.