Hudson Horror Show

November 6, 2010

Silver Cinemas

South Hills Mall

Poughkeepsie, NY

I'll be the author guest for this one, so stop by!!

"Duel" Novella Series, Vol. 1

Though I confess to having no love for puns, Belfire Press's new "Duel" novella series begins with volume one, with my story of Orpheus and the Pearl, and a great new story from David Dunwoody, Nevermore. Check it out over here at Amazon!

Valley Down Under!

I don't usually flag Amazon reviews, but this reviewer really "got" what I was trying to express - plus it shows the book's reached the other side of the world (where I guess it's spring now!).

Check out the review here.

New Edition Contest!!

Okay fans (and new fans) - here's the contest for the new edition of DYING TO LIVE!!

Buy your copy on Amazon now - here's the link!

Send proof of purchase to the contest address - D2LNewEditionContest@hotmail.com

Do this by OCTOBER 31, 2010, when I'll draw one lucky winner who will get a signed copy of the sequel DYING TO LIVE: LIFE SENTENCE.

And please note, loyal fans: I'm sure if you visit my blog regularly, you already have your copy, but talk it up, tell a new zombie literature aficionado about the contest, so s/he can enjoy the book, drive the Amazon numbers the way we want them to go, and get a chance to win a free signed book!!

And thanks!!

UPDATE: I'm so sorry - when I set up the contest, I typed in the address wrong. It's fixed now, so please enter away.

Article on Zombies

I was interviewed for it a while back. It focuses on the voodoun and religious elements, though it quotes me for the apocalyptic appeal.

Back from Horror Realm!

And besides way too much driving, a great time!

High points: Dinner at Red Robin with the Permuted gang! ( I love you, Dave Dunwoody, and I want every book I do from now on to include something by you!!) Breakfast with Ashley C. Williams (yes, from THAT movie) - only because Max the Drunken Severed Head is more outgoing than I and asked her over to our table - she was a great sport and very humble (and that's really nice to see among the "real" guests [since we all know the author guests are on the bottom of the totem pole]). The other dealers who were so friendly and eager to trade for books, so I got some great loot - a wicked knife, ear rings, necklace, CDs - got a lot of Christmas shopping done just by trading books! (Reminded me of those halcyon days at Machoian's Chicken when I subsisted on bartering for things.) The Middlesex Diner of Carlisle, PA on the way back - now that was some diner food!

Low points: The five kids at the next table at the Middlesex Diner. I can't say they were the worst children in Christendom, since I haven't had the misfortune of meeting every single child in Christendom - but bad enough. And worse this weekend - not many patrons at Horror Realm. I'm thinking they need to have one "top" draw for the ticket - a Romero or Hooper or Doug Bradley. Twenty different people from further down the credits doesn't add up to the same thing. And I'm wondering if there's now some competition between Zombie Fest (which still boasts sponsorship by the It's Alive Show) and Horror Realm. I'm not from Pittsburgh so I don't know what all went into the decision to move Horror Realm away from Monroeville, but I'd like to see it back there.

So, I didn't sell as many books as I did at Horror Find, but I had a great time with the people there, and sold enough books to pay for the room, so I will declare it a success!

Here are the links to the cool people I met there, so check them out:

Prints and chain mail jewelry. This is where I scored a great necklace.

Zombies and Toys - if I didn't have my minions constantly scouring the pre-zombocalypse world for good swag and sending it to their zombie overlord, I'd shop here all the time for Corporate zombies, death mints, and awesome stickers of Lego zombies.

Zomburg - raising undead awareness. Classes on zombie preparedness! Knowing is half the battle!!

City of the Dead - a new zombie series based in Pittsburgh.

Giveaway at Tor.com

Big bag of zombie goodies to be given away at Tor.com - check it out!!

Horror Realm

I'll be there this weekend, September 17-19, so please stop by, chat, buy some new books, have me sign your old books, etc.!

The Other, Other Zombie Professor

Makes news over at the Baltimore Sun

And updates on his writing and teaching over at his blog

I think when there's enough of us, we should just open our own university

Back from HorrorFind

Wow - busy weekend! Sold the most books I've ever sold at a con. Lots of people wanted their picture taken with me - which is always a little weird, as I'm really not that kind of "celebrity." Had a great time visiting with Bryon Morrigan and his lovely wife, and also with Greg Hall of the Funky Werepig (he always goes out of his way to talk with me - the poor, misguided man!), Gary Frank and his charming wife Nancy (and their new and cool kid), Sue Dent, Nick Grabowsky, and Lincoln Crisler. Even got to see a friend from elementary school, Tony Tribby. How odd, unexpected and fun is that?

Then, for sightseeing, also hit some big spots. I woke up really early Saturday morning (not by design, it just happened) and with nothing going on at the con for 3 hours or so, I went over to the Gettysburg battlefield. With no one around at that time of the morning, I was able to do the auto tour easily, with no trouble with traffic or parking. ( I remembered enough from previous visits years ago to know that I should go to the Virginia monument and then over to Little Round Top, to see the battlefield from both sides.) Deserted, that early in the morning, it was a very eerie and moving time to visit.

Then on the way home, stopped and got some peaches, corn, and tomatoes at a roadside market for our Labor day dinner. (I was a little miffed with the nasty, rotted pear from the bottom of the basket that I discovered when unloading - you wouldn't get that if you handpicked the stuff from the supermarket bin, but it was a tasty piece and if the rest of the bag lives up even to the inferior piece, I'll be pretty happy.) And then, the big moment - Roadside America! I was crazy for this place when I was little, and wow is it a dinosaur from a past age. I can't say I approve of the final, climactic pageant at the end: they (I kid you not) have a mural of the Statue of Liberty and an Amercian flag on one wall, and for the climax, they dim the lights and project a giant picture of Jesus, bracketed by the two patriotic symbols, while "God Bless America" plays on the loudspeakers. Wow. Part of me is appalled, but part of me is in awe of it as the living relic of the 1950s that it is. Maybe that's the best way to describe it: as a relic of something that some older people have fond memories of, it's fine, but I'd rather Tea Party people didn't try to recreate their airbrushed, sepia-toned memories of the 50s now in the 21st century. But again - my main reaction is to just be glad the place is still in business, years after the demises of the Gingerbread Castle (of Hamburg, NJ) and the Fairy Tale Forest (of Oak Ridge, NJ) and the Enchanted Forest (of Ellicott City, MD).

Off to HorrorFind!

Tomorrow after class. I'll get there about 8pm. I should be in the celebrities room (don't worry - I'm the only non-celecbrity there, so I'm sure you'll meet lots of actually famous people if you go!) all day Saturday, so stop by and buy a book! Or two! Free gift with the purchase of any two books!!

Also, the new double novella volume, with my ORPHEUS AND THE PEARL and David Dunwoody's NEVERMORE is now up for pre-order at the Belfire site! Check it out!!

File Under "Schadenfreude"

"There's nothing worse than a snob spoiling a party and, unfortunately, that's exactly how Thomas M. Sipos comes across in the opening pages of his book, an exhaustive study of film techniques." Rue Morgue #103