Headless: Available Now!

 

My new book, Headless, is out now!

In the midst of a heat wave punctuated by frequent rainstorms, people are losing their heads. Literally. Not only that, but their bodies are still walking, and attacking others.

And to make matters worse, tiny, translucent, maggot-sized worms are falling from the skies like hail.

As uncanny violence threatens to take over the city, Linzy, Carter, and Joanna become fast friends and leave for points unknown, hoping to stay alive, hoping to outrun the Headless.

Since the book was first announced, I've gotten a handful of very nice blurbs from some incredible authors, as evidenced by the update to the cover above. Here's what people have been saying:

“Cole masterfully weaves gore, horror, and aliens, all while providing realistic characters. Absurd, bizarre, and oftentimes funny, Headless is a winner.”
— Daniel J. Volpe, author of Talia and Plastic Monsters

“In the glorious tradition of Night of the Creeps and James Gunn’s Slither, Headless is a midnight movie cult classic waiting to happen. With this bloody good time of a tome, Scott Cole shows he’s in the business of blowing minds.”
— Bryan Smith, author of Depraved and 68 Kill

“I’m split on when’s the best time to imbibe Headless. Whether it’s on an empty stomach, or a full one, your intestinal fortitude is so screwed. Scott Cole takes nausea and turns it into an art form.”
— Clay McLeod Chapman, author of What Kind of Mother and Ghost Eaters

“An insane premise firing on all cylinders—gory, nihilistic, and sometimes hilarious, Headless scratches the itch of those joyous late night scary movies watched with a disbelieving gasp.”
— Laurel Hightower, author of Below and Crossroads

If you're a fan of splatterpunk and cosmic horror, this may be just the thing for you. Headless is available now in paperback and ebook.

New interviews

 

I was interviewed on the Cemetery Dance website recently, as part of Rick Hipson's regular series, What Screams May Come. It's probably the longest interview I've ever done. We discuss writing process, zombies, and horror-comedy, among other things. Check it out here.

I've got another interview coming up too. But there's a catch with that one: You have to sign up for author Chris DiLeo's newsletter. He'll be sending that out on Headless' release date, March 5.

Speaking of which, have you preordered the ebook yet?

New stories

Looking for something to read? Well, as luck would have it, I have three new stories out in the world...

“The Trunk” appears in Blackberry Blood: A Dark Selection of Poetry and Fiction, edited by Aiden Merchant and Julia Lewis, published by Snow-Capped Press. It's available in paperback and ebook.

“Greetings from Trammel Beach” appears in Beach Bodies: A Beach Vacation Horror Anthology, edited by Ben Long and Andrew Robert, published by DarkLit Press. It's available in paperback, hardcover, and ebook.

“SlashGrindTerrorMachine” appears in the Spring/Summer 2022 issue of Pyre Magazine, edited by Ryan Thomas LaBee. This one's available to read online for free.

Hope you check these out and enjoy!

Kindle Sale!

Hi everyone. I hope you’re all staying safe, staying inside, and staying healthy. I just wanted to pop in here and let you know that the Kindle versions of all my books are currently just .99 - in both the US and UK Amazon stores. The sale lasts through this weekend (give or take a few hours, depending on where you are in the world), so get yourself something to read, sit back, and enjoy. Please spread the word, post reviews, and most importantly, don’t forget to wash your hands!

Triple Axe: US / UK
Slices: US / UK
SuperGhost: US / UK

SuperGhost Lives!

I’m happy to share the news that my first book, SuperGhost, is finally back in print! Here’s the description:

Mad Science, Phantom Limbs, Giant Monsters, and Ice Cream!

Darren Legend is a former construction worker who’s lost his right arm. Michelle Mayfair is a former Olympic runner who no longer has her legs. And Dr. Griffin Rains wants to talk with both of them. He’s a “phantom limb therapist”...who may also be a megalomaniacal mad scientist.

When Dr. Rains assembles a giant ghost-monster from the phantom limbs he’s stolen from hundreds of amputees, the city is in for the most bizarre nightmare it’s ever seen. And it’s up to Darren and Michelle, with the help of a few friends, to stop Rains and the strange terror of the SuperGhost!

So if you didn’t catch it on the original release (or even if you did!), you can now pick up the reissue, featuring a fresh cover (also designed by me), revised/re-formatted text, and an ALL-NEW bonus prequel short story entitled "The Science Fair".

Available NOW in paperback and ebook. Also available via Kindle Unlimited.

20Q7A: An interview with Jamie Nash

20 Questions, 7 Answers is an interview series for writers of genre fiction. Each author receives the same batch of 20 questions, but they may only answer 7.

This week's guest is Jamie Nash.

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What's your latest book, and how does it differ from your previous work?

JN: NOMAD. My other books were kids books. This one has more f-bombs (my kids books have zero) and lots of intense horror and violence. It's a bit like Alien...my others were more Scooby-Doo.

Do you have any creative endeavors other than writing fiction (art, music, knitting)?

JN: Juggling. I guess that's creative. It can be.

Do you listen to music when you write, and if so, what? Is it different than what you listen to when you're not writing?

JN: No. But I watch television. Right now I'm watching Last Chance U on Netflix as I watch this.

If you could invent a new sport, what would it be like?

JN: Juggle Combat...actually this is already a game I've played.  I'd just popularize it. You juggle three clubs while trying to make the other jugglers drop. It's fun. It should be in the Olympics.  Google it. You'll see.

What's the best movie, new or old, that you've seen for the first time in the past 3 months?

JN: Midsommar.

What are your 3 favorite comic books (standalone novels or ongoing series) of all time?

JN: Dark Night Returns, Red Son, Swamp Thing.

If you could share a beverage with any fictional character, who would it be, and what would you drink?

JN: Han Solo. Blue Milk...but spiked with some Corellian liquor.

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Jamie Nash has written for films like V/H/S/2, Exists, Lovely Molly, and Altered. He’s worked on the Nickelodeon movies Tiny Christmas and Santa Hunters. He’s the author of the middle-grade book The 44 Rules of Amateur Sleuthing and the co-author of Bunk! He lives in Ellicott City, MD.

20Q7A: An interview with Brian Evenson

20 Questions, 7 Answers is an interview series for writers of genre fiction. Each author receives the same batch of 20 questions, but they may only answer 7.

This week's guest is Brian Evenson.

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What's your latest book, and how does it differ from your previous work?

BE: My latest book is called Song for the Unraveling of the World and it's a collection of short stories. Like the book before, A Collapse of Horses, it straddles the line between literature and genre, but I think it embraces genre even more strongly—horror and science fiction in particular: especially those places where horror and science fiction meet.

If it was socially acceptable to wear anything as clothing, how would you dress?

BE: I think, as any sensible person would, that I would wear strips of bacon, artfully arranged and sufficiently cooked that in case I got hungry I could eat some of my outfit. Or maybe normal clothes with a thick belt made of perfectly cooked pork belly.

If you could invent a new sport, what would it be like?

BE: There's a Neo Rauch painting called "Hunt" which involves men in long green coats wearing dark green tyrolean hats and holding hockey sticks while they float though the air, with ice blocks, one frozen comrade, and a half-frozen giant worm below them. If I could figure out a way to cross that with digital artist Pierre Schmidt's "Schuld und Sühne" in which a series of athletes missing part of their legs and preparing to bowl their heads while a giant psychedically distorted head rises above them, then I'd really have something worth playing.

What was your greatest Halloween costume?

BE: My wife once made me a pumpkin costume to take our son trick or treating in, with black triangles for the eyes as well as gigantic googly eyes on top of them. As it turned out, the black triangles looked basically like a bra and the googly eyes made it look vaguely like a peekaboo bra. This was evident to every door we went to. It was my most humiliating Halloween costume but in retrospect may also have been my greatest.

Are you most afraid of ghosts, aliens, or clowns, and why?

BE: Ghosts. Because ghosts are the only one of those three things that are real.

Twilight Zone or Outer Limits?

BE: Twilight Zone, but just barely.

What's the most disgusting thing about the human body?

BE: As Frank Zappa says, the mind. Actually, he calls it the ugliest part, but close enough.

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Brian Evenson is the author of a dozen books of fiction, most recently the story collection Song for the Unraveling of the World (Coffee House Press 2019). He has also recently published A Collapse of Horses (Coffee House Press 2016) and the novella The Warren (Tor.com 2016)--the latter was a finalist for a Shirley Jackson Award. His novel Last Days won the ALA-RUSA award for Best Horror Novel of 2009. His novel The Open Curtain (Coffee House Press) was a finalist for an Edgar Award and an International Horror Guild Award. Other books include The Wavering Knife (which won the IHG Award for best story collection), Dark Property, and Altmann's Tongue. He is the recipient of three O. Henry Prizes, an NEA Fellowship and a 2017 Guggenheim Fellowship. His work has been translated into Czech, French, Italian, German, Greek, Hungarian, Japanese, Persian, Russian, Spanish, Slovenian, Swedish, and Turkish. He lives in Los Angeles and teaches in the Critical Studies Program at CalArts.

20Q7A: An interview with Alex Smith

20 Questions, 7 Answers is an interview series for writers of genre fiction. Each author receives the same batch of 20 questions, but they may only answer 7.

This week's guest is Alex Smith.

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What's your latest book, and how does it differ from your previous work?

AS: My book is called ARKDUST. It's my only book! It's a collection of short stories that have appeared in zine format as well as on my old tumblr blog where I wrote and posted superhero stories. I decided to collect the best of those, tidy them up a bit, and booki-fy em. I also included two new stories. The stories are weird, wild science fiction stories with cyberpunk and superhero elements told from an Afrofuturist perspective. They feature Black and POC queer characters in lead roles doing heroic, dumb, weird, noisy things.

Do you have any creative endeavors other than writing fiction (art, music, knitting)?

AS: Yeah, I have often referred to myself as a jack of all trades, master of one (1), which the one being writing (I am gonna assume - I think I'm pretty dam good at it!) I sing for a band called Solarized (solarized.bandcamp.com) and play keys in a post-punk,noise-pop band called Rainbow Crimes (rainbowcrimes.bandcamp.com). I also DJ, curate music/art/literary events, draw, act (I have an IMDb page!) and dabble in fashion. Right now, a big passion of mine is collage art; as a zine and flyer maker I've sort of fallen into collage as a medium of expression and I've been doing it more and more, even getting commissions and displaying my art on walls in public. I kinda wish I could stick to one discipline, perhaps I'd have "made it" by now if I had hyper-concentrated. But I enjoy so many different artistic mediums so I've grown to accept the parts of me that are always discovering new ways of expression.

Do you listen to music when you write, and if so, what? Is it different than what you listen to when you're not writing?

AS: For the longest time I listened to Godspeed You Black Emperor! to write to, which I found out recently isn't that unique a thing! Much of ARKDUST was written to the Chromatics album Kill for Love because of its cinematic qualities and retrofuturist feel. Lately I find I need more soundscapes than actual songs, like I'll listen to selected stuff from William Basinski or Abul Mogard or Space Afrika. And film soundtracks that are sparse and cinematic like Annihilation, The Signal, Moonlight, Tron: Legacy and both Blade Runners. I have integrated all of these things into my everyday listening habits as well, so I'll just be bopping along up and down the streets or at home chilling playing this kinda stuff right alongside Moor Mother, Cardi B, Public Enemy, Soul Glo, etc. Also a healthy dose of synthwave bands like Midnight, Le Cassette, Timecop1983, Kristine or afrofuturist beatmakers like John Morrison, HPrizm, DJ.Fresh, Actress, Fhloston Paradigm, Joker. It all makes me feel like I'm in an 80's cyberpunk movie as I move through the Philadelphia streets.

Are you most afraid of ghosts, aliens, or clowns, and why?

AS: Probably ghosts because of their unpredictability. It seems like poltergeists are almost always angry when they come back (or never leave?) and they're just disembodied energy that wasn't "solved" or whatever when it was on our plane of existence. Chill out ghosts! Ya'll scary as fuck!

What are your 3 favorite comic books (standalone novels or ongoing series) of all time?

AS: This is a really tough question, there are a quite a few comics I love and all for different reasons. Hmm... I'm gonna say, the Grant Morrison run on Doom Patrol, including his Flex Mentallo mini-series (since Flex debuted in Doom Patrol, making it a spin off), which was/is essential to my own growth as a writer. I'm going to say Keith Giffen's Legion of Super-Heroes story known as the 5 Year Gap, which also had a profound impact on me, the concepts introduced in this book concepts introduced in this book continue to blow me away, even to this day. It also introduced me to the Legion of Super-Heroes, my favorite team of supers. This last one will be really hard to pick because no matter what I say, I'm going to wake up in the middle of the night and think, "shit, I shoulda said this one!" So I'm gonna talk about one specific comic book: Uncanny X-Men #255. I read it as a kid and was mortified. It featured cyborgs killing the mutants, and kind of shocked me into the reality that every time superheroes go into battle, they do so with real stakes at hand. There's a summary of it here, which doesn't do it justice to the terror I felt as a young'un reading this for the first time.

If you could share a beverage with any fictional character, who would it be, and what would you drink?

AS: Hmm, probably a really nice handpoured or french pressed decaf from the 3rd or 4th best coffee shop in any of the major cities and it would be with Bouncing Boy from the Legion of Super-Heroes. I would spend the entire time staring into his beautiful doey eyes. He reminds me of my partner Shane!

What's your secret?

AS: Fight bad guys, kiss some beards, cartoons tell you everything, do karate, meditate, drink the sickest coffee, smash your head on the punk rock, all cops are bad, black lives matter, and silence = death.

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Alex Smith lives in the seams in the cloth of existence where he desperately stitches together universes with one hand and with the other, armed with an espresso tamp, makes valiant attempts to keep his lights on. 

A member of the sci-fi artist/activist collective Metropolarity, founder of the queer sci-fi reading series Laser Life, and curator of the retro-futurist electro mash-up art-jam Chrome City, Alex's stories and writings embolden the weird, strange, and revolutionary dichotomy of being Black and queer in a world that marginalizes both. 

Selected by Rosarium Publishing for Stories for Chip an anthology dedicated to the writing of Samuel Delany, and for Black Quantum Futurism's Space-Time Collapse: From the Congo to the Carolinas, it's Smith’s flash fiction collection Gang Stalk Oprah, self-published sci-fi zine A R K D U S T and super-hero space opera comic book BELIEVERS that will kidnap you, convert you, shoot you in the leg and then set you free.

20Q7A: An interview with Autumn Christian

20 Questions, 7 Answers is an interview series for writers of genre fiction. Each author receives the same batch of 20 questions, but they may only answer 7.

This week's guest is Autumn Christian.

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What's your latest book, and how does it differ from your previous work?

AC: My latest book is Girl Like a Bomb, out from CLASH books. All of my other books had a dark color scheme, Girl Like a Bomb is a pink cotton-candy colored book floating in a flossy heaven. It's my first non-horror book. There is about 30x more sex scenes in Girl Like a Bomb than my previous books. It has a protagonist devoid of most of my natural anxieties. Good things happen. I wrote it at a time when I was sick of being an angry baby, content with destroying virtual worlds, when I wanted to expand the mythology of my own writing.

Do you have any creative endeavors other than writing fiction (art, music, knitting)?

AC: I like to cook. It's like creative math, and everything exists in reality, where actions makes sense. Then when you're finished, you have an actual product to consume.

I used to design and write for video games. I used to do a little bit of fire poi (Swinging balls of fire around basically), and I'm getting back into martial arts, although I don't know if that's considered creative. I've usually avoided doing any other creative things, because I feel like it saps my energy away from my writing. I like to channel everything into one singular purpose.

What was your greatest Halloween costume?

AC: I was Marla Singer from Fight Club. Everyone said I already dressed like that.

If you could survive on one food for the rest of your life with no health repercussions, what would it be?

AC: Pizza. It is the perfect combination of fat, carbs, and protein and flavors designed to taste delicious. It is the food that soaks up the flavors of the world around it. It is infinite in its ingredient combinations, although in general I go for the pepperoni.

If you could be reincarnated as a sentient but inanimate object, what would you like to be?

AC: A supercomputer. For obvious reasons.

What is your writing environment like? (Are you out in public or in seclusion? Is there noise? Is there coffee? Do you type on a laptop or write longhand on lined notebook paper?)

AC: I actually have my own office, after many years of writing on the corner of an inflatable mattress, or in various coffee shops knocking elbows with people, or on the floor hunched over a laptop, trying not to tip over the tea balanced against my knees. I enjoy the noise of music, or the sound of rain. Sometimes I'll have a movie running on one of the monitors because there's something calming about movement in the periphery.

I write on my laptop hooked up to a secondary monitor with a mechanical keyboard. I'll occasionally go outside and write on a notebook but it is furiously slow, although often less distracting. I can feel the pulse of my brain as the words rattle around but I can't get them down fast enough, but also I don't get distracted by Twitter.

What's the most disgusting thing about the human body?

AC: That if you listen closely you can hear the salty blood inside you sloshing around, and you realize that you're about 70% water and you're basically a bunch of fluid protected by a thin layer of skin like a balloon.

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Autumn Christian is a fiction writer from Texas who currently lives in California. She is the author of the books, Girl Like a Bomb, The Crooked God Machine, We are Wormwood, and Ecstatic Inferno, and has written for several video-games, including Battle Nations and State of Decay 2. When not writing, she is usually practicing her side kicks and running with dogs, or posting strange and existential Instagram selfies.

SLICES

Remember Google Reader? Are RSS feeds even still a thing? Can anybody see this? I haven’t posted here in forever...

Anyway, BIG NEWS! I have a NEW BOOK out, and it’s called SLICES.

That’s the cover. It’s a collection of short stories and flash fiction. The back cover description goes a little something like this:

Are you hungry for something different? Something weird? Horrific? Funny? Uncomfortable? Surreal? Try a slice. 

A man opens his door to a most unusual salesman, whose wares are not quite what they seem... A writer on a retreat discovers a talking insect, and a tree bearing fruit that looks just like cats... A demented clown acts as one poor soul’s daily alarm clock... A man in a homemade spaceship encounters a terror he never could have expected—something that wasn’t in his guidebook... A professional eater starts to crave the most forbidden food... A man on the verge of suicide begins cutting, and in doing so, finds a reason to exist... 

These and many more Tales of Bizarro and Absurdist Horror.

So maybe this is something that pertains to your interests? Maybe you’d like a copy for yourself? Or a friend? Or ALL of your friends?

Well, you’re in luck, because this thing is available in both paperback and ebook. Click on either of those words to go right on over to Amazon and get yourself some SLICES.

And by the way, I’ve also got this new LIMITED EDITION chapbook called THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MISUNDERSTANDING. I'll be selling them at conventions (while they last - there are only 74 copies), but you can get one for FREE if you act fast. Buy Slices, and leave a verified review on Amazon by Sunday, June 30, 2017, then send me a message, and I’ll send you one of these.

20Q7A: An interview with Tom Lucas

20 Questions, 7 Answers is an interview series for writers of bizarro and horror fiction. Each author receives the same batch of 20 questions...but they may only answer 7.

This week's guest is Tom Lucas...

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If you could have chosen your own name when you were born, what would it have been?

TL: According to my mom, there was a time when I wanted to be called Lance Crockett. It’s a combo of my favorite baseball player at the time (Lance Parrish) and Davy Crockett. Lance Crockett. What a name. That’s a guy who will rip your arms right out of your socket ‘cause you looked at him sideways. I should have stuck with it.

If it was socially acceptable to wear anything as clothing, how would you dress?

TL: I would like to go around town dressed like an old school Rollerball player. The 1970s version, not that bullshit remake nonsense. I would have to re-learn how to roller skate. It’s been a long time.

Who or what is your favorite movie monster, and why?

TL: Splice. I bet no one ever picks that one. Why? Did you see it? The ending? HOLY SHIT.

What was your greatest Halloween costume?

This question seems like a good one to answer considering…my favorite and best Halloween costume was a Tusken Raider from Star Wars. This costume was the real deal. My grandfather was a handy guy and he took an old football helmet and covered it with burlap and built in the breather and the whole shebang. That costume was so badass that I wore it three years in a row.

If you could survive on one food for the rest of your life with no health repercussions, what would it be?

TL: Pizza. It is the greatest of all foods and there’s plenty of variety with all the crazy toppings available to today’s discerning pizza customer.

Have you traveled outside your home country, and if so, where? Where would you like to go that you haven't been yet?

TL: Back in college (the olden days 'cause I am olden), I spent the summer semester in Krakow, Poland. It was 1990 and the Berlin Wall had just gone down. It was a wild, wild time. I toured a good chuck of Eastern Europe that summer as well, so that was cool.

I would love to make it down to Australia. Everything I see looks cool as hell and I really want to hang out with Adrian Shotbolt.

What happens when you die?

TL: George Carlin used to say that you get back everything you ever lost. I hope that’s not true. I have no use for 1257 ball point pens. But, on the flip side…I did lose a comic book collection when a tornado hit my house in 1997. Thousands of books right up in the air, gone forever. Sigh. Yeah, I hope I get those back.

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Tom Lucas was born and raised in Detroit, and although currently enjoying the lack of snow and ice in Florida, remains a son of the post-industrial apocalypse.

He is the author of the bizarro books Leather to the Corinthians and Pax Titanus.

Twitter / Facebook / Website

20Q7A: An interview with Stephen Kozeniewski

20 Questions, 7 Answers is an interview series for writers of bizarro and horror fiction. Each author receives the same batch of 20 questions...but they may only answer 7.

This week's guest is Stephen Kozeniewski…

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What's your latest book, and how does it differ from your previous work?

SK: BILLY AND THE CLONEASAURUS, while still immensely dark, is not really comedic horror like my debut or straight horror like my sophomore novel. It's closer to dystopian science fiction, though I think it's twisted enough that horror fans will still love it. 

If you could have chosen your own name when you were born, what would it have been?

SK: Redgrin Grumboldt

Who or what is your favorite movie monster, and why?

SK: Well, the zombie obviously. Unless you mean a particular individual, in which case I guess Bub. I could really write reams and reams on this subject (I have, in fact, and have given presentations, too) but it boils down to how universal the fear they inspire is. Everyone dies, everyone desires not to die, everyone secretly fears what would happen if they couldn't die. It's such a primal urge and such a primal fear, merged and given a face. 

If you could invent a new sport, what would it be like?

SK: Like jousting, only on dinosaurback. 

If you could be reincarnated as a sentient but inanimate object, what would you like to be?

SK: A computer. I don't know if that's "cheating," but I'd rather be something capable of communicating. The idea of being a sentient beer can or teddy bear or something is sort of terrifying. Like, you could be aware but unable to do anything or even interact with your environment? That sounds like Hell.

Twilight Zone or Outer Limits?

SK: Is it sad that I can remember three Twilight Zones and two Outer Limits? I could probably rank all five, too, and the '90s remake of the Outer Limits would be at the top of the list. But, in the spirit of this question, I'm sure you're referring to the originals, in which case, Twilight Zone, obvs. 

What's your secret?

SK: The secret? I don't know. I guess you've just got to find something you love to do and then do it for the rest of your life. For me, it's going to Rushmore.

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Stephen Kozeniewski lives with his wife and two cats in Pennsylvania, the birthplace of the modern zombie. During his time as a Field Artillery officer he served for three years in Oklahoma and one in Iraq, where, due to what he assumes was a clerical error, he was awarded the Bronze Star. He is also a classically trained linguist, which sounds much more impressive than saying his bachelor’s is in German.

Amazon / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads / Blog / Mailing List

As September winds down...

As September winds down, a few cool things have been popping up...

First, the mighty Dread Central gave SuperGhost September a shout-out, calling it “a contest you don’t want to miss”.

Then this nice, thoughtful review of SuperGhost appeared at Sheldon Nylander’s site.

And just the other day, a new interview with yours truly was published. I named some favorite books, and also revealed my true feelings about bananas. Check that out here.

Anyway, SuperGhost September is nearly over - Just a few days left! So be sure to claim your chance at a prize, and feel free to spread the word!

20Q7A: An interview with Jeremy Robert Johnson

20 Questions, 7 Answers is an interview series for writers of bizarro and horror fiction. Each author receives the same batch of 20 questions...but they may only answer 7.

This week's guest is Jeremy Robert Johnson…

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If you could have chosen your own name when you were born, what would it have been?

JRJ: Maxamillion Robo-Blade. The parents of the 70’s had an affinity for Redford’s JEREMIAH JOHNSON and now there are far too fucking many Jeremy Johnson’s out there. I’ve been searched for another JRJ’s cocaine. I’ve had a different Jeremy Johnson’s unpaid court liens placed on my credit report. So not only are we over-run with Jeremy Johnson’s, but they seem to have an affinity for messing shit up. You won’t find the same problem with your Maxamillion Robo-Blades.

As a side note, I keep a mental list of great, real-life rich kid names. My two current favorites are Bradford Cobb and Finn Wittrock. So rich!

Who or what is your favorite movie monster, and why?

JRJ: The shark from JAWS. My parents let me watch JAWS for my fifth birthday. I remember jumping up and down on my parents’ waterbed (hey, we’re talking 1982 here) and hearing John Williams’ theme coming from the living room and being overjoyed. “They’re finally going to let me watch it!” Then, you know, a couple hours later my relationship with water is changed in a primordial and irrational way forever. I couldn’t close my eyes in the tub for a few years. I spend any time in the ocean in a steady panic state.

So sure, Freddy Krueger cost me a night’s sleep, and the Ju-On ghosts made me hate my attic, but that shark, man…it changed my brain.

What was your greatest Halloween costume?

JRJ: Maya Angelou’s ninja arch-nemesis Aprila Devilou.

I wish I was kidding, because it’s just beyond absurd, but I also feel like it was the most culturally beneficial costume I ever wore, because, in explaining it to drunken revelers all night, I think I introduced some folks to Maya Angelou’s work. So I got that going for me.

What's the best movie, new or old, that you've seen for the first time in the past 3 months?

JRJ: UNDER THE SKIN, because it haunted me and I thought about it for weeks. It’s one of those films that hits you in an immediate, visceral way as pure cinema (that processing sequence inside the black goo!), and after that it curls up in your brain and the more you think about it the more brilliant you realize the thing was. The best portrayal of a truly alien perspective I’ve seen on film.

What are your 3 favorite comic books (standalone novels or ongoing series) of all time?

JRJ: Alan Moore’s run on SWAMP THING is majestic.  Beyond that I’d make some very 90’s selections with SANDMAN and PREACHER. I also have a soft spot for the very first black and white ALIENS run that Dark Horse published. And Jeff Lint’s THE CATERER is on my “Read Every Year Until I Die” list. It hits all the right absurdities for me.

THE INVISIBLES is next up on my list, if only to quiet all the people who keep harassing me for not having read it.

Twilight Zone or Outer Limits?

JRJ: TWILIGHT ZONE, based on the collective brilliance of the folks who wrote for it and the number of pitch perfect episodes, although OUTER LIMITS had the best version of “The Sandkings” and that is almost enough to sway me the other direction. And I’d like to give a quick shout out to the oft-forgotten FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE SERIES for giving us Cronenberg’s “Faith Healer” episode.

If you could share a beverage with any fictional character, who would it be, and what would you drink?

JRJ: I’d like to share a damn fine cup of coffee with Dale Cooper, a shot of whiskey with Al Swearengen, and a Narragansett beer with Quint. Probably in that order, preferably while riding on the back of a time-travelling owl-shark. That’s just how Maxamillion Robo-Blade gets down.

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Jeremy Robert Johnson is the Wonderland Award-Winning author of cult hits SKULLCRACK CITY, WE LIVE INSIDE YOU, ANGEL DUST APOCALYPSE, and EXTINCTION JOURNALS as well as the Stoker-Nominated novel SIREN PROMISED (w/Alan M. Clark). His fiction has been acclaimed by The Washington Post and authors like Chuck Palahniuk, David Wong, and Jack Ketchum, and has appeared internationally in numerous anthologies and magazines. In 2008 he worked with The Mars Volta to tell the story behind their Grammy Winning album The Bedlam in Goliath. In 2010 he spoke about weirdness and metaphor as a survival tool at the Fractal 10 conference in Medellin, Colombia (where fellow speakers included DJ Spooky, an MIT bio-engineer, and a doctor who explained the neurological aspirations of a sponge). Jeremy is at work on a host of new books. For more information: www.jeremyrobertjohnson.com.

Recent reviews

I’m normally not one to call attention to myself. It would be far more desirable to just write stories and make art and have people magically find them. But being a creative person—particularly an indie writer who doesn't have the reach of a big New York publishing company and their marketing department—means that calling attention to oneself from time to time is a bit of a necessity.

Plus, who doesn't like to share good news? So, with that in mind, I'm happy to say that I've received some very nice reviews of SuperGhost recently. Here are a few choice quotes, with links to the full reviews for anyone who might be interested:

“Horror junkies who crave a quick-fix reading experience akin to watching Re-Animator or Bruce Campbell in the Evil Dead movies will likely enjoy Scott Cole’s foray into the bizarre and blissfully bonkers subgenre called Bizarro Fiction.” —DIABOLIQUE MAGAZINE (full review here)

“a clever and intelligent farce” —THE NOVEL PURSUIT (full review here)

“I can certainly guarantee that no one has told a story like this before. It never goes where you think it will and always keeps you guessing…” —HORROR UNDERGROUND (full review here)

...and, ya know...if you still haven't picked up a copy of SuperGhost, Amazon currently has the paperback on sale, at 11% off the regular price (EDIT: Now 20% off!). So feel free to click riiiiight heeeeere.

Double-Scoop of Giveaways!

Here in Philadelphia, we’ve got a pair of the coolest ice cream shops around. Little Baby’s takes crazy ideas and turns them into frozen magic, with flavors like Peanut Butter Maple Tarragon and Earl Grey Sriracha and Everything Bagel. They sell ice cream in their stores (with a different assortment of flavors pretty much every day, in both dairy and non-dairy varieties), but also from big tricycles. And they have a series of delightfully bizarre commercials, like this one:



Well, for those of you who’ve read SuperGhost, now you know where the inspiration for the Happee Freeze Ice Cream Company came from.

Anyway, the point of all this is... I’m extremely excited to announce that Little Baby’s and I are teaming up for a couple of cool giveaways. You'll have to act fast, though. Here’s the deal:

GIVEAWAY #1:
Want to win a Gift Card for Little Baby’s Ice Cream? Of course you do! Well, just email XXXXXXXXXXXXXX@XXXXX.XXX by Noon EST Monday, August 3, and one very lucky person will win $10 worth of free frozen goodness. I’m guessing you’ll probably want to be relatively close to Philly for this one, or at least be planning a visit, but the giveaway is open to everyone.

GIVEAWAY #2:
Want to win a signed copy of SuperGhost? The answer to that is also a resounding YES! Well, the fine folks at Little Baby’s are giving one away. To win that, head on over to their blog, and check out the SuperGhost post for details.

So that's the scoop. Good luck everyone!

***UPDATE: The deadline has been reached! The winners have been chosen, and will be contacted shortly. Thanks to everyone who entered!

20Q7A: An interview with David W. Barbee

Well, heeeere we go! Today is the first installment of a new ongoing feature - "20 Questions, 7 Answers" - in which I interview writers of weeeeirdo fiction. Each writer receives the same 20 questions, but may only answer 7 of them.

Kicking things off is David W. Barbee, author of the recently-released The Night's Neon Fangs, among other fine bizarro word-based products. Enjoy!

What's your latest book, and how does it differ from your previous work?

DWB: My latest is The Night’s Neon Fangs. It’s a collection of four bizarro novellas and my fourth book from Eraserhead Press. My first novel, A Town Called Suckhole, was pure distilled Barbee. My next one, Thunderpussy, was a departure into cyberpunk. Now I’m releasing four stories in one package and I feel like each one is pure Barbee again. They’re gritty and grotesque, and it’s hard to nail them down as either sci-fi or horror, which is just how I like it. Best of all they’re full of monsters. There’s a demonic police bat, an alcoholic ghost, a cyborg serial killer, and an electric werewolf. I’m at my best when I’m telling monster stories, and Night’s Neon Fangs is chock full.

If you could have chosen your own name when you were born, what would it have been?

DWB: Bishop Danzig Chewbacca Vladimir Magnus Zebulon Batman Barbee, First of his Name.

Who or what is your favorite movie monster, and why?

DWB: This might be cheating since he’s also a comic book character, but… Swamp Thing. He’s weird, he’s slimy, he loves the environment, he dates Adrienne Barbeau, and in the sequel he fights a lamprey monster. That just rules.

What was your greatest Halloween costume?

DWB: When I was in elementary school I dressed as a Ninja Turtle like three years in a row, but one of those years was truly epic. My dad crafted a shell out of cardboard and glue, using old couch padding for the interior. It could be strapped to my torso like a real turtle shell, and I complimented it with a sweatshirt and sweatpants that were dyed green, along with some store-bought Ninja Turtle costume gear. I couldn’t sit down in my school desk, but damn did I look amazing.

What are your 3 favorite comic books (standalone novels or ongoing series) of all time?

DWB: That’s a hard question, because I love comics to death. First, I have to list Garth Ennis’ Preacher, because I love that book so much that I always mention it when someone asks about great comics. Second is the ongoing Saga by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples (everyone these days is hyping that book… and they’re right). Third, for a deep cut, is Ghost Rider 2099, because many of those 2099 titles were really cool, and a cyberpunk robot Ghost Rider is a huge testimony to that.

What is your writing environment like? (Are you out in public or in seclusion? Is there noise? Is there coffee? Do you type on a laptop or write longhand on lined notebook paper?)

DWB: Half the time I write at my workplace, which is a library. You’d think this would be a good place to write but too often I’m yanked out of the zone because of employee duties. If it’s quiet I can get some writing done there, but often there’s an old lady giving a kindly rant or a student who’s looked all over but just can’t find the print button. The other half of my writing is done at home on my laptop, usually late at night with a movie or some cartoons on the TV. So one environment is fluorescent-bright with mildly annoying people wandering through my attention span and the other is a shadowy man cave.

If you could share a beverage with any fictional character, who would it be, and what would you drink?

DWB: I’d meet Dr. Henry Jekyll and we’d drink his Hyde serum together. Then we’d have a few laughs.

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David W. Barbee is the author of four books from Eraserhead Press, the most recent of which is The Night's Neon Fangs, a collection of four bizarro novellas. He grew up on an abandoned college campus and now lives next to one of the nation's most polluting power plants.

Find out more about David and his books here:
Website / Facebook / Twitter / Amazon

Some stuff

Hey look - it's 2015! I totally thought I'd have at least a few new posts up here by this point in the year, but, well, time flies. I do, however, have a plan to get more content up here very soon. Get ready. Something's about to hatch.

Until then, I thought it might be a good idea to drop in and share some news about some stuff. Feel free to put it in your head.

• I was recently interviewed over at author Lucas Mangum's blog. We talked about SuperGhost, art, and ice cream, and you can read it all right here.

• This Sunday night, I'll be doing another interview. But this one will be happening LIVE, using the magic of STREAMING VIDEO, and it will be TWO HOURS LONG. Can you imagine? The future is an amazing place. That takes place this Sunday, February 8th, at 8pm EST. Visit KevinTheStrange.com for that.

• Also, if you're on Goodreads, February is NBAS Month in the Bizarro Fiction Group - which basically means that there's a big group-read thing happening with all three of this year's New Bizarro Author Series books. Currently, everyone's reading Tom Lucas' Pax Titanus. Next week (starting this Sunday), it's all about SuperGhost. The following week, Brian Auspice's Deep Blue is the focus. There are discussion threads, AMAs, and giveaways too. So as soon as you're done reading this, I'd suggest heading over there to join in on the fun.

Anyway, I guess that's about it for now. But as I said, there's plenty more content on the way very soon. So don't stray too far.

SuperGhost Now Available! Plus, WIN PRIZES!

I'm happy to announce that my first book, SuperGhost, is NOW AVAILABLE for purchase. It's the story of a mad scientist posing as a therapist for amputees, who is in fact stealing his patients' phantom limbs, as part of a diabolical plan to build a giant ghost-monster and destroy his detractors.

Then things get weird.

It's a bizarro-scifi-horror story, part Frankenstein, part Cronenberg, part Pacific Rim, part...something else. And it's available RIGHT HERE.

(By the way, if the Amazon page says it'll take a few weeks to get your book, don't believe it. The paperback is Print-On-Demand, and will most likely reach you in a matter of days, not weeks.)

Anyway, to celebrate, I want to do a little giveaway thing. Be one of the first FIVE people who buy SuperGhost and leave a review on Amazon, and I'll send you a prize pack containing:

• 1 piece of limited-edition SuperGhost Phantom Limb Candy (only 25 exist)
• 2 different chapbooks containing a combined total of 5 short stories
• a DATES mini-comic (art by Amze Emmons)
• a SuperGhost bookmark
• Superghost stickers
• one other mystery item (this will be something random, to be determined when the package is ready to go out - could be a book, DVD, small plastic toy, or something entirely different)

 
All you have to do is buy the book, read it, leave a review on Amazon, and alert me to it (like, on Facebook or Twitter - hey, why not Friend/Follow me?), and then we'll make arrangements to get your prizes shipped out. Easy.