KillerCon V

KillerCon is a special place. Christopher Rice nailed it when he told the crowd he liked it because there weren’t any awards. Ellen Datlow remarked it was one of her favorites because it was small and intimate. For me? KillerCon is a catalyst on many levels. It’s inspiring being around so many folks who’ve become close friends. On the flip side, Vegas brings out a lot of bittersweet memories.

How can I forget those who have passed? A few years ago, my life in shambles from a brutal divorce, my dear friend Michael Louis Calvillo pulled me in to a hall, sat me down, and filled me with positivity and joy. Whenever I see those weird geometric carpets, I’m taken right back to that moment. Just inside, Adam Niswander and his wife were holding an insanely crowded party. I can still taste the moonshine he offered me, and those weird meatballs. Both men were so wonderful. I’ll always miss them.

Speaking of that pesky divorce, it’s still knocking me on my butt financially. Without the kindness of PS Gifford, Roy Robbins, Christopher Boyle and Steven Booth, there’d have been no me at the convention this year. Here’s to next year, and my helping them in return. Wrath James Wright always puts on one hell of a show each year. Nods to him and the great team: Bailey Hunter, Mason Bundschuh, Matt Czarnowski, Misty Dahl, Rena Mason, Stacy Scranton-Morgan, Mercedes M. Yardley, and RJ Cavender.

We made great time getting to the convention from Los Angeles. When we were in the Mojave, traffic slowed and there was an ominous black plume of smoke ahead. When we finally passed, we saw a boat had been set on fire. It was destroyed. The car towing it? Fine. My imagination went into full swing. Had to have been some kind of contraband they torched when the cops pulled them over. Who the hell brings a boat to the Mojave?

Boat on fire!

The first person I ran into was the very talented Q. She was busy writing on the casino floor, having found a spot near a big screen TV where she simultaneously watched the game and worked.

There were groups that crawled the strip and went to the Goreatorium, but I passed on those and met up with some old friends. Found Michael Bailey and we wandered the casino floor and the shops. There was an arcade with a four person Pac Man machine. We vowed to grab people and return, but we never made it. Soon, though, we ran into other people. It didn’t take long for the first party to start, where most folks made appearances. Somehow, I was up until about 2:30am. It’s real easy to get talking to people and find time gone. I camped out on Roy’s floor, my mind racing all night long. So exciting to be around so many great creative people.

Friday

After the welcome to the Guests Of Honor (Christopher Rice, Ellen Datlow, David J. Schow and John Shirley), the ever charming Ellen Datlow had a Q & A session. I found it very inspiring to see how passionate and excited she remains for publishing. For those aspiring to get into one of her books? She gave us the secret: write something fantastic. Easy, right?

Mike McCarty reading

There were a few readings. Mercedes Yardley rocked it, but teased us with a selection from a book she didn’t have any copies to sell. Ahh! Well, it was worth the preview. “

The Dialogue panel helped tremendously. Headed by John Skipp, Tom Monteleone, Monica O’Rourke and Michael Arnzen, there were many nuggets of wisdom. “Dialogue is like real talking, only with the boring parts taken out,” “Don’t have people using the other person’s name in facing dialogue” were two examples.

Pretty sure George Lucas’s head would’ve exploded like the Death Star if he’d been there.

John Skipp’s workshop, “The Choreography of Violence” rocked. When someone asked me why I’d go, being a published author and such, I told them there’s always stuff to learn, and even if it’s nothing new to me, it’s a chance to reaffirm and remember things. I did learn some great tips. My action scenes have always been kind of fuzzy to me, so I consider it time very well spent. I love these workshops.

The Erotic Horror Short Fiction Contest

Okay. So this was strangely lightly attended, with only Christopher Boyle having something prepped. I decided to write something on the spot in five minutes. Turns out it was likely one of the worst things I’ve written since second grade. But big kudos to Bailey Hunter for improvising live, and actually coming up with a real story off the top of her head. Christopher took top prize with Bailey and Edmund Collen rounding it out.

Later on, we all went to the Samhain Press party. Again, found myself out late. Had a great conversation with Mark Ciccarone and Joe Spagnola about heavy metal. Very fun and spirited. Was lucky that Christopher Boyle let me crash on his spare bed. We had some great talks about Bizarro fiction, its merits and intricacies. Chris has been at every KillerCon, volunteering and making things run smoothly. And he’s developed into an excellent writer.

Saturday

Pitch Sessions. Found myself pitching to the wonderful Sarah Peed. We had a great conversation about the state of publishing, and she had some fantastic advice for me. Moving over to Jeff from Deadite, they have a novel system where they work backward from title, to pitch, to outline, to writing the book. I wasn’t expecting to pitch anything, but I did have an idea, which he seemed interested enough in to go to the next level. Although my title absolutely sucked, which we both laughed about, we figured that’s a relatively easy change.

Christopher Rice premiered his new book at KillerCon, which was an massive honor. He read a section about horse’s head caving in that was gruesome and poetic. He followed with a Q & A and told us it’d been his first true supernatural book, and that he planned on writing more. We were the first ones to be able to buy copies. Chris was approachable, funny, and always had time for every one. What a class act. He’s probably made a few dozen fans for life.

John Palisano and Christopher Rice

Christopher Rice

Later, Mike Arnzen treated us to some hilarious poems. My favorite were his Lovecraft inspired titles for X-rated movies.

Made it away from the casino on a road trip to Fremont Street. Mercedes drove us in her massive truck. Misty Dahl, Sarah Peed, Matt Czarnowski, Mason Bundschuh and Michael Bailey walked through what I think was called the Main Street Casino, which was gorgeous.

For me, seeing the Golden Gate Casino brought back a flood of memories. I hadn’t been since shooting the feature film, “The Devil’s Hand” – and it was so damn vivid. I heard voices. I even remembered a taste of wine my ex-wife had given me. The casino smelled the same inside. So trippy. I looked around to my new cast of friends and was so grateful for each of them. Life sure is strange, and things certainly have not turned out the way I thought. But somehow? Better.

Near the end of Fremont Street, we watched an amazing cello duo performing. Only, it wasn’t classical. They were plugged into guitar amps and were doing spot-on versions of “Enter Sandman” and “One” from Metallica. Every nuance of the guitar solos got nailed. We kept looking at each other in awe. We had to get back, and damn it, did they just start playing freaking, “Master Of Puppets”?

Mason, Merceds, Elmo

Dueling Metallica cellos

Fremont Street Noir Crew

The Gross Out Contest 

This terrified me. My first gross out was in Toronto. I remember being just frozen seeing these people perform their stories. How could I ever do such a thing? I can’t!

I had an idea for a story in May and wrote it out. It took me months to look at it again. When KillerCon got close, I printed it out and hid it in my luggage. Just in case. When I pitched to Jeff, I asked if there were any more openings. I hoped he was going to say no. I tried to back out, but he wouldn’t let me. Damn it.

What if Ellen Datlow hears this thing? She’ll never talk to me. Roy will burn all the copies of my books. Sarah Peed will block me from submitting. John Shirley would use his Shadow powers and lock me away. What had I done? What if the crowd hates it? What if my humor is too weird? What if they boo me? How could I take such devastation?

Although I can’t put the title here without risking losing my WordPress, I can tell you it involved Obama in a very compromised position.

Man, it was brutal. Q was up first, and knocked it out of the park. Damn it. She was hilarious. She worked the crowd. She walked around and acted things out. Suddenly there was something pressing in the lobby, and, sorry everyone, Jp’s missing. But I stuck around.

So many other people came up. Christine Morgan. Edmund. Christopher Boyle. No one was getting booted. Oh, man. Can’t I just go up there and get this over with. Nope. I was last in line.

I took a deep breath and gave it my all. For the first 30 seconds I was terrified. Then there were a few chuckles. Okay. I can get through this. When I heard more laughter, I kept going. But, shoot, aren’t they supposed to stop me after two minutes? What’s going on? I got into it, using every ounce I had from my acting school time at Emerson.

Jeff yelled, “time” and I still had a page and a half to go. Oh, no! But the crowd cheered to go on, and I made it through.

The judges returned after what felt like 45 minutes. The final tally had come in.

Q took first! Not surprised at all. Edmund Collen took second place.

Miraculously, the tens and twenties I’d secretly given to the judges helped. My Gross Out placed third. What the heck? How’d that happen. Not quit sure, but a big surprise.  Check out the prize package, expertly curated by Jeff.

Finally? Time to relax a bit. I’ll never forget looking up at some unGodly hour to see a bunch of horror authors being led by Mercedes (now dressed like she was going to a 50s prom. What the heck?) as they were all making peanut butter cups. Wild seeing Mike McCarty scooping peanut butter with tongs. But that’s KillerCon in a (pea)nut shell for you.

The final panel, “How To Kill” was awesome. Al Carlisle, who has interviewed Ted Bundy several times, filled us in on the mind of real serial killers. It was awesome watching veterans like Skipp, Schow and Shirley pick his brain.

The con came to a close, but not before a screening of Edward Lee’s “The Bighead” movie, directed by Michael Ling. Geoff Skinner, Ashley Totin, Lance, and Kate were also in attendance, who all stayed through the dead dog party.

BIGHEAD screening

Geoff Skinner and Mike Ling

Later that night, a small group of us stragglers made it to the top of the Stratoshpere. I hate heights, and was not super-psyched. The shaking from the wind made it feel like you were having a non-stop earthquake. I was brave enough to watch people making the sky jump: bungy-ing from the side. They have a plexiglass wall so you can safely watch people defy death and give themselves heart attacks. Thankfully, we retreated to some seats, shared a round, and then called it a night.

Skyjump

Skyjump

Panorama

Our group

Testing the panorama

Wicked panorma at the top

I ran into Edward Lee, Lance, and Michael Ling at the slots, where we talked about concerts and gambling and Vegas. Then, it was all over.

We were on our way back, and that weird science fiction like Sun Farm intrigued me. I picked up some flyers on the way. Places like, “Bullets and Burgers” and “The Atomic Testing Museum” are just so…unique.

And it was a race. My day was far from over. I had tickets to see a free show from Paul McCartney on Hollywood Boulevard. Me and Fawn barely made it, but made it we did (thanks, Paul!), enjoying much more than the promised 2-3 songs they’d told us. Sir Paul played for over an hour, hitting most the songs I’d wish for. “Ob-La-Di” indeed.

Until next year, adios amigos!

Here’s some more shots for y’all.

Tom Monteleone and Gene O’Neill

Edward Lee, Michael Ling and Lance T.

Eric Guignard

Mike Arnzen

Robert Essig

Rena Mason, RJ Cavender, Sarah Peed

Linda Larsen and John Mulhall

Samhain authors

Michael Rowe

RJ

Stacey Scranton shooting

Eric Guignard and Steven Booth

An Interview with author Ennis Drake

Near the end of Ennis Drake’s debut novel, “28 Teeth Of Rage”, imagery overflows on every page. It’s like a film from inside the skull of a demented precog. All his thoughts are transcribed for us, the readers, to experience.

Rage…a possessed saw…the Kill Saw, drives this story. At first, there are two distinct periods of War, where one wonders where the adventure is leading. There are explicit, realistic interludes of modern war juxtaposed with domestic police squads. Things become super violent.

This leads us toward a strange and breathless last act, one I will not forget.

There is a new world of Fever Dream Horror Fiction at play here, where reality melts around us and reveals states of being and place, usually much darker than we’ve previously imagined, blend and twist. A creative paradox where the norms and social okays need to be murdered, violently, swiftly, to regain entry to the Dream. This collective has been bubbling up at the surface with writers such as Michael Louis Calvillo, Ben Ethridge, Lisa Morton, Michael Bailey, Cody Goodfellow, and others.

These works owe much to William S. Burroughs and the Beat scene, only these are draped in body parts, transformations, and a healthy stew of gore.

Oddly spiritual in quest, as the violent acts often lead to awakenings and arrivals in ‘better’ places where humanity has evolved, although into something much different than we probably ever expected.

Which leads me to Ennis.

Can you tell me a little bit about how ’28 Teeth Of Rage’ came to be?

The genesis of the story was simple enough–I wanted to experiment with a genre trope. I wanted to test thresholds and I wanted to tell a captivating story. I still couldn’t tell you if I succeeded or not, but, to me, it was the attempt that mattered. In that regard, I have found myself in a harrowing new place as a writer.

The story itself is what it claims to be: pure rage. A vitrine in which humanity at its most base–the ugly need and desperation of the id–is showcased for all to see.

How long did it take you to write it?

The better part of a year, I’d say. It began as a much shorter piece, evolving into the short novel it is now only after Kate Jonez at Omnium Gatherum Media took an interest in it.

What was its journey to publication like?

It was like Providence. 

I spent two years writing (and for all intents and purposes, immediately drawering) a series of novelettes and novellas. I wrote a few short stories, as well, but most of my focus was reserved for the longer works. Unfortunately, those are the stories hardest to sell by a relative unknown. I probably could have given them away to token markets, but that’s pretty shitty, in my opinion, so far as “options” go. But I didn’t know what else to do, so I held on to them, and kept writing. The last of these was “28 Teeth of Rage”. I sent it to a few people and the consensus seemed to be that I should self-publish due to the length. This was something I didn’t want to do. For me, publishing the book myself would have been the ultimate failure. I’m a writer, not a publisher. I think, if I’d come to the point where self-publishing was my only “option”, I would have given up the craft. I’d already spent two years (and countless hours) honing these works, after all. The responsibility for marketing would already be mine to bear (with the market being what it is in this “revolutionary” new publishing world)and that was on the slim chance I sold the book. . .did I really want to take on the added work, and expense, of publishing it, too? Enter Providence. I’d recently read an ARC of  “Idols & Cons” I’d received from Omnium Gatherum Media, and it was a fast, remarkable read, and well put-together to boot. On a whim I e-mailed the publisher and asked if she’d be interested in looking at a novella of mine. To my surprise, and delight, she was. In the end, the story had to be expanded, but I did it on contract and, best of all, I’d found someone who saw the value in what I was doing and wasn’t afraid to take a few risks. 

What do you think of this new blood—this Fever Dream Horror collective that’s brewing?

If we aren’t willing to experiment with and push the limits of the collective oeuvre, it will become stagnant. Thomas Ligotti said, “. . .the supernatural is the metaphysical counterpart of insanity–the best possible vehicle for conveying the uncanny nightmare of a conscious mind marooned for a brief while in this haunted house of a world and being slowly driven mad by the ghastliness of it all.” If there was a clear starting point where I began, it was here. And his is only one of the many way marker that’s been beaten into the earth for us to follow. . .if we are to follow the path of postmodern horror.

What do you want to do as a storyteller that you haven’t?

To create an entirely new form. That’s the harrowing place I’ve found myself;it’s all been done. The mode itself makes it unoriginal. Without gimmicks, how do we continue? There is no answer without another medium, so we are shackled. Which means, to write, to be original, we must create the illusion of being free.

I will say, in this shrinking, global community, I’d still like to write “The Great American Novel”. I don’t know what that is anymore, but if there’s any goal, for me, that’s it.

Your book pushes a lot of boundaries. There’s some neat twists of grammar and structure that reminded me of some of Charles Bukowski’s poems. Did this come naturally? What are some of your influences?

I love Bukowski. I like to think my fictionalization of Lake County was written with the same mindset and experience from which he wrote about L.A.. Cities are like stones; you have to crawl underneath them, into the uncertain dark, to know what’s really going on. I wish I could believe my approaches to form and structure were my own, but there’s nothing truly original, is there? There’s deliberate and inadvertent mimesis. Lately I’ve drawn from Machen, Blackwood, even Tolstoy. 

In this modern age, with swarms of self-published books flooding the market, and with authors paying for reviews on Amazon and such, where do you think it will be in five years? Ten? How does a new author stand out amongst this tide?

Unless you’re an established author taking advantage of an existing fan base, self-publishing is vanity publishing. Nothing more, nothing less. While a few self-published authors have managed to secure traditional contracts by taking advantage of the upheaval the e-reader, and Amazon, particularly, have caused in the last few years, the rest are simply ensuring a future where no one gets paid. Really, it’s happening already. Market trends have forced small press publishers into a place where it’s seen as necessary to give away hundreds of books in order to compete with the “Indie revolution”. How can anything good possibly come of it?  

What else have you written?

I’ve sold a handful of short fiction since I began writing for publication. Most notably, “Love: The Breath of Eagleray”, “The Dark That Keeps Her”, and “The Fishing of Dahlia”.

Readers should see the publication of my novelette, “The Day & The Hour”, later this year, with another novella and a full-length novel to follow sometime in 2013.

Where can readers find your work?

“Love: The Breath of Eagleray” can be read here:

http://www.underlandpress.com/uploads/Love.pdf

“The Horror Library, Vol.4”, which contains my short, “The Fishing of Dahlia”, can be purchased here:

http://www.amazon.com/Horror-Library-Volume/dp/0977826260/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1346699232&sr=8-7&keywords=ennis+drake

And, my novel, “28 Teeth of Rage” can be purchased here:

http://www.amazon.com/28-Teeth-Rage-Ennis-Drake/dp/0615645291/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346699425&sr=8-1&keywords=ennis+drake

Any final words before the Great Nothing swoops down and cuts off this communication?

Well, first, thanks for having me, John. It’s been a pleasure. And I’d like to take the opportunity to, once again, thank everyone who’s supported the book. My readers, in particular; guys and gals, you’re the best.