Gonna Getcha So You Know You've Been Got!

The October Boy/Richy Sampson

And that's not the worst of it. The October Boy is standing about fifteen feet away, right in the middle of the road, staring straight at him. The Chrysler's Gorgon headlights reveal the thing clearly... just as they reveal the gleaming butcher knife that feeds stiletto-style through the knotted vines that comprise its left hand, filling it as long fingers wrap around its hilt.

And, seeing that, you know exactly how Mitch feels. He's belly to the ground, staring up at a legend. It's like staring up at Santa Claus, or the goddamn Easter Bunny... but only if Santa was the kind of guy who'd strangle you with your own stocking, and only if the Easter Bunny was the kind of rabbit who'd stomp you dead and peel your cracked skullcap like a hardboiled egg.

Yeah. You remember how it feels to go nose to nose with a legend. That's why the stories they spin about the October Boy are all about fear. You heard them around a campfire out in the woods when you were just a kid, and they were whispered to you late at night in your dark bedroom when your best friend spent the night, and they scared you so bad tenting out in your backyard one summer night that you thought you wouldn't sleep for a week. So there's not much chance of separating reputation from reality when you look the real deal straight in the face. He's the October Boy... the reaper that grows in the field, the merciless trick with a heart made of treats, the butchering nightmare with the hacksaw face... and he's gonna getcha! That's what they always told you... he's gonna getcha so you know you've been got!!!!!

--Dark Harvest

Thanks to Richy Sampson for an amazing piece of October Boy art!

Sawtooth Jack 2013

Hope all of you had a great Halloween. This fellow was part of the fun around here, and I think he might last a few more nights before he's called back to the pumpkin patch... who knows, these guys may be waiting.

Sunday Supplement 11/11/12

Don't know how I missed Dale Watson until now. I've about worn out The Sun Sessions and The Truckin' Sessions, and it looks like I have many more good CDs to pick up.

Yes. You read that right. I still buy CDs. They'll still be spinnin' when your iPod is dead and buried and all your virtual music has flown the coop.

File this under required reading: 25 Best Horror Novels of the New Millennium. Dark Harvest is in some fine company, and I am stoked.

I had the pleasure of writing the introduction for Laird Barron's next collection from Night Shade Books. Nope, you can't order it yet. My favorite story? "The Men from Porlock." That one would make H. P. Lovecraft cry for his mama. Seriously.

Haven't read Laird's novel, The Croning, yet? Pull that trigger, son!

The last two years, I've sworn I'm going to blog about Richard Sala at Halloween. Didn't happen. You can check him out here. If you're a monsterkid, you won't be sorry. Sala twists up everything you remember from your youth -- Universal Horrors, E. C. Comics, old pulp stories -- and somehow makes it all fresh and vital (i.e. "It's alive! It's alive!")

Halloween Roundup

Thanks to everyone who came out for our Halloweenebration at the Saint Mary's College Library (you can catch some pictures here). I had fun reading from Dark Harvest on the day itself. Biggest surprise -- how quiet it got in the building while I was behind the podium. I figured it was going to be pretty crazy reading in the lobby of a busy library as patrons wandered in and out, but you could have heard a pin drop. Or maybe I should say you could have heard small town badass Mitch Crenshaw drop when the October Boy nailed him with a pitchfork out there on the Black Road, because that's the part of the story I read.

My little girl Nevie Rose must have been inspired, because she came up with her own Halloween story, which I'm posting here for posterity: "Suddenly, the ghost heard a strange sound... and it was the KITTY! He was waiting for the ghost. Then they danced and danced! But the pumpkin was sad. Why was he sad? Because he lost his pumpkin slippers. But then he found them, and he was happy!"

Nevie's only two, but with a pair of writers for parents, I think she might just turn out to be a writer, too.

Could be it's the family curse.

Sunday Supplement 11/4/12

Mike Jung, my library compadre, has a song that'll tell you what it's like to write a book. Exactly! Check it out, and order up Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities while you're at it.

Daniel Kraus reviews Dark Harvest at Booklist.

For those of you who aren't Halloweened-out, here's Steve Calvert's cool page of public domain horror films. This was a big help setting up our film program for this year's Halloween event. I especially liked the silent stuff... much of which I hadn't seen. (And there's a radio show page, too; check out the Beyond Midnight episodes if you've never heard 'em -- one of my all-time favorite shows.)

I've saved the most important news for last: An update on Tom Piccirilli's fight with cancer from Brian Keene.

Oh, the Horror!

Along with webslingin' librarian Sarah Vital, I've posted a Pinterest page with some cool horror stuff over at the Saint Mary's College Library website. If you want to catch my particular take on an oft-overlooked novel by Stephen King, plus standout work by Laird Barron, John Langan, and Glen Hirshberg, click on over to Oh, the Horror!.

And remember: Info on my Halloween reading (like: it's tomorrow!) can be found in the post below, so take a stroll and scroll on down the page for details or click here.

While I'm at it: Major thanks to my writing brothers-in-arms who've mentioned Dark Harvest as a Halloween favorite over at Blu Gilliand's October Country blog. I'm gratified that authors as fine as John Skipp, Kealan Patrick Burke, and Nate Southard gave props to the book. Gracias, gents! Tomorrow I will raise a pint of Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale and toast all three of you.

Halloween Hootenanny!

I'll be reading from Dark Harvest at the Saint Mary's College Library on October 31st (the day itself!) at 2 p.m. (not quite the witching hour, but I'll do my best to channel some appropriate vibes). There's a frightful feast of additional action on the library's menu that day, including a triple-play of movies* and a reading by my compadre Mike Jung, who has just published a knockout debut novel for young readers.

So come one, come all. Directions to campus can be found here. Hope to see you on the 31st... and since I work the night shift as a Circulation Supervisor at the aforementioned establishment, I might even tell you a ghost story or two about the library. It's haunted.


*Yes. We're showing Carnival of Souls at 9 a.m. We're serious horror fans around here, and we'll scramble your brains before breakfast.