Latest travel and online chat plans:

Oct 30th, 3:30-5pm, Phoenix, AZ

Signing/Reading (with John Edward Lawson), Horrorfind Weekend West

Oct 28-31, Phoenix, AZ

Panel/Reading TBA, World Fantasy Convention 2004

I can think of no worthier cause than the “Books for Bunnies” campaign to help out the rabbit fund at the Scott County Humane Society of Davenport, Iowa. Right now, Shocklines and author Michael McCarty are running an auction for two books on ebay, with the winning bid going to the bunnies. One of them is Once Upon a Slime — Mark McLaughlin’s hilarious collection of horror-comedy, which includes a story we collaborated on, “Throb.” The other is McCarty’s excellent gathering of interviews, Giants of the Genre. Both copies are signed and highly collectable. Hop to it — bidding ends soon!

The brassy horn blows, stirring him from slumber. Not a horn, he realizes as he opens his eyes — an electronic drone, the tone on his “gentle wake” alarm clock that rises a notch up in volume every ten seconds until the sleeper turns it off. He lifts his heavy eyelids and confronts the clock face. 6:56 am. Too early. He hates this whining clock. Its siren creeps on him. Its soft tone deceives him.

He’s not sure if he wants to get out of bed yet. He watches the digits on the clock — the boxy numbers burning like three blurry gold bars into his eyes. He hesitates to turn the alarm off. Doesn’t want to acknowledge the coming day. But he doesn’t want to snooze, either. Politics is a tough game, and he’s not done with it yet. Even if he wins today’s election, he’ll have to make a lot of changes. Not sure he wants to. Not sure the time is right. Not sure of anything. It’s all in the hands of those who cast the votes, anyway.

6:56. The horn blares.

The waiting, he thinks, is unbearable. Always is. His wife finally groans beside him, tossing covers. He wonders if he’s just awakened the new first lady or the wife of yet another has-been.

The clock finally turns the next minute with an audible click. He presses the button. Silence. He gets up and puts on his fancy suit.

The numbers on the clock read 6:66.

Just received the new cover graphic for my forthcoming poetry book, Freakcidents, now scheduled for a December 2004 release from Shocklines Press in a limited hardcover and softcover trade edition:

This book has received nothing but praises in reviews from places like Strange Horizons, ChiZine, Sidereality, and FeoAmante. I’m really looking forward to this collection — it’s probably my strongest poetry book to date. Advanced orders are being taken for the lettered hardcover ($50) and the numbered softcover ($9.95) now at shocklines.com.

A nice review of 100 Jolts has just been posted to Horror-Web. I was a guest for their online chat about The New Wave of Horror last weekend; keep your eyes on their interview page for a complete transcript, where they’ll be posting it.

Today I noticed that Fictionwise.com is offering 30% off all horror ebooks until Halloween. They stock a number of Arnzen titles, including Fluid Mosaic, which just went out of print in paperback, and the extended version of Gorelets: Unpleasant Poems.

If you missed my online interview with the Long Ridge Writers Group, you can now read a transcript on their site. If you like that one, you might want to read the archive of my conversation with them about horror and poetry from last April.

See below for other upcoming opportunities to chat or get a book signed this October.

“Monsters cannot be announced. One cannot say: ‘here are our monsters,’ without immediately turning the monsters into pets.”
– Jacques Derrida (died 2004)

One of the funniest original stories from 100 Jolts — “Stabbing for Dummies” — has just been reprinted at Horrorfind Fiction. This story ended up being a collaboration with the behind-the-scenes editor of 100 Jolts, author Vincent Sakowski, who had so many ideas after he read the first draft that we worked together on developing the piece into this present version. It gets a lot of laughs when I perform it at fiction readings.

If you like surrealist writing, then definitely check out Sakowski’s book, Some Things are Better Left Unplugged. And you can always get a good deal on horror titles like 100 Jolts at shocklines.com

“six short films about chauncy the serial killer” — one of my favorite short poems — was just published online at The Dream People for their “Bizarre Horror” issue. This poem will also appear in print in Bare Bone magazine later this month.