If you haven’t heard already, Gauntlet Press is producing HE IS LEGEND, an awesome tribute anthology of short stories and novellas based on the classic fiction of Richard Matheson (author of I Am Legend, The Incredible Shrinking Man, Stir of Echoes, and so much more).  I’m honored to be a part of the fun, with my short piece called “She Screech Like Me” – a sequel to Matheson’s famous story, “Born of Man and Woman.”  The line-up for this book includes the first collaboration between Stephen King and his son Joe Hill (riffing on “Duel”), along with Gary Braunbeck, William Nolan, Joe Lansdale, and a host of other recognizable horror writers I admire.  Gauntlet Press publishes a great number of Matheson-related titles, in addition to an amazing assortment of other wonderful collector’s items by living legends of fantasy and science fiction.  Drop by their catalog page to learn more about He is Legend, which seems to be selling out in all its special editions.

Horror World this month published a knock-out review of my novella, The Bitchfight. Reviewer Ron Dickie writes:  ”If you’re looking for something different, something unexpected, pick up ‘The Bitchfight.’  Not since Jack Ketchum’s ‘The Girl Next Door’ has a story been as equally repellent and captivating as this.”  That’s high praise in this business!  Bad Moon Books still has copies for sale, as does Horror-Mall.  [Bad Moon Books also is now scheduled to publish the anthology, Monster Noir, in the seasons ahead.  My short story, "Exorcystland" -- about an amusement park where all the attractions let you "ride" crazy scenes from classic horror films -- appears therein]

If you’re a writer, you should look into subscribing to Gila Queen’s Guide to Markets. Editor Kathy Ptacek just released the special 150th issue (!) of this long-standing “insider” resource for breaking news in publishing and the magazine industry.  I have an irregular department in GQ, pretentiously called “The Arnzen Seminars,” where I address an advanced topic in creative writing. In the 150th anniversary issue, my latest “seminar” is an essay on “Writing Anniversaries” — things writers should try to do each year to celebrate and reflect and stay organized.

Novello Pubishers informed me earier this month that his complete run of my over-the-top horror novelette, Licker, has sold out.  (You still might be able to track down copies at Horror-Mall if you act quickly.)  Novello also announced this month that they’re launching a new specialty line of “bizarro” fiction later this year under the name “Squid Salad Press” — author Tim Waggoner will be the first writer in their line-up, with his weird book, Skull Cathedral.

The June 2008 issue of Pittsburgh Professional Magazine just pubished an interview with me (called “Ghoulish Goals” by Kathleen Ganster) featuring some awesome photography by the amazingly talented Jim Judkis. 

“You are more useful to Nature dead than alive.”
– U.G. Krishnamurti (died 2007)

I just finished teaching a wonderful “Horror & Suspense Writing” course at Seton Hill University. Under my office door last week, I found a slip of paper from an anonymous student, who was writing down the weirdest of the wacky things that came out of my mouth during lectures and discussions. Here’s a select few snippets of profound wisdom:

On point-of view in horror fiction:
“You shouldn’t be writing in First Person Singular all the time…instead, try writing in First Monster Singular.”

Responding to a question about sexual perversion in horror fiction:
“What do you mean?  Necrophilia is the safest of sexes.”

On ghosts and the supernatural:
“There are no friendly ghosts in horror. Try running off with Casper to his friendly place and it won’t be long before he turns around and eats you.”

When arriving late during a snowy day:
“I had so much snow in my shoes today, I almost fell down three flights of stairs, which would have been bad for the metal plate in my head.”

On genre:
“Horror and fantasy have a lot in common, but you know horror when you see it. If your story starts out with unicorns and fairies having sex, that’s not horror, but it’s still pretty scary.”

On conflict:
“Characters shouldn’t whine, ‘oh, wah, I hate my life.’ Try ‘I hate my job, I hate my mother, and, oh yeah, I have a knife in my belly, too.’ Your protagonist needs to be in agony.”

On word roots:
“Agony and aggravate have nothing to do with agriculture.”

On the psychology of horror:
“Horror fiction is about looking at yourself after you hack a person to pieces…and your brain is thinking ‘Gee, I still want that pickle.’”

If you somehow expected this entry to have actual advice, I recommend you go pick up a copy of the textbook we used this semester:  On Writing Horror 2nd Edition, edited by Mort Castle. 

[This class was a lot of fun.  At the end of the term, we had a writing contest with the grand prize of a pinata that my wife made in homage to Edvard Munch’s “The Scream.”  You can find a photo of this in the brand spanking new online gallery at gorelets.com.

Intrepid surfer, you have found the brand new Goreletter blog before it has gone live!

The Goreletter is my creative workspace & author’s newsletter; the blog is a working sketchbook for that missive and — upon recently changing to a new webhost — I have decided to expand it and revise it from the bottom up, to make it more accessible for “web 2.0″ readers.

Read the All About the Goreletter page for full information on this site and how to subscribe via RSS.

This site is in disarray and heavy construction as I customize the design and consider content elements, while I port over the Goreletter from its former home. You may wind up at dead ends or find dead links or other errors. However, comments are enabled, so do let me know if you have any suggestions. To make sure you don’t miss any news, subscribe to the e-mail version or the rss feed.

My working to do list before going live with the announcement of this blog:

• jigger the css to mimic the gorelets.com front page
• figure out what is blocking the comment window on posts (new plan: comments will be enabled on entries from Jan 2008 forward only)
• integrate plug-ins that mimic the old goreletter blog
• integrate the new zenphoto gallery into this page, perhaps?
• add an about page that features rss links
• announce the move on the old goreletter blog (for rss readers, esp.)
• announce the move on the mailing list
• carry design through the categories consistently; establish categorical structure
• add rss content from tie-in sites
• post separate rss feeds for individual depts
• canvass new search engines
• tweak design for column balance
• consider new ‘web exclusive’ subcontent and/or tagged entries
• polish up gorelets.com subpages (links esp.)

Bit by bit it’s happening. Let me know if you want anything special or encounter any problems.  Thanks for dropping by!