Issue 049: See You At The Thing?

Where You Can Find Me This Summer

Aarhus (in the middle of the street)

I signed up for a few public appearances this summer and if you were around and had a chance to catch one or the other, I’d love to see you. And by you, I mean, YOU specifically, not all the other people reading this newsletter, who can do whatever. YOU have no excuse — YOU know you’re not doing anything more interesting. Might as well come on out and hear me natter about books.

---

First up:

I’m in Center Lovell, Maine, at the Charlotte Hobbs Memorial Library, on the evening of July 13th, to read and talk and take questions. The blab begins at 6:15, although there’s a smaller ticketed reception beforehand, beginning at 5. All the details are here.

I’ll probably read a few pages of something new, but whether that’s a short story, or some of King Sorrow, I haven’t figured yet. It’ll be a surprise! Maybe to me too. Come on out and see what happens.

---

Then, just a few days later, I’ll be at Water Street Books in Exeter, NH, on July 15th, at 6:00PM, to talk with a master of weird fantasy, Paul Tremblay… and we’ve got plenty to discuss, from his terrifying new collection of short stories, The Beast You Are, to this year’s M. Night Shyamalan’s film Knock at the Cabin, which adapted Paul’s novel, The Cabin at the End of the World. You can find out more about the event here.

Note that this is an event for Paul, not for my stuff. If you’ve got something you want me to sign, I’m glad to do it… if you picked up a copy of Paul’s book, because that’s the whole reason we’re there. Believe me, you won’t regret it — Paul doesn’t know how to write a bad story. You can snag anything from his library and walk away happy.

---

Finally… I’m so delighted and excited to be delivering the keynote at the Aarhus Third Annual Workshop on Recreational Fear in Denmark, on the 9th of August. My talk, tentatively titled “Living in Fear: The Art of Horror,” is in the morning, but I’m going to be hanging out all day. The event is the brainchild of Mathias Clausen, author of Why Horror Seduces, the best work of non-fiction about the horror genre since Men, Women and Chainsaws. I could not give it a stronger recommendation — it’s essential reading for anyone who loves smart talk about the field of fright fiction. For my own selfish reasons, it’ll be great to meet Mathias in person and see up close some of the groundbreaking work he’s been doing at Aarhus University. Find out more here.

(Come on, is that animated poster the coolest, or what? Just sticking it in my newsletter makes me feel like a newsletter pro.)

I believe there will also be an event in Copenhagen the following day, of some sort, but we’re still tightening the bolts on that. When there’s something to share, you’ll hear about it through Escape Hatch and my various, ever-proliferating social media channels.

Whittling Away The Summer

What else is going on?

I’ve got a new short story coming out in a few months through the Amazon Original Stories imprint, so that’s pretty cool — something fun for your Kindle or to grab through your Audible account. I can’t say more about it right now, but I think there’ll be an official announcement in the near future. In an amusing side note, I edited two drafts of this particular story on my Kindle Scribe, which is just about my favorite gizmo ever.

I’ve had a weird run of writing short stories this year (weird, because for the most part I’m ploughing away on a new novel, the book that will come out in 2026 after King Sorrow). Some of ‘em you’ll be seeing this year. Some of them will pop up here or there further on down the road. Don’t worry, my skills at self-promotion are second-to-none: I won’t let you miss them.

I finally saw Season 4 of Stranger Things -- I missed it when it came out cos my wife and I were bringing home twins — and, oh man, was it worth the wait. It has to be the best season of anything Netflix has ever aired. The ending is going to kill us, isn’t it? I am so goddamn glad I get to have this show in my life. Kate Bush will save us all.

And The Bear. I feel like The Bear is to TV something like what Rocky and Dog Day Afternoon and The Taking of Pelham 1, 2, 3 were to film… that is to say, raw and real and gripping and immediate.

I’ve been doing a lot of work listening to The War and Treaty’s Lover’s Game. If you forgot what rock and roll sounds like, you better give ‘em a listen, they’ll refresh your memory.

I’m scribbling and walking and reading to my small fellows. I’m on Bluesky, which is fun, and Threads, which is… uh… frantic. But after I stopped actively using Twitter I decided I wasn’t going to let a social network occupy a big space in my life, and I’ve mostly stuck to that. New England is watery and gray and smoldery this summer; the greens are blindingly green. Our dog The Chief has discovered frogs and is THRILLED. May you find some excitement this summer that electrifies you the way the mere glimpse of a toad electrifies him. We should all have such joy.

Be well and I’ll catch you later.