Horrors: Real, Imagined, and Deadly

Perhaps more than any previous EBP book, the upcoming horror anthology created a myriad of monsters that haunted my summer. But we have managed them (you never quite tame powerful monsters) and are ready to reveal the stunning cover that graces the stories within. Created by the multitalented Charlee Hoffman, this cover conveys a level of creepiness that I'd only hoped to capture. Well done, Charlee!

Catching Up

I never realized when I launched Elephant's Bookshelf Press back in 2012 how busy I would become. Without a doubt, a big part of all that activity is due to my love of short stories and my belief that great shorts can pave the way for wonderful novelists. (Case in point, see A.T. O'Connor's Whispering Minds and R.S. Mellette's Billy Bobble Makes a Magic Wand; and we'll see it also in Cat Woods' Abigail Bindle and the Slam Book Scam later this year.) Another big part of it is because there is so much that goes into the production and promotion of books that it never seems to stop.

While this blog has been relatively quiet for much of 2015, we haven't been. In fact, EBP is taking giant strides to getting our books out in front of more and more readers. If things go as planned, we'll be on shelves in a couple independent bookstores in New Jersey and another down south.

I think it may happen in time for the releases of Abigail Bindle in late August/early September and the as-yet-unnamed horror anthology in late September. Plus, we're editing the next installment of the Billy Bobble series.

In the meantime, we're still accepting submissions for the horror anthology. If you haven't heard back recently, don't dismay: we're still reviewing stories and we've learned over the years not to send acceptances out too soon. But the deadline is fast upon us; they're due on June 8, which is right around the corner. I haven't even revised my own story yet to submit to reviewers yet, so I'm sure you'll be able to get something together.

We hope to hear from you all soon. Lord knows you'll be hearing from us throughout the year!

It's Good to Be Back

I know I said that I'd be reading my own work — and I did, for a couple days on the train. I should have continued with my work, because it's clearly better than what I've been reading lately. Well, I enjoyed the Christopher Moore book, so I shouldn't lump it in with the others.

I completely hated one nonfiction book that I'd read with the intention of reviewing. It should never have been published, at least not in the appalling condition in which I found it. I won't review it. And I struggled to finish another book, Cooperstown, which was tangentially about baseball. Perhaps I needed to see the problems that arise out of bad structural choices in a novel.

But this morning I began something new on the train, Joe Hill's 20th Century Ghosts. I'm only in the first story, "Buttonboy," and already I'm enjoying it more than anything I've read in the past two weeks — including my book, including Chris Moore. Earlier this year, I read Hill's novel, Heart-Shaped Box, which I found entertaining and enjoyable.

While Hill is the son of writers (Stephen and Tabitha King), he hasn't relied on his father's fame to get noticed. He's done quite well for himself already, and I expect he'll provide many enjoyable works of fiction in the future. While he may never write Pulitzer Prize winning literature, if nothing else, he's provided me with a welcome respite from poor and mediocre writing.

Thanks, Joe.

Evil Dead -- the Musical

I realize it's not a book, but I thought I'd add a quick review of an Off-Broadway play my wife and I recently enjoyed: Evil Dead, the Musical.

Better than the films (which isn't saying much), the play is actually a mixture of all three Evil Dead movies (well, primarily the first two with references to the third that perhaps only the cognoscenti would get).

Vulgar and campy to be sure, and a little sticky. The songs actually stick with you too, but how can anyone forget lyrics like "What the fuck was that!" in the song "What the F@%$"

Not a musical for children (or perhaps the perfect demograhic is an 11 year old boy) because the language and the occasional dry-humping, etc. is clearly R-rated. In the first act, the sister of the hero is the first person to become possessed by the evilness that has been unleashed by reading chants from the Necronomicon (Book of the Dead). She eventually causes all the rest of the characters to be possessed at one time or another.

There's an enjoyable dance of the dead scene called "Do the Necronomicon" with passing references not only to the Time Warp from Rocky Horror but also Fonzie from Happy Days.

Before the second act, the first three rows of seats (where we were sitting) get baggies with clear plastic ponchos. The fake blood really flows in the climatic killing spree toward the end. It's so bad that you can't help but laugh.

I probably wouldn't pay more than the special $26 ticket for the show, but I recommend getting the splatter zone to enjoy the whole experience.