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For a long time now I have had a dream that I really wasn't sure I would ever be able to achieve. That dream was to someday be able to publish something that I wrote. That dream is about to come true, as I have sold my first short story, The Collective of Blaque Reach, to Dead Letter Press. It will be featured as the promo chap book that people will receive for free when they pre-order the massive 800 page anthology, Bound For Evil from their website. Bound For Evil is an 800 page anthology made up of 66 short stories from various authors. All the stories carry the common theme of Evil Books. It will be: "a deluxe smythe sewn hardcover, bound in black imitation leather, and stamped in gold leaf with an original cover design by World Fantasy Award-winning illustrator Allen Koszowski." It will feature stories from M.R. James, H.P. Lovecraft, Robert W. Chambers, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and my favorite writer, Ramsey Campbell, among many others. Bound For Evil will be limited to 500 copies.

The bonus chap book will be a 16-page chapbook is titled "The Collective of Blaque Reach" by Matt Cowan, with cover art by Allen Koszowski; and is being offered as a
premium to anyone who orders BOUND FOR EVIL directly from the publisher,
Dead Letter Press:
http://departmentofdeadletters.blogspot.com/2008/01/bound-for-evil-update-more-pages-more.html
This chapbook is limited to the number of orders received by the
publisher, plus a few extra copies for contractual purposes. Limitation is
expected to be 200 copies or fewer.

I have to say that my dealings with Tom English of Dead Letter Press were all terrific. He and his company are really great to work with.

I watched the 1961 movie, the Innocents the other night. I chose it because I had seen it so prominently listed among several peoples all time favorite horror movies lists. It was adapted from a novella by Henry James, The Turn of the Screw (1898). It is very good and holds up well still today. The acting is superb and it is well shot. It is black and white but that did not detract from my enjoyment of it. Although, truth be told, haunted house tales are my favorite kind of story, so I have a weakness there. The screen play was adapted by legendary scribe, Truman Capote.

In a previous post I wrote about the large contributions the magazine Weird Tales made to the field of horror fiction. I listed several of the writers that got their start there and went on to become icons of the genre. I have recently discovered another writer that was a regular contributor to Weird Tales. His name may not be as recognizable, but perhaps it should be. I was going to list several old horror stories by various authors that I enjoyed, without focusing on any one writer for this post. On that list of favorites I had the story, "The Horror at Chilton Castle" by Joseph Payne Brennan. I originally read it in the anthology Fine Frights, Stories That Scared Me Selected by Ramsey Campbell. I wrote it down and started scouring my other anthologies when I found another story of his which I had not yet read. I immediatey stopped and read "The Calamander Chest" and found it to be a deliciously creepy short story. This guy was a great writer!

It's been far too long since the last episode of Vintage Horror Radio...Sorry!  First it was holidays, then I was a bit under the weather, and of course all the other podcasts needed to be done!  Excuses, excuses.

Anyway, just wanted to let everyone know I haven't forgotten about this site or the show.  The next podcast will feature a story by Algernon Blackwood called Ancient Sorceries.  Look for it over the next few days.

I got to meet Tony Moran, the guy who played Michael Myers in the first two Halloween movies today.  He was the guest at our local comic book convention here in Indiana. Now, I am personally not a huge fan of either the Halloween or the Friday the 13th movies, so I didn't have a lot of good questions for him, but I did ask what some of his favorite horror movies were, other than his own of course?  He listed The Shinning, Psycho and The Exorcist.

The Collaborative Christmas Horror story that I took part in is read by the host of Pod of Horror, Mark Justice in Pod of Horror #41. It is now up for those interested in hearing it. Mark does a great job reading it and I think it turned out well, particularly when you consider it was written by six different writers. Also in that episode Mark interviews writer Robert McCammon.

If you are interested you can download it at the following site or from I-Tunes:

http://www.horrorworld.org/horrorreader.htm

Christmas is filled with traditions, some actually predating the holiday itself, such as decking the halls with greenery, which originally came from the pagan holiday of Yule. There is the tradition of putting up an evergreen tree and decorating it with ornaments and lights, kissing someone who stands under a sprig of mistletoe, and of course the giving and receiving of gifts. Other traditions such as placing the star atop the Christmas tree relate directly to the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Carrying on these customs help put us in the mood for the festive holiday season, and allow us to feel conne