2009 & 2010: Publications Past and Things to Come

With 2009 coming to an end and 2010 looming near, I thought I'd reflect on my publications during the past twelve months, as well as what I have in store for the coming year.

2009

Feburary brought Cemetery Dance's release of my first short story collection, Midnight Grinding & Other Twilight Terrors; 32 tales of Southern horror between two covers. It garnered great reviews and was even chosen as Kent Allard's Favorite Horror Book of 2009 on his Dead in the South blog. http://deadinthesouth.blogspot.com/

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Around the same time, CD released the fifth addition of Richard Chizmar's Shivers anthology. Among tales by some of the best writers int he horror genre, was my story, "Cumberland Furnace", an old-fashioned ghost story based on a story my grandmother told me when I was a child.

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The Sick Stuff from Thunderstorm Books arrived in April. The second in TSB's Elemental Series, this mini-collection of extreme horror tales that I penned back during those Splatterpunk days of the early nineties, boasted art by Zach McCain and an introduction by James Newman. Among the seven stomach-churning offerings were "Diary", "Housewarming", "Mojo Mama", and a favorite among my circle of friends, "The Abduction".

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Autumn brought Harlan County Horrors, an anthology of rural Kentucky horror tales edited by Mari Adkins and published by Apex Books. This handsome volume contained my story "The Thing at the Side of the Road". It also showcased great tales by Maurice Broaddus, Alethea Kontis, Stephen Shrewsbury, and more.

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Also this fall, Woodland Press released Appalachian Winter Hauntings. This collection of holiday horror tales set in the rustic setting of the Appalachian Mountains and edited by Michael Knost and Mark Justice (Pod of Horror) featured my ghost story, "The Peddler's Journey". The collection also contained stories by Elizabeth Massie, Scott Nicholson, Steve Vernon, and many more. You can read "The Peddler's Journey" for free -- my Christmas gift to you -- at http://www.ronaldkelly.com/sample.html .

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2010

Well, as many of you may have guessed, my first novel in thirteen years, Hell Hollow, was not realeased in November as was anticipated. This was mainly due to Cemetery Dance's sincere push to catch up on their overdue backlog of titles and their new emphasis on bringing us Cemetery Dance Magazine in a more timely manner. So it looks like it will be early to mid 2010 before HH makes its appearance. This 500-page whopper of a book is embellished by a wonderful cover by premier horror artist, Alex McVey. You can preorder your copy from CD at http://www.cemeterydance.com/page/CDP/PROD/kelly01 .

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Also at the printer is Issue #63 of Cemetery Dance Magazine; the special Halloween Issue. Of course, Halloween is past, but wouldn't be cool to settle down before a fire on a frigid winter night to a jam-packed issue of cool Halloween tales? This issue contains my story "Pelingrad's Pit" and an interview with me by Joan Turner.

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Currently, I'm signing the signature sheets for CD's Halloween round-robin novella, The Crane House. This collective tale features such great authors as Brian Keene, Kealan Patrick Burke, James A. Moore, James Newman, Norman Prentiss, Brian Freeman, Ray Garton, Al Sarrantonio, Rick Hautala, Bev Vincent, and yours truly.

I'm also hard at work on the "You can be a Star" story promotion that CD has offered to their loyal customers. Using detailed questionaires, I am writing specialized short stories for twelve individuals, using them as the main characters and key points of their day-to-day lives (family, home, work, etc.) I'm also incorporating their worse nightmares and fears, which is making this particular job both challenging and incredibly satisfying as a writer of horror. As well, I'm exploring settings that I'm not normally accustomed to, with several stories set in places like Austrialia, Canada, Germany, and other locations around the globe.

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Also on the horizon is volume #1 of Full Moon Press's Essential Ronald Collection, the hardcover edition of Undertaker's Moon. Yes, I know what you're all thinking. Is this really going to finally happen? Is this book for real or is it some sort of urban legend? Hopefully, after years of delays, UM will see be released sometime in 2010. This book will contain the original novel (formerly released by Zebra Books as Moon of the Werewolf) and include a bonus novella titled "The Spawn of Arget Bethir". It will also boast the infamous "blue werewolf" cover by Alex McVey.

Also in 2010, I will be starting a brand-new novel and working on a Signature Series book for Cemetery Dance, as well as working on more short stories for Cemetery Dance Magazines. So 2010 looks to be even more promising for my fans than 2009 was. Of course, a big thanks to all of you for your interest and support. It's what keeps a writer of horror full of fresh ideas and keeps meat and taters on his supper table. I promise bigger and better things from the Kelly workshop of terrors in the coming year. Hope y'all enjoy it!

Nifty, Nifty, Ron turns...

That's right. This morning I turned the big 5-0. A half century of living on God's good earth.

Now I have many things on the horizon to enjoy that I never really thought about before. Mailings from AARP filling my mailbox. Invasive colon tests. 30% Off Day at Walkers-R-Us.

No, seriously... I don't feel like I'm fifty at all. Why would I? I've got a wonderful and supportive wife that I've been married to for nineteen years, three beautiful children who keep me on my toes and keep me young, and a second writing career that promises to be bigger and better than the first one.

So I'm planning on grinning like a rabid possum and enjoying today. I'll eat my tombstone birthday cake and read my "Over the Hill" cards and take it like a man. See ya!

Halloweens Past & Present, Good & Bad

Well, another Halloween has passed and this one turned out to be a particularly fun and pleasant one. No ill-tempered young'uns, no costume malfunctions, no rushing off to someone's particular house across town to catch them before they turned off the porch light and stashed away the candy bowl. No, this October 31st turned out to be a pretty easy-going one and absolutely perfect weather-wise down here in Middle Tennessee. Cool, blustery, and with a big ol' full moon, to boot. You could almost hear the werewolves howling in delight.


The Kelly kids certainly seemed to have a good time. My oldest daughter, Reilly, dressed up as a purple-haired punk rocker, my five-year-old, Makenna, went as Hanna Montana (surprised?) and my nineteen-month-old son, Ryan, was decked out as Batman. Without the cowl, that is. Ryan's kind of funny about stuff on his face and head. He hates wearing caps and hats, so he certainly wasn't about to please dear old dad and wear his Batman mask. Funny... whenever the girls deck him out in a golden tiara (to my horror!) during playtime, he'll parade around the house wearing the thing for a good half hour. Better trade that dime-store crown for a John Deere cap, my boy... if only for your father's peace of mind.



One thing that made this year's trick-or-treating run smooth as silk is the spread of Trunk-or-Treat in the area. Several of the local churches did it last year. Folks would park in the church parking lot with their trunks open, full of treats and decorations. The kids ate it up (along with the candy) and the social interaction was fun for children and parents alike. This year Trunk-or-Treat went a step further. Several of the town merchants and churches decided to set up on the town square, some with their trunks open, some with booths. The volunteer fire department was even handing out drinks and hot dogs. And of course we visited family, as well.



All in all, a very pleasant and memorable Halloween for the entire Kelly clan.

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Of course, not all the Halloweens of my life have been as pleasant and brimming with good memories. One particular Halloween comes hauntingly to mind. One that still leaves an ugly shadow upon my yearly celebration, even across the lengthy span of 42 years.



When I was a kid, I grew up in a picturesque Southern town. It was nestled in a valley surrounded by wooded hills. Railroad tracks ran straight through this lovely hamlet. There were several churches, a grocery store, a post office, and a single elementary school (which, incidently, was located directly behind my back yard). Kids could ride their bikes from one end of town to the other without worrying about gangs or child molesters. And our Halloweens were the same; full of freedom and frights in the darkness, without our parents following us around in cars.



But my town wasn't a perfect town. Far from it. It possessed its share of bigotry and racial injustice. To the north stood a tall hill where all the black folks in town lived. It was known by all as N----r Hill (I'm sure you can fill in the blanks if you use a little imagination). The town dump was on that hill, along with tin and tarpaper shacks that no one should have been condemned to live in. But, unfortunately, it was merely a fact of life back then. My journeys to the town dump was always a sad sojourn, witnessing unfortunate poverty from within the safety of my father's two-toned '56 Chevy. Compounding my misery, was my father's constant barrage of comments and n----r jokes. I loved my father dearly and still do, but he was raised as many were in that era, with an aire of racial superiority and little tact to go with it. I can recall feeling a mixture of anger and sadness and fear, wondering if he would go to hell for his constant use (and abuse) of the N-word.



Thus the Halloween of my eighth year comes uncomfortably to mind. It was 1968 and it was a dark and dangerous time in my home town. During the April of that year, Martin Luther King had been assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis and, in turn, a people we had never seen as much of a threat now seemed to possess the potential to be so. I remember hearing my elders talk about how "uppity" the black folks were getting following the death of Doctor King and how something ugly was liable to happen, due to anger and bad feelings between the occupants of N-----gr Hill and the townfolks below. Animosity between races was building at a steady pace and it seemed like only a matter of time before hostile feelings got the better of reason, in both whites and blacks.


That Halloween night had a different feeling to it. There was a blanket of tension over the entire community, and particularly in the faces of my mother and father. My parents forbid us to stray beyond the stretch of our street, but wouldn't give us a concrete explanation why that restriction had been set. Still, we netted a bagful of Halloween candy by eight o'clock. As was customary, my brother, Kevin, and I would don our pajamas by eight-thirty and begin the task of seperating our treasure-trove of candy into seperate piles: bubble gum, suckers, candy bars, etc.


It was nearing nine o'clock, when the worse fears of my hometown almost came true... within our own house.


Someone knocked on our door and, being the trusting lady she was, my mother went to answer it. As I arranged my candy, I heard her say "What do you want?" and then, in growing alarm, "You can't come in here!" I turned and looked through the door that lay between the living room and the combination kitchen and den. There were six or seven tall young black men entering the house, silently, but deliberately. They said nothing at all. They simply walked in, carrying the smell of autumn woodsmoke and damp leaves with them. I recall my mother backing into the den, her face full of fear. There was a strange look in the eyes of those home invaders. I was too young to comprehend that expression at such an early age, but now I would indentify it instantly as a mixture of malice and lust.


Two of them were actually through the doorway and in the den, when my father's voice boomed from the end of the hallway near the bathroom. "What are you doing here?" That was when the invaders lost their resolve. They scrambled for the door, afraid that my father was about to shoot at them (which was impossible, since my mother forbid firearms in our home). I remember the last one -- a boy no more than fourteen or fifteen years of age -- turning and looking at me full in the face. There was as much fear in his eyes as there was in mine. They seemed to say "What the hell am I doing here?". But, before leaving, he couldn't resist grabbing up a handful of my very best candy; Babe Ruths, Butterfingers, and Tootsie Rolls. Then he was out in the darkness and running with the others.

I remember my mother sitting on the couch, her face pale with shock and fear, while my father stood in the yard ranting and raving. I also remember feeling anger at the theft of my candy bars. My brother, only four at the time, didn't seem to realize the potential danger we had been in that night.

Many Halloweens have passed since then and now I can look back at 1968 objectively, with neither anger or fear, but with understanding. At the age of eight, I knew nothing of the impact Martin Luther King had made upon the African-American community or the anger and loss they had experienced following his brutal killing. But at the age of fifty, I can understand what they might have felt that year, when a smirking white face may have looked hauntingly like James Earl Ray to them and stirred feelings they wouldn't have normally even considered or acted upon.

And, as for my stolen candy, I can't honestly begrudge that frightened teenager his clutching handful of Snickers and Bit-O-Honeys. I figure it may have been well-deserved, considering that he was restricted from trick-or-treating in my neck of the woods; barred from my picturesque Southern street by long-standing prejudice and underlying fear.

Yes, that was a long, long time ago. But when the clock strikes nine on Halloween night, I can't help but think about that knock on our door and the misguided retribution it might have brought.

 

A HELLuva HOLLOWeen Contest

It's time for our annual Halloween contest over at Ronald Kelly.com. This year's theme is a HELLuva HOLLOWeen in celebration of the upcoming release of my upcoming novel, HELL HOLLOW, due out in November. One lucky winner will recieve the following items:

-- A copy of the limited hardcover edition of HELL HOLLOW from Cemetery Dance Publications. This whopper of a book (five hundred pages in all!) will be personally inscribed by me, and remarqued and signed by cover artist Alex McVey.

-- An original softcover HELL HOLLOW advanced reading copy. This will also be personally inscribed by myself and remarqued by Alex.

-- And last but not least, a signed print of the villian of HELL HOLLOW, Doctor Augustus Leech. This is not the cover painting, but Alex's full-face depiction of Leech in striking shades of black and crimson!

So head on over to http://ronaldkelly.com and register for a chance to win these three unique HELL HOLLOW-related items. The lucky winner will be drawn and notified on October 31st. Good luck to all and have a happy and safe Halloween!

A Big Thumb's Up From Publishers Weekly!

This week, Publishers Weekly released a mighty nice review of my upcoming novel, Hell Hollow. This is what they had to say:

"Braiding together three distinct story lines --- a coming-of-age tale involving a quartet of adventurous kids, a woman's quest for vengeance against a maniacal hitchhiker, and the vigilante murder of a serial killer --- Kelly (Blood Kin) ingeniously blends unapologetically graphic horror, supernatural suspense, and poignant mystery. When 12-year-old Keith Bishop is sent from Atlanta to rural Tennessee for the summer, he stumbles across one of the area's darkest secrets: a haunted backwoods hollow where, back in 1917, a nomadic murderer allegedly "harvesting souls for Satan" was hunted down and killed. Somewhere in the shadowy, kudzu-covered grove, the madman's spirit remains alive, waiting for unholy retribution. Kelly's use of dichotomy, from the contrasting urban and rural settings to the generational dissimilarities between Keith and his 95-year-old grandfather, helps to accentuate the intensity and otherworldliness of evil in this well-crafted and wildly entertaining bloodcurdler."

If you haven't pre-ordered your copy, you can do it now at www.cemeterydance.com. Looks like orders through Amazon and other retail outlets might increase due to the PW review, so hook your copy while you can!

The Disney Dilemma: Which Side Are You On?

Cherished Friends... or hated enemies?

Several weeks ago, three deaths occurred on Disney World property within a seventeen day period. One was a monorail driver who crashed into another parked monorail, one was a performer who fell from a show stage, and the third was a stuntman at the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. Unfortunate tragedies, all of them.

I remember reading about the last death online at AOL. At the bottom of each article, there is a comment feature that allows the reader to voice their opinion on the subject. Normally there are only a dozen comments at the most. On this particular article there were 236. As I skimmed through the various comments I began to come to a perplexing conclusion. Alot of folks out there in cyberspace hate Disney. Not just dislkike, but downright hate the kingdom that Walt built. In the case of these particular comments, it came to about 80%. Twenty percent expressed their sadness and condolences over the death of the stuntman, while all the others cracked tasteless jokes or leveled blame and accusation at Disney officials, citing unfounded negligence on their part for all three deaths.

I've come across this Disney-hating phenomenon for years, on a smaller scale. It seems that folks either love Mickey Mouse and all he stands for, or they hate his guts. The degree of emotion the very mention of Disney seems to conjure is usually spelled out in distinctive shades of black or white... there never seems to be any gray area at all. While Walt Disney World remains the number one vacation destination in the country and Disney films are among the highest grossing in the business, there are still folks out there who harbor a deep-seeded resentment of the entertainment organization and its offerings.

Personally, I love Disney. Of course, it wasn't always that way for me. When I was a younger man, Disney-related stuff seemed childish to me and I had no interest in it whatsoever. But when I married, things changed. During the second year of our marriage, Joyce and I traveled to Disney World (on six hundred bucks, no less... can you imagine that?) and, since that point, I have been a lover and supporter of all things Disney; the theme parks, the movies, the music... everything. I've also become a great admirer of the late Walt Disney himself. Not only was he a champion of family entertainment, but his vision in many areas was way before his time. It was just unfortunate that he died before he could see many of his innovations come to life.

My love of Disney only seems to grow now that I have children and I see the joy that it brings them. Since 1992, we have been to Disney World six times (with a new trip planned for June of 2010) and the planning of each trip is full of excitement and wonder, like a trip to heaven on earth. The same goes for Disney movies. When a new one is released, the Kelly family rushes off to the local theatre to discover what magic the newest Disney flick has to offer.

Disney-Haters, on the other hand, live at the opposite end of the spectrum. They come in two varieties: the snide dismisser or the venomous antagonist. Some are satisfied with making crude jokes and comments and simply leaving it at that. Others whole-heartedly despise Disney and let it be known in no uncertain terms. All Disney-Haters seem to believe Disney is some evil corporate entity that is out to pull the wool over the eyes of the public; a modern-day Adolf Hitler in mouse ears, out to conquer the world with candy-coated cyanide pills. I have no idea where this idea originated, but it continues to be perpetuated with an animosity that borders fanaticism.

Oddly, there seem to be more male Disney-Haters than female. This is likely due to testosterone-fueled machismo. Alot of men would rather have bamboo slivers hammered beneath their fingernails than confess any allegiance to Disney. Many of these Disney-Haters consider it unmanly to express an interest in anything that is fantasy-related. Perhaps this is due to the fact that they refuse to let their guard down and enjoy anything other than the customary male interests and pasttimes (football, hunting, NASCAR, etc.). To love Disney is a sign of weakness in their eyes. But there is hope for the die-hard Disney-Hating Male. I've witnessed it firsthand during visits to the World. I've seen burly, bear-like men, obviously resentful of being dragged to the parks, grinning like happy six-year-olds after exiting rides like Space Mountain, the Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, or the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.

One stringent Disney-Hater has always been right-wing religion, or some particularly relentless factions of it. Disney boycotts have been orchestrated by organized religion groups, and myths and misinformation have been perpetuated by their leaders and followers; that all Disney films include subliminal messages of a subversive and sexual nature and even that Walt Disney himself was a pornographer before turning his talents to family fare. Much of the religious-right's animosity toward Disney has to do with the Disney corporation's obvious respect for their gay employees (their healthcare plan covers an employee's significant other... be they male or female) and an annual week-long gay and lesbian celebration at Disney World (actually this is not Disney-sponsered, but is a privately-sponsered event that encompasses all of Orlando.)

Another thing that strikes me is that Disney-Haters are also in the same league as Barney-Haters. The big purple dinosaur that everyone loves to make fun of and bash, has probably done more to prepare pre-kindergarten children for school than anyone else; instilling manners, good health practices, and respect for others, as well as teaching colors, shapes, numbers, and the alphabet. Sure, the big fella can grate on your nerves if played on the DVD player a dozen times in a row (like at my house!), but all in all, he is of great benefit to today's youngsters. Disney has the same effect -- promoting healthy imaginations -- on a more entertaining level. Most of the Disney/Barney-Haters are single people with no children, who are sadly ignorant of this benefit. But then I've also encountered family folks who steadfastly forbid their children excess to Disney or Barney, simply because of their own personal preferences or biases.

The best of both worlds!

One recent point of debate involves Disney's forthcoming purchase of Marvel Entertainment for a staggering sum of $4 billion dollars. Some see great benefit in this transaction, while others are only spouting gloom and doom. Being a lover of both Disney and Marvel, I see it as an incredible melding of two grand universes. Of course, Universal Studios (Disney's main theme park competitor) may see it much differently. What will become of their Marvel-themed rides and character showings at the Island of Adventures theme park? Will they be forced to do away with that section of the park entirely, or will they be required to pay Disney (what a blow to their ego that would be!) for the rights to keep their Marvel-oriented entertainment intact? In any event, you can be certain that Disney will take full advantage of its ownership of Spiderman, the Hulk, and Wolverine. Personally, I would love to see a fifth theme park pop up on the Disney World property, devoted entirely to the Marvel Universe. A farfetched idea? Perhaps not.

So, which camp do you belong to? Do you love Disney and its many magical offerings? Or do you feel as some do... that Disney is a wolf in mouse clothing; money-hungry corporate villians with less than Walt-like intentions? In any event, this is America, where everyone's opinion counts. You have the freedom and the right to embrace Mickey Mouse... or set a trap behind the refrigerator for him.

Editing and Proofreading Services are now available!

To compensate for my unsteady employment (I returned to work after a five-month layoff only to find that I'm scarcely getting 30 hours a week) I am now offering my services as an editor and proofreader.


Since returning to the horror genre, I have helped several others with their manuscripts; doing full-line edits, proofreading, grammer correction, and providing honest and detailed critiques of their work, for a very reasonable fee. If you are an aspiring writer with a new novel that needs a little spit and polish to make the publishers sit up and take notice, or if you know an aspiring writer who might benefit from these services, you can contact me at ron@ronaldkelly.com. We'll get to work and fix you up with a book you can be proud to submit to your next publishing contact.