The Little Man Who Wasn't There

Click on the pic if you dare...

 

Antigonish [I met a man who wasn't there]

Hughes Mearns

Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there
He wasn't there again today
I wish, I wish he'd go away...

When I came home last night at three
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall
I couldn't see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don't you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don't slam the door... (slam!)

Last night I saw upon the stair
A little man who wasn't there
He wasn't there again today

I remember the first time I ran across this. I was reading Stephen King's The Shining. I was probably ten or eleven. I had talked my dad into buying it for me from the five and dime (now long gone) by our local grocery store.

Obviously, Dad didn't know who Stephen King was, which is hilarious in retrospect, since he ended up working on Cat's Eye.

I still think of those haunted, bloody, hallways...

Writing Through the Pain

Pic via The List Love

Horror fans will remember when we almost lost one of our icons, Stephen King.

It was June of 1999, and as King was taking a late-afternoon walk, he was hit by a Dodge van and very narrowly escaped being killed instantly. It was one of those, "Yeah, what happened was horrible, but you could have been killed instantly if not just one, but several things had happened just a hair differently!"

I'm writing about this now, because I get notifications from The New Yorker sent to my email. From time to time, they send out links to older writings, like the article King wrote, On Impact. 

He wrote about his experience of the accident and the grueling and soul-shaking work of learning not only to walk again, but learning to write again. Typical of his writing style, it's equal parts real-life horror and humor. I think one of the funnier observations he made was that, after Bryan Smith, the man who hit him, tells the cops that he and his dog were driving to the store for "Marzes bars." 

King says, "When I hear this detail some weeks later, it occurs to me that I have nearly been killed by a character out of one of my own novels. It’s almost funny."

You can read the article for all of the details, but what really struck me was the last paragraph, specifically, the last sentence: 

"Writing did not save my life, but it is doing what it has always done: it makes my life a brighter and more pleasant place."

I've been thinking about this for the last few days. 

In the earlier days of this blog, I wrote daily, almost. It was never the most spectacular example of prose, ever, but I enjoyed it quite a lot. It gave me a place to share cool Halloween stuff and connect with a bunch of you Halloween people (many of whom are actual, real-life friends, now). I had just moved into a new town, and I hadn't made a lot of friends, yet, so it gave me another avenue to connect. It also gave me a chance to work out my thoughts and to get some insights from those of you who wanted to chime in. 

John Wolfe (may he rest in peace), of the now-defunct Season of Shadows blog, said my posts had the feeling of catharsis. He was right. This blog is my catharsis, even though life has gotten too busy to write on it daily.

But telling your truth - telling the truth - seems to be a bit of a challenge in these ever-changing times.

Case in point: The Donald. Twitter has at last started placing fact-checks beside his tweets. And the tiny-handed man-baby is, predictably, shitting his diaper and threatening to sign Executive Orders so he can continue to lie. While this would be funny if it were a sit-com, it's frightening to see the behavior of a malignant narcissist in the person of a man who has the nuclear codes.

What does that have to do with writing? With this blog?

Well, I guess for me, it brings home the importance of telling the truth and accepting responsibility for my actions, good or bad. I'm far from perfect, and I'm not always right, but I will always tell the truth on these pages. It's so much easier than the panic of having to keep track of all the lies you've told.

Those of you who have followed me for a few years, or maybe even since my first post in 2008 will have seen a lot of life happen to me. Some good things, some great things, and some incredibly painful things. I won't say "bad" because all the things which have happened to me have made me grow. They've made me more introspective and more determined, sometimes softer and more compassionate. All of it has changed me. All of it has shown me where I need to grow - good lord has it shown me where I must grow! - even if I'm kicking, crying, and screaming as it happens. Such is life. 

Writing it out has been instrumental in my healing. In my living. In watching the old parts of me die. In the contemplation of the unknowable future. In the process of rebirth.

I'll continue to write it out. 

As with Mr. King, it makes my life a brighter and more pleasant place.

Dr. Sleep: Chapter One of The Shining Sequel

Is it? Could it be? Yes, Stephen King is writing a sequel to his classic horrifying ghost story, "The Shining," entitled, "Dr. Sleep."


Bloody Disgusting posted a video of King reading the first chapter of this new book, via The Daily Dead.


 I'm not sure how I feel about it, honestly, but I am willing to give it a shot! I always wondered how Danny would be affected by all the things he'd gone through at the Overlook Hotel in the long run.

25 Years of Stephen King's IT



It seems that Pennywise, the clown who creeped us out the most, makes his return coming this Fall.

A special, 25th anniversary edition of Stephen King's IT is on its way-but sadly, it looks like this limited edition is already sold out, and in fact sold out in the first twenty-five minutes of its announcement.

From the Cemetery Dance announcement:

Featuring a brand new afterword by Stephen King, full-color wrap-around color artwork by Glen Orbik, and nearly thirty original color and black & white interior illustrations by Alan M. Clark and Erin Wells!
IMPORTANT UPDATE FOR COLLECTORS:
Now that we've had a chance to look at the orders, the Deluxe Lettered Edition sold out within 25 minutes of being announced. Thank you for your interest in this special edition!
About this Deluxe Special Edition:
Cemetery Dance Publications is very pleased to announce our Special Deluxe Limited Edition of Stephen King's classic novel It, which he calls his "final exam on Famous Monsters" in his brand new afterword to this oversized special edition!
This is easily the biggest, most lavish production Cemetery Dance Publications has ever undertaken. Glen Orbik painted the gorgeous wrap-around cover artwork, Alan M. Clark and Erin Wells created nearly thirty exclusive interior illustrations including black & white drawings and color paintings, and we hired the designer of the Limited Editions of The Secretary of Dreams, Blockade Billy, Riding the Bullet, and Full Dark, No Stars to create a unique interior design unlike any book we've ever published!
This fine collectible volume will be available in three states this fall, all of them printed in two colors and bound in fine materials that go beyond the scope and quality of our other much-acclaimed Stephen King special editions. Already deep in production, the exclusive Cemetery Dance Special Limited Edition of It by Stephen King will be the perfect addition to any collection. We expect strong demand for this collectible given the popularity of the novel, so don't wait to place your order or you might miss out!
Special Features Exclusive to this Collector's Edition:
• brand new afterword by Stephen King detailing why he wrote the book
• deluxe oversized design (7 inches X 10 inches) featuring two color interior printing
• epic wrap-around full color cover artwork by Glen Orbik
• nearly thirty pieces of color and black & white interior artwork by Alan M. Clark and Erin Wells
• interior color artwork will be printed on a high-quality glossy stock and tipped into the book
• high-quality embossed endpapers and fine bindings for all three editions
• full-color signature sheets with exclusive color artwork in the signed editions
• a page count so high it pushes the limits of our printer — easily our largest book ever!
• extremely collectible print run that is a tiny fraction of the MILLIONS of copies of this novel you've seen in bookstores over the last 25 years — and you will NOT find our edition in chain bookstores!

 More information at Cemetery Dance.

Bummer for me about the sell-out. I would have liked a copy, but that's what I get for working yesterday!

Just a Couple of Things to Mention

Sorry if this sounds a little like a commercial for a bunch of stuff, but please read through so you're hip to what's happening in not only my world, but another one, too!

As you know, Hauntcast is up for the "Best Produced" and "General" cate-gorys (Get it? It's a play on "gory." Pretty clever, huh?) for the Podcast Awards. Apparently, they're tallying up each day's total votes to get the winner, so please take a minute to vote for us each day. Click on the banner to take you to the site. We really appreciate it! When we win, Chis is buying everyone drinks!

O.k., he's not, but you can't blame a girl for trying.

Next, I wanted to remind you all that I have some nice items in my Etsy store that would make unique Christmas gifts for just about anyone. Since it's going to be raining all weekend, I will not be pulling my items out of the Etsy store to take to Jack Russell Farm Brewery, so you can see what my "normal," non-Hallowe'en stuff looks like. My Hallowe'en items are still listed, too-I actually dropped my price on the pumpkin ghost everyone liked so much, so take a look and take him home! (Please! I need to buy and install a utility sink so I don't have to wash my clay tools off in freezing water outside, in the rain! Can I tell you how much that sucks?!)

If you like, you can take one or both of my banners and post them to your site, linking them with my etsy store address: www.etsy.com/shop/shellhawk. Here are the images, made by the exceptionally talented Guy of House Bloodthorn:



 Lastly, I ran across this charity event and had to pass it on to you. The Mission Fish part of eBay is auctioning off this original artwork to benefit the Haven Foundation, which helps artists in need. Artist and illustrator Glenn Chadbourne has donated this illustration, inspired by Stephen King's Dark Tower series, to raise money for the Foundation:

Here's the press release:

Now being auctioned through eBay's Mission Fish with proceeds to benefit The Haven Foundation is this signed original artwork by Maine artist Glenn Chadbourne. This pen and ink drawing is inspired by Stephen King's The Dark Tower saga. It has been professionally framed with conservation quality materials. The piece including frame measures 13-1/4" x 15-1/2". 

Chadbourne has also illustrated the limited editions of Secretary of Dreams Volumes 1 and 2 and The Colorado Kid.

You can bid on the piece here, the full Haven Foundation info on this auction is here, and Glenn Chadbourne's website is here. He does some deliciously dark illustrations, so head over there to take a peek at his work!

Have a great weekend, All!

The Shining

The Shining. One of my all-time favorite stories. I read the book at least once a year (synopsis here), and watch the miniseries once or twice a year. Every 5 years or so, I catch the Kubrick version of the movie, in the hopes it's started to live up to its bloody trailer. Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980) is like that gorgeous guy you let pick you up in the bar against your better judgement, hoping he's as good in bed as he looks and disappoints you with unsatisfying performance and body odor. The movie, like our beefcake friend, stinks.

While the photography of the Stanley Kubrick version is characteristically stunning in its execution, the story goes from what I believe King originally intended (a slow seduction of Jack Torrance by the Overlook Hotel), to a slasher film. Shelly Duvall is, sadly, dreadful in this version of the film, and I always find myself hoping Jack (Jack Nicholson) will kill her character off so I don't have to watch her anymore. I find that one of the key elements of the original story is that you actually find Jack a decent guy who's trying to set his life straight after the damage caused by his alcoholism. In the Kubrick version, Jack is creepy from the start, and his descent into Hell is a leap into the deep end, rather than the tide inexorably washing him away. Ruins the whole darn thing.

The miniseries (1997), by contrast, is much truer to the original story.

The miniseries was filmed at the Stanley Hotel in Colorado, and was the hotel that inspired King to write the book. The Stanley was built in 1909, really comes across as a character in this version, if only from the architecture and furnishings. Stephen King was an integral part of the miniseries, unlike the Kubrick version.
If only they hadn't cast Courtland Mead in the part of Danny Torrance. I find him annoying. The series, though, does take its time to build the characters and the suspense. The more leisurely pacing allows you to wonder if the Overlook Hotel is really haunted, or if maybe Jack (played brilliantly by Steven Weber) is fending off a belated case of the DTs. Bit by bit, his good intentions are stripped away, leaving him an almost perfect tool for the Overlook and its denizens. (The Room 217 scene and 217 revisited are particularly creepy, and the tension was perfectly built up to its crescendo.) I liked Rebecca DeMornay as Wendy, as well. She's a strong Wendy, and you can see that strength as she's trying to keep the family together while the Overlook is intent on taking them all for its evil purposes. I always felt that Duvall's Wendy was a born victim, and wouldn't have the strength to whack Jack when push came to shove.
You can get the book here. Don't read the last half alone, in the dark.