Reading · Letters From the Labyrinth

Good morning. I’m Brian Keene and this is Letters From the Labyrinth, a long-running weekly newsletter for friends, fans, and family.

Thanks to the folks who came out to the signing in Ephrata yesterday — Andrew, Evey, George, Justin, and everyone else. A good time was had, we met some cool people, signed some books, and raised some money for the library.

Afterward, a few of us went out for dinner, shop talk, and industry gossip afterward. We picked Johnny’s Steakhouse & Bar in Ephrata, where J. F. Gonzalez, Robert Swartwood, and I had been a few times before. Rob and John Collins were ecstatic about the crab cakes. I can vouch that the meatloaf was excellent.

L to R: Stephen Kozeniewski, Robert Swartwood, John Collins and his wife, Somer Canon and her husband, Mary, and myself. (As always, I keep spouse and partner names private).

The next appearance on my schedule is the Bram Stoker Awards, taking place Saturday, June 6th. Please note that I will not be there for the entire weekend. Just coming in Saturday to attend the awards. After that, I’m then off to Los Angeles for a week on business.

Of special note — I was scheduled to be a guest at the Doylestown Bookshop’s Dark Ink event in late August. We learned this past week that this will be the same weekend my youngest son moves into college at Colgate, so unfortunately, I will be unable to attend the festival. I’ve promised to come back next year, however.

For an up to date list of my appearances and signings for 2026, click here.

Also, while you are poking around on my website, please note that due to popular demand I have posted an index for Women In Horror Year, which will compile each book discussed and include a link to the expanded discussion. That’s a lot easier than posting links to what will eventually be 365 book reviews here every week.

Speaking of women in horror, Pandi Press has come across a few extra paperback copies of last year’s FOUR PAST MEAT NIGHT — edited by me and featuring four novellas by Gemma Amor, Laurel hightower, R.J. Joseph, and Hailey Piper. This anthology was a spiritual successor to 2001’s 4X4, and I am very proud of it. Each of the novellas is absolutely superb. Anyway, these copies won’t last long, so if you missed out last year, click here and snag one for just $18.99 before they’re gone.

The first issue of the OF KEENE INTEREST zine is in the process of being mailed. Subscribers whose first name begins with the letters A through F have either already received their copies (as evidenced by posts on social media) or their copies are on the way. With luck, copies should be mailed for subscribers whose first names begin with G through L this coming week.

Do fears change as one gets older? On this week’s episode of KEENEVERSATIONS Jody Blanchette leads myself, Rebecca Rowland, Sam Rebelein, Nicky Gonzalez, and J. H. Markert in a fascinating and earnest discussion of kids fears versus adult fears and how they fuel horror fiction. Listen now via Patreon or Spotify. As always, new episodes are paywalled for the first month for Patreon supporters, and then made available to the general public.

Writer, editor, publisher, and this year’s Wilburn-Thomas ward winner Candace Nola has been diagnosed with a condition in which her body can no longer absorb iron. Going forward, she will need iron infusions multiple times a year in order to survive. Those infusions cost several thousand dollars each, and that is just the up-front cost for medication alone. That does not include all of the other out of pocket costs.

A GoFundMe has been set up and is only a few thousand away from reaching the goal. I know money is tight for everyone right now, but sincerily, if you can even donate five or ten bucks, it will be appreciated and help out someone who has helped out so many others. Click here to help.

Candace (second from left) and some of her authors she publishes and her team at Uncomfortably Dark.

Currently Watching: Survivor season 50, The Boys season 5, Daredevil: Born Again season 2, Family Guy season 24, Bunker, Being Evel, and S4: The Bob Lazar Story.

Currently Reading: The Hive by Ronald Malfi and The Hematophages: Splatterings by Stephen Kozeniewski

Currently Listening: Blue Oyster Cult’s The Revolution By Night and Spectres, Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti, Zenyatta Mondatta by The Police, and The Beatles Channel and Ozzy’s Boneyard on Sirius/XM.

Without spoilers, season 50 of Survivor continues to be one of the best in the show’s entire history. My picks for the Final Four (meaning not necessarily who I want to see in the Final Four but who I think is most likely to make it that far) are: Cerie, Rizzo, Ozzy, and Devans.

The Hive is a big old dense doorstop of a novel — and so far, it is excellent. The Hematophages: Splatterings is a slimmer volume of science-fiction horror stories all set in Stephen Kozeniewski’s Hematophages universe. No knowledge of the novel is needed to read this new volume. And your’s truly gets multiple shout-outs in it, so that’s my ego boost for this week.

That does it for this issue. Thanks for reading. See all of you back here next Sunday.

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