I’d like to point out that some more of my fiction has reached print, in this case my story "The Gaping Corpse" in Black Ink Horror issue #5. There are only 110 copies in existence, so it’s unlikely that you will ever run into this by accident.
Note that there’s a picture of a naked chick wrapped in a tentacle on the cover. Awesome!
"The Gaping Corpse" is at the tail end of my experimentation with writing modes. The whole thing is written in second-person singular imperative. Yeah, I know, every writer has to do that at least once.
You’re probably never going to hear me read this at a con (I’m already thinking about what I’m going to read at Armadillocon this August), because I use the "N-word" a couple times. I blame that exclusively on Joe Lansdale. I read "High Cotton" and I thought, gee, Lansdale sure makes the "N-word" seem like fun.
Yeah, I know, every writer has to use the "N-word" at least once. I promise it won’t happen again.
But if there’s any reason to pay the $10.75 (with shipping) for this anthology, it’s because "The Gaping Corpse" is the freshest re-conceptualizing of the vampire mythos you’re ever going to read. Vampires need to go back to being the awful dead things feeding on the vibrancy of the living. None of this "I’m immortal and I like to dress awesome" bullshit.
Here’s a glimpse of the fantastic illustration Paul J. Groendes did of the gaping corpse itself.
I haven’t read through the rest of the anthology yet, but it’s at a place of honor on top of the toilet tank, so it’s only a matter of time.
One story I have read, that I believe deserves special mention, is "The Question of Dominance" by Russell Jackson. This is a story about a group of vampires who take shelter in a cave, only to be ravaged by the eternal incarnation of viking berserkers. I love this story so much. I want to option this story and make the most kick-ass slasher film of all time. Jackson cogently answers the question we have all asked: If vampires are so powerful and they can infect humans at will, why aren’t they in charge already?
Because the motherfucking vikings are going to kick their motherfucking undead asses, that’s why.
The only change I would make to the movie, is to advertise it as "V.-v-V."