All posts by Chet

I sold my first story in 1981. Since then I've published twenty-five books and over a hundred short stories. My work has been adapted for film and TV, and has been published worldwide. I've won the International Horror Guild Award, and been shortlisted for the World Fantasy Award (twice), the MWA's Edgar, and the HWA's Bram Stoker Award (six times). Not that any of this has made me a better person...

Narrating Disney Live Music/Film Saturday with Hershey Symphony!

MickeyI’m absolutely delighted to be narrating the Hershey Symphony Orchestra’s “The Magical Music of Disney” this Saturday, September 26th, in performances at 2:00 and 7:00. The Hershey Symphony, in the glorious Hershey Theatre in Hershey PA, will be playing an overture of Disney favorites (including the pictured “Mickey Mouse Club March”), and then a series of suites for nine different Disney films — The Little Mermaid, Pocahontas, Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast, Frozen, Aladdin, Mulan, Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Lion King.

What makes this so cool is that on the screen above the orchestra, the audience will see footage from the various films, with the live symphonic music synchronized to what’s happening on screen. These films were prepared exclusively by Disney for the Hershey Symphony (earlier versions done by other orchestras had still photos only), so you get to see it here first!

If you live in the Central PA area and have kids, this would be a real treat. Or if any of you adults are just fans of the Disney films, you’ll get a huge kick out of this. We had a dress rehearsal last night (as in the photo) and the orchestra sounds great! Hope you can join us! Here’s the link for tickets…or call the Hershey Theatre Box Office at (717) 534-3405.

Weird Tales & One Degree of H. P. Lovecraft

Last August I was invited to be the Guest of Honor at PulpFest, an annual pulpfestgathering of collectors and readers of the old pulp fiction magazines. Since the theme of the convention was Weird Tales magazine and the 125th birthday of H. P. Lovecraft, I was asked to talk about how Lovecraft and Weird Tales influenced my life and work. This is the result, along with a few weird tales of my own about collecting pulps and meeting the people who helped to create them…

My and my pal Cthulhu
My and my pal Cthulhu

When you’re asked to talk about H. P. Lovecraft, you wonder what can be said that hasn’t already been talked about a thousand times. Continue reading Weird Tales & One Degree of H. P. Lovecraft

A Plethora of Audiobooks — a PLETHORA, I Tell You…

For those of you who love audiobooks, let me suggest listening to some of mine! I’ve done over forty, both as author and narrator, and you’ll find them all here at Audible.com. along with my own work, I’ve recorded novels by Clive Barker, Joe R. Lansdale, Jack Ketchum, Lucky McKee, John Farris, Irving Wallace, Forrest Carter, Dave Pedneau, Charles L. Grant, Joseph Citro, Neal Barrett, Tom Piccirilli, Bill Pronzini, John Skipp & Craig Spector, Raymond Benson, David Niall Wilson, and more. They’re all unabridged, downloadable, and your first title is free with a trial membership to Audible! The next one I’m working on is Clive Barker’s Everville, the sequel to The Great and Secret Show, which I recently narrated…greatsecretshow

Can’t Wait for Psycho Sanitarium? Here’s Sock Puppet Psycho!

My novel, Psycho Sanitarium won’t be out until next April. What to do until then? Well, you could watch the actual live performance of “Sock Puppet Psycho,” a half-hour parody of Hitchcock’s film version of Robert Bloch’s Psycho performed by sock puppets (and for which I wrote the script). It’s now available for your viewing pleasure here at Vimeo!

And if you want to watch the trailer first to get in the mood, it’s right here.

marion

This is a video by Jeff Lynch of the 6:00 performance, the second of the three performances presented by Creative Works of Lancaster, a non-profit, at the Lancaster Dispensing Company (Dipco) in Lancaster PA on Halloween Day, 2010. I play Alfred Stitchsock, the Sheriff, Arbogast, and the psychiatrist, and the other voices were performed by Lydia Brubaker (Lila & Marion), Joanna Underhill (Mother), Joel Lesher (Sam), and Erich Goldstein (Cop & Norman).

On our way to Psycho Sanitarium!

psychosanitariumSome time back I was approached by Brendan Deneen of Macmillan Entertainment, who asked me if I’d be interested in writing the first sequel to Robert Bloch’s classic novel, Psycho, since the two that Bloch himself wrote over twenty years ago. The events of the novel would occur right after Norman’s arrest, when he’s sent to the State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. The agent for the Bloch estate had recommended me, and I quickly agreed. After having grown up on Robert Bloch’s written work, and having been terrified by Hitchcock’s film of the novel, how could I turn down the opportunity to continue the story of a character who has become iconic?

What makes it even more exciting is that the book is set fully in Robert Bloch’s Psycho universe, and has no connection whatsoever to the various film and TV sequels and spinoffs that have appeared over the years. This is Bloch’s Norman Bates, back at last.

I spent most of the past year working on the book, and was delighted to have it approved by the publisher and the Bloch estate. It’ll be published by Thomas Dunne Books in hardcover and ebook next April, and readers can pre-order it right here.

I trust it won’t be too painful to say that I’m rather psyched by the whole experience…

The Night Listener & Others

nightlistenerThe Night Listener and Others, my second collection of short stories and novellas, was published in May 2015 by the UK’s PS Publishing. Peter Crowther and his staff did a beautiful job with this limited edition hardcover, with a wraparound dustjacket by Jill Bauman, an introduction by Richard Christian Matheson, and 22 stories, none of which were in my earlier collection. At the back of the book are my own notes and comments on each story. The book is available in a boxed, signed, and numbered edition, as well as a standard hardcover.  I can’t resist quoting from RC’s introduction: “For those privileged few, lucky enough to be new to the miraculous Chet Williamson, you are about to enter worlds of glorious and sinister wonder. I envy you.”

Andrew Vachss Underground

undergroundI scripted and helped to edit a lengthy graphic novel based on an unpublished screenplay by Andrew Vachss for Dark Horse Comics. Mike Richardson scripted the first 24 pages, which appeared serially in DARK HORSE PRESENTS, and I wrote the remainder of the 144 page book, Andrew Vachss Underground, a gorgeous hardcover with art by Dominic Reardon.

Though there are similarities between this graphic novel and a four-issue run of UNDERGROUND  back in the mid-90s, this is an all new creation  and story, and I was delighted to be a part of it.