Category Archives: Word on the Street…

Latest News about what I’m up to…new writing, new shows, new projects…

Uncategorized, Word on the Street...

More Good Words on PSYCHO: SANITARIUM (out 4/12)…

Leave a comment

My novel, Psycho: Sanitarium, is due out in hardcover and e-book from Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press on April 12th. It’s the authorized direct sequel to Robert Bloch’s classic Psycho, and tells what happens after Norman Bates is arrested and sent to the State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. You can pre-order it here.

We sent out galleys to a number of fine writers, and this is what they had to say…

 

lansdale“Loved it. Delicious take on Bloch’s Norman Bates. Bloch is a favorite of mine and Chet Williamson’s novel captures Bloch’s cleverness, humor, as well as the disturbing aspect of making us sympathize with Norman’s sad background. This is beautifully written and realized. A creeping thriller of the sort you see so little of these days. Quiet until it isn’t. A marvelous continuation of Bloch’s character and attitudes that somehow manages to stand tall on its on two feet due to Williamson’s total grasp of the original material.

— Joe R. Lansdale, best-selling author of  Hap & Leonard and Paradise Sky

Continue reading More Good Words on PSYCHO: SANITARIUM (out 4/12)… →

Word on the Street...

Narrating Disney Live Music/Film Saturday with Hershey Symphony!

Leave a comment

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.

Brain-Pan Drippings..., Word on the Street...

Weird Tales & One Degree of H. P. Lovecraft

6 Comments

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 →

Word on the Street...

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

Leave a comment

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

Brain-Pan Drippings..., Word on the Street...

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

Leave a comment

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).