One of the funniest books I ever read was Gun in Cheek by Bill Pronzini, an examination of really bad mystery fiction from the early part of the twentieth century. Filled with lengthy quotations from the works of “alternative genius” themselves, it was a yuckfest for readers and writers alike. So when I was asked if I wanted to narrate an unabridged audiobook of the title… Continue reading
Interview with ME on Stephen Ormsby’s Blog…
Writer Stephen C. Ormsby does a “Wednesday Wordsmith” feature on his blog, and the Wordsmith of the Week happens to be yours truly. Check it out here, and thanks to Stephen!
A Bill Ryan interview…smart, funny, likes my work…
One of my favorite Facebook “friends” (as in I’ve never met him face to face) is Bill Ryan, whose threads make me laugh out loud (though never ROTFLMAO — I simply don’t do that). He has a terrific film blog, The Kind of Face You Hate, and has just done an interview with the website, The Grim Reader, in which he mentions yours truly as one of the writers he likes. Give it a read, and then check out his blog. Ladies and gentlemen and children of all deformities, please put your sweaty hands together and make squeaky noises with them for…Bill Ryan!
A portrait of my ebook/audiobook/and one bookbook publisher…
Writer David Niall Wilson has branched out these past few years into publishing, as the man behind Crossroad Press, which publishes the vast majority of my ebooks. They also do my audiobooks, both those I’ve written and those I’ve narrated, as well as the trade paperback of my most recent novel, Defenders of the Faith. He’s a helluva fine publisher and a good friend. Ladies and gents, I give you David Niall Wilson…
David Niall Wilson
A YEAR?!?!?
Can’t believe it’s been over a year since my last post…and I wonder why my career has plateaued.
Seriously, I’ve done a lot this past year — a batch of audiobooks, more ebooks, another print book, serial killings, the usual. In the next few weeks, as I continue to work on a new novel (a noir set in 1953, with a fantasy element) and the raft of audiobooks in the queue to be narrated, I’ll catch this website up as well.
Apologies to those of you who say, “Hey, wonder what Chet’s been up to lately,” come here, and then say, “Oh. Nothing.” THIS SHALL CHANGE!
Updates soon…honest…
So has Chet been too busy cleaning his rifles to post anything on his website?
Playing the Reverend Mac in Joe Lansdale’s “Christmas With the Dead!”
Yoohoo! Zombie lovers! You might want to keep your eye out for a film next year based on Joe R. Lansdale’s story, “Christmas With the Dead.” It’s a zombie movie, with a screenplay by Joe’s son Keith, and starring Damian Maffei, Brad Maule, Kasey Lansdale, and lil’ ole me as the eeeeevil Reverend Mac, an escapee from a state mental hospital for the criminally insane who has his equally insane minions (hot damn, I have minions!) sacrifice non-believers to the zombies in an unholy communion.
In late June, I shot for a week on location in Nacogdoches, Texas under the terrific direction of Terrill Lee Lankford, and it was a hoot and a half! I still have a sore throat from screaming when I get et by the zombies, but the footage should be worth the pain! Here’s a out of focus shot of me and Mike Blankenship, one of the zombies who gets a big chaw outta me. Watch this site for more news of the film and check out the official website here.
Williamson-scripted “The Sockfather” (Sock Puppet Godfather) now on Vimeo!
A 52-minute parody of The Godfather done entirely with sock puppets? You bet, Fredo, and I wrote it too! And you can see the whole thing by clicking the links below!
The Sockfather was presented by the zanies at Creative Works of Lancaster, an arts organization I currently chair. I wrote the script, except for the brilliant final song by Erich Goldstein, and play the Don as well as a number of other roles. Other puppeteers were Lydia Brubaker, Erich Goldstein, and Joanna Underhill, with Joel Lesher on sound effects. We did three performances on a Sunday afternoon and evening in the Lancaster Dispensing Company, a bar in Lancaster PA, and packed the place each time. So join us! Here’s the trailer, and here’s the performance itself, compliments of filmmaker Jeff Lynch! The better you know the films, the more you’ll enjoy it, but newcomers should like it too!
DREAMTHORP now an ebook…
I’m happy to see Dreamthorp, my most violent, bloodiest novel become an ebook at last. Set in a fictional version of the nearby Chautauqua community of Mt. Gretna, Pa., Dreamthorp is a wild and savage fantasia about the search for home that lies within everyone, good and evil alike… Continue reading
My narration of David Niall Wilson’s ON THE THIRD DAY released…
Crossroad Press has released my narration of David Niall Wilson’s eerie novel about the Catholic Church, On the Third Day. This is the kind of book that gives you the shivers, but also gets under your skin and makes you think. On the Third Day is about Father Darren Prescott, a seeker of truth. He works for The Vatican, but his real work is within his own mind and heart; Father Prescott hunts miracles. Father Thomas is a young priest with a quiet congregation that worships at San Marcos by the Sea, a small cathedral outside San Valencez, California. One Easter Father Thomas’ Mass is interrupted by something he cannot explain – something powerful that shakes his world, and that of his congregation.
Father Thomas experiences the Stigmata.
If you liked The Exorcist, you’re bound to enjoy On the Third Day. The unabridged narration is available from Crossroad Press for $12.99
, and can also be found at Amazon, Audible.com, and other fine purveyors of audiobooks…
Tales from the Crossroad w/2 of my rarest stories: $.99!
Crossroad Press has released a new ebook, Tales from the Crossroad Vol. 1, with two of my scarcest stories, as well as two each by Al Sarrantonio, Steve Rasnic Tem, Tom Piccirilli, and Gerald Houarner. What I’m most excited about is the reprinting of my novelette, “Jeaves and the Deteriorating Relations,” in which P. G. Wodehouse’s characters meet Joe Lansdale’s God of the Razor, and bloody hilarity ensues. I read aloud
a briefer version of this at last year’s Horrorfind convention, and it was a big hit. It first appeared in the $100 Lansdale-edited Lords of the Razor, long out of print with copies now going between $300 and $600, so I’m delighted to have this inexpensive reprint appear! My other story is “And So Will I Remember You,” a very quiet ghost story from an Ash-Tree Press anthology, which might be new to most readers. There are novel excerpts from each of the five authors as well — that’s a total of ten stories and five novel excerpts. A lot of good reading for less than a buck!
The book is available for $.99 (a few sips of a latte!) at Amazon, and also at Barnes and Noble and many other fine ebook retailers on your favorite neighborhood Interwebz…