Signings of PSYCHO: SANITARIUM in April!

I’ll be signing copies of Psycho: Sanitarium at two bookstores in the Harrisburg/Lancaster PA area in April…

The first will be Tuesday, April 12th at 7 PM at the Lancaster PA Barnes and Noble. This is the day of the book’s release, so if you can’t wait, here’s your chance to get it first!

The second will be Saturday,  April 16th at 2:00 PM at the Harrisburg PA Books-A-Million. That’s still the first week. Be the envy of all your friends!

Seriously, hope to see some of you there! Just click on the links in the text above for more information…psycho_large

My LITTLE BLUE BOOK OF BIBLIOMANCY — out 2/17!

Little-Blue-Book

Happy to announce that my A Little Blue Book of Bibliomancy is being added to Borderlands Press’s prestigious “Little Book” line, so I’m joining the ranks of Neil Gaiman, Peter Straub, Joe Lansdale, and other fine scribes.  It’s a signed and limited edition of 500 copies, and is due to be released February 17th, just a few days away. As for its contents, there’s a real grab-bag of prose here. I’ll let Borderlands Press tell you about it:

Continue reading My LITTLE BLUE BOOK OF BIBLIOMANCY — out 2/17!

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

My novelPsycho: 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)…

My Favorite Films of 2015…

 

No Top Ten list here, just a dozen films that I really liked, in no particular order:

AMYAmy_Movie Poster

I like Amy Winehouse’s music, but this relentless documentary made me see her in a new light. A brilliant portrait of a talented yet self-destructive artist. Yes, it’s like watching a train wreck, but the glories and deep soul of  her music comfort us on the march toward her inevitable end.

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An analysis of David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold the World”

I learned of the death of David Bowie today, and thought I’d post this piece I wrote back in 2007, my reflections about one of his greatest songs…

 

manwhosoldOh No, Not Me”

David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold the World”

I’d never paid much attention to David Bowie. When he was becoming famous in the early 70’s, I had lost interest in rock and was delving into classical music, still playing my Doors and Janis and Beatles and Stones LPs, but ignoring the new crop. Thus, I missed Bowie’s classic albums, and by the time I started paying attention to rock again, we (and Bowie) had entered the era of disco, a sub-genre that I found both forgettable and regrettable.

Just recently, however, I started listening to Bowie, thanks to the recommendation of a friend, and in short order got the albums, The Man Who Sold the World, Aladdin Sane, and a two-disc Singles 1969-93 collection (Hunky Dory is on my must-buy list). On the first album mentioned, I came across the song that made me realize that for a third of a century I’d been missing the work of a musical genius.

Continue reading An analysis of David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold the World”