Howdy, readers! Yeah, I’ve been pretty lax over here at Roads Lesser Traveled, and being busy is no excuse, but that’s all I’ve got. I appreciate the steady stream of traffic I’ve seen continuing to float through as you all have been awaiting new stuff from me. I can only say thank you for your continued patronage, bless you.

After my big writing explosion from September into October, I took a moment to breathe other than marketing myself and doing a lot of networking. I have written two new horror stories over the past couple weeks, and I have my next two planned out; thus, I have a lot of words out there seeking a home. So, what better way to follow that prompt than with this opening announcement for a long overdue Five Things Friday!

One: I’m pleased to announce my horror story, “Psychocandy” has been accepted by DrekxDeathxDoom for their next Halloween anthology, to be released in 2026. This is a quickly rising indie horror and dark fantasy imprint run by Dylan Bosworth, whom I’m happy to be working with. I can’t wait for you to dig into this story next year! If you’re thinking the shoegazing alternative band Jesus and Mary Chain has something to do with it, you’d be correct. More so as musical cues to shriek over my folk horror tale set in 1989.

Two: The rumors are still speculative, and I put myself out there stating I’d do a public walk of shame if I’m wrong about it. John Carpenter has claimed to be making a sequel to his own sequel with Kurt Russell possibly on board, The Thing 2. Allegedly stating at Fax Expo Philadelphia, Carpenter was quoted as saying, “We’re working on it now,” although I offer the possible double-down caveat which followed, “I don’t know. We’ll see.” Hopefully that doesn’t equate to development hell. Come on, John, save me a sucker schlep, if you please!

Three: My appearance on the 37th episode of my man Jack Mangan’s SLAM (Support Life and Music) Summit is live. We got to talking about music, horror, writing and other topics including whiskey, ha! To my co-panelists, Ryah Deines, Mark Pruett, Bert Edends and host of the festivities, Mr. Mangan, what a badass time we had, didn’t we? New friendships staked, the knowledge and passion we shared for our guests? What a privilege.

Here’s a link to the fun:

SLAM Summit Episode 37

Four: For the fourth time this year and sixth overall, I had my letter published in a comic, this time Cruel Universe Vol. 2 Issue 4, released last week. To get my name in a comic book as a writer, THAT’S the mission. Still, beyond grateful to the industry for kindly printing my thoughts. Meanwhile, look at that sick cover from Lee Bermejo, probably the top talent cover artist in the game.

Five: We have reached the final wave of our new house build! I am already mapping out my Godzilla and horror paraphernalia in my new office. TJ is already landscaping. Settlement’s in a month. We are blessed.

And there you go, friends. I will do my best to keep a steady flow here at Roads Lesser Traveled while I continue bashing my head into the grain trying to make a name for myself. I’m off to Philcon in a week, SKREEEEOOOONK!

Until next time, may your days be awesome and you even more so.

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

Namaste, readers, and thank you as always for taking a few minutes of your day to pop in here at Roads Lesser Traveled. I bow to you with my unending gratitude. Wherever you are in the world, may today be special.

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve done a Five Things Friday, and I had to cut out a few extra things actively popping inside my hyperactive mind. Perhaps those will appear in another installment, but for now, here’s what’s at the forefront:

One: I want to thank everyone who has been spreading the word about my new horror collection, Bringing in the Creeps and accepting ARCs for reviews, contest submissions and future signing events. Of course, a hearty thank you to my good friend Mia Dalia for this nifty ad helping my cause. I had the pleasure of being one of a cool gang of guests this week for the virtual re-release party of Mia’s fantastic horror collection, Smile So Red. I own the original edition and I’ll be the first to tell you Mia is a rising star in the genre. Get in on ground level with Bringing in the Creeps and Smile So Red now! Your support all-around is deeply appreciated. Rockers, all of you!

Two: I came out of the gym yesterday revved up, happy for a grinding workout, happy to have come out on the good side of a health scare, happy to have a new regimen for the future, happy to have been given good news about a story submission and happy to hear from a bunch of friends, old and new. I know conventional wisdom advises there’s no way for this to work perfectly, but I will do my best every morning from here on out silently saying a new mantra: May today be great and tomorrow even better.

Three: I was invited to submit a story based on a certain theme that has me reuniting with some old friends, Clive Barker’s game-changing Books of Blood. I read the first book in my teens during the late Eighties and saw what everyone else did, the future of horror. Someone who could actually give Stephen King a run for his money. Eventually I got the other two installments and remember being giddy when the film adaptation of Rawhead Rex came out in 1986, literally after I’d read the story from Volume 3. Not precisely what Barker had intended, and I understand the man disowns the film version, but a gory bit of fun if you take it for what it’s worth. I read the Books of Blood trilogy again in the Nineties, but it’s been all that time since I’ve pulled them out. So happy I did.

I started writing a full page of a new story after re-reading Book 1, feeling energized and giddily grossed out in the same way I had reading “The Meat Murder Train,” “The Yattering and Jack” and “In the Hills, the Cities.” Alas, what I’d written was a pale shade and I hit an immediate rut. I sent it to the digital trash can. You can’t force that which doesn’t serve. So on to Book 2! For certain, Barker’s eloquent voice continues to raise the bar for all horror scribes, all these decades later.

Four: My baseball team may not be doing so hot in MLB this year, but the sport has hit a new golden age and a higher level of play. If This Week in Baseball was still a thing, it might consider going full hour just to contain the daily highs of highlights. There are very few pedestrian ballgames these days, despite many naysayer complaints of baseball being a slow sport. Whether you consider them heroes or the enemy, if you’re a fan of the diamond, let’s be grateful for Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge alone, even when they’re sinking, mashing or striking out our hometown heroes. These locked-in Hall of Famers are two major components why MLB still matters greatly.

Five: It’s Independence Day for Americans, a holiday which was spent annually in the company of my aunt, uncle and cousins in a decades-standing family 4th of July picnic tradition at the Carroll County Farm Museum in Westminster, Maryland. It went on from when my cousins and I were all youth through the time all of my cousins’ own respective broods grew up. Fried chicken, potato and macaroni salads, sweets of all kinds. Marathon convocations in the blazing heat under a pavilion from mid-morning to dusk and the reason for the season, a reliably stout fireworks display.

The picnic meant the most to my mother and my late aunt, and we all dutifully showed for the gathering surrounded by live country and folk music, clog dancers and, depending on the year, elbow-to-elbow maneuvering with other attendees trying to play touch football, frisbee and simple rounds of catch with the baseball. We showed until one year we didn’t and that was the linchpin to finality. Eventually my cousins and their offspring spread out across the country and even across the pond.

I breathe all this nostalgia, not out of some aching desire to return to those ways. Everyone’s had enough as we’ve gotten older, and that’s more than fair. I mention it because this is the America I know and love, patriots at heart who knew one another’s political allegiances and in general, kept that business kicked to the curb. We were Americans celebrating our country under the bask of punishing sunrays, but our loyalty to country and family was why we did it. That spirit is gone for me, not because of the family splitting off and starting their own traditions amongst themselves. It’s only natural. Our tradition had a good run. For me, the spirit is gone because the America we gathered to celebrate, wearing the year’s latest 4th of July tee from Old Navy is no longer a bipartisan experience. I’ll leave it rest there.

Nonetheless, may your Independence Day instill your heart with pride and the wherewithal to be.

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

It’s been ages since I’ve done a Five Things Friday. A few of you mentioned to me off the grid over the past year this is one of your favorite segments at Roads Lesser Traveled. I’ve been extra busy these days, but hopefully this is worth the wait. Thank you to those who apply.

One: As you know, I have a new horror collection coming out on June 20th, Bringing in the Creeps. I also finished a new horror novel earlier this month and it is now in the hands of a prospective literary agent. I have every digit crossed she takes it on. Since then, I’ve written one flash fiction piece for submission, and I’m nearly finished a new horror short story. Because I’m just that driven (or insane, maybe), over the Memorial weekend, I began some deep researching and reach outs to a few key names from whom I’d love their insight for this next book. I then fleshed out the first eight chapters in a working outline that I’m not yet ready to begin writing, but it feels good. It feels right.

During the ’80s, I was delved into comic books, Stephen King and Conan the Barbarian novels, heavy metal mags and of course, Fangoria and GoreZone. My teenage bedroom was a shrine to metal, punk and horror. Wallpapered every inch. When I moved out, we laughed at what Swiss cheese I had made of the walls from all that tacking up. Most of the horror stuff were cut out of Fango and GZ to the point I later regretted doing that. Many of those mags have since been recovered and are proving their worth in my current research. You CAN go back, it’s true.

My next major horror project is already cooking inside my head, but this one’s going to take a good bit of development and research before I do actual writing. When you have such a daunting task, you start with the Bloody Best.

Two: For my birthday a few weeks ago, my wife took me out to an Americanized British pub in Columbia, MD called Union Jack’s. With a British take on an Irish Guinness stew, I was in heaven, as the gravy was thicker and richer, pairing beautifully with a Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale. Like their southward neighbors, the British get beer right. Fermenting the hops in stone receptacles, Samuel Smith’s entire line are the cleanest tasting beers of anyone.

She also gave me a new oracle deck to go with my other three and a self-healing book channeling the divine energies of the Egyptian goddess, Sekhmet. She and Anubis are probably my two best friends in the esoteric realm, but it would take me two paragraphs to list the other deities aside from Jesus Christ who have touched me in some spiritual fashion, some in great manner, others fleeting and transitory, but palpable.

I’m still a novice with my oracle and tarot decks, but they do speak to me. I hit a short emotional rut soon after a wonderful birthday (for reasons that don’t even matter any longer) and thus I consulted my new Anubis Oracle. This after drawing Horus three consecutive times in my Egyptian Gods deck, letting me know I am protected at all times.

Anubis being Horus’ half-brother, I should’ve expected no less than to draw their shared father, Osiris, the Jesus figure of the Egyptian pantheon. The mighty king, murdered and torn apart by his own brother, Set, Osiris’ sectioned parts were recovered, and he was restored to life through the magic of his beloved sister and wife, Isis and his other sister (with whom he’d coupled to bring about Anubis), Nephthys. King of the afterlife, king of the unseen world, risen from the dead. Osiris’ message to me was quite clear and I am taking it to heart. Prepare to section off, break down, reimagine myself. Reinvent myself, purge bad habits, make void of things which impede my progress, as a human being, as a man, as a husband and father. Hails, to that.

Three: Now going to Season 25, the always intriguing BBC whodunit series, Midsomer Murders mysteries. TJ and I started binging this fantastic British crime series while we were dating and we check in with it as new stuff becomes available. It’s to the point we call out “Pub!” since every episode is guaranteed to drop into a public house. I was on a hot streak for a while calling out the right killer based on evidence or simple hunches based on subtle behavior or body language. I cooled off as the writing got trickier, but this week, my wife nailed a back episode we missed, being a mystery author herself. I will always love this show and ache to visit the Yorkshire region for more reasons beyond this enduring show.

Four: I know my bourbon buddies are lingering out there. While the Metallica backed Blackened and Legent remain the finest bourbons I’ve ever had, there’s this little badass whiskey, Slaughter House. It’s deceptively smooth and seemingly cut light. Not so! Delicious stuff, but take it down with respect. There’s a reason to the name!

Five: This week’s Five Things Fridays comes with the stark mood scape of Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alva Noto’s incredible score for The Revenant. Leonardo DiCaprio’s finest hour (and the man’s had many) turns a decade this year, crikey! I remember seeing The Revenant in the theater with my Pop on the one of the biggest screens short of IMAX and I began to stand up in the early frames feeling I was truly there, immersed. One of the most beautifully shot films in American cinema aside from Jeremiah Johnson. Masterpiece.

Bonus: I love my wife. Over and out.

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

Sorry I have been incognito from the Blog community, folks. I’ve been extra busy on the road and such, but here are five things on my mind to share with y’all!

One: Tomorrow I will be at Union Craft Brewing in Baltimore, MD this Saturday for their 2024 Books and Brews author signing event. Like beer? They got ya! My Union favorites are Steady Eddie IPA, Double Duckpin (Double IPA, so take ‘er easy), Black Wing Schwarzbier and Snow Pants oatmeal stout. Dig into their brewery-only small batch darks. They had a killer Imperial Stout in the past. Come see me and other Maryland-based authors like Jean Burgess, Millie Mack, Sharon J. Burton, Stephania Thompson, Mary K. Tilghman, Alan Porter, Cassandra Mayo, Charmyra Fleming, Mona Shroff and many others.

I’ll be there from 2:30 to 6:00 this Saturday, November 16th at Union Brewery, 1700 Union Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21211. 

Two: Last Saturday, I did my final Spartan event, and doing it in style at legendary Fenway Park, Boston. As a baseball fan, I simply had to. Worth the blood and 7.5 hour drive to make it happen. Spartan Stadion is brutal at times, but it takes you to places inside a ballpark, including the visitors’ locker room, dugout and the warning track in the outfield.

It was a frigging blast, even shanking five obstacles and taking the penalties, telling myself by race end I will never do another burpee in my life if I have any control over it, lol. I had a personal best run time, stuck the racer-hated spear throw and ran that ballpark with total glee. At the end, feeling relieved and somewhat melancholy I knew I am getting long in the tooth for some, not all of Spartan.

What I am grateful to Spartan for, as the elite extreme sports competition event it is would be the discipline it taught me. Dedication, focus, body strength, what to eat, what to cut out, having a set goal and state of mind. I performed to the best of my abilities, I kicked a lot of ass for my age while recognizing some of it is a young person’s game.

Thank you, Spartan. I always finished in the middle percentile of every event, save for DEKA. I walked away sore, busted up but damn proud every single time. It’s been a rush. AROO!!!

Three: What a year for horror movies! While away in Boston and Foxborough, Massachusetts, I took in the superb Smile 2 at Patriot Place, in many ways surpassing the original film. That ending in 2, holy crap, such brilliance! Other horror movies that wowed me this year at Oddity, Terrifier 3, In a Violent Nature, A Quiet Place: Day One, Apt 7A and Alien: Romulus, to reel off a few. Nothing floored me harder than Late Night With the Devil. Yeah, it was a 2023 release, but still, it got hyped this year and with good reason. Instant modern masterpiece! I was seriously in awe of the craftsmanship in the film as I grew up in the era of polyester, sideburns and post-mod day glo recreated to sheer authenticity in this gruesome movie. T.V. really did look like this film back in the day.

Four: As Behind the Shadows prepares to be released by year’s end, I’m gearing up for signings and my appearance as a panelist next week at Philcon. Look at what my incredible wife did for me to kick up my promotion game. Behind the Shadows is coming for you very soon from Raw Earth Ink!

Five: Tyson-Paul tonight. Is this a potential shit show or was it already, long before the controversial weigh-in slap? Reminds me old-time wrasslin’ pre-match hype. Outcome? Rocky Balboa 2006 redux, where a 58-year-old legend has enough in the tank to go the distance or will this be a bloodbath in which Jake Paul has now declared it to be “personal?” Order your pizzas two hours in advance tonight.

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

I haven’t done one of these in a while, so here we go!

One: It’s been many moons since I’ve done open mike, but what a great return with my wife, TJ and our friend, Lauretta, who scouted us The New Outlaws poetry series at The Depot in Baltimore. Great crowd, sharp talent, new friends made in an old punk rock forum. I was a little choppy and speedy from years of inactivity in the forum, but my three pieces really hit home, and the audience reacted enthusiastically and laughed when I wanted them to.

It was the instant friendships made afterwards that meant the most. That’s how it happened back in the day of other open mikes I used to read at frequently in Frederick and Westminster, MD. TJ and Lauretta also delivered strong, TJ writing her third piece in the nick of time, pun intended. A deep and winding poem called “Time,” woven in the same timing and scheme as Poe’s “The Bells,” which she masterfully delivered as a guest reader at this year’s “Doomsday” 24-hour Poe reading event. My heart is singing.

Two: You know where I’m at and why I’m here. Georgetown, Washington, DC, at M and Prospect Streets. Those haunting chimes of Mike Oldfield’s “Tubular Bells” should be twinkling in your ears right now. I’m talking about 97 steps made notorious in The Exorcist, one of the many elements of horror going into my new collection, Behind the Shadows. I felt a little return pilgrimage with Shadows only a couple months away from terrorizing you felt appropriate.

Three: Fall is here! Pumpkin spice everything, cooler temperatures, Nature’s majesty truly revealed with the changing of palettes. A holiday festival for horror. A time of renewal and reflection with our ancestors at Samhain. Best of all, gorgeous hikes with the one you love.

Four: I’ve written 17 short stories this year, landed three thus far and waiting on statuses for many of the remainders. I finished a wild werewolf story (if I do say so myself) this week for an anthology seeking those specifically, but I also resumed work on my next novel. As you all know, I listen to a lot of film scores when I write, but you know the writing’s getting serious when I break out this audile artillery.

Five: Tonight, I am taking my son to his very first concert, the Marley Brothers, who are touring as a family to spin the gospel of their father, Bob’s immortal songs of freedom. My kid’s a gigantic Bob Marley fan, learned to play “Redemption Song” on his guitar all through video tutorials and tonight is gonna special. I got him his own Bob Marley shirt for the occasion, and I’ll be touting Rastacore legends Bad Brains across my chest. I’ve been waiting for my son to have his first live concert experience and I’ll be a little choked up tonight it’s with the Marleys.

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

Hey, hey! It’s been a while since I’ve done of these, but I’m feeling up to a Five Things Friday as I dive deep into writing my next novel.

Without further preamble, let’s roll ’em!

One: A few takeaways following a digestion period after seeing the new Bob Marley film, One Love on opening night, February 14th. TJ and I deferred our Valentine’s Day to take the kiddo on opening night, who is so obsessed with Marley, he has self-taught his way through “Redemption Song” on the guitar. We brought the folks along and had a wonderful time at the movie. It could stand an extra half hour to fill in many gaps and it could’ve been more balls-out, but Kingsley Ben-Adir nails the subtleties and nuances to Bob Marley and sings like a champ.

I adored the flashback sequence to the early days of The Wailers and the joyous recreation of “Simmer Down,” my favorite early years Marley song. It paints the picture for the future Ska scene, as does a gnarly scene of Bob and the boys in England at an early Clash show. The Clash being The Beatles of punk rock and the first to blend reggae into punk. So many UK hardcore acts followed suit. Sidebar, I have been a longtime fan of Rastacore legends Bad Brains, the most passionate punk and reggae unit who ever walked the path of Jah. Bob Marley, I and I, opened the door for them all.

One Love is well acted, diligent in what it presents and at times is larger than life. I especially loved watching the studio recording session scenes here, having been in the music industry. Not perfect, but not the bane many critics have unjustly torched it for. Go see it, if anything, as a reminder Bob Marley’s exodus and returns to Jamaica were for Jah people as well as all of us.

Two: It’s been Revenge of the Nineties in our household lately. Kiddo may be Bob Marley and Michael Jackson-obsessed, but he’s also been submerged in modern rap and hip hop. I like about a handful of the newer offerings, since I followed the original scenes back in the 1980s and Nineties. The kid’s been diving into Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube (might as well call out the entire N.W.A. posse since Easy-E’s also in the mix) and, to a lesser extent, Tupac Shakur. He and I watched the bio film Straight Outta Compton together, though it’s taken a hand of guidance considering the tough, high class hood we moved from and the influences there which impacted him negatively. He still looks at me like I’m a weirdo for telling him he should dig deeper into the roots and explore A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Fu Schnickens and one of the godfathers of it all, Afrikka Bambaataa.

Meanwhile, TJ and I are drowned at Hulu binging The X-Files and the Animaniacs reboot, two shows dear to our hearts back in the day. I tell her how amusing it is how people took X-Files so seriously in the 90s as avant garde sci-fi and paranormal drama. Does it hold up well today? Well, somewhat. It’s dated already and everyone knows how downright silly the show got in the mid-to-later seasons, but there’s a certain comfort we’re taking from it nonetheless. Ba ba ba bummmm ba bumm bumm bummm…doo doo doo doo dooooooo….

As for Hulu’s reincarnation of Wakko, Yakko and Dot’s shenanigans from a few years ago, we’re halfway through the first season and it’s either generated side-splitting laughter like the old days, or it’s been meh. Doing away with of a lot of the support cast like Mindy and Buttons and Slappy Squirrel, this reboot of Animaniacs goes right to its bread-and-butter with the Warners being transplanted 30 years later, to more of the dinky iconoclasm sided by loveable, doltish Narfdom. I’m talking Pinky and the Brain, of course. It’s likewise comforting to hear all the voices back in their places, and the show has gotten a little extra daring and risqué trying to compete against the likes of the downright crass Velma. As TJ likes to say, nobody is safe coming under satirical fire in 2020’s Animaniacs. Me, I’m just glad to hear Wakko still has his belching chops!

Three: I’ve cut back drastically on alcohol intake, prescribing myself a healthier overall diet to match my workout regimen and smarter choices food-wise. However, my cousin and best man at our wedding, Shawn, bestowed me this bourbon, Blackened as a wedding gift. Kentucky Straight endorsed by Metallica and barrel crafted by an absolute master, Wes Anderson. Could be like Godzilla: Minus One, the G.O.A.T. of its kind.

Four: My view in the can after my book signing at Protean Records in Baltimore, MD. Punk rock, Zappa and the Village People. Might be the coolest bathroom decor I’ve ever dawdled my business in.

Five: I am driving TJ batshit crazy with Godzilla ever since Minus One came out. Three viewings at the theater, rolling through many of the older films (I did catch her interest with the American Godzilla 2014, at least) playing the snot out of the film’s enthralling score by Naoki Satō (have a listen to the ascending glory that is “Resolution” below to send you on your way ready, like The Brain, to conquer the world), reading DC’s Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong, ordering two Minus One posters (one in Japanese) and digging into a couple of old Godzilla toys I managed to hold onto.

Funny is funny, though, and this Love Boat-Godzilla meme above had me roaring for minutes.

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

Christmas is nearly upon us, and I’m doing the best I can to get festive around here. Even my son said it just doesn’t feel like the holidays right now, and I know the reasons and agree with many of them. Feels like it just turned December and it’s been a rapid-fire, sometimes hostile work season, banging through gift shopping and party prepping, even doing much of it online. We threw a joint Channukah-Christmas party with our dear friends last Sunday as we’ve done for decades, sharing faiths and spirits (many spirits, lol) and warm laughter. 

Only then did it feel like the holiday season, as it will gathering with friends at a local pub tonight. I love holiday music, but my son loves it more, starting his barrages in July, then as early as November 1st. That kind of enthusiasm warms my heart, if pushes me sooner than I’m ready. Yet, I find myself eager to slap on Vince Guaraldi’s jazzterpiece soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas, rock ‘n roll Christmas albums from Brian Setzer and The Reverend Horton Heat, soul music Christmas cuts, even the solemn symphonics of traditional spiritual holiday music.

Normally Chuck Berry’s “Run Run Rudolph” would lead off my Christmas Jukebox edition of Five Things Friday, as my favorite Christmas cut ever. As ever, I love music from most walks of life and wish I could expand this into a mega Christmas playlist, but here are five yule time classics striking my immediate fancy.

Jingle ’em if you have ’em…

The Ventures – “Sleigh Ride”

Or is it a surf ride down the pipeline with red and green plaid-patterned baggies and jingle bells taped the head of the board? The Ronettes win the day with their version of “Sleigh Ride,” yet The Ventures ran, not walked (heh heh) with this palatable twanger. A gem of its time which still holds up.

The Carpenters – “Merry Christmas, Darling”

As a child, I was enchanted by this song as I was Karen Carpenter’s voice. If you were around during the 1970s, how could you not be? So so sad this poor woman had all the vocal gift in the world, yet suffered from an eating disorder which robbed us of her talents, long-term. I get far more sentimental when I hear this somber song over any other on the radio.

The Ramones – “Merry Christmas” (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight)”

Ramones, need I say more? 1-2-3-4!!!

Mavis Staples – “Christmas Vacation”

Always a mandatory Christmas movie pick for me and my son. It took Prince to expose me to the spectacular gospel stylings of The Staples Singers, and what delight it’s Mavis herself spreading one of the most cheerful holiday tunes ever to all the shenanigans surrounding her opening theme for Christmas Vacation. I still chuckle every year at the animated Santa getting the toy cannonball shot into his chubby nose!

Reverend Horton Heat – “We Three Kings”

A snazzy live rendition of RHH’s bossa nova-rockabilly take on the Christian hymn with some funky organ, to-boot. In my opinion, the Rev’s We Three Kings is the most underrated Christmas album of all-time.  Swing it!

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

Happy post-Thanksgiving, everyone! Hope you all are having a wonderful time with your loved ones, or, if applicable, a warm, introspective time to yourself. To those who still get up butt early trying to catch big saving sales today, Godspeed to you!

I haven’t done the Video Jukebox in a while, and decided this time I would drop y’all a Black Friday edition. Given the amount of bands, song titles and albums featuring the word “black” in it, I had a tough time narrowing it down to five tunes. Fair warning, these five are on the heavier side, but the heavier side is well-known as being paved crepuscular. Bird-in-hand. Raven, as it were.

Not much else preamble other than to mention my choice of the Ronnie James Dio-led Black Sabbath over Ozzy Osbourne is due to watching the Heavy Metal animated film last night (I also prefer Dio to Ozzy in voice), and “My War” from Black Flag (in my opinion, the most dangerous song ever dropped) has a scene of prominence inside my novel Revolution Calling.

Be safe out there amongst the crazies on holiday launch weekend, and hope these tracks give you a little extra bounce. Or something.

The Rolling Stones – “Paint it Black”

White Zombie – “Black Sunshine”

Megadeth – “Good Mourning/Black Friday”

Black Sabbath – “The Mob Rules”

Black Flag – “My War”

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

Gonna let FTF rest this week as I’ve just wrapped on my third horror short story in the past couple months titled “Secrets,” submitted for hopeful publication.

Before putting the final screws to this nasty little yarn, TJ and I sat on the porch last night and she fleshed out a fourth story with me, ready to start writing this weekend.

I am screaming with joy inside of me for all the recent explosive inspiration.

Come what may, so mote it be.

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

Happy ’round the bend day and wishes for a good Rosh Hashanah to my Jewish friends and extended family.

I appreciate the love and support you all have been showing Roads Lesser Traveled, as the visit stats just keep on climbing. Corny, but so so true; you all are the reason I keep this thing going.

Here’s what I’ve got on my giddy little mind this week for FTF!

One: The NFL is back! I never like to say “football is back” at this time of year like most Americans do, since the Canadian Football League gets started while the NFL is still in training camp. Baltimore once had a CFL team, the Stallions, which went to the Grey Cup both seasons the league and won it the second time. Love the CFL, even those nutty one-point rouges!

It’s that time of year football fans take possession of their team like they’re the 54th man or woman on the roster. I’ve written a couple of essays about the “we,” “us” and “our” syndrome of osmosis football fans (on both the professional and collegiate levels) inject and project. Example, “We’re gonna kick your butts this week!” I’m serious. Watch the psyche of an entire city ride its hopes of weekly pacification upon the padded shoulders of their favorite teams. You can measure a city’s thermometer based on whether their football team won that week or not.

For NFL Week 1, the team I root for got stomped. Oh well, old me would’ve been raging and smashing the remote. New me is like, meh, see what happens next week, I’ve got a story to write. We had a family football party watching the Ravens look pretty sharp against the Houston Texas, while every Jets backer in the land is no doubt still in hangover mode from the season loss of Aaron Rodgers, predicted to be New York’s savior. Don’t give up yet on Zach Wilson, Jets Nation. It was a great season of Hard Knocks following those J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets, and let’s give Xavier Gipson a huge hand for making the team with such a gracious smile on the show, then becoming Mr. Electricity in that OT shocker against Buffalo.

Two: As I take down the second half of Stephen King’s Fairy Tale (gotta get a move on, since Holly’s now on the market and heading my way for Christmas from my dear friend, Paulette), I’ve been reading a handful of hit-and-run novellas from horror writers W.H. Chizmar (son of Richard) and John Boden as I attempt to nestle into a family of writers in the genre.

After picking up John Boden’s Jedi Summer, I had a nice little distant chat with him and immediately pounced on Boden’s latest, Snarl, which just came out last week. Boden has a gift of prose unlike any I’ve seen in quite some time. I loved both of these books, but Snarl was next level genius in the vein of horror mogul Joe R. Lansdale with a haunted, guilt-ridden, highly vulnerable author protagonist nobody’s ever attempted. There’s beauty to find amidst the angst, ugliness and roundabout betrayals and that jolt of an ending, crikey. Keep your tissues handy.

Image courtesy of flylanddesigns.com

Three: I spent this week writing a baseball-themed horror story titled “Backdoor Breaker.” I’ll wait until someone picks it up for publication before talking more about it, but I will confess I needed four drafts to make it a true horror story, since my love of the game prevailed in the original draft. I’ll be seeking a home for “Backdoor Breaker” and oh yeah, did I mention I have a new novel coming out soon, Revolution Calling?

Four: This is as much to motivate myself as I usually do these fitness pictures to inspire others. I have focused so much on running the past couple months and those results paid off, for sure. It took TJ to remind me I was neglecting the rest of my regimen, though. Largely because I let three back pulls this year wreck my head.

Let’s face it, not every day is waking up like it’s a Godzilla day. Sometimes you wake up feeling like it’s a smashed Mothra day. Today, though, is most definitely a Godzilla day.

Five: In exactly one month, TJ and I will be married. Just sayin’

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.