What the flying eff? Monroeville Mall, Pittsburgh, iconic landmark for horror history as the setting for the original Dawn of the Dead from 1978 is being bought and demoed by Walmart.

Glad I made my pilgrimage in ’97. Of course, the people working in Suncoast video when we went to Monroeville Mall had the furthest clue they were working on hallowed grounds. Pitiful, all-around. I was vastly disappointed in my visit which, even back then, the famous tower clock in the mall had been removed and the ice rink in the film had been stripped and repurposed into a half-assed food court. I remember eating and sitting a table that was position over one of the rink’s barrier lines.

However, it was worth it back then getting to take a slide down the escalator rails (from the halfway mark, anyway) at JC Penneys like Scott Reiniger does in the film, plus an up-and-down ride in the famous elevator before store security gave us a half-disgusted, half-amused polite escort out of the store.

I’m told by many the Monroeville Mall has fallen into neglect over the years, and sadly, it’s the state of union when it comes to shopping malls, period. The retail dawn of the dead already upon us in that respect. Glad Romero didn’t live to see this, a new road lesser traveled.

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

I went and saw The Long Walk a second time yesterday because it’s just that damn good. I took my son with me the first round a few weeks ago, and the movie adaption of Stephen King’s (under his famous alternate nom de plume, Richard Bachman) cautionary dystopian tale just incredible.

I can see my mom and I saying way back in the Eighties what it would mean if they ever made this King-Bachman story into a film. Damn if this wasn’t the masterpiece we expected back then. I remember being numbed and chilled when I first read the novella back in the day. Nowadays, I have to face-palm myself at those calling this a rip-off of The Hunger Games. History lesson, King first wrote this in 1982 and his moves were borrowed, reimagined and made into a pop culture phenom. Suzanne Collins did a phenomenal job in her own right, sure. The concept starts here, however. Intense and soul-shattering, Long Walk the movie is an all-time best King adaptation.

My second trip yesterday got me thinking when I was gifted The Bachman Books and all the deep discussions in the late 80s with my mom and Paulette over King’s early visions and what has transpired since. I call him the inadvertent godfather of reality t.v. by writing The Running Man and The Long Walk all those decades ago. As it was, he was a frigging soothsayer with The Dead Zone. We spoke back then hoping such nihilism and dystopia would never come to pass. Wondering over the years when someone would have the stones to bring The Long Walk to life.

I think this film is going somewhat underappreciated, though we had a fair size audience a month after it came out. I’m still feeling affected by this story and its ramifications after two viewings. Sidebar, Hamill, you glorious bastard!

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

All September through yesterday, I breathed new life into three shelved stories and wrote four fresh tales of terror, submitting them all. And I came to the finish line on the next one last night. I can honestly say reading the King tribute The End of the World as We Know it and starting The Rack Volume 1 took me back to school and my writing has changed dramatically and more efficiently studying these masters.

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

What a magnificent day in Harrington, Delaware at The Friends of the Harrington Public Library Endless Stories Book Fest last week! As always, a top-notch production from these folks. Both my wife and I crushed it in sales. Two weeks ago, I had my PB sales at Frightreads and today I beat it. Surprisingly, I sold out of my retro heavy metal novel, Revolution Calling and nearly my first horror collection, Behind the Shadows. Bringing in the Creeps was whittled down to a few as well. I just restocked them last week! As the saying goes, what a good problem to have!

TJ sold out of her Shadow Legacy books and her Healthy Witch book and tarot decks. We are beyond ecstatic. The new Harrington Public Library is gorgeous and kudos to the entire staff for their dedication to the library and attentiveness to the authors.

–Photos by Ray Van Horn, Jr. and TJ Perkins

Coming in strong with the happy news the Horror Writers Association accepted a post I wrote for the upcoming Halloween Haunts blog series next month. Whether you called it Mischief Night, Devil’s Night, Gate’s Night or Goosey Night, you may have lived in the times when the night before Halloween was reserved for unsavory tricks. In Maryland, it used to be called “Moving Night” and toilet-papering was getting off easy. Vandalism, property relocation, window soaping and even arson had Marylanders cringing with dread on Moving Night. My piece runs, appropriately, on October 30th. Chest thumps and a deuce with love to the HWA!

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

And this is how you kick off the week, glowing love for Bringing in the Creeps from Shawnerly of “She’s Reading Now.” She really gets who I am as an author and what I put into my horror writing. The story she flagged without a title and was kind enough to avoid spoilers was “The Cleansing of the Soles,” which was awarded Runner-Up in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine’s Mysterious Photograph contest last year. My favorite line from this review comes on the story “Galaga Dreams” : “Tron the movie being good but, we never touched the game?! Accurate!!”

Mad love, Shawnerly, thank you!

Link to She’s Reading Now:

#BookReviews: White Line Fever & Bringing In The Creeps: New Horror Releases

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

Why King will always be the distant sensei who inspired me to write at age 14 and who I’m aching to meet, even just for a mere couple minutes. Especially when I was writing in the music industry, I HAD TO HAVE every freelancing dollar possible to supplement my day job. I paid more than just the light bill with that coin. Every time I get a royalty check now, I smile and think of those brutal financial days that went on until the last couple years of my first marriage. I’m grateful to now drop the royalty checks and story publication money into my savings and never once take the significance of it for granted.

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

I look at these every single day, a primo shot during our wedding, taken by a longtime close friend who caught us taking a moment after the ceremony to inhale the splendor of our venue, Tymeless Valley. Then one of the most touching gifts I ever received from anyone, a comic art recreation of said photo from my good buddy and one-time creative partner from Kiel, Germany. Our comic book project may have gotten shelved, but Dom (and Jo who snagged the intimate pic) captured what I can share with you was TJ and I talking about all we had built together so quickly.

We’re talking about our future paths, our goals, our beloved children, family and friends. We’re also vowing to keep pushing one another to meet our creative objectives, same as we did in 1999 when we first became close while working together. Publishing our earliest works together back then, Darth Maul fan fiction for long ago Star Wars sites. “Whoever saw all of that leading to this moment?” I remember asking my new bride. “It was meant to be,” we answered one another.

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

What a wonderful weekend at the Frightreads horror book festival in West Friendship, Maryland. I got in as a vendor via a late cancelation. My sales rocked. All my swag and marketing paraphernalia was claimed. This thing has grown massive and what a blast running into friends, old and new, like Richard and Billy Chizmar, Anthony Williams, Brian and Christina Kocienski, J.W. DeSantis and people who’d come to see me and grab my latest works. I made new friends at the festival and have been invited to a handful of upcoming book events.

And after nabbing my only purchase of the show, A Toxic Avenger four film box set, I got to meet the legend behind the Troma empire himself, Lloyd Kaufman. The man is an absolute riot and completely kind. Toxie here was slipping me some horror recommendations before the camera got us. Too flipping cool.

My wife, fellow author TJ Perkins, joined me on day one and we had a total blast as you’ll see in the following pictures. On the second day, I got attacked by Jason Voorhees circa the ninth Friday the 13th film and the day before, stalked by a larger-than-life Chuckie, but I made it outta there with all limbs still intact.

The Baltimore-based Charm City Ghostbusters were on-hand with their own decked out Ecto-1 and a ton of operating film props. The O.G. Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, Billy Bryan, was amongst their cavalcade. Bryan was a righteous dude, coming by each one of our vendors tables to shoot the breeze on the first day before things got revved up. One of the stars of the promenade was cosplayer and aerialist Becky Taha, who had the most spot-on timing all over the floor. My nickname for her persona was “Snack Clown.” We had a groovy time trading war stories with a duo from the Baltimore Krampus ensemble. Thank you, Frightreads, and thank you to everyone who visited me and bought a book, in some cases more. Mad love for you all.

My wife has a weird “thing” for mutant flora.

–Photos by Ray Van Horn, Jr. and TJ Perkins

Now live, I was interviewed by music historian, author and filmmaker Staci Layne Wilson at her Rock & Roll Nightmares podcast. Staci crafted a great chat with me, and I thank her for getting me on the show.

Link: https://rock-n-roll-nightmares.com/podcast

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.