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The “Death” of Dagstine, or, It’s 2005 all over again on Shocklines! (UPDATED: Hoax Confirmed) (UPDATED: Daggy says Hi)

Long-time readers know of “writer” Lawrence Dagstine, who, in the Legion of Nitwits, stands shoulder-to-shoulder alongside Nickolaus Pacione and that guy who thinks Stephen King killed John Lennon. (And if you’re a writer, editor or publisher, and you’re not aware of any of them, then may I recommend The Rusty Nail — a blog that keeps track of such individuals).

Recently, Dagstine was caught selling previously-published stories to various markets and misrepresenting them as originals. This is a big no-no in publishing (and it’s just the latest in a very long line of things Dagstine has done). A number of editors called for him to be blacklisted. Then, someone named “Vance” posted to Dagstine’s Facebook page that Dagstine had apparently killed himself. A number of well-meaning-but-ultimately-clueless people felt bad about it. A thread was started on Shocklines (because apparently there are still a dozen or so people who post there regularly). Ramsey Campbell, David Riley, myself, and a few others expressed skepticism regarding the “death”. And then Matt Schwartz did what Matt Schwartz is famous for — deleting anything that might provide a valid, logical, researched and reasonable warning to anyone wanting further details, including a multitude of links offering not only detailed proof of Dagstine’s offenses, but also proof that he had been in contact with people as recently as this morning, and had therefore hoaxed his own “death”.

Anyway, here’s what I posted, re-posted here for posterity (since Matt deleted all of it):

Consider:

1. He faked his “death” once before.

2. He was recently outed as serially selling reprints to markets as originals.

3. According to The Rusty Nail, his estranged wife had recently sworn out a PFA against him.

4. He’s admitted previously to stalking at least one female within the genre.

5. He has a long, documented history of creating bogus online identities and engaging in the exact behavior demonstrated here.

6. He has, in the past, used those false identities to stir up other mentally-ill individuals and cause trouble for various professionals whom he sees as “enemies”.

7. He faked cancer in an effort to get free books.

8. Etc. etc. I’d list more, but my post would end up deleted.

So, no. I’m not buying it. “Vance” is Larry. It’s yet another desperate and troubled cry for attention. My bet is that he’ll claim his account was “hacked”. And if it is true, then apologies to his loved ones, but it will be one less crazy thorn in my side, and the sides of other professionals who he’s harassed and burdened over the years. Mental illness and emotional conditions are sad and troubling (and I know this first hand) but he’s had plenty of help and guidance and advice and second chances and welcoming hands offered to him over the years. Regardless of whether it’s true or not, he could have taken a different path.

And then Matt said:

This is not the place to make derogatory comments or accusations about Lawrence, hence messages being removed. If you have definite news about his death, or about him being alive and this being untrue, post here or let me know. Otherwise, it’s best to take it to another message board.

And then Jodi Lee said:

He’s not dead.
1 – as stated by Brian, he’s pulled this before.
2 – he’s been caught screwing over not one, but several editors and at least two have called him out on it.
3 – I happen to know he was emailing people this morning.  If he wants to fake his own death, he needs to learn to do it after using his email account to whine about unfair treatment and misunderstandings.

And then I said to Matt:
Because God forbid people find out they’re mourning the faked death of a con-artist who has stalked, harassed and threatened regular posters of your forum. You never cease to make me laugh, Matt.

And then David Riley said:
I agree with you totally, Brian. Someone who fakes their own death like this deserves sympathy from no one for anything – and least of all protecting.

PS Nice to see I was in good company when my posts were deleted. Cheers Ramsey, Brian.

And then I said:
Well, it was that sort of protection that killed this place in the end, so in a way, it’s comforting to know that some things will never change. Crazies, misogynists, homophobes and racists will always be allowed to post their half-baked screeds, while professional authors with advice and guidance to offer will always be deleted. That’s what makes Shocklines… the special place that it has ultimately become.

And then Bob Freeman said:
Dead or not dead, who gives two shakes of a monkey’s tail? We’ve better things to do than bemoan the supposed loss of someone who spent so much time trying to make other people’s lives miserable.

And then we all went out for ice cream!
UPDATE: How does a dead man confirm a friend request via Facebook at 2:49pm EST today? Because that was when the request pictured below was sent to F.U.K.U. member Qwee. Thanks to her for forwarding that friend request, and no thanks to Matt for continuing to provide an environment that is detrimental to aspiring and professional writers.
fbscreenshot-1 (2)
And courtesy of The Rusty Nail, here are screen shots of page 1 and page 2 of the thread (before it was purged). Here is the current version.
And now this. Left in the comments section here (Big Joe deleted it) and apparently also via Dagstine’s Facebook page: “BRIAN KEENE IS A HERB. Call Lawrence at Hosp.: 1-718-616-6116. (please pass around on Twitter how KEENE is not only a terrible writer but wants to say hi Bitch from his hospital bed.” Except that the number is a Verizon land line number in Nyack, rather than the number to his supposed hospital room in Coney Island.

SCRATCH and THE CAGE

Cemetery Dance reports that both Scratch and The Cage are shipping this week. Scratch is about a comic book artist fighting to save his family from a terrifying flood and a monstrous snake. The Cage is about a group of electronics store employees who are taken hostage by a crazed gunman.

Although both books sold out during the pre-order phase, you can put your name on a waiting list, should further copies become available. Click here for The Cage waiting list and click here for the Scratch waiting list.

Horrorfind Weekend Author Schedule

Here is the updated, final event schedule for the authors who will be at this September’s Horrorfind Weekend 12. A note on signings: Joe R. Lansdale, Clive Barker, Jack Ketchum, Chet Williamson, Thomas F. Monteleone, J.F. Gonzalez, Gord Rollo, Ronald Damien Malfi, Kim Paffenroth and myself will be available to sign your books all weekend in the celebrity room (along with the actors and movie directors). The other authors listed in this schedule will be available for signings immediately following their scheduled event. Note: All events are scheduled for the reading room unless otherwise noted with an *. Those events will be held outside at the rear of the hotel. With several thousands of attendees expected, seating in the reading room is limited. Get there early, and don’t come for just one event. For full details on the convention, click here.

FRIDAY

5:30pm – 6:30pm: Greg Lamberson and Jason Gehlert
6:30pm – 7:30pm: Mark Justice and Brian J. Hatcher
7:30pm – 8:30pm: Norman Prentiss and Kelli Owen
8:30pm – 10:00pm: Panel: “Vampires Don’t Sparkle” – Joe Garden, Janet Ginsburg, J. F. Gonzalez, Monica J. O’Rourke.

SATURDAY

10:30am – 11:30am: William Carl, Amy Grech and Lesley Conner
11:30am – 12:30pm: Thomas F. Monteleone and Matthew Warner
12:30pm – 1:30pm: Brian Keene, Mary SanGiovanni and Rio Youers
1:30pm – 2:30pm: Joe R. Lansdale and Chet Williamson
2:30pm – 3:30pm: Jack Ketchum and Monica J. O’Rourke
3:30pm – 4:30pm: Ronald Malfi, Gord Rollo and Kim Paffenroth
4:30pm – 5:30pm: The Bizarro Power Hour: Andersen Prunty, Jordan Krall, Eric Mays and D. Harlan Wilson.
5:30pm – 7:00pm: Black Bed Sheets Meet & Greet: Meet the publisher, editor and authors of Black Bed Sheets Books
*5:30pm – 7:00pm Panel: “I Will Not Apologize For Art” – Clive Barker, Joe R. Lansdale, Jack Ketchum, Brian Keene, J.F. Gonzalez, Chet Williamson, Thomas F. Monteleone.

SUNDAY:

11pm – Noon: Robert Ford, Kevin Lucia and Sheldon S. Higdon
Noon – 1:00pm: The Dru and Lu Show
1:00pm – 2:00pm: Jacob Haddon, Robert Gray and Nathan Rosen
2:00pm – 3:00pm Byron Morrigan and Charles Colyott

This Week at The Keenedom

Ten topics of interest that you may have missed. You must be registered and logged in to view or participate in the discussions.

1. A Gathering of Crows and its further glimpse inside the Labyrinth.
2. After Depraved and The Killing Kind, is Bryan Smith the rightful heir to Richard Laymon’s legacy?
3. Alethea Kontis publishes a new children’s book — perfect for the little horror fan in your home.
4. J.F. Gonzalez cleans out his archives.
5. Wrath James White rejoins The Keenedom. So does Weston Ochse. So does Mary SanGiovanni.
6. Thunderstorm Books wants you to ask them anything.
7. So does Maurice Broaddus.
8. What are some ways to frighten the reader?
9. Condoms with teeth.
10. Thoughts on the West Memphis Three.

The Final Five

I’m now offering the final five lifetime subscriptions. I wasn’t going to make them available until next year, but after crunching some numbers, have decided to offer them now. Once these five have been sold, that will take us to twenty lifetime subscriptions — the final number. No further subscriptions will be offered after that point, so this really is your last chance to participate.

For a one-time fee of $500, you will receive 1 (one) copy of each and every mass market paperback, trade paperback, trade hardcover, cover flat, comic book or graphic novel that I publish, until the time I die or you die (whichever happens first). Copies will come flat-signed or personalized to you (whichever you prefer). Shipping costs are covered in the one-time fee. This offer DOES NOT include limited edition hardcovers, lettered editions, foreign editions, DVDs, audio-books or other miscellany. It is applicable only to US trade editions.

There are no international restrictions. Offer is open to anyone. However, if you live in a country other than the United States, your payment must be in the form of an international money order and made payable in US dollars. These lifetime subscriptions are are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Payment must be rendered in full for the agreement to apply. In the interest of fairness to all, I cannot accept pay installments. Check or money order only, made payable to Brian Keene and sent to PO Box 281, Craley, PA 17312. PLEASE INCLUDE A NOTE THAT YOUR PAYMENT IS FOR THE LIFETIME SUBSCRIPTION. Please provide an accurate mailing address. If your address changes, you are responsible for informing me of the change.

Weekend Update

Previously on Brian Keene dot com…

My new novel, A Gathering of Crows, hit stores this week.

So did the new line of F.U.K.U. shirts, which immediately sold out.

Our spokes model tries one on.

SFBC announced a new LeHorn’s Hollow hardcover omnibus collecting Dark Hollow and Ghost Walk.

Clickers and Clickers II: The Next Wave will be back in print soon.

2010 has been a bear of a year, but I’m feeling much better.

Which does not bode well for Lovecraft Press and any other pinhead whom I’ve been too distracted to deal with the last seven months.

I decided to go to Necon at the last minute.

I also signed A Gathering of Crows in Camp Hill, PA.

And posted some pics from The Last Zombie release party.

Speaking of which, issue #4 is up for pre-order.

Xomba.com posted a new interview with me.

Tom Piccirilli won a Thriller Award.

Alethea Kontis’ new children’s book was released.

LEHORN’S HOLLOW

New from the Science Fiction Book Club is LeHorn’s Hollow, a 480-page trade hardcover omnibus that collects Dark Hollow and Ghost Walk into one volume for $16. It ships in two weeks and is available only to book club members. Click here for more info.

Pre-order THE LAST ZOMBIE #4

It’s been two years since the apocalypse. The zombie plague is gone, but the world that remains is still a very dangerous place. As their journey across the post-apocalyptic American landscape continues, Doctor Ian Scott and his team must decide whether or not they can help a colony of lepers who have survived the zombie outbreak. But leprosy is the least of their worries when a roving army of marauders decides to attack! Brian Keene (Dead of Night: Devil Slayer) and Joe Wight (Twilight X) present another nail-biting chapter in this hot new survival-horror comic series from Antarctic Press. CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER.

How Monrozombi wears a F.U.K.U. shirt

Dear Lovecraft Press

You have emails from various authors whom you’ve signed contracts with. Those authors would like an answer to their emails. Those authors would like to know the status of their late royalty payments, contracts, publication dates, etc. You also have questions from various customers and supporters who are wondering what your overall status is.

My name is Brian Keene. I was gone for a long time, but I’m back now. You should probably answer your emails…

Thursday Signing (UPDATED)

Reminder that I’ll be signing from 7pm to 9pm this Thursday at Borders 3515 Gettysburg Road, Camp Hill, PA 17011. They WILL have advance copies of A Gathering of Crows on hand, as well as copies of everything else (Darkness on the Edge of Town, Castaways, Urban Gothic, etc).

A GATHERING OF CROWS

If you pre-ordered my new novel, A Gathering of Crows, from Amazon.com, your copy has shipped to you. This is surprising, since it supposedly won’t be in bookstores for another two weeks, and since I haven’t even received my free author copies yet. As always, it pays to pre-order. A Gathering of Crows features fan-favorite Levi Stoltzfus (of Ghost Walk) and a whole bunch of Labyrinth-mythos goodness.

Necon 30

If you were at Necon 30 in Rhode Island over the weekend, then you know that Joe Hill and I were the super secret, last-minute attendees (a.k.a. Mr. X and Mr. Y). A good time was had by all. Always good to see old friends like Jack Haringa, Brett Savory, Weston Ochse, Jim Moore, Chris Golden, Doug Winter, F. Paul Wilson, Tom Monteleone, John Skipp and Nick Kaufmann. Elizabeth Massie and Courtney Skinner were this year’s roast targets. I’d hoped to post my roast monologue here, as I did for the roasts of James A. Moore, Weston Ochse and Yvonne Navarro, but I lost the piece of paper I scribbled them down on, so the jokes will just have to live on in people’s minds — which means they’re probably already forgotten.

Joe Hill, Mary SanGiovanni, me (courtesy of Monica ORourke)

Joe Hill, Mary SanGiovanni, me (courtesy of Monica O'Rourke)

New interview at Xomba

Xomba.com has a new interview with me, in which I talk about writing, influences, and all kinds of other stuff. Click here to read it.

Reload and Rebirth

Taking a brief hiatus for a few days. Yes, I know. Judging by your emails and comments on Twitter, Facebook and elsewhere, many of you feel like I’ve been on hiatus for the last seven months. Well, there’s no denying that. I have been on hiatus, and I’m sorry for that. But I’m back now. New content (including regular episodes of Deluge) begins Monday. Until then, here’s some hold music. I know I’m not the only one who has gone through some shit this year. I dedicate this to all of you. May it give you the peace and resolve it’s given me.

Every Day is Halloween

Alethea Kontis, author, editor, Princess and member of The Keenedom, has a new book in stores today. Alpha Oops: H is for Halloween is a follow-up to her successful Alpha Oops. Like the previous volume, it is wonderfully illustrated by Bob Kolar. Get it for your children or for someone with children that you know. And stop by Alethea’s forum at The Keenedom and give her your support.

Just when you thought it was safe…

Because so many of you keep asking… I can confirm that both Clickers and Clickers 2: The Next Wave will be back in print before the end of the year. I can’t give you any other details at this time, but yes, they are returning, so no, you don’t have to keep paying exorbitant prices on the secondary market. There are still a handful of the signed, limited edition hardcover of Clickers 3: Dagon Rising available here.

F.U.K.U. Shirts Now Available (Updated)

F.U.K.U. Fans ‘uv Keene United. A term first used in 2000 has since become the identifying tribal identity of one of the most loyal, hardcore fan-communities in the genre. Now, thanks to The Bag and the Crow, this fervent fan-base can proudly display their affiliation in style. You’re not a Trekkie or a Twilighter. You don’t dress up like a Jedi or a hockey-masked, machete-wielding killer. You are someone different. You belong to something different. You can say F.U.K.U. to the world. Click the images above to pre-order. SUPPLIES ARE LIMITED AND GOING FAST!

UPDATE: Women’s shirts are now sold out.

Release Party Wrap-Up

Here are some pics from Saturday’s release party for The Last Zombie. All pics courtesy of Comix Connection and Mike Hawthorne. Thanks to everyone who came out, not only for their support of the book, but in support of the Food Bank, as well. Extra special thanks to the staff of Comix Connection, Mike Hawthorne, Big Joe, Meteornotes and Jason (they know why…)

All comic shops should double as humidors.

All comic shops should double as humidors.

The awesome baking skills of store manager Jared.

The awesome baking skills of store manager Jared.

And so it begins...

And so it begins...

Co-owner Ned Senft slips me the payolla.

Co-owner Ned Senft slips me the payolla.

Mike Hawthorne has mad skills.

Mike Hawthorne has mad skills.

F.U.K.U. member Qweequeg and her original Mike Hawthorne sketch.

F.U.K.U. member Qweequeg and her original Mike Hawthorne sketch.

2010 Thriller Awards

The 2010 Thriller Awards were announced last night during a ceremony at the Grand Hyatt in New York City. Congratulations to my unofficial big brother and Keenedom member Tom Piccirilli, who won the Best Paperback Original Novel Award for The Coldest Mile. Stop by The Keenedom and say congrats. Other winners included Lisa Gardner in the Best Hardcover Original category for The Gardener, Jamie Freveletti’s Running From the Devil for Best First Novel, and “A Stab In The Heart” by Twist Phelan for Best Short Story.