Old Ghosts and Other Revenants
J. F. Gonzalez has been gone eleven years today.
I’m not one who particularly likes to be reminded of things like this, on the anniversaries that they happened. I mean, hell, I get numb when my phone notifications are buzzing all day just with people wishing me a Happy Birthday or a Merry Christmas — and those are good events, I suppose. It’s not that I don’t appreciate such sentiments. It’s just that there are… So. Many. Of. Them. So, I tend not to reach out to others on days like today. Which may be a failing of mine. I don’t know. But I figure the last thing I want to be reminded of all goddamned day longis that he’s gone, so maybe others don’t want to be reminded of it, either.
I spent the day writing and also listening to / singing along with Van Halen’s Diver Down and 1984 albums.
If you are someone struggling with grief, I can tell you this. It may hold true for you. It may not. But it is my experience, and I will share it with you. I don’t know that it’s wisdom, but it is my truth: It took over a decade, but eventually I discovered that while time does not heal all wounds (despite a popular saying to the contrary), time does eventually cover those wounds with enough scar tissue that you can pretty much become a functioning adult again. Forming new bonds with other people also helps. Doing so is essential. You’re not replacing the person who’s gone. You’re going on living. You can’t just retreat into an ever shrinking circle. You have to expand again.
Anyway, in remembrance of Jesus, I thought I’d recommend a book here today. Everyone of course knows him for his splatterpunk and extreme horror like Survivor and Primitive. But today, I want to recommend Old Ghosts and Other Revenants — a collection of his quiet horror and supernatural horror. Available in paperback and for Kindle. Enjoy!
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Speaking of Jesus, some of you have been asking about CLICKERS FOREVER, which is currently out of print. It will be coming back into print next year via Macabre Ink and Crossroad Press (who have done great new editions of the rest of the series). The Table of COntents will be tweaked a bit for this new edition, with some additional material by some folks who weren’t available for one reason or another when the original was published.
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A new episode of KEENEVERSATIONS is live. I think this is the funniest thing we’ve recorded since the old THE HORROR SHOW WITH BRIAN KEENE. This ep is Mary and I facing off against Laurel Hightower and Frank Reardon to play The Newlywed Game. (If you are unfamiliar with the concept, romantically paired couples try to answer questions about each other, to see which couple knows their partner the best). Listen here. (It’s also available on Spotify and Apple.