Can you believe it’s almost the middle of September? And can you believe I am less than two weeks from participating in my first-ever Scarefest! I’ll be right alongside the likes of Malcolm McDowell, Doug Bradly, and (shudder) Clive Barker! My participation in Scarefest will be as a vendor to sell my wares.
Won’t you come buy?
From The Zombie King you have the opportunity to purchase paperback copies of the I Zombie series as well as my new book Screampark. Also present will be my very own booth babe pinup zombie! How could you resist? I mean seriously? AND you can meet some of the cast and company behind Screampark — the haunted attraction that inspired the novel.
Now… I have to say, I’m a bit nervous. Why? It’s not meeting the public or getting into the muck and mire of the world of fear with some of the best in the industry. It’s one, singular thing — the possibility of standing side by side, flesh to flesh, with my idol Clive Barker.
You see — I don’t get star struck. I’ve met plenty of big names. But Clive Barker is something all together different. How? Oh sure he penned some of the most remarkable books in the genre and his film Hellraiser is one of (if not the) most influential horror film of all time. Clive Barker holds a very special place in my heart that no other writer could ever usurp — he was my inspiration for both reading and writing!
That’s right — as crazy as it sounds, I was never much of a reader. My parents never read to me as a child and my thing was acting. Sure, I’d read Shakespeare, but to me that was work. Reading for pleasure just was never a part of the equation… that is, until I watched the movie Hellraiser and discovered Barker’s novella The Hellbound Heart. it only took one read to be hooked. After that I devoured every single word Barker wrote. From that point on, reading was my escape.
It didn’t end there.
When Imajica was released I was waiting at the door of the book store before it opened. I purchased a copy straight out of the cardboard box the books where shipped in. Somewhere, tucked inside the covers of that book, a magical world grabbed a hold of me and wormed its tendrils deep into my psyche and soul. When the core of Imajica had it’s hold on me, some switch was flipped — words. Words held such power and such artistic beauty. I knew, upon finishing that work of Clive’s, that I had to write. The desire to express such passion and beauty and horror with words became tantamount to my soul’s survival. And when I finally retired as an actor, I knew I would need some way to feed that soul.
Clive Barker opened that door for me. Now, I have eleven books published and plenty more where that came from. So the thought of meeting the man that helped me discover a talent and passion I may not have found otherwise. And so… in less than two weeks I have the opportunity to meet the man that started it all for me. Am I nervous? Hell yeah!