The Imago Suite

Author Archive

of FinePrint Literary Management is now representing my work. Happy day!

Ellen has taken my short story ”Strappado” for her Best Horror of the Year 2 anthology due from Night Shade Books this March. “Strappado” originally appeared in Ellen’s Poe anthology around this time last year. Thank you, Ellen.

A quick rundown of stories I have coming out in 2010:

“The Broadsword,” Black Wings, ed S.T. Joshi PS Publishing
“Vastation,” Cthulhu’s Reign, ed. Darrell Schweitzer DAW
“Gula de Saturnus,” Nostradamus’ Fate, ed Joe Morey Dark Regions
“The Redfield Girls,” Haunted Legends, eds Ellen Datlow & Nick Mamatas Tor
“Mysterium Tremendum,” Occultation, ed Jeremy Lassen Night Shade
“–30–,” Occultation, ed Jeremy Lassen Night Shade

Reprints: “Strappado” will appear in Ellen’s anthology and Steve Berman’s Wllde Stories.

I have several other  pieces scheduled for this year, but am waiting on permission to announce them. More later.

More questions with Laird Barron

read the manuscript of Occultation, my upcoming collection from Night Shade, and gave me this quote:

“With sharp prose and wise, original stories, Barron has repeatedly proven himself one of the strongest voices in the field. This collection is a must read.” –Sarah Langan, author of Audrey’s Door.

 Thank you, Sarah. Her latest book is in stores now: Audrey’s Door

Handed in the OCCULTATION manuscript. The original novella ended up entitled Mysterium Tremendum. It’s fairly long — 22k. Just sold a short story called “Vastation” to Darrell Schweitzer for the 2010 DAW anthology Cthulhu’s Reign. It’s actually an anti-Mythos story, but shhhh!

Centipede Press is putting forth a limited (300 copies) edition of Peter Straub’s KOKO. KOKO is one of my favorite novels and I was honored to write the afterword for this edition. It’s signed by Straub, illustrator Howie Michaels, and yours truly. I don’t know if Centipede is taking pre orders directly, but I note it’s listed on Amazon as an early 2010 release.

PW gave Ellen Datlow’s Lovecraft Unbound a starred review. From the review:

“The 16 new and four reprint stories…all capture what Dale Bailey praises as horror master H.P. Lovecraft’s gift for depicting the universe as “inconceivably more vast, strange, and terrifying than mere human beings can possibly imagine.” Bailey and Nathan Ballingrud, in “The Crevasse,” evoke this alien sensibility through an Antarctic expedition’s glimpses of an astonishingly ancient prehuman civilization preserved in the polar ice. Laird Barron’s “Catch Hell” depicts a Lovecraft-type backwoods community in the grip of a profoundly creepy occult mythology.”  –PW

I am proud to announce my agent Brendan Deneen has sold my second collection and debut novel to Jeremy Lassen at Night Shade Books. These will appear in October 2010 and summer 2011 respectively.

The collection is titled OCCULTATION and is introduced by Michael Shea.

TOC

Introduction: Michael Shea

The Forest

The Lagerstatte

 Strappado

Occultation

 Six, Six, Six

Catch Hell

 The Broadsword

 –30–

“Six, Six, Six” and –30– are orginals. Two of the stories are in the vein of Lovecraftian dark fantasy. The rest are occult and psychological horror pieces. In many ways the collection is a departure from THE IMAGO SEQUENCE. The book clocks in at about 90k, so it’s leaner than the first one.

The novel is called THE CRONING. It’s kind of like ON GOLDEN POND, if Henry and Jane Fonda were preoccupied with black magic, machetes, and cosmic horrors. This one is still underway with an estimated delivery date of July 2010.

For those who haven’t seen this and may be interested, Jeff VanderMeer conducted an interview with me last year.

http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/barron_interview/

My debut collection has been reprinted as a trade paperback. Now available at Night Shade Books.

The Imago Sequence & Other Stories