Brian Keene Interview
Brian Keene is one of our featured guests for STAPLE! 2007. On March 3rd, 2007 in Austin he will be reading from a selection of his work. See venue information and more featured guests.
STAPLE!: By the time STAPLE! rolls around in March, your next novel, GHOUL, will be available. What can you tell us about GHOUL? What inspired the book? What's coming next?
Brian: GHOUL is a coming of age horror novel set in the Eighties. It is very dark and very violent — not a comfortable book. It's about what happens when your childhood dies, and about monsters — both supernatural and all-too-human.
The idea came to me while visiting my parent's home and walking around the old neighborhood. That walk stirred up memories, and not all of them were good. I think, as kids, we have a tendency to block out a lot of the bad shit. Maybe it's a defense mechanism of some kind. Anyway, I wanted to write a novel in which everything in the twelve-year-old protagonist's life isn't sweetness and light. You know, like real life?
I think it worked. I can never tell, but so far both the critics and the fans seem to dig it, and sales have been wonderful. So I guess that's a good sign.
GHOUL will be followed in August with a new zombie novel called DEAD SEA. And although it's zombies, the book is not set in the world of THE RISING and CITY OF THE DEAD. Instead, it features the more traditional zombie. Those slow, stupid, shambling corpses we all know and love. I wanted to see if there was anything new we could do with them, and I found out there was.
STAPLE!: Your work has been adapted into comics more than once, and you've written quite a few comics scripts. Is there a dream project you would like to write for comics?
Brian: Mainstream? I'd kill to take a stab at Hellblazer or Swamp Thing, because I think that despite their long runs, there is plenty of interesting things that can be done with both characters. Phantom Stranger would be interesting. I'd like to write a Doom Patrol story that would erase John Byrne's recent run from continuity forever. Over at Marvel-Man Thing, Devil Slayer, Nighthawk, Howard the Duck, Skull the Slayer, and all those other great 70's characters that seem to be languishing (except for the obligatory Civil War cameos).
STAPLE!: There's been a recent trend to adapt horror novels into comics, such as Clive Barker's THE GREAT AND SECRET SHOW and F. Paul Wilson's THE KEEP. Next year will see a DARK TOWER comic book. What do you think makes horror and dark fiction prime material for comics? Are there any horror novels you'd love to see adapted into comics?
Brian: There's always been a connection between horror and comics — from EC to the Warren magazines like Creepy and Eerie, up through the 70's Marvel monster books and DC's various anthology series, on up to Vertigo and IDW. It's a long, rich history. I think the archetypes in horror appeal to the comic reader.
I always thought that Dark Tower and The Keep would make wonderful comics. If The Keep does well, and sales warrant it, I'd love to see F. Paul Wilson's entire Repairman Jack series adapted. And there are so many others — DC adapted Hodgson's House on the Borderland. Would be great to see more from him. There have been numerous Lovecraft adaptations, some good and some bad — but an adaptation of At The Mountains of Madness might be cool. More Joe Lansdale, of course. So many others...
STAPLE!: What new artists, writers, or works (whether in comics or otherwise) excite you?
Brian: Right now, in comics, I'm all about Ed Brubaker. His work on Captain America is genre-altering. Seriously. It's one of those comic touchstones that will change things, like Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing back in the 80's. As far as artists, I've got a hard-on for Tommy Castillo and Jacen Burrows, who's doing a lot for Avatar. Warren Ellis and Steve Gerber remain perpetual favorites.
STAPLE!: Have you got a good convention or show story you can share with us?
Brian: That one about the goat, the llama herder, and the swimming pool, but that's been told so many times. There was this one convention, however, where I found myself in a back alley at three am with Neil Gaiman, Harlan Ellison, a hooker, and a trout...
About Brian
Brian Keene is the two-time Bram Stoker Award winning author of sixteen books, including The Rising, City of the Dead, Ghoul, The Conqueror Worms, Fear of Gravity, and many more. Several of his books and stories are in development for film, comic books, and video games. Keene lives in Pennsylvania. You can communicate with him at www.briankeene.com or on MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/brian_keene/.