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[William D Carl]

Horrorfind in Maryland is only a week away!  I'll be there, along with thousands of other crazy people, arriving Thursday and staying until Sunday, when I have to leave and return to the 'real world' again.  I've got a reading Saturday evening with the outstanding author Norman Prentiss at (I believe) 5:00 pm.  I haven't decided what I'm reading yet...torn between a caustic, nasty fairy tale or something so horrific and potentially offensive it could drive poor Beth Massie from the room in tears.  I may just poll the audience before starting.

Horrorfind is a terrific show, well run for the most part, and packed with fun and interesting people who have only one thing in common...a love of horror.  Some of the great writers who'll be reading include Steve Wedel (for you werewolf fans), Beth Blue, Thomas Monteleone, F Paul Wilson, Matthew Warner, Jack Kethchum, and many others.  The Dru and Lu show is always a highlight, and, yes, I have a singing/dancing cameo in their new musical show CTHULU!  The Musical!  Among the film people attending are the wonderful Ken Foree, Malcolm McDowell (If you've never seen IF...watch it tonight!), Udo Kier, and a whole damn room full of other recognizable faces.

It's always such a good time, I can barely wait until I leave on my long car trip on Wednesday (visiting the folks first).  I hope to see some of you there.  On Thursday night, I'll be lounging in the grass behind the hotel with many others at the annual Kelly Laymon Tailgate Party with a Guiness in my hand.

Bill

[Permuted Press]

Hey could you pick up a free goodie bag while you're there and see if it has a Permuted flyer in it?  All the goodie bags should have one, but I'd just like to know for sure. 

[William D Carl]

well, I EXPECT a goodie bag!  I will check, though I wish you were gonna be there.  It'd be nice to meetcha.
Bill

[Kody Boye]

If you can, be sure to take pictures. Some people (coughmecough) get jealous of you who get to go, haha.

Hope you have a good time.

[William D Carl]

Woo Nelly!  Horrorfind is over, and I think I have almost recovered.  Notice, I said almost ; still a bit tired, but excited about writing andready to go all day!

Yes, Jacob, the flyers were readily available, although bags weren't really given this year.  I saw the flyers for Permuted (hurray!) and over the weekend, I spread them out through the bottom level of the con.  They were on most hard surfaces by the time I was done.

I arrived Thursday, and after a workout in the hotel gym, I stepped downstairs to the bar to see who'd started already.  Drew Williams and Steve Lukac were in the bar with a mysterious man in black with no facial hair, who turned out to be someone in disguise.  It was Brian Keene!  And we settled down in the corner of the bar.  By the fall of night, we were surrounded by other writers and readers, enjoying each others' company.  The lovely and gracious Laurie Alk and her husband Erik(lucky bastard!) are always great to see and remain great conversationalists, and they brought the hilarious Ron Dickie.  Meghan the horrorkitty showed up and many others by the time we went to a party.

Friday, I slept in a bit, worked out, and went to the lobby to watch arrivals.  Saw the wonderful Mark Seiber, a truly kind man who always has a good word and his lovely wife Tonya and his daughters, Tom Monteleone, one of my favorite writers and an astonishingly generous man, Mark Justice and his brother, Nancy Kalanta, Kelliwith an I and her sister Cathy with a c, two beautiful people, my buddy Beth Blue who could melt any man,  and Norman Prentiss, a terrific writer and a good friend.  We talked on and off for some time, then I got my guest pass and headed for the dealer's room a bit earlier than usual.  Picked up many a horror DVD and several books.  I especially liked the Black Mask table, which was selling newly printed reissues of famous pulp authors of the past like Guy Endore, Sax Rohmer, and others.

At 7 pm was Tom Monteleone's reading, and it was spectacular as usual.  He read a story from TAVERNS OF THE DEAD, and he brought up some interesting ideas I had never real;ly considered about people who deal with horrific death on a daily basis.   Following Tom was the Drew and Lu Show, comedy for horror writers, this year presenting CTHULU!  THE MUSICAL.  I had a small part as a construction worker in a Village People Number.  It was hilarious and well written and had tons of in-jokes.  Next, Beth Blue had her Drunk Mom's half hour Variety Hour.  Somehow, I'd become volunteered to sing for this, and I performed a country song that fit the goat story she wrote for the occassion.  Then, we raised the spirit of her absent partner in crime (sniff sniff) Sarah Schenfeld.  You better be there next year, Sarah, or we're kidnapping you!  After the readings, it was party time, and we started in Greg Lazylion's room where I met Doug Warrick and his friend whose name escapes me.  Also joined by Charlie, Chris, Chris's brother, and Charlie's wife.  The very good writer Matt Warner and his artistically talented and lovely wife Deena arrived.  Also, Val from ReallyScary.com and her new girlfriend Vickie were there.  i have known Val for years, and it's always great to catch up with her and she knows how to party.  Drinking games ensued.  Ever play Auctioneer?  I can heartily recommend it.

The party shifted to Drew and Lukac's room, where I got to talk with Marcy Italiano and her husband G, Ron, Paul, and many many others.  Marcy and G are such a cute couple and this was the first year we really got to know each other at all, and I am glad for the opportunity.

The bed felt wonderful when I got to it.

[William D Carl]

Saturday arrived, and with it came Matt Warner's reading first thing in the am.  This year, he read some great nonfiction from Horrorweb, which was both funny and illuminating.  Jacob Hadden read a couple of good short shorts in the same hour.  Then, it was back to the dealer's room, and back to my room to rehearse for my own reading  I was very nervous, as I was reading a pretty raunchy story, and my stuff's usually no more than R Rated.  At 4pm, I went to Jack Ketchum's reading, and I felt better.  He read from WEED SPECIES, which makes my sordid little tale look like Disney fare.  At 5pm, I had my reading with Norman Prentiss.  Norm read the beginning of a soon to be published by a secret publisher who must not be named, and it was quite gripping.  It soudned very personal, and I can't wait for the rest of the story.  My reading went well, although having Tom  Monteleone in the room made me a little nervous, and I hoped he wouldn't judge me by the story that year alone.  At 6, I went to Steve Wedel's reading, which also made my story appear pretty tame.  Steve's a great werewolf writer, so if you like werewolves, give the Wedel a try.  Also reading was Elizabeth Massie, one of my all time favorite writers who read a hilarious yet eerie chapter from her new novel .  I immediately bought it and will have it finished this week!

I went over to Tom M. to thank him for coming to the reading.  He asked me to sit down and asked if Iw as okay with criticism.  i said, Hell yeah, what'd you think.  He had issues with the story, but he admired my writing and the way I turned a typical story around to redeem itself by the end.  he also said I was a very good reader.  He passed on several tips from his experience and we had a very nice chat.  Tom's one of the really, truly good guys.  I got to know him a bit better this weekend, and he got to know me better.  I thank him profusely for his dead-on advice.

Jimster showed up, as he does every year, with boxes of free books!  I snagged several, including a western written under a pseudonym by Richard Laymon.  Thanks, Jim.  Your generosity always surprises me.

Parties ensued.  We went to the Raw Dog Screaming Press party, but it was packed, and we recused ourselves to outside where several of us talked for a while.  Lisa Minetti was there, Doug, Beth, and many others.  We snagged tequila from my room, made margaritas, and went to the celebrity room party.  Wow, look Ma!  I's a celebrity!  Isn't it interesting that when there's free food, the writers are the first to arrive?  Two words...chicken tequitos.  Mmmm.  Thanks Nikki, for getting us in this year.  I spoke with Malcolm McDowell about my favorite movie of his, IF....  If you've never seen IF...., you owe it to yourself.  Also caught Sybil Danning stealing the edge of a cookie and leaving the rest behind.  I got to talk to Michael Laimo, a really great guy who's always funny and kept me laughing.  Lotsa free drinks ensued.  Permuted'd own Kim Paffenroth arrived, and we had a nice discussion.  He's such a smart man he made me appear semi-literate!  Can't wait for the sequel, Kim!  We ended up by the pool with Nanci, Marcy, G. Lukac, Beth, Gord Rollo (very funny man!), Drew, and Chris.  Tequila got passed.  I barely made it back to my room.   Sleep came upon me like the tide.

I'm sure I've left out someone, so please don't be angry.  I've tried to recall everything, but there's always somebody you forget.

Sunday was all about goodbyes.  I had a looong drive ahead and I wanted to get as far as I could before getting too sleepy before stopping.  It's always sad to go, but there'll be a next year.  I love Horrorfind, love the time spent with friends just talking about whatever we feel like.  I find I'm more open at events like this than when I'm at home.  I can't wait till next year!
William Carl

[KPaffenroth]

oh, yeah, the Werewolf guy! Great seeing you!

[Kody Boye]

Sounds like you guys had fun! Glad you had a good time.

[Zombie Zak]

Yeah, that sounds like you had yourself a whole pant load of fun.

Good on ya!

[Ron McGillvray]

Sounds like you had a great time, Bill. I'm going to have to check Horrorfind out one of these years.

Ron

[William D Carl]

It was smaller than usual this year, due, I think, to lots of factors, but it's always a great time for the people.  you'd have a ball, Ron.

Bill