Dallas Mayr (1946-2018)

Dallas Mayr

Dallas Mayr, who wrote under the name Jack Ketchum, died January 24 announced Horror Writers Association President Lisa Morton:

HWA is deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Dallas Mayr. Under the name Jack Ketchum, Dallas produced some of the most riveting and intense works of modern horror, including the novels The Girl Next Door, Red, and The Lost; he was both a multiple winner of the Bram Stoker Award and our 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award winner. Dallas was a wonderful teacher and an inspiration to many, and he will be deeply missed by all.

Ketchum also received the World Horror Convention Grand Master Award (2011) for outstanding contribution to the horror genre.

The Washington Post’s obituary recalls he was once labeled by Stephen King as likely the scariest writer in America:

“Jack Ketchum’s first novel … set off a furor in my supposed field, that of horror, that was unequaled until the advent of Clive Barker,” King said in 2003 upon accepting an honorary National Book Award. “It is not too much to say that these two gentlemen remade the face of American popular fiction.”

When Ketchum was a teenager he was mentored by Robert Bloch, author of Psycho, who was “paying forward” the support he’d received from his own mentor, H.P. Lovecraft.

His first novel, Off Season (1980), prompted the Village Voice to publicly scold its publisher in print for publishing violent pornography.

His novel The Girl Next Door is considered a horror classic. Five of his books have been filmed: The Girl Next Door, The Lost, Red, Offspring  and The Woman. Ketchum and Lucy McKee won the Best Screenplay Award for The Woman at the Sitges Film Festival in Spain.

Undebatably Fantastic Fiction as KGB Readings Series Features Ketchum and Kiernan

By Mark L. Blackman: The “K” in KGB stood for Ketchum and Kiernan as, on the evening of Wednesday, October 19 – a record-breaking warm day and the night of the third and final Presidential Debate – the monthly Fantastic Fiction Readings Series hosted authors Jack Ketchum and Caitlin R. Kiernan at its venue, the 2nd floor Red Room at the KGB Bar in Manhattan’s East Village.

The crowd in the room, distinctive for its red walls and Soviet era-themed décor, was smaller than usual, was ascribed by co-host Ellen Datlow to some regular attendees staying home to watch the Debate and she expected that part of the audience would dash out quickly to catch it. She encouraged those present not to “get your stomachs in a knot,” but to stay here “and have fun.” They could, she noted, always watch the Debate on YouTube.

Continuing, she announced that next month’s readers, on November 16 will be John Langan and Series co-host Matthew Kressel. On December 21, Livia Llewellyn and Sarah Pinsker will be reading; and on January 18, 2017, Holly Black and Fran Wilde will be featured. (Details are available at the Series website.) The Series, ongoing since the 1990s, is known for reliably offering an outstanding mix of writers and styles.

Caitlin R. Kiernan. Photo by Kyle Cassidy.

Caitlin R. Kiernan. Photo by Kyle Cassidy.

The evening’s first reader, Caitlin R. Kiernan, is a four-time winner of the International Horror Guild Award and a two-time recipient of the World Fantasy, Bram Stoker and James Tiptree, Jr. Awards. Her work includes the novels The Red Tree and The Drowning Girl: A Memoir, and the short fiction collections A is for Alien, The Ape’s Wife and Other Tales, and the forthcoming Dear Sweet Filthy World. She read from a novella due to be published in February by Tor, Agents of Dreamland, a marvelously descriptive, furiously stream of consciousness evocation of modern culture, with allusions ranging from Charles Manson to the mandatory supplanting of analog tv by digital.

kiernan-agents-of-dreamland

After a break, Matt Kressel took the podium and urged the crowd to support the Bar, whose generosity allows the Series’ readings to be free, by buying a drink or soft drink. He noted too that the Series nevertheless has expenses (such as treating the readers to dinner afterward) and that they planned a fundraising drive after the new year, offering nifty premiums like signed books.

 

Jack Ketchum

Jack Ketchum

Jack Ketchum, the second reader of the evening, is a five-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award, most recently for Lifetime Achievement, and has been called “probably the scariest guy in America” by Stephen King. A wide-ranging talent, he is the author of thirty books, including novels – five of which have been filmed – novellas, collections, nonfiction and poetry. His most recent books are the novel The Secret Life of Souls (written with director Lucky McKee) and the collection Gorilla in My Room, both due out later this year. His offering, the mystery shocker “Bully,” was from the latter. A woman’s question to her third cousin about an old photo elicits uncomfortable reminiscences and slowly reveals a terrible family secret.

ketchum-cover

Copies of Ketchum’s and Kiernan’s books were for sale at the back of the room from the Word Bookstores of Greenpoint, Brooklyn and Jersey City.

Datlow’s photos of the event may be seen at the Series website.

Celebrate Space and Time Magazine’s 50th Anniversary on 7/12

The New York Review of Science Fiction Readings will host Space and Time Magazine’s 50th Anniversary Celebration on July 12. The magazine’s Hildy Silverman and Gordon Linzner will be joined by featured participants Linda Addison, Daniel Braum, Katherine Hasell, and Jack Ketchum.

The event takes place in The Brooklyn Commons at 388 Atlantic Avenue. Doors open 6:30 p.m.

To celebrate the Golden Jubilee for the world’s longest-running small press sf/fantasy fiction magazine, Barbara Krasnoff will interview founding editor/publisher Gordon Linzner and current editor/publisher Hildy Silverman. Contributors Jack Ketchum, Daniel Braum, Katherine Hasell, and poetry editor Linda Addison will do readings, and cover artist Alan F. Beck will display his artwork.

Gordon Linzner is the founder and editor emeritus of Space and Time Magazine. He is the author of three novels and scores of short stories in F&SF, Twilight Zone, and other magazines and anthologies; his latest appears in the new anthology Altered States. Hildy Silverman is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Space and Time Magazine. She is also the author of numerous works of short fiction, including The Six Million Dollar Mermaid for which she was a finalist for the 2013 WSFA Small Press Award (Mermaids 13, French, ed). In the “real” world, she is a Digital Marketing Communications Specialist at Sivantos, Inc..

Linda D. Addison, award-winning author of four collections, including How To Recognize A Demon Has Become Your Friend, the first African-American recipient of the HWA Bram Stoker Award, and a member of CITH, HWA, SFWA and SFPA. Her site: LindaAddisonPoet.com

Daniel Braum is the author of the collection The Night Marchers and Other Strange Tales. He has a story forthcoming in Space and Time Magazine. His website is Blood and Stardust.

K.L Hasell (Katherine) is an animator, actor, writer and editor who lives and works in NYC.  She once made a weeping willow laugh. She never wears a watch because time is always on her side.

Dallas Mayr, better known as Jack Ketchum, is the recipient of four Bram Stoker Awards and three further nominations. Many of his novels have been adapted to film. In 2011, Ketchum received the World Horror Convention Grand Master Award for outstanding contribution to the horror genre.

Alan F. Beck

Alan F. Beck

Alan F. Beck has been an artist, designer and illustrator for over 30 years. His numerous awards and honors include two Chesley Award nominations and a Hugo Award nomination. He recently published a children’s book The Adventures of Nogard and Jackpot and is the creator of the Mouseopolitan Museum of Art.

Barbara Krasnoff has sold over 30 pieces of short fiction to a wide variety of publications (including Space and Time Magazine) and is working on a novel. She is currently Sr. Reviews Editor for Computerworld, and a member of the NYC writers group Tabula Rasa. She lives in Brooklyn, NY. Her website is BrooklynWriter.com.

The full press release follows the jump.

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