OOGIE BOOGIE CENTRAL - Featuring Steve's Vent

And you need to start filling it, you might want to try either here for Amazon or here for Barnes & Noble . If you already have one, then what the hell have you been waiting for? And by the way, Merry Christmas to all (and if you know me at all, you know that this is the first time I've said this in three decades without a sneer, or a sudden need to hurl). But Then Again, You'll Have This . . .

This short story hasn't seen the light of day since 2003's The Fear Within , but I always liked it. Short and Scary Stories is hosting it, and it's pulled in a few positive reviews already. You should check it out here . But Then Again, You'll Have This . . .

I probably should have thought about answering this question ten years ago. The simple answer is this: Oogie Boogie Central is the title of my first novel, and the de facto title of the series of books that follows it. However, the problem with simple answers is that-usually-the simple answer is really no answer at all. So, let’s examine the complicated response. I’ve always been fascinated with Multiple Personality Disorder, or at least the fictionalized version of it. As a literary trope, its potential seemed limitless; as an exercise in imagination, the premise was intoxicating. Unfortunately, the act of creating a novel around the concept of MPD proved more of a challenge than my enthusiasm anticipated. The remnants of my early, aborted attempts at exploring this theme reside in the ethereal afterlife where broken hard drives and obsolete 5 ¼ inch floppy disks go to die. If memory serves, these efforts at universe building began with a traumatized toddler and ended with a ...

If it weren't for Molly (our 4 year-old Lab, St. Bernard, shelter-dog mix), I probably wouldn't spend any more time outside than it takes to get from the house to the car and back again. Except for the occasional smoke. During daytime hours, we hit the back porch together, and when Molly runs off into the yard to TCB, I usually light up and ruminate about life. Now, I'm a pacer from way back, so I stroll back and forth thinking while Molly runs in circles, making qualitative judgements about why one plot of grass is more deserving of pee than another. Sometimes, such hefty decisions give me the opportunity to hotbox two cigarettes. But lately, at night, my ruminations have given way to an inexplicable obsession with that fellow at the top of this post. He's never around when the sun's up, but as dusk begins, I notice him perched in the seemingly empty space between one our porch pillars and the adjacent shrubbery. He's always in the pose you see depicte...

I do not consider myself mechanically inclined, but I tinker. I'm not a handyman, but I can research and apply like nobody's business. In short, I know just enough to get myself in trouble. I was blessed with a father who can do -and has done- nearly anything. I know every son says that about their father, but usually, such pronouncements stop about the time a child reaches legal drinking age. I passed that exit a long time ago. My first car was a 1967 Chevy Impala SS (props to those who realize Milo Tucker and I have more in common than I'll usually admit) that cost a whopping $100. The low price tag brought with it a bevy of mechanical opportunities, but thanks to my Jack of all Trades paterfamilias , most of those repairs usually only set us back the price of parts. I learned a lot watching Dad lean over the fender and rummage around in the engine compartment. It was during these sessions that my father revealed The Words of Power (women reading this may be scratch...

If you're craving Vents you haven't read, you can always head over to Horror World and click on the Column link. There's a new one from me: Eulogy in Absentia . . . . Check out the Archives while you're at it. I think there's 3 years of Vents lurking in the cyber-stacks. You may get a laugh or two you weren't expecting, and that's always a good thing. But Then Again, You'll Have This . . .

It's been a while, hasn't it? There's so much to tell, but those tales will have to wait. So much to explain, but explanations aren't on the menu this evening. Endings and beginnings. Trials and tribulations. Tragedy and triumph . . . well, maybe not so much on the triumph front. But maybe that's getting ready to change. In the coming days, we'll talk about Kindles and Nooks. Borders and Barnes & Noble. But Then Again, You'll Have This . . . , and Business Up Front, Party in the Back . Oogie Boogie Central and Oogie Boogie Bounce. Oh yes, we'll talk about all of this and more. For now, we'll confine ourselves to two, brief topics. First, when our family switched from cable to satellite, we received 3 months of free Showtime, and the biggest benefit of this has been our discovery of Dexter. Through the wonder of Video-on-Demand, we've devoured the Fifth Season in just a few days and have already started shopping for the earlier ...