LAST NIGHT, as I was taking a short break from playing the silver balls at Pinball Expo to squeeze in a little writing on my next novel Voodoo Heart, my son Shaun texted me to tell me there was a new CD just released by punk-pop band The Muffs called No Holiday. He knows I love The Muffs…Nobody belts out a punk-rock scream like lead singer/songwriter Kim Shattuck. So I was pretty excited that there…
YOU COULDN’T ASK for a better way to kick off “Halloween Season” than a concert by the guy who created the haunting scores for some of the best Italian horror films of the ’70s – 90s. When I heard that keyboardist Claudio Simonetti was coming to Chicago on Sunday, Oct. 13 with his touring version of the classic Goblin, I bought tickets instantly. And he and the band did not disappoint. For the first half…
I’VE BEEN GOING TO HORRORHOUND in Indianapolis for many years now, and have seen it in three different locations. In 2019, the convention took the leap from a “hotel” con to the Indianapolis Convention Center. It was a good change which turned it into the biggest Indy HorrorHound ever, though I can’t say I didn’t miss the old comfortable carpeted digs of the old Marriott out by the airport. It was weird to see the…
“Everything you love must die…” I MET HER ONE YEAR AGO this month. We were just visiting the Bird Is The Word store to get some seed for our “flock.” And Shaun and Geri and I all held this little green Canary Winged Parakeet that they’d just gotten in from a breeder in Florida. She was a baby and a cute little thing… and somewhat rare — the store had never gotten one of that…
I LOOK FORWARD to Flashback Weekend: Chicago Horror Convention every year. Not so much because of the guests of honor (who are always great — this year included Robert Englund, Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi) but because of the chance to hang out for a couple days with friends and fans that I only see a once or twice a year. While the Nightmare on Elm Street, Candyman and Evil Dead reunions are going on…
I COULD FRAME a long litany of “once upon a times” about Charlee Jacob, but none would be as effective as any of her prose. She was an inspiration to me before I knew her and a friend once we met. ONCE, she wrote a short story about A Town Called Everson… and I responded by writing a story about an oracle named The Char-Lee. ONCE, I read a story I’d written called “Bloodroses” that…
LAST WEEK, my 11th novel, The Devil’s Equinox was released by Flame Tree Press, but ironically, this week, I’ve been getting more press for some of my other books! Today, I’m the featured author at ManyBooks.com, where they interviewed me about my 10th novel, The House By The Cemetery. Naomi Bolton asked me about the influences behind House, my writing habits, my “secret skills” and much more in an interview titled “John Everson – An…
IT’S BECOME A TRADITION that we look forward to for months. Every April, Shaun and I drive up to the Expo Center in Kalamazoo, Michigan for the annual “Pinball at the Zoo” pinball show. We go up on Friday, play the silver ball that night and all day/night Saturday, and head home bleary-eyed but satisfied on Sunday morning. We hang out with our friends Brad Czernik and his boys, Levi and Christian, as well as…
TODAY WAS A DAY that we have prepared for literally for years. But… you’re never really prepared for the end, are you? Lem, the queen Lutino cockatiel of our flock of birds passed on, after living with us for nearly 30 years. She was the bird who sat with me in our first apartment at night while I wrote music on my Roland after Geri had gone to bed. She was the bird who sat…
I DID NOT GO to the beach during spring break, though I saw plenty of social media posts from those who did. But we had a good Everson “Staycation” anyway. I set what may be my personal high score in bowling when we took Shaun and a friend to Bowlero for an afternoon. (I hit a 195, and while I know I’ve hit the 190s at least once before when I used to bowl a…
