Last night’s reading at the Dakota went very well, I’m relieved to say. I was very nervous leading up to the event, worried I was going to freeze up or get pelted with catcalls and produce. I was fine once I got up on stage and actually started reading. I just focused on the words on the page and ignored everything else. My story was very well received by the audience, with lots of laughs throughout — which is good, since “Camp Zombie” is a comedy. Nobody threw tomatoes and no vaudeville hook tried to yank me off stage. Thanks to all who came out.

My wife shot video of the reading, so if you missed it you can watch it on YouTube. I haven’t watched the video the whole way through — I’m a bit self conscious about watching/listening to myself — but I think it turned out okay.

“Camp Zombie” — Part 1
“Camp Zombie” — Part 2

I came home to find another review of Can’tLit, and the first one to single out my story. The review as a whole was mixed, but the reviewer seemed to dig my contribution:

“Camp Zombie” by Ian Rogers, about a camp for the sleep-disordered, is darkly funny and unexpectedly poignant.

Short but sweet. I’ll take it.

I’ve also got a small treat for you, a preview of “Wendy,” my web comic that will be going live next Wednesday. The talented artist, JP Fallavollita, has given me permission to post a little teaser.

Until then, be sure to check out the second installment in Biff Bam Boo! — “Cellar Door,” by Andy Burns. As Count Floyd would say, “Oooh, scary stuff, kids!”

Can’tLit: Fearless Fiction from Broken Pencil Magazine has its own website.

New Blackwood and new photoblog.

“Temporary Monsters,” my chapbook from Burning Effigy Press, will get an official launch on November 15th at The Central. More details to come.

This past summer, I attended a bbq with my friends and fellow writers at BIFF BAM POP!, the pop culture blog where I write articles on TV’s “Lost.” While we were munching on burgers and drinking beer, I was pitched an idea for a special Halloween project. Each of the BBP writers would submit a short horror story which would be illustrated by a different artist and posted as part of an online comic series. I liked the idea, and I even had a piece of flash fiction that fit the bill. A re-imagining of the Wendigo myth, set in downtown Toronto, called “Wendy.”

It’s been tough keeping this one secret. My work has never been adapted for comics before, and I can tell you, having seen some of the preliminary artwork, that it is going to a very attractive, and very scary, piece of work. The first installment, “Charnel,” is now online, with story by David Ward and artwork by JP Fallavollita. The rest of the stories, including my own, will be posted over the next week and a half. Be sure to check them out.

• Currently reading: The Ceremonies, by T.E.D. Klein

Today this website turns seven years old.

This past Saturday, the 17th, I turned 33 years old.

And last Wednesday, the 14th, my wife and I celebrated our three year anniversary.

Time keeps on chugging by, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, but never stopping for even a single moment.

In previous years I’ve posted at length on these milestones, sometimes with pictures, but this year I’m keeping things low key.

I do want to extend my thanks to everyone who e-mailed me or left a comment on my Facebook page wishing me a happy b-day. It was very much appreciated.

I’m slowly getting back to work on the novel, and I continue to hope that I will have it finished, or mostly finished, by the end of the year. I tend to get more writing done in the colder months, so I have that on my side. I will continue to keep you apprised with word count updates via Twitter as I finish each new chapter.

I would also like to mention that this Thursday, October 22nd, I will be reading one of my short stories in public for the very first time. It will take place at the launch of Can’tLit, the best of Broken Pencil anthology that is now available for sale. The book was edited by Richard Rosenbaum and published by ECW Press. You can order copies from Amazon or Indigo by going to my handy “Camp Zombie” page. You should also be able to find it in actual bookstores, which is always a plus. Reviews of the book have been popping up, one at Quill & Quire and another at Steel Bananas.

As for the launch, it will be taking place at the Dakota Tavern in Toronto, at 249 Ossington Avenue, from 6 to 9pm (follow the link to their website for directions).I will be reading my story “Camp Zombie.” I’ve been told there will be four readings that night and I am scheduled to read last. Since my story is a comedy, this is probably a good thing since I feel it’s always best to end things on a funny note.

So if you’re in the Toronto area why not come out and watch me read a story in public for the very first time. It should be amusing one way or the other.

In the latest issue of Supernatural Tales, there’s a review of Simon Stranztas’s excellent collection Cold to the Touch. Simon was kind enough to send me a portion of it that speaks about Canadian horror that I (obviously) found quite interesting.

There’s something strange going on in Canada. Now there’s a sentence you won’t read every day. A new school of subtle, intelligent horror writers seems to have emerged in Ontario, and they keep sending me stuff. Simon Strantzas is the best-known member of this ’school’, but close in his wake come Michael Kelly, Richard Gavin, Ian Rogers and others.

Is Canadian horror easily distinguishable from the US brand? Well, perhaps. There is little in the way of ‘gross out’ horror, at least not so far as I’ve seen. There is more of the eerie, the strange and the ‘not quite right’ about the themes and ideas in their stories. Not that American writers have been slouches in this area – the late Charles L. Grant was a master of quiet horror. But with the Canadians there is something else that I can best sum up as an atmosphere redolent of sub-Arctic air and long nights.

You can read the rest of the review by picking up a copy of the latest issue.

I’m glad that Simon got a good review, because it’s a great book, and I’m glad that the reviewer mentioned some other Canadians I know, because they are indeed great writers, and I am especially glad that our work, and our style of work, is being recognized as something to watch. The comparison to Grant’s work is the cherry on top. I can’t speak for the others, but he has been a huge influence on my writing.

Howdy, folks! Kat and I just got back from our sojourn up north. Our trip actually started last Saturday with us driving down to Niagara for a wedding. We had an amazing time, spent the night in a fairly greasy no-tell motel (since we only need a place to sleep), and then drove up to the cabin on Sunday. The weather wasn’t always great, but that was fine by us. We watched some Twin Peaks on the rainy days, made fires, and I even got to dip into the new Sarah Langan novel. We got in our full day of hiking in Algonquin Park, this year walking 11 kilometres’ worth of trails. Took some great pics and videos that I’ll be posting here and on Facebook and YouTube. I got a great one of me climbing to the top of the Dorset Fire Tower in real time. No Bigfoot or Blair Witch sightings, but there’s always next year.

I came home to plenty of writin’ love. Thanks to my bud Simon Strantzas who told me I received not one, not two, but THREE honourable mentions in Ellen Datlow’s new Best Horror of the Year, Volume One. The book itself contains only the top fifty of her honourable mentions, but Ellen was kind enough to post the entire list on the publisher’s message board. Here are my entries:

“Inheritor,” Cemetery Dance 58
“The Dark and the Young,” Bound for Evil
“The Nanny,” Nossa Morte 3

The full listing can be found here.

Simon also discovered a copy of the chapbook we were giving out at Readercon up for sale on Abebooks. It’s a rare one, to be sure, so if you want a copy here’s your chance. And finally, I was informed that “Temporary Monsters” now has a page at Goodreads. Cuh-razy.

Anyway, it’s good to be back and still have a few days before we have to go back to work. Looking forward to our two Thanksgivings, but since we kind of gorged ourselves up north, I think we’ll be fasting until then.

• Currently reading: Audrey's Door, by Sarah Langan

I leave for a wedding in Niagara tomorrow morning, and then Kat and I go directly from there to our vacation cabin hideaway in the northern woods. I’ll be back in a few days, right in time for Thanksgiving. That’s one of the best parts about the fall. The food. Turkey, mashed potatoes, yams, stuffing, pumpkin pie — even pumpkin pie Blizzards from Dairy Queen, gah! — pumpkin spice donuts, hot apple cider… cue the Homer drooling sound.

Anyway, I’ll leave you with something special. A much talked-about bit of movie folklore that surfaced on the internet sometime in the last few years. The infamous musical number from David Fincher’s Fight Club. Enjoy!

I love those oldies.

• Currently reading: Flashforward, by Robert J. Sawyer