Summerween, Philip K. Dick, and a Giveaway!
Every Day is Halloween #90: The Official Newsletter of Lisa Morton
Hi All!
My July abruptly morphed into something unexpectedly busy. Well, wait…I know my Julys are going to be busy - it’s the real start of my Halloween season, with lots of interviews and appearances - so it really shouldn’t be “unexpectedly.” The continuing temperatures in the high 90s and 100s? That’s a little unexpected, and more than a bit grueling.
But it’s been productive, too. I got excellent notes back from my agent on the new novel, so I’ve been working through those (and I can’t tell you how happy I am that he called the novel “a scathing commentary on contemporary America”). I worked on putting together my “How to Hunt Ghosts” presentation for Midsummer Scream (which included both writing and gathering illustrations for a PowerPoint thang), and the presentation was a success (despite the fact that I had to battle glitchy fire alarms going off throughout - I blame ghosts), I wrote and submitted a short story for an anthology I can’t quite talk about yet. And then of course, there are the weekly “Ghost Reports” and all those interviews…
Wherever you are, I hope you’re not baking the way SoCal is in this relentless summer! Stay chill.
Lisa
NEW STUFF I LIKE
Sometimes you read something that’s been scoring awards and you think, Well, I guess… And other times, you finish that critical hit and can only react with, OF COURSE.
Linghun by Ai Jiang is definitely in the latter category. This one takes the haunted house trope and spins it so far around that it becomes something else. The story takes place in an exclusive community where all the houses are haunted and in demand by those grieving lost loved ones. The novella examines loss as not just a grief process but an obsession, showing how that obsession can both illuminate and harm. It’s sometimes blackly funny, other times tragic, occasionally very violent, and certainly horrific. I loved it and give it two ectoplasmic thumbs up.
THE HALLOWEEN SPIRIT
Happy summerween! Wait, I hear you saying, summerween? Is that even a thing?
Well, hey, the New York Times says it is! They just did a whole article on it, explaining that the word originated on a 2012 episode of the series Gravity Falls, but the whole concept of celebrating Halloween in summer has really…well, heated up this year!
First off, summerween should not be confused with halfoween, which is celebrated on April 30th, exactly six months before Halloween. So, what does a fun summerween look like? Well, according to my friend Miranda Enzor, who runs the fabulous website and Instagram account Spooky Little Halloween, it might involve more pink than orange! Jack-o’-lanterns can be carved out of watermelons, or hey, how about the hot neon colors that you can find in the “Hippie Hallow” Halloween decorations featured at the Michael’s stores this year?
The New York Times article mentions that checking out a horror movie is one great way to get chill enough to celebrate summerween, and thank goodness we’ve got some great ones to take in this year, whether it’s Longlegs in a theater or The First Omen at home. If reading’s your jam, check out the Instagram account thissummerween for some great summerween book suggestions.
If you’re planning a summerween party, you can have themed drinks and games, like ring toss on the witch’s hat, or maybe host a picnic in a nice cool cemetery.
There are even artists and companies catering to summerween now, like Ghost Girl Greetings, where you can pick up your sticker showing the Bride of Frankenstein lounging in the pool with a mai tai in hand, or adorable monster-themed flip-flops. And Backstitch Bruja has summerween-themed handbags. Piñaween, anyone?
STRANGE DOINGS
This weekend, after I left Midsummer Scream (which was as fabulous as always) I drove all of a mile or so to the legendary Queen Mary, where I spent the night and participated in something called The Grey Ghost Project.
So, what is this thing? Well, one could almost call it one of the longest-running paranormal investigations set at a single location ever. Here’s the Project’s own description: “The Grey Ghost Project is not a theatrical or haunt experience, but a continuous scientific exploration and investigation of the paranormal.” Tickets are purchased for particular nights, and they’re pretty clear on not arriving drunk or with Ouija boards; they want to treat this as a serious event.
Our lead investigator was a no-nonsense woman named Becca who wore a 1940’s-era dress because she thought the spirits might find it more comfortable. She took us to multiple points on the ship, lugging along a large bag full of K-2 meters, spirit boxes, a video camera, and a piece of equipment I was unfamiliar with called a Data Logger. We started in the front of the ship just behind the bridge, a gorgeous room full of the wheels and gauges once used to steer the great ship. Becca turned out to be a big fan of the Estes Method with the spirit box, and every member of the dozen or so attendees who wanted to be a receiver had a chance to don noise-cancelling headphones and nice little custom blindfolds, and shout out whatever they heard come over the spirit box.
Becca recorded herself introducing each new area, calling this Investigation #137, and then she let the camera run to capture anything that might occur as the group asked questions and waited to see if the receivers would provide any response. After the bridge proved uneventful, we were led to the Grand Salon, the First Class Pool (where we tried to reach Jackie, the mischievous little girl often reported there), the Forward Rope Hold (which I’ve been in before and it remains super-creepy!), the Séance Room, and finally the infamous B340, which is now dedicated with a plaque outside the door.
So, did we collect any evidence? Well, there was some creepy interaction in the rope hold, where my EMF meter – a digital model, not a K-2 – went crazy near a support beam that I’m guessing held some old wiring, and a friend pointed out an orb in my photo of the door leading to the Nursery (see above). But, at the evening’s end, Becca said it was a weirdly quiet night. Other than a few odd bits of conversation via the spirit box – the receivers seemed to blurt out excited responses when the subject of tattoos came up! – not much else happened.
But y’know, who cares when you get to visit parts of the historic vessel that you don’t normally get to see? I had a great time with The Grey Ghost Project, and I plan on doing it again when I can make the trek down to Long Beach.
BEHIND THE SCREAMS
In 1990, I got involved with a wonderful L.A. theater company called Theatre of N.O.T.E. (that stood for New One-Act Theater Ensemble). Despite the “one-act” part of their name, they put on full-length plays as well. When I first joined, they were doing an adaptation of a story called “Sombrero Fallout” by Richard Brautigan.
Philip K. Dick is my favorite author, and I was intrigued by the idea of adapting Dick to the stage. I thought about the various Dick novels and stories I’d read and loved, and realized that his novel Radio Free Albemuth would work very well: It hadn’t been made into a film already, it could be done without extensive science fiction sets and costumes (it’s set in California during the 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s), and I saw a way to adapt it that would make use of N.O.T.E.’s unique two-story stage (which was unusual for a small, 70-seat “black box” theater).
Upon contacting the agent handling the Dick estate, I was pleased to find they were amenable to the idea and the stage rights would be affordable. With the rights secured, I began working on my adaptation.
In the novel, Nicholas Brady is the best friend of writer Philip K. Dick (yes, Dick put himself into the book as a lead character); Brady begins experiencing mystical events which he believes are being given to him by an extraterrestrial intelligence called VALIS (which stands for Vast Active Living Intelligence System). In the meantime, an evil politician named Ferris Fremont has been elected President, due in part to the creation of a fake conspiracy called “Aramchek.” Eventually Nicholas and Phil run afoul of Fremont’s legions, called “Friends of the American People.”
I loved the novel’s political intrigue and building sense of dread, and was intrigued by incorporating Fremont as a character (which he’s really not in the novel). N.O.T.E. was filled with fine actors who could fit the parts, and I liked the idea of placing Fremont on the stage’s upper level so he would sort of overlook the action of the play, like some mad god.
The play had the misfortune of opening just when the Iraq War was launched, so audiences were scarce but several reviews were quite good. It’s never been staged again, but is available as a free read at my website.
I also directed it, and it remains one of my favorite creative experiences.
THE WRITE STUFF
Playing the long game…
That’s another way of saying, “Building a career.” If you’re a new writer, you may be full of dreams of instant success followed by a long line of other successes.
But that’s not how it works for most of us.
When I was young - maybe twenty? - I made a list of long-term goals. I put the list in order, hoping to move from one step to the next. I stumbled across the list in an old journal not long ago, and was surprised to see that I’d achieved eight out of the ten goals (I don’t even care at this point that I’ll never direct a movie!). But I know they didn’t come as quickly or easily as I’d hoped.
I had my first major sale (the screenplay for Life on the Edge, aka Meet the Hollowheads) when I was 29 (I did make that goal - I’d wanted a screenplay sale before I turned 30). I had my first short story sale five years later. I had my first non-fiction book published about seven years after that, and my first novel about six years after that non-fiction book.
Now, when I’ve reached the age that would’ve marked retirement (before Reagan up-ended all that), I’m still achieving new firsts (my first coffee table art book! My first Rondo Hatton Award!). I’ve now published over 200 short stories and four novels. Sometimes I think that the reason it’s easier for me to sell short fiction these days is just because I’ve kept plugging away. I never stopped writing. It’s almost like I win just for endurance!
It’s easy to get discouraged and drop out along the way. If you want a sobering experience, pick up a horror anthology from fifty years ago and see how many names you recognize in the table of contents. I know the horror genre pretty well, so when I don’t recognize a name I assume they didn’t have a major career; they probably went off to do something else.
But if you really love what you do - if you’ve got the writing urge buried so deep in your DNA you can’t deny it - you’ll stay in the game, and you’ll build your credit list. And at some point - with some talent and some luck - you, too, will be able to look back and be at ease with how it all went.
Oh, and by the way, what was that elusive tenth goal on my original list? To write something that hits the bestseller lists.
I haven’t given up on that yet.
NEWS & WORKS IN PROGRESS
As mentioned above, I’m working on a novel polish for my agent. Once that’s done, I’ll be hammering away on two short stories I’ve promised to editors.
My story “The Ship on the Sea of Nightmares” will appear in the William Hope Hodgson tribute anthology Where the Silent Ones Watch, edited by James Chambers and published by Hippocampus Press.
“When They Come” can be found in the Folk Horror issue of Weird Fiction Quarterly, and “The Destination” will be in the forthcoming Trips and Travel issue.
UPCOMING APPEARANCES
August 4 at 3 pm - I’ll be at Dark Delicacies with John Palisano signing our novella Placerita (this was moved from an earlier date)
October 6 at 3 pm - I’ll be at Dark Delicacies signing the forthcoming coffee table book Videotapes From Hell (I wrote a piece for the book about Something Weird Video)
June 12-15, 2025 - I’ll be in Stamford, CT for StokerCon
WHERE YOU CAN BUY MY BOOKS
GIVEAWAY
I recently realized that I had written 70 (!) installments of my writing column “The Write Stuff,” and I thought perhaps it might be useful to some writers to have a collection of all the columns in one place, so this month’s giveaway is a PDF e-book of all those columns. Just click the button below to grab your copy, and happy writing!
Thanks as always for reading this far!
Happy Summerween! What a great idea collecting all your columns into a PDF :)
🎃Happy Summerween🎃