And just like that I have an idea for my first stage play.
It's a combo kaiju / old spooky house / mad scientist / cosmic horror / Lovecraft-esque play full of jump scares and creature FX (that can, obviously, be modified for every theater company / playhouse that puts it on, allowing for liberal interpretations that suit each company's culture and perspective).
It is titled "Under Foot".
The exact plot details I am keeping under my hat and only sending them to my buddy Tim Scott for now.
So, back in August of 2023 my mom and I were making our second trip to New York. We go there from time-to-time to see Broadway shows, see the touristy sites and eat some good food.
I would say the main attraction that brought us back so soon after our initial trip (in March 2023) was a horror play called The Grey House by Levi Holloway.
However, the play closed before we got there.
I guess attendance wasn't great.
Which really brought me down, as it was playing at an old gothic-looking theater is literally across the street (about 40 steps) from the hotel where we usually stay (The Millennium).
I bring this up because I am currently reading this play (the next best thing before someone decided to revive it... hopefully in St. Louis or Chicago) and just remembered that Final Draft (the software I use to write screenplays) allows writers to use templates for all kinds of other writing (teleplays, stage plays, etc.).
I am thinking I need to expand my repertoire into stage play writing.
Now I just need an idea.
On the one hand, I want to do a David Kemp stage play.
A simply comedy/drama.
A bit of transgressive (realistic) escapism that only a Kemp story can provide.
Another part of me wants to write a horror stage play.
In fact, I'm heavily leaning in that direction.
Well, I am going to rack my brain.
I'm sure an idea will descend upon me... probably while I'm at the gym.
We shall see.
It's just exciting to be exploring a new genre of writing.
A week or so ago I was watching the special features on the 4K steelbook of The Dark Crystal (a Jim Henson movie that traumatized me as a kid). In it, someone (I think it might have been Henson's daughter, Lisa) said that once Jim Henson had mastered one type of puppetry, that he was anxious to move on to master something else... something that challenged him.
That was inspiring.
And as Jim Henson is one of my many role models (and certainly one of my foundational role models, having been raised a PBS kid), I feel like I need to take a page from his approach to creativity and the workmanship it entails.
So here I go...
So... I have not only thrown my 3rd screenplay (Invoking Henry... a love story involving ghosts and murderers) up on Kindle, but I have made a list of all of my works (short story collections, novels, screenplays, etc.) that I still need to publish on Kindle and what I have to do with them (check the manuscript for problematic material, create a cover, etc.) before I publish them.
So, I have a roadmap for publishing my entire oeuvre on Kindle.
I am extremely pleased with what I have done thus far this summer (by publishing nearly all of my screenplays on Kindle), but I cannot rest on my laurels. I want as much (or all) of my work on Kindle for (someone!) everyone to enjoy.
So... onward I go.
Well, as I said in my last post, I dreamt up a story while at the gym... then I went home and wrote it in one sitting.
Don't think I've done that since college.
It is a satirical zombie story called "Hordes".
I have sent it to my forever editor and workshop partner, Tim Scott.
Pending his approval, I will post it here for the world to read.
I also need to start compiling all the horror (short) stories I've written since Shades of Darkness and publish that on Kindle.
Oh also, this past weekend, I tried sketching for the first time in ages.
I was sketching a forest (just as a background) and was meticulously trying to add detail (by that I mean bark) to each tree in the picture.
However, I got frustrated (and perhaps bored) and just drew a crude sketch of what was in my imagination that I wanted to get out. I made sure to note at the top of the page that this was a "1st attempt".
Perhaps I will try it again before the end of summer.
Perhaps not.
We shall see.
Some of my best recent story ideas have come to me while I've been at the gym.
Today I was running/biking my miles when I got an idea for a zombie short story.
Haven't written a piece of zombie fiction (in short story format) since college, I believe.
I think I might dedicate tonight to that instead of Depravity.
We'll see...
It's just nice to have a wellspring of ideas.
Just got this... my rebuttal after the rejection letter:
"
|
 |
| |||||||||||||
Okay, so... this is weird.
Apparently, I submitted my 2008 (which I heavily re-wrote in 2015, just before pitching it at my first PitchFest that summer) screenplay Flatdog to HorrorHound.
I am guessing that was entirely by accident.
How did I determine that this was accidental?
Because in all my record keeping (and my record keeping is precise) I had written down that I'd submitted Personal Demons to HorrorHound.
Which is interesting for a number of reasons.
First, I was getting rather depressed and somewhat anxious that perhaps Personal Demons' winning streak was over (it's had 4 rejections thus far in 2026; If I'd submitted Personal Demons to HorrorHound, and it hadn't been selected, this would have been its 5th rejection in 7 months).
However, I maintain that, if I'd submitted Personal Demons, as intended, I probably would have placed somewhere, if not been an "Official Selection" at HorrorHound.
This is also interesting because, lately, I have thought about submitting Flatdog to some film fests and screenplay competitions. After all, I am running out of places I haven't submitted Personal Demons to. Furthermore, I was so proud of the re-write I had done on it in 2015. However, this latest rejection tells me that, well, maybe hold off on wasting a bunch of money on film fest submissions for Flatdog. It may not be ready just yet.
But who knows. I may submit it to a few places just because.
But now I want to talk about horror cons that have their own film fest.
The horror con I've gone to the most (Days of the Dead) has (or had... I honestly don't know) a film fest. I submitted Personal Demons in 2023 and got an Honorable Mention.
Now, HorrorHound is both a magazine and a horror con (that's always in Ohio... one of those cities whose name starts with a "C"... I dunno).
Their magazine I think I bought one issue of it once... but never really read it.
And their con... apart from sometimes being jealous that their line-up is pretty sweet (they do tend to get a large concentration of big name guests), I've never had much desire to go. Often their "big name" guests are either people I've met before (like Peter Weller, who wound up cancelling), people I've been desperate to meet (like Nancy Allen... who wound up cancelling), people I've met a million times (like Pauly Shore, Heather Langenkamp, Melinda Clarke, etc.) and people who never do cons and whom I am desperate to meet (like Lisa Schrage from Prom Night II: Hello, Mary Lou... and Brian Yuzna!... who has not left my list of top 3 favorite directors since I saw Return of the Living Dead 3 when I was 14 years old).
Anyhow, in March of 2024 my buddy and I went to the Chicago Days of the Dead. It was a Hellraiser reunion and Clive Barker (!) was there on his con farewell tour before he sequestered himself at home to write.
The professional photo op Barker and I took is below. Everyone (including Doug Bradley) got a kick out of my Monster Squad-esque shirt, re-written in adoration for Barker instead of Stephen King.
That was the same weekend that HorrorHound had Brian Yuzna.
Now, it was a no-brainer for me. Sure, I would have loved to gush at Brian Yuzna for nearly an hour and tell him how much his oeuvre has inspired and influenced my work.
But I couldn't pass up the chance to meet one of my favorite authors, filmmakers, painters and just all-around amazing human beings (Barker).
Anyhow, I was in line to get some stuff autographed by Barker when a guy came barrelling into the con (it was also snowing outside and about 20 degrees or lower... my kind of March weather!) and told everyone that he had just come from HorrorHound (I guess he went there for Friday and then drove into Chicago early Saturday).
Anyhow, all he could talk about was how inept and unorganized HorrorHound Weekend was and how this con (Days of the Dead... the con we were at) was the best con to attend, because of its organization, its smooth running mechanics, and the way the con owners treat their volunteers and their celebs.
I'm not talking trash on HorrorHound (please remember, it was that guy who rushed from one con to the other who made these statements about each con, not me), but it's interesting information to note.
If the HorrorHound film fest is still around next year I will most definitely submit Personal Demons to them. And if it doesn't at least place, or get an Honorable Mention... then I might have some unkind words for HorrorHound.
Until then...
