Mayhem To Go

Since my last newsletter way back in July 2022 I have…

(drumroll, please)

… written the first draft of a novel; revised the living hell out of that novel; scripted a seven-episode radio drama; flew to Philadelphia for book research; drove across this great country of ours in an overstuffed U-Haul (which doubled as research for another book); plotted a graphic novel; wrote half of that graphic novel; pitched a TV show; pitched a movie, and oh… assembled my very first short story collection, available now from Cimarron Street Books.

I am super excited to have this baby out in the world, mostly because I grew up on single author short story collections.

At first, horror was my drug of choice. Stephen King’s Night Shift, Richard Matheson’s Shock I, II, and III, as well as his son Richard Christian Matheson’s Scars and Other Distinguishing Marks. Poppy Z. Brite’s Wormwood. David J. Schow’s Seeing Red. But the collection that blew the doors off the hinges in my mind was Clive Barker’s Books of Blood. Each volume felt like an all-night marathon of the most transgressive horror movies never made (though they did adapt quite a few over the years, most notably Bernard Rose’s Candyman, based on “The Forbidden.”)

Horror led me to dark crime fiction—my gateway drug being Joe Lansdale’s By Bizarre Hands, which in turn led me to Fredric Brown’s Nightmares and Geezenstacks, Patricia Highsmith’s Little Tales of Misogyny and Jim Thompson’s Fireworks.

Eventually my taste turned to speculative fiction—Harlan Ellison’s Love Ain’t Nothing But Sex Misspelled and Angry Candy. Ray Bradbury’s Illustrated Man and October Country. Fritz Leiber’s Heroes and Horrors. Neil Gaiman’s Smoke and Mirrors. What I admire the most about these four writers is that they are (arguably) best known for their short fiction. The collections are not a side hustle; they are the hustle.

Short stories are the test labs of the imagination—a space to run wild with a weird idea just to see where it will take you. They are also a great way to sample a new voice. These collections I’ve mentioned were little buffet tables of the brain, and I feasted like crazy.

The contents of Lush and Other Tales of Boozy Mayhem are the products of the test lab inside my own fevered brain. Early on, short stories were how I would test an idea and make sure it was able to walk across the room without tripping and falling flat on its face. Later, whenever someone would invite me to contribute a story to an anthology, I would do cartwheels—here was my chance to try something truly bonkers! (The cartwheeling, by the way, would end right around the time I realized had yet another deadline to meet.)

For better or worse, think of Lush as a kind of Swierczynski Sampler. Or, considering that most of these stories involve alcohol, call it A Cry for Help: Genre Stories About Booze. (The test lab in my brain is apparently located right next door to a bar.) Anyway, If you’ve enjoyed any of my novels, I think you’ll find a few things to like in this collection. There’s crime, horror, a little bit of SF, and some stories that combine all three… because that’s how my brain works.

Even though this is a single author collection, no writer works alone. And there were three people who helped me deliver this weird little baby into the world.

When I set out to look for a cover artist, Heather Vaughan was the first name on my dream list, so I’m thrilled it all worked out. I’ve adored Heather’s artwork for years and was finally lucky enough to work with her on “The Gangster’s Grave,” a short horror comic that appeared in John Carpenter’s Tales for a HalloweeNight Volume 8 (Storm King). We met up to discuss the project at Tattooed Mom on Philly’s South Street and spent half of the time swapping McGlinchey’s stories. You can feast your eyes on more of her stunning work at hvonillustration.com.

David J. Schow is one of the living masters of the short story and his backlist has been popping up as gorgeous “remixed” editions from Cimarron Street Books. (They’re all essential, but those new to the delights of DJS may want to start with Weird Doom, Seeing Red, and Wild Hairs.) David has been patiently needling me to gather my stuff into book form for a while now. After I reprinted “Eve of Destruction” in an earlier installment of this newsletter, David e-mailed: “Will you PLEASE warehouse this shit into a collection? We’ll do it. You need to see how well we’ll do it.”

And finally, none of this would have been possible without the steady hand of Cimarron Street Books publisher John Scoleri—who did indeed show me how well they do it. John’s the kind of publisher who has the solution to your problems before you realize you have them. He also didn’t flinch at my endless weird requests, like replicating the gory signature to a letter I wrote (to my future wife) thirty-four years ago… just because I thought it would be cool.

I had such a blast working on Lush with this talented team, I’m eager to do it all again. (But more on Mayhem Volume Two later.)

So what’s in this damn thing anyway? Lush includes…

“Lush,” naturally—the short story that appeared in Best American Mystery Stories 2019 and is currently being developed for film by Chad (John Wick) Stahelski. This scrappy thing elbowed its way into the title slot for a few reasons, but mostly because it encapsulates the unofficial theme of the collection.

“Hilly Palmer’s Last Case” and “Pinkerton,” two private eye stories that bookend the collection. Both take place (more or less) in the same bar. A character from the first pops up in the second. And they were written damn near 25 years apart! Heather Vaughan riffs on these stories for the wraparound cover—capturing a hazy, drunken afternoon at one of the best dive bars in the world. (Somewhere at McGlinchey’s—probably covered in dust, desperation and “Memphis Dog” residue—is the “Best of Philly” award that I spearheaded thirty some years ago.)

“Hell of An Affair,” a story written for Rockstar Games’ L.A. Noire and is appearing in print for the first time.

“Tough Guy Ballet,” a violent and profane Sherlock Holmes story (sort of) which was nominated for the 2019 International Thriller Writers Award.

“No. 2,” “Not All There” and “Life During Death”—three early deep cuts that are hard (if not impossible) to find in the wild.

“Speed of the Sound of Loneliness,” a new story written for this collection.

And there’s also a short autobiographical introduction, story notes, illustrations, and many other genre delights. I’m proud of this thing, and hope you’ll consider picking up a copy—or multiple copies for the loved ones in your life.

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Elsewhere in the Swierczy-verse

• While we’re still on the topic of Cimarron Street Books—I’m proud to have a new column in bare•bones, the imprint’s pop culture journal. It’s called “The Field Guide to L.A. Pulp.” Each installment tours the places where some of my favorite writers worked, played, slept or perished in the City of Angels. The first two columns featured Armitage Trail (author of Scarface) and David Goodis; coming soon is a tour through the life of Leigh Brackett (screenwriter of The Big Sleep, The Long Goodbye and The Empire Strikes Back). You can order copies here at cimarronstreetbooks.com; tell ‘em Swierczy sent you.

• I also have a novel with James Patterson out this August called Lion & Lamb. It’s my first full-length book with Jim and takes place in my hometown—the City of Brotherly Love. This thing has more twists and turns than Kelly Drive, and even predicted a recent Super Bowl! (Sort of.) I hope you’ll check it out.

• Early next year will see the release of my first solo novel in more than seven years: California Bear. (Apparently, I have an animal theme going on here; all I’m missing is a crime novel involving a tiger.) I’ll have lots more to say about the Bear in a future newsletter, but this thing has been in the works for quite a while, too. I wrote the first chapters while staying in the hospital room with my daughter Evie during her early days of her leukemia treatment—exactly five years ago.

• I’ve also been yapping on a couple of movie podcasts lately: The Scary Stuff Podcast in November, where I discussed Clive Barker’s Lord of Illusions (1995), and Mike White’s Projection Booth in early January, when I joined Mike and Chris Stachiw to discuss 1984’s The Ice Pirates—probably the strangest sci-fi comedy ever to star Anjelica Huston.

Anyway… that’s enough of me for now. Be kind to each other; it can be a brutal planet out there.

You’ve signed up for a newsletter from Duane Swierczynski, who has written a dozen novels, hundreds of comic books, a fistful of screenplays and audio dramas and other assorted nonsense. Born and raised in the City of Brotherly Love, he now lives with his family near the City of Angels.