The State of Modern Horror Fiction (1983)

[@Sirchud68]

K.E.W. should never be out of print. He should be on every bookshelf of every lover of S&S.

[@willerror]

I love all these writers. What a great era for horror fiction. Thanks for posting this!

[@MarshOakDojoTimPruitt]

just discovered Karl Edward Wagner his Kane stories are awesome !!!

[@skinnypuppy95]

Never thought I'd find footage of KEW. Finally heard his voice. His collection In A Lonely Place is a masterpiece. Wish he was still here.

[@GentlemanLife-Beyotch]

Many thanks for the upload!

[@BevVincent]

DeepSouthCon 21, AKA Satyricon II, was held June 3-5, 1983 at the Hyatt Regency Knoxville in Knoxville, TN.

[@Kev95682]

BAH GAWD IT'S KANE!

[@jackiebachman2256]

Too cool. Many horror writers have come and gone since then, but King and Straub, two of the best ever are still writing along with younger horror writers including Steve's sons.

[@2Times22]

Karl Edward Wagner ladies and gents..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@cliffbiggers7784]

This is from the 1983 DeepSouthCon, held in Knoxville.

[@MrPhatWallet]

WAGNER!!

[@civoreb]

Grant is one of my favorite period. This is the only video I found of him speaking.

[@wesleyrodgers886]

There's one of him on youtube (audio only) of him talking to a writers group.

[@wesleyrodgers886]

Odyssey writing workshops, is the search item.

[@dq405]

The people unnamed are Alan Ryan and David Drake.

[@Twirlyhead]

Oh, no ! You named the unnamed ones ! Arrrrghhh !

[@benj3565]

Too bad that Charlie gets cut off by tape break, but this is a great convo.

[@sicklygreyfoot]

The irony here is amusing, isn't it? All of these writers--with the exception of King (my hero) and Straub, who had learned by the time of this taping that you can't fight market taxonomy and accepted their "horror writer" labels--are at the very least suggesting that they resent being labeled at all, yet how they are marketed remains the central question. It's something from which they can't escape. Great vid, though; I love hearing from "popular" writers from around this period.

[@MrWilum]

How I miss Karl.....

[@reberclark]

Sorry, I thought this post would have been about Oregon or Washington State.

[@Chris_yes]

george castanza? :) :)

[@Flayne009]

OMG Peter! Wearing a t-shirt stating "I'm on coke" would be less obvious than your behavior. But, god bless you big guy. You're my favorite horror writer. Wow. The drip he snorts back @3:49.

[@rodneyadderton1077]

Peter was in a bad car accident when he was a teenager that almost killed him. That could contribute to his behavior. But then, he and King could've 'tooted' before the show. Both are great writers regardless. :-)

[@rodneyadderton1077]

Whitley before Communion. God bless ya.

[@Flayne009]

@@rodneyadderton1077 I didn't know he was in a car accident when he was younger. I guess that explains that plot point in Mystery.

[@Flayne009]

@David Smith Stephen King was big into coke in the 80s. Wouldn't be surprised if King introduced it to him.

[@zzyllaa]

Deep South Con, my very first convention!

[@crazybastardo9452]

KANE!!!!!

[@souhaylasolo1213]

Straub's Blue Rose was fantastic. A killer among the society elite. I mixed it with Windmills of the Gods. But now see one was maniac one maniac was paid. So can't be the same person. King on VC Andrews @ :59

[@ameliab9391]

What's the name of this female author they keep mentioning? Something Burgess.

[@skinnypuppy95]

Angela Taylor Burgess. It’s a fictitious author they made up. It’s an in joke they agreed to prank the audience with in advance. Strieber can barely keep a straight face when he explains her biography of setting herself on fire. The irony of it all is they make you wish the author was real because they make her sound interesting.

[@ameliab9391]

@skinnypuppy95 hahaha what the hell they had me googling all kinds of words trying to find this writer 🫠 Thank you replying, it was driving me crazy.

[@faust13301]

I spent nearly 20 minutes trying to find her. lol

[@chennzy5244]

who knew charlie

[@Tabletop_Epics]

Karl Edward Wagner, the only panelist here who is worth a damn, in my humble opinion.

[@michael-h8y8t]

>"She may be writing the worst prose in the entire English language" No, that's you Steve.

[@annonimus2247]

Hahah stephen king's outfit haha

[@ИванИванов-э4л7п]

Вагнер ты лучший!!

[@briancarney3443]

Horror in the 70's, 80's, 90's, 2000's, 2010's, etc on... For the most part? Far more formula than originality. I am no longer entertaining the notion I might experience something Apart from the decades of being led to a book, a magazine, a cable movie or theatrical release, etc... Only to discover further disappointments that come with 90% of these rehash+rehash+it's "Alien" ...meets... "The Goonies" or "Psycho" ...meets... "Rambo" & have a Child named, "Chucky". .... Formulates of unoriginal homogeneous scare buck for the bang is not working anymore. As such, for decades now? Most viewers go into horror in the media outlets just not expecting much from the horror genre. Again, from the 70's on... In major motion pictures alone , Horror continues on a steady decline with respect to Original Works of what makes an "Exorcist" or a ""Hereditary" or a "Blair Witch Project" or a Texas Chainsaw Massacre" or a ...well, You can see where I'm headed with this... William Peter B. had pointed out what initially led him to write "The Exorcist". In a nutshell WPB found himself writing a hardcore horror movie primarily due to the single fact that being a writer of comedy In the mid 60's and 70's meant any works of comedy submissions fell out of the interests of the book readers, movie producers, directors, more importantly, John Q. Public. So having recognized this downturn William drew upon a true story to write a story he felt audiences were looking for. Something new, something based on true accounts, That would dazzled any reasonable person in such a way, the experience, the journey would remain burned into their minds for the rest of their lives. ...alas... "The Exorcist" was born. Then, in the 70's "Halloween" gave us Another shining example of Horror Originality. And then the 80's bring "The Shining", "Poltergeist", and a baker's dozen of others to round out the Entirety of notable 80's horror. Stephen King, one will find holds the record for book adaptations making it to the big screen. YET.. WE JUST DO NOT SEE ANY OTHER KINGS OR WILLIAMS IN The 70's, 80's, and so on to this day Think about that.... Let that sink in....

[@egglady]

The Exorcist, while a great book and film, was not all that original. Ray Russell got there about ten years before with his novel The Case Against Satan. Is it as good as The Exorcist? No. I would argue it’s not about how “original” your book or movie is, it’s whether you can take existing ideas and make them fresh. Dracula was not the first vampire story by any means, yet it’s the best-known because it took the already existing idea of the vampire to new places.