Rock and Roll Heaven

Recently, we lost a few notable rock and roll stars, least of which was the notorious Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead, and Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver.

And two days ago, David Bowie passed away. He left an indelible mark on the world of music from his classic alien persona, Ziggy Stardust, to the Thin White Duke era of "Let's Dance." And if you haven't heard of his late 80's rock band, Tin Machine, you need to unfuck that immediately. "Under the God" is a blisteringly catchy hard rock anthem. My own all-time favorite band, Duran Duran, has publicly for years cited Bowie as a major influence, and have covered a number of Bowie songs over the years.

This story popped into my head the other morning and while on Facebook, before getting ready for work, I wrote this. Feel free to blast some Ziggy or "Heroes" (my personal favorite is "Golden Years") and enjoy.

Rock and Roll Heaven
Copyright 2016

The vast room was hazy with smoke and filled the chatter of conversation, punctuated with laughter. Glasses rattled with ice cubes, beer bottles clunked together along with tumblers of drink in celebration and general good cheer. Some held intruments, guitars and the like, even a saxophone, but mostly just to idly strum or blow a few chords. One short blonde haired young man in a plaid shirt and ripped jeans sat in a corner scribbling in a notebook while a skinny guy with tight black leather pants and close-cropped, dyed-red hair talked animatedly to him, gesturing with his cigarette. Behind them at the long bar, two other men--one with long curly brown hair in a denim jacket--lifted his glass of whiskey and chuckled at something his companion sitting at the barstool next to him said, in his thick English accent. The Englishman had long black hair, thick mutton chops and a mustache, and he wore a leather vest with a black leather hat adorned by an emblem of silver crossed cutlasses.

Suddenly, the room's only door swung open, revealing a tall, thin light-haired man, clad in a trim yet stylish suit. His slender tie was impeccably knotted and his eyes swept the crowd coolly. He grinned rakishly as he stepped inside.

Lemmy glanced up at the latest entrant and called out in his distinctive raspy brogue.

"David...come on in and join the party!"

Top Horror Novels of 2015

I posted this on Facebook a few days ago, but here's my list again of the best horror novels read last year, published in 2015:

As the last four and a half hours of 2015 tick tocks away, here's my Best Books of the past year (in no order of importance):

THE COMPLEX by Brian Keene (actually, finishing it up this evening as we speak, but this is a fantastic book, right up there with my favorites by him)

A LITTLE MAGENTA BOOK ABOUT A DOLL HOUSE by Edward Lee (Lee doing MR James, but it's Ed Lee, so nuff said)

WOLF LAND by Jonathan Janz (love anything loup garou, and Jonathan freaking nailed it big time!)

TENEBRIS by Tim Curran   (I'm an unapologetic Tim Curran fanboy, and only   minor complaint is that I wanted the book to be longer; then again, DEAD SEA and RESURRECTION are huge, so I'll just shaddup)

FINDERS KEEPERS by Stephen King  (just because, and while he has been criticized  for his recent works not holding up to the classic ones, that's just nonsense; he's at the top of his game...in my opinion)

THE BORDER by Robert McCammon  (STINGER is one of my favorites by him and he returns to form with this bleak but heartfelt scifi horror novel)

THE SCARLET GOSPELS by Clive Barker  (yes, I know I'll catch some shit for this selection, but you know what? Don't care. It's Harry D'Amour versus Pinhead. While the book had issues, it was still a hellishly fun and nasty trip)

ORPHANS OF WONDERLAND by Greg F. Gifune (my favorite of his to date and if you haven't read him...what the fuck is wrong with you? :P)

ABRAM'S BRIDGE by Glenn Rolfe  (newer author to the horror fiction scene but this clever novella instantly drew me in and I'm a fan! And his latest novel, BLOOD AND RAIN just kills it!)

DARKNESS RISING by Brian Moreland  (fantastic novella that grabbed me by the heart and twisted; and DEAD OF WINTER is a great book, along with THE WITCHING SEASON...hell, buy em all!)

ALL HALLOW'S  DEAD by Bryan Smith  (Bryan is one of my favorites ever since he published his first few books from Leisure Horror; and while I haven't read his critically-acclaimed SLOWLY WE ROT, his Halloween novel was a blast!)

THE LOST LEVEL by Brian Keene   (pulp horror mixed with high fantasy of a sort, drenched in his Labyrinth mythos. It's Brian Keene. Nuff fucking said! ;))

THE NIGHTMARE GIRL by Jonathan Janz (yep, him again. And why am I thinking this book could've been called THE HEY GIRL...oh never mind. It's Jonathan Janz, and he rocks!)