Beyond the Darkness 6

Old and Fat

Whelp, here we are. I’ve been teasing you all long enough (teehee). I have approximately thirty-five copies of the brand new edition of The Betrayed in-hand. That’s thirty regular bundles (first twenty come with a hard-shell refrigerator magnet) and five of the Hell on Earth bundles (includes an exclusive 11”x17” art print of the cover art). You can click on the pictures below and they’ll take you straight to my webstore where they can be purchased, or you can just click here: wesleysouthardhorror.com.

***NOTE: My webstore is only designed for customers with United States addresses. If you live outside the US and would like a copy, or anything off my site, please contact me at wesleysouthard@gmail.com and I will work with you to get you books to your home country.***

***NOTE: The Hell on Earth bundle is only available to customers with United States addresses. The art prints will ship separately from the book, and the price for the separate shipping is part of the total price of the bundle. My sincere apologies to those outside of the US***

Seriously, you all, thank you so much being a part of this newsletter and following my career in this wild world of horror fiction. I truly appreciate every single one of you. This novel was my first born, which I started writing all the way back in 2007. Even though I put it out in 2017, I was never all that happy with its release. It was hard for me to get excited about even talking about it online or pushing it at conventions. But now it’s got the new life it deserves and I am so grateful to all involved in its glamorous facelift. I hope you decided to check it out, either by getting a copy from me or purchasing it on Amazon or Barnes and Noble. Either way, much love to you all!

---

So, today is my birthday. Thirty-six. Almost forty. Almost time to get that yearly gloved finger up the butt.

Christ, I’m feeling old.

Honestly, I’m not the type that worries about getting older, but I’m starting to feel it. I used to wait until the morning to relieve myself, but now I find I’m waking up in the middle of the night with the urge to go and deciding not to wait. Long hours at work are hell on my already flat feet. I’m only a few months away from completely giving up on my hair and just going for the scorched earth bald look. I didn’t think my thirties would be this hard on me.

But now that I’m a father, getting older is starting to worry me. By the time my son is in high school, I’ll be deep into my fifties and that completely freaks me out. I keep telling myself, year after year, this is the time to start eating better and getting into shape, but I find that shape continues to look like a pear. I want to be around for a long time for my wife and son. I want to see him grow up and go to school, make friends, find someone who loves him, get married, have kids. And in order to do that, I have to make some changes. It’s just hard you know. I love Doritos too damn much.

I honestly don’t even know what I’m trying to say here or why I’m saying any of this at all. I guess I just want to be relatable and real to my readers. I’m just like you guys, you know? My butler puts my pants on one leg at a time, just like you.

---

My Tales from the Crypt full series re-watch continues…

Television Terror (S2, E16)

A TV shock jock gives an on-air tour through a haunted house…with dire consequences. This is by far my absolute favorite episode of this show ever. And I might go as far as to say it’s probably the best episode they ever shot. Morton Downey Jr. plays his usual over-the-top obnoxious self (and pretty much a carbon copy of his character from Predator 2) and does it so well. This episode has it all. It’s genuinely scary and unnerving. It’s exceptionally well directed and shot. The music is downright creepy. I absolutely love it. And the scene when Horton Rivers is talking to his camera man and a pair of legs falls down from the ceiling behind him, it gets me every time. My only complaint is I wish the episode was fifteen minutes longer.

My Brother’s Keeper (S2, E17)

Siamese twins who are joined at the hip want two very different things in life. One wants to be with the woman of his dreams, while the other wants an experimental surgery to finally separate the two. Things get a little messy. Where the previous episode was dark and disturbing, this one was a full 180 in the other direction. It’s a pretty silly episode, but I will give them credit on the makeup effects for the area on their hip where they are conjoined. The few times they do close ups, its pretty gross looking. Not a bad episode, but not a great one either. It stars Timothy Stack of Son of the Beach fame. Yes, I still remember Son of the Beach.

The Secret (S2, E18)

A young boy, stuck for a very long time at an orphanage, is finally adopted by a wealthy couple who appear to have a secret…but little Theodore discovers a secret of his own. I remember this one well as a kid, liking it back then. Watching it again with adult eyes, it’s pretty silly and predictable. When the couple are revealed as vampires, the husband is wearing a ridiculous cap and his collar is winged and sticking straight up. My wife and I got a pretty good laugh out of that. I do think the boy’s werewolf makeup was pretty solid though. It was also nice to see them bring back Larry Drake for a small role, of whom we all know was the killer Santa from season 1.

And that’s it for season two! Hopefully this week I can start season three and share my thoughts next Sunday.

---

Writing updates…

Well, I wish I had more to share with you, but I don’t. I can say that the project I am working on with author Wile E. Young is slowly moving along. I started to finally have some breakthroughs mentally for my half, which is what kept me from getting any meaningful work done on it, but I believe I can actually get some words down this week on it. Our goal is to have this book out by AuthorCon, but please don’t hold us to that. If it fails to come out by then, the blame is squarely on my shoulders.

---

Currently reading: Always Listen to Her Hurt by Kenzie Jennings

Currently watching: The Last of Us (I’m enjoying this show, but it’s honestly not breaking any new ground in the zombie genre. It’s beat for beat like a hundred other movies or books I’ve encounters before, but it’s still entertaining.)

Currently listening: Siren Charms by In Flames (This album is an underrated masterpiece)

---

And that’s it. Thanks again, everyone, for stopping by! See you next week.