PRESS RELEASE: Exploring the Labyrinth: Volume One

 

Following his run on the acclaimed My Life in Horror blog and book series (My Life in Horror Volume Two was a BFA finalist in 2023), author and essayist Kit Power brings his trademark blend of critical analysis and personal observation to bear on the work of Horror Grandmaster Brian Keene, based on a first read of Keene’s oeuvre.

 

Originally serialised on the Gingernuts of Horror website, and now running on Uncomfortably Dark, Exploring The Labyrinth Volume One collects the first thirty essays in the series, covering all of Keene’s novel and novella releases from smash hit debut The Rising through the haunting, heartbreaking masterpiece Alone.

 

The book looks at Earthworm Gods, Kill Whitey, Dead Sea, The Girl on the Glider and multiple entries in the Clickers series, covering Keene’s Leisure Books years and beyond. Each essay has been fully revised and expanded for this edition, and Exploring The Labyrinth Volume One also features a lengthy, career-spanning, exclusive interview with the man himself, as Power grills Keene for over two hours in a no-holds-barred discussion of his first thirty publications.

 

Exploring The Labyrinth Volume One is “...A must read for hardcore fans and those new to Keene's work alike."  (Gemma Amor, Bram Stoker and British Fantasy Award nominated author of Dear Laura, Full Immersion and Itch!)

 

Available NOW for preorder (on general release 13th October): http://mybook.to/KPETL

 

Advance praise for Exploring The Labyrinth Volume One:

 

“In Exploring The Labyrinth Volume One, Kit Power delivers a series of personal essays that look beyond tropes to offer insightful, intimate, and often irreverent commentary on the multiverse works of a veritable icon of horror pulp, Brian Keene, and in particular the development and evolution of that writer’s career, all told with Power’s easy familiarity and everyman voice. It’s like a year of book club discussions on paper—where all the discussions are carried out at the pub over a round of beers. Caveat: this book will have you reaching for your wallet to complete your catalogue of Keene’s work, and some others to boot. A must-have for fans of Keene and horror.”

— Lee Murray, five-time Bram Stoker Award®-winning author of Grotesque: Monster Stories

 

‘What happens when someone new to the works of Brian Keene decides to experience that writer’s career exactly as his longtime fans lived it—one novel at a time, in the order they hit the shelves? Kit Power’s Exploring The Labyrinth is the answer: a spoiler-filled, first-read chronicle that treats myriad versions of the apocalypse, zombies, man-eating earthworms, cryptids and Lovecraftian creatures with the same seriousness it affords character, theme, and craft. Power is not a character in a Brian Keene novel, but he knows exactly what is likely to happen to someone who is. Book by book, Power maps Keene's interlocking mythos and makes a case for pulp fiction done right, exploring Keene as a builder of worlds and a keen (pun intended) observer of the human experience. Energetic, accessible, and unafraid to call a viscera-spattered shot a masterpiece (or not), this is an enthusiastic and fresh-eyed take on Keene's impressive oeuvre.’

- Bev Vincent, author of Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences

 

“Writing with gusto, impeccable grace, and quiet intimacy, Power crafts a must-have collection of essays documenting Keene’s sure-fire influence on the horror genre. Exploring the Labyrinth is a testament to the literary prowess and intelligence of both writers.”

— Dave Jeffery, British Fantasy Award and Bridport Prize nominated writer of Mood Swings and the A Quiet Apocalypse series.

 

“These series of essays/critiques feel like sitting down with an old acquaintance to chat about your favorite author. Even though I’ve read a considerable amount of Keene’s published work for the past several years, I now find myself in the precarious position of staggering away from this book and feeling as though I had learned new things about him, as though I had uncovered certain secrets I had never been told before.”

—Eric LaRocca, Splatterpunk Award winner, Shirley Jackson and Bram Stoker Award®-nominated author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since Last We Spoke