Ketchup

Woof. It's been nuts! The good news is that I'm making solid progress on the new book. The bad news is that I've been wildly remiss in neglecting to mention my return to Horror Addicts, a freaky fun podcast hosted by the vampire herself, Emerian Rich. The short story featured in this episode is "Caninus," an early, urban suspense story of mine that originally ran in the fanzine The Vampire's Crypt #25 way back in Spring 2002.

There was a time when I thought this might be the direction I'd go with my career: unexpected, dark, horror pieces set in modern-day life.

I'd categorize "Caninus" with stories like "Monsters" and "Pattern Masters," but this is a "lost" piece of Carlson fiction. I don't even list it in my bibliography because it was published in such a tiny venue. Looking back, I'm really surprised it didn't crack the larger markets. There are a lot of good ideas, story-telling and surprises here.

The narrator is Rhonda Carpenter, who absolutely NAILS the tone and cadence of this piece. The shocking freaky sound effects don't hurt, either.

This podcast ranks among my all-time favorites, and I highly recommend it. In fact, I'm going to add it to the "Selected Podcasts" section on the Free Fiction page of my web site as being among the most representative of my short fiction.

Horror Addicts #27 can be found here. "Caninus" begins at the 45 minute mark.

Labels: Caninus podcast, Emerian Rich, Horror Addicts #27, Rhonda Carpenter