{"id":3194,"date":"2019-09-07T11:34:57","date_gmt":"2019-09-07T11:34:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joehill.nl\/TheCollection\/?page_id=3194"},"modified":"2019-09-07T11:34:57","modified_gmt":"2019-09-07T11:34:57","slug":"escapehatch033","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/joehill.nl\/TheCollection\/nonfiction\/escapehatch\/escapehatch033\/","title":{"rendered":"Escape Hatch 033: Full Throttle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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Throttling Up<\/h1>\n

Hard to believe the next collection is out in just over a month… my first true book of short stories since the one that kicked off my career,\u00a020th Century Ghosts<\/em><\/strong>, which came out almost 15 years ago, in 2005. The book is available from all the usual suspects, online and off. Want it signed?\u00a0Water Street Books, my local indie, is taking pre-orders on autographed copies<\/a>.\u00a0Barnes & Nobles has a pile of signed books<\/a>\u00a0as well and are ready to ship right to you. Waterstones in the U.K. will also have signed copies.<\/p>\n

In the market for something a little more luxe?\u00a0Subterranean Press has crafted a glorious<\/a>\u00a0limited edition<\/a>, featuring the mind-blowing art of David McKean (and autographed by the both of us). Man, it looks good. Get an eyeful.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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More of an audio guy? On the day of release,\u00a0Full Throttle<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0can be found wherever audiobooks are available. I was very pleased to see\u00a0Full Throttle on Amazon’s fall preview of the most anticipated audiobooks<\/a>\u00a0(it was also a top pick on their “from an editor” section). And, hey, what a line-up of readers we got! The voices behind the audiobook include Zachary Quinto, Will Wheaton, Kate Mulgrew (wow I sound like a guy with a Star Trek fetish), Neil Gaiman (seriously!!), Ashleigh Cummings (Vic!), Laysla de Oliveira (Dodge!), Nate Corddry, Connor Jessup, Stephen Lang, George Guidall, and, uh, me.<\/p>\n

Want to catch me on the road in support of the book? My full tour schedule is here on the blog (and I’ll update it when and if anything changes).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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All Locked Down<\/strong><\/h2>\n

But October is a busy month! It’s not just\u00a0Full Throttle<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0Locke & Key<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0is returning to stores with a standalone issue titled “Dog Days”, featuring two tales of Keyhouse… one set in the past, and one set in the here and now (the present day story was also published as an SDCC exclusive). Gabriel Rodriguez’s crazy-ass-brilliant cover only hints at how much fun we had banging out these new stories.<\/p>\n

With the worldwide Netflix release of\u00a0Locke & Key\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>on the horizon, you can expect a bunch more stories of Keyhouse on the page as well. Over the last few years, Gabe and I have been telling stories about the children of Chamberlin Locke, in the years between 1910 – 1935. Already published titles include “Small World,” “Open The Moon,” and “Grindhouse.” “Dog Days” is another, and there are two more after that. I’m… pretty sure that one of those two upcoming stories is going to mess with some heads.<\/p>\n

After that, we’re gonna take a deep breath and then dive into\u00a0World War Key<\/strong><\/em>, a new six book cycle we’ve been kicking around for a couple years. Not too much longer now.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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This is also\u00a0out in October.<\/h2>\n

Might be the most full-on, no-nonsense, straight-ahead horror thing I’ve done since\u00a0NOS4A2<\/em>. Colorist Dave Stewart is going to use every shade of red in the book before we’re done.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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My thanks to editor Ellen Datlow for including “You Are Released” in Best Horror of the Year, vol. 11. It’s always an honor.<\/p>\n

Even if you’ve already read that story you have to pick this beast up — how else are you going to stay current on the most exciting, innovative, and refreshing fiction in the genre?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Boy oh Boy<\/h2>\n

I watched Amazon’s\u00a0<\/span>The Boys<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0with my\u00a0<\/span>own<\/u>\u00a0boys, in a four-day rush, and it’s fair to say we dug every filthy minute. At some point, one of my kids mentioned that in an MCU movie, The Boys — Karl Urban and company — would be the villains. Really, do they operate any differently from Michael Keaton’s Vulture and his goons? Or Killmonger’s gang?\u00a0So now I want someone to recut a few episodes of the show to create a version where The Seven (the show’s toxic remix of The Justice League) are the unambiguous heroes pushing back against Urban’s\u00a0motley crew of hero-hating terrorists. Seriously: the protagonists of\u00a0The Boys<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0operate from\u00a0exactly<\/u>\u00a0the same motive that drove the heavies in\u00a0both<\/u>\u00a0Incredibles<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0movies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even more than\u00a0<\/span>Deadpool<\/em>,\u00a0<\/span>The Boys<\/em>\u00a0is a jolting corrective to all the things we’ve been taught about superheroes in the MCU and DC-verse flicks. In some ways, it presents a world that just makes a lot more\u00a0sense<\/em>… and which is, as a result, a lot more terrifying. I’d add that\u00a0<\/span>The Boys<\/strong><\/em>‘ take on Superman, Homelander,\u00a0<\/span>miiiiiiight<\/em>\u00a0be the scariest bad guy to come to the screen in years.\u00a0By the final episodes, my skin would crawl every time his eyes lit up.<\/p>\n

It’s a great show and if superheroes matter in your life, probably essential. It gets right to the heart of the sickness embedded in the power fantasy of\u00a0being\u00a0<\/em>super… the fantasy that Jack Kirby accurately identified as the driving force behind the whole genre. Think of it as the TV version of what David\u00a0Grohl was singing about in “There Goes My Hero” and give it a shot.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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NOW…
\n…\u00a0watching<\/u>: BARRY, SEASON TWO
\n…\u00a0reading<\/u>: THE NUTMEG OF CONSOLATION by Patrick O’ Brian
\nand FIGHTING AT SEA IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY: THE ART OF SAILING WARFARE by Sam Willis
\nand PRINCE VALIANT: VOL. 2 by Hal Foster
\n…\u00a0listening<\/u>: “LET’S ROCK” – Black Keys
\nand WEED GARDEN – Iron & Wine
\nand FATHER OF THE BRIDE – Vampire Weekend<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Right now I’m carrying — this is not bullshit —\u00a0five<\/em><\/strong><\/u>\u00a0different comic book titles, which will begin to land in waves, starting with\u00a0Basketful of Heads<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0#1 and the\u00a0Locke & Key: Dog Days<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0special. Those will be followed by a crime comic I’m doing with IDW,\u00a0Dying is Easy<\/em><\/strong>, and another Hill House story,\u00a0Plunge<\/em><\/strong>, and finally an ongoing strip called\u00a0Sea Dogs<\/em><\/strong>, which will run as a backup feature across\u00a0all<\/u>\u00a0of the Hill House titles… not just the ones I’m writing.<\/p>\n

I’ve always wondered if I could\u00a0do<\/strong><\/u><\/em>\u00a0it, y’know… work like a real, no-bullshit, full-time comic book writer, someone like Gail Simone or Brian K. Vaughan. When I was scripting the first six books of\u00a0Locke & Key<\/strong>,<\/em>\u00a0I was usually doing it on the side, while I wrote novels. But I never risked trying to keep more than two storylines in my head at once, let alone\u00a0five<\/em>. This is a little like being one of those compulsive chess nuts who play five games at once. With the relentless deadlines, too, it’s also like running through a field of high grass with a tractor thrashing relentlessly through the stalks behind me. If I fall…<\/p>\n

… but for now, I’m on my feet, and not I’m not just managing… I feel, actually, a kind of exhilaration. This afternoon I finished writing the first issue of\u00a0Plunge<\/em><\/strong>, working longhand in a pigeon colored Leuchtturm1917 notebook. It was as happy a writing experience as I’ve had all year. I’ve got four issues scripted so far of\u00a0Dying is Easy<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0— and Martin Simmonds has only just finished illustrating the first, visually capturing a world of blurred neon lights and regrets and repressed violence. I’ve written five issues of\u00a0Basketful of Heads<\/em><\/strong>, and just a little while ago, Leomacs presented me with the finished inks on issue two. The closing sequence, which lasts almost half the issue, is a blast of gonzo gore that tips over from horror to hilarity in the space of about four panels. I love it so much. The\u00a0Locke & Key<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0stuff is working on its own somewhat separate timeline, so that’s less of a worry (Dog Days<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>is in the can, and it’ll be a few weeks before I have to start writing the next). And\u00a0Sea Dogs<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0is my chance to write something that has the feel of an old-timey color Sunday strip — think\u00a0Prince Valiant<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>— but which also lets me explore the 18th century naval story-scapes that I’ve come to love reading the Patrick O’Brian novels.<\/p>\n

Agreeing to write all these stories in the same timeframe was obviously a form of madness, but in this case it seems to be a happy madness. We’ll see if I still feel that way a month from now.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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That’s all I got this time out. Looks like we’ve slammed the door on the furnace of summer. Fall is the best season — it’s ghost story weather. Here’s hoping you’ve got a couple good shuddery reads lined up for the autumn. Be well and hang in there. Don’t let the world make you crazy.<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Throttling Up Hard to believe the next collection is out in just over a month… my first true book of short stories since the one that kicked off my career,\u00a020th Century Ghosts, which came out almost 15 years ago, in 2005. The book is available from all the usual suspects, online and off. Want it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2677,"parent":2664,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3194","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/joehill.nl\/TheCollection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/joehill.nl\/TheCollection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/joehill.nl\/TheCollection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joehill.nl\/TheCollection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joehill.nl\/TheCollection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3194"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/joehill.nl\/TheCollection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3194\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3195,"href":"https:\/\/joehill.nl\/TheCollection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3194\/revisions\/3195"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joehill.nl\/TheCollection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2664"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joehill.nl\/TheCollection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/joehill.nl\/TheCollection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}