A scream queen takes my book home, Women in Horror Month, and I'm with the band

I recently spent the weekend at Days of the Dead in Atlanta, selling books and people watching. I'm sure I did some other stuff, but honestly, after Felissa Rose of Sleepaway Camp said about my book, "This sounds like it would make a great movie," I kind of spaced out and forgot everything else. But since the point of this is to share news, I'll try to remember.

But first the Felissa story:

If you've never met Felissa Rose, do yourself a favor and fix that. She is a delightful person who really likes the horror community and treats her fans like gold.

 I first met her a few years ago. Last year, we took a photo together that I really liked (above), so when I saw her at Days of the Dead this year, I decided to print it out and get her to autograph it. Sunday afternoon was kind of slow at the book booth, so I headed over.

Enter the Super-Fan. No, not me. The guy in front of me.

You know the type. He was getting her to autograph everything he owned, Facetime his buddies, record his outgoing voice mail announcement, telling her his hopes and dreams, etc. Well, thank God, because that led me to talking with her assistant, which led to her asking what I was doing at the convention, which led to "I'm an author here selling books," which led to "What's your book about?" which led to "That sounds like something I would love to read," which eventually led to "Hey, Felissa, doesn't this sound like it would make a great movie?"

I'll spare you all of the minute details of the encounter (and believe me, they're all burned into my longterm memory forever), but this conversation led to Felissa reading the back cover, looking up at me and saying, "This sounds like it would make a great movie," and then at the same time we both said, "And I (you) could play Libby."

Now to be perfectly up front and honest, I don't know if Felissa has read my book, so I don't know if she liked it. But we did have a nice conversation, she asked if we could get a new picture (up at the top) and she even asked how to get in touch with me after she read it. And her assistant found me at the end of the day specifically to tell me that Felissa took the book with her on the plane. So if nothing more ever comes from it, I've at least got that story. Autographing a book for a scream queen and having her ask to get a picture with me is an experience from which my heart still hasn't recovered.

OK. Heart palpitations aside, let's get on with the rest.

I had a blast at Days of the Dead. I sold some books:

Some people bought them and signed up for my email list:

Frank Reddy, who blurbed my book, came out and bought one (by the way, I just started reading his latest manuscript, and man that guy can write. Buy his first book here.):

And I made some new friends, including this guy:

Eric is an actor and film maker with Wages of Cine. He made a great short film. And he's also the first person I ever met who understands like I do what it's like to have something in your head trying to kill you. (I'm a brain tumor survivor, and Eric is fighting cancer.) The Felissa story is awesome, but this guy was the real highlight of my convention.

Women in Horror Month

I mean this in all sincerity: Women are writing most of the best horror fiction right now.

I've been trying to spread the word. If you'd like to read my reviews and interviews with some of the best female authors, visit the Ginger Nuts of Horror, the UK's largest independent review site, and of which I am a staff member.

Review: Doll Crimes by Karen Runge
Sheri Sebastian-Gabriel Cracks Open the Spirits
Review: Reception by Kenzie Jennings

Five-star reviews

Drag You Down is getting them. And that makes me very happy:

"Wow!! I was halfway through before I knew it. I just couldn’t put it down."

"Creative, well-crafted story telling."

"Masterfully written, dark and refreshingly daring. Mr. McCullough obviously has a firm grasp on the discipline, the medium and his audience, and he most certainly has a very bright future ahead of him."

Don't you want to see what all the hype is about?

I'm with the band

There's a band I know
Called Roshambeaux
And they rock
Twitch, twitch

OK, you have to sing that to the tune of The Bedrock Twitch from the Flintstones for it to make sense.

Anyway, I've seen this band several times, most recently on Valentine's Day. They're great guys who make highly original music with a killer groove, and I seriously don't understand how they don't have a big recording contract and millions of dollars. (And J. is a horror fan; note the Night of the Living Dead T-shirt.) They were even nice enough to give me a really cool shoutout on their blog recently, so go buy their music, and see them live! (One day I'm going to talk them into letting me up there to play guitar with them. Maybe?)

That's all for now. Up next: I try not to make a fool out of myself on the radio.

Nate