Cemetery Dance is famous for its long-running magazine and its impressive span of collectible print editions, but we’ve also been quietly building an extensive list of eBooks. We’ve started this column to draw attention to eBooks that some of you might have missed.
This installment is devoted to two books by Gary Raisor, the newly revised and expanded edition of his collection Sinister Purposes, and a reissue of the cult-classic vampire novel, Less Than Human.
Gary Raisor has been a frequent contributor to Cemetery Dance magazine, beginning with “The Laughing Man” way back in issue #7. Other memorable stories include “The Right Thing” from #19, which was selected for the first volume of The Best of Cemetery Dance, and “If I Should Die Before I Wake” in issue #28, which is forthcoming in The Best of Cemetery Dance, Vol II.
Keep reading for a brief, exclusive interview with the author about these newly released eBooks.
CEMETERY DANCE: What are your feelings about the original CD limited edition of Sinister Purposes?
GARY RAISOR: I love the original Sinister Purposes, but I felt I missed some opportunities with it. Those missed opportunities always bugged me. So I rolled up my sleeves and took another crack at the book.
Why did you choose to revise/expand it?
The book felt, for lack of a better word, a little rushed. Father Aron, a drug-addicted priest in the book, needed more face-time with the readers. So I wrote a small novel, starring the good father, to kick off the rewrite. His expanded role took the story to some pretty strange places as a result. I also happen to think Father Aron is one of the funniest, most profane characters I’ve ever created.
A lot of people might think they’ve already read Sinister Purposes, but that’s amazing that you’ve actually added a full length novel! Tell us more about any other changes you made.
After adding the new Father Aron tale, I went back in and reworked some of the other stories in the book. Fleshed out the characters and tied the stories together with a little more sinew. So now Sinister reads more like a novel.
On to your next eBook from Cemetery Dance…Joe R. Lansdale has called Less Than Human “one of the great vampire novels.” Tell us more about this cult classic.
Less Than Human is an original take on vampires. Think Dusk ’til Dawn in a pool hall by way of Lonesome Dove with maybe a little bit of John Wayne’s The Searchers thrown in. But it’s also about the disenfranchised in our society, people living on the fringe. It’s about family, and it’s about losers trying to make their way in a world that no longer gives a shit about them. I think the movie Dusk ’til Dawn hit on a few of the same notes as Less Than Human. And just so everyone knows, my ideas didn’t come from that movie. My novel was there first. By a good four years.
Love that new cover, by the way. You guys do awesome work!
Vampires have changed a lot over the years. Why do you think your novel continues to resonate with modern readers?
I would hope it’s because there’s always room for a good story.
Couldn’t agree more! Aside from books, what else are you working on?
I’ve done some scripts, but I can’t really talk about them, due to confidentiality issues. Let’s just say there are things in the works at good old Hollyweird. Wish me luck.
Good luck on the silver screen—and in the meantime, here’s hoping a lot of fans download your new Cemetery Dance eBooks!
Norman Prentiss is Editor, Electronic Books Division with Cemetery Dance Publications. He won a Bram Stoker Award for his first book, Invisible Fences. Recent books include Odd Adventures with your Other Father, Life in a Haunted House, and The Apocalypse-a-Day Desk Calendar.
