New short story published in COMFORT FOODS anthology

Spooky greetings, folks!

October is here - it's my favorite time of the year, and I've been making the most of it! Decorating the house to the hilt (yeaah, I'm THAT guy, the one in the neighborhood that goes all out with the home haunt), watching lots of spooky movies, and getting out to as many haunted attractions as possible. Along with all of the holiday festivities I have been busy writing, too. Working on finishing up my Thirteen for 13 series as well as some non-fiction works. In fact, one of my most recent tales, RETRIEVAL SERVICE, was just published in the anthology COMFORT FOODS.

 Available at AMAZON here

Edited by Nikki Nelson-Hicks, this anthology features 13 stories from the Nashville writer's group. Nikki put a call out on Facebook for more entries, so I submitted my most recent story. I wasn't actually a member of the Nashville writer's group - In fact I joined just so I could submit this story. But regardless, it's my first printed work and I'm happy to see it in print!

So Happy Halloween to all of you, and may your jack o'lanterns always burn bright!!

New Short Story...

 

My July story is posted on Amazon HERE. It is part of the Thirteen for 13 series. I'll be sending it out free to the newsletter subscribers - sign up in sidebar!! More Weird Western horror, available later this year in the  Thirteen for 13 collected volume!!

Jack Pierce, Frankendesigner now available on Kobo

Latest news: Jack Pierce, Frankendesigner is now available through Kobo, for my Canadian friends and followers, and can be found here. Thanks for your support!!

Kobo, for those not familiar, is a Canadian ebook company providing a vast catalog of books in all genres. Their site is very clean and easy to navigate. Their books are published in epub format, a different format than some of the other ebook companies, but never fear, they offer free apps on their website for all platforms - ipad/iphone/android/mac/pc and something called kobo instant reader that lets you shop for books and read them in your brower as soon as you purchase/download them. Check it out!

Jack Pierce Frankendesigner

 

The Jack Pierce ebook JACK PIERCE, FRANKENDESIGNER  (available on Kindle) was first published in Scary Monsters Magazine issue #85.  It occurred to me a couple of years back that there seemed to be a concerted effort to shift the credit for the design of the iconic Universal Studios Frankenstein makeup away from Jack Pierce and onto director James Whale, insinuating the design was Whale's and Pierce was merely the carpenter following his architectural makeup designs. I found this not only mystifying but downright insulting, and set out to set the record straight. I spent months researching, digging up every available article, book, or reference I could find that made mention of the design of the makeup. I was determined to make public what I found no matter which direction it pointed (and in fact I provide arguments on both sides of the issue). I traced the timeline of where the idea of Whale as originator first evolved backwards to its origin and found it sprang from pure conjecture on the part of one individual. From there it was picked up and run with by a couple of well-connected individuals, and over time it became mentioned as a matter of fact in modern film studies through sheer power of repetition.

 

The truth is laid out plainly in the ebook - Jack Pierce spent countless hours researching, preparing, testing, and redesigning again and again until he came up with the makeup that we see in the film. The idea of Whale as originator came from ONE quote, from Whale himself, with nothing to back it up. NO sketch exists of Whale's supposed artistic designs. Jack Pierce is a makeup master who designed iconic makeup works time and again - he had nothing to gain by fabricating his involvement in this design. It was what he did. It is what he DID do.

 

Also included in this ebook is a long lost interview with Jack Pierce from a Spanish newspaper. I uncovered it in Jack Pierce's scrapbook, copied it, translated it, and present it in the article for your enjoyment. He references the design of the makeup in this article, and just how much input Whale had in the design - no more, or less, than any director would have in such circumstances.

 

Available on Amazon HERE

Soon to be available on other platforms, too.

 

If you read it please leave me feedback on the Amazon page. I'd greatly appreciate it!!

Thirteen for 13 review to date...

There is a very kind and flattering review of the Thirteen for 13 series by Michael Smith at his blog, Mikesfilmtalk. Thanks for the kind words Mike!

http://mikesfilmtalk.com

Thirteen for 13

At the beginning of this year I started a new project called Thirteen for 13. This is a series of thirteen short stories that will be written and published once a month (twice in October) during the year 2013. I wanted a project that would keep me busy and on a regular writing schedule, and although one story a month may not sound like much to most writers out there, for me it was the perfect challenge. Working full-time and being a single full-time dad, my time is limited. So I find time to write here and there and so far have kept on schedule. I'm working on some other projects besides this one, too, but I'm making sure to stay on target with this one because it's important to me. I made a promise to myself to get this project done, so I'm determined to do just that. Publishing them through Amazon kind of "legitimatizes" them to some extent, and it feels like an official release.

When the year is up I plan to gather them all into one volume and release them as a collection with additional material added to it. Thanks to those of you who have downloaded and read the stories so far. I appreciate you!!

Hello and welcome!
I'm Larry W. Underwood, and this is my webpage, dedicated to updates and news on my writing endeavors.

A little about myself - I was a TV Horror Host in the Nashville area for 13 years, hosting late night movies as Dr. Gangrene, Physician of Fright. I won several awards and appeared in a number of magazines, newspapers, and other media outlets such as USA Today, Rue Morgue Magazine, Spike TV, the documentary American Scary, and many more. Now that I've hung up the lab coat - other than special appearances at Halloween time - I've decided to tackle something I've always wanted to try, but didn't have the time while producing a weekly television show- writing. I'll post updates on my writing here and other fun stuff from time to time. Thanks for stopping by and for reading my work.