Warnings were issued. Forecasters were on the job
Over the past two days I have seen several people online attempt to establish a link between cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the flooding tragedy that happened in Texas on July the Fourth.
These are the facts surrounding that disaster.
The National Weather Service issued its first flood watch on Thursday, July 3, the day before the disaster.
Then, just after midnight on July 4, the day of the disaster, the weather service issued another flood watch.
An hour later, at about 1 o’clock in the morning, they upgraded that flood watch to a flood warning, which would have triggered alert tones on mobile phones in the forecast area.
Then, at 4 o’clock in the morning, they declared a flood emergency.
The Guadalupe River crested at about 4:30 a.m.
As for the number of forecasters on duty, typically on a weekend like that, two forecasters are working. In this case there were five forecasters working.
So, as you can see, there was no shortage in warnings, and no shortage in forecasting capabilities.
I have heard suggestions that NWS was missing some of the people who typically coordinate with local emergency operations, and I’ve also heard former NOAA higher-ups warned that staffing cuts could lead to dangerous shortfalls in forecasting and information.
I have no doubt both of those statements have merit.
But in this case, where it was being suggested – “accused” is a stronger verb – that there weren’t enough forecasters on the job, or that adequate warning wasn’t give, it doesn’t appear to be true that cuts to NOAA had anything to do with the tragedy.
You guys know what I think about that creature in the White House. But politicizing a natural disaster, and placing blame where it isn’t due, makes us all look bad.
Please stop circulating these rumors.
About the author:
Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”
Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.
As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.
Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .
So now they’re selling Alligator Alcatraz merchandise.
That’s right. An internment camp in the middle of a swamp in South Florida has its own line of merchandise – T-shirts, ball caps, water bottles … gosh, what’s next? Nipple rings and Fleshlights?
You know, it’s bad enough that they’re making light of human suffering, cracking jokes about possible escapees being devoured by alligators in the Everglades. Laura Looney, that nutcase, suggested there are a potential 65 million alligator meals in this country and that alligator lives matter too. That woman needs to be connected to a permanent morphine drip.
But yeah, they’re monetizing human misery. Says a lot about the character of this regime, doesn’t it?
And by the way, let me insert this thought into my narrative. If you buy any of this “merchandise,” you are human garbage. You really are garbage. I just want you to know that.
I can understand why they might want to make a little bit of extra money, though. Alligator Alcatraz was supposed to be a cooperative venture between the State of Florida and the federal government. But so far, the State of Florida has paid all the costs. FEMA, which is a subsidiary of the Department of Homeland Security, has allocated $625 million for the construction of that camp, and $450 million to operate it, but so far they haven’t given the State of Florida a plug nickel.
So there was Florida Gov. Ron DeFascist touring that internment camp, along with President 404 and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, aka Gestapo Barbie, and DeFascist was grinning like a gargoyle. But I’ll bet behind the scenes he was sweating bullets because the State of Florida is now on the hook for a billion-dollar outlay that’s nowhere on the budget.
There’s some question as to whether the state will EVER see any of that money. Earlier this year Gestapo Barbie was having her ass chewed out in congressional hearings where it was made known she’d burned through a year’s worth of funding in six months. Critics said she was trying to invent money out of thin air and her department was “out of control.” Homeland Security runs out of money next week.
If they can’t pay a measly $625 million to build a concentration camp, how are they going to pay the billions of dollars required to help the victims of a hurricane if one strikes later this year?
So yeah, President 404 told us he’d hire “only the best people,” but so far it looks like he’s hiring cons. And the cons are conning the cons.
I wonder what’s next? Gator Chow? Something out of that movie “Soylent Green”?
Don’t laugh. At this point I wouldn’t put ANYTHING beneath this regime.
About the author:
Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”
Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.
As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.
Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .
Today is the Fourth of July. Here in the States we celebrate this day as the anniversary of our freedom.
But I’m not celebrating today.
Usually I set off a bottle rocket or two, attend a picnic, and watch fireworks from the shore. Tonight, I’m having dinner with friends. That’s it. No rah rah America.
I don’t feel like celebrating because I don’t feel free. I believe we voted away our independence. We voted for a criminal who violated our laws and broke our rules. We voted for a hateful man who turned us against each other and rolled back centuries of progress. We voted for a dictator who spent his first six months in office dismantling our democracy.
We voted for a monster.
We’ve been failed by every institution designed to protect us. The legislative branch of the government sold its soul to the executive. The judiciary has been hobbled. Even the media failed us – you watch the news and they don’t cover what’s happening in Washington. They cover safe topics like the weather, or the kid who collected bottle caps to raise money for the humane society.
Worse, the people, with their ignorance, laziness and selfishness, failed us. Half the voting public supports this corruption of our values – as they say, “We voted for this.” They’re celebrating right now but one day in the future they’ll be asking, “What the heck happened? I didn’t vote for this.” After World War II, some of the Germans said, “We didn’t know this was happening” or “I was just following orders.” Excuses and rationalizations – ass-covering – are not going to cut it. These Americans know exactly what they’re doing and they choose to do it. Let that be a matter of record.
The other half stood by silently and let it happen. They didn’t vote; they didn’t write to their congressman or senators; they didn’t protest; they didn’t evangelize for truth, justice and the American way; they couldn’t even be bothered to click the like button on a social media post decrying the loss of America’s democracy. They didn’t want to stick their necks out. Let the next guy fix it. Let the next guy take the risk.
Tonight when they’re shooting off fireworks, it’ll be a noisy reminder that half the country just doesn’t get it, and the other half just doesn’t care.
They sold our democracy – they sold the soul of America – for a carton of eggs.
That makes me sad.
About the author:
Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”
Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.
As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.
Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .
I need to correct an error that appeared in one of my posts.
When I wrote about that gulag they’re building in the Everglades, I said the tents would not be air-conditioned. The information I referenced specifically said the tents would not be air-conditioned.
But I’ve since discovered that is wrong, the tents will be air-conditioned, so I stand corrected.
Some of you anticipated correctly there would be flooding problems with that facility. I saw a video yesterday, taken in a rainstorm, where water was pooling inside the tents. In one shot you could see electrical extension cords lying next to ponds of water.
What could go wrong with that?
That same video gave me a better opportunity to get a look at what’s inside those tents. They’re basically stacks of bunks surrounded by chain-link cages. In fact they look suspiciously like that prison in El Salvador.
I’m starting to think these dictators are copying each other. Next thing you know, President Smelly Butt Crack will be growing a little mustache – no wider than his nose – and wearing military-style uniforms with lightning bolts on the epaulets, and he’ll be showing off an armband with the MAGA symbol on it.
That’s right. MAGA has a symbol. You didn’t know that?
Yeah, it’s a human brain emoji – with an X drawn through it.
About the author:
Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”
Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.
As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.
Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .
I chat with a friend every morning via video. We talk about politics and solve the world’s problems – you know, old guy stuff.
He has a theory. His theory is there will not be mid-term elections next year. President STD will generate some kind of crisis, a crisis that requires dramatic intervention – the suspension of civil liberties, perhaps the imposition of marshal law – and President STD will postpone the mid-terms because if elections were held today, they would be a bloodbath for the Republicans.
To support this theory my friend points out that President STD and the Republicans would not behave the way they are if they thought they’d be facing voters in November of 2026.
They wouldn’t be forcing wildly unpopular policy on the American people; canceling Town Hall meetings where angry constituents scream at them about their onerous policies; throwing Democratic senators to the floor and handcuffing them; attacking reporters who ask them uncomfortable questions; snatching people off the streets, locking them up in gulags and sending them out of the country, all without due process.
They wouldn’t be doing any of these things if they felt they’d be facing the wrath of voters in November.
I have to admit: He’s got a point. It would explain a lot.
I don’t know guys. What do you think? Will there be elections next November?
About the author:
Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”
Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.
As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.
Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .
President Kim Jong Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth – call sign “Hops & Barley” – have both told the American people that America “obliterated” Iran’s efforts to build an atomic bomb.
They sure do love that word “obliterate.” I bet President Kim Jong Trump copied it from Hops & Barley, who probably copied it from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the only member of Kim Jong Trump’s cabinet who can use words bigger than one syllable.
After watching clips of Hops & Barley and Kim Jong Trump announce the attack I can say with confidence Iran was not the only thing obliterated that night. Now we know what happened to that case of Modello in the Situation Room refrigerator.
The question is: Did America really “obliterate” Iran’s nuclear weapon program? The answer appears to be a definitive: Who the hell knows?
Members of the military and key civilian experts have already begun walking back President Kim Jong Trump’s bombastic claims, and an Uber has been called for Hops & Barley.
According to Farrah Tomazin of The Daily Beast, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine immediately undercut the hyperbole, telling reporters that while an initial assessment indicated “severe damage and destruction,” it would take time for the final battle damage to be known.
Scott Ritter, a former U.N. weapons inspector, had a different take. He said two facilities – Natanz and Isfahan – were empty when attacked and had already been targeted by the Israelis.
He also said the facility at Fordow had been fortified to the point it was impregnable and was not damaged by American bunker-busting bombs.
I have not been able to find confirmation of Ritter’s claims, nor have I heard Ritter say how he acquired this information, so for the time being take it for what it’s worth, which is nothing.
Despite boasts by Hops & Barley about the secrecy required to pull off the operation – meaning they changed the password for their Signals chatgroup – evidence would suggest Iran either had advanced knowledge of the attack or correctly guessed it was about to happen and tried to relocate key elements of its nuclear program from the site at Fordow. Satellite photos show a long column of trucks lined up at that site days prior to the attack – I doubt they were delivering pizzas.
In the eons since I wrote down these thoughts – yesterday – Iran mounted a half-assed attack against an American base in Qatar – all the missiles were shot down; Kim Jong Trump announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran; a Fox News bottle blonde suggested Kim Jong Trump should be nominated for 34 Nobel Peace Prizes, not 34 felony indictments; AND Israel and Iran were back to bombing each other within a few hours and an unhappy Kim Jong Trump was saying they’ve been fighting each other for so long they “don’t know what the fuck they’re doing.”
Is there a Nobel Prize for clusterfucks?
About the author:
Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”
Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.
As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.
Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .
I got this email the other day from a man who had read my story “Lighting the Corpses,” which was published in “Robert Bloch’s Psychos” in 1997.
I thought it might be fun to reproduce his question and my response, as we talk about some of the internal mechanics of the writing process.
Not to worry. I checked with him first and he gave me the OK to do this. I’ve withheld his name for privacy purposes.
What follows is his email and my response.
Hello Mr. Stone. I was just thinking about a short story of the above title (“Lighting the Corpses”), which was included in a collection by Robert Bloch, adequately named “Psychos.” It has left a lasting impact on me, as I believe that more insight must be utilized in not only researching the making of a so-called “Human Monster”, but the inclusion of those who have helped shape the individual where punishment is concerned. After all, if it is discovered that a skyscraper toppled and caused mass injury and death due to a contractor cutting corners by using cheap rebar or watered-down concrete, said contractor would be the one to pay, no? As such, I can feel for the character of Zeke, having been not only laid bare for prey at the hands of his father but literally handed over by his mother in order to save the daughter from the same sick abuse. You captured an extremely common rug-sweep here with a decent understanding of who Zeke was. Still, the line which resonated deeply with me was Zeke’s words to Father Baptist: “What you fear about yourself is true. You are your Devil”. Quite an interesting interpretation of the seemingly traditional theological beliefs. This story is a phenomenal work of art imitating life, and I thank you for the entertainment and insight it provided. Might I inquire as to what inspired you in writing this? It’s been a pleasure talking to you.
Hi (I withheld his name for privacy reasons),
Thanks for your email. It’s great knowing something I wrote decades ago has reached across the years to touch another person. I guess that’s one reason writers write.
Your question prompted me to remember why I wrote this story, because at first, I couldn’t, not until I thought of my life circumstances of that period.
I think everyone experiences one great love of his or her life, a person or relationship that rises above all others. When those relationships go bad they do so in spectacular fashion, something that could be likened to a pyre – in this case a pyre of emotion. Sometimes the emotion is grief; other times it’s anger. In my case, it was a toxic combination of both. I had just ended an unhealthy, co-dependent relationship with the love of my life and I was staggering through the stages of grief. “Lighting the Corpses” was the anger stage, ha ha. (I wrote another story, “The Googleplex Comes and Goes,” that took place in the grieving stage.) I’d finally reached a point where I could admit I wasn’t blameless in our failure … in fact, maybe it was mostly my fault.
I then began to wonder about the nature of rage. Was it a kind of evil, an evil that could be handed down, like an inheritance, to one’s descendents? That conversation with myself, coupled with my years of experience working at a newspaper, which gave me insight into the God-awful things people can do to each another, compelled me to write “Lighting the Corpses.”
I didn’t think much of “Corpses” at the time and I hated the title, but over the years it’s grown on me. I think it’s overwritten but also it’s wildly inventive, which I appreciate more these days. I’ve learned to forgive and embrace my youthful excesses. What’s the old bromide – youth is wasted on the young? Something like that.
It’s the only story that ever paid me royalties apart from the stories I wrote for all those Barnes & Noble horror anthologies. I attribute that to the Stephen King story in “Psychos.”
Thanks so much for writing to me. I have a writing page on Facebook and would like to reproduce your letter and my response – don’t worry. I won’t use your full name or include your email address. If you’d rather I not, drop me a line and I won’t.
Thanks,
Del
About the author:
Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”
Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.
As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.
Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .
Mordant. Droll. Genius. “When You Are Engulfed in Flames” is my introduction to David Sedaris, and it is perfect.
President Moss in His Teeth returned early from the G7 economic summit in Canada to address urgent national security issues. And I would agree – we do have urgent national security issues. We have a drunken TV personality in charge of the Department of Defense, and we have an incompetent, lying, demented traitor at the helm of the Oval Office. Those sound like pretty urgent national security issues to me!
This is right out of the fascist playbook. When things are not going well domestically, the proper fascist starts a foreign war to distract the peasants from the awfulness of their plight.
And things aren’t going well domestically. Over the weekend, 13 million-plus Americans let us know in no uncertain terms that things aren’t going well – they protested against President Moss in His Teeth’s domestic policies, his foreign policies, his border policies, his economic policies, his usurpation of the legislative and judicial branches of the government. I’m sure he’d love it if we forgot about all that.
I’m not saying this will happen, but I would not be surprised if President Moss in His Teeth declares the current conflict between Israel and Iran constitutes an existential threat to the United States as a pretext for America entering that war.
Now, I will be the first to admit Iran poses a grave threat to the stability of the world, and a nuclear-capable Iran is out of the question. But I wonder about the timing of this event. The United States becoming involved in a conflict with Iran would be a convenient way of making Americans forget that there were over 13 million of us in the streets this past weekend, protesting the malignant evil of President Moss in His Teeth and his lawless, feckless, incompetent administration.
Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
About the author:
Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”
Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.
As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.
Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .
I see where President Fleet Enema wants to replace Pride Month with something called Title IX Month.
How does one celebrate Title IX Month? Do they go out and beat up a trans athlete?
Luckily, we don’t require the president’s permission to celebrate Pride Month because Pride Month is not a government-sanctioned observance. It is of the people, by the people and for the people. The only people who don’t at least tolerate Pride Month are the bigots and we don’t really want to hang around with those folks anyway.
So happy Pride Month to those who observe!
And if you’re celebrating Title IX Month, perhaps I can find you a copy of the movie “The Birdcage.”
About the author:
Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”
Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.
As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.
Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .