Hello. I’m Bob Pastorella, co-host of the This Is Horror podcast, website manager for This Is Horror, and writer. I’m the author of Mojo Rising, They’re Watching (with Michael David Wilson), and have numerous short-stories and non-fiction online and in print in various publications.
Previous newsletters can be found here.
New beginnings …
I am no longer on twitter/X. The very action of deactivating my account there has royally pissed me off. I’m not paying for it, I don’t want A.I. to use my posts to learn, I don’t agree with the massive amount of misinformation found on the site that has permeated every bullshit post, and I don’t like having to literally search for my friends just to see what they’re doing because the feed is so fucking clogged with utter bullshit.
Do I really need to be on social media at this point in my life? Well, actually … yes, I do. Most of my like-minded friends are on social media, many of whom I’ve actually met in person and hung-out with in real time. I need, no … crave … that kind of interaction. While many people are paring down their social media engagement, I find myself using it more lately than ever before. Sure, it’s a time sink, but I’m also writing a lot more lately, so maybe I’ve found a balance? Time will tell.
So I’m on Bluesky, a little on Threads, a little less on Notes, and will still do the occasional newsletter. I’m busy, and that’s a good thing, but I really want to keep in touch with people, because I need that lifeline, that connection, and I genuinely want to know what my friends have been up to.
Ongoing work:
Not going to lie, the writing was a little tough going there for a while. Work on The Dying Nothing is shelved for the moment. This isn’t a terrible thing actually. I tend to shelve projects to let them ferment and percolate. The reality is sometimes things aren’t ready to make it to the page. You can force it, but the end result will not be pretty. The good news is that another project I shelved has resurfaced. Crazy Tusk, which began as an unpublished short-story, has now been plotted out to a full-fledged novel, now with more character POVs, a tighter focus, and a simpler concept. And yes, I said plotted out. I actually wrote a quick summation of events to keep it all straight in my head before working on the project again. Nothing elaborate, just a very minimalist working beat page with the high points without going into too much detail.
The story involves three friends who discover a plane has crashed down in the local woods. With no insignia or logos on the plane designating who it belongs to, and no authority types in the area accessing the damage, the trio decide to comb through the debris for any kind of contraband they could sell to the highest bidder. Then they find the man in the cage. The small plane has a sealed rear cargo area, and once they break through the rear, they discover a naked man in a cage. Unable to tell if the man is alive or dead, they unlatch the cage from the cargo area and pull it from the plane. Determining there isn’t anything of value, except this naked man, they decide to head back to town to alert the authorities before they catch blame for any wrong doings.
But heavy rains and torrential flooding grounds their truck, forcing them to walk back to the plane and take refuge from the storm in the wreckage.
And that’s when the man in the cage wakes up.
And things go really bad for the trio.
I’m really excited for this project, and hope I keep the momentum going on it to write it until the end.
I haven’t been watching too many films lately, unless you count old Vincent Price movies I’ve seen again and again, or Universal monster classics. But I did finally see Talk To Me, and holy shit … I fucking loved it. This is my favorite trope … fuck around and find out, especially if it deals with the occult. Kids fuck around with an occult item like it’s a some kind of Tidepod TikTok challenge and learn that there are some things you really shouldn’t mess with. Brutal with its violence, bleak in its outlook, this is my kind of story right here.
Another film I enjoyed was No One Will Save You. I’m a sucker for alien invasion stories, and this one does not disappoint. Wearing its influences directly on its sleeve, this film throws in everything but the kitchen sink, but it works splendidly, and all without any human dialogue.
Music wise, still listening to a lot of jazz, but on the metal front, Prong has released a new album, State of Emergency, which reminds me a lot of their Cleansing and Rude Awakening albums … in other words, a return to form that I’m really enjoying right now. Big Bob says … check it out.
That’s all for now folks.
peace&love