I'm Back

Photo by Eddie Jones on Unsplash

It’s different every time I come here, yet always feels the same. Haunted by ghosts, it’s an old place—older than the name it now bears. Listen to the deer—they know. We only acknowledge these truths in October, and even then, we don’t mean it. Worse than forgotten, these ghosts have become jokes. Metaphors for things they’re not.

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Hi friends. It’s been a while.

Remember how I said I was battling a lingering cold a few weeks ago? Well, it never really went away. I was getting fever and chills at night, and just felt awful in general. Then, one morning, I woke up around 4am, coughing up something that tasted like pulled pork a few days past its expiration date. I knew that couldn’t be good, so I did what every modern self-respecting person with an internet connection does: I plugged my symptoms into an online search engine.

It turned out that a cough with a meaty taste could be pneumonia, bronchitis, or bronchiolitis. None of that sounded good (and the latter sounded made-up), so I went to the doctor early that morning after dropping my oldest off for school. While at the doctor’s, I tested negative for COVID and the flu, but my chest X-ray confirmed that, sure enough, I had pneumonia. The doctor promptly prescribed a Z-pak and sent me … well, he sent me packing. Har-har.

Despite the antibiotic, I’m only just now starting to feel like a human again. Pneumonia is no joke. I’ve been too exhausted to write or do much of anything. This is the third time I’ve gotten sick in recent years, and it’s the third time I’ve been so sidelined I can hardly function for an extended period. The first time this happened was when I caught COVID in early 2022. The second time was a stomach bug last year that had me so dehydrated that my limbs and face started going numb.

It’s all got me thinking that I’m spreading myself too thin and that I need to take better care of myself.

How do I not spread myself so thin? What does taking better care of myself look like?

These are things I hope to explore in subsequent newsletters.

In the meantime, I thought it might be appropriate to properly introduce myself to new subscribers or longtime readers who don’t know much about me beyond this newsletter.

My name is Lucas Mangum. I’m a three-time Splatterpunk Award-nominated author of too many books and stories to list here. Recognition is nice—book sales are even nicer—but even if no one but me cared, I’d still be here, putting one word in front of the other. Is that pathological? Maybe. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been diagnosed with a mental illness.

In April, I will turn forty. People say that’s a milestone birthday, but I don’t know, I still feel nineteen, albeit a little less angry and a little more disciplined. Increased responsibilities will do that to you. My responsibilities include a seven-year-old son and a three-year-old daughter, a day job where I edit technical reports, and a house I’m determined to keep somewhat in order.

I’m married, going on thirteen years now. Her name is Jean, and she’s my bestie.

When I'm not writing this newsletter, I’m reading a book (usually horror), binge-watching something with Jean, following current events in the world of professional wrestling, getting together with the neighbors and their families, camping, and walking around the neighborhood. My favorite books/movies/TV shows were made between the 1970s and the 1990s, but some recent favorites are Yellowjackets, Yellowstone (and its spinoffs), Twin Peaks: The Return, Ronald Malfi’s Black Mouth and The Night Parade, Grant Wamack’s Bullet Tooth, Rabbit Hunt by Wrath James White, and last year’s films The Holdovers and Godzilla Minus One.

I have a love/hate relationship with nostalgia. I’m spiritual, not religious, and though I have political beliefs, I’ve found little advantage to discussing them at length. It’s not because I don’t care—rather, I recognize the importance of picking my battles.

My main creative inspirations are 80s/90s VHS cover art, R.L. Stine, Lucio Fulci, Dario Argento, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Phantasm, Stephen King (specifically, It, The Stand, and The Dark Tower), and John Carpenter movies.

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Reviews are coming in for Hunted Highways, the new book featuring novellas by myself, Rowland Bercy Jr., and Carver Pike. It seems like people are getting a kick out of it. If you’re interested in road trip-based horror that doesn’t take itself too seriously, check it out right here.

I’m pleased to announce that Snow Angels has been nominated for a Splatterpunk Award for Best Novella of 2023. Winners get announced this August at Killer Con in Austin. You can get weekend passes and view the other nominees right here.

My next book, Barn Door to Hell, is off to the editor. The goal is still to have it out in April (just in time for my fortieth birthday), but I’m not putting too much pressure on myself to make that deadline. That’s the beauty of self-publishing, I suppose.

Currently Reading: Little Girls by Ronald Malfi and Yaccub’s Curse by Wrath James White.

Recently Watched: Explorers (1985, director: Joe Dante), Big Trouble in Little China (1986, director: John Carpenter), Beverly Hills Cop (1984, director: Martin Brest), Anger Management (2003, director: Peter Segal).

Currently Listening: No Sleep and Casualty Friday. Both of these are podcasts. Why don’t I listen to music much anymore? It’s anyone’s guess, but it just doesn’t excite me like it used to. I’m sure it will again.

That’s it for now, friends. Thanks for sticking with me.