Just heard the news that he passed today. Terrible.
Just thought we could have a Jack Ketchum appreciation thread, sort of a little tribute for the guy.
Any of your favorite books, lines, experiences with him or his work. Share 'em if you've got 'em.
I read his essay on the visceral from this site. It made me read his novel, Red. It's one of the most brutal and heart breaking openings I've ever read. He was just a master. I'm just grateful I got to learn from him before he died.
It's a sad fucking two days, people. It's just fucking sad.
There's one of his craft essays available here, Splat Goes The Hero.
From the above essay: "there's not much difference between jerking deer meat and jerking Newt Gingrich." Classic.
The way Ketchum was always discussed, I never planned to read him. I thought it would be exploitative boundary pushing for the sake of. I finally read The Girl Next Door out of curiousity and discovered I was completely wrong. He cared. Jack Ketchum was a hell of a writer.
Ketchum was one of the best at making me forget he was there. Don't get me wrong, he has written some great lines, but my greatest impression of him is that he could write deeply disturbing stuff in a way that was so comfortable that I could read for hours without feeling like I was reading. His descriptions seemed to go immediately to images in my brain.
I hear he was a hell of a guy, too. I had always hoped to meet him at a con or something one of these days. As is, he will always be one of my favorite writers. I am reading Old Flames, right now.
