tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27464642213642169422009-10-13T19:13:11.614-05:00<b>The uses of fear</b>C. Michael Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718481110656205579noreply@blogger.comBlogger150125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746464221364216942.post-63040158792080083862009-08-03T19:51:00.010-05:002009-08-03T21:08:45.452-05:00

What those who equate "government-run health care" with "socialism" seem to forget is that socialism already exists in America, and has for a long time. The government already runs all kinds of important services that people need every day.So I thought it would be interesting to look at how these other "socialist," "government-run" services we depend on would operate under a pure, free-market

C. Michael Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718481110656205579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746464221364216942.post-36223109094330513672009-07-06T10:30:00.005-05:002009-07-06T10:35:14.195-05:00

Author and editor Vince Liaguno turned me on to this video.What is it? The explanation on the video's YouTube page claims that it's an unknown life form found in the sewers of North Carolina.Among those less gullible, word is that it's part of a viral marketing campaign for a soon-to-be-released horror film.Me? I think it's the video from someone's colonoscopy.

C. Michael Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718481110656205579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746464221364216942.post-12895438997382326002009-06-18T20:43:00.001-05:002009-06-18T20:48:13.373-05:00

If one of this blog's main functions is to serve as a source of promotion for my (fledgling? off-and-on?) writing career, I have really fallen down on the job.And for that, I blame my real job, which, as you might know, really believes in the idea of quantity over quality.So cast your minds back to a few months ago, when I should have (enthusiastically? with false modesty?) written about the two

C. Michael Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718481110656205579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746464221364216942.post-21192243353454348712009-05-31T16:45:00.007-05:002009-06-01T20:38:39.257-05:00

A few days ago something purple appeared high up in the trees overhanging Birchwood Street.At first, it was easy enough to dismiss as a shopping bag that had been lifted by the breeze and been tangled in the branches. But today, on closer inspection, it revealed itself to be something more.It appears to be made out of corrugated plastic. I'm not sure if it's a purple box, or a some sort of

C. Michael Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718481110656205579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746464221364216942.post-29268846669545697272009-05-31T16:19:00.004-05:002009-05-31T16:41:05.888-05:00

Back in March I made what was to be my last blog post for two and a half months. If someone had told me this at the time -- if they had gently taken me aside and whispered that things were going to change pretty radically for the foreseeable future -- I might have written something a bit more eloquent than bitching about how greedy AIG is and the screwed up state of America.Casual readers may

C. Michael Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718481110656205579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746464221364216942.post-2361791320372551552009-03-15T10:16:00.008-05:002009-03-15T11:00:44.274-05:00

News today that corporate welfare queen American Insurance Group has just paid out tens of millions of dollars in bonuses to its executives.The self-destructive insurance conglomerate has received more than $170 billion dollars over several rounds of corporate bailouts since September of 2007. Last quarter, it posted an astonishing $61.7 billion loss -- the largest in corporate history.And yet,

C. Michael Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718481110656205579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746464221364216942.post-73684240240547828042009-03-08T16:09:00.005-05:002009-03-08T16:29:02.543-05:00

Last week Hillary Clinton went to Geneva, Switzerland to make nice with the Russians after eight years of George W. Bush making double-plus un-nice.During her meeting with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, Secretary Clinton presented him with a "reset button" to symbolize a new beginning with the United States.Much was made of our translation of "reset." During dinner Clinton said, "We

C. Michael Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718481110656205579noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746464221364216942.post-15718487639428459652009-03-04T09:09:00.003-06:002009-03-04T09:29:35.365-06:00

Last night while we slept, an asteroid zoomed by within 48,000 thousand miles of earth.That's just twice the distance of some communications satellites, and about a fifth of the way to the moon.Its size is estimated to be about the same as the one that blasted Siberia in the Tunguska Event back in 1908.That's scary enough. But here's something more to keep you away tonight: that asteroid is just

C. Michael Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718481110656205579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746464221364216942.post-44690117630785759642009-03-01T18:21:00.002-06:002009-03-01T19:55:32.883-06:00

The complete PTL Club tapes are going up for auction. The estimated value is $8 million.Whether you consider this horrifying depends on how you feel about Jim and Tammy-Faye Bakker, the spectacular fall of their evangelical empire, and heavy make-up.The show ran from 1974 to 1987, capturing over 15,000 hours of pathos and greed in the name of the Lord. The Bakkers sing and preach, raise money,

C. Michael Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718481110656205579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746464221364216942.post-66093550060331462512009-02-18T15:50:00.002-06:002009-02-18T16:13:56.762-06:00

The image on the left is not a painting by Vincent Van Gogh. (Though it is inspired by one.) It's by a Seattle-based photographic artist named Chris Jordan, and it's made up of cigarette packages.200,000 cigarette packages, to be exact, which is the number of Americans who die of tobacco-related causes every six months.This image -- and many others -- make up Jordan's Running the Numbers: An

C. Michael Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718481110656205579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746464221364216942.post-92139881731103854022009-02-16T18:52:00.001-06:002009-02-16T18:52:53.201-06:00

I haven't posted in a while. But it hasn't been for lack of material, since the news has been full of real-life horrors lately.In New York, a van dragged a (hopefully) dead body for 17 miles before the driver noticed anything was wrong.In Michigan, a 93-year-old man froze to death when the electric company shut off his power.In Ohio, a transexual woman has plead guilty to exercising her 73-

C. Michael Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718481110656205579noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746464221364216942.post-75572981331875802092009-01-28T04:45:00.004-06:002009-01-28T05:29:51.432-06:00

A "body disposal expert" for a Mexican drug cartel was recently arrested in Tijuana.Dubbed "El Pozolero" -- after a traditional Mexican stew of pork, hominy and chilies called pozole -- Santiago Meza Lopez has confessed to dissolving some 300 bodies in vats of caustic liquid.After receiving each body, Lopez would fill a drum with water and two sacks of caustic soda, then heat the mixture over a

C. Michael Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718481110656205579noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746464221364216942.post-6157019948962447872009-01-20T17:07:00.003-06:002009-01-20T17:10:03.349-06:00

Sad and scary and, for me, a story idea.Boy, 8, Lives with Dead Mother for 10 DaysROMULUS, Mich. (AP) - An 8-year-old boy lived for more than a week with the body of his dead mother before anyone discovered his situation, police said.The woman, 41, apparently died Jan. 9 in their apartment in the Detroit suburb of Romulus, and the boy survived in part by eating dried rice, butter and flour,

C. Michael Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718481110656205579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746464221364216942.post-66706049285690150902009-01-19T20:42:00.006-06:002009-01-20T12:57:12.000-06:00

1988; written and directed by Steve de JarnattMy first experience with Miracle Mile came some time during the close of the 1980s. I remember watching it on a rented VHS and being blown away -- no pun intended.Back then it was little more than a surprisingly effective low-budget thriller about two star-crossed lovers who finally meet mere hours before the end of the world.Twenty years later it's

C. Michael Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718481110656205579noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746464221364216942.post-83424059524181111272009-01-17T09:28:00.006-06:002009-01-17T09:58:25.544-06:00

Time flies when you're in the shit. It's been almost two weeks since my last blog update, because I've been dealing with some horrors of my own.Work horror, for starters, which can really eat me up. I'm always amazed at how quickly, how completely, work situations can consume me, body, mind and soul. It's a wonder more writers don't set horror stories in offices. Perhaps it's just too close for

C. Michael Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718481110656205579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746464221364216942.post-76227271035367746862009-01-04T20:06:00.004-06:002009-01-04T20:41:42.541-06:00

Until a few years ago I never had trouble sleeping. I could sleep anywhere, at any time, and for as long as I liked. It was something I took a certain pride in, like being able to play the piano or making a really good spaghetti sauce.And then, something changed.Until I experienced it for myself, I didn't understand insomnia. For me it's not so much the inability to sleep -- though Lord knows

C. Michael Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718481110656205579noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746464221364216942.post-52260789333612542622009-01-03T06:04:00.004-06:002009-01-03T06:15:18.190-06:00

Writer and reviewer Martel Sardina professes a weakness for Pepsi. I should send a case of it to her for this mention in her review of Horror Library: Volume 3."In 'The Living World,' C. Michael Cook explores the motivating force behind one woman’s eating disorder, and caused this reviewer to suffer a loss of appetite herself. The scariest thing about this story was the realization that the

C. Michael Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718481110656205579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746464221364216942.post-41893489350031384992009-01-01T10:14:00.007-06:002009-01-01T12:10:53.586-06:00

My Grandma DeMoss was a superstitious person, and she passed that quality on to me.It's probably fair to say that superstitious people live in a state of constant, low-grade fear, and that all their lucky tokens and protective rituals are aimed solely at keeping that fear at bay.New Year's Eve and Day always find me at my most superstitious. The enormity of one year passing -- with all its

C. Michael Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718481110656205579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746464221364216942.post-32337784609030374762008-12-21T12:18:00.011-06:002008-12-21T21:08:54.749-06:00

Ordinarily I respond to Facebook memes with the same kind of enthusiasm I reserve for chain emails.But something about this one caught my eye and imagination. Maybe because it's Christmas, and a list called "25 Things" seemed not only seasonally appropriate, but a way to learn more about myself and those who are close to me.The rules are simple: Write down 25 things about yourself. Send it to 25

C. Michael Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718481110656205579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746464221364216942.post-1498802222397725042008-12-16T20:43:00.006-06:002008-12-16T20:59:31.216-06:00

Terrific news that my flash fiction piece, "The Powers That Be," has been accepted into the Dark Distortions II anthology from Scotopia Press.Flash fiction -- generally considered to be less than 1000 words -- can also be called a short short. In "The Powers That Be" men and women visit the site of a disaster and are transformed by what they find there.Naturally, I'm delighted to be included, and

C. Michael Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718481110656205579noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746464221364216942.post-68494616183860490942008-12-11T20:53:00.001-06:002008-12-11T20:53:29.178-06:00

There's little in this world that's better than free books, which is exactly what Cutting Block Press and Dark Recesses Press are giving away to celebrate the debut of the Horror Library, Volume 3 and Issue 10 of Dark Recesses Press magazine.Just a few of the names you'll find in these two volumes of dark goodness: Bentley Little, Clive Barker, Gary Braunbeck, Jack Ketchum, Jeff Strand, Michael

C. Michael Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718481110656205579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746464221364216942.post-28031594862436057602008-12-07T15:15:00.006-06:002008-12-08T20:34:02.619-06:00

The only thing better than seeing a book with your story in it is seeing another book with your story in it.The Horror Library, Volume 3, arrived in my mailbox the other day, which means it's also arrived on store shelves and online. (While you're there, why not consider purchasing one or more additional products from Cutting Block Press?)Naturally, I turned to my story first, "The Living World."

C. Michael Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718481110656205579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746464221364216942.post-61153181282351358602008-12-02T21:23:00.008-06:002008-12-02T22:05:17.956-06:00

As a writer you often dream about someone, some day, saying something wonderful about your work. Sometimes -- when the words aren't coming but the rejection slips are -- that dream is one of the few things that can keep you going.The reality, however, is much, much better.In a recent interview, Unspeakable Horror editor Vince Liaguno singled out my story, "The Boys of Bald Cave," for some praise

C. Michael Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718481110656205579noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746464221364216942.post-5542304044236670882008-12-01T21:23:00.006-06:002008-12-01T21:34:54.223-06:00

This just in from the Associated Press: Approximately 1 in 5 Americans age 19-25 have a personality disorder serious enough to interfere with their everyday lives.Add to them those with a drug and/or alcohol problem, and the number of young adults with a mental illness rises to almost 1 in 2.Which explains this photo, and a whole lot more.Now you kids get off my lawn.

C. Michael Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718481110656205579noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746464221364216942.post-26682716374295485812008-11-26T13:05:00.002-06:002008-11-26T13:18:07.383-06:00

Downtown Chicago has more homeless in it than usual this afternoon.It must be due to the upcoming holiday. People are either feeling happy about the time off, or guilty because they'll be celebrating Thanksgiving with friends and family and food and warmth, or both.As a result, they're probably more likely to part with some spare change or a buck or two.At least I was.

C. Michael Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15718481110656205579noreply@blogger.com1