Joe R. Lansdale

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Joe R. Lansdale

Joe Lansdale in 2007.
Born October 28, 1951 (1951-10-28) (age 56)
Gladewater, Texas, United States
Occupation Writer, martial arts instructor
Nationality American
Writing period 1970-present
Genres horror, mystery, western
Literary movement splatterpunk, cowpunk
Influences
Cover of Lost Echoes
Cover of Lost Echoes

Joe R. Lansdale (born October 28, 1951, Gladewater, Texas) is an American author and martial-arts expert. He has written novels and stories in many genres, including Western, horror, science fiction, mystery, and suspense. He has also written for comics as well as Batman: The Animated Series.

Frequent features of Lansdale's writing are usually deeply ironic, strange or absurd situations or characters, such as Elvis and JFK battling a soul-sucking Ancient Egyptian mummy in a nursing home (the plot of his Bram Stoker Award-nominated novella, "Bubba Ho-Tep," which was made into a movie by Don Coscarelli). He is the winner of the British Fantasy Award, the American Horror Award, the Edgar Award, and six Bram Stoker Awards. The World Horror Convention recently made him the recipient of the 2007 Grand Master Award for contributions to the field of Horror fiction. [1]

He is perhaps best known for his "Hap and Leonard" series of novels which feature two friends, Hap Collins and Leonard Pine, who live in the town of Laborde, Texas and find themselves solving a variety of often unpleasant crimes. The characters themselves are an unlikely pairing; Hap is a white working class laborer in his mid forties, and Leonard is a gay black man. Both of them are accomplished fighters, and the stories (told from Hap's narrative point of view) feature a great deal of violence, profanity and sex. Lansdale paints a picture of East Texas which is essentially "good" but blighted by racism, ignorance, urban and rural deprivation and corruption in public officials. Some of the subject matter is extremely dark, and has included pedophilia and anti-gay violence. However, the novels are also characterised by sharp humour and "wisecracking" dialogue.

He lives in Nacogdoches, Texas, where he also teaches at his own Shen Chuan martial arts school. In addition he is an adjunct instructor at Stephen F. Austin University. He is also a member of the Martial Arts Hall of Fame.

Contents

[edit] Film and television

Lansdale was a contributing writer for Batman: the Animated Series, credited with three episodes:

He also wrote "Identity Crisis", the episode which introduced Bizarro on Superman: The Animated Series (season 2, episode #6, aired September 15, 1997), and Critters (with Steve Gerber) for The New Batman Adventures (sometimes referred to as Batman: Gotham Knights, as on Lansdale's website; in syndication, the series is just more episodes of Batman: The Animated Series - season 2, episode #2, aired September 19, 1998).

The most famous Lansdale adaptation was made in 2002 when Don Coscarelli adapted the novella Bubba Ho-Tep for the big screen. The film featured Elvis Presley and John F. Kennedy, now confined to an old-age rest home, team up to fight a mummy who is stealing their friends' souls.

The short story "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road" was adapted for the first episode of the first season of Masters of Horror, also by Don Coscarelli. It aired on October 28, 2005. The short story "The Fat Man", has also been written into a screenplay by Neal Barrett Jr. for Masters of Horror, but it is as yet unproduced.

It has also been announced that Lansdale's 2002 novel A Fine Dark Line will be made into a movie, which will be directed by Adam Friedman, with a screenplay written by Lansdale "hisownself."

Lansdale's story "The Job" was made into an eleven minute short in 1997 by A.W. Feidler. It is available on the out-of-print DVD collection, Short 5 - Diversity, on Warner Home Video. The short story "Drive-In Date" was filmed as a short by James Cahill, from a script written by Lansdale, published in A Fist Full of Stories.

[edit] Awards

Joe Lansdale has won seven Bram Stoker Awards over the course of his career. The short story "Night They Missed the Horror Show" won the award for "Short Fiction" in 1988. In the "Long Fiction" category (which is for novellas, though it also initially included comic book work as well), he won in 1989 for "On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folks", 1997 for "The Big Blow", and 1999 for "Mad Dog Summer" (a shared award with Brian A. Hopkins' "Five Days in April"). In 1992 the story "The Events Concerning a Nude Fold-Out Found in a Harlequin Romance" shared the "Long Fiction" award with "Aliens: Tribes" by Steve Bissette. In 1993, Jonah Hex: Two Gun Mojo won in the newly created "Other Media" category. Lansdale's anthology "Retro Pulp Tales" won for the "Anthology" category.

He was also nominated nine other times. The Drive-In and Savage Season were nominated in the "Novels" category in 1988 and 1990, respectively. By Bizarre Hands and Writer of the Purple Rage were nominated for "Fiction Collection" in 1989 and 1994. The short story "Love Doll: A Fable" was up in "Short Fiction" in 1991. The novella "Bubba Ho-Tep" was up for "Long Fiction" in 1994. Something Lumber This Way Comes was nominated in a new "Work for Younger Readers" category, and Jonah Hex: Shadows West #1 was up for "Illustrated Narrative", both in 1999. And "Red Romance" (published in DC Comics' Flinch #11) was nominated for "Illustrated Narrative" in 2000.

Other nominations include:

  • 2007, Cross Plains Universe: Texans Celebrate Robert E. Howard for a World Fantasy Award

Other awards include:

He is also frequently cited as winning the American Mystery Award, the Horror Critics Award, the "Shot in the Dark" International Crime Writer’s award, the Booklist Editor’s Award, and the Critic’s Choice Award. The specifics are difficult to track down at present, but it is likely that at least some of these were awarded to The Bottoms, which is by far his most acclaimed novel.

[edit] Bibliography

Dates by original publication; some novels or stories were written years prior to actual publication.

[edit] Novels

"Hap Collins and Leonard Pine" mysteries

The "Drive-In" series

  • The Drive-In: A “B” Movie with Blood and Popcorn, Made in Texas (1988)
  • The Drive-In 2: Not Just One of Them Sequels (1989)
  • The Drive-In: A Double-Feature (1997, omnibus) compiles the first two
  • The Drive-In: The Bus Tour (2005) (limited edition)

the "Ned the Seal" trilogy
these are all limited editions published by Subterranean Press

  • Zeppelins West (2001)
  • Flaming London (2006)
  • The Sky Done Ripped (release date unknown)

Other novels

  • Act of Love (1980)
  • Texas Night Riders (1983) (originally published under the pseudonym Ray Slater)
  • Dead in the West (1986) (written in 1980)
  • Magic Wagon (1986)
  • The Nightrunners (1987) (written in 1982 as Night of the Goblins)
  • Cold in July (1989)
  • Tarzan: the Lost Adventure (1995) (with Edgar Rice Burroughs)
  • The Boar (1998) (initially a limited edition, later republished)
  • Freezer Burn (1999)
  • Waltz of Shadows (1999) (written in 1991) (limited edition "Lost Lansdale" vol 1)
  • Something Lumber This Way Comes (1999) (Children's book) (lim. ed. "Lost Lansdale" vol 2)
  • The Big Blow (2000) (limited edition)
  • Blood Dance (2000) (written in the early '80's) (limited edition "Lost Lansdale" vol 3)
  • The Bottoms (2000)
  • A Fine Dark Line (2002)
  • Sunset and Sawdust (2004)
  • Lost Echoes (2007) (Black Lizard)
  • Leather Maiden (2008)

Pseudonymous novels

  • Molly's Sexual Follies (as Brad Simmons) Pseudonymous porn novel written with Brad Foster
Mark Stone: MIA Hunter
These are a few novels Lansdale wrote under the pseudonym "Jack Buchanan". These novels were probably co-written with Stephen Mertz. Some people erroneously report that Lansdale is responsible for the entire series, which is definitely not true.
  • Hanoi Deathgrip (Stone: MIA Hunter #3)
  • Mountain Massacre (Stone: MIA Hunter #4)
  • Saigon Slaughter (the consensus seems to be that this is #7, though some claim #8)

[edit] Short stories

Collections

Chapbooks

  • On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert With Dead Folks (1991) (limited edition)
  • The Steel Valentine (1991) (#7 in the Pulphouse Short Story Hardback series)
  • Steppin' Out, Summer '68 (1992) (limited edition)
  • Tight Little Stitches In A Dead Man's Back (1992) (limited edition)
  • My Dead Dog Bobby (1995) (limited edition)
  • Bubba Ho-Tep (2003) (novella) (published standalone as a movie tie-in)
  • Duck Footed (2005) (novella) (limited edition)

Uncollected Short Stories

republished in 100 Tiny Tales of Terror, ed. Martin H. Greenberg

[edit] Comic book-related writings

Novels and stories with Batman

reprinted in Adventures of the Batman, ed. Greenberg (1995)
reprinted in Tales of the Batman, ed. Greenberg (1994)

Graphic novels and comic books

Short stories

reprinted in Mighty Marvel Romance trade paperback
reprinted in Mighty Marvel Westerns hardcover

Adaptations of previously published stories, by Lansdale unless noted

[edit] Anthologies edited

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Lansdale & Fox talk “Pigeons From Hell”, Comic Book Resources, April 9, 2008
  2. ^ Joe R. Lansdale on Pigeons from Hell, Newsarama, April 29, 2008

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Languages