THE LES
DANIELS BLOG TOUR: Location! Location! Location! Les Daniels’ Place as an Icon
of New England Horror
Guest Blog by Matt Bechtel of Necon E-Books
Essentially,
Les Daniels went to Brown University and never left.
Of
course, that’s an oversimplification; Les didn’t spend his entire life on
campus, nor in the city of Providence (one of my favorite Les stories regards
the circumstances around his trip to London to write a screenplay for Dino De
Laurentis, but I’m saving that anecdote for our article on Michael Arruda’s
blog). In spirit, however, it’s pretty close. Les definitely found more than
just a geographic home on Benefit Street; in fact, it’s arguable that no writer
ever embraced and lived the life of the intellectual Bohemian artist the way he
did. As such, that influence became a two way street, with Les shaping the New
England artistic community as much as it shaped him.
Les’
contributions to the local scene were as varied as his interests and talents.
In print, he reviewed books for the Providence
Journal and penned a regular film review / pop culture column titled “Mind
Rot” in the Providence Eagle (keep in
mind, this is years before web sites
such as ESPN’s spin-off site “Grantland” would help turn writing about pop
culture into a massive industry). On stage, he performed an act that can only
be described as a live version of the iconic ‘90’s TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000, purposefully playing bad movies and
skewering them with comedic commentary to his audience. Once again, this was years,
literally decades, before MST3K
became a smash, another example of just how far ahead of the curve Les was
creatively.
It
was another type of live performance, however, which allowed Les to share one
of his other true passions and talents — music. Those who don’t know of Les’
musical background are probably (and understandably) jumping to the wrong
conclusion right now; after all, we’ve all been to plenty of conventions where
writers have broken into song for various reasons (including the dreaded practice
of “filking”), and some of them are, admittedly, fairly talented. However,
comparing those singers to Les as a musician is like comparing a talented high
school writer to Les as an author. In short, they’re amateurs; Les was a pro.
His band, The Double Standard String Band, featured himself on leads and banjo,
TV and film star Martin Mull (before he was a famous actor), and bluegrass
legend Sam Tidwell. Together, they played at the famous Club 47 in Cambridge;
other acts to grace that stage during those years included Bob Dylan and Joan
Baez.
Above
all else, it’s Les’ ties to New England horror that establish him as a legend
in the community. After all, as I mentioned, the man lived most of his adult
life on Benefit Street in Providence, literally blocks away from 135 Benefit
Street, a.k.a. “The Shunned House” which helped inspire H.P. Lovecraft’s short
story of the same name. His contributions to and influence upon the Necon
Convention would take pages upon pages to list, but he was Necon’s second Guest
of Honor, its seventh roast victim (and the first author to be repeatedly
tortured year after year as the “fake victim” until he thought he’d never
actually land in the chair himself!), and an inductee into Necon’s Inaugural
Hall of Fame Class in 2007. In short, Les was an unquestioned pillar of the
community and greatly responsible for weaving the fabric which is New England
horror. To this day, attend any NEHW event (or visit their table at a con) and
you’ll be embraced, welcomed and encouraged; you can thank Les, amongst a host
of others, for fostering that environment for decades. Heck, I’d even go so far
as to say if there were a Mount Rushmore of New England Horror Writers, Les’
bust would belong upon it (probably squeezed between Lovecraft and a certain
horror author from Maine who’s sold a few books over the years …).
Which
brings me to the irony of all ironies regarding Les Daniels, his writing, and
New England —when it came to his most famous works (The Don Sebastian Chronicles), the two never met! The only time Don
Sebastian traveled to the New World, he found himself south of the border,
embroiled in Hernan Cortez’ attack upon Tenochitlan (Book Two: The Silver Skull). As much as Les Daniels shaped the New
England artistic scene and as much as it shaped him, he never brought his most iconic
character to his beloved locale (in any timeframe). Honestly, can you imagine
Faulkner setting his seminal works of fiction in the north, or Joyce setting
his in London instead of on the Emerald Isle? This is certainly not a
complaint, as I don’t feel The Don
Sebastian Chronicles lack in the least from not visiting the shores of New
England; it’s just an odd, quirky observation. But then again, maybe that’s a
fitting observation about a banjo-playing-pop-culture-film-and-book-reviewing-stand-up-comedian
… who, oh yeah, also wrote a little horror fiction, too.
Just a friendly
reminder — The Complete Don Sebastian
Chronicles are now available as e-books at Necon Ebooks, so please order your
copies today! And don't forget to check out the other stops on the tour!
