Some of my favorite moments from last year’s inaugural StokerCon were those spent talking late into the night with William F. Nolan and Dennis Etchison. So when this year’s StokerCon rolled around, I knew I had to capture them both for Eating the Fantastic. You’ve already heard me chat with Bill over Thai food aboard the Queen Mary back in Episode 38 (at least I hope you have). Now it’s time to for you to eavesdrop as Dennis and I dig into a couple of classic dishes at Long Beach’s Chen’s Chinese Restaurant.

Dennis is a writer and editor who’s a three-time World Fantasy Award winner and a three-time British Fantasy Award winner. His 1982 debut short story collection, The Dark Country, is one of the best horror short story collections ever. And you don’t have to take my word for how good he is—some guy named Stephen King has called him “one hell of a fiction writer.”

We discussed how Philip K. Dick staged scenes as he wrote his stories, Ray Bradbury’s baffling advice which helped Etchison make his first fiction sale, whether he’d still have become a writer had he not been an only child, why most writing workshops don’t work, how he came to write his best-selling Halloween novel for John Carpenter in six weeks, the speech he really wanted to give when he received his Lifetime Achievement Award from the Horror Writers Association, and more.

Here’s how you can dig into dumplings with us— (more…)