End of the Road

by Brian Keene

"My name is Brian Keene. I'm a writer by trade and a road warrior by heart. Neither of these things are wise career or life choices. The tolls add up.

Over the last twenty years, things have changed. Book tours have changed, publishing has changed, bookselling has changed, conventions have changed, horror fiction—and the horror genre—have changed. I've changed, too.

The only things that haven't changed are writing and the road. They stay the same. The words we type today are the past tomorrow. Everything is connected like the highways on a map are connected. This holds true for the history of our genre, as well.

I rode into town twenty years ago. Now I'm riding out. You're all coming with me..."

So begins Brian Keene's End of the Road—a memoir, travelogue, and post-Danse Macabre examination of modern horror fiction, the people who write it, and the world they live—and die—in. Exhilarating, emotional, heartfelt, and at times hilarious, End of the Road is a must-read for fans of the horror genre. Introduction by Gabino Iglesias.

Genres: Horror, Nonfiction, Writing, Memoir

340 pages, Paperback

First published March 2, 2020

About the author

BRIAN KEENE writes novels, comic books, short fiction, and occasional journalism for money. He is the author of over forty books, mostly in the horror, crime, and dark fantasy genres. His 2003 novel, The Rising, is often credited (along with Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead comic and Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later film) with inspiring pop culture’s current interest in zombies. Keene’s novels have been translated into German, Spanish, Polish, Italian, French, Taiwanese, and many more. In addition to his own original work, Keene has written for media properties such as Doctor Who, Hellboy, Masters of the Universe, and Superman.

Several of Keene’s novels have been developed for film, including Ghoul, The Ties That Bind, and Fast Zombies Suck. Several more are in-development or under option. Keene also serves as Executive Producer for the independent film studio Drunken Tentacle Productions.

Keene also oversees Maelstrom, his own small press publishing imprint specializing in collectible limited editions, via Thunderstorm Books.

Keene’s work has been praised in such diverse places as The New York Times, The History Channel, The Howard Stern Show, CNN.com, Publisher’s Weekly, Media Bistro, Fangoria Magazine, and Rue Morgue Magazine. He has won numerous awards and honors, including the World Horror 2014 Grand Master Award, two Bram Stoker Awards, and a recognition from Whiteman A.F.B. (home of the B-2 Stealth Bomber) for his outreach to U.S. troops serving both overseas and abroad. A prolific public speaker, Keene has delivered talks at conventions, college campuses, theaters, and inside Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley, VA.

The father of two sons, Keene lives in rural Pennsylvania.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

End of the Road is a mix of autobiographical memoir and a lot of Keene's observations and speculations about the publishing industry, life as a writer, and the state of American society in general. He also talks about the changes he's seen in the field and makes informed predictions of what he foresees on the horizon. Modeled after the works of Kerouac and Hunter S. Thompson, he recounts what he saw and experienced in a year of cross-country appearances he made to promote two of his new releases in 2016. He talks about his friends and peers in the horror genre, and the sense of community they share. By turns uproariously hilarious and heartbreaking, he demonstrates his public persona and his innermost feelings with remarkable openness, alternating charming arrogance and humility to make his point between the two. Though he sometimes wanders off point, he's always quite entertaining. It's a very enjoyable book, and some of his observations are quite illuminating.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part memoir, part discussion of the last 20 years of the publishing business and how it relates to horror, part road trip, part polemic, and it adds up to a fun if not wistful read.

[Catherine McCarthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The End of the Road by Brian Keene. Honestly, I can’t recommend this highly enough, especially if you’re a budding author. There were some personal connections for me right from the outset, some tragic, but also a few hilarious ones such as his ‘Flintstones’ experience. I’ll say no more because I don’t want to give spoilers but on reading this extract I was immediately taken back to a book fair I attended just before Christmas 2019 where hardly a soul turned up. Personal connections aside, this is a thoroughly entertaining read that shoots from the heart. Written in an open and honest manner, I came away feeling as if I knew the author personally.
So many funny moments and incredible anecdotes, but at the same time the whole memoir is informative and pulls no punches about the reality of what it means to be a horror writer in this day and age. Over the course of his career, Brian has built relationships with so many awe inspiring authors, the likes of which most of us will only dream of meeting. So cool!
His realism when he says that getting yourself known is partly about being in the right place at the right time is accurate, but he also stresses the importance of any new writer needing to go out there and make it happen, too.
On several occasions, Brian refers to himself as an asshole, admitting he has been called such on more than one occasion. What came through to me, though, is his willingness to help aspiring writers who are at the beginning of their career, his humility, and his unpretentious attitude.
Although this is a memoir, I will definitely seek out more work by Mr Keene.

[Sjgomzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this. Right up there in a 3 way tie between The Girl On The Glider and Ghoul for my favorite Keene book.

[Philip Fracassi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Keene's road memoir is the culmination of a series of articles he wrote for Cemetery Dance during a 9-month book-signing trip in 2016.

Keene has been in the business for a while and my favorite parts of the book were the sections where he discussed the state, and history, of publishing in the horror genre. Also, hearing Keene talk about his personal experiences with a who's-who of horror writers is a treat.

Genre writers will find many of Keene's thoughts and experiences of interest, and applicable, to their own careers, and general readers will enjoy his festive takes on his bizarre and challenging road trip foibles.

If I had one issue, it's that--due to the nature of the book being recast from a series of web articles--when condensed into book form and read in one sitting there's a good chunk of repeated information. But it's easy enough to gloss over these chunks as you go.

Regardless of that, it's a wonderful memoir with a lot of heart and a ton of knowledge.

[Horror Bookworm Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author Brian Keene writes a memoir based around a nine month book signing tour he began in 2016 called Brian Keene The Farewell But Not Really Tour. From West Coast to East Coast, his diaries capture a fascinating insight into all aspects of the book business, visiting life long friends and recollecting a road trip that was so unusual it could not have been made up even if tried.

Written with an amusing narrative, humorous wit and often a heavy heart. Keene reminisces and shares his encounters with the other side of touring, the healing process of losing close friends as well as the highs and lows of a cross country promotion of his two books Pressure and The Complex. Views on independent book stores and the conglomerate commercialization of nation wide chains are painfully true insights. Rolling through town after town, the reader is allowed to tag along as Keene establishes his loyal fan base, gains new supporters and revives any readers he might have lost touch with. The full onslaught of the journey had many highlights including a reuniting of the late great Richard Laymon, a stealth mission to set things right for departed author J.F. Gonzalez and of course The Flintstones debacle. From standing room only events to small attendances to cancellations, everything is covered in this Cemetery Dance publication.

Personal input: My wife and I crossed paths several times with Keene during this period he wrote about. All were wonderful experiences. We renewed our vows at a convention called KillerCon. Wrath James White performed the ceremony, Brian Keene offered to walk my wife down the aisle while Edward Lee was my best man. What I'm trying to get at is Brian Keene will go beyond the usual handshake, selfie and signature. This book attests to his absolute dedication to his fans and the genre. Grab a copy, you won’t regret it.

[Kit Power · Rating 5 out of 5]

End of the Road is a limited edition volume for Cemetery Dance, which collects nine months of Brian Keene’s blog posts documenting his 2016 promotional book tour for his then-new releases Pressure and The Complex. The blog post serves as part travelogue/trip diary, part Hunter S Thompsonesque state of the genre/nation address, and part meditation on mortality.

It’s also one of the very best books about the life of a writer that I have ever read.

It’s got that trademark Keene readability, for starters; for those of us familiar with his podcast work, the prose often feels like the author is talking directly to us, and I found myself hearing the familiar cadences of his voice as I read - including recurring motifs of ‘I digress’ and the phrase ‘It’s all gone horribly awry’, both beloved stock phrases from that show. The whole piece is propelled by this clear, wryly depreciating voice, and the short chapters - byproducts of the books original incarnation as a blog series - also lead the tome an addictive, ‘just-one-more’ feel.

Because having drawn me in with the voice, what kept me reading at pace were the stories; sure, the road trip highs and lows - big crowds, small crowds, cancelled events, weather - but more importantly the people - the fellow authors, the readers, and in some ways most strikingly, the strangers; the silent inhabitants of the suburbs Keene drives through, the forest of Trump signs a constant feature.

End Of The Road is what is says on the tin - a travelogue of what may end up being Keene’s last full-bore road trip book tour (and writing in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, such undertakings already feel exotic, slightly unreal even), but it’s so much more than that. It’s a narrative haunted by friends and peers recently lost, by Keene’s own sense of foreboding for both his future and the future of his country… and also haunted by the very landscape he’s passing through; the blue-collar America Keene proudly writes for, which feels like it’s being ground to dust almost before his eyes, by forces of neglect and malice.

And, sure, I could take issue with some of Keene’s finer points of political commentary (hell, as a card-carrying leftie, that’s practically my job), especially when he occasionally falls into what I think of the knee-jerk centrist ‘both-sides’-isms, but that would be to epically miss the point; the politics flow from Keene’s otherwise clear-eyed observations, not editorialising, and in terms of correctly identifying the growing malaise that led to the Trump win, it’s kind of hard to argue with, given how things turned out.

As someone slowly working my way through the Keene catalogue, in order of publication, I’m already well aware of his continued fascination with the end of the world. Here, though, it’s so much more personal; for all his continued talk about and insistence on the nature of cycles, in the Horror business and in society/economics (and to be clear, he’s correct about both), there’s a melancholic undertone to the whole thing; like the moment in the Sopranos pilot where Tony says ‘I dunno, sometimes, I feel like I came in at the end of the thing, you know?’

That said, as much as there is sadness and loss, there is also joy, and laughter, and the odd pure grain shot of the old Splatterpunk fuck-you spirit, too. Keene is clearly concerned about the state of things, and fearful for the future (and again, writing in March 2020 *looks out of window* kinda hard to fault that), but this book remains at its core a joyous, even defiant celebration; of a life lived in loving service to a genre Keene still eats, drinks, breathes and dreams; a genre that’s thrown some lumps at him, but also given him a set of life experiences and friendships you suspect he wouldn’t trade for anything.

And ultimately, it’s that love, that hard-won joy, that drives the beating heart of this extraordinary book, elevating what in lesser hands might have been a diverting diary of places visited and people met into something that is, I think, essential reading for any of us who have spent any time at all walking, or trying to walk, the path of a writer.

[Richard Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally published as a weekly blog on the Cemetery Dance website over a nine-month period in 2016, and later as a limited-edition hardcover earlier this year, Brian Keene’s autobiographical recounting of his Farewell (but not really) book tour is now being released as a mass-market paperback and as a Kindle Edition.

The book is ostensibly a travelogue, recounting Keene’s misadventures on an almost year-long road trip consisting of book signings and convention appearances in support of his two new books, ‘The Complex’ and ‘Pressure’. It soon becomes apparent that ‘End of the Road’ is about so much more, as we are presented with a rundown of the authors take on the horror genre, both as a newcomer and an established writer, an in-depth look into what has changed and why, as well as a deeply personal meditation on loss, friendship, and the importance of family, whether that be the one you have or the one you choose.

Most horror readers will be familiar with Brian Keene the writer. His output over the last twenty years has been prodigious, to say the least, and he is responsible for some outright genre classics, (such as the Rising and Dark Hollow). A few may recognise him from his seminal (and now, sadly defunct) podcast ‘The Horror Show’. Former Horror Show listeners will identify Keene’s trademark voice here, and the self-deprecating style that is so effective at making you empathise and connect with him.

I went into the ‘End of the Road’ expecting a light tale of Keene’s escapades as he gets up to no good, enjoys a drink with friends, and gives the reader plenty of fun anecdotes along the way and, while I did get that in abundance, the book went to far darker places than I ever expected.
The book is paved with setbacks and losses and doubts and while we as the reader may not be able to relate to the specific issues facing a famous mid-list horror writer, they speak to universal truths that impact all of us. It feels as if the book is speaking to you directly.

It is an extraordinary work, much greater than the sum of its parts, and a deep and sometimes uncomfortable look into the thoughts and fears of one of the genres most prominent figures. ‘End of the Road’, as dark as it gets, never loses its prevailing sense of optimism and it is an absolute joy to see Keene’s undying love for everything horror bleed through onto the page.

Heart-breaking, hilarious, raw and cathartic. End of the Road is an absolute must-have for anyone with even a passing interest in the horror genre, whether they be a writer or reader. This is one of those rare books that I can see myself revisiting and rereading over and over for years to come, and it having the same emotional punch each and every time.


You can read more reviews of new and upcoming horror releases at https://www.myindiemuse.com/category/...

[Armand Rosamilia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brian Keene is the reason quite a few of us started writing zombie fiction. He's an author I've known about since the mid-1990's and known in person for the last few years.

Part of this book is a brief history of the horror publishing industry, and it is insightful and gives a good sense of those of us lucky enough (or unlucky at times) to be involved in horror publishing and writing and what we went through.

The real gem here, though, is his personal anecdotes during his tour. It is open and honest. At times painful to read, because you can sense the despair, fear and his openly asking 'what is this all for? Really?' That's where this shines.

Writers will be reading this for generations to come. And it will still be a valuable teaching aid.

[Nicole Amburgey · Rating 5 out of 5]

These essays are raw, heart-felt, and honest. If you listen to Keene’s podcast, you’ll know that he often speaks of bleeding onto the page – and that’s exactly what he has done here. He channels Hunter S. Thompson in a whisky-fueled cross-country tour and discusses his thoughts on grief, loss, mortality, longing, familial bonds, fandom, horror, friendship, love, art, comics, the rise and fall of horror publishing, and the craft itself.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got to meet Brian, Gene O'Neil and Michael Bailey at the San Francisco signing tour. Good dudes.

[DJMikeG · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brian Keene is a hugely talented author, whether writing fiction or non fiction, and this book really feels like he is at the top of his non fiction game. As a long time fan of Keene's, this book was a pure pleasure to read. I absolutely love his old collected Hail Saten blog collections. He wrote those as a young man, full of piss and vinegar. This collection of non fiction works seamlessly as a long form book, which is kind of the point of it, I think. An older Keene writes with the same razor sharp pen, but now he has better perspective and the writing is more nuanced. Deep ruminations on life and death, triumph and loss, all packaged in an incredibly readable and enjoyable tome. A fantastic book. Keene's writing is so true and hits so hard and has such heart. Highest recommendation.

[Chris DiLeo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first encountered Brian Keene in the early 2000's when I read THE RISING. It blew me away. He completely revitalized the zombie genre with his story of a father searching for his son in an apocalyptic world. I loved it. (I'll never forget the zombie fetus...)

This book is Keene's farewell tour (of sorts) and is imbued with his knowledge, his wit, and his heart. Although marketed as a sequel of sorts to King's DANCE MACABRE, Keene's book is less academic and more personal.

Keane gives excellent insight into the publishing industry, its fate (as he sees it), and an expansive look at the horror genre since the eighties.

Most importantly, though, this is a personal journey for Keene, one of immense love for the genre that has given him much—especially life-long friends—and I was honored to travel with him for these 300+ pages.

[Brent Abell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brian Keene does horror like no other. However, I’ve grown to find his non-fiction books among my favorite. In this new collection of columns from the Cemetery Dance website, Keene delivers the tales from the road promoting “Pressure” and “The Complex”. He muses about the friends he has lost and how their ghosts both haunt and guide him. He intertwines his signing stops with a history of the genre. Between the lines is a man in transition, and Keene opens the car door for us to take the ride with him. I found the book to also be full of inspiration for me to continue writing. Overall, Keene gives us a souvenir from his time on the road and it wasn’t a shitty tee shirt.

[Ralph Carlson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent and highly enjoyable book. Loved it.

[Hunter Shea · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for horror fans, and required reading for horror writers (or any writer, for that matter).

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Loved it but I don't give many 5 stars and it wasn't quite that level for me. It is a fantastic read, though. Brian and I are very, very close in age so I could relate to a lot of his thoughts and feelings. It's a funny, touching and heartfelt read that had me tearing up a bit a couple of times. Recommended!

[Aiden Merchant]

This may just be a collected column for the most part but I loved it. A longer review will come soon.

[H.G. Gravy · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I’ve previously written in my article, Blood on the Page: How Brian Keene Influenced My Writing, I gushed on and on about how impressive Keene’s works are and how it made me want to get into the craft. Not only does he do excellent fiction, but his non-fiction work is vital to an aspiring author. The End of the Road is an honest, heartful, and personal memoir of Keene’s many years of experience in the professional publishing business.

Written in 2016, it follows Keene traveling across the nation on a farewell (but not really) tour of the United States. Throughout this personal journey, Keene mourns and copes with the deaths of his fellow authors and friends, J.F. Gonzalez and Tom Piccirilli. Their deaths haunt Keene as he realizes that he’s a man in the middle of his own transformation and realizing his own mortality. Traveling from book store signing to book store signing, interacting with fans and fellow authors, he muses on how despite all the changes which happened throughout the years, some things never actually change. They repeat themselves more often than not. Time is a flat circle.

Keene shares many insights into the personal and professional life of a horror author. He shares the highs of meeting his fans and fellow authors and heroes. He also shares the lows of having to sell off his books to put food on the table, being flat broke at the end of the tour, and missing his children and girlfriend while out on the road. There’s plenty of historical information on the horror genre’s rise and fall from the 1980s until 2016. It makes me wish for an additional entry in 2020 to summarize how the genre has changed in only four years.

I say “entry” because this book is a compilation of a monthly column published by Cemetery Dance as Keene traveled through the heart of the country. If you read the articles when they came out in 2016 as I did, you’ll have already read the majority of the book. This might deter someone from buying the book as the material was available for free. However, I argue that purchasing this book is still something a reader should do. It compiles all the articles into a single place for easy access.

Overall, The End of the Road is a book that will appeal to aspiring and current authors alike who want to know more about the genre and its history. While this is provided, you’ll slowly realize that the experiences, advice, and warnings from Brian Keene are the most essential part of the book.

[Brennan LaFaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brian Keene’s The End of the Road has a lot to offer within its pages. Opening it up, it strikes as Keene’s attempt to capture various snapshots of one last trip to bookstores and various venues to sign and promote upcoming releases, before he puts that behind him. You get that of course, the entries touch on a lot more.

If you listen carefully, you get a history of the horror genre. Not just through a big lens either. Keene details what made a mid-list author, ins and outs of publishing, offering his take on, historically, what works and what doesn’t, as well as how the landscape is changing and given the social climate, just how little we can do to stop it. Newer authors will find a lot in here to recount the beginnings of an author who has well over fifty books out in the world and has learned a thing or two along the way. I suppose some might consider it a spoiler, but the most frequently offered piece of advice is if you want to be a writer, sit down and write. Find the time. Keene finds interesting and colorful way to remind the reader of this tenet of success, but the message remains the same.

The narrative spends a lot of time detailing Keene’s struggles after the passings of writers Tom Piccirilli and J.F. Gonzalez. The opening chapters get very personal and the reader has know difficulty grasping the genuine love and respect Keene held for these men. His insights to how they changed his life and trajectory are, as always, honest and introspective.

The writing is razor-sharp. The whole time. Every entry. When Keene wants you to feel the hurt, your eyes will well up. When he wants to make you laugh, your sides will hurt. Before a later chapter mentions his respect for the writings of the late Hunter S. Thompson, it shines through crystal clear. Highly recommended for Keene fans new and old, as well as people looking for a guide to writing horror that wouldn’t know dry if landed in the middle of a desert.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book compilation of nine months of articles about a book signing tour and thoughts on the horror genre's changes over twenty years

Brian Keene is extraordinarily readable - I just kept reading one more chapter. I wanted more specifics on his thoughts on the horror genre and how it's changed, though. Because these were originally articles published in Cemetery Dance, there was a bit of repetition when I really wanted more digging into a topic or building on layers of previous thought. He lays himself bare with the struggles he's been through with friends dying and himself getting older and I appreciated the honesty.

I remember enjoying Keene's "The Rising" and "Dead Sea". After reading this travelogue, I'm going to have to give some of his newer stuff a try.

8/2023 reread: I read and enjoyed "Earthworm Gods" which made me want to reread this (which I did in one day). I'm putting more Brian Keene on my TBR.

7/2024 reread: I've been reading Brian Keene's nonfiction collections of his blogs in chronological order so I reread this one (the last so far) yet again. And enjoyed it again!

[Victoria Timpanaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great travelogue of Brian Keene's last big book tour. A career spanning memoir about his 20+ years as a horror author as he spends the time on the road pondering his own mortality after the passing of several close friends/authors. Recounting tales of book tours and conventions past with his contemporaries and those who came before him, as well as pointing to the next generation he has met in recent years. Keene acknowledges his place in the timeline of horror lit, while telling some great stories from the road along the way. A must for fans of the horror genre beyond the big names (King, Barker, Rice, Koontz, etc.).

[Michael Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strangely, this is my first Brian Keene book, although I have "Ghoul" in my TBR. I'm a new author and found the info within these pages to be a real eye-opener. I now have several follow-up questions about my writing "career" because BK set me straight on a number of initial misconceptions: In short, my thinking was fantasy and his is REAL LIFE, and for that, I'm glad I read this book. That...and it is also funny ("Fred Flintstone" anecdote, etc.). Must read for anyone that wants to sell books!

[Russell Holbrook · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is classic Brian Keene non-ficition, which I didn't even know he wrote until I read this. It's so great! I definitely reccomend this book to Keene fans who want a glimpse into the author himself or to anyone who enjoys memoir. There were times when I practically felt like I was riding shotgun in his rattling jeep as we barreled down some lonely stretch of road. I really appreciated his openess and candor. And then there's the story involving cemetary dirt interned in the wall of a bookstore's horror section. Yep. I still wonder if that really happened. Anyway, in the end it might not even matter.

[Alan Baxter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant stuff, essential reading for horror fans, especially horror writers.

[Brian B Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve only recently begun to read Keene’s books and this one hit where I needed it too.

This is a fantastic trip through the life of a writer on tour and gives a lot for those of us who write horror but are as of yet unpublished or self-published.

I bought this on kindle after seeing Keene post about it but now I’ll definitely have to get physical copy. This will be marked up the my copy On Writing by Stephen King.

There are authors listed who I haven’t read that I’ll have to delve into.

I’ll be reading this one again.

[Simon Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a amazing journey that was!
A wonderful book that was heartwarming, hilarious, and inspiring. It also brought a tear to my eye on a few occasions.
Fantastic memoir by the best horror writer out there.

[Kirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are a lot of insights contained herein, but the true strength of the books rests in its humanity. We're all going to die eventually, and the most important part of our legacy will be the connections we make along the way. That's what this is all about, right? Being hopelessly and beautifully human, and how whatever we do or aspire to in order to escape the human condition just draws us further into its clutches.

And it is as tragic as it is beautiful.

[Autumn Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I often find myself enjoying the non-fiction works of authors more than their fiction. I think because I'm continuously fascinated by the lives of people who write, and how they become who they are. This is a collection of blog posts from Brian Keene about one of his road tours. It's a story about dealing with grief, stress, isolation, and why we continue to move forward with the writing life despite its daily grind wearing us down.

[Alex Norcross · Rating 5 out of 5]

End of the Road is a devastatingly sincere and beautiful mediation on the horror genre, publishing, loss, and love. Highly recommend to anyone who has roots in the horror community, especially aspiring writers. I know this is a classic I'm going to treasure and revisit again and again.