Wow! According to Amazon, THE PINES is now in its tenth edition. (I’d lost count ages ago.) And have you seen some of the reader comments? Who would have believed that – all these years later – this novel’s admirers would still be so ardent … and its detractors still so outraged?
Strong reactions at both ends of the spectrum have pretty much always been the case though. At my very first horror conference – where I appeared as a guest of honor – a local anti-fan distributed a pamphlet denouncing me as “abnormal.” (Trust me, he had no idea.) And what was that troll shrieking at me on Shocklines a few months ago? Something about my being “deformed.” I don’t think that’s the word he meant to use actually. I think he meant “abnormal.”
Is it wrong that the hatred of ignorant loons can feel just as validating as the praise of intelligent critics? I realize I should be above this sort of the thing, but ...
