Victor LaValle
@victorlavalle
Doing what I dreamed of since I was a kid. Books: Lone Women, The Changeling, The Ballad of Black Tom, The Devil in Silver. TV: The Changeling (EP), The Terror: Devil in Silver (Creator, Showrunner) Comics: Destroyer, Eve, Sabretooth, Black Panther
I want to shout out another Waterstones deal. This time for an upcoming anthology that I’m in. BLACK HORROR: Canonical Voices from Then and Now. Edited by @chesyaburke.bsky.social & @mauricebroaddus.bsky.social . It’s going to be a great collection of Black horror you will love.
THE BALLAD OF BLACK TOM arrives in a UK edition this summer. @waterstones.bsky.social is running a deal for preorders on the book. Get 25% off with the code SUMMER26. I love the cover for this one (as I’ve loved the covers for every edition of this book). UK readers, I hope you enjoy.
Watched TENDER MERCIES for the first time. Spectacular magic. The film is as subdued as its characters, rich with understated emotion. People living in the aftermath of life shattering losses, but somehow they must keep living. Shoutout to @ifyoucantwell.bsky.social for the recommendation!
Weekend read is this graphic novel adaptation of Robert Bloch’s story, HELL ON EARTH. (Originally published in Weird Tales, 1942.) A writer gets a job to help raise a demon. Don’t think it’ll work out. Art by Keith Giffen. Written by Robert Loren Fleming. Cover painting by Bill Sienkiewicz
Reread of Peter Straub’s KOKO is complete. The best books make you want to start them all over again, as soon as you’re done. But each time you reread, you realize it’s become a whole new version of the book. Every time becomes a new first time. (Which is a very Straubian idea anyway.)
You caught your breath after that legendary Knicks victory. Or, you didn't watch at all. But today, you're in the mood for some horror. Luckily, the season finale of THE TERROR: DEVIL IN SILVER is live on @shudder.com @amcplus.com. Who lives? Who dies? What does victory look like? Come find out!
Episode 5 of THE TERROR: DEVIL IN SILVER is live today. This episode is written by the great @ifyoucantwell.bsky.social and it is just a monumental episode of television. Get ready for Chris to put you through ALL the emotions over the 45:03 minutes of the show. You ain't ready. But get ready.
Episode 4 of THE TERROR: DEVIL IN SILVER is streaming today. Mysteries start to get answers, but those answers don't lead anywhere nice. On @amcplus.com & @shudder.com
Your show’s name up on the marquee. A great crowd laughing and gasping at the right times. Career highlight. Life highlight. Hey @ifyoucantwell.bsky.social , we done good!
Look at this beautiful special edition from @subpress.bsky.social . This is Peter Straub’s final, unfinished, novel, Wreckage. It also includes What Happens in Hello Jack, which is the notes and chapter fragments for the book, offering incredible insights. A gift for fans of a true great.
“Squirrel eating a bagel in a tree” might be one of the most New York photos I will ever take.
One of my favorite things to share is a picture of well loved books. These are a few of mine. Seeing yours would be a nice pick me up today.
DON'T LOOK NOW (1973) Nicholas Roeg's masterpiece. Graceful, haunted and haunting. It takes its central theme of guilt and loss so seriously and it's paranormal elements speak to those themes with grace.
DOG DAY AFTERNOON (1975) A New York story that broke the mold. The death and breadth of humanity is on display in every scene. Heartfelt, gripping, humane, political. Anchored by a profoundly rich central character going through his own dark night of the soul.
THE CHANGELING (1980) An atmospheric movie about a New York composer who restarts his life in Seattle after an awful tragedy. The story takes grief and sadness seriously and the mood is one of slowly growing, oppressive fear. A wonderfully grown up horror movie. An all-time gem.
THE TAKING OF THE PELHAM ONE TWO THREE Maybe the biggest influence on our show. The cast of characters includes the city itself. A genre story that's also a portrait of a place and time. It's crime story but what truly shines through are the people. Even the smallest role glows with humanity.
The only thing more terrifying than the Devil is the American health care system. TODAY OUR SHOW GOES LIVE. The Terror: Devil in Silver streaming on AMC+ & Shudder. On AMC linear in September. To celebrate I'm sharing a thread of the films and tv that inspired our show's tone and mood and style.
THE BUFFALO HUNTER HUNTER Stephen Graham Jones Last but certainly not least. An epic American tale, spanning centuries and family lines. A supernatural story that tells the stone cold truth about this nation’s history: America is a vampire.
A PLACE IN THE WORLD Bill Gaythwaite A gorgeous collection of stories about regular lives dealing with lost love, heartbreak, absentee parents & more. Insightful and moving work.
HEART THE LOVER Lily King This novel just wrung my heart out. A college love triangle that turns into a story of three adults whose lives remain deeply entwined.
HOW TO DODGE A CANNONBALL Denard Dayle Satire set during the Civil War. A bold book, that’s at times shockingly funny.
THIS HERE IS LOVE Princess Joy L. Perry 1690. Tidewater, Virginia. Lush, beautiful, brutal but still hopeful story of three lives—two enslaved, one indentured.
So…your boy is at Cannes, debuting THE TERROR: DEVIL IN SILVER alongside my brother, @ifyoucantwell.bsky.social , Karyn Kusama, and the incredible Judith Light. Savoring this moment. Wild. Truly wild.
First time reading “Autofac” by Philip K. Dick. No surprise but he diagnosed the problem with AI in 1955.
Saturday reread. KOKO by Peter Straub. Maybe fourth or fifth time through? I lose myself in Straub’s prose style without fail.