A Grim Book in a Morbid Library

My next book talk is in two weeks, and it will be less interesting than its venue 


January 2, 2013 — Usually, when I do an appearance for one of the Grimpendiums, I feel like I need to explain why I like the macabre to the point of driving thousands of miles to experience it in every one of its decrepit shades. Well, my next appearance is going to take that burden off me. In fact, chances are, I’m not going to be the most morbid person in the room. That honor’ll go to the human skeleton reclining in the glass case, for sure, but it also applies to whoever would attend a venue like the Morbid Anatomy Library.

On Monday night, January 14, at 8:00 pm, I’ll be presenting a talk on The New York Grimpendium at the Morbid Anatomy Library in Brooklyn, New York. I visited and wrote about this place for the book itself. It’s a small private collection of morbid art, literature, and artifacts curated by one Joanna Ebenstein and connected to an exhibit space called Observatory, where the actual talk will take place. That’s the boring explanation, actually. More accurately, the Morbid Anatomy Library is a hub for a growing macabre culture that revels in the idea that we’re all a weird and wonderful mass of self-destructing biology just a microbe’s width from not existing anymore.

There’ll be a $5 cover charge for this event, but it promises to be a real party…which means I’ll be there in full wallflower mode. So if you come, introduce yourself. If I know you through Facebook or Twitter, try to look as much like your avatar as possible.

So pretend to come to listen to me prattle, but really come to see the amazing Morbid Anatomy Library and immerse yourself in a culture of people who, well, come to a place with “Morbid” in its name to hear about something with “Grim” in its name.

We’ll have both New England and New York books there for $15 apiece (or to trade for whatever cool, ghastly thing you want to part with), and, of course, I’ll sign any book you bring, even if it’s not one of mine.

More information about the event, including the address, can be found here. There’s also a Facebook event page here.