By MICHAEL GINGOLD
You’ll soon be able to hear the memoir of personal and professional horrors.
RUE MORGUE got the first word that Encyclopocalypse Publications is issuing an audiobook version of A COMEDY OF TRAGEDIES, the memoir by Steve “Uncle Creepy” Barton. The longtime horror journalist and Dread Central co-founder’s chronicle of his years in the genre and traumatic real-life experiences was originally published early this year. This new edition, which will be available this month on Audible, Amazon and Apple Books, contains the book read by narrator Tom Jordan, with additional features including a fully scored live performance of Barton’s “A Tale of Suffering,” with a new introduction by the author and dramatic sound mix by Jennifer Rouse. “As hilariously fun as it was to read the ‘A Tale of Suffering’ piece in Barton’s book,” says filmmaker Adam Green, “hearing it performed and scored brings it to a whole new level of…suffering. Oh, my head with pain!”
“I know people expect me to narrate the book since it’s my own life story,” Barton says, “but I just can’t. Writing it all down was my way of closing some of those doors for good, and I’m not able to walk back through them again. I may have written and lived it, but it really came to life thanks to so many talented people. Narrator Tom Jordan did an incredible job bringing my words off the page, and Jennifer Rouse’s sound design for the supplemental audiobook edition of ‘A Tale of Suffering’ is truly remarkable. It’s also a meaningful tribute to our dear friend Mark Redfield, who was originally set to narrate the book before his passing. I’m hoping this audiobook version of A COMEDY OF TRAGEDIES helps my story reach a wider audience and share the message I live by: it’s OK to hurt and to be messed up. We all are. But we also have the strength to pick ourselves up, brush off the dust, and keep going.”
Two original songs are also included: “Cult Leader” by Powerman 5000, included with the permission of frontman Spider One (who says, “Steve Barton is like Rocky without all the running and raw eggs”), and “Asskiss” by To Die For, written specially for this audiobook. Vocalist Matt Bolea recalls, “Steve and I met through a shared negative experience from the same source. I watched him grow stronger from that pain, and it inspired me to learn how to do the same. Steve has taught me one of life’s greatest lessons, and that’s to always stand up straight in the face of any adversity. It’s the only way you can grow stronger, and he proved that to me.”
“Only Steve Barton could survive half the shit he’s been through and somehow turn it into a story that’s equal parts gut-punch and gut-buster,” says Encyclopocalypse president Mark Alan Miller. “We’re damn proud to help put this out into the world.”
