Joe R. Lansdale


Joe Richard Lansdale is an American writer and martial arts instructor. A prose writer in a variety of genres, including Western, horror, science fiction, mystery, and suspense, he has also written comic books and screenplays. Several of his novels have been adapted for film and television. He is the winner of the British Fantasy Award, the American Horror Award, the Edgar Award, and eleven Bram Stoker Awards.
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Early life

Lansdale grew up in East Texas, the son of a mechanic.

Career

Lansdale's writing is characterized by a deep sense of irony, and features strange or absurd situations or characters, such as Elvis Presley and John F. Kennedy battling a soul-sucking Egyptian mummy in a nursing home.
His Hap and Leonard series of twelve novels, four novellas, and three short story collections feature Hap Collins and Leonard Pine who live in the fictional town of Laborde, in East Texas, where they find themselves solving a variety of crimes. Hap is a white working class laborer in his mid forties who once protested against the war in Vietnam and spent time in federal prison rather than be drafted, and Leonard is a gay black Vietnam vet. Both of them are accomplished fighters. The stories are violent, and characterized by strong language and sexual situations. Lansdale depiction of East Texas is essentially "good" but blighted by racism, ignorance, urban and rural deprivation and corrupt public officials. His novels are also characterized by sharp humor and "wisecracking" dialogue. These books have been adapted into a TV series for the SundanceTV channel and a series of graphic novels in 2017. Season 2 is based on the second Hap and Leonard novel Mucho Mojo and season 3, which premiered on 3/7/18, is based on the third novel The Two-Bear Mambo.
Much of Lansdale's work has been issued and re-issued as limited editions by Subterranean Press and as trade paperbacks by Vintage Crime/Black Lizard Publications.
Lansdale's novel titled Fender Lizards was published in November 2015 by Subterranean Press. In February 2016 two full-length novels Hell's Bounty was published Feb 27 also by Subterreanean Press and a new Hap and Leonard novel titled Honky Tonk Samurai was released Feb 2 by Mulholland Books. On January 31, 2017 Coco Butternut: A Hap and Leonard Novella was released by Subterranean Press and Rusty Puppy was released by Mulholland Books February 21, 2017. A new mosaic novel titled Blood and Lemonade was released on March 14, 2017.
Lansdale and daughter Kasey started a new publishing company called Pandi Press to control the re-issue and publication of his older works.
Lansdale book of essays and memoirs, Miracles Ain't What They Used To Be, was released by PM Press's Outspoken Author Series. His newest Hap and Leonard release is a novel titled Jackrabbit Smile and released March 27, 2018. He also, along with his daughter Kasey, released a collection of Dana Roberts mysteries titled Terror is Our Business: Dana Roberts' Casebook of Horrors, published in May 2018 by Cutting Block Books. In October 2018 a short story collection titled Driving to Geronimo's Grave and Other Stories has been published by Subterranean Press as a limited edition. His most recent novel is titled More Better Deals and was published by Mulholland Books. Its hardcover and Kindle releases were on July 21, 2020. Since then he released a novel Big Lizard co-written with his son Keith Lansdale released as a limited edition of 1500 hard-copies published by Short, Scary Tales Publications and is also available through Amazon Kindle.
His novel is titled Moon Lake and was released by Mulholland Books on June 22, 2021. He released a book of poetry titled Apache Witch as a limited edition that sold out right away and a Nat Love novella, Radiant Apples, published by Subterranean Press.

Personal life

Lansdale, who was born in Gladewater, Texas, lives in Nacogdoches, Texas, with his wife, Karen. He is the writer in residence at Stephen F. Austin State University. He also teaches at his own Shen Chuan martial arts school Lansdale's Self Defense Systems in Nacogdoches and is a member of the United States Martial Arts Hall of Fame as Sōke and the International Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He is the father of actress, musician and publisher Kasey Lansdale and reporter and screenwriter Keith Lansdale. He has described himself as an atheist, though he has also said that he is not anti-religion.

Film and television

Lansdale was a contributing writer for Batman: The Animated Series, credited with three episodes, namely "Perchance to Dream", "Read My Lips", and "Showdown". Lansdale also wrote "Identity Crisis" on Superman: The Animated Series, and "Critters" for The New Batman Adventures.
Lansdale's first film adaptation was Bubba Ho-Tep, based on his novella of the same and released in 2002. The film featured Elvis Presley and a man who believes himself to be John F. Kennedy, confined to an old-age rest home, teaming up to fight a mummy who is stealing their friends' souls.
In 2010, Lansdale wrote the screenplay for the animated short DC Showcase: Jonah Hex.
The short story Incident On and Off a Mountain Road was adapted for the first episode of the first season of Masters of Horror. It aired on October 28, 2005. Lansdale's story "The Job" was made into an 11-minute short in 1997 by A.W. Feidler. It is available on the out-of-print DVD collection, Short 5 – Diversity, on Warner Home Video. The short story "Drive-In Date" was filmed as a short by James Cahill, from a script written by Lansdale, published in A Fist Full of Stories.
The film Christmas with the Dead, based on the Lansdale short story of the same name, was filmed in East Texas in Summer 2011. The film starring Brad Maule, Damian Maffei, and Kasey Lansdale is currently showing on the film festival circuit and at private screenings. The DVD has been released. Actor and director Bill Paxton worked for six years on a film adaptation of Lansdale's novel The Bottoms. In a 2015 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Paxton admitted having difficulty getting the project off the ground. Paxton's death left unfinished projects, including The Bottoms movie.
Backup Media and Memento Films International financed Cold in July, an adaptation of Lansdale's cult novel was directed by Jim Mickle, with acting by Michael C. Hall and Sam Shepard. Filming began in 2013. Accompanied by a movie tie-in edition of the original story released by Tachyon Publications, the film was screened at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.
Nick Damici and Jim Mickle developed a Hap and Leonard private investigator series for the Sundance Channel, which premiered in March 2016. On June 27, 2016, SundanceTV renewed the series for a six-episode second season, which aired in 2017 and was based on the second novel, Mucho Mojo. Season 3 is based the third book, The Two-Bear Mambo On May 14, 2018, SundanceTV announced the cancellation of the series.
Lansdale is the executive producer of the film The Pale Door.

Awards

Among his awards, Joe Lansdale has won nine Bram Stoker Awards and nominated for the World Fantasy Award eleven times over the course of his long career.
WorkYear & AwardCategoryResultRef.
Tight Little Stitches in a Dead Man's Back1987 World Fantasy AwardShort Fiction
Night They Missed the Horror Show1988 Bram Stoker AwardShort FictionWon
Night They Missed the Horror Show1989 World Fantasy AwardShort Fiction
The Drive-In1988 Bram Stoker AwardNovel
The Drive-In1989 Locus AwardHorror Novel
The Drive-In1989 World Fantasy AwardNovel
The Drive-In2004 Seiun AwardTranslated Long Work
"On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folks"1989 Bram Stoker AwardLong FictionWon
"On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folks"1990 British Fantasy AwardShort FictionWon
"On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folks"1990 World Fantasy AwardNovella
By Bizarre Hands1989 Bram Stoker AwardFiction Collection
By Bizarre Hands1990 Locus AwardCollection
By Bizarre Hands1990 World Fantasy AwardCollection
The Steel Valentine1990 Locus AwardShort Story
Razored Saddles
'		1990 World Fantasy AwardAnthology
Razored Saddles
'		1990 Locus AwardAnthology
Savage Season1990 Bram Stoker AwardNovel
"Love Doll: A Fable"1991 Bram Stoker AwardShort Fiction
The Events Concerning a Nude Fold-Out Found in a Harlequin Romance1992 Bram Stoker AwardLong FictionWon
Jonah Hex: Two-Gun Mojo1993 Bram Stoker AwardOther MediaWon
Jonah Hex: Two-Gun Mojo1994 International Horror Guild AwardGraphic Story/Illustrated NarrativeWon
Writer of the Purple Rage1994 Bram Stoker AwardFiction Collection
Bubba Ho-Tep1994 Bram Stoker AwardLong Fiction
Weird Business
'		1996 Eisner AwardsAnthology
The Big Blow1997 Bram Stoker AwardLong FictionWon
The Big Blow2001 Grand prix de l'ImaginaireForeign Short story/Collection of Foreign Short Stories
Something Lumber This Way Comes1999 Bram Stoker AwardWork for Young Readers
Jonah Hex: Shadows West #11999 Bram Stoker AwardIllustrated Narrative
Mad Dog Summer1999 Bram Stoker AwardLong FictionWon
The Bottoms2000 International Horror Guild AwardNovel
The Bottoms2000 Hammett Prize
The Bottoms2001 Anthony AwardsNovel
The Bottoms2001 Edgar Allan Poe AwardNovelWon
The Bottoms2001 Macavity AwardsMystery Novel
High Cotton: Selected Stories of Joe R. Lansdale2001 Locus AwardCollection
A Fine Dark Line2004 Audie AwardsMystery
Mad Dog Summer and Other Stories2005 World Fantasy AwardCollection
Retro-Pulp Tales2006 Bram Stoker AwardAnthologyWon
Retro-Pulp Tales2007 World Fantasy AwardAnthology
Cross Plains Universe: Texans Celebrate Robert E. Howard
'		2007 World Fantasy AwardAnthology
The Shadows, Kith and Kin2007 International Horror Guild AwardCollection
Leather Maiden2008 Black Quill AwardsDark Genre Novel of the Year
The Folding Man2010 Bram Stoker AwardShort FictionWon
Edge of Dark Water2012 Goodreads Choice AwardsHorror
Fishing for Dinosaurs2014 Bram Stoker AwardLong FictionWon
I Tell You It's Love
'		2014 Bram Stoker AwardGraphic Novel
The Thicket2014 RUSA CODES Reading ListHistorical Fiction
The Steam Man
'		2016 Bram Stoker AwardGraphic Novel
Paradise Sky2016 RUSA CODES Reading ListHistorical Fiction
Paradise Sky2016 Spur AwardWestern Historical NovelWon
Apache Witch and Other Poetic Observations2021 Bram Stoker AwardPoetry Collection
Moon Lake2022 Locus AwardHorror Novel

;Other awards or recognitions:

Adaptations