John Skipp - The Antidote to Fear

HORROR LEGEND JOHN SKIPP RETIRES FROM PROSE, LAUNCHES NEW MUSIC AND FILM.

After 25 books, a couple of million copies sold, and 41 years as an iconoclastic, legendary horror author and anthologist, two-time New York Times bestseller John Skipp has officially retired from writing and publishing fiction. His final book. DON’T PUSH THE BUTTON (published by indie press Clash Books), is an intensely personal collection of short stories, screenplays, and essays, and his “farewell message” to the horror-reading public.

Skipp, 64, has two solo albums out on his own Fungasm Records label to go along with the book. THE ANTIDOTE TO FEAR is the first album, and it's a compilation of songs that chronicles the end of Trump's presidency, Covid's early years, and his own restless path. The second, CRY ME A RAINBOW, is a collection of instrumental music that serves as a melancholy and hopeful soundtrack for these weird days.

With unifying art by New Zealand designer Matthew Revert, the book and two albums form a powerful visual and emotional triptych. Meanwhile, his new short film DOPPELBANGER – which Skipp calls “half karaoke horror, half extremely dark Bizarro romantic comedy” – is now hitting the festival circuit, with a premiere this week at the Toronto Short Film Festival.