I first heard of John Skipp and Craig Spector in the pages of the badly-missed Twilight Zone Magazine. Or maybe it was Night Cry, its sister publication. Either way, I believe that I read an excerpt of The Light at the End, and I immediately knew that this was the stuff for me.

I was embarking on a new life for myself at the time. A live-in girlfriend, with a baby on the way, was part of the deal. It was an exciting, yet terrifying, time for me. Mostly it was exhilarating. The new horror writers were a big part of what made it such a special time of my life. Along with Skipp and Spector, there were exciting talents like David J. Schow, Joe R. Lansdale, Ray Garton, Richard Christian Matheson. These and other writer were ushering in a new type of horror fiction. Postmodern, ultra hip, cutting edge writing that was as influenced by hard rock and roll and midnight cult films as any literary tradition.

I didn't consider Skipp and Spector to be among the finest writers of their day. But I did think they were the coolest and the most fun to read. I never waited very long before beginning a new book of theirs when it came out.

Cut to a few years later. I was entering another new life for myself. The woman I lived with fled for her sanity and I started upon a new career. At a job where I am currently still employed. It was a big move for me, but a good one. Making the change was tough, but I weathered the storm. I had no money for a while, what with the two-week delay in paychecks and the pitiful money I had been earning before the new job. When I finally had a paycheck that wasn't entirely spoken for, I went to the mall as soon as I had the cash in my hot little hands. The mall had a WaldenBooks, which was at the time my main spot for purchasing books. I was thrilled to see a new Skipp and Spector book out. It was so new that it wasn't even on the shelves yet. Copies were still on the rolling carts that the employees used to get the books to their proper places. I snatched up that book, which was The Bridge.

The Bridge was, to me, a huge leap in maturity and style for Skipp and Spector. It is arguably the most accomplished, assured, and important book of their wildly successful career together. Most fans I've talked to agree.

I was disappointed by the final Skipp and Spector book, Animals. I need to read it again. I had learned that John and Craig had called it quits and I felt that Animals didn't flow as well as all the others did. Most fans disagree with that, and it's very possible that my sadness over the breakup caused my dissatisfaction for the book.

It was the end of an era. An era that was near and dear to my heart. Horror didn't die, of course, but neither John nor Craig published much for quite a while after Animals came out. Craig Spector did a couple of good books as well as some short stories. John collaborated with Marc Levinthal on various projects. I enjoyed all of it, but the partnership of Skipp and Spector was sorely missed.

Meanwhile, I became active in the horror field. Mostly as an observer and a message board moderator. I always wanted to meet John and Craig. I did meet John, and he was just as cool and crazy (but intelligent) as I thought he'd be. I never met Craig in the flesh, but I interviewed him and I had numerous phone conversations with him. Again, Craig was sharp, funny, and as intense as I knew he'd be.

Craig began to reprint the Skipp and Spector books at the beginning of this decade with his Stealth Press, but he only made it to The Scream. I felt and continue to feel that all of their classic works should be preserved in lasting, hardcover editions.

That might not be happening, but Leisure Books has now published The Bridge in a brand spanking shiny new paperback edition. I still own the old paperback, but I bought The Bridge in its new edition today. Tomorrow, after I finish the book I'm currently reading, I plan to start reading it.

And I'm in a new phase of my life once again. Bruised and hurting from a failed marriage and a painful divorce, I'm looking ahead again at new prospects. This time I'm making real money and I have a lot of cool things going on with this website and also with various other projects I'm involved in. Horror is going strong. Stronger than it has since the days when John and Craig turned the genre on its ear with their provocative writing. Somehow, I'm still here, and so are they. We've survived. I know that I'm looking forward to new challenges and a lot of new horror to come. John's back with a new partner, the seemingly deranged Cody Goodfellow. We haven't heard from Craig since his collaborative graphic novel with Whitley Strieber, The Nye Incidents. I somehow doubt that we've heard the last of him. And I think that, despite all odds, John will be around for a long time, too. I can't wait to see what's to come, but I also look forward to indulging in the glorious past, starting with The Bridge.

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