I woke up today to the news that Ray Garton had passed. This came just a couple months after we lost another dear friend and excellent writer, Weston Ochse. Weston's passing hit me pretty hard because, in the twenty years we knew each other, we'd only had our first really profound conversation six years ago when he picked me up from the airport on my way to Brian Keene's 50th birthday. To me, that six years felt like yesterday. So, it was like one day we were talking about family, friends, and politics, and the next day he was gone. That's how it feels right now with Ray.
Back in 2004, one of my proofreaders, Tod Clark, asked me if I had ever read Ray Garton. Bob Strauss had recently introduced me to the work of Richard Laymon and Edward Lee. But Ray was someone else in the genre who was writing the kind of stuff I was writing, and that I needed to check him out. A few days later Tod sent me copies of The New Neighbor, and Scissors. I eagerly devoured them and fell in love with Garton's more understated form of Splatterpunk.
Ray Garton’s stories were no less adventurous and extreme than Laymon or Lee, but had more of a slow burn. His werewolf book, Ravenous, literally made me turn the lights on at night as I walked around my house. The books also contained lots of sex, which I love. I can’t get enough of a good smutty horror story. If you haven't read Live Girls or The New Neighbor, you should definitely treat yourself. I still have those copies I was sent over two decades ago.
A few years later, in 2009, after I began running Killercon, which was then in Las Vegas, I asked Ray if he would join us as a guest of honor the following year. It was my first time meeting him in person and he was both humble and gracious, a true gentleman. We talked a lot about religion that weekend, so when I decided to put together a new collection, Horrible Gods: The Little Book of Atheist Horror Stories, I asked Ray if he would do the introduction. As a fellow atheist and a damn good writer, I knew he would do a wonderful job and yet he still outdid my expectations. That introduction might be even better than the stories themselves.
I was honored to have the opportunity to present him with the J.F.Gonzalez Lifetime Achievement Award this year, and was looking forward to seeing him again. Just a few weeks ago he let me know he was battling lung cancer and would not be able to attend the awards ceremony. I ordered the award immediately, intending to mail it to him on the off chance he passed before Killercon. Well, the Award didn't arrive in time. Unfortunately, Ray never got to hold the award before his passing, but he and his wife both let me know how much it meant to him to be receiving it.
Now, we will be presenting Ray with another honor, one I hope no one else receives this year or next. Along with my dear friend Weston Ochse, we will be inducting Ray Garton into our Hall of Legends at this year's Killercon. They have both given so much to the world through their writings and mentorship and encouragement of new writers. They have earned their rest, and every honor we can give them both. Rest well, my friends.