Hey, 

Thanks for bearing with me. I'm kinda new to the whole newsletter thing, and I think I mucked it up a lot along the way. Whoops.

But let's talk dark comedies. This is one of those genres I love, but I don't really see it talked about much. In a way, I find them one of the truest genres to life. Sure, things are fucked up, but you still find humor and hope in that somehow. 

My top all-time dark comedy--for years--was Death Becomes Her. It's everything I love in a movie. All-Star cast. Goldie Hawn, Meryl Streep, Bruce Willis. Legendary director, Robert Zemeckis, who has hit after hit after hit. And one sharp script. Seeing Willis lean into his comedy roots and play a hen-pecked, flabby coward, a through-and-through wiener, is nothing but a good time.

Then, a few years ago, on a whim on my birthday, I put on Death of Stalin. It was an impulse choice brought on by the fantastic trailer, and it exceeded all expectations. Grounding the comedy in real-life Soviet politics hones everything to the deadliest point. The marriage of back-biting, scheming, and laughs is immaculate. Steve Buscemi, Michael Palin, Simon Russell Beale, Jason Isaacs, Olga Kurylenko, and more star in this brilliant, scintillating movie. It touches on the brutality of power but still keeps it funny. I have watched it several times since. 

I hope you give it a watch.

What about you? What's your favorite dark comedy? Or even comedy, for that matter. I'll take any laughs I can get.

Now for some sizzle...

I'm running my first bookfunnel giveaway! I'm sure you probably already have the reader copy of my novel, Blazing Ambition, but if you don't, it's available there. More importantly, I'm hosting a stable of talented authors. I've personally reviewed each entry and vouch for them all. We have competent writers and terrifically talented ones whose speculative tales span genres. I know you'll find something you like.

Lastly, I'm on the prowl for beta readers! I'm about ten thousand words into another novel. It's an urban fantasy and mystery that I hope captures the same dark, off-the-wall humor of Death Becomes Her. Here's the synopsis, and let me know if you're interested:

[Heck hasn't slept in days. There's no telling if he'll dream or take a trip to the Underworld, where weeks or even months pass in a single night, and every soul is unhappy to see him. He's a bridge between the living and the dead: a necromancer who communes with wandering spirits. Tonight, the sheriff calls him to an unmarked grave where he cracks open an empty coffin and a hundred-year-old conspiracy live on social media.]

Be excellent to one another,

E.B. Hauk