Lansdale is well known and highly regarded for his speculative western fiction and rip-roaring comedy/horror adventures, and he has the awards to prove it. The author of more than 20 novels, in addition to story collections, anthologies and novellas, so far he has received five Bram Stoker Awards, a British Fantasy Award, the American Mystery Award, the Horror Critics Award, the "Shot in the Dark" International Crime Writers award, the Booklist Editor's Award, the Critic's Choice Award and a New York Times Notable Book award. Additionally, he's just been voted a Grand Master Award by the members of the 2007 World Horror Convention.

He lives in Nacogdoches, Texas, with his wife, Karen, who works as a writer and editor. Lansdale has been a student of the martial arts for more than 30 years. He's a two-time inductee into the International Martial Arts Hall of Fame, once for his founding of Shen Chuan, Martial Science. He's got the most decorated mantle in all of Nacogdoches.

He is the author of such books as The Drive-In, The Magic Wagon, Bad Chili, The Night Runners, High Cotton, For a Few Stories More, A Fine Line, A Little Green Book of Monster Stories and Zeppelins West.

Lansdale has been receiving acclaim for the movie Bubba Ho-Tep. Based on his Bram Stoker Award-nominated novella, the movie tells the tale of what "really" happened to Elvis Presley. Lansdale's story pits an elderly Elvis, played by horror/action star Bruce Campbell, against a ravenous mummy in a Southern retirement home. Elvis fights the mummy with the help of Jack, a fellow nursing-home resident played by Ossie Davis, who may or may not be President John F. Kennedy.

His Web site is: www.joerlansdale.com.Tell us about your early years. What was it like, growing up Texas-style?

Lansdale: It was really great for me as a kid. I grew up kind of Huck Finn, in the woods and all. It was a different time, and you could go out in the summer in the morning and not come back until late afternoon if you wanted. I often wanted. I spent lots of time on the creek and in the woods. My childhood was very good. I was born in Gladewater, Texas, but spent from first to about fifth grade in Mount Enterprise, which had just over a hundred people. We knew everyone, and everyone watched out for everyone else. But, by the time of the fifth grade, we moved to a town of 4,000, where I had been born ... back to Gladewater. It was better for someone about to enter into the teens. But, it had a tougher atmosphere, and that had some negative aspects. Fights. Drunks. You name it. Still, I had it pretty good. The thing that was missing from all of this was some kind of real cultural life. You're very proud of your Texas upbringing. What is it that sets Texas and Texan writers apart from other states and their writers?

Lansdale: Sometimes I think it is the lack of culture, at least in the early years of my life. That's changed dramatically now. Back then, you grasped at every straw that floated by. I think that lack made a lot of us use our imaginations, and these were tied to our surroundings and what little culture we could find. A few books. The movies. TV, especially old movies and serials, and, of course, comic books. There's also a feeling of strength and independence about Texas. A one-of-a-kindness that gives you a different feeling than, say, growing up in ... Rhode Island.If you could have a drink with any historical character from the days of the Old West, who would it be?

Lansdale: Wild Bill Hickok, as long as I could have Diet Coke or iced tea.

What was the inspiration for Zeppelins West?

Lansdale: All of the old westerns I had read and seen on TV, early SF on TV and in the comics, my love for history. I wanted to mix it altogether. I think The Phantom Empire, in a kind of odd way, contributed. This was an old Gene Autry serial that took place underground, in Atlantis, I think. It had robots and cowboys and shootouts and fistfights, and Gene always managed to get back to the ranch in time to have his radio show.Did Bubba Ho-Tep receive any flak from the Elvis Presley estate or Elvis fans?

Lansdale: Not that I'm aware of. It was a loving tribute, actually.Speaking of Bubba Ho-Tep, what were director Don Coscarelli and actor Bruce Campbell like?

Lansdale: I knew Don long before Bubba Ho-Tep. We were friends and tried to do things before, so it was a pleasure for something to finally come together. I was also pleased with how he directed and co-scripted "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road" for Masters of Horror.

Bruce I had never met before Bubba, but I had been a fan of his work, and he was and is my son's favorite actor. When I watched him on the set of Bubba Ho-Tep I realized he wasn't just good, he was really good. I don't believe Bruce has had the career he deserves. He's a hell of an actor, and he and I keep in touch.Don Coscarelli did an adaptation of your story "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road" for the Masters of Horror series. Were you pleased with the results? What was your degree of involvement with that project?

Lansdale: I was very pleased with the adaptation of "Incident." Don did a great job directing, and the screen adaptation by Don and Stephen Romano was quite good. I really wasn't that involved, outside the fact that I did go to Canada with my son to watch some of the filming. I think it's the best-looking thing Don's ever done. There was a lot of money in it for a television show, and Don is a really good director. He has a great visual eye.
According to the IMDB online movie database, the next Bubba Ho-Tep movie is going to be a prequel, Bubba Nosferatu and the Curse of the She-Vampires, set for a 2008 release. What can you tell us about that project? Do you know yet who will be playing any of the she-vampires (Christina Ricci, maybe)?

Lansdale: I don't really have any involvement at the moment in the project. Last I heard, Don and I think Stephen Romano were doing an original script using Elvis and a character or two from the first one. I read in Entertainment Weekly, and Don told me, Paul Giamatti was interested in playing something in the film. I'm afraid that at this point that's all I know. You recently had the honor of winning Italy's Grinzane Cavour Prize for Literature. Can you tell us about that?

Lansdale: The Grinzane Prize was a surprise, and it turned out to be a big deal. I was pleased. It recognizes my work for its literary merit and for my use of social issues in crime fiction. It was nice.Your Drive-In books would make great movies. Has Hollywood shown any interest in them?

Lansdale: They have, and the first was optioned a couple of times. Some interest now. We'll see.How did you get into writing Batman books? What new elements have you added to the legend of Batman?

Lansdale: Batman is an icon, and my favorite comic-book hero. I grew up reading him and was pleased to get this opportunity, which was offered to me by an editor. I also wrote for Batman: The Animated Series. Did three of those, and one for the latter incarnation, Batman and Robin, or something like that. I also worked on a Superman, but only elements of my script were used for that animated program.Who's your favorite Batman villain?

Lansdale: Probably the Joker.

Your book Tarzan: The Lost Adventure was co-authored by the late Edgar Rice Burroughs. How did that project come about? What were you given to work with to write this book?

Lansdale: I was given the first pages of the book he started. About 80 or so. I moved some of the scenes he wrote to later places in the book, used lines of his in later places. Used most of the opening as was. Had I not moved these things about, Tarzan would have whacked a lion or panther on every other page. I also changed the dialogue, which was kind of out of step. The blacks were all Stepin Fetchit characters. It wasn't Burrough's best work, and that may have been the reason it had lain in the safe. It was fun to work with, though. Sentimentally, Burroughs is my favorite writer.You're very skilled in martial arts. Tell us how you discovered the martial arts and how that aspect of your life affects your writing.

Lansdale: My father was a boxer and wrestler, and he started teaching me to protect myself, and then I found out the YMCA taught judo. They also had hapkido, tae kwon do, and later kenpo and other arts. At the time, no one had heard of hapkido or tae kwon do. Neither are ancient arts, by the way, but instead are of the mid-20th century, but founded on more ancient arts.

I am one of the earliest to study hapkido in the U.S—not the earliest, but one of the eariest—and I'm sure I'm one of the very earliest in Texas. I started studying in the mid- to late '60s from Dwayne Odom, who had studied in Korea.Do you feel that the boundaries for the speculative genres have become more restrictive over the years?

Lansdale: Not at all. Least not for me. I think they are broader.You mix horror and humor often in your writing. What scares Joe R. Lansdale, and what makes him laugh?

Lansdale: Random violence and world confusion scare me. Just about everything makes me laugh, even stuff that isn't necessarily funny. It's a coping mechanism.You are friends with Dean Koontz. Care to share an anecdote about the master of suspense?

Lansdale: Dean once called me and described a bug that was in his kitchen, and he wanted me to identify it. He doesn't like bugs and wanted it dead. Which was done, I think by an exterminator. It's been a while, but that's how I remember it.If you could be any monster, which monster would you be and why?

Lansdale: Wolf Man. He gets to run on all fours and has neat fur. But I'd rather not be a monster. What can we expect from Joe R. Lansdale in 2007?

Lansdale: In 2007 I have the book Lost Echoes coming out. It has a kind of science-fiction background to it, or, to be more exact, science fantasy. It's also a suspense novel ,and I think it's pretty thrilling. It was a best-seller, and still is a best-seller in Italy, where it first appeared by both a quirk of fate and design by me. Last words?

Lansdale: Thanks for taking the time to interview me.