“American Psycho” author Bret Easton Ellis is bypassing book publishing houses and debuting his new story, “The Shards,” on his podcast — because he didn’t think anyone would publish it given the graphic details.
According to Movie Maker Magazine, Ellis has been keeping listeners on their toes for the last six episodes of his podcast called “B.E.E. Podcast,” by telling a story about Los Angeles high school kids who become intertwined with a new student named Robert Mallory and a serial killer known as The Trawler. The catch — Ellis says it’s a true story that’s based on what he and his friends experienced.
The story focuses on a serial killer who trawls his victim’s homes and is currently titled “The Shards.” Ellis completes a new installment of his story every two weeks so he can read it at the start of each new episode of his podcast.
His story has not been edited, fact-checked or proofread. Some names and details have been altered, he said, but occasionally, people will reach out from his Sherman Oaks high school to correct him about a detail.
“These things happened,” he told the magazine. “It’s a story with a beginning, and a middle, and an end. And I was there. So there’s an outline I’m following, and I’m trying to tell this as straightforwardly as possible, as much as my memory permits. In other words, I’m not making this up as we go along. I already know what’s going to happen, and where to end it.”
He added that there is a possibility “The Shards” could be released through a traditional publisher in the future.
Bret Easton Ellis also wondered whether his other works, namely “American Psycho” and “Less Than Zero,” would be published today. His contract for the former was canceled before he found a new publisher and was able to release the book in 1991, when it was deemed controversial and even “harmful to minors” in Germany. Of course, it was adapted into a movie with Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman in 2000.