![[admin reveal.jpg|500]]<font size = 2> _Me on the [[Olympic Peninsula]] in [[Washington State]]_ _Image source: Laird Barron Mapping Project, 2023_ </font> --- The [[Laird Barron Mapping Project]] is a personal project that I started somewhere in 2021. I was kinda bewildered at the lack of online resources for [[Laird Barron]]'s work, so I was compelled to start my own endeavor. As described in [my initial post on Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/horrorlit/comments/rtfo0r/laird_barron_mapping_project) where I first shared the project: "Ever since I read a Laird Barron story collection for the first time, I've been way too intrigued by the interconnectedness, collective universe or mythos of his fiction. The implicit nature and sometimes downright vague story conclusions scratch a particular itch for me, as do the recurring characters, locations and artifacts. When I get this same feeling with other media - such as Dark Souls games or David Lynch movies - I browse wiki's and go on YouTube to watch hour-long video essays that analyze everything. But in this case there's barely any online analysis or discussion to be found. There's some small Reddit discussions, some forum posts on Ligotti's website and one very cool but pretty outdated website. I'm kinda bewildered that there's almost no essays, critical texts, wiki's, YouTube videos etc. but I guess horror literature is just very niche in the grand scheme of things. So I started my personal 'crazy detective connecting all the dots' project using the note-taking software Obsidian, linking everything together using hypertext. There's no huge discoveries or anything, but it's just cool to see which characters appear all over the place (and time). It's a work in progress and it's just been a lot of fun, so I wanted to share; in case other people are out there craving some Laird Barron discussion. I'm also considering turning this whole thing into an online wiki to contribute a bit to the collective discussion and understanding, but I'd really miss Obisidian's Graph View." Well, it took me about three days after that post to register a domain name. The [Global Graph](https://imgur.com/XIVU9xZ) of my local Obsidian project sadly isn't available in its online, published mode. But at least we have the Local Graph on the right-hand side to click around in (if you're browsing on a computer instead of on mobile), so that'll have to do for now. _(January 2024 edit: scratch that. Obsidian updated some stuff over the past year, so you can view and navigate the Global Graph by clicking on the icon in the top right corner of the the Local Graph!)_ My online handle on Twitter and Reddit is @slowtochase. I chose this name for a reason: because I'll probably take my sweet time with this project. Outside of my work at the library, I have a lot of different interests including (but not limited to) reading (obviously!), hiking, gaming and playing guitar, bass and drums in a number of hardcore punk bands. I also run a tiny record and tape label and occasionally organize a show and put out a zine with a friend. I tend to hop back and forth between wildly different projects, and long-term focus isn't my strongest point. Perhaps I _am_ swift to chase, but just as swift to get distracted. So the biggest disclaimer of this entire website is: this is a personal hobby project. There's probably inconsistencies, bad spelling, unfinished notes and downright false assumptions aplenty. I have no idea how the site will end up or how actively it will be maintained. That being said, I'm currently super excited about publishing the website and definitely won't lose interest in Barron's fiction itself, so let's all hope I stick with it! --- ### __Contact__ Do you have some sweet inside info, personal findings or any other possible contribution to the Mapping Project? Found some glaring mistakes tucked away in one of my notes? Wanna talk about anything Barron-related? Got some cool books or bands to recommend? You can reach me on [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/user/SlowToChase) and [Twitter](https://twitter.com/slowtochase) or send me an e-mail at [email protected]. Feel free to share this website and its short but sweet URL around as well: [lairdbarronmappingproject.com](https://www.lairdbarronmappingproject.com). #Meta