Horror writing for centuries has made hay off of stories pertaining to the undead. We're fascinated by it, the conquering of the Grand Veil. We fear it, we hate it, but most of all, we love it.
But what if the medium for the writing itself was that which rose from seeming oblivion?
This is the triumphant story of iconic fiction journal LORE, which founders and constant cemetery gardeners Rod Heather and Sean O'Leary are about to share with you below (with minor editorial formatting and tweakery by yours truly). Take it away, lads:
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Who Goes There?
LORE began in 1995 as an approximately 70-page, saddle-stitched, digest-sized labor of love. It ran for nine issues until 2000. Throughout those five years, we printed some outstanding work by writers and artists we had admired for years and ones we would come to know and regard as friends. We gathered many cherished memories, accepted two awards for our efforts: The Deathrealm Award and the Dragon's Breath Award, and were thrilled to be featured on The Sci-Fi Channel's Sci-Fi Buzz! Many of the works we published received Honorable Mentions in Datlow & Windling’s The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror, and some of the work we published even went on to win awards such as The Bram Stoker Award and The World Fantasy Award. LORE surpassed our wildest dreams!
But we were younger then, and the unpredictability of real life at the time and demands of emerging careers eventually forced closed the vault doors in 2000.
Fast forward to January 2011 in Tempe, Arizona at MythosCon, a celebration of the life and work of H.P. Lovecraft, where something was stirred to life. Through the hazy weekend merriment with some old comrades like Dan Clore, Robert M. Price, Michael Cisco, and Peter Cannon, we got the idea to take a prybar to those vault doors and let some fresh air in (and the old spirits out). LORE would return!
The intervening five months have been a flurry of activity: meetings, conference calls, tracking down old friends. And, finally, we are able to start setting down the next chapter in LORE’s history.
This site is the culmination of our shared love for imaginative fiction, in its many guises. It is also a work in progress. Through the coming days and weeks, we will present compelling content here, and continue to refine the components we’ve set into motion. Our ultimate aim, of course, is to publish outstanding fiction, and more will be announced to this end soon.
We hope you will join us and be a part of our continuing journey.
LORE 2.0 is GO, back with its first collection of new horror, science fiction, and fantasy tales in over a decade!
Lore Volume 2, Number 1 (April 2012) now available (artwork above), featuring:
"Fairy Gold" by Peadar Ó Guilín
"Picking Roses For Chateelet" by Garrett Ashley
"Wait" by Kevin Wallis
"Splash" by Don Webb, Richard Lupoff, Scott Cupp,
Michael Kurland, Michael Mallory, Paul Di Filippo,
and Jim Kelly
"Toll and Trouble" by David A. Hill
"Lonely, Lonely" by Daniel P. Swenson
"She Wanted to Go Into the Trees" by Patricia Russo
"The Spacetime Subway Station" by Clinton Lawrence
"The Deposition of Leodiel Fand" by Brian McNaughton
LORE began in 1995 as an approximately 70-page, saddle-stitched, digest-sized labor of love. It ran for nine issues until 2000. Throughout those five years, we printed some outstanding work by writers and artists we had admired for years and ones we would come to know and regard as friends. We gathered many cherished memories, accepted two awards for our efforts: The Deathrealm Award and the Dragon's Breath Award, and were thrilled to be featured on The Sci-Fi Channel's Sci-Fi Buzz! Many of the works we published received Honorable Mentions in Datlow & Windling’s The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror, and some of the work we published even went on to win awards such as The Bram Stoker Award and The World Fantasy Award. LORE surpassed our wildest dreams!
But we were younger then, and the unpredictability of real life at the time and demands of emerging careers eventually forced closed the vault doors in 2000.
Fast forward to January 2011 in Tempe, Arizona at MythosCon, a celebration of the life and work of H.P. Lovecraft, where something was stirred to life. Through the hazy weekend merriment with some old comrades like Dan Clore, Robert M. Price, Michael Cisco, and Peter Cannon, we got the idea to take a prybar to those vault doors and let some fresh air in (and the old spirits out). LORE would return!
The intervening five months have been a flurry of activity: meetings, conference calls, tracking down old friends. And, finally, we are able to start setting down the next chapter in LORE’s history.
This site is the culmination of our shared love for imaginative fiction, in its many guises. It is also a work in progress. Through the coming days and weeks, we will present compelling content here, and continue to refine the components we’ve set into motion. Our ultimate aim, of course, is to publish outstanding fiction, and more will be announced to this end soon.
We hope you will join us and be a part of our continuing journey.
LORE 2.0 is GO, back with its first collection of new horror, science fiction, and fantasy tales in over a decade!
Lore Volume 2, Number 1 (April 2012) now available (artwork above), featuring:
"Fairy Gold" by Peadar Ó Guilín
"Picking Roses For Chateelet" by Garrett Ashley
"Wait" by Kevin Wallis
"Splash" by Don Webb, Richard Lupoff, Scott Cupp,
Michael Kurland, Michael Mallory, Paul Di Filippo,
and Jim Kelly
"Toll and Trouble" by David A. Hill
"Lonely, Lonely" by Daniel P. Swenson
"She Wanted to Go Into the Trees" by Patricia Russo
"The Spacetime Subway Station" by Clinton Lawrence
"The Deposition of Leodiel Fand" by Brian McNaughton
Cover artwork by Richard Corben
- 172 pages -
Order the latest issue of LORE at the official LOREstore at Amazon right here.
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LORE: A Quaint and Curious Volume of Selected Stories
Herein you will find a selection of the terrifying, thrilling, weird, and wonderful tales for which LORE became known, many of which have never been reprinted, including the Lovecraftian round-robin tale "The Challenge From Below" by Robert M. Price, Peter Cannon, Donald R. Burleson, and Brian McNaughton.
It's not everyday that bygone weird fiction journals from the past couple decades are resuscitated, but LORE: A Quaint and Curious Volume of Selected Stories does exactly that. The 1980s and 1990s experienced a tremendous flowering of brilliance in the broad field of literary horror, and Lovecraftian fiction specifically. In fact, the pioneering efforts of these unforgettable 'zines and journals arguably led to the strong position this genre enjoys today online.
LORE was one such effort that garnered a small, but devoted following in the late 1990s. Now, editors Rod Heather and Sean O'Leary have pieced together the finest samples from the magazine's history. Lovecraftian readers and weird fiction fans will find plenty to admire in these pages.
Tales by recognizable names such as Harlan Ellison, Jeffrey Thomas, Brian Lumley, and Robert M. Price abound, rare items that haven't seen the light of day again since the 'zine closed its doors. This latest incarnation of LORE: A Quaint and Curious Volume of Selected Stories brings back several award winning tales, and some experimental efforts that are too interesting to pass up. “The Challenge from Below” by Robert M. Price, Peter Cannon, Donald R. Burleson, and Brian McNaughton is particularly creative, conceived as a Lovecraftian round robin story by several veteran observers in the field.
Best of all, it seems this volume is merely the debut for a resurgent publishing imprint called The LORE Firm. This new enterprise aims to build on the little acknowledged success of the old publication by bringing out new content in both print and online media. What better way to build interest than by reminding readers of the predecessor's wonders?
LORE: A Quaint and Curious Volume of Selected Stories is a treasure trove of hidden Lovecraftiana and weirdism. Hopefully, it constitutes a firm starting point for new explorations that will prove just as impressive.
An anthology of short horror, science-fiction, and dark fantasy tales culled from the pages of the award-winning LORE magazine. Cover art by M. Wayne Miller. Contents: "Chatting With Anubis" by Harlan Ellison, "Vision" by Brian McNaughton, "The Game of Kings" by Tim Emswiler, "The Mandala" by Kendall Evans, "The Guide" by Richard Lee Byers, "Rat Familiar" by Patricia Russo, "Empathy" by Jeffrey Thomas, "The Vehicle" by Brian Lumley, "Thanks" by Elizabeth Massie, "The Galvanic" by James S. Dorr, "Sheets" by Donald R. Burleson, "Water and the Spirit" by Brian McNaughton, "The Unkown Elixir" by Dan Clore, "Rile Fouts and Dead Jake Sorrel" by Lawrence Barker, "The Challenge From Below" (a four-part Lovecraftian round-robin tale) - part one: "Under the Mound" by Robert M. Price - part two: "The Trial" by Peter Cannon - part three: "The Horror at the Lake" by Donald R. Burleson - part four: "Beyond the Wall of Time" by Brian McNaughton. - 200 pages -
Available at the LOREstore at Amazon by following this link.
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NOW OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS!
WHAT DO WE LIKE?
FICTION: We will consider short stories that can be classified broadly as belonging to the Horror, Science Fiction or Fantasy genres. Expand our horizons, challenge or fine-tune convention. We love well-done genre blending and bending, too, like John W. Campbell, Jr.'s “Who Goes There?,” H.P. Lovecraft’s “At The Mountains of Madness,” Philip K. Dick’s “The King of the Elves,” and C.S. Lewis’s “Space” trilogy. Other authors whose work we enjoy include Jorge Luis Borges, Harlan Ellison, R.E. Howard, Shirley Jackson, M.R. James, Brian McNaughton, Clifford D. Simak, Clark Ashton Smith, and J.R.R. Tolkien.
Submissions should be between 2,000 and 6,000 words. Send query to info@lore-online.com if shorter or longer than this. Also, if you're asking that we take a look at a work outside these word count parameters, tell us why we will want to make an exception for your work.
REPRINTS: We will not consider unsolicited reprints. Query first. We will want to know such information as when/where did the work first appear? This includes electronic publication (blog, your fb page, excerpts, etc.). Send query to info@lore-online.com. While asking that we consider your reprint, too, tell us why we will want make an exception for your work. Please note, we will only very rarely be interested in considering a reprint. It would need to be something entirely extraordinary to pique our interest.
NON-FICTION: We will not consider unsolicited works of non-fiction. Send query to info@lore-online.com.
SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS: No. Too often, we have had someone withdraw a story from consideration because it was accepted elsewhere. If your story is under consideration somewhere else, please do not submit it to us until you have heard back from the first market.
MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS: No.
WHAT DON’T WE LIKE? Genre clichés with nothing new to offer. YA-oriented fads. Superfluous and gratuitous gore or sexual content.
We like poetry, but are not currently considering it for LORE.
GENERAL INFORMATION: Not responsible for unsolicited material.
FORMAT: Points will be adjusted for proper grammar, spelling, punctuation and formatting, one way or the other. It behooves you to present your work in the best possible light.
Standard manuscript format: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuscript_format
Submissions should be sent electronically to submissions@lore-online.com as an attachment in .doc, .rtf, or .pdf format. In the subject line of the email, include your name, and the name of the work you are submitting. In the body of the email, include your contact information, the word count of the work you are submitting, and some brief biographical material. We only accept electronic submissions at this time.
Snail mail inquiries may be sent to:
The LORE Firm, LLC
PO Box 10051
Lancaster, CA 93584
If querying by snail mail, please be sure to include an SASE in order to accommodate a reply.
All queries may be sent to info@lore-online.com.
RESPONSE TIME: Update effective 6/1/12: Beginning on 6/1/12, our response time will officially go up to 90 days for submissions received on or after that date.
PAY SCALE: Made by check or by Paypal, as requested.
Fiction: US$.05/word, payable upon publication. Plus, one copy of the edition in which the work appears, as applicable.
Reprints: US$.02/word, payable upon publication. Plus, one copy of the edition in which the work appears, as applicable.
RIGHTS: Exclusive First World English Rights for print and First Electronic Rights for one year from date of print publication. Rights are then no longer exclusive and revert back to the author.
After a ten-year hiatus, the award-winning magazine, LORE, returns to bring you some of the best dark and imaginative fiction, artwork and web content being offered today.
During its initial run, LORE won The Deathrealm Award for Best Magazine, The Dragon’s Breath Award for Best New Magazine and was featured on The SciFi channel’s Sci-Fi Buzz, in addition to seeing coverage in a great many mainstream media outlets.
Some of the fiction LORE published went on to win The Bram Stoker Award, The Deathrealm Award, The World Fantasy Award, and garnered a great many Honorable Mentions in Datlow & Windling’s Years Best Fantasy & Horror. LORE published original works by such luminaries as Harlan Ellison, Brian Lumley, Tom Piccirilli, Jeffrey Thomas, Brian McNaughton, Richard Corben, and many others.
Visit LORE at www.lore-online.com for compelling content, submission guidelines, ad rates, and subscription information. You won’t want to miss the next exciting chapter in LORE’s storied adventure. Be a part of it!
Rod Heather, Editor/Publisher – rod@lore-online.com
Sean O’Leary, Editor/Publisher – sean@lore-online.com
