Editing News: Strange Aeons Lost Issue #13 Found, and Now Available to Backers of the 2014 H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival - Portland

Cover art by Mike Dubisch

Time certainly does fly, doesn't it?  It must, as I have now served as Fiction Editor of Strange Aeons magazine for a little over two years, and have enjoyed every goddamn second of it.  Truly, it has been an incredibly fun and rewarding experience sourcing stories and working with amazing writers, and then feeling the pride of releasing those words and images and nightmares out into the ether.  The only down side has been the loathsome task of sending out rejections for great stories, as featuring only one piece of fiction per issue means the culling staff is firm and unforgiving.

While the one story per issue will continue, I'm proud to announce that we've just sewn up our very first ALL FICTION issue of Strange Aeons, which will be released as our "lost" Issue #13, featuring 13 writers in 76 pages, and is only available to those who pledge $10 and above to the 2014 H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival - Portland through their Kickstarter campaign.  BUT YOU ONLY HAVE FOUR (4) DAYS LEFT, as this whole shebang closes down Monday, February 24th at 11:59 pm PST.  So get on your Huffy and haul ass before your access to this amazing special edition will be closed.

Strange Aeons Lost Issue #13 will be our largest issue yet, by far, and is made up of a mix of new, unpublished stories, re-printed tales new to the pages of the mag, and stories published under my tenure up to the present day.  Basically, if you missed any of the past issues going back to Spring 2012, worry not, silly scoundrel, you can get them all here, along with some fantastic fresh meat never before read by human eyes.

So, at long last, here is the ToC for Strange Aeons #13, listed in order of appearance:

"Welcome to the Reptile House" by Stephen Graham Jones
"The Impossibility Dissection" by Stuart Young
"Sunset on Megalopolis" by Jeffrey Thomas
"De Profundis" by Daniel Mills
"There's No Light Between Floors" by Paul Tremblay
"Insides Out" by Gary McMahon
"Folie a Deux" by Ross E. Lockhart
"The Astral Mask" by Richard Gavin
"You Are What You Eat" by Scott Nicolay
"Beautiful" by John Claude Smith
"Remains" by Orrin Grey
"Dog Will Hunt" by Ives Hovanessian
"Go, Go, Go, Said the Byakhee" by Molly Tanzer

This is a choice line-up, folks.  An A-Team, of sorts, sans mohawk and overzealous layering of gold chains (although Jeffrey has been known to go about 9-10 deep with the platinum and ice).  I'd put this group up against anyone in any antho or fiction journal coming out this year, and bet the house on the W.

So don't tarry, terry, or even teri.  Go support the good folks who are putting together the HPL FF PDX, and in the process, you'll get a collection of Weird/Cosmic/Horror/Dark Fiction that will amaze and delight your friends and colleagues, while gravely disappointing our parents.  Isn't that what life is all about?


And now the (semi)official stuff, from our website, and a snazzy vid below:

ISSUE # 13

Through incredible luck (and just a bit of eldritch wizardry) we've manged to secure a way for you to acquire what is now known as the 'lost' Issue 13!

As some of you may know, as 2013 drew to a close we began working on Issue 13. Through an unfortunate and unforeseen accident here at the SA offices, all of our files relating to the issue fell through a dimensional vortex and were feared lost.

Like any respectable Innsmouth hotel, we decided to skip Issue 13, and let it lie dreaming wherever it ended up. After collecting ourselves and counting our lucky elder signs that only the poor mailroom boy was lost along with the issue, we continued on and began working on Issue 14.

Miraculously earlier this month, a colleague of ours managed to track down the missing issue through means we are not at liberty to discuss. Suffice it to say that we owe you one...thanks, Erich!

The gracious folks at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival & CthulhuCon have offered to help us reconstitute the recovered pages, so for a very limited time, all backers of their HPLFF 2014 Kickstarter campaign can upgrade their pledge and our ALL-FICTION Issue 13 can be yours UNTIL THE END OF THIS MONTH.

This will be a special fiction issue including the talents of Ross E. Lockhart, Jeffrey Thomas, Scott Nicolay, Gary McMahon, Stephen Graham Jones, Stuart Young, and many others. It also features a wonderful cover by Mike Dubisch and interior illustrations by Allen K., Lee Davis, and Nick Gucker!

The best part is how easy it is to add Issue 13 to your collection. For as little as $1, you can become a backer of the HPLFF Kickstarter, and then simply add on the $10 upgrade amount to reserve your copy. This issue will only be available during the Kickstarter campaign, so make sure you grab your copy while you can! Please watch the video below to learn more about the HPLFF and pledge your support for the best Lovecraftian festival on earth!

Strange Aeons: Issue #10 Available for Order, Featuring Comics, Reviews, News, and Original Fiction by Scott Nicolay; Issue #11 on Deck

Praise be to the snooty, antisocial gods luxuriating at the center of all creation - I survived my first year as Fiction Editor of Strange Aeons magazine, and there is no better way to celebrated my one year anniversary than Issue #10, which features a cover by SA fave Mike Dubisch, who created a beautiful, squamous wrap-around piece that is worth the price of admission alone.

But you get more than just the wrapping paper, friend.  Lords of Light, do you ever get more... I'm talking about... er, writing about 52 pages of gorgeous color and B&W comics by Rob Corless, Vincent Ferrante, Ben "1314" Hansen, D.C. Stuelpner, Shelby Denham, and Eric York. And once again, another set of two fresh and wriggling Anno Ktulu collectible trading cards.  We also have book reviews, news from around the Weird-o-Sphere, interesting adverts for outstanding fiction and other dark matter, and more.  Yes, that's right, MORE.  What is this "more," you might ask?  I'm sure as hell not going to tell you, you nosy so-and-so, as the "more" in Strange Aeons remains a secret only revealed to those who order and hold our honest to goodness pulp mag in their soft, beautiful hands.

Of course, as Fiction Editor, I draw special attention to the prose piece we feature in each issue.  For Issue #10, we have something truly special in Scotty Nicolay's story "You Are What You Eat," accompanied by an illustration from SA in-house artist and part-time limerick scribe Nick "The Hat" Gucker.

Scott has been generating the right buzz from the right people for a while now.  Laird Barron has called him a writer to watch.  He appears with me in the (now sold out) Aklonomicon, adding his story of cosmic horror in the South Pacific "Ana Kai Tangata" to the noxious mix.  He has his debut fiction collection coming out in spring of 2014 from Fedogan & Bremer.  After reading his story in the Aklonomicon, I decided to invite Scott to submit for Issue #10.  And while I was hoping for - and expecting, to be quite honest - something great from Scott, I had no idea what he was sending me.

"You Are What You Eat" is quite literally one of the most affecting, extraordinary, and totally UNIQUE short stories I have ever read, unlike anything that has come out recently.  It's a piece of not only Weird fiction but profoundly weird fiction, that is unsettling and brutal and sad, while at the same time oddly uplifting.  I can't do it justice without giving anything away, and I'd rather gnaw off my index fingers than to that, as it would rob readers of a revelatory experience that ranks up with with first discovery that amazing band or movie or author that is so damn good you can't believe that everyone else hasn't heard of them, but at the same being thankful that not everyone has (yet), because for a little while, this beautiful secret is yours and yours alone, allowing you to share it with those whom you deem worthy, and then watch the word spread with a mixture of sadness and pride.

For "You Are What You Eat," I share with you writer Scott Nicolay with neither sadness nor pride, as I certainly didn't discover him, and I want him to sell two million books.  Writers this good need to, if we are ever going to re-balance the scales between bestselling schlock and small press exceptionalism.

While you're waiting for your issue to arrive via post, airlift, and/or trained fruit bat, feast on these page teases.  FEAST ON THEM!  Then go buy the magazine.  Wood pulp doesn't grow on trees.

Issue #10 continues another chapter of "Anno Ktulu" (written by K.L. Young and Vincent Ferrante, pencils by Ben "1314" Hansen, graytones by Chris Hagerman, letters by Eduardo Martinez), a superhero story set amid the Lovecraftian Mythos, which debuted in serial form in Issue #9 after launching with an oversize, one-shot special edition currently available at the Strange Aeons mothership website.  As noted in prior postings, the one-shot ties into the ongoing "Anno Ktulu" storyline that will be running all year in Strange Aeons.  Get in on this innovative story of superheroes set in a Lovecraftian universe now, as you definitely don't want to miss this.

"Forbidden Lore" gives news and reviews devoted to the Weird, cosmic, and horrifying, and never in that same order twice.

Who are THOSE people mentioned on the Arnaud de Vallois cover to I Am Death, Cried the Vulture?  Bloody hacks!

Have you ordered yet (Issue #10 or our many lovely back issues, prints, chapbooks, and T-shirts)?  What, are you fingers broken?  Strange Aeons continues the proud tradition of such classic Silver Age pulps like Heavy Metal, Creepy, and Eerie.  You know you love this stuff.  We love this stuff, too, which is why we do what we do.  Check us out for the first time, if you haven't already.  For those loyal readers, thank you from the bottoms of our flinty, twisted hearts for your ongoing support.  We can't continue to pay people to create cool shit for us - and ultimately you - without subscribers and per-issue patronage.  Stay golden, and we'll stay at it.

Issue #11 is now coming together, which will feature original, previously unpublished fiction by Gary McMahon, one of my favorite current horror writers, who also likes to make the rest of us feel like toadish turds with his karate, workout, and jogging updates.  I was honored that he subbed, and pleased that I was able to accept his piece, which will continue the line of short fiction excellence established by Strange Aeons.  Other stories shimmying in the pipeline will only add to the luster.

Stay tuned!  Stay alive!  Stay reading!

Urban Cthulhu: Nightmare Cities now Available on Amazon, While 'The Screamer' Strikes a Chord with Writers and Reviewers

"The Screamer" story art by Tom Kristensen

Urban Cthulhu: Nightmare Cities, the widely renowned anthology of gritty Lovecraftian fiction edited by Henrik Sandbeck Harsken and published on his H. Harksen Productions press, is now available not only on Lulu, but also on Amazon.

I'm quite fond of this book and proud to be among the stellar names assembled within its Paul Carrick cover piece.  The raves for the antho have been fantastic so far (including those in HorrorWorld, She Never Slept, and Unfilmmable.com), and the specific reviews and blurbs for my story have quite frankly floored me.  I have to admit that although "The Screamer" is probably my favorite story that I've written so far (as it hews closest to my own rattling bones in terms of setting and the pseudo factual basis for the story), I was still a bit shocked and delighted that it resonated with peers and reviewers - especially the ending, which was supplied to me by Ives when I was casting about in the dark trying to figure out where this story needed to go.  She showed me The Screamer, the path opened up, and everything fell into place.  I couldn't have done it without her.

Below are a few of the extremely generous and humbling thoughts on "The Screamer" provided by an array of highly regarded - and personally respected - dark fiction writers, readers, editors, reviewers (and often a combo of all of the above):

Jeffrey Thomas said:

"'The Screamer' is one of the best modern horror stories I've read. Ever. I keep wanting to discuss it at greater length and detail, to acknowledge its remarkable construction, its superb prose voice, its volcanic build-up of power (from subtle anxiety to all-stops-pulled-out-madness), and its brilliant sense of metaphor, but I have been too distracted. Oh wait...I kinda just did, a little.
That one story is better than entire short story collections I've read by respected and (so far) better known writers. If you took all the stories in those collections and condensed them into one small mass like a collapsed star, you'd have 'The Screamer'. For real. 

I liked how characters I thought were merely placed in there for background detail (and that would have been fine) reappeared later under other... circumstances. I liked the prose voice. I liked the masterfully tuned shift in volume from 0 to 11... The beautifully balanced ending. It is one of my favorite modern horror stories. 

I wish I'd written this." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Matt Cardin said:

"I read 'The Screamer' today and it was a massive enjoyment. T.E. Grau's use of language, his unfolding of the cosmically apocalyptic-horrific premise, the delectable evocation of honest-to-gods dread -- all were wonderful. Hats off! The words 'the real deal' are prominent in my thoughts as I come away from Grau's depiction of a truly harrowing urban-cosmic undoing of everything." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Michael Marshall Smith said:

"Very, very powerful indeed. One of the best breakdown stories I've read in a long time - I love the richness of the collapse, the blurring of reality/unreality, the sense of terrible cataclysm both within and without the main character - and the language and description is suggestive of a lot more going on beneath the surface. I'm not surprised 'The Screamer' is being put up for nomination." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scott Nicolay said:

"I don't manage to read much anymore, but I read a story a few days back that has stuck with me: 'The Screamer' by T.E. Grau. I'd heard it was good, and it is. Damn good. In particular, I keep going back to what Ted did with the ending. It is horrific on a cosmic scale yet elegantly understated at the same time. I expect this one to appear again in reprints, maybe The Year's Best. The Next wave of horror is in good appendages, my friends. Oh, yes it is." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marc Nocerino said:

"'The Screamer' by T.E. Grau is the best story I have read all year. In fact, it tops any short story I read the year before, too! Grau masterfully weaves a tale of terror and madness with a sneaky surprise ending that I definitely did not see coming."  (Full review published by She Never Slept) 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brian Sammons said:

"I want to group up three authors right at the start, as there are a lot of similarities between them for me. I became aware of each of them around the same time (about a year to year and a half ago), I’ve read a quite a few things by them since then, often in the same books, and they have never disappointed me with their story telling skills. In fact, they consistently blow me away. They are Glynn Owen Barrass, Pete Rawlik, and T.E. Grau and their stories here, 'Carcosapunk', 'The Statement of Frank Elwood' and 'The Screamer' respectively. These three are the best of the bunch here. When I suggested that there were young Turks in this book, these guys are the ones I was thinking of. They have each rapidly become three of my favorite writers. All fans of Lovecraftian fiction should consider them bright shining stars that need to be carefully followed."  (Full review published by HorrorWorld)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Julia Morgan said:

"The second wonderful story is 'The Screamer' by T. E. Grau... I spent a lot of time trying to second-guess the storyline, and failed to do so. Epically. The denouement was so much better than anything I imagined."  (Full review published by Unfilmmable)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you haven't already made the move, your excuses are now at an end.  Pick up your copy of Urban Cthulhu: Nightmare Cities, in which "The Screamer" rubs jaw bones and neon with a chorus of stellar writers that make up the following ToC:

“Dancer of the Dying” by Jayaprakash Satyamurthy
“The Neighbors Upstairs” by John Goodrich
“Carcosapunk” by Glynn Owen Barrass
“Architect Eyes” by Thomas Strømsholt
“Slou” by Robert Tangiers
“Ozeelah’s Lake” by Morten Carlsen
“The Statement of Frank Elwood” by Peter Rawlik
“In the Shadow of Bh’Yhlun” by Ian Davey
“The Screamer” by T. E. Grau
“the guilt of each … at the end…” by Joseph S. Pulver

Come ye to the city, a hive of madness and black matter.  Come ye to the city, to die utterly alone.