Be a Good Weirdling: Vote for Miskatonic River Press and Yog-Sothoth.com for 2011 ENnie Awards

As steamy July melts into sweltering August, we are now on the cusp of the annual Gen Con EN World RPG Awards (aka the "ENnie Awards"), which are described by their official website as "an annual fan-based celebration of excellence in tabletop roleplaying gaming," giving "game designers, writers and artists the recognition they deserve. It is a peoples’ choice award, and the final winners are voted upon online by the gaming public."

What does this mean to you?  A whole hell of a lot, actually, as Miskatonic River Press - the publishing motherland of Dead But Dreaming 2, as well as several exciting, upcoming projects including Horror for the Holidays (edited by Scott David Aniolowski), W.H. Pugmire's The Strange Dark One: Tales of Nyarlathotep, and Dissecting Cthulhu (edited by S.T. Joshi); in addition to a whole slew of fantastic Call of Cthulhu RGP scenarios, monographs, and supplements - is up for an ENnie Award for Fans' Favorite Publisher.

Also of interest to all good readers, writers, and gamers of a decidedly Lovecraftian bent is the fact that Yog-Sothoth.com  - which is THE meeting and discussion spot for CoC and the works of H.P. Lovecraft on the Internets - is up for an ENnie in the category of Best Podcast.

Follow this link to the ENnies Award Voting Booth and cast your gleeful ballot for MRP and YSDC in their respective categories.  Also, feel free to vote in other categories if you see a favorite or familiar name.  This is democracy in action, folks.  Don't spit in the face of freedom.  Puppies die and terrorists win every time an opportunity to vote is shunned. 

The awards will be presented (hopefully to Tom Lynch of MRP and Paul "of Cthulhu" Maclean of YSDC) at a packed and breathless ceremony held on Friday, August 5th at 6:30 pm in the 500 Ballroom of Gen Con Indy.  

So, as the blerg title suggests, please be a good Weirdling, and vote for the community website and the independent publisher that mean so much to me, to The Cosmicomicon, and to Lovecraftian gaming and fiction in general. These are OUR hubs, OUR platforms and champions, and we need to adorn them accordingly with the shiniest finery on the market. 
 

Music Review: Goatfisted Writhes from the Black Metal Abyss with Self Titled Album

Wisconsin has given us much in the way of unimaginable horror and violence that rises above your garden variety shooting spree or machete decapitation.

Disgruntled mama's boy Ed Gein turned townies into furniture on his farm in Plainfield.  Necro playboy Jeffrey Dahmer was born in West Allis, moving shop to the city Schlitz built to become the Milwaukee Monster.  Hell, Wisconsin spawns homicidal terror at such a clip they even wrote a book about it.

But that's just human murder and mayhem.  The crass stuff of mortals.  A deeper darkness born amid cold, alien chaos also lurks under the facade of quaint dairies and rolling fields, as Wisconsin is also ground zero of Arkham House, located in the unlikely village of Sauk City.  Founded by August Dertleth, the enterprising, bull necked confidante of one Howard Phillips Lovecraft, Arkham House played a leading role in rescuing the mind splitting cosmic horror of Lovecraft's writings from the dust bin of the Pulp Age.

Approximately 85.9 miles from Sauk City and Arkham House HQ, up trusty US 151, is the picturesque hamlet of Fond du Lac, nestled on the sleepy shores of Lake Winnebago.  This is a true bedroom community, in every sense.  They even have a cute little lighthouse.  But, as with much in this state, the cheery outer glow is all a facade, as Fond du Lac is contributing its own legacy to Wisconsin-born horror and inescapable darkness, as Fond du Lac is the home of Goatfisted, a Black Metal band bending knee and Ernie Ball strings to the writings and Mythos of H.P. Lovecraft.

Goatfisted's self-titled, debut album is a growling, crunching, 8-song dirge to the hopes of humanity in a universe proven to be cold and malevolent.  This is D-tuned choir music for a mass blacker than anything birthed within the time of man.  This is the metal soundtrack to the very last All Hallows' Eve.  This is horror metal with a distinguished edge befitting the alienated gentleman of Providence who inspired it.

From band member monikers - Shogtha (vocals), Jhatanth (chief guitarist/bassist), Ren-Sothoth (drums, extra vocals), and Geth-Omog (guitar) - to lyrics inspired by the stories, themes, and characters of HPL, Goatfisted are true dyed-in-the-woolen-robe Lovecraftians, fusing dark cosmicism and indescribable horrors with thick, thudding guitars, hammer double bass drums, occasional (just enough) keyboards, and dynamic vocals into a fantastic brew of mausoleum metal.  It's heavy, but balanced, technical without getting all Musicians Institute arpeggio wonky.  And the lyrics are quite interesting and well crafted, demanding a line by line follow-along while the album plays.

The cover materials and art are top shelf, and engineer John Jones' deft production is surprisingly slick, but not overly so...  In short, this album - this musical foursome in general - are record-store ready.  As a music journalist three lives ago, I spent a decade listening to all manner of local band releases, from EPs to full length, full studio affairs purchased with mommy's credit cards.  While I have no idea how long ago Goatfisted belched into being, the band already sounds like a million fucking bucks.  Maybe their mommy's have credit cards, too.  Or maybe they're just a talented, polished band, inspired by the Unnameable to record the hugely Listenable.

I enjoyed all 8 of the pieces, but some that stood out were "Black Stone Harvest," featuring nice, ribeye fat riffs, joined at the hip with just an echo of creepy organ music; "The Calling," which has some chugging guitar that moved the lower end of my spine back into alignment; and "His Return and Ascension," the song destined to be played by the Deep One house band at Cthulhu's eventual (re)birthday party.

"Dominion" is the last song on the album, and Goatfisted's coup d' grace. It shows a maturity and bare chested brass from the opening lines, as Shogtha spits out the measured promise, "The reclamation of soil and sea.  As priest of Ancients, thou shall harken to me."  As gritty as it is cosmic, like an artistic punch into the solar plexus.  Goatfisted wants to open your eyes to new vistas, while pouring thunder into your ears to clue you in on what's coming, what has always been... 

While listening to the album last night, my wife - whose musical taste ranges from Wu Tang to Slayer - walked into the office, raised her eyebrows and declared, "That fucking rocks."  I just smiled, and thought to myself that if you're a Black Metal band, and a beautiful woman digs your sound, nothing this side of the Outer God Apocalypse can stop you.

Goatfisted, for the win.

Publishing News: Deal Struck For My First Collection of Short Fiction

This update will be brief, as after a nine day layoff, mostly spent three-hole-punching the reptilian part of my brain, I don't want to pull a muscle by a sudden fit of exuberant blogging.  BUT, without exposing to much, I do want to announce some truly spectacular news:

I recently struck a deal with an as-of-yet unnamed publisher to release a collection of my short fiction in early 2013.

/thud    <------------- The sound of me falling out of my chair, as I STILL can't believe this is true

Yes, my very own goddamn book.  100,000 words dripped from my pen.  It's every writer's dream, and it's apparently coming true in about a year and a half.  And, as we all know, a year and a half goes by just like THAT!

/thsnep     <------------ The sound of me trying to snap, as I never quite got the hang of it

The theme of the collection is horror and the weird, obviously, and the plan is to publish a combination of my Mythos and non-Mythos work, pulling together some of my previously published stories under one cover, but also featuring primarily new works.  As much as I'm excited to unveil my most recent and upcoming Lovecraftian/cosmic horror tales, I'm also equally amped to finally write several of the more terrestrial horror stories I've been carrying around for a while, which feature nary a tentacle nor eldritch incantation, but do lean just as hard on the dread, the darkness, and the horror of the unusual that I find so comforting.

I wish I could say more, but I've taken a blood oath of secrecy, which involved dull, rusted canning knives and a series of deep and easily hidden cuts.  Risking lockjaw and a possible severed artery will keep a mouth silent.  Or maybe that's just the lockjaw.   

So.... YAAAAY!  I'm beyond excited, humbled, and blessed by this opportunity.  While I think 2011 has allowed me to leave a scratch or two on the genre, I look forward to taking my best shot to gouge out a deep, beautifully jagged scar.  Scars are interesting, and last forever... or at least until we crumble to dust.  That's long enough for me.

And, since I always like to include a pretty picture with every post, here's something to brighten your day - "Bye Bye Apocalypse," courtesy of Laughing Squid and artist Budi Satria Kwan:

Keep your eyes on this space, as more developments unfold, and more secrets seep through from room where the canning knives are kept...

Publishing News: "Free Fireworks" accepted for publication in 'Horror for the Holidays' anthology by Miskatonic River Press

This morning I received the wonderful news that my story "Free Fireworks" was accepted for publication in the anthology Horror for the Holidays, edited by Scott David Aniolowski, which will be published by this fall by Miskatonic River Press:

"When the footpads quail at the night-bird’s wail,
And black dogs bay at the moon,
Then is the specters’ holiday – then is the ghosts’ high noon!"

-- Sir William Schwenck Gilbert, Raddigore, Act 1

Holidays. Special days of commemoration and celebration. Feasts and festivities. Remembrance and revelry. But what dark things lurk just out of sight, in the shadows of those celebrated days? Forces beyond our comprehension, yearning to burst into our warm and comforting world and tear asunder those things we hold most dear. As the wheel of the year turns and we embrace our favorite occasions, let us not forget that beyond the light is a darkness, and in that darkness something stirs. Some nameless thing that brings us Horror for the Holidays!

Much like Dead But Dreaming 2 editor Kevin Ross, Scott is a well known and widely respected editor and writer of Call of Cthulhu RPG monographs, supplements, and source books, as well as Mythos short fiction (appearing with me and my proud compatriots in DBD2).  He had some very kind words to say about my story, which thrills me to no end.  I honestly can't wait to see what Scott has put together, as once again, some pretty damn big names are lining up to get into this twisted collective.

What an exciting last few months it has been 'round these bloody parts!  I owe much to the good folks at Miskatonic River Press, and look forward to working with them for a long, long time.  And from some rumblings issuing up from the catacombs, there might be more news in this department coming soon.

Keep your eyes pealed, and keep watching this space, when not watching the other.
 

Book Review: Dead But Dreaming 2, by Alex Lugo

As most of you not living under a piece of rusted sheet metal or inside a Rapture shelter now know, Dead But Dreaming 2 thundered out onto the streets last Friday, and Alex Lugo, living in such close proximity to the home office of Miskatonic River Press, was one of the first individuals on the planet to receive his copy.

Fittingly, and just days later, Alex - being the voracious consumer of all manner of weird, speculative, and Lovecraftian fiction that he is - had not just read the anthology from cover to cover, but had also written up a review for publication here at The Cosmicomicon.

Big thanks to Alex (who had previously reviewed Jeffrey Thomas' novel Thought Forms in early May) for his review, and just know that although it might not seem that way, I IN NO WAY bribed him with filthy lucre, bauble, or trinket to write such lovely things about my story "Transmission."  Either he's totally cracked, or possessed of exceptionally refined literary taste.  I'm not certain which is true, and dare not contemplate...  Instead, I'll just be grateful and humbled.

____________________________________________________________________________

Review of Dead but Dreaming 2

By Alex Lugo

     

     Dead but Dreaming 2 is the second installment in a series of wonderful, Lovecraftian anthologies published by Miskatonic River Press. The first Dead but Dreaming was a cult hit, considered by many to be the finest collection of Lovecraftian and Cthulhu Mythos tales ever published. Knowing that, you can probably assume that Dead but Dreaming 2 has quite a lot of expectation to live up to, and it does.  But, I'm very happy to report that it delivers on every single promise, and then some. Within the pages of this eldritch tome are 22 tales written by the modern masters of horror. Each story is a take on Lovecraftian themes, and each one is executed with impressive craftmanship. Honestly, there wasn't one piece in this collection that I disliked. Every single story evoked the power and the horror of Lovecraft’s mind bending realms, while also shining with originality.

     If you're new to Lovecraftian and Cthulhu Mythos fiction, you may think it is impossible for a Lovecraftian tale to be original. Is it not just mere pastiche? Not at all! If one simply copies Lovecraft’s prose and clichés, the story will fail miserably.  Conversely, a good writer of Lovecraftian or Cthulhu Mythos fiction must be extremely original so that his or her own ideas and style can shine through the master's shadow - ergo the reader sees more of the author’s voice than Lovecraft’s, but can still feel the vibe of the gentleman from Providence. Because of this delicate balancing act of tribute and discovery, I believe that the great modern writers of Lovecraftian fiction are actually more original than most of their fiction writing peers because they have to achieve a goal that is somehow familiar but not just another pastiche. It is because of this that Dead but Dreaming 2 is so great, because each tale is an exceptional, unique take on Lovecraftiana, and as such, the book overflows with impressive originality. Although I enjoyed every single story, three really tickled my fancy.

 

     First off is "Your Ivory Hollow" by ye queen of eldritch horror, W.H. Pugmire. The tale is a semi-sequel to Robert Bloch’s "The Skull of the Marquis de Sade", and in the span of six pages, you become one of the pivotal characters in the story. Like the style of Lovecraft’s "Pickman’s Model", the speaker addresses you like you are an integral part of the unfolding story. This makes the tale more engrossing, and ultimately scarier. In only a half dozen pages, you will read of strange magick, infernal gems, suicide-inducing poetry, and utmost - insanity. Pugmire’s work never fails to amaze and enthrall me. His writing is like a paradox, as his tales both mystify and horrify the reader.

      My second favorite story, although not in order of best to least best, is "Father’s Day" by Brian M. Sammons. This was my first time reading a tale from Mr. Sammons, and I am confident it shall not be my last. The story introduces the reader to a strange, nameless boy brought up by his mother, who one day decides to venture to Innsmouth, Massachusetts (the setting for Lovecraft’s epic tale "The Shadow over Innsmouth") to find his father.  I will not spoil anything, but if you are familiar with Innsmouth’s abhorrent secret, you should get the gist of the boy’s situation. The tale is a sad mini-epic, and you will find yourself sympathetic towards a very strange boy who is far more than just "weird".

 

     Last, but not in any way least, is "Transmission" by T.E. Grau, proprietor of the unholy Cosmicomicon! This is T.E. Grau’s first tale published in print, and I can assure that there is much more to come! The story begins with a man wandering west to California. He does not look for fortune or fame, but simply a greater meaning to his shiftless, vagabond life. While driving in the deserts of Nevada, the main character picks up a radio transmission of what seems to be just another stupid religious fanatic crowding the AM dial. Yes, he is a religious fanatic, but quite the opposite of stupid. He is a messenger of the Meaning, something for which the main character has desperately sought, but the meaning of the Message, transmitted out into the desert night, is too horrifying and cosmic to even describe. The tale starts off with a rough and tumble prose style, which then becomes more mysterious, and, towards the conclusion, morphs into a tale of extremely well crafted atmospherics that is both mesmerizing and terrifying. The story ends with a twist that nobody will see coming. I can rightfully say that T.E. Grau is a strong force in weird fiction, and he has only just begun. Hear me and listen: T.E. Grau is THE one to watch!

      Dead but Dreaming 2 is an extraordinary anthology of fantastic, original Lovecraftian fiction. Within these pages you will find masterpieces of the weird tale from writers such as the incredible Donn Webb, and the remarkable Joseph S. Pulver Sr.

     If you have any level of interest in Lovecraft and weird fiction, this is the book for you. ____________________________________________________________________________

Publishing News: Dead But Dreaming 2 Shipping This Week, Last Chance to Pre-Order for Free Limited Edition Pugmire Bookmark

A raven arrived on my window ledge just minutes ago, carrying word that Dead But Dreaming 2 is shipping internationally at the end of this very week.

This means that while we all know that you're going to buy this book, it would behoove (if not behoof, for my Midwestern readers) you to PRE-ORDER the book, like, TODAY, as in doing so, you not only get the book via the first wave of shipping, but you also receive this limited edition bookmark, hand signed in something dark and viscous by the right Queen of Eldritch Horror, W. H. Pugmire.

As you can see, the bookmark features Pugmire's actual signature (not a stamp), as well as a sneak peek at his debut tome with Miskatonic River Press, The Strange Dark One: Tales of Nyarlathotep, featuring cover and interior art by acclaimed writer, artist, publisher and Cosmicomicon guest blogger, Jeffrey Thomas.  More on this in the coming days, once the furor around DBD2 has calmed a little...  Track Pugmire's numerous Lovecraftian and Mythos projects, videos, and blog postings at his A View From Sesqua Valley.
 
A copy of the original, unsigned Dead But Dreaming recently sold for $150 on eBay (and signed editions have gone for well over $250), showing the demand for this collectors item made scarce and valuable due to the quality of the writing containing within, selected and edited by Keith "Doc" Herber and Kevin Ross.  What will Dead But Dreaming 2 - again edited by Ross, albeit solo, after the tragic passing of Doc just two years ago - be worth a decade from now?  Punch your ticket and find out, you curious cuttlefish.

As for the bookmark, it's sure to be an instant collectors item once the pre-order period is completed, so don't be snookered by indecision.  Buy the book today, and get a snazzy, limited edition bookmark to hold your page while you shiver under your covers between Dead But Dreaming 2 stories.  

There's no shame in being afraid.  There is in losing your place.
 

Publishing News: "Low Hanging Clouds" Published Today at Eschatology Journal

My second flash fiction piece, "Low Hanging Clouds", was published today at Eschatology Journal, the fantastic online journal of Lovecraftian and apocalyptic flash fiction.  The site is run by devoted weirdling and editor Bruce Priddy (who recently joined forces with Mike Davis at the white hot Lovecraft eZine), offering writers a wonderful canvas on which to paint short, punchy pieces that can haunt, chill, or drill a hole through your forehead in under 1,000 words.

I wrote the skeleton of the story in a matter of minutes after arriving to work one morning in the middle of February (just days before "Downhill" was published in Eschatology, shared here), which is smack dab in the middle of the rare, three or four month window for rain in Los Angeles.  That gorgeously gloomy, rainy morning, the top of the twin Century Plaza Towers that mark the white collar enclave of Century City (which boasts as its biggest claim to fame - at least in my mind - as being the primary location of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, almost immediately after it was constructed), and the upper floors of all other modest skyscrapers in the area, including my own office building, were swaddled tight by a thick layer of viscous, bright white clouds, that reminded me of a cappuccino, or, as my story details, something far more sinister but no less tasty.

I love finding the horror in the benign, the dread in the beautiful.  From religion to home to a burst of welcome weather, disrupting the security of the common and cozy is one of my top goals as a speculative fiction writer.  Yes, I'm an asshole.  Just hopefully an entertaining and slightly interesting one.  :)

Publishing News: DBD2 - Now Live, In Colo[u]r, and Splayed Across a Sheaf of Dead Trees

I'll let the pictures tell the tale..

Dead But Dreaming 2 is shipping in a week (or so).  More from my brainpan when it arrives, and I recover, with the aid of smelling salts, "essential salts," and maybe even a dash or two of garlic and onion salts.

DON'T MISS THIS BOOK!!  I'm sensing that the first run could could go very quickly, based on the buzz from the street, and amid the swirling and unquiet ether...

 

Publishing News: Dead But Dreaming 2 Just Weeks Away From Worldwide Release

 

Misktonic River Press announced today that Dead But Dreaming 2 - the much anticipated follow up to the critically hailed Dead But Dreaming (now considered a collectors item in the genre) - is just weeks away from hitting the streets.

A deciphered smoke signal from MRP Brass reads as such:

Currently awaiting proofs for Dead But Dreaming 2 from the printer. We're mere weeks away from shipping the book out!

Herein are 22 tales of Lovecraftian horror from the modern masters of Cthulhu Mythos fiction: Scott David Aniolowski, David Annandale, Donald R. Burleson, Cody Goodfellow, John Goodrich, T.E. Grau, Rick Hautala, Walt Jarvis, Erik T. Johnson, William Meikle, Will Murray, Daniel W. Powell, Wilum Pugmire, Joseph S. Pulver Sr, Pete Rawlik, Kevin Ross, Brian Sammons, Darrell Schweitzer, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Michael Tice, and Don Webb.

Folks, I'm telling you.  This is one of THE anthologies - Lovecraftian or otherwise - of 2011, and beyond.  The talent pool assembled is wickedly deep and monstrously dark, orchestrated by editor Kevin Ross, who isn't one to go for the obviously slithery, nor fall for repeated use of the word "eldtritch."   This is Mythos fiction all grown up.

Don't miss out.  Get Dead But Dreaming 2 when - or BEFORE! - the rest of the world does, lest you have to do the sad Charlie Brown walk all the way home for the remainder of your silly, ill-spent life...

Give a hoot.  Buy good books.

Publishing News: A Blog About a Blog About a Blog and the Aklonomicon... And Paul Carrick

In case you haven't noticed, I've written about Paul Carrick before.  And yes, by now, everyone knows about my mad Mythos-crush on the artist who first allowed me to dare to dream what Lovecraft's creatures could be, in terms of scope, size, and texture.  I mean, hell, just take a gander at my "Words in the Wheelhouse" section of The Cosmicomicon and witness how many times Paul's name - prior to publishing this blog - has popped up on these very pages:

H.P. Lovecraft (8) Lovecraftian (8) God (5) Miskatonic River Press (5) Publishing News (5) Cthulhu (4) Dead But Dreaming 2 (4) Paul Carrick (4) zombies (4) Aklonomicon 

So, you as you can see, I place him in high regard, just below a Great Old One, and just above the trendiest new undead craze this side of preening teen vampires sporting eyeliner and crushing ennui.  More seriously, this shows just what I think of Paul's work not just as an artist, but also as a devoted and long-time Lovecraftian.  He's important to The Scene.  He's part of the New Roots.

I've already spilled the beans about Paul supplying not one but two pieces of original artwork for my respective stories "Flutes" and "In the Cave, She Sang," which will be published this summer in the toothy, hugely anticipated anthology the Aklonomicon, edited by artist/publisher Ivan McCann and award-winning mad poet and bEast of Berlin Joseph S. Pulver Sr. for Aklo Press.

Well, Paul recently unveiled his two pieces created specifically for my work via his Nightserpent blog.  I now return the favor, creating some sort of reverse linkage, blogging about a blog and a blog and now this blog that just makes my head hurt.  But I sometimes like it when my head hurts.  It means that I'm still alive, and often that something PROFOUND is taking place inside (or just acts as a reminder that I'm getting old and hangovers appreciate with age).

I first viewed his two Aklonomicon pieces a few weeks back, and have since peeled myself off the wall in gibbering excitement.  Now that Paul unleashed his noxious babies into the ether, I figure it's my turn to beam a little with coattail-riding pride at the stellar work he has done, born - in part - by the imagery of my prose.  So...

BOOM!  JAM THESE BAD JACKS INTO YOUR BRAIN HOLES, SUCKAS!:

This first piece is for my story titled "Flutes," which gives a glimpse at what might go wrong when humans start smashing very tiny particles in giant machines deep under the ground.

This second piece is for my story "In the Cave, She Sang..." about the fateful night on New Years Eve, 1968, when Charles Manson trudged up into the hills of Death Valley with a few worms in his pocket to decide the fate of the world.  It could have gone either way, until he heard that song in the cave....  This story was inspired by a seed implanted in my brain by one Mr. Pulver himself.  As a way to pay homage, That Which Paul Wrought above is my nod to him by way of Mythosian avatar (no, not the animated series or the billion dollar movie, silly).  It's beyond exciting to see what has only lived inside your (sometimes throbbing) gourd leap into line, color, and shadow and light.  Into writhing, pulsating life.  It's a writer's dream.

Keep your peeled grapes glued to this space for more announcements about the Aklonomicon and Aklo Press, as the summer heats up, trees die so books can live, and the nights get darker later, and far noisier, as things crawl to the surface to breath the humid air and bask under queer stars...

Ether Made Print: The Cosmicomicon Gets Write-Up in Strange Aeons #5

Okay, I've been geeking out over this cover for weeks, as soon as it was announced by Strange Aeons Executive Editor K.L Young.  Happily, it arrived - hugging Issue #5 - in my snail mail box just tonight, a full day earlier than expected.  Behold, Weirdlings.... THIS:

In this incredible wrap-around cover piece, ace concept artist and illustrator Brett MacDonald truly captures the essence of the massive size and scale of the Cthulhu Mystique (did I just coin something there?), which was a key component in what originally drew me to H.P. Lovecraft's work in the first place.  I've always been horrified by the impossibly large, the infinitely massive, the incalculably vast.  Cthulhu, to me, always embodied that, as do the other Great Old Ones and, of course, their incomprehensible liege lords, the nebulous Outer Gods.

So, the freshly minted edition of Strange Aeons arrives, populating a gift basket (box) that includes a few missing back issues, and matching Strange Aeons T-shirts (scroll down to the bottom) of staggeringly different size, so my girl Ives and I can stroll through the neighborhood looking like two loons gone prematurely old-people-batshit, when dressing in matching outfits becomes the norm among the early morning power walking mall circuit.

This was a waiting package worth running a few red lights and treating the 110 Freeway like my own slice of poorly paved Autobahn.  And it didn't disappoint...  Lords above, didn't it ever...

Whenever I get a new issue of Strange Aeons, I always do the wide-eyed quick scan first, as I need to see and feel EVERY PAGE before I can cool my 8 cylinder engine long enough to actually read and absorb the entire magazine.  So - after moving through the Eldritch Words and Forbidden Lore sections, amazing graphic novelry, Nick "The Hat" Gucker's fantastic "The Strange High House in the Mist" (oddly, a story I just read in our garden this last weekend) classic movie poster insert, and Robert M. Price's "Lost Gods of Lemuria" short story (art by Nick Gucker) - imagine my shock and awe when I flipped to page 48, the always interesting "Unearthed" section of Strange Aeons (fixed with the truthy sub-header:  "How can you not already know about this stuff???"), and my already misty eyes were instantly drawn to the now-familiar image (created by artist/writer Ives Hovanessian) that not only hangs on our wall, but has truly become my eternal logo and Badge O' The Weird:

To the left of "The Ives Cthulhu" was this bit of delicious and totally unexpected verbiage:

"The Cosmicomicon!  Author T.E. Grau's blog site is an electronic repository for all things cosmic, terrifying, and strange. In this little corner of darkened space, Grau explores the mind bending and possibly terrifying realities that await us as we push forward as a species, discusses speculative fiction, horror cinema and artwork, and tracks real-life news of the weird and unexplained.  A must for Mythos fans, as Grau has his finger on the creative pulse of Cthulhiana."

You could have knocked over my oddly thick, sturdy ass with a feather.  My wife and daughter had to fan me back to semi-consciousness, then we all took shots of Irish whiskey.  Okay, TWO of us did.  Angelina downed her cranberry juice like a pro.  No chaser.

When I regained my rational senses, I noticed that on the same page was a mention of Nick "The Hat" Gucker's amazing blog, and on the next page was an advert for Joseph S. Pulver's masterful, nightmarish new tome Sin & Ashes by Hippocampus Press, together with glowing S&A reviews from such horror heavyweights as Laird Barron, Simon Strantzas, and Paul Tremblay.  I felt like I was invited to a surprise party where all my favorite friends and heroes were in attendance.  Yes, that might sound like a bit much, but that's how I felt.

Getting a surprise write-up in your favorite Lovecraftian magazine is almost indescribable, so I won't even try here.  Simple words will fail me.  But, what I CAN say is that I want to extend a HUGE thanks to Strange Aeons, and all my readers and fellow writers.  This is a lovely moment, and one that I shall never forget.  I tip my fermented Irish grains to you all.  After all, it was in Gonzo that I was born, and in Lovecraft that I was baptized.  The evolution continues...

IA!!  IA!!

p.s. The preceding blog was written with my loyal and all-business battle bunny Cthulhu "Lulu" Grau guarding my feet from any underneath Dhole attack.

p.p.s.  Always end a good blog with a bunny pic.  Okay, not quite "end," because...

p.p.p.s  Please check out Brett MacDonald's artwork.  He's truly an under-appreciated genius.  I mean look at this:

(c) Brett MacDonald

Win a Signed, Limited Copy of William Meikle's "The Creeping Kelp" from Dark Regions Press

William Meikle is a Speculative Fiction force of nature, boasting ten published novels and over 200 short story credits in thirteen countries and multiple anthologies.  Indeed, his commercial bibliography is as impressive as it is extensive.

Dark Regions Press is a top flight publisher of horror, fantasy, and science fiction, which was recently featured on these very pages, and will no doubt continue to be featured in the future here at The Cosmicomicon, as one of the most vigorous and active genre publishers going.

Put the two together, and you have a killer combination, and a cool contest that could win you a fabulous tome.

Indeed, just days ago, Dark Regions Press announced a competition to win a $45 Signed and Numbered Limited Hardcover of William Meikle's next book THE CREEPING KELP.

From DRP Central:

"Get a chance at winning a Signed and Numbered Limited Hardcover edition of our latest upcoming novel The Creeping Kelp by William Meikle with a retail value of $45 simply for making the cover art your default profile image on Facebook for a week and making a single Facebook status update on Tuesday, May 31st (that we will provide for you to copy and paste)."

The downloadable cover art can be found here, whilst their very "Like"-able Dark Regions Press Facebook page can be found here.

The book will be available for preorder on May 31st, 2011 (a solid ten days after the echoes of the thud that was The Rapture have dissipated) in Deluxe Hardcover (only THIRTEEN to be produced), Limited Edition Hardcover (50 to be produced) and Trade Paperback.   Details of how and where to order will be available next week when Dark Regions make their announcement.  I'll update here at The Cosmicomicon.  Watch closely this roiling space.

As for "The Creeping Kelp," here's a primer, sent straight from the author's stained quill:

During World War 2 a scientist at the MOD genetically manipulates some seaweed to try to make a defensive, harbour-clogging weapon and incorporates some material from a beast found in the Antarctic on the Peabodie expedition. All too soon it is obvious they have created not a weapon, but a monster. The menace is controlled, but not without loss of life, and a sample sent by boat to the USA.

The sample is lost at sea, and for nearly seventy years all is quiet... until a storm in the North Atlantic frees the sample that has been dormant inside an old wreck.

Soon the new creature finds that is is hungry. Our plastics-oriented society has given it an abundant supply of food... more than enough for it to grow, and build, and spread.

All along the Southern coast of Britain coastal communities are overrun, and rampant mutated Shoggoths fill the Thames and head up river.

Can anyone escape the terror that is... THE CREEPING KELP?

Weaponized algae?  Ravenous Shoggoths?  Weird Old London battling forces From Beyond?  Sign me the hell up.  

Visit William's blog, as well as his snazzy website, and find out what the keen-eyed Scotsman sees as he gazes out upon the moaning moors, the Pictish ruins, and the centuried mists of the fabled North Sea.

Guest Blogger: Jeffrey Thomas Reviews "Engines of Desire" by Livia Llewellyn

On this eve of long promised, righteous destruction, The Cosmicomicon continues its much talked about, days old tradition of bringing you the best guest bloggers working and lurking in the murky biz. 

This week is no different, as noted author/artist and Punktown creator Jeffrey Thomas (featured recently in Alex Luggo's guest blog review on pages prior) marvels at the roar and hum of Livia Llewellyn's widely celebrated Engines of Desire: 

____________________________________________________________________________

  
A Review of ENGINES OF DESIRE by Livia Llewellyn

- Jeffrey Thomas

     It’s no novel observation that it’s always exciting to discover a writer you’ve never read before; what greater satisfaction could account for one’s love of reading? Sometimes the pleasure comes from discovering someone others discovered quite a while before you. Last month, for instance, I completed BRAVE NEW WORLD, and in January I came across this guy named Cormac McCarthy. (I always feel a bit late to the game when it comes to movies and music, too -- but better than never, and all that.) Other times, the author you discovered is relatively new, or at least wholly new to you. Recently, writers who became favorites of mine with just one book were Richard Gavin (with OMENS) in 2009, Otsuichi (ZOO) in 2010, and Simon Strantzas (BENEATH THE SURFACE), earlier this year. And now, maybe not too late this time, here I am discovering Livia Llewellyn, via her new collection ENGINES OF DESIRE (Lethe Press).

     There’s a lot to admire here, and where to begin? I’m always impressed when a writer can work confidently within multiple genres or subgenres, and the stories in ENGINES OF DESIRE could be called a mix of horror, dark fantasy, science fiction -- though I wouldn’t blame Llewellyn if she’s as uncomfortable with such limiting categorizations as I am. Better to say, then, that she’s unfettered by genre. The stories tend to be either quite long or quite short, which again impresses; she’s going to let this story be the length it wants to be, whereas many other writers seem to weigh their efforts on the scale of whatever is going to fit the word range of the next zombie anthology. And where so many writers go through the motions of being shocking and edgy, Llewellyn makes them look like posers, writing as she does unflinchingly of infanticide, incest, madness and self-destruction. Her female protagonists are both empowered and compromised. Childbirth is a repeated subject matter, and repeatedly viewed not as a means of bringing joy and promise into the world but perpetuating the suffering of the doomed and damned.

     Among the standouts in these ten stories, we have the grim, apocalyptic “Horses” (and I’ll just stop introducing each story as grim right now -- that’s a given; this is not a feel-good bunch of tales), about a woman discovering the most basic imperatives of a human being, at the hour of human extinction; “The Engine of Desire,” a chilling tale of erotic obsession, the reading of which is like watching a film of a tornado brewing in reverse, from terrible aftermath to the first churning storm clouds; the increasingly nightmarish “Jetsam,” one of my favorites, about the resonance of 9/11; “The Four Hundred Thousand,” about a future civilization where young women are used to spawn whole armies that serve as a metaphor for the pointless sacrifices of war; the eerie, icky, enigmatic “Omphalos,” about the implosion of a most insular family; and easily my favorite, the concluding novella “Her Deepness.”

     “Her Deepness” is about as New Weird as New Weird can be, and again I hate categorizing here. That subgenre has been declared dead before it was even declared legitimate. I think some of those pronouncing it dead did so for their own purposes, owing to their competition with or envy of other authors whose future work they hoped to thwart by labeling it passé in advance. Politics, don’t you know. But categories do have their use when taken with a grain of salt, helping us stumble into the vicinity of things we’re going to like, and I was pleasantly surprised to find something of this particular flavor in Llewellyn’s book. “Her Deepness” could also be called Lovecraftian, but again that would be limiting it too much. It’s a dense, complex story about a sculptress with mysterious powers of shaping stone, called to the outer reaches of an impossibly vast, gritty, alternate Earth megalopolis to release a god-like being said to be trapped within rock, like some sentient fossil. In this tale most especially, Llewellyn indulges her considerable powers of description and setting, her ability to craft hard-edged characters who might not often be likable but are all the more fully real for that, her abundant and fresh imagination, her ability to generate an atmosphere heavy with a true sense of doom, and a prose voice full of glittering black poetry. Like many of the stories here, “Her Deepness” flirts with and ultimately plunges into the hallucinatory. It’s a heady experience. Forget I called it New Weird. Writing like this can never be passé, so I don’t want to run the risk of giving the wrong impression. I will say, I think Livia Llewellyn can hold her own alongside a China Mieville or a Jeff VanderMeer. I will say that much.

     And I will say this: I have another favorite writer. Ah…so this is why I read.

Preserved Brain of Those Waiting for Saturday's Rapture FOUND!

And that's actual size, folks.  Thanks to Etsy for once again bringing the goods, and the goodness gracious.

As anyone who isn't presently living under a rock, a rather rotund sexual partner, or in a northwestern Pakistani cave NOT populated by Osama's ghost already knows, questionably lucid octogenarian Harold Camping and the good, salt-of-the-earth folks at Family Radio have crunched the Biblical numbers via some not just fuzzy math, but downright BLURRY math, and come up with the exact date of the Rapture, when all the good, "right kind of" Christians will be taken up into the nimbus clouds to shuck and jive with Jesus, while the uninitiated dregs of humanity must endure The Tribulation, the brutal boot of the AntiChrist (much like the Republicans, still looking for viable candidates), and Satan's unfettered reign on this tired planet.

This Rapture, this crazy, crazy Rapture...  It's all going down on Saturday, May 21st, 2011, hopefully during or just after the monologue of the season finale of SNL (11:35 pm PST), cuz, you know, Justin Timberlake is hosting.

These Family Radio jackalopes must have missed the whole "Jesus will come like a thief in the night" part of Thessalonian scripture, and wanted to be the frontrunners of the Apocalypse.  I previously covered this puzzling - but not surprising - movement here, but wanted to give a refresher to my beloved readers of The Cosmicomicon on the Near Eve of Destruction.

But back to the mini-brains under glass...  I've been thinking of additional uses, coming up with zombie bonbons, earrings for the "so very over it" Goth Hipster in your life, and/or Christmas ornaments for your favorite neurosurgeon.  I've always been partial to the hunky Dr. Kelly Foote:

Collect the whole set!   errr.... Of tiny organs AND neurosurgeon trading cards!

Guest Blogger: Brian M. Sammons Toasts Friday The 13th Like Only He Can

Today being what it is and about what it's about, this week's guest blogger is none other than noted author, critic and reviewer of all things dark, violent and strange - Brian M. Sammons, who was kind enough to share with us his passion (okay, OBSESSION) with the blood-soaked cinematic genre of the Slasher Film.  In what other style of film can both the bully AND the slut get terrorized by a faceless killer before being impaled by a creative use of garden tools?  No other style, that's what.  Which is why we love the Slasher Film.  Well, that and because it's super fun to be scared shitless.  DON'T OPEN THAT DOOR, DUMMY!

Special thanks to Brian for taking time out of his busy scribbling schedule to send forth this tasty hunk of meat, on this meatiest of tasty days.  Absolutely ZERO thanks to Blogger for squarely kicking in the nuts my plan to post this at midnight last night (and for eating my post from Wednesday).  Stay golden, Google.

Now, I hand over the page to Brian, the master of the mask, sharpened metal, and chainsaw grease...
____________________________________________________________________________

In honor of the upcoming Friday the 13^th (or the just past Friday the 13^th, depending upon when you read this) I thought I would discuss a topic near and dear to me; slasher films from the 1980s. But first, as this is my inaugural appearance on my buddy Ted’s way wicked website, here’s a brief into of just who I am.

Hello, my name is Brian Sammons, and I am a slasherholic. My addiction began at the tender (and appropriate) age of 13 with an old VHS copy of FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 4: THE FINAL CHAPTER. To say that movie changed my life would not just be empty hyperbole. Before seeing the big man in the hockey mask doing horrible things to young people for the first time, my idea of horror movies were old 50s sci-fi giant bug flicks or heavily edited Hammer films on the Saturday afternoon Creature Feature on TV.  Afterward, well that movie was a gateway drug to all things spooky in film, literature, and even music. Yep the first rock musician I really got into was Alice Cooper. Why? Because he was spooky.  So while I’m under no delusions that these movies are great cinema, I do love them so and they will always have a place in my cold, twisted heart.

And if any of the movies I’m about to discuss don’t sound familiar to you, good, that’s the point. Jason, Michael, Freddy, Leatherface, and even cute, cuddly Chucky have all had enough press and if you don’t already know all about them, I’ve just got to ask, were you living in a cave for the last thirty years? Anyway, in an effort to shine a sputtery flashlight on a few masked maniacs that might otherwise go unnoticed, I present to you three slasher flicks that deserve a little bit of love too.

Let’s kick things off with the only slasher film set and filmed in my home state of Michigan. Ok, SCREAM 4 was also shot in Michigan (yay, I guess) but 1989’s INTRUDER was the first. Coming in at the end of the golden age of slashers, this movie was directed by Scott Spiegel who was a longtime friend and associate of Sam Raimi and the trademark “Raimi style” is all over this movie. Thankfully it’s more EVIL DEAD and far less SPIDER-MAN. The unconventional camera angles and trick shots are all over this movie and make it really fun just to watch, regardless of what’s actually happening on the screen. Luckily for us there’s a lot of good stuff going on here.

As for the story, it’s pretty standard Slasher 101 fare. A bunch of people are working late in a grocery store (ok, I guess the location is pretty unique) when they are given the bad news that the store is being sold and they will all soon be out of work. To make matters worse, some unknown madman starts hacking everyone up in a variety of creative ways. And… well that’s about it. Yeah the story is not very deep, but there are many highlights to this slasher flick. The brothers Raimi (both Sam and Ted) ham it up as some of the assembled knife fodder, and you know that wherever Sam goes, Bruce Campbell isn’t far behind. But ah, don’t believe the hype on the DVD box that gives Bruce top billing as he only pops up in a cameo at the very end. However, hands down what sets this movie on the “Must Watch” list of any splatter fan are all the wonderful kills and gore gags. While this movie was for a long time only available in a heavily edited version, Wizard Entertainment brought out a DVD of INTRUDER a few years back with all the cool red stuff intact. So for gorgeous gore, the Raimi bros, a little slice of Campbell, a hint of Michigan (hey, that’s important too), and plenty of visual style to spare, INTRUDER is not a movie to be missed.

Next we have an international effort from 1982, the outlandishly weird PIECES with the great tagline of: “You Don't Have To Go To Texas For A Chainsaw Massacre!” Written by Americans, directed by Juan Piquer Simón from Spain, and staring a mix of Spanish and American actors, including Christopher George who was born in Michigan (sorry, can’t help myself), PIECES is a mix of styles and sensibilities and the end result is something truly crazy and memorable. 

The story begins with a little boy assembling a nudie jigsaw puzzle. His mom objects and smacks him one. The boy objects and smacks mommy with an axe a couple of times. Years later and the boy is all grown up and he still wants to assemble a naked lady out of bits and pieces. So he does the only logical thing: he grabs a chainsaw and starts cutting up college coeds while dressed as The Shadow from the 1930s. Yep, makes perfect sense to me.

Now I know what you’re thinking, “sure that sounds strange, but I’ve seen weirder.” Well add to that general outline a girl roller skating through a mirror for some unknown reason, the killer sneaking onto an elevator with a victim (again, dressed like a 30s pulp hero, but she doesn’t seem to notice) with his chainsaw held behind his back, and Lynda Day George’s awesome reading of the line, “That bastard…bastard…BASTARD!”. Then there is the piece de resistance of the odd where a Bruce Lee impersonator jumps out of the bushes at the lead actress, does two minutes of a karate routine in front of her by punching and kicking at the air, then says, “oh, excuse me” and just walks away, leaving the woman, and we the audience, asking WTF? So if you’re looking for a slasher flick with plenty of “boy, I’ve never seen that before” moments, then PIECES is that flick. Oh and if you factor in that Grindhouse Releasing has a pretty cool double DVD set of this movie with a bunch of extras and all the previously cut gore poured back into the film, and you have another must for slasher fanatics.

Well I’m not going to be able to out crazy PIECES, so I’m not going to even try. Instead I figure I’ll tell you about the most recent old school slasher to come out on disc. The movie is another form 1982 called THE DORM THAT DRIPPED BLOOD, also known as PRANKS, also known as DEATH DORM. So between those three titles, you might have seen this film, but even if you have, I bet you never saw it uncut or in High-Def. Well now thanks to Synapse Films and their brand new Blu-ray release of this movie, uncensored for the first time ever, you can. But would you want to? Well I think so, but keep reading and let’s see if I can convince you.

In DORM a group of college kids volunteer to help close up an old dorm building before it’s scheduled to be demolished but unfortunately for them a mysterious psycho is bumping them off one by one. And well, that’s it for the story. Ok, there’s a little bit more, but not all that much. There’s a decent group of kids for the slaughter playing up the usual slasher stereotypes of good girl, wise-cracking clown, tough guy, etc. What sets this movie apart, just like any good slasher flick, is the kills, how creative and gory they are. Luckily DORM delivers the goods now that the blood and guts has been restored. The infamous power drill scene is a clear standout but a baseball bat with nails pounded through it and a very large pressure cooker are all used to good effect.

Then there’s Daphne Zuniga playing one of the coeds. If you had a thing for her during the 80s like I did, then you’ll enjoy her here, slumming it in a horror movie to pay her dues. Yeah she’s not in the movie for long (oops I guess I should have given a spoiler warning or something, but just watching the movie you can figure that out pretty quickly) but what little she does, she does well.

And hell, I’ve had so much fun tripping down memory lane that here’s an extra honorable mention for free: GIRLS NITE OUT from 1984. Yeah it’s not all that original, bloody, scary, or even good, but it does have a killer in a bear suite. No really, the movie is set at a college during an all-night scavenger hunt and instead of wearing a hockey, gas, dead skin, or white Shatner mask, the murderer bumps off the school’s mascot, takes his goofy bear costume, makes himself a steak-knife-bear-claw a la Freddy Kruger, and starts slashing the titular girls because they are all “dirty sluts”. It’s not as crazy as PIECES, as gory as INTRUDER, or old school fun as DORM THAT DRIPPED BLOOD, but it does have a few moments going for it. The appropriately named Guilty Pleasures released this movie on DVD a few years back and if you want to see a teddy bear clad killer you can find copies of it cheap on eBay. I got my copy there for two bucks.