Barbarian Crowns Promo Pics!

In celebration of the release of Barbarian Crowns from Horrified Press, Juan has made memes with some of the contributors posing with weapons.  You can order your copy here with free shipping!  Here are mine and Kyle's pics!

 

Book Review- The Book of Jade: A New Critical Edition compiled by David E. Shultz and Michael J. Abolafia

Kyle introduced me to the Book of Jade, which the majority can be read on it's website, and I immediately saved it to my bookmarks where I would often open it up and read it a little everyday.  I loved it so much that I had to get the print-on-demand copy.  Once I acquired I read the whole thing immediately in one sitting.  His dark, Gothic verse instantly lured me in and I was happy to add it to my poetry collection.

Not much is known about the Book of Jade and its author and much of what is 'known' is shady at best.  During the reading of this critical edition I learned he was born in 1877 and 1878 and died of a heart attack due to an enlarged heart while falling down the stairs, suicide, suicide by overdose on opium and died at 23, 24, and 25.  The year he died, 1901, seems to be something all can agree on, making him either 23 or 24 depending on what year we can agree he was born in.  The majority say 1978 which I hope would be correct for 23 is the age listed at the back of the book.  :)  

When I heard Hippocampus Press was making a new edition and calling for submissions, I was excited.  I was also happy that Kyle was going to write an essay for it.  I was not going to write one at first because there isn't much known about the book and the author as I mentioned above.  But as I considered this, I realized that the Book of Jade and David Park Barnitz were obscure and maybe I was one of the few people who have read this and admired the work therein.  So instead of focusing on the author, I focused on my favorite poem, the Grotesques, or should I say "crown of sonnets comprising [of] four sonnet-length stanzas that come as essentially four slightly different variations on the same sonnet, each echoing lines and phrases from the others," (Chuck Caruso, PhD., 274).  Then my essay, the Grotesques: Sins Against the Afterlife, was born.  It is a rather short essay covering Park Barnitz's views of the beauty of the corpse and the lack of an afterlife in that poem.  I think it is a rather interesting yet unconventional essay, especially among the majority of the other critical essays inside, but Park Barntiz was unconventional during his time so I feel it is fitting!

Well I cannot speak of the beauty of the corpse without mentioning Kyle's essay, the Perfection of the Corpse: Necrophilia in the Book of Jade.  Now that is a fascinating essay and what a head turner!  If corpses and grotesqueries aren't your thing however, (if not, why are you reading the Book of Jade?!) then there are plenty of other fascinating and intriguing essays in this critical edition, such as "I Am Weary of That Lidless Eye": Gazing into the Hegelian Abyss of Subjectivity in the Mad Sonnets of Park Barnitz, by Chuck Caruso, PhD, Renaissance by David E. Shultz, and Gavin Callaghan's Park Barnitz: A Biography.

 

 

            

Spectral Realms No. 3 Cover and ToC!

The new cover and ToC is now up on the Hippocampus site!

Poetry

In Fits of Wildest Dreaming ..... K. A. Opperman    

Inheritance ..... Christina Sng    

Rune ..... Wade German    

Song of the Rushes ..... M. F. Webb    

Ode to Hecate ..... Liam Garriock    

Preserves ..... G. O. Clark    

Barley Night ..... Jonathan Thomas    

A Shuddery Tale ..... Charles Lovecraft    

Arcane Stars ..... DJ Tyrer    

Northern Lights ..... Mary Krawczak Wilson    

Always Look under the Bed ..... Mark McLaughlin    

Even Madness Cannot Hide ..... Ashley Dioses    

The Cave of Ebon Boughs ..... D. L. Myers    

The Empty Room ..... Darrell Schweitzer    

Dolls ..... Jason V Brock    

Painted Ladies ..... David Barker    

Brownfields ..... John Mundy

Revelation ..... Fred Phillips    

Daemon Insectarium ..... Chad Hensley    

Sorcerers in Love ..... Don Webb    

Moonrise ..... Christina Sng    

The Game of Cat and Dragon ..... Pat Calhoun    

Lovers’ Wine ..... Stanley Gemmell    

Childe Jackson Drake ..... Adam Bolivar    

Zann ..... Ian Futter    

The Golden Diadem ..... Leigh Blackmore    

The Dark at the Top of the Stairs ..... Jonathan Thomas    

To See or Not to See?  ..... Nicole Cushing    

Carcosa in Mind .....DJ Tyrer    

Butterfly  ..... Carole Abourjeili    

The Death of Twilight  ..... D. L. Myers    

Tragic, Trembling Giant  ..... Linda D. Addison

A Queen in Hell ..... Ashley Dioses    

Witches at the Switches ..... David Barker    

My Heart’s Thin Veil  ..... Margi Curtis    

Clarethea  ..... K. A. Opperman    

Ghoul of the Enamel  ..... Jason Sturner

Azathoth  ..... Charles Lovecraft    

Waking  ..... Ian Futter    

Spinal Piano ..... Reiss McGuinness    

The Thirst of Sekhmet ..... Ann K. Schwader    

The Shadow within Darkness ..... Randall Larson    

Guardians of the Seven Gates ..... Chad Hensley    

Schadenfreude  ..... John Mundy    

Dead Pale Moon  ..... Leigh Blackmore    

To Reach Carcosa ..... Mark McLaughlin    

Sand Bar ..... Jonathan Thomas    

Toujours Il Coûte Trop Cher ..... Mike Allen and C. S. E. Cooney    

Alone in the Desert ..... Mary Krawczak Wilson    

Mother ..... Christina Sng    

The Perfect Rose ..... Ashley Dioses    

End Times ..... DJ Tyrer    

The Lich’s Last Laugh ..... Dan Clore    

A Garden of Unearthly Delights ..... Marge Simon    

Masque Macabre ..... K. A. Opperman    

Gorgoneion ..... Oliver Smith    

Unexpected Meetings  ..... Ian Futter

Black Panther  ..... David Barker    

Classic Reprints    

Old Trinity Churchard ..... A. Merritt    

Illumination in the Mutant Rain Forest ..... Bruce Boston    

Three Songs from Nosferatu ..... Dana Gioia    

Articles    

“Figures in a Nightmare”— The Poetry of Leah Bodine Drake: Part 2 ..... Leigh Blackmore

Reviews    

Studies of Death ..... Michael Dirda    

Two from Eldritch ..... D. L. Myers

Book Review- Beyond the Cosmic Veil edited by George Wilhite (Juan Julio Gutiérrez)

I was surprised that there were stories in this; I thought this was supposed to be an all poetry anthology.  The font in this book is small and I ended up not reading the few stories that are in this.  Perhaps another time, I'll get to them.  Another strange thing about the layout is that the majority of the work is singled spaced yet at page 142, it is suddenly double spaced!  It seems like there is a lack of structure and the shorter poems, mine included, seem smashed together in the center of the page.  They could have benefited from double spacing.  Also I noticed that my poem, the Medallion, is in the book with one stanza instead of two as it should be.  The contributors should really have seen a proof of this before it went to print.  :(  

The poetry in this was fun to read and a few of my favorites include Elder Beings by Leigh Blackmore, Birthright II by Chad Hensley, Primordial Madness and Fall of the Men of New Innsmoore by Kevin Henry, Cordyceps from the Stars and Reverie by K. A. Opperman, When Dead Cthulhu Dreams by Byron A. Roberts, In the Mountains, the Madness and Through My Father's Eyes by Howie Bentley, and Charles Lovecraft's sonnet cycle, Mad Summer of Lovecraft Dreams: A Sunny Cycle of Despair.

Weirdbook Issue #31 ToC and Cover!

So I got an awesome message from Douglas Draa, the new editor of the reemerging Weirdbook, asking me if I had another, shorter poem, to fit into issue #31 because there was a little more room.  I was ecstatic and immediately sent something.  Now I can happily say that it was accepted and I will now be in issue #31 and #32!  My poem in this is called Castle Csejthe and it is about the blood countess herself, Erzebet Bathory.  Here is the cover, front and back, and ToC!

Front

Back

FICTION

Chivaine by John R. Fultz

Give Me the Daggers by Adrian Cole

The Music of Bleak Entrainment by Gary A. Braunbeck

Into the Mountains with Mother Old Growth by Christian Riley

The Grimlorn Under the Mountain by James Aquilone

Dolls by Paul Dale Anderson

Gut Punch by Jason A. Wyckoff

Educational Upgrade by Bret McCormick

Boxes of Dead Children by Darrell Schweitzer

The Forgotten by D.C. Lozar

Coffee with Dad’s Ghost by Jessica Amanda Salmonson

Missed It By That Much by Gregg Chamberlain

A Clockwork Muse by Erica Ruppert

The Rookery by Kurt Newton

Wolf of Hunger, Wolf of Shame by J.T. Glover

Zucchini Season by Janet Harriett

The Jewels That Were Their Eyes by Llanwyre Laish

The Twins by Kevin Strange

Princess or Warrior? by S.W. Lauden

POETRY

The City in the Sands by Ann K. Schwader

NecRomance by Frederick J. Mayer

The Shrine by Wade German

Bride of Death by Dave Reeder

Modern Primitive by Chad Hensley

UPDATE: I’ve been told that some last-minute additions have been made to the ToC for WB#31. These include a sonnet by the great Wilum Pugmire, as well as pieces from Ashley Dioses and Kyle Opperman.

https://www.blackgate.com/2015/07/24/weirdbook-returns-in-october/

 

My Copy of Beyond the Cosmic Veil Arrived!

My copy of Beyond the Cosmic Veil from Barbwire Butterfly Books arrived today!  I am hoping the cover will grow on me for it is not doing anything for me currently.  I think it's the digital art that's turning me off.  And it lacks mystery, everything is revealed there and I'm not just talking about the half naked lady.  Cthulhu is there for all to see.  It kind of defeats the allure of him.  I much preferred Joas Dale Miller's artwork which, thankfully, is on the back cover.

I thought this was an all poetry anthology but it looks like there are a few stories in it.  I look forward to reading those.  I have two short poems in this and they each have their own page, which is fine, but the poems seem to me, too small.  There's a huge blank page and then a tiny poem in the middle of the page.  My mom disagrees and says that it is the focus point of the page.  Sure, if you squint.  Maybe it's just me or maybe I should've written longer poems for this anthology.

 

 

Book Review- Embrace the Hideous Immaculate by Chad Hensley

Free verse isn't really my cup of tea but that aside, I enjoyed most of the content of the poems in it.  My favorite poem in this has to be Mother Lilith.  A beautifully done sonnet to the demoness of miscarriage herself.  Now that is a poem I can read over and over again.  I have a weak spot for demons and dark goddesses in poetry/art and that poem is perfect.

      

WesterCon Weekend

Kyle and I arrived in San Diego on Saturday and went straight to the con.  We attended a workshop called Writer's Workshop: From a Prepared Text with Steven-Elliot Altman and Denise Dumars.  We listened to writers read part of a story they wrote and listened to it get critiqued.  Kyle was bored and didn't bring a story.  I brought a story but we were running late, so me and another writer were taken outside to continue there.  It was helpful.  Then after the workshop we went to Denise's room to look at her oils she made from New Orleans recipes.  It was really cool and I got two lovely oils I am excited to use.

After that, we checked out the dealers room and picked up some awesome things.  I got a Labyrinth poster and a Halloween Oracle deck.  I also got more autographs from Bill Nolan and Dennis Etchison and bought A Little Black Book of Horror Tales by Etchison.  We then ran into Cody Goodfellow and Pete Atkins and chatted with them a bit.

We checked in the hotel and came back around 5 in time for Uncle Forry's Ackermansions (2014), a documentary by Tom Khamis which was very fun to watch.  After that we ate dinner and then hung out at Bill's suite with the Brock's, Etchison, and a few others that stopped by.  We drank rum and Coke and had fascinating conversations.

Sunday we went to an Irish restaurant where Kyle tried Absinthe for the first time.  He actually liked it.  He actually likes black licorice.

After lunch we went back to the con and caught the 3pm panel Lovecraft's Heirs: How Did They Change His Concept of the Universe? with David Agranoff, Steven-Elliot Altman, Denise Dumars, Cody Goodfellow, and Jenna M. Pitman.  Then we hung out with the Brocks, Bill, Dennis and his wife, Kris.  Jason offered to edit my story I brought for the workshop and he did a little bit of it and explained his critique.

Kyle and I then left for our ghost touring experiences in Old Town.  We went of the haunted trolley tour first and then the haunted walking tour.  We caught some awesome orb pictures and I caught a picture of a strange girl that I can't tell is part of our group or statue but there were no children in ou group and neither were any statutes in the graveyard.

Monday we went back to Old Town and visited the Whaley House before we headed home. 

Here are some goodies.