Posts Tagged ‘Cthulhu Mythos’

Review: “I Am the Dark That Answers When You Call” by Jamison Shea

Posted: March 17, 2025 in Novel, Review, Scary Stuff
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(Note: This review contains some spoilers for this book’s predecessor, I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me. So, if you haven’t read that one and want to go in unspoiled, you’ve been warned.)

Sequels are tough. I’ve tried to write sequels before, and they are fucking tough to write. Not only do you have to continue the story you set up in the previous entry, but you have to keep up the tension and further develop the characters. And, if possible, up the stakes from the last story. So, when I started listening to I Am the Dark That Answers When You Call, the sequel to I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me (see my review here), on audio book, I hoped that the sequel would be up to the same level as the original book.

Starting a few months after the events of I Feed Her to the Beast, Laure Mesny is back in Paris and trying to move on with her life. However, things are not as easy as she would like. For one thing, not only is she the vessel for the dark god Acheron, who constantly whispers in her ear, but she’s also being haunted by ghosts from her past, both literal and figurative. And on top of that, Elysium, the strange dimension below Paris where the gods reside, is dying, setting in motion a chain of events that will see either Laure’s ascendancy…or her doom.

I enjoyed I Feed Her to the Beast immensely, but I think I enjoyed I Am The Dark even more.

For one thing, let’s look at the horror. There’s definitely more of an emphasis on the cosmic horror aspects in this volume, and they work well, with the power of the gods becoming a corrupting influence as Elysium continues to degrade and rot. The new human villains of Neve and her retinue were a great addition to the story, as was Laure’s relationship to Acheron, which I expected to be more like Eddie Brock and Venom in the movies but turned out completely different.

I also liked the development of Laure as a person. If the first book was about Laure trying to get what she wanted and deserved, only for her to see its dark side, then the second book was about Laure trying to find who she is and what she really wants out of life now that the Paris Ballet is behind her. Jamison Shea handles that deftly, leading to a climax that left me on the edge of my seat (metaphorically; I was cooking dinner during those scenes).

Finally, there were a lot of surprises in the story that threw me for a loop, which only deepened my enjoyment of it overall. Several times, I was like, “What? Are you serious?” And it’s not easy to surprise me, so kudos to the author for that.

If I have any criticisms, it’s that I thought the linking of the cosmic horror elements to the Cthulhu Mythos felt a little forced to me. Also, I thought a certain character introduced in the story was going to have a bigger role when it was revealed how much they were aware of, so it was kind of disappointing that they didn’t have that bigger role. I understand why the author did–it was part of Laure’s personal growth, after all–but still.

All in all, though, I came away from I Am the Dark That Answers When You Call by Jamison Shea very satisfied. On a scale of 1 to 5, I’m giving it a 4.8, which is 0.3 points higher than its predecessor. Unrelenting, cosmically dark, and full of twists and turns. I’m almost sad that there’s not a third book in the works (as far as I know), though Laure’s story does work well as a duology.

Anyway, if you’re at all interested, or if you enjoyed I Feed Her to the Beast, you won’t be disappointed by I Am the Dark. Give it a read and see for yourself.

That’s all for now. Until next time, my Followers of Fear, good night and pleasant nightmares.

Updates on What I’m Doing

Posted: October 17, 2024 in Living and Life, Progress Report, Writing
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Occasionally, there’s a lot I want to post about, but none of it is enough for a new blog post on its own. In those moments, especially when it’s been a minute since I last posted, I like to do a little (ha ha!) post with quick updates about what I’m working on lately and things going on in my life.

So, without further ado, let’s get to some updates!

Working on New and Shorter Works

As many of you know, I spent most of last year editing various stories, especially those in Hannah and Other Stories. After the Great Editing was over, I wanted to do nothing but write new things, and a lot of them, too. And I’ve done just that, working on one short story, a couple of novelettes, two novellas, and, much as I didn’t expect it to, a new novel (more on that below). In total, I’ve written six new stories. One, “White Leaves,” will be published on an upcoming episode of the Tales to Terrify podcast, another is with an alpha reader, and the others need a second draft.

Looking forward, I have three new stories I want to work on. One, a story set in the Cthulhu Mythos, I’m currently writing an outline for. Once all three are done, I’ll actually edit some of these stories and try to get them published.

Shape of Evil and Crawler

Remember I mentioned above I wrote a novel? That novel, The Shape of Evil, was originally supposed to be a novelette or a novella, but I guess the story had other plans. Otherwise, I would have hesitated before committing to such a long project. Anyway, the story is about a 3D printer from Hell, and I plan to do a second draft of it in December. While the novel took me six months to write, I’m hoping the editing takes only a few weeks to two months.

Afterwards, I plan to get a beta/sensitivity reader to look at it (the protagonist is a non-binary teen, so I want to make sure I’m representing the community in a way that’s positive), and do another draft based on their feedback. After that…well, I want to pitch this story at StokerCon next year. See if I can find an agent or publisher for it right off the bat. We’ll see what happens.

And as for my mummy novel, Crawler, yes, I still plan to finish it. I need to finish all these other stories and then edit some of them, but yes, I still plan to finish it. I hate that I haven’t worked on it for so long, but I will get it done. Just you wait and see.

Upcoming Events

As many of you know, I have a big day on October 26th, 2024, here in Columbus. First, the downtown library will be hosting HWA Ohio for an event called Scary Saturday. It’ll be a big day full of readings, short lectures, fun and spooky games, and plenty of local authors selling their books, among other things. I’ll be there selling copies of Rose and giving a lecture on how horror can be therapeutic to some readers, as well as generally helping out.

And then in the evening, some of us will be heading over to the Thurber House, a local writing-focused organization, for their Halloween celebration to do readings and attend spooky tours. I’ll be reading from Rose and selling whatever copies are left over. Should be a good time.

And while I might be doing fewer events next year (can you blame me in this economy?), I do have a few I’m already scheduled to attend. I’ll be at Akronomicon in Akron, OH on February 1st, 2025, and I’ll be at Halfway to Halloween in Ann Arbor, MI on May 11th, 2025. Both sound like big events, so I’m looking forward to being there for the very first time.

And if other events come up, I’ll be sure to let you all know.

Other Stuff

There are some things I would like to discuss in detail here, but I’m not ready to do so just yet. I will say that I’m doing more to take care of my physical and mental health due to changes in my life. I am working out and eating healthier these days for the former, and I’ve noticed a vast improvement.

As for my mental health, I’m just doing a lot of different things, including finding time for self-care and talking to the right sort of people, to make sure life’s worries and cares don’t get me down. I’ve also noticed a vast improvement on this.

(Though for both, there is still room to improve).

Finally, a big announcement: I’ll be going to Israel at the end of the year.

I know, I know, there’s a war and I disagree with A LOT of what Israel’s government does. However, I do feel that the Land of Israel is my homeland and maybe the last refuge for me and my fellow Jews on this Earth. And it’s important at this time for my people to ensure this country continues to exist, whatever our feelings about the current situation.

Besides, I haven’t been since I was 17 and a friend of mine is getting married there, so I guess no time like the present.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I hope you’re as excited to read the works above I mentioned once they’re ready. In the meantime, if you want to support me, or you’re just looking for a good scary story (and I figure you would be, with only fourteen days to go to Halloween), I have plenty of good stories for you to check out. From plant/human hybrids and strange gods to Mafia-hunting serial killers and carnivorous horses, I have something for every horror fan, including some free stuff. I’ll leave a button below if you want to check out my work. And if you do, be sure to leave a review so I know what you thought.

Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares.

Book Links and Excerpts

Review: “The Dissonance” by Shaun Hamill

Posted: August 30, 2024 in Novel, Review
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Took a little longer than I expected, but I finally finished this book tonight and, as promised, I’m writing a review.

Jumping back and forth between the late 1990s and 2019, The Dissonance follows Hal, Athena, and Erin, who, along with their friend Peter, discover that they have mysterious powers. Powers that, according to Peter’s grandfather, stems from the Dissonance, a magical energy that stems from the gap between our broken world and the world as it should be. They start learning how to harness their powers, but tragedy strikes during their senior year of high school. Twenty years later, they return to their old stomping grounds as forces begin to throw the world out of whack. And in the midst of it all, a great evil descends on their hometown, dragging a closeted gay teen in tow…

I’ve heard this book called a cross between The Magicians and IT, and while I’m only vaguely familiar with the first one, I have to say, the comparison to IT is apt. Not only does it hop back and forth between past and present, but Hamill does a great job showing the characters as hormonal teens trying to navigate friendship and their lives in the past, and trying to deal with cosmic shift and their broken lives and relationships in the present.

As for the story, it’s definitely more in line with dark fantasy than horror. For example, the Dissonants conference feels more Harry Potter than The Craft. Still, it’s got some horror elements. The magic itself, which requires tapping into the pain and misery of life, is pretty dark in and of itself, and plenty of aspects of the novel are of the cosmic horror vein.

If there’s one thing I would have liked to see more of, it might have been more of the character Owen. I get that the focus was more on Athena, Hal, and Erin, but Owen was a relatable character and I would have liked to see the kid have a bigger role.

Well, if there’s a sequel, that might be a possibility. The book does present the possibility of being the jumping off point for a shared universe, like The Hobbit was for Lord of the Rings, but with more in common with the Cthulhu Mythos than Tolkien.

But getting back to the review, I award The Dissonance by Shaun Hamill a 4.5 out of 5. It’s an engaging dark fantasy novel with great characters and worldbuilding and a magic system that feels right for this wrong world. Grab a copy, tap into your deep well of inner pain, and prepare for a twisty, magical ride through hell.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. Until next time, good night, pleasant nightmares, and only 61 days and one hour till Halloween!

Making Your Monsters Different Every Time

Posted: February 25, 2024 in Reflections, Scary Stuff, Writing
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In horror, it’s often about the monsters.

Obviously, horror often centers around the monsters. Saying that is like saying in economics, it’s often about the supply and demand. But still, it needs to be stated. Whether they be demons from Hell, ghosts haunting an old house, a serial killer stalking a young woman during a holiday, a collection of corpse parts stitched together and brought to life through high levels of electricity, or ancient entities from the stars whose forms are difficult to describe, horror is often about the monsters.

And as horror creators, it’s up to us to make each monster we create different from all who came before.

Let’s face it, the people who consume our work expect a little variety (unless you’re working on a series like Supernatural or the Sookie Stackhouse books, in which case your readers would hope there would be some internal consistency in the monster design from episode to episode and season to season). They don’t want the same story every time, and neither do we. So, we write new stories and try to make them distinct from previous works.

Same goes with the monsters we design. Unless we have a special reason for doing so, like a series, it’s important to make our monsters different from story to story. Sure, there may be common characteristics. HP Lovecraft’s monsters were always covered in tentacles and eyes and gloopy fluids (when he could describe them), but you could tell Cthulhu from Yog-Sothoth from Azathoth. And in James Wan’s more supernatural horror movies, the ghosts and demons do share some characteristics, but how they work in the Conjuring franchise is different from how they work in the Insidious franchise.

But the point is, you do have to try to ensure the monsters don’t closely resemble one another too much from story to story. Otherwise, you have people confusing what happened in one story with what happened in another story and being like, “Can you blame me? They’re so similar, they just kind of blend in after a while!”

I was reminded of that this weekend while working on the climax of a killer fairy story (yes, that’s what I’m writing, and it’s probably going to be a novella when it’s done). I was making great progress yesterday, heading towards the climax, and then I realized that the monster the protagonist encounters during this scene resembles one appearing in a different novella. Thus, I had to redesign the monster for the killer fairy story, which I only finalized today.

So, how do you ensure that your monsters are different every time? For the first time in forever on this blog, here are some tips:

  • Look to mythology for inspiration. Mythologies from around the world are rife with monsters. You have the Hekatonkeries and Typhon from Greek mythology; the Jorogumo and the Onryo from Japan; the Chupacabra from Latin America; and more (did you know some Amazon tribes believe in furry cyclops creatures that protect the forest?). If you look deeply enough, and keep it varied, you’ll find all sorts of interesting monsters you can use in your stories.
    Just be careful that you don’t do anything that might be considered exploitative or offensive by certain cultures. Nobody needs that kind of bad karma.
  • Draw from the works of your favorite authors. I’m not saying copy your favorite authors, because that’s plagiarism and is generally frowned upon. But look at the monsters in your favorite novels. What about that monster scared for you? Draw on that and see if you can create something terrifying.
  • Take something ordinary and make it scary. This is something I see a lot more in horror fiction these days, where writers find a way to make something ordinary and make it terrifying. If you are familiar with the works of Junji Ito and Bentley Little, you know what I’m talking about. Uzumaki by Junji Ito makes spiral shapes terrifying, and I never thought a resort could be scary until I read Little’s Resort. And what about Siren Head, a giant humanoid with two giant megaphones full of teeth for a head? I wonder where that came from?
  • Look to your own fears and anxieties. Plenty of times, it’s easy to draw on those to create a monster. Have a phobia around rats, snakes, spiders, lightning, death, or your grandfather? Maybe something you remember from childhood struck you as creepy but no one else seemed to think so, like a character in a children’s movie or a toy you were given at Christmas? Use that to form something new and horrifying. You’d be surprised how often that works.
  • Keep track of your monsters. Nobody knows your stories better than you do, and that includes the monsters. If you’re having trouble coming up with a good monster, look what you’ve come up with before. Go through them like a catalog. Perhaps seeing what came before will help you come up with something new that you’ll enjoy writing.
Siren Head is a great example of taking something ordinary and turning it horrifying.

Coming up with new monsters each and every time isn’t easy, even if you work in multiple genres and subgenres. Still, as creators, it’s our job, and it can be a lot of fun. And when you hear people praising your monsters for how clever the idea is or how terrifying they are to think about, it makes the work worth it.

And hey, don’t get bummed if one monster is too similar to another and you only realize after the fact. The antagonist in The Library Policeman by Stephen King bears some similarities to It, but they’re both still great stories. So, it happens. Nothing to get worked up over.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. Good night, pleasant nightmares, and RUN! THERE’S SOMETHING RESEMBLING A MURDER HORNET AND THE SIZE OF A SMALL DOG BEHIND YOU!!!

What are your tips for coming up with monsters for your stories? Let’s discuss in the comments below.

This Year’s Halloween Costume and Yard

Posted: October 8, 2023 in Living and Life, Scary Stuff
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Did I need to write a post about this? No. Am I going to anyway? Oh, hell yeah.

So, as you know, I LOOOOOOOVE Halloween. In fact, I pretty much celebrate it year round and try to get people to freak out with me between late August and November 1st. So, I take great delight and great preparation in my Halloween costume and my front yard (especially now that I have a front yard).

So, without further ado, let me show you my very special Halloween costume. Behold, I am…Cthulhu!

Pretty cool, huh? I’m wearing a kigurumi, which is a Japanese costume you can wear as streatwear, as a costume, or as onesie pajamas. I got them as a birthday present, and have worn them for a couple of YouTube videos. And now that it’s October and it’s gotten colder, I’m wearing this as both pajamas and as a costume. Isn’t it awesome?

I may also wear other stuff, and I’ll be sure to take photos, but this will be my main costume. Besides, it’s so comfy!

And here’s my yard this year. I bought a whole bunch of stuff, so now my yard’s even more creepy! Check it out!

What’s your favorite part? I’m quite proud of the big spider web. I found one that’s not dangerous to wildlife (because, as you may have heard, the stuff that we’ve stretching across our bushes for years can kill birds and small animals) and which I can still hang scary spiders on. One’s even got a baby head! Isn’t that freaky!

And next year, I’ll go even bigger and creepier! Maybe even a giant statue that moves when motion is triggered in front of it!

Whether I dress up as a cosmic horror entity again is another matter (remember last year, when I was the King in Yellow?). Though I’m not sure how I would dress up as Nyarlathotep, Azathoth, or Shub-niggurath without getting an expensive and elaborate costume that’s hard to move around in. I mean, can you imagine what those costumes would like? Without going mad, that is?

Well, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I don’t have work tomorrow, so I’m going to pop popcorn and watch a scary movie. Until next time, my Followers of Fear, good night and pleasant nightmares.

Speaking of Halloween, as you’re probably aware, Hannah and Other Stories is out now and is scaring everyone silly! If you would like to check out these stories full of ghosts, budding serial killers, and carnivorous horses, you can do so using any of the links below. And if you do, please leave me a review after you read the book. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps readers decide whether or not to check out the book.

Once more, until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares, my Followers of Fear.

Amazon
Apple Books
Barnes & Noble
Bertrand
Booktopia
BSC Publishing Square Store
Kobo
Wook

What Exactly is Weird Fiction?

Posted: June 4, 2023 in Reflections, Writing
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Photo by Niko MonDu00ec on Pexels.com

I’ve heard certain stories and writers described as weird fiction and weird fiction writers. I’ve also heard of New Weird, which refers to writers whose work is representative of a new wave of weird fiction. And I can think of examples of fiction that is described as “weird fiction.” Yet, I still find myself wondering from time to time, “How do you define weird fiction?”

Most people I’ve talked to–and I’ve talked to many–say “I know it when I see it” when it comes to weird fiction.* However, being a non-human entity and having a very loose definition of “normal” in a world that seems to defy anyone’s definition of normal, that still isn’t enough for me. And I know HP Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos is considered weird fiction, but is that because it involves tentacled monsters?

As usually happens when these sort of questions bug me to no end, I do research. And after talking to a lot of people, reading some articles, and watching a few YouTube videos on the subject, I think I’ve finally come to some conclusions.

For one thing, “weird fiction” isn’t a specific genre like literary, romance, sci-fi or horror fiction. Rather, it’s a designation given to stories and writers who take traditional concepts within their genre and then find some way to turn them on their head and make them weird. Lovecraft and his friends’ fiction was called “weird horror” because it featured ancient cosmic beings with lots of tentacles instead of ghosts, werewolves and vampires. And today, you can call Junji Ito “new weird” because his work features women with their tongues being replaced by snails and their heads becoming the shells, or towns cursed by the concept of a spiral.

And this can apply to all sorts of other genres and kinds of stories. Magical realism, cryptozoological erotica, bizarro fiction, they can all be considered weird. And you can add weird to any sort of story. For example, perhaps you can write a romance story where the couple is actually a single person and their reflection. Or weird Western, where cowboys ride into a wilderness resembling that melting clock painting by Salvador Dali.

And now that I think about it, my own novel Rose could be considered weird fiction. I mean, I usually categorize it as “fantasy horror” or “paranormal fiction,” but it’s about a young woman turned into a plant/human hybrid (and that’s just the start of her problems). If that’s not weird, then I’m a sea lion (and I’m not).

Apparently, Rose could be considered “weird fiction.” I never realized.

So, how does one write weird fiction? Well, I don’t think anyone sets out to write exclusively weird stories. I think they’re just trying to create something original and that leads to going down a weird route. That being said, if you want to write something weird, here are a few things you can try to make it weird:

  • Disrupt the real. Weird fiction comes from being weird, so it helps if your story breaks either the characters’ or the readers’ sense of reality. In terms of the latter, you could modify the world in some way so that something weird by our standards is considered normal in the world of the story. One example I can think of is a story I once read where imaginary friends were real entities and an accepted part of the human life cycle, similar to losing your baby teeth or going through puberty.
    In terms of the former, write the story in a way where you and the characters share a similar reality, but then that definition of real goes out the window in a big way. Think Alice falling down the rabbit hole into Wonderland, or perhaps Little Red Riding Hood’s trip to her grandmother’s house becomes Lovecraftian and surreal.
  • Tentacles and cosmic elements. It’s a little stereotypical, but as I said, much of what made Lovecraft’s stories weird were the tentacles and the other elements that became the foundation of cosmic horror. So, if it works, why not use it?
  • Ask “what if I added this?” Plenty of times, we writers create our own stories by encountering another story and thinking of what we would add if we were the ones writing it. Just do the same thing, but think in terms of strange things you can add. And not just to other stories, but to just daily situations. What if you added surrealism to a religious matchmaking search, or if there was some visible way to instantly identify someone as having committed a crime? Thinking along those lines could allow you to write a weird fiction story.
  • Defy genre. While genres are categories we created, they do play a big role in writing and publishing. If you can write a story that doesn’t fit any particular genre but has elements of several, especially fantasy, sci-fi, and horror, it could be considered weird. There’s a bit more to it, but that can be a clear indicator of weird fiction.

Other than that, the only thing I can recommend is read plenty of weird stories and practice writing them. And while writing weird fiction isn’t exactly necessary for any writer, it can be a lot of fun and lead to some memorable stories. Hell, it may help you write more mainstream fiction. So, why not? Go ahead and get weird with it!

What tips do you have for writing weird fiction? Do you have any favorite stories that are considered weird?

*Fun fact: that phrase was coined by US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart in 1964 in his opinion on the case Jacobellis v. Ohio regarding a definition for obscenity, specifically hard-core pornography. The more you know.

Thanks for reading, everyone. It was a long article, but I wanted to get it out before I tried to intentionally write a weird fiction story (usually it happens by accident). I hope you enjoyed a post without a mention of Hannah (which, now that I think about it, has a weird story or two as well).

Anyway, I’ll be back soon enough. There’s some exciting stuff happening this week, after all. So, until next time, my Followers of Fear, good night and pleasant nightmares!

This Year’s Halloween Costume: The King in Yellow

Posted: September 18, 2022 in Living and Life, Scary Stuff
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If you’ve been with me a while now, you know I’ve become a fan of The King in Yellow by Robert Chambers. First published in 1895, the important stories in the collection (and the best ones) revolve around a play called The King in Yellow, which is so twisted that reading it can drive you mad (or make you a slave to the titular entity, if you believe he’s real). The collection has proved influential and has been touted as a classic by many horror writers, including HP Lovecraft, as well as being partially integrated into the latter’s Cthulhu Mythos.

I read the collection after hearing about it last year, and since then, I’ve become a little obsessed. I bought my own copy of the collection, I wrote a short story called “The Dedication of the High Priestess” that combines the character and the lore with ballet (this story will be narrated on the Tales to Terrify podcast some time before the year is out), I created some AI art of the figure, and now, I am the King in Yellow. For Halloween, at least.

What do you think? I went with something more simplistic than I originally planned (big white gloves, an ornate crown resembling antlers and tree branches), and boiled it down to a robed figure with a mask. However, that’s basically the things that most people agree upon when it comes to the character’s appearance, so it works. And I even got a photo of me holding my copy of the collection like it’s the play itself. I think that’s a nice touch.

Credit for the photos go to my sister, Adi, by the way. She did a great job taking the photos this afternoon.

Anyway, I look forward to wearing this costume to events like A Night of Horror at the Bexley Public Library and the Local Author Book Fair at the Licking County Library, as well as hopefully to a party or two (my exact plans for Halloween are still up in the air). And even if people don’t know who the character is, this might get them to read the collection, or at least look him up. But hopefully the former, because it makes for some great Halloween reading.

Speaking of which, if you’re looking for something spooky to reading this Halloween season, might I recommend some of my books? I have four books out now and they’ve all been received well. Some readers have even found them quite terrifying. I’ll include a quick summary of the stories and links to check them out below.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I hope you liked my Halloween costume. But tell me, what are you planning to dress up as this Halloween season? Do you have any big plans? Let’s discuss in the comments below.

Until next time, good night, pleasant nightmares and only 43 days till All Hallows Eve!

The Pure World Comes: A maid goes to work for a mad scientist and gets wrapped up in his experiments. Terror ensues. Gothic horror novel. Very Frankenstein meets Crimson Peak.
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, Goodreads, Audible, Chirp, BingeBooks, LIbro.Fm, Storytel, Google Play

Rose: A young woman gets turned into a plant/human hybrid (and that’s just the start of her problems). Fantasy-horror. Very Kafkaesque and has a lot of Japanese mythology mixed in.
Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Audible, B&N

Snake: A serial killer hunts mobsters in New York City. Who is he and why is he killing? Slasher horror. Think John Wick, Taken and Friday the 13th got smooshed into a horror novel.
Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Smashwords, and Kobo

The Quiet Game: Five Tales to Chill Your Bones: Five creepy tales from my early writing and publishing career that will entertain as well as scare you. They’re weird, eerie and a lot of fun. You know, like their author.
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Smashwords, and Kobo.

“The Dedication of the High Priestess:” First Acceptance of 2022!!!

Posted: April 20, 2022 in Living and Life, Novelette, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Praise to the King in Yellow! I’ve got my first acceptance of the year! Even better, it’s a story I was having trouble finding a home for!

So, you’re probably all excited to hear what the story is about and when and where it’ll come out. “The Dedication of the High Priestess” is a story I first wrote back in winter after I got back from my vacation. The story follows a young ballet student named Anastasia “Annie” Hummel. She dreams of being a famous ballerina, and being selected as a model for a famous artist’s latest series of paintings seems like a great boost to her fledgling career. However, what actually happens is that Annie is awakened to her true destiny. A destiny that will change the course of her life, and the world. forever.

If you read my post about elevated horror the other day, you might realize from the description and my opening shout of praise that this is the ballerina-meets-the-King-in-Yellow story I mentioned. And yes, I realize it got accepted right after I mentioned trying to find it a home. Not sure if that counts as irony, but it is funny.

And if you’re wondering what this King in Yellow thing is, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Sadly, I think The King in Yellow is even less well-known than HP Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos.* It’s a collection of short stories written in 1895 by Robert Chambers. Most (and the best) of the stories revolve not around the titular character, but around a play bearing the character’s name and which is said to be so twisted, reading the second act will drive you mad (or make you a servant of the King, depending on if you believe he’s a real entity).

The stories have proven influential, being beloved by Lovecraft and becoming partially integrated into the Cthulhu Mythos by later writers. If you would like to find out more, you can read my own blog post on the collection, which I wrote back when I first read the stories, or you can watch this awesome YouTube video on the collection. Or you can read the collection yourself, that’s a valid choice as well.

This is my copy of the collection. Seriously, you should check it out!

Anyway, my take on the stories and the character combines both elements from the collection, from what later writers have added, and adds ballet, because let’s face it, I’m a huge fan of ballet and I’m sad there aren’t more ballet-themed horror stories. As to how I use ballet in the story, you’ll have to wait till it’s out to discover that.

Speaking of which, “The Dedication of the High Priestess” will be published as an audio story by the horror podcast Tales to Terrify. This is a podcast where professional narrators read one or two short stories or short novelettes per episode, the goal of each story being to chill you silly. I listened to a couple of episodes a while back and thought it might be a good place for my story, so I sent it in. I’m so happy they agree.

As to when it comes out, all I can say at that point is that it’ll be some time in 2022. Yeah, that’s vague, but that’s just how it is sometimes. And anyway, the moment it is out, I’ll be sure to let you know so you can check it out yourself.

I want to thank Tales to Terrify for accepting my story and I can’t wait to hear what you guys do with it. I’m very proud of this one and I’m glad it was able to find an excellent home.

And that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ve got some other stuff cooking that I’ll be announcing soon, so keep an eye out for that. And I have dinner cooking, so I’ll keep an eye on that. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares.

*Which is a damn shame, because I think it’s better than Lovecraft in many ways, though I still like the stories the latter wrote.

Have You Read “The King in Yellow?”

Posted: December 15, 2021 in Reflections, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Last month, I wrote a story that combined art and my love of ballet with the stories of the King in Yellow. This was after finally reading the stories earlier this year, which was after hearing about them and their titular subject for a few years. Recently, I edited that story and then submitted it to a publication that I think will like it. And after doing so, I just wanted to write a blog post about the King in Yellow, and see how many of the Followers of Fear are familiar with the character.

So, for those of you who don’t know, The King in Yellow is a collection of short stories published in 1895 by Robert Chambers. The first four stories revolve around the titular character. Or to be more precise, around a fictional play revolving around the titular character. This play has the uncanny ability to make those who read/see it lose their hold on reality. Or, in another sense, to put them under the sway of the King in Yellow.

If you would like a more in-depth analysis of the character, the play, and stories than I can give here, you can watch this video which goes in depth on the collection and the stories in question.

Not bad, huh? I find the Tale Foundry channel puts out some incredible work on all things writing and literature.

Anyway, The King in Yellow–the book, the play, and the character–have had quite an effect on horror literature. HP Lovecraft was actually heavily influenced by the book, and some of the themes in the book could be considered proto-Lovecraftian. Some writers have even included the King in the Cthulhu Mythos under the name of Hastur, a name from the original collection, as well as the half-brother of Cthulhu. And plenty of other writers have played in the sandbox of The King in Yellow, both in and out of the Cthulhu Mythos. He’s appeared in tabletop games, video games, all sorts of stories, and even was heavily referenced in the TV show True Detective.

Question is, why? What is it about these four stories and the King that has caused them to endure and slowly germinate into our popular culture?

Well, that’s the thing: it does germinate. Or the play does, anyway.

If you’ve read the stories or watched the video, you might have noticed that the King himself only appears once. Even then, you can’t be sure this isn’t the hallucination of a madman. Really, what we see in the stories is the effect of the play. It’s power to corrupt people, as well as the public outcry against it, has ensured that if someone hasn’t read it, they at least know of it and have seen the damage it’s caused.

Sounds like Twilight, but better and horrifying in the right ways, if you think about it. And it’s a great metaphor for how stories can spread through a populace and change people and culture, for better or worse. Not just fictional texts, like Harry Potter or Uncle Tom’s Cabin, but non-fiction tomes like The Travels of Marco Polo and Herodotus’s Histories, and religious texts like the Bible. All of these had huge effects on the societies they spread through, changing cultures, beliefs, and minds in so many ways.

The metaphor is even more apt if you think of the play as a religious text for those who worship the King in Yellow.

Just one edition of the King in Yellow collection. There are as many as there are ways to tell a story with the character.

Add in that the stories are psychological works where a lot is left to the imagination, combined with some decent and eerie storytelling, as well as ideas that resonate with writers the way Lovecraft’s world would years later, and it’s no wonder people began playing with and adding to the concept of the King in Yellow. And this was happening even before the stories entered the public domain.

Is it any wonder the King has been partially absorbed into the Cthulhu Mythos now?

And like the Cthulhu Mythos, the King in Yellow is becoming more well-known and mainstream, albeit slower than the Mythos. Still, the fact that it showed up in True Detective says a lot. And I hope, should the story I wrote be published, that it’s considered a nice addition to the King’s legacy, as well as helps to spread awareness of the original stories.

Speaking of which, I highly recommend checking out the original King in Yellow short story collection. They’re really eerie and you probably won’t regret checking them out. At the very least, you’ll be able to see how another classic work of horror has influenced the genre as a whole.

Just don’t read beyond the first four stories. The ones afterward don’t really connect to the stories about the play and aren’t as good, making you wonder why Chambers included those stories. I heard that if you read the book in reverse, it reveals something, but I can think of a lot of other stuff I would rather do with my time.

Have you read The King in Yellow or come across works inspired by it? What do you think of the stories? Let’s discuss.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m going to make dinner, read a story a friend sent to me for feedback, and imagine putting together a King in Yellow costume. Until next time, good night, pleasant nightmares, and beware the Yellow Sign.

One more thing: the crowdfunding campaign for That Which Cannot Be Undone is at 29% funded! And we’ve added a whole bunch of new perks to the campaign, as well as a new author to the anthology!

If you’re unaware, I’m part of a small publishing press and we’re crowdfunding our first anthology, That Which Cannot Be Undone, which will highlight Ohio writers. It’s an exciting new venture, and we’re very excited for you to read the stories that will be included. I’ve already written one story that will be in the anthology, so I hope you’ll support us in making this anthology a reality.

If you’re interested, you can click on the link below and learn more about the anthology. I hope you’ll lend us your support! Thanks, and have a good night!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/crackedskullproject1/that-which-cannot-be-undone-an-ohio-horror-anthology

Conversations with Maxwell I. Gold

Posted: August 19, 2021 in Author Interciew, Poetry, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Maxwell I. Gold, author of Oblivion in Flux.

After so many years of writing and networking, I’ve had the pleasure of making many friends who also enjoy a good scary story. Recently, one of those friends had a collection of prose poetry, Oblivion in Flux, released, and I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with him. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to Rami Ungar the Writer my fellow HWA Ohio member and creator of the Cyber Gods, Maxwell I. Gold!

Rami Ungar: Welcome to the show, Max. Tell us about yourself and your career as a writer.

Maxwell I. Gold: I’ve always had a passion for storytelling and believe it or not, poetry was not my first love. Growing up I read mostly literary fiction and fantasy (Robert Louis Stevenson, Dante, Victor Hugo) and was only exposed to weird horror and cosmic fiction much later in my post-graduate years. I didn’t begin my career, not my favorite term, as an author until 2017 when I had my first prose poem Ad’Naigon published in Spectral Realms from Hippocampus Press. Since then, I’ve published over 100 poems and short stories in both print and online formats.

RU: For many readers, prose poetry is something they’ve never heard of before. The name itself sounds kinda contradictory. Can you tell us a bit about what prose poetry is and some famous examples?

MIG: Prose poetry is not a new art form, I’m merely another creator who’s attempting to shed some light on this exquisite act of poeticism. A lot of confusion that arises when reading prose poetry is people tend think there must be a narrative, and there certainly can be, but it’s not a requirement. For me, when I am writing a new piece sometimes, I imagine brief snippets of a memory possibly forgotten, or a broken dream. All jagged pieces of something bigger that connect in a mad Escherian jigsaw puzzle.

A few famous and favroite examples of mine are Clark Ashton Smith’s Memnon’s of the Night and Arthur Rimbaud’s The Drunken Boat.

RU: Look those up if you’re curious, folks. Now tell us how Oblivion in Flux came to be.

MIG: There’s no fluid answer to this question as it arose out of a few serendipitious conversations with editors, and I wanted to have a collection of prose poems that painted a broad picture of the vivid world where the Cyber Gods dwelled.

RU: Great segue, actually. What are the Cyber Gods you feature in your work and how do you come up with them? And is there any influence from the Cthulhu Mythos?

MIG: Strangely enough, this has been a continuously evolving question and that was purposeful. The Cyber Gods began as a thought experiment, like something meant to be beyond the scope of human reason still borne of our own confused, deranged, and quietly destructive philosophies. Something worse than any Elder God or Old One. I was not directly influenced by Lovecraft’s pantheon of gods as much as I was by this concept of cosmic nihilism, that no matter the value placed on a thing or a valued system of things we’re still like mites scrambling to justify meaning in a world we’ve either doomed to oblivion or worse.

As for the Cyber Gods themselves, they aren’t esoteric as much as they are conceptual. This doesn’t mean they aren’t personified in my stories or poems. For example, Hazthrog is a cosmic virus, but appears in one story as a literal ball of sludge that consumes the planet. Ad’Naigon, the first Cyber God, exists 14 billion light-years away at the edge of known space as a yellow neutron star. This is because at the time I created the character the farthest humans could see towards the edge of known space was 14 billion light-years.  

RU: What is it about prose poetry and dark fiction that draws you to them?

MIG: As I mentioned previously, I enjoy creating terrifying moments sometimes more than writing longer pieces of fiction.

Oblivion in Flux by Maxwell I. Gold

RU: What are you working on now? Any projects in the near future you can tell us about?

MIG: I’m currently working on a collaborative book of poetry with Bram Stoker nominated author Angela Yuriko Smith, titled Mobius Lyrics. I’m also working on a novella titled The Unspeakable: A Cyberland Tale.

RU: Cool! What are you doing when not writing?

MIG: Watching too many shows on Netflix or reading or playing the piano.

RU: I know two out of three of those way too well. What is some good advice you would give to another writer, regardless of experience or background?

MIG: Never stop writing. I know that sounds cliché, but it’s true, persistence pays off in the end.  Always write when you can, and always try something new when you can.

RU: Final question: if you were stuck on a desert island for a while and could only bring three books with you for the duration of your stay there, which would you pick?

MIG: Craig L. Sidney’s Sea Swallow Me, John Langan’s The Wide, Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies, and Matt Cardin’s To Rouse Leviathan.

RU: Thanks for joining us, Max. It’s been a blast!

If you enjoyed this interview, you can find Maxwell I. Gold on his website, The Wells of the Weird, as well on Instagram as @CyberGodWrites, and on his Amazon Author Page. And of course, make sure to read Oblivion in Flux if you’re a fan of dark poetry like what Max writes! You can find it here.

You can find more conversations with my fellow authors on my Interviews Page here.

And finally, if you’re an author with something coming out soon and want to talk about it, hit me up at ramiungar@ramiungarthewriter.com. If I’m not too busy, we might be able to make some magic happen.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m sure I’ll have more to talk about soon. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares!

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