Robert Dunbar's Blog, page 4
July 22, 2013
THE SWAMP STOMP / Part Two
or “Up to My Neck at the Shore”
Something pale shimmered in the swells. He squinted. Even on such an overcast day, the bay glittered. The object bobbed between two of the boats. Stooping, he strained to make it out. Some sort of fish, belly up among the pilings? Squid-like, the thing wavered down, now visible, now gone. He crouched at the edge of the rotting dock.
The surface stirred as a swell approached, sloughing sideways like an aquatic serpent. He bent to prod the object with his cane, to bring it closer, but with the perversity of things in water, it twisted the other way, and he shivered, leaning further.
Something watched him from the water.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Shore-Rober...
“This book is so stupid I can’t even understand it.”
Zen-like in its purity, that’s still my all-time favorite “reader” comment for one of my books on Amazon. And what’s to be made of this statement (also from Amazon)?
“I hate all that prose and literary stuff. I just wants me some horror.”
So disheartening. I’ve often wondered what a novel should be if not literary. Musical? Athletic? Also I get sick of reading that “Dunbar obviously doesn’t even know what horror is supposed to be.”
Let me guess. Is it "supposed" to be stupid?
“Who does this Dunbar think he is?”
(Sorry. Can't help you there.)
So many years had passed between books: I had to wonder whether I could pick up the thread. And the initial responses to this sequel to The Pines were not encouraging. If anything my anti-fans had grown more incensed with the passage of time, because by now my work had also been stigmatized as “difficult.” One woman on Amazon railed at length about my books being too complicated to read in front of the television. Clearly, she felt betrayed by this, as though Horror itself had let her down. I began to wonder if a readership for adult horror like The Shore even existed.
Good reviews seemed only to fan the flames of outrage.
“A classic. Dunbar is a master.” ~ Nights & Weekends
Message boards and horror sites now sported warnings that no one should buy my books (because I was ‘perverting’ the genre), while others publicly insisted that all my good reviews were evidence of a conspiracy. For weeks, one gentleman on Shocklines, a popular genre community board, kept calling me “deformed and retarded,” really working himself up into quite a state. I never understood what the poor soul was on about, but the level of discourse spoke volumes.
Again, the genre presses rather heroically stepped in.
“This is the way great horror should be written.” ~ HellNotes
“Fresh and fascinating.” ~ Famous Monsters of Filmland
“This intense and wholly original novel is one of the best to come out of the horror genre in years.” ~ Dark Scribe
Art should provoke, and I choose to believe that such angry responses mean I’m doing something right. What’s the Churchill quote? Words to the effect that having enemies proves you stand for something...
Never mind. I hate being so combative all the time. It's really not my nature. Maybe it’s just that I got off on the wrong foot with people. (I excel at this.) For every critic who raved that my books were "much better than the average horror" novel – not the most tactful of compliments – scores of aficionados of the genre vented their resentment at the very notion. Who does Dunbar think he is?
But is it really so objectionable a concept that Horror should also be literature?
Extraordinary talents have flourished in the darkness, artists of the caliber and diversity of Shirley Jackson and Ray Bradbury and Algernon Blackwood and Robert Aickman. Consider the works of Franz Kafka or Gustav Meyrink. What are they if not literary horror? Yet the L word is still routinely applied in a pejorative sense. One flouts this mandated mediocrity at one’s own peril.
Still… there’s a reason I stay.
Years ago, I began to hear from readers who told me that they had “just about given up” finding dark fiction intended for intelligent adults. These folks kept me going, because their responses to my work could be passionately appreciative. What else does a writer live for?
Perhaps I am combative after all, and – yes – it’s worth the battle. Over the years, I’ve so often been moved by the praise of readers, my feelings only enhanced by the fact that the individuals making such comments tend to be articulate and insightful – exactly the readership I’ve always sought.
Sought? Summoned.
Conjured.
Believed in as an article of faith.
These are the readers I envision when I sit down to write. Whenever one of them declares some novel of mine to be among the finest books they’ve read, it constitutes validation on a profound level… if only because there’s not a vanilla character to be found anywhere in my work.
This gives me hope. Perhaps the genre isn’t as reactionary as it seems. Perhaps culturally we are at last emerging from a dark time, like some noble monster groping toward the light.
Something pale shimmered in the swells. He squinted. Even on such an overcast day, the bay glittered. The object bobbed between two of the boats. Stooping, he strained to make it out. Some sort of fish, belly up among the pilings? Squid-like, the thing wavered down, now visible, now gone. He crouched at the edge of the rotting dock.
The surface stirred as a swell approached, sloughing sideways like an aquatic serpent. He bent to prod the object with his cane, to bring it closer, but with the perversity of things in water, it twisted the other way, and he shivered, leaning further.
Something watched him from the water.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Shore-Rober...
“This book is so stupid I can’t even understand it.”
Zen-like in its purity, that’s still my all-time favorite “reader” comment for one of my books on Amazon. And what’s to be made of this statement (also from Amazon)?
“I hate all that prose and literary stuff. I just wants me some horror.”
So disheartening. I’ve often wondered what a novel should be if not literary. Musical? Athletic? Also I get sick of reading that “Dunbar obviously doesn’t even know what horror is supposed to be.”
Let me guess. Is it "supposed" to be stupid?
“Who does this Dunbar think he is?”
(Sorry. Can't help you there.)
So many years had passed between books: I had to wonder whether I could pick up the thread. And the initial responses to this sequel to The Pines were not encouraging. If anything my anti-fans had grown more incensed with the passage of time, because by now my work had also been stigmatized as “difficult.” One woman on Amazon railed at length about my books being too complicated to read in front of the television. Clearly, she felt betrayed by this, as though Horror itself had let her down. I began to wonder if a readership for adult horror like The Shore even existed.
Good reviews seemed only to fan the flames of outrage.
“A classic. Dunbar is a master.” ~ Nights & Weekends
Message boards and horror sites now sported warnings that no one should buy my books (because I was ‘perverting’ the genre), while others publicly insisted that all my good reviews were evidence of a conspiracy. For weeks, one gentleman on Shocklines, a popular genre community board, kept calling me “deformed and retarded,” really working himself up into quite a state. I never understood what the poor soul was on about, but the level of discourse spoke volumes.
Again, the genre presses rather heroically stepped in.
“This is the way great horror should be written.” ~ HellNotes
“Fresh and fascinating.” ~ Famous Monsters of Filmland
“This intense and wholly original novel is one of the best to come out of the horror genre in years.” ~ Dark Scribe
Art should provoke, and I choose to believe that such angry responses mean I’m doing something right. What’s the Churchill quote? Words to the effect that having enemies proves you stand for something...
Never mind. I hate being so combative all the time. It's really not my nature. Maybe it’s just that I got off on the wrong foot with people. (I excel at this.) For every critic who raved that my books were "much better than the average horror" novel – not the most tactful of compliments – scores of aficionados of the genre vented their resentment at the very notion. Who does Dunbar think he is?
But is it really so objectionable a concept that Horror should also be literature?
Extraordinary talents have flourished in the darkness, artists of the caliber and diversity of Shirley Jackson and Ray Bradbury and Algernon Blackwood and Robert Aickman. Consider the works of Franz Kafka or Gustav Meyrink. What are they if not literary horror? Yet the L word is still routinely applied in a pejorative sense. One flouts this mandated mediocrity at one’s own peril.
Still… there’s a reason I stay.
Years ago, I began to hear from readers who told me that they had “just about given up” finding dark fiction intended for intelligent adults. These folks kept me going, because their responses to my work could be passionately appreciative. What else does a writer live for?
Perhaps I am combative after all, and – yes – it’s worth the battle. Over the years, I’ve so often been moved by the praise of readers, my feelings only enhanced by the fact that the individuals making such comments tend to be articulate and insightful – exactly the readership I’ve always sought.
Sought? Summoned.
Conjured.
Believed in as an article of faith.
These are the readers I envision when I sit down to write. Whenever one of them declares some novel of mine to be among the finest books they’ve read, it constitutes validation on a profound level… if only because there’s not a vanilla character to be found anywhere in my work.
This gives me hope. Perhaps the genre isn’t as reactionary as it seems. Perhaps culturally we are at last emerging from a dark time, like some noble monster groping toward the light.
July 16, 2013
THE SWAMP STOMP / Part One
or “How I Found a Topic (but Lost my Mind) in the Pines”
Here, rancid air hangs heavily in a void, its texture thick, liquid, clinging. In a night full of the hot smells of decay, this humid oppression amplifies the dripping, clicking noises: the moldy rasp of dead leaves stirred by tiny animals, the constant murmur of a brook threading the loamy ground, the oozing splash of something that moves heavily through water.
There is no moon, and clouds screen the light from the stars.
Sunk in the still and viscous murk, the trees become vague shapes. Silent. Waiting. The ragged leaves of swamp elms hang as motionless as insects in a web. Slowly, the trees begin to glow.
http://www.amazon.com/Pines-Robert-Du...
According to Amazon, The Pines is now in its eleventh edition. Actually, I’m aware of two other editions, which I only found out about by accident. (Oh, what a joy it was to work with Leisure Books!) My point is that this brings the total to thirteen. My lucky number!
Set in one of the old, vanished shanty towns of the New Jersey pine barrens, the novel employs the legend of the Jersey Devil as a metaphor for human evil and debasement. (For committed horror geeks – like myself – I chronicle my adventures researching the lore in Vortex.) But when THE PINES first appeared in print, I soon found myself in the thick of a different sort of nightmare. My novel had been hacked to pieces by editors who appear to have been motivated by equal parts malice and incompetence, something I didn’t discover until I held a copy in my hands.
I’ll never forget that moment. My first book – it should have been a thrill.
Instead, I got sick. Literally.
Let's not even talk about the bloody stump on the cover.
Okay, so I should have been tougher. Yes, I was a little on the naïve and vulnerable side, but the book had not been edited so much as censored. Who wouldn’t be upset? Even my African-American heroine had suddenly become white. (Seriously? They edited her melanin?) But enough of the text survived, apparently – though I couldn’t see it at the time – to make an impression. To my utter shock, reviews from non-genre sources were immediately sensational.
“Not only a superb thriller but a masterpiece of fiction.” ~ Delaware Valley Magazine
“Dark, foreboding, menacing, eerie … seductive.” ~ The Philadelphia Inquirer
“At last, the Jersey Devil has come out of hiding.” ~ Atlantic City Magazine
Almost from the first, the book became something of a cause célèbre. (Or perhaps I mean bête noire: I get my French terms mixed up.) For every critic who raved about its qualities, another would shriek that the book had no right to exist. I didn’t know what to think, and truthfully much of it barely registered. With huge sections of text missing, I thought the plot incomprehensible.
All right, I tried to get over it. (What were my options?) And the press attention was not altogether unpleasant. Suddenly, I was doing television appearances and radio interviews and being profiled by newspapers. My photograph even showed up on the cover of a writers magazine. (Leisure Books seemed oddly resentful about all this, as though it represented a source of unwanted notoriety, and they always insisted that none of it translated into book sales. Have I mentioned how much fun it was to work with them?) For me, this was all new terrain. There I was at conferences, sitting on panels with famous authors whose work I’d been enjoying for years, answering questions and talking about the importance of constant reading across the literary spectrum, the need for writers to immerse themselves in literature, to hone their craft, and the overwhelming importance of having artistic rather than merely commercial goals. Then I nodded and smiled like a holy fool, waiting for thunderous approval.
The reaction was immediate all right: it was as though I’d spit on motherhood and the flag.
Literature? The very idea!
They were outraged, and if the book took on a life of its own, so did this backlash. I was mystified. At the first conference where I appeared as the guest of honor, an angry little man actually circulated a petition that denounced my being allowed to “pervert the genre.” One line I’ll never forget: “Obviously, Leisure Books doesn’t think normal people read horror.”
Ah.
A light went on. Finally.
(I’m a little slow sometimes.)
To their credit, a host of genre sources came to the book’s defense.
“Full of chilling surprises.” ~ Cemetery Dance
“Vivid and unnerving.” ~ The Scream Factory
“Brilliantly written and superbly plotted.” ~ The Nightmare Express
My relationship with fans has been a bit uneasy ever since. (Of course, I’ve always maintained that I’d much rather have readers than fans, another area in which I seem to be out of step with the times.) Many years would pass before I’d work in the genre again. The trauma of having my book destroyed by the publisher exhausted me, and the death of a loved one that summer left me in a state of nearly paralytic depression. The Mystery of the Disappearing Royalties, combined with the overt hostility of so many in the horror community, didn’t help.
But then the times were right for depression. Living through the AIDS fatalities in the nineties was like surviving a war. (In 1995 alone, more than 50,000 people died of the disease.) New York especially was devastated, but all big cities were hard hit. People still lament the way the arts suffered, but this impact wasn’t only caused by the loss of so many painters and musicians and writers and actors. Legions of people who appreciated their efforts also vanished, people who understood the ballet, who attended plays, who read and discussed books. Good books. Intelligent books. Challenging books. Culturally, the impact was … well, think ‘giant meteor crater.’ And voids tend to get filled. In my particular genre, a reactionary faction came to dominate. Never forget that with greater intellectual sophistication comes greater appreciation for diversity, but the reverse is also true.
It was a full decade later before a restored edition of THE PINES gave the next generation of magazines a chance to log in.
“A work of art.” ~ Shroud Magazine
“Smart … poetic ... intense.” ~ The Fright Site
“Among the classics of modern horror.” ~ Weird New Jersey
Can you blame me for feeling vindicated? A new novel (The Shore) was the first real indication that I was recovering emotionally. (More about that in Part II.)
By now, the new conservatism had begun to be reflected in an endless array of horror novels about American families menaced by some alien thing. Never mind the kind of monster – vampire or witch or werewolf – all plots hinged on destroying the different. This grew monotonous almost at once, and the exaggerated veneration of normality disturbed me profoundly. (I never really considered the market for this type of fiction to be readers so much as consumers.) Seldom does real art celebrate conformity. Isn’t it strange how much easier it is to gain acceptance for outsider characters in other genres? Detective fiction has long championed the loner of questionable social status, and science fiction has a fine tradition of unconventional heroes and heroines. But horror? I can’t be the only one less than fully invested in the spectacle of the status quo being maintained.
For me, the monster is always the lonely one, unloved and unwanted. The outcast. Even as a child I knew where my sympathies lay. Dracula wasn’t a monster so much as a villain out of Victorian melodrama – foreign and mustachioed – a stale template even then. Of course, the hero would rescue the damsel in the nick of time. Was there ever any doubt? Ah, but with the Frankenstein creature … nothing could be certain. Adam was soulful. He was morbid and abject. To this day, he remains a classic outsider, the suffering archetype at the heart of so many truly great novels. What could be more terrifying than all that pain? The monster is among the most supremely tragic – and most intensely human – of literary characters. All he wants is to belong. And he never can. No one will ever acknowledge his humanity. He suffers because he’s different.
Here, rancid air hangs heavily in a void, its texture thick, liquid, clinging. In a night full of the hot smells of decay, this humid oppression amplifies the dripping, clicking noises: the moldy rasp of dead leaves stirred by tiny animals, the constant murmur of a brook threading the loamy ground, the oozing splash of something that moves heavily through water.
There is no moon, and clouds screen the light from the stars.
Sunk in the still and viscous murk, the trees become vague shapes. Silent. Waiting. The ragged leaves of swamp elms hang as motionless as insects in a web. Slowly, the trees begin to glow.
http://www.amazon.com/Pines-Robert-Du...
According to Amazon, The Pines is now in its eleventh edition. Actually, I’m aware of two other editions, which I only found out about by accident. (Oh, what a joy it was to work with Leisure Books!) My point is that this brings the total to thirteen. My lucky number!
Set in one of the old, vanished shanty towns of the New Jersey pine barrens, the novel employs the legend of the Jersey Devil as a metaphor for human evil and debasement. (For committed horror geeks – like myself – I chronicle my adventures researching the lore in Vortex.) But when THE PINES first appeared in print, I soon found myself in the thick of a different sort of nightmare. My novel had been hacked to pieces by editors who appear to have been motivated by equal parts malice and incompetence, something I didn’t discover until I held a copy in my hands.
I’ll never forget that moment. My first book – it should have been a thrill.
Instead, I got sick. Literally.
Let's not even talk about the bloody stump on the cover.
Okay, so I should have been tougher. Yes, I was a little on the naïve and vulnerable side, but the book had not been edited so much as censored. Who wouldn’t be upset? Even my African-American heroine had suddenly become white. (Seriously? They edited her melanin?) But enough of the text survived, apparently – though I couldn’t see it at the time – to make an impression. To my utter shock, reviews from non-genre sources were immediately sensational.
“Not only a superb thriller but a masterpiece of fiction.” ~ Delaware Valley Magazine
“Dark, foreboding, menacing, eerie … seductive.” ~ The Philadelphia Inquirer
“At last, the Jersey Devil has come out of hiding.” ~ Atlantic City Magazine
Almost from the first, the book became something of a cause célèbre. (Or perhaps I mean bête noire: I get my French terms mixed up.) For every critic who raved about its qualities, another would shriek that the book had no right to exist. I didn’t know what to think, and truthfully much of it barely registered. With huge sections of text missing, I thought the plot incomprehensible.
All right, I tried to get over it. (What were my options?) And the press attention was not altogether unpleasant. Suddenly, I was doing television appearances and radio interviews and being profiled by newspapers. My photograph even showed up on the cover of a writers magazine. (Leisure Books seemed oddly resentful about all this, as though it represented a source of unwanted notoriety, and they always insisted that none of it translated into book sales. Have I mentioned how much fun it was to work with them?) For me, this was all new terrain. There I was at conferences, sitting on panels with famous authors whose work I’d been enjoying for years, answering questions and talking about the importance of constant reading across the literary spectrum, the need for writers to immerse themselves in literature, to hone their craft, and the overwhelming importance of having artistic rather than merely commercial goals. Then I nodded and smiled like a holy fool, waiting for thunderous approval.
The reaction was immediate all right: it was as though I’d spit on motherhood and the flag.
Literature? The very idea!
They were outraged, and if the book took on a life of its own, so did this backlash. I was mystified. At the first conference where I appeared as the guest of honor, an angry little man actually circulated a petition that denounced my being allowed to “pervert the genre.” One line I’ll never forget: “Obviously, Leisure Books doesn’t think normal people read horror.”
Ah.
A light went on. Finally.
(I’m a little slow sometimes.)
To their credit, a host of genre sources came to the book’s defense.
“Full of chilling surprises.” ~ Cemetery Dance
“Vivid and unnerving.” ~ The Scream Factory
“Brilliantly written and superbly plotted.” ~ The Nightmare Express
My relationship with fans has been a bit uneasy ever since. (Of course, I’ve always maintained that I’d much rather have readers than fans, another area in which I seem to be out of step with the times.) Many years would pass before I’d work in the genre again. The trauma of having my book destroyed by the publisher exhausted me, and the death of a loved one that summer left me in a state of nearly paralytic depression. The Mystery of the Disappearing Royalties, combined with the overt hostility of so many in the horror community, didn’t help.
But then the times were right for depression. Living through the AIDS fatalities in the nineties was like surviving a war. (In 1995 alone, more than 50,000 people died of the disease.) New York especially was devastated, but all big cities were hard hit. People still lament the way the arts suffered, but this impact wasn’t only caused by the loss of so many painters and musicians and writers and actors. Legions of people who appreciated their efforts also vanished, people who understood the ballet, who attended plays, who read and discussed books. Good books. Intelligent books. Challenging books. Culturally, the impact was … well, think ‘giant meteor crater.’ And voids tend to get filled. In my particular genre, a reactionary faction came to dominate. Never forget that with greater intellectual sophistication comes greater appreciation for diversity, but the reverse is also true.
It was a full decade later before a restored edition of THE PINES gave the next generation of magazines a chance to log in.
“A work of art.” ~ Shroud Magazine
“Smart … poetic ... intense.” ~ The Fright Site
“Among the classics of modern horror.” ~ Weird New Jersey
Can you blame me for feeling vindicated? A new novel (The Shore) was the first real indication that I was recovering emotionally. (More about that in Part II.)
By now, the new conservatism had begun to be reflected in an endless array of horror novels about American families menaced by some alien thing. Never mind the kind of monster – vampire or witch or werewolf – all plots hinged on destroying the different. This grew monotonous almost at once, and the exaggerated veneration of normality disturbed me profoundly. (I never really considered the market for this type of fiction to be readers so much as consumers.) Seldom does real art celebrate conformity. Isn’t it strange how much easier it is to gain acceptance for outsider characters in other genres? Detective fiction has long championed the loner of questionable social status, and science fiction has a fine tradition of unconventional heroes and heroines. But horror? I can’t be the only one less than fully invested in the spectacle of the status quo being maintained.
For me, the monster is always the lonely one, unloved and unwanted. The outcast. Even as a child I knew where my sympathies lay. Dracula wasn’t a monster so much as a villain out of Victorian melodrama – foreign and mustachioed – a stale template even then. Of course, the hero would rescue the damsel in the nick of time. Was there ever any doubt? Ah, but with the Frankenstein creature … nothing could be certain. Adam was soulful. He was morbid and abject. To this day, he remains a classic outsider, the suffering archetype at the heart of so many truly great novels. What could be more terrifying than all that pain? The monster is among the most supremely tragic – and most intensely human – of literary characters. All he wants is to belong. And he never can. No one will ever acknowledge his humanity. He suffers because he’s different.
June 25, 2013
GET SUCKED IN
People can be very generous. It’s wonderful that so many sites have been giving my new book publicity, but I do wish they’d all stop using the headline “Enter Robert Dunbar’s Vortex.” I mean, come on – on the first date? (Admittedly, this does kind of complement titles like WILLY and WOOD.) For my own promotional efforts, I’ve been using this copy:
Dark currents flow beneath the surface, powerful, deadly… ancient. Nightmares churn the deep waters of the soul. Vampires and werewolves, sea hags and witches – the monsters teeming in our subconscious minds are with us always. VORTEX explores the origins of some of mankind’s oldest folklore and the influence of that lore on literature, film and popular culture.
http://www.amazon.com/Vortex-Robert-D...
The contents include the following material:
THE PRIMITIVE NEVER DIES: An Introduction
LORELI VORTEX: That Enduring Lure
THE NAME OF THE BEAST: A Consideration of the Historical Werwulf
KITH & KIN: Demonic Correlatives in Popular Culture
CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT: The Legacy of Lycanthropy in Literature & Film
FOR THE BLOOD IS THE LIFE: Representations of the Vampire Myth
HORRIFYING AMERICA: Native Nightmares
LOCAL LEGEND: The Jersey Devil & I
HORRIBLE WOMEN: An Appreciation of the Scream Queen
LITERARY SOURCES OF CLASSIC HORROR FILMS: Ruminations
STIGMA: Hollywood & Hate
The book trailer is here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpiIDX...
In it, I read from the introduction and do think I sound slightly less than usual like a ferret on crack.
Your thoughts? The first reviews have been very gratifying, though every time I see “sophisticated and brilliant,” or words to that effect, part of me wants to hiss, “Quiet! I’d like to sell a few copies.” But don’t get me started on that again. (You know those words are like Kryptonite to the average genre fan.) Of course, it’s often the bloggers who make the most interesting comments.
“Witty and frequently self-mocking… certainly no dry-as-dust academic piece… a very gleeful book. A thoroughly engaging and enjoyable ride through some of the most horrific myths and real-life events imaginable.” ~ James Everington/Scattershot Writing
http://jameseverington.blogspot.co.uk...
That one actually came as sort of a shock to me, because I thought I had written a dry-as-dust academic piece. Hmm... always the last to know. Must be me though, since another blogger likened the reading experience to “having tea with a very fun and knowledgeable friend!” Tea? Seriously? Not even bourbon? It’s really that cozy? Well, I guess the parts about Gilles de Rais and Countess Bathori and the Jersey Devil are a little cozy.
From Robert Dunbar’s introduction to VORTEX: Essays from a Sea of Nightmares
They say a basis in fact inspired most legends. They say it all the time, all those Wise Elders in all those old horror films, the high priests, the scientists, the gypsy fortune tellers. On this single issue they agree unanimously. Deep currents of tradition and superstition swirl through most classic works of horror fiction. They spring from deep within us, these nightmares, these folktales. They speak of our deepest needs, the ones we have all been taught since childhood never to put into words, because dreams reveal our other face, the one we keep hidden, the Hyde to mankind’s collective Jekyll. Our most primitive ancestors never died, the ones who killed with clubs and rocks and clawing hands. No, they remain within us still. And when we sleep, they speak.
THE PRESS ABOUT VORTEX:
“One of the most enjoyable and entertaining nonfiction books I have ever read.”
~ FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND
“Illuminates the depth and complexity of horror throughout the ages. A real treat … opens the most dangerous door of all – curiosity.”
~ HORROR NOVEL REVIEWS
“Recommended for those who are looking for deeper insight into the genre.”
~ LAYERS OF THOUGHT
“A thoroughly engaging and enjoyable ride through some of the most horrific myths and real-life events imaginable.”
~ SCATTERSHOT WRITING
“Eloquently and intellectually written, seasoned with wry humor … a must- read for writers and fans of the genre.”
~ SOUTHERN ROSE REVIEWS
“Stunning … meticulously researched … keen sense of style … razor sharp wit and entertaining prose.”
~ LITERARY MAYHEM
Oh, and remember:
Enter the VORTEX.
http://www.amazon.com/VORTEX-ebook/dp...
Dark currents flow beneath the surface, powerful, deadly… ancient. Nightmares churn the deep waters of the soul. Vampires and werewolves, sea hags and witches – the monsters teeming in our subconscious minds are with us always. VORTEX explores the origins of some of mankind’s oldest folklore and the influence of that lore on literature, film and popular culture.
http://www.amazon.com/Vortex-Robert-D...
The contents include the following material:
THE PRIMITIVE NEVER DIES: An Introduction
LORELI VORTEX: That Enduring Lure
THE NAME OF THE BEAST: A Consideration of the Historical Werwulf
KITH & KIN: Demonic Correlatives in Popular Culture
CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT: The Legacy of Lycanthropy in Literature & Film
FOR THE BLOOD IS THE LIFE: Representations of the Vampire Myth
HORRIFYING AMERICA: Native Nightmares
LOCAL LEGEND: The Jersey Devil & I
HORRIBLE WOMEN: An Appreciation of the Scream Queen
LITERARY SOURCES OF CLASSIC HORROR FILMS: Ruminations
STIGMA: Hollywood & Hate
The book trailer is here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpiIDX...
In it, I read from the introduction and do think I sound slightly less than usual like a ferret on crack.
Your thoughts? The first reviews have been very gratifying, though every time I see “sophisticated and brilliant,” or words to that effect, part of me wants to hiss, “Quiet! I’d like to sell a few copies.” But don’t get me started on that again. (You know those words are like Kryptonite to the average genre fan.) Of course, it’s often the bloggers who make the most interesting comments.
“Witty and frequently self-mocking… certainly no dry-as-dust academic piece… a very gleeful book. A thoroughly engaging and enjoyable ride through some of the most horrific myths and real-life events imaginable.” ~ James Everington/Scattershot Writing
http://jameseverington.blogspot.co.uk...
That one actually came as sort of a shock to me, because I thought I had written a dry-as-dust academic piece. Hmm... always the last to know. Must be me though, since another blogger likened the reading experience to “having tea with a very fun and knowledgeable friend!” Tea? Seriously? Not even bourbon? It’s really that cozy? Well, I guess the parts about Gilles de Rais and Countess Bathori and the Jersey Devil are a little cozy.
From Robert Dunbar’s introduction to VORTEX: Essays from a Sea of Nightmares
They say a basis in fact inspired most legends. They say it all the time, all those Wise Elders in all those old horror films, the high priests, the scientists, the gypsy fortune tellers. On this single issue they agree unanimously. Deep currents of tradition and superstition swirl through most classic works of horror fiction. They spring from deep within us, these nightmares, these folktales. They speak of our deepest needs, the ones we have all been taught since childhood never to put into words, because dreams reveal our other face, the one we keep hidden, the Hyde to mankind’s collective Jekyll. Our most primitive ancestors never died, the ones who killed with clubs and rocks and clawing hands. No, they remain within us still. And when we sleep, they speak.
THE PRESS ABOUT VORTEX:
“One of the most enjoyable and entertaining nonfiction books I have ever read.”
~ FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND
“Illuminates the depth and complexity of horror throughout the ages. A real treat … opens the most dangerous door of all – curiosity.”
~ HORROR NOVEL REVIEWS
“Recommended for those who are looking for deeper insight into the genre.”
~ LAYERS OF THOUGHT
“A thoroughly engaging and enjoyable ride through some of the most horrific myths and real-life events imaginable.”
~ SCATTERSHOT WRITING
“Eloquently and intellectually written, seasoned with wry humor … a must- read for writers and fans of the genre.”
~ SOUTHERN ROSE REVIEWS
“Stunning … meticulously researched … keen sense of style … razor sharp wit and entertaining prose.”
~ LITERARY MAYHEM
Oh, and remember:
Enter the VORTEX.
http://www.amazon.com/VORTEX-ebook/dp...
April 2, 2013
Literary Darkness (and other kinds)
We’ve been reading Robert Aickman’s
The Wine-Dark Sea
at the Literary Darkness group here on Goodreads, and the discussion has been one of the most stimulating we’ve had.
http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1...
Brilliant collection… though Peter Straub’s erudite introduction casts something of a pall. Not that Straub harbors anything but admiration for Aickman. Quite the contrary. He describes him as “this century’s most profound writer of what we call horror stories.” But Straub also makes this observation: “to describe a writer of supernatural stories as cultivated and sensitive is nearly to condemn him.”
Ah.
Also… ouch.
Stab me in the heart, why don’t you, Peter? Possibly I’m more than ordinarily sensitive to such remarks. I mean, look at my track record, even just over the past few years. My novel Willy received reviews like these:
“Unique.” ~ Midwest Book Review
“Profound.” ~ The Reading Review
“A masterpiece.” ~ The Kindle Book Review
I think it sold eleven copies, as though the critical praise itself warned readers away. Just look at the vocabulary: focus on those key words.
“Lyrical… a tour de force.” ~ Shroud Magazine
“Challenging and satisfying.” ~ Nights & Weekends
“Dunbar has redefined the beauty of dark literature, the effect it can have and what it can accomplish.” ~ Literary Mayhem
See what I mean? The book may have been championed by publications like Lambda Literary and Dark Scribe, but -- gratifying as such reviews are -- those critics couldn’t have harmed the book's sales more if they’d tried. Apparently, the “fans” want zombie gore and vampire erotica. What happens if, instead, they hear synonyms for genius?
Just watch.
“Very much an example of adult horror, with all the intelligence, sophistication and ambiguity that implies. Extremely impacting... highly enigmatic and tantalizingly suggestive... a provocative and even compelling reading experience with a flawlessly evoked protagonist whose psychological problems, despite their possibly supernatural origins, are heartbreakingly real and immediate.”
~ TerrorFlicks
Stand back and wait for the reactions.
We’re talking pitchforks and torches here.
Okay, perhaps I exaggerate a little. (And perhaps I'm teasing just a bit.) But much the same thing happened with my collection Martyrs & Monsters. Genre enthusiasts seemed to have been irked by all the praise, or at least by this kind of praise.
“Exquisite.” ~ BookLove
“A milestone of modern horror.” ~ The Black Glove
“Never less than brilliant.” ~ The Black Abyss
“Substantial amounts of panache and poetic insight.” ~ Cemetery Dance
Every time reviews like these appear, another ten irate comments get posted on Amazon, all demanding to know who the hell this Dunbar guy thinks he is. It never fails. In an effort to overcome some of this resistance, I’ve put a couple of selections from the collection on Amazon for ninety-nine cents. The first is called simply “Stories by Robert Dunbar.” http://www.amazon.com/Stories-by-Robe... The second is titled – what else? – “More Stories by Robert Dunbar.” http://www.amazon.com/More-Stories-Ro...
I’ve always maintained that this situation would change in time… but never suspected it would take so much time. In fact, I first encountered attitudes like this way back when my novel The Pines originally came out. For every critic who raved that the book was much better than the average horror novel (not the most tactful of compliments), a dozen aficionados of the genre vented their outraged at the very notion. Excellent reviews for a sequel, The Shore, also provoked a backlash.
"Sigh."
We talk about this sort of thing a lot on the Literary Darkness board, trying to understand why Horror has acquired such a terrible reputation (and whether or not it’s deserved). But check out the extraordinary titles on our Darkness Readable list:
http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_....
To have nearly 2000 people collaborate on a list of dark fiction writers that includes names like Laird Barron, Elizabeth Bowen, Ray Bradbury, Albert Camus, Dennis Cooper, Mark Z. Danielewski, John Gardner, Greg F. Gifune, Shirley Jackson, Franz Kafka, Fritz Leiber, Thomas Ligotti, Cormac McCarty, Gustav Meyrink, Yukio Mishima, Joyce Carol Oates, James Purdy, Darcey Steinke, Donna Tartt, Sarah Waters, Edith Wharton and Oscar Wilde – this gives me hope.
And I need it. Hope, I mean. All I can muster. Over the years, THE PINES has been published by various presses, in various editions, often well-received, but both it and THE SHORE currently languish. Several months into a two-year contract with 47North, these novels are available only for Kindle and the marketing efforts appear to be nil. However, the new publisher, a subsidiary of Amazon, has been promising new paperback editions, translations, even audio books. I’m not holding my breath but am keeping my fingers crossed, because, presumably, they do command the resources needed to make all of this a reality. At least writers are being paid now, and – after the nightmare with the previous publisher – it’s a relief to be able to recommend these novels. Anyway, a new trailer for THE PINES just went up here: http://youtu.be/qjchi9VScG4. Take a look, and tell me what you think.
Who knows? Maybe this publisher will be able to do something with these books. In the meantime, there’s plenty of new work coming down the pike. The illustrations for Vortex are taking longer than expected, but the book should be beautiful. And Dark Forest, an anthology which will include the first paperback printing of my novella Wood, is on track for later this spring. (An audio book of Wood is also in the works.) If I can finish THE STREETS this year, I’ll be a happy man, especially as – in a fit of madness – I’ve started another novel before completing this one.
Always so much to do. Uninvited Books was off to a good start when my home was destroyed by a hurricane last year. What is it Bette Davis keeps saying in All About Eve?
“Just one of destiny’s merry pranks.”
Right. Letting it go now. Rebuilding the business. (And my life.) Moving forward.
http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1...
Brilliant collection… though Peter Straub’s erudite introduction casts something of a pall. Not that Straub harbors anything but admiration for Aickman. Quite the contrary. He describes him as “this century’s most profound writer of what we call horror stories.” But Straub also makes this observation: “to describe a writer of supernatural stories as cultivated and sensitive is nearly to condemn him.”
Ah.
Also… ouch.
Stab me in the heart, why don’t you, Peter? Possibly I’m more than ordinarily sensitive to such remarks. I mean, look at my track record, even just over the past few years. My novel Willy received reviews like these:
“Unique.” ~ Midwest Book Review
“Profound.” ~ The Reading Review
“A masterpiece.” ~ The Kindle Book Review
I think it sold eleven copies, as though the critical praise itself warned readers away. Just look at the vocabulary: focus on those key words.
“Lyrical… a tour de force.” ~ Shroud Magazine
“Challenging and satisfying.” ~ Nights & Weekends
“Dunbar has redefined the beauty of dark literature, the effect it can have and what it can accomplish.” ~ Literary Mayhem
See what I mean? The book may have been championed by publications like Lambda Literary and Dark Scribe, but -- gratifying as such reviews are -- those critics couldn’t have harmed the book's sales more if they’d tried. Apparently, the “fans” want zombie gore and vampire erotica. What happens if, instead, they hear synonyms for genius?
Just watch.
“Very much an example of adult horror, with all the intelligence, sophistication and ambiguity that implies. Extremely impacting... highly enigmatic and tantalizingly suggestive... a provocative and even compelling reading experience with a flawlessly evoked protagonist whose psychological problems, despite their possibly supernatural origins, are heartbreakingly real and immediate.”
~ TerrorFlicks
Stand back and wait for the reactions.
We’re talking pitchforks and torches here.
Okay, perhaps I exaggerate a little. (And perhaps I'm teasing just a bit.) But much the same thing happened with my collection Martyrs & Monsters. Genre enthusiasts seemed to have been irked by all the praise, or at least by this kind of praise.
“Exquisite.” ~ BookLove
“A milestone of modern horror.” ~ The Black Glove
“Never less than brilliant.” ~ The Black Abyss
“Substantial amounts of panache and poetic insight.” ~ Cemetery Dance
Every time reviews like these appear, another ten irate comments get posted on Amazon, all demanding to know who the hell this Dunbar guy thinks he is. It never fails. In an effort to overcome some of this resistance, I’ve put a couple of selections from the collection on Amazon for ninety-nine cents. The first is called simply “Stories by Robert Dunbar.” http://www.amazon.com/Stories-by-Robe... The second is titled – what else? – “More Stories by Robert Dunbar.” http://www.amazon.com/More-Stories-Ro...
I’ve always maintained that this situation would change in time… but never suspected it would take so much time. In fact, I first encountered attitudes like this way back when my novel The Pines originally came out. For every critic who raved that the book was much better than the average horror novel (not the most tactful of compliments), a dozen aficionados of the genre vented their outraged at the very notion. Excellent reviews for a sequel, The Shore, also provoked a backlash.
"Sigh."
We talk about this sort of thing a lot on the Literary Darkness board, trying to understand why Horror has acquired such a terrible reputation (and whether or not it’s deserved). But check out the extraordinary titles on our Darkness Readable list:
http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_....
To have nearly 2000 people collaborate on a list of dark fiction writers that includes names like Laird Barron, Elizabeth Bowen, Ray Bradbury, Albert Camus, Dennis Cooper, Mark Z. Danielewski, John Gardner, Greg F. Gifune, Shirley Jackson, Franz Kafka, Fritz Leiber, Thomas Ligotti, Cormac McCarty, Gustav Meyrink, Yukio Mishima, Joyce Carol Oates, James Purdy, Darcey Steinke, Donna Tartt, Sarah Waters, Edith Wharton and Oscar Wilde – this gives me hope.
And I need it. Hope, I mean. All I can muster. Over the years, THE PINES has been published by various presses, in various editions, often well-received, but both it and THE SHORE currently languish. Several months into a two-year contract with 47North, these novels are available only for Kindle and the marketing efforts appear to be nil. However, the new publisher, a subsidiary of Amazon, has been promising new paperback editions, translations, even audio books. I’m not holding my breath but am keeping my fingers crossed, because, presumably, they do command the resources needed to make all of this a reality. At least writers are being paid now, and – after the nightmare with the previous publisher – it’s a relief to be able to recommend these novels. Anyway, a new trailer for THE PINES just went up here: http://youtu.be/qjchi9VScG4. Take a look, and tell me what you think.
Who knows? Maybe this publisher will be able to do something with these books. In the meantime, there’s plenty of new work coming down the pike. The illustrations for Vortex are taking longer than expected, but the book should be beautiful. And Dark Forest, an anthology which will include the first paperback printing of my novella Wood, is on track for later this spring. (An audio book of Wood is also in the works.) If I can finish THE STREETS this year, I’ll be a happy man, especially as – in a fit of madness – I’ve started another novel before completing this one.
Always so much to do. Uninvited Books was off to a good start when my home was destroyed by a hurricane last year. What is it Bette Davis keeps saying in All About Eve?
“Just one of destiny’s merry pranks.”
Right. Letting it go now. Rebuilding the business. (And my life.) Moving forward.
February 19, 2013
DARKNESS READABLE
LITERARY DARKNESS is a book discussion group on Goodreads with roughly two thousand members, many of them teachers, librarians and writers – passionate readers all. For three years, our knowledgeable and enthusiastic members have been analyzing and appreciating dark literature. This first annual list of notable books is in no way intended as an award, nor is it meant to be exclusive. Many wonderful books are out there, and we hope to read them all. Our goal is to help others discover them as well.
Some books become lights in the eternal darkness. What follows is a list of recommendations and commendations… combined with heartfelt thanks to the many fine writers who keep readers awake at night.
* * *
Fresh Blood:
These are new titles selected by the group for having made a considerable impact during the past year.
THE DEVIL ALL THE TIME by Donald Ray Pollock
THE DROWNING GIRL by Caitlin R. Kiernan
THE FACELESS by Simon Bestwick
THE FLAME ALPHABET by Ben Marcus
GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn
HABIT by Stephen McGeagh
THE HOARD by Alan Ryker
JOHN DIES AT THE END by David Wong
KIN by Kealan Patrick Burke
WESTLAKE SOUL by Rio Youers
Contemporary Titles:
These may be collections of short fiction or literary essays, anthologies or novels. All are from the (more or less) recent past and all are extraordinary.
THE CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE HUMAN RACE by Thomas Ligotti
THE HAIR WREATH AND OTHER STORIES by Halli Villegas
KNOCK KNOCK by SP Miskowski
THE LITTLE STRANGER by Sarah Waters
THE MARBLED SWARM by Dennis Cooper
A MATRIX OF ANGELS by Christopher Conlon
OCCULATION by Laird Barron
THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy
THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt
ZOMBIE by Joyce Carol Oates
Vintage Works:
Sometimes calling a book a Classic is like entombing it. Many readers would sooner pry open the lid of a coffin than peer between those musty pages. Often this represents a sort of tragedy. Many of these books seethe with life and emotion… and cry out to be read. These are amoung our favorites.
THE CASTLE by Franz Kafka
THE GOLEM by Gustav Meyrink
GRENDEL by John Gardner
THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE by Shirley Jackson
MCTEAGUE by Frank Norris
NARROW ROOMS by James Purdy
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY by Oscar Wilde
THE SAILOR WHO FELL FROM GRACE WITH THE SEA by Yukio Mishima
THE STRANGER by Albert Camus
TALES OF MEN AND GHOSTS by Edith Wharton
Buried Treasures
This is a list of titles, some celebrated, some obscure, that in so many ways evoke the finest qualities of literary darkness.
ICE AGE by Iain Rowan
KELLAND by Paul G. Bens, Jr.
THE KING IN YELLOW AND OTHER HORROR STORIES by Robert W. Chambers
LET’S PLAY WHITE by Chesya Burke
SOUTHERN GODS by John Horner Jacobs
STAY AWAKE by Dan Chaon
SUICIDE BLONDE by Darcey Steinke
SUSPICIOUS RIVER by Laura Kasischke
THE WASP FACTORY by Iain Banks
WORSE THAN MYSELF by Adam Golaski
* * *
Literary Darkness is dedicated to an appreciation of important works of literature, both classic and contemporary, that happen to fall into the category of Dark Fiction. We tend to avoid the big, banal blockbusters (and the more lurid fare) in favor of beautifully written explorations of the unknown, many obscure, all extraordinary.
Group Reading
This final list represents the heart of Literary Darkness, the books we most wanted to read together and talk about, arrived at by (seemingly) endless voting, polling and discussion: our 2012 list of books selected by the membership for group reading. The links provided should help clarify some of the criteria involved in making these choices.
THE COLLECTED STORIES OF ELIZABETH BOWEN
http://www.gothic.stir.ac.uk/blog/bow...
CONJURE WIFE by Fritz Leiber
http://www.conceptualfiction.com/conj...
GARDENS OF NIGHT by Greg F. Gifune
http://literarymayhem.com/wordpress/2...
HOUDINI HEART by Ki Longfellow
http://thelibrariowan.wordpress.com/2...
HOUSE OF LEAVES by Mark Z. Danielewski
http://www.themodernword.com/review_h...
MARTYRS & MONSTERS by Robert Dunbar
http://www.lambdaliterary.org/reviews...
THE NIGHT STRANGERS by Chris Bohjalian
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/20...
SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES by Ray Bradbury
http://www.raybradbury.com/books/some...
VERLAND: THE TRANSFORMATION by B. E. Scully
http://horrornews.net/46521/book-revi...
Our group discussions of these works may be found here: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...
We are currently reading Robert Aickman’s collection THE WINE-DARK SEA.
Join us at: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1...
Some books become lights in the eternal darkness. What follows is a list of recommendations and commendations… combined with heartfelt thanks to the many fine writers who keep readers awake at night.
* * *
Fresh Blood:
These are new titles selected by the group for having made a considerable impact during the past year.
THE DEVIL ALL THE TIME by Donald Ray Pollock
THE DROWNING GIRL by Caitlin R. Kiernan
THE FACELESS by Simon Bestwick
THE FLAME ALPHABET by Ben Marcus
GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn
HABIT by Stephen McGeagh
THE HOARD by Alan Ryker
JOHN DIES AT THE END by David Wong
KIN by Kealan Patrick Burke
WESTLAKE SOUL by Rio Youers
Contemporary Titles:
These may be collections of short fiction or literary essays, anthologies or novels. All are from the (more or less) recent past and all are extraordinary.
THE CONSPIRACY AGAINST THE HUMAN RACE by Thomas Ligotti
THE HAIR WREATH AND OTHER STORIES by Halli Villegas
KNOCK KNOCK by SP Miskowski
THE LITTLE STRANGER by Sarah Waters
THE MARBLED SWARM by Dennis Cooper
A MATRIX OF ANGELS by Christopher Conlon
OCCULATION by Laird Barron
THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy
THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt
ZOMBIE by Joyce Carol Oates
Vintage Works:
Sometimes calling a book a Classic is like entombing it. Many readers would sooner pry open the lid of a coffin than peer between those musty pages. Often this represents a sort of tragedy. Many of these books seethe with life and emotion… and cry out to be read. These are amoung our favorites.
THE CASTLE by Franz Kafka
THE GOLEM by Gustav Meyrink
GRENDEL by John Gardner
THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE by Shirley Jackson
MCTEAGUE by Frank Norris
NARROW ROOMS by James Purdy
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY by Oscar Wilde
THE SAILOR WHO FELL FROM GRACE WITH THE SEA by Yukio Mishima
THE STRANGER by Albert Camus
TALES OF MEN AND GHOSTS by Edith Wharton
Buried Treasures
This is a list of titles, some celebrated, some obscure, that in so many ways evoke the finest qualities of literary darkness.
ICE AGE by Iain Rowan
KELLAND by Paul G. Bens, Jr.
THE KING IN YELLOW AND OTHER HORROR STORIES by Robert W. Chambers
LET’S PLAY WHITE by Chesya Burke
SOUTHERN GODS by John Horner Jacobs
STAY AWAKE by Dan Chaon
SUICIDE BLONDE by Darcey Steinke
SUSPICIOUS RIVER by Laura Kasischke
THE WASP FACTORY by Iain Banks
WORSE THAN MYSELF by Adam Golaski
* * *
Literary Darkness is dedicated to an appreciation of important works of literature, both classic and contemporary, that happen to fall into the category of Dark Fiction. We tend to avoid the big, banal blockbusters (and the more lurid fare) in favor of beautifully written explorations of the unknown, many obscure, all extraordinary.
Group Reading
This final list represents the heart of Literary Darkness, the books we most wanted to read together and talk about, arrived at by (seemingly) endless voting, polling and discussion: our 2012 list of books selected by the membership for group reading. The links provided should help clarify some of the criteria involved in making these choices.
THE COLLECTED STORIES OF ELIZABETH BOWEN
http://www.gothic.stir.ac.uk/blog/bow...
CONJURE WIFE by Fritz Leiber
http://www.conceptualfiction.com/conj...
GARDENS OF NIGHT by Greg F. Gifune
http://literarymayhem.com/wordpress/2...
HOUDINI HEART by Ki Longfellow
http://thelibrariowan.wordpress.com/2...
HOUSE OF LEAVES by Mark Z. Danielewski
http://www.themodernword.com/review_h...
MARTYRS & MONSTERS by Robert Dunbar
http://www.lambdaliterary.org/reviews...
THE NIGHT STRANGERS by Chris Bohjalian
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/20...
SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES by Ray Bradbury
http://www.raybradbury.com/books/some...
VERLAND: THE TRANSFORMATION by B. E. Scully
http://horrornews.net/46521/book-revi...
Our group discussions of these works may be found here: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...
We are currently reading Robert Aickman’s collection THE WINE-DARK SEA.
Join us at: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1...
November 16, 2012
November Chills
"... that incident with the goat."
My latest guest blog just went live at Layers of Thought.
http://www.layersofthought.net/2012/1...
My latest guest blog just went live at Layers of Thought.
http://www.layersofthought.net/2012/1...
October 16, 2012
Octo-Blog Part Three
Another October blog just went live, this one at the Readers' Advisory Guide to Horror.
http://raforallhorror.blogspot.com/20...
And don't miss my interview with the legendary Ramsey Campbell:
http://www.uninvitedbooks.com/page34....
When is Halloween? At this rate, I'll be too exhausted to trick-or-treat.
* * *
And another:
http://wherethedeadfeartotread.blogsp...
http://raforallhorror.blogspot.com/20...
And don't miss my interview with the legendary Ramsey Campbell:
http://www.uninvitedbooks.com/page34....
When is Halloween? At this rate, I'll be too exhausted to trick-or-treat.
* * *
And another:
http://wherethedeadfeartotread.blogsp...
October 12, 2012
Uninvited eBooks Sale
Aleister Crowley's Birthday Extravaganza
Today is Aleister Crowley’s birthday.
(He’d be 137.)
“I was not content to believe in a personal devil and serve him,” said Aleister Crowley. “I wanted to get hold of him personally and become his chief of staff.”
To celebrate the Evil One,
all Uninvited eBooks will be 99¢
now through Halloween!
October 12th through October 31st
Trick or Treat yourself to some of the finest contemporary dark fiction.
http://www.uninvitedbooks.com/page16....
WOOD by Robert Dunbar
“Literary Horror at its best.” ~ Layers of Thought
GARDENS OF NIGHT by Greg F. Gifune
“Dark fiction as it is meant to be written.” ~ Literary Mayhem
MARTYRS & MONSTERS by Robert Dunbar
“A masterpiece.” ~ Dark Scribe Magazine
LITTLE BOY LOST by T. M. Wright
“Brilliant.” ~ Horror World
WILLY by Robert Dunbar
“Profound.” ~ The Reading Review
DESCENT by Sandy DeLuca
“Not to be missed.” ~ Nights & Weekends
SHADOWS, Supernatural Tales by Masters of Modern Literature
“Required reading for all horror fans.” ~ Shroud Magazine
UNINVITED BOOKS
Illuminating Darkness
Today is Aleister Crowley’s birthday.
(He’d be 137.)
“I was not content to believe in a personal devil and serve him,” said Aleister Crowley. “I wanted to get hold of him personally and become his chief of staff.”
To celebrate the Evil One,
all Uninvited eBooks will be 99¢
now through Halloween!
October 12th through October 31st
Trick or Treat yourself to some of the finest contemporary dark fiction.
http://www.uninvitedbooks.com/page16....
WOOD by Robert Dunbar
“Literary Horror at its best.” ~ Layers of Thought
GARDENS OF NIGHT by Greg F. Gifune
“Dark fiction as it is meant to be written.” ~ Literary Mayhem
MARTYRS & MONSTERS by Robert Dunbar
“A masterpiece.” ~ Dark Scribe Magazine
LITTLE BOY LOST by T. M. Wright
“Brilliant.” ~ Horror World
WILLY by Robert Dunbar
“Profound.” ~ The Reading Review
DESCENT by Sandy DeLuca
“Not to be missed.” ~ Nights & Weekends
SHADOWS, Supernatural Tales by Masters of Modern Literature
“Required reading for all horror fans.” ~ Shroud Magazine
UNINVITED BOOKS
Illuminating Darkness
October 5, 2012
Octo-blog: Part Two
There will be several more of these this month.
“Essence of Autumn”
A guest blog at October Country
http://theoctobercountry.wordpress.co...
“Essence of Autumn”
A guest blog at October Country
http://theoctobercountry.wordpress.co...
October 1, 2012
Octoblog: Part One
So how do you celebrate? Personally, I have a complicated set of rituals I indulge in every Halloween. Takes a while to work up to it though. All month long there are classic movies. Night of the Demon and The Haunting. The Uninvited and Burn, Witch, Burn. Old favorites all of them.
And the night itself? This begins with music. It has to. Saint-Saëns’ Danse Macabre leads into Scriabin’s Piano Sonata No. 9, Opus 68. (The Scriabin piece is commonly known as the Black Mass Sonata. If you’ve read Fritz Leiber’s Conjure Wife, you’ll understand the significance.) Sometimes there's a detour through Rasputina territory. Later, I light black candles and throw white sage on the fireplace. At some point, my battered old collection of Saki stories comes down off the shelf, and I savor Sredni Vashtar or Gabriel-Ernest or Esmé. If friends are present, I read aloud. Sometimes I read aloud even if I’m alone. What the hell? An incantation is an incantation. Eventually, the Tarot cards come out of their old oak box.
I approach these seasonal observations with a fetishistic fervor, not to say a touch of fanaticism, and I’d like to say it begins each year at the stroke of midnight.
But I’d be lying.
Frequently, it’s quite early in the evening as there’s inevitably a party (which more often than not I’m hosting). After all, Halloween is still very much the queer holiday. Doubtless there are rituals that take place later in the evening as well, but I never remember those in the morning.
Mercifully…
* * *
This year I’ve already been blogging and guest blogging and doing interviews all over the place. Here are a few of the highlights:
http://www.uninvitedbooks.com/page21....
http://lisamannetti.blogspot.com/
http://rschiver.blogspot.com/2012/09/...
I’ll add more later. (You have been warned.)
And the night itself? This begins with music. It has to. Saint-Saëns’ Danse Macabre leads into Scriabin’s Piano Sonata No. 9, Opus 68. (The Scriabin piece is commonly known as the Black Mass Sonata. If you’ve read Fritz Leiber’s Conjure Wife, you’ll understand the significance.) Sometimes there's a detour through Rasputina territory. Later, I light black candles and throw white sage on the fireplace. At some point, my battered old collection of Saki stories comes down off the shelf, and I savor Sredni Vashtar or Gabriel-Ernest or Esmé. If friends are present, I read aloud. Sometimes I read aloud even if I’m alone. What the hell? An incantation is an incantation. Eventually, the Tarot cards come out of their old oak box.
I approach these seasonal observations with a fetishistic fervor, not to say a touch of fanaticism, and I’d like to say it begins each year at the stroke of midnight.
But I’d be lying.
Frequently, it’s quite early in the evening as there’s inevitably a party (which more often than not I’m hosting). After all, Halloween is still very much the queer holiday. Doubtless there are rituals that take place later in the evening as well, but I never remember those in the morning.
Mercifully…
* * *
This year I’ve already been blogging and guest blogging and doing interviews all over the place. Here are a few of the highlights:
http://www.uninvitedbooks.com/page21....
http://lisamannetti.blogspot.com/
http://rschiver.blogspot.com/2012/09/...
I’ll add more later. (You have been warned.)
