klward

So yes: The Audient Void # 7 is now out and about, including work by Ashley Dioses, KA Opperman, Adam Bolivar, John Shirley and my own twisted self, among many others - the black and white artwork by Dan Sauer is worth the cover price alone. "Mourning Rites" is a charming little ballad, if I do say so myself, based upon my reflections on just how curious some death customs were in Victorian England. Especially those which applied to women.

If I should keep a lock of hair
wound tight within a cameo,
what should you think but I compare
all suitors to one lost below?
You would console me as I grieve,
not dreaming that I might believe
you culpable. Why should you care
what weird this token may bestow?


 

 

After a lengthy hiatus, the magazine of the Australian Horror Writers Association returns for its 12th issue. As well as fiction from the likes of Angela J Maher and Matthew R Davis, it features my new essay, "A Shared Ambition - Horror Writers in Horror Fiction".

"On 15 September, 2016, Little, Brown & Company announced a new book by James Patterson and Derek Nikitas, entitled The Murder of Stephen King. On 22 September, 2016, it was announced that this work would be withdrawn, because the authors "didn't want to cause Stephen King or his family any trouble." (www.thewrap.com)."

I had already been thinking about the ways in which the figure of the horror writer was used in works of horror fiction, from S.K.s various avatars to depictions of Mary Shelley. The saga of this aborted book crystalised these thoughts into another wildly ambitious research project, that led to me finally watching a whole episode of Quantum Leap. Trust me: real horror writers wear muslin.

Electronic copies of Midnight Echo #12 may be acquired here or even here.
 

Out of "The Kite", "The Necromancer's Question" and "The Cat's Cortege... guess.

It's hard to believe, but it has been five whole years since my poetry collection and first solo book was published by P'rea Press.



Editor Charles Danny Lovecraft, compositor David E. Schultz and designer David Schembri all did a wonderful job with this release, which has been described as "...a rich, eccentric miscellany of dark music, skilfully crafted and strangely wrought." (Ann K. Schwader) and "...a carnival of life's cruel and grotesque side, with much pageantry and dark laughter." (K, J. Bishop). It includes such oddities as the Rhysling-nominated "The Kite" and "The Soldier's Return", as well as "The Feast of Mistrust", which has been described as "an involuntary epic" (me, in the instalment I wrote for the Blood and Spades column in the HWA newsletter). The entire Predation City triptych, consisting of "The Bat's Boudoir", "The Cat's Cortege" and "The Rat's Repast". Perfomance pieces, such as "The Torturer's Confession".

Nicely illustrated, if I do say so myself, including an interview and a bibliography that was comprehensive at the time, I am still as pleased as punch with this volume. In fact, I'm going to share with you the very first poem it includes.

The DEAD leave no token
But DECAY and fade:
Shall our bond be broken
By this new DECAYed?
O lest our lives resume
DeluDEAD and faDEAD,
I declare this volume
to be DEAD DECAY DEAD.

Should you wish to explore, http://www.preapress.com/books.php?isbn=9780980462579 is the way to go. Or, should you wish to see me in full swing as The Torturer, then head straight here!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ex-RSQP0rc