The Historian, or An Excuse Not to Read Dracula, the Un-Dead

The Historian, or An Excuse Not to Read Dracula, the Un-Dead

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historianI don’t have a dislike for the vampire in general. I’ve repeatedly reminded myself about this  even as I cringe at the saturation in our culture of mediocre work based on supernatural bloodsuckers. (Do I really have to name the book and movie series at the center of this creative blood drain? Of course I don’t.) Vampires are everywhere today, and this visibility has reduced their effectiveness for me, no matter what “new” spin the artists claim they’re putting on the legend. Exceptions are out there—for example the action-packed novels of certain contributor to Black Gate—but today I actively avoid horror and dark fantasy and especially parodies using vampires. I want more werewolves and phantasms and cosmic weirdness. Specifically werewolves. I love werewolves.

I wasn’t always this apathetic about vampires. I had a great interest in vampire legendry and literature when I was in college, right at the time that Bram Stoker’s Dracula was an enormous hit in theaters. I was always focused on Dracula, and not as interested in other vampires. This is still true today; while I shrug at most vampire offerings, I’ll still pick up something about the King of the Undead. Perhaps it’s the history major in me, or my love of the Victorian Gothic, that pulls me back to the vampiric Transylvanian noble. Literary Dracula excursions I’ve taken over the past few years include Fred Saberhagen’s The Dracula Tape (an intriguing piece of literary criticism, but his heroic and misunderstood Dracula isn’t my flavor of garlic seasoning), the anthology Dracula in London (answering the question, “So what else was the Count doing in London Town when not desanguinizing Lucy and Mina?”), the history volume Dracula: Prince of Many Faces, and Kim Newman’s wonderful “Anno-Dracula” series. If you haven’t read these three novels and wonder if there’s anything out there that might make you feel a bit better about vampires in general, seek out the nearest used book service posthaste.

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Special Fiction Feature: “The Renunciation of the Crimes of Gharad the Undying”

Special Fiction Feature: “The Renunciation of the Crimes of Gharad the Undying”

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gharad-small1We are proud to present a complete work of fiction from Black Gate 14: Alex Kreis’s “The Renunciation of the Crimes of Gharad the Undying.”

I am very sorry about seizing the throne of Falland and establishing a dictatorship based on terror and intimidation. As ruler of Falland, I enforced a number of highly unfair and immoral policies for which I now feel very badly, including putting all orphans raised by any forms of wildlife to death, and ordering the execution of all wandering bards (although I must say in my defense that that decision was not entirely unpopular).

You can read the complete story here.

“The Renunciation of the Crimes of Gharad the Undying” appears in Black Gate 14.  Alex lives in Massachusetts; this is his first fiction sale.

Art by Bernie Mireault.

Black Gate 14 Sneak Peek: “Freedling” by Mike Shultz

Black Gate 14 Sneak Peek: “Freedling” by Mike Shultz

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freedlingNaia was pinned under the rubble when the quake hit, trapped with the cruel sorcer, Cer Vassir. And then her nightmare truly began.

The blood on her fingers was alive. Tiny black specks within the viscous fluid writhed like mosquito larva. She sensed its hatred for the cold air. Hatred and fury.
      “I need you to touch me one more time,” the sorcer said.
      Naia heard nothing, only saw. How she could see the things in his blood she didn’t know; they were smaller than grains of flour. Yet they wriggled like the sorcer’s spider-glyph. Her eyes drifted to it.
      “Good. You know what you must touch.”
      The glyph slithered across his shoulder, turned on the incline of his neck, and returned to its original place, its eyes glowing cinders, its back gleaming sapphires.
      Touch it.

Mike Shultz’s first fiction sale was “The Thrall” in Black Gate 9, which HorrorScope called “complex, emotional fantasy at its finest.”

Mike’s first novel, Sword of Memory, will be published in German in 2010 by Piper Verlag.

“Freedling” appears in Black Gate 14, coming in February.  You can read a more complete excerpt here.

The complete Black Gate 14 Sneak Peek is available here.

Art by Richard Tucker.

Short Fiction Beat: Young Turks vs Old Turks

Short Fiction Beat: Young Turks vs Old Turks

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In the final issue of the Internet Review of Science Fiction (yes, another one bites the dust, though in this same issue Kristine Kathryn Rusch points out that this is hardly anything new and, doomsayers notwithstanding, is realy not representative of any ominous trends), Lois Tilton draws a distinction between those publishing in the old guard of the cheap digests and a mostly new generation whose work appears increasingly online. Of course, you’d think science fiction and fantasy writers, of all people, would be quick to embrace online publication. However, there has been the stigma that online stories aren’t really stories because, well, they aren’t in print. That’s a generational issue (to which I confess–I’m not particularly fond of reading on a screen, but the odds are I’ll live long enough to where that will become more the norm than the exception, thanks for that Steve Jobs and Amazon). Tilton suggests its an issue of attitude, and one which is ultimately not good for healthy growth of the field. In addition to her own thoughts on this (as well as her last short fiction column for IROSF, which will be moving to Locus Online), there is some extensive commentary of interest attached.

Cavelakes Adventurer Angry With ARKHOLD Crashes Dragon Into Office

Cavelakes Adventurer Angry With ARKHOLD Crashes Dragon Into Office

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orc-b-dayIf the constant litany of human suffering and human stupidity that is the 24 hour news cycle has got you down (gee, why would it?) then have a look at Fantasy World News, a news site that takes Yahoo news alerts and strategically replaces certain words with fantasy mainstays. For example, this from today’s news:

Boneshimmer Grovenight MacKillop becomes 1st halfling saint

The High Priest of the Rain God approved sainthood for Boneshimmer Grovenight MacKillop on Friday, making the adventurer known for her work among the needy Bailiwick’s first saint.

Is really this:

Mother Mary MacKillop becomes 1st Australian saint

Pope Benedict XVI approved sainthood for Mother Mary MacKillop on Friday, making the woman known for her work among the needy Australia’s first saint.

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Goth Chick News: You Call Me “Witch” Like It’s a Bad Thing

Goth Chick News: You Call Me “Witch” Like It’s a Bad Thing

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anne-riceThough I am an unapologetic fan of the Harry Potter books and movies, not to mention the upcoming theme park at Universal Studios, Florida, I have been a fan of sorcery and magic for most of my life.

I can trace this fascination back my discovery of the 1975 Disney flick Escape to Witch Mountain and the Brain De Palma classic The Fury, though both story lines dealt with telekinetic matters rather than witchcraft. The Fury tells the heinously enjoyable tale of a young woman who can cause any old scar you might have to burst open if you’re around her when she gets agitated. Let’s face it, watching Samatha breeze through her housework with the twitch of her nose in Bewitched couldn’t really hold up against the ability to make people bleed out of their eyes by looking at them.

No, my hard-core interest really kicked in when I read what remains one of my top ten favorite books of all time, Anne Rice’s The Witching Hour. It lavishly follows the history of the Mayfair witches from 1689 through modern times, documenting decades of consequences connected to the family’s innate abilities, as well as the fortune and misfortune brought on by their guardian demon. It was also the book that started my love affair with New Orleans.

thefuryThe story attracted the attention of Warner Brothers, who optioned the rights, but alas, the movie version descended into development hell where it continues to languish. But from that point on, tampering with a little practical magic became a bit of a hobby for me.

Recently I came across a gem of a book, Le Grimoire Enchante (“A Sorcerer’s Cookbook”) that is not only beautifully bound in coffee-table format, but is printed in an opulent Victorian style with intricate illustrations. Each dish produces a particular result and has a list of easy-to-locate ingredients, along with the context of the spell and preparation instructions. Recipes such as Borage Bread, an ancient Greek treat slipped to those from whom you wish to extract a confession, and Raspberry-Hawthorn Jam, used by the Celts to protect loved ones, fill 231 pages of this historically fact-filled volume. And with no “eye of newt” to be found anywhere, you can quickly cook up your own love or money potion just in time for dinner.

For more traditional charms there is The Book of Spells, another one of my favorites, which I received as a gift when I was between jobs. This hardcover pocket book contains magic from all parts of the world including the Middle East and Asia along with fascinating background information on both the spell itself as well as the ingredients. When I received the book there was a ribbon marker between the pages called “A Ritual to Pave the Way to a Good Career.” Come on, you’d have tried it too.

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The Wolfman

The Wolfman

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wolfman-poster-mainThe Wolfman (2010)
Directed by Joe Johnston. Written by Andrew Kevin Walker and David Self from the Screenplay by Curt Siodmak. Starring Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving.

The re-make of the 1941 Universal horror classic The Wolf Man had a hellaciously crazy time getting to you this weekend. Original director Mark Romanek was removed from the film right before shooting commenced, giving replacement director Joe Johnston only two weeks of prep time. The studio rejected Danny Elfman’s classically-toned orchestral music and hired Pauls Haslinger from Tangerine Dream to re-score the picture . . . only to reject his music a month before the release date and put Elfman’s music back in. The movie, shot in the summer of 2008, was pushed back repeatedly, with new editors brought on in what seemed like a flurry of desperation to save a troubled, messy film.

All this caused considerable concern among old school horror fans like myself, for whom the George Waggner/Lon Chaney Jr. The Wolf Man is a primary text. (Read my thoughts on the original here.) Maybe the movie was in serious trouble; or perhaps Universal wanted to get it just right. We all wanted this film to work; we feared it would not.

I can now confidently report, as a Universal-and-Hammer Horror geek, that the compound word 2010 The Wolfman most definitely does work. It shows evidence of breaks and tears and furious hammering to cover construction difficulties. It has pacing trouble (for once, a movie that goes too fast), character and plot loose ends, and a female lead who doesn’t bring much to the film. It’s flawed, when you come down to silver tacks (not brass tacks; this is a werewolf film). But The Wolfman is also bloody furious fun of a kind that contemporary horror films just haven’t given to somebody with my tastes in a long time. Terence Fisher fans, James Whale fans, Jack Pierce fans, Lon Chaney Jr. Fans, werewolf fans, Victorian London fans, steampunk fans, go see this movie . . . warts and bare patches and all, this is your film.

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Black Gate 14 Sneak Peek: “The Mist Beyond the Circle” by Martin Owton

Black Gate 14 Sneak Peek: “The Mist Beyond the Circle” by Martin Owton

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mist-beyond-the-circle-smallA band of desperate men pursue the slave traders who stole their families… across cold barrows where a dread thing sleeps.

A vast shadow filled the bowl, blotting out the meager moonlight, and Niall’s cries came from the center. I drew my blade and ran towards Niall’s voice and was stopped dead. It was as if I had collided with a wall of ice which then threw me backwards to land winded on the turf. An angry throbbing filled my ears, paralyzing me with fear. I felt held in the power of some huge savage beast.

Then Aron was there and the hold was broken. With his sword in his right hand and a blazing pine branch in his left, he ran towards the shadow that squatted over the barrows.

“Fire, bring fire you fools, drive it away from the barrows,” cried Aron.

Martin Owton’s “The Mist Beyond the Circle” appears in Black Gate 14, coming in February.  You can read a more complete excerpt here.

The complete Black Gate 14 Sneak Peek is available here.

Martin Owton’s first story for Black Gate,  “A Touch of Crystal” was written with Gaie Sebold, and received this praise from Sherwood Smith at Tangent Online:

It’s the voice that makes this entertaining tale about a young woowoo-loving woman named Clearspring Treesong Watkins who works at the local woowoo store.  Much as she works at her crystals and candles and rituals, she’s not quite ready for the sudden appearance of enormous biker… Elves?  The dialogue snaps with energy, and the pacing never flags in this delightful tale, a superlative end to the new fiction.

Martin Owton lives near London, and is searching for a publisher for his adventure fantasy novel set in the same world as ‘The Mist Beyond the Circle.’

Art by Malcolm McClinton.

Dark Adventure Radio Theatre’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth

Dark Adventure Radio Theatre’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth

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shadow-innsmouthI work for a small software company in Champaign, Illinois.  I live in St. Charles, about three hours away. I spend a lot of time in the car. I’ve learned to love audio books.

In the past three years I’ve listened to The Old Man and the Sea, To Kill a Mockingbird, all seven Harry Potter novels, Stephen King’s Dreamcatcher, Isabel Allende’s Zorro, and dozens more.

It’s how I get the bulk of my reading done these days. If I had someone to read fiction submissions to me in the car, I swear we could publish Black Gate weekly.

Late last month, as Highway 47 was smothered in fog and I made my way carefully through a desolate winter landscape, I popped an adaption of H.P. Lovecraft’s  “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” into the CD player. It was, hands down, one of the best audio experiences I’ve ever had.

“Innsmouth” is one of Lovecraft’s most well-known stories, a creepy and wonderfully atmospheric tale of a young tourist stumbling off the beaten path into a shadowy New England fishing village with a dark history and a rather nasty aversion to visitors — especially those who ask too many questions. It originally appeared in a minuscule edition of 200 copies in 1936, the only book Lovecraft published in his lifetime.

Dark Adventure Radio Theatre has transformed the story into a 77-minute radio play just as it might have been broadcast in the 1930s, with a large cast of talented actors, terrific sound effects, and original music. You’ll hear the creak of doors, ominous footsteps, the muttering of hostile crowds, and the sounds of a frantic rooftop escape  from an unknown something, pounding through the walls.

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