Nicholas Diak's Blog, page 38

Dead Reckonings no 23 Cover and Release and Comic Con Revolution

This weekend I've been at the Comic Con Revolution in Ontario. I attended a podcast panel about podcasts while also being on a panel about 80s retro modernism. Expect a write up later along with an audio upload of the panel.

In the meantime, Hippocampus Press has revealed the cover of their Spring 2018, issue 23 of the Dead Reckonings journal.

The journal begins shipping next week. I have an essay in this journal called "Dreams of the House of the Worm: Gary Myers’ Debut Dreamlands Story." The journal can be ordered from the publisher and from Amazon:

Hippocampus Press' page to buy the journal issue: https://www.hippocampuspress.com/journals/dead-reckonings/dead-reckonings-no-23Amazon product page: https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Reckonings-No-Spring-2018/dp/1614982244/
Updated the store, bibliography and Lovecraft studies pages accordingly. 

Guest on Voice of Olympus

Last night I was a returning guest on Hercules Invictus' Voice of Olympus show. Joining me was Michele Brittany (and Sybil Danning was on the show too!). The episode can be streamed here:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/surn/2018/05/08/voice-of-olympus

Star Wars Day Essay! Rogue Squadron - The Phantom Affair

Happy Star Wars Day everyone, May the 4th be with you! I've written an essay over at Fanbase Press on how the Star Wars Expanded Universe comic, Star Wars X-Wing: Rogue Squadron - The Phantom Affair comments on today's political climate, particularly the presence of alt-right on university campuses. Check it out!

http://www.fanbasepress.com/index.php/press/item/8817-maythefourth-star-wars-the-phantom-affair-as-parable-for-propaganda-and-alt-right-university-clashes-in-a-trumpian-america

Review of Frank Miller's Xerxes Issue 2

I have a new review published at Fanbase Press on issue #2 of Frank Miller's Xerxes comic:

http://fanbasepress.com/index.php/press/reviews/item/8800-xerxes-the-fall-of-the-house-of-darius-and-the-rise-of-alexander-2-comic-book-review

Updated Programming for Comic Con Revolution

The programming for Comic Con Revolution has now been finalized and posted. The panel I'll be a part of, Fanbase Press Presents: Play it Again with Retro Modernism, is happening Saturday, May 19th at 6pm in room 106. Stop on by! 

Link to programming: http://comicconrevolution.com/ontario/programming.php

Happy Aliens Day! Essay on Italian Alien Knock Offs

It's April 26th, and you know what that means? Happy LV-426 / Aliens Day!
The folks over at Fanbase Press have gathered up a series of essays and articles about the franchise, edited by Michele Brittany. Last year, my contribution was an article on the Gameboy Colour game Aliens: Thanatos Encounter, which can be viewed here: 

http://www.fanbasepress.com/index.php/press/item/7676-alienday426-a-retrospective-on-aliens-thanatos-encounter
Sticking with esotera, and my fondness for Italian genre cinema, this year my article is an overview of the Italian Alien knock off films of the 1980s: Alien 2: On Earth, Contamination, and Alien from the Deep. The article can be found here:

http://fanbasepress.com/index.php/press/item/8778-alienday-2018-sticky-faces-and-alpha-rays-we-re-in-danger-the-italian-alien-knockoff-legacy

Comic Con Revolution Appearance in May

I'll be present at the Comic Con Revolution convention in Ontario next month. I'll be a panelist on "Fanbase Press Presents: Play it Again with Retro Modernism." It'll be moderated by Michele Brittany (Horror in Space), with Tony Fleecs (My Little Pony artist), Livio Ramondelli (Transformers artist), and Kevin Wetmore (Uncovering Stranger Things editor) as other panelists. No confirmed date and time yet, but watch this space, the Fanbase Press Facebook page, or Comic Con Revolution's website at http://comicconrevolution.com/ontario/ for more details. 

Stranger Things book released, final issue of Vinegar Teeth reviewed

The book, Uncovering Stranger Things: Essays on Eighties Nostalgia, Cynicism and Innocence in the Series was published by McFarland today! Super excited to be a part of the book with my essay "Lost Nights and Dangerous Days: Unraveling the Relationship Between Stranger Things and Synthwave," I wanted to be an early academic of the synthwave genre. The book can be order at both McFarland and at Amazon:

McFarland: https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/Uncovering-Stranger-Things/Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Uncovering-Stranger-Things-Nostalgia-Innocence-ebook/dp/B07C1DTQQ5/
The fourth and final issue of Vinegar Teeth has been published by Dark Horse Comics and my review of it can be found at Fanbase Press: http://fanbasepress.com/index.php/press/reviews/item/8749-vinegar-teeth-4-advance-comic-book-review

Review of Sword of Ages #03 and Interview with Lee Murray

I've got two articles published at Fanbase Press today. The first is on the sword and planet/Arthurian comic Sword of Ages issue #03 which can be read here:

http://www.fanbasepress.com/index.php/press/reviews/item/8731-sword-of-ages-3-advance-comic-book-review
The second is an interview with Lee Murray, a New Zealand speculative fiction author (and amazing person). That interview can be read here:

http://www.fanbasepress.com/index.php/press/interviews/books/item/8732-fanbase-press-interviews-new-zealand-author-lee-murray-on-her-book-into-the-mist

2017 Year Recap

**2017 Wrap Up**

2017 came to a close, and it was by far my most successful year thus far as an academic writer.

The biggest accomplishment, of course, was the publication of my first book, The New Peplum, by McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers . I’m extremely proud with the book, my experience working with other academics, both within the states and also abroad, was positive. I learned so much from project managing this book which I’ll apply to my next project. I would say, over all, the entire journey from proposal to editing to publishing, was a resounding success, and I hope for many more to come.

My next major accomplishment was the publishing of my essay, "Meteor Madness: Lovecraftian Horror and Consumerism in the Battle for Small Town USA" in Horror in Space: Critical Essays on a Film Subgenre by Michele Brittany , also published by McFarland. This was my first opportunity to write academically about H. P. Lovecraft while also extending my scholarship of genre cinema.

Other written/publishing accomplishments of 2017 include:

1 review written for the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics
26 articles written for Fanbase Press as a guest contributor
4 articles written for Heathen Harvest Periodical
1 article for the Horror Writers Association Blog
6 episodes recorded for the H.P. Lovecast podcast
3 articles written for my poor neglected neofolk blog

And some other fun things accomplished in 2017:

I was a guest on the Voice of Olympus radio show
I was a panelist on a sword and sorcery panel at Stan Lee’s LA Comic Con

Also, another amazing milestone, Michele and I both spearheaded the inaugural Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference at StokerCon in Long Beach. Michele and I created this new academic conference and oversaw 14 presentations this past year. For 2018, we will be doing year two and our number of presenters ballooned to 33!

So, what’s coming along in 2018? I’ve made a few announcements. The big thing is the second Ann Radcliffe Academic conference along with editing my Re-Animator essay into a chapter for an upcoming book. There’s also the upcoming Stranger Things book I contributed to.

I hope to get more articles written for my neofolk blog. I also need to start my next project since the neo-peplum book is done. I hope to dabble in more fiction and try my hand at short stories, but that’s low priority. I’m a much better academic writer than I am fiction one, and I would love to keep cranking out more essays and projects and really establish myself as a scholar.