Broken Keys Publishing's Blog, page 58

Coles Books - Carlingwood

Now available at

Coles Books2121 Carling Avenue, #23Ottawa, OntarioFacebook

Book signing dates coming soon!

The Symbiot "In the Symbiot, Weatherall has created a spine chilling tale reminiscent of the style of Stephen King"TDC Book Reviews




"Devoted music enthusiast and accomplished pianist, Lorne S. Gibbons, realizes the grim truth regarding a long lost and forbidden music as an evil entity is unleashed which threatens all existing life of Earth. As a crescendo of unknowable forces prepare to wipe out anyone in their way, Lorne and Veronica begin a race against complete annihilation. With little reinforcements, Lorne and Veronica have to fight against the god-aspiring creature to avoid further bloodshed. However, when godly power collides with humanity, the results are devastating." Joshua Hubley


"One man's musical passion leads on a temporal hunt through a Lovecraftian world on a collision course with extinction! Reminiscent with Guy de Maupassant's The Horla"'Seph Sayers, Blogger & Book Reviewer




The Hunt: Symbiosys



Following immediately on the heels of The Symbiot, its events segue directly into "The Hunt: Symbiosys".


Barely eclipsing global extinction, the Gibbons' couple are forced to flee and hide from clandestine forces intent on their eradication.
Centering between Montreal and Tokyo, this sequel introduces an unimaginable new world threat!


A slow burning intercontinental chess match quickly escalates into its fast paced and violent conclusion!


This book drops delicious hints of the advent of Lovecraftian-mythos monsters! Foreshadowing a hidden but impending doom, this entire sequel is haunted by an unnameable undertow which promises to reach fruition in this trilogy's upcoming conclusion, Necropolis








Also available from Michel Weatherall
A Dark Corner of My Soul

"An amazing collection of literary prose which Weatherall has kept locked in a desk drawer for two decades is now a short collection of dark and deeply disturbing  poems.
"The reader is transported into the mind of someone suffering and you can see the images of his words as if they were your own.
"As a sufferer myself, I was amazed at just how much he was able to write and convey how mental illness makes a sufferer feel. Those images which are so difficult to explain that haunt the head flow off the page, raw and exposed for all to see.I couldn't possibly choose a favourite in the collection as they were all so powerful and beautifully written. Michel  has a true talent and after reading I felt he was extremely brave to share such wonderful, if dark work."TDC Book Reviews After Darkhttp://tdcbookreviews.blogspot.ca/2015/11/a-dark-corner-of-my-soul-by-michel.html




And the final installments of The Symbiot Series, 

Necropolis
"Woven throughout this entire literary piece are the stories of characters forgotten about from the original novella, The Symbiot. Written as three separate pieces, following 6 story lines set in 3 different ages, Necropolis is intricate storytelling!
"The first piece tells the story of the fall and demise of the ancient Egyptian man-god, Pharaoh Nyarlathotep. The second brings us back to the characters we left in the previous book, ten years later. The promises hinted at in TheHunt: Symbiosys, do not disappoint and come to fruition in Necropolis, with full blown Lovecraftian-mythos monsters! 


"It's Modern Tech versus forgotten aeons-old evil, with a reminiscent flavouring similar to Grandma Death's fictitious book (Donnie Darko, 2001)!


"It has been a decade since The Hunt and the Gibbons' children are humanity's last hope!


""The conclusion of The Symbiot Series spans three millennia - from Pharaoh Nyarlathotep's genesis and demise, to the discovery of the derelict Japanese Destroyer, the Yamayuki, to the world shattering rising of R'lyeh!


"The world is at its end!
R'lyeh has risen!Cthulhu's high priest has awaken!Ia! Ia! Cthulhu Fhtagn!"'Seph Sayers, Blogger & Reviewer





Mother-Machine

"Mother-Machine reminds me of A Rose for Emily or a story by Shirley Jackson. A good old fashion ghost story without being grossly graphic. Michel Weatherall does a masterful job of breathing life into a venerable horror style that you do not often see much nowadays. My only caveat is that you must enjoy fine story telling and allow your imagination to wander. This is a thinking man's story and does not hand you everything. A fine tradition of shadows and whispers."
Papaphilly, Goodreads review

February 27th, Book Signing

   Book Signing!   Saturday, February 27th, 2016 Noon - 4:00 pm Chapters, South Keys   2210 Bank St, Ottawa, Ontario                     Come down, get one of my books signed and meet me!       The Hunt: Symbiosys Following immediately on the heels of The Symbiot, its events segue directly into "The Hunt: Symbiosys". Barely eclipsing global extinction, the Gibbons' couple are forced to flee and hide from clandestine forces intent on their eradication.   Centering between Montreal and Tokyo, this

Raamaturiiulike Blog

  Check out what Reelika of Estonia says of Mother-Machine on her blog Raamaturiiulike

Welcome!

As with the new launch of my 2016 book tour, so too comes a new website! I'm excited about this one!    

Raamaturiiulike Blog

Check out what Reelika of Estonia says of Mother-Machine on her blog, Raamaturiiulike

Great Book Review!

Recently a Goodreads member gave my short story, Mother-Machine, what I would consider more than a good book review. I was happily surprised, and somewhat honoured.

Papaphilly said:

A good old fashion Gothic horror story. Mother-Machine reminds me of A Rose for Emily or a story by Shirley Jackson. A good old fashion ghost story without being grossly graphic. Michel Weatherall does a masterful job of breathing life into a venerable horror style that you do not often see much nowadays. My only caveat is that you must enjoy fine story telling and allow your imagination to wander. This is a thinking man's story and does not hand you everything. A fine tradition of shadows and whispers.

First Year Celebration!

For a limited time the entire Chapter 1 of The Symbiot will be available for Goodreads members for Free!!






Celebrating The Symbiot 's first anniversary of publication, its ebook will be available for free from Amazon and Kobo from Feb. 12th to 16th.

Book Review of "The Lovecraft Anthology, Volume 1", edited by Dan Lockwood

Graphic novels like this one are a special treat. Each story (there are 7 in total) are done in varying artstyles, all of which capture the bleak, isolated hopelessness so common to this literary master; many, disturbingly creepy (Mark Stafford).







This graphic novel succeeds where "Sherlock Holmes and the Necronomicon" failed.  Lovecraft's horrific imagination is simply ripe for artists' interpretation of some of his most memorable monsters and atrocities!



The written adaptations for this graphic medium are done well, allowing the art to fill in the necessarily omitted void of description with visual elements.

Of particular noteworthiness to me was the book's interpretation of "The Colour Out of Space" (Adapted by David Hine and Illustration by Mark Stafford).

Lovecraft's "The Colour Out of Space" has always been one of the trickiest - if not outright impossible! - stories to translate into any visual medium. Several movie adaptations have attempted to interpret this story and failed miserably. (Although possibly entertaining in their own right, they failed as an interpretation of "The Colour Out of Space").


"The Curse" (1987) and "Creepshow's" (1982) episode starring Stephen King, "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" come to mind with the latter portraying the 'extraterrestial' colour as a bright, near unnatural, green.

This graphic novel version (still a visual medium) sidesteps this issue, focusing on what horror it does to the plants, animals and, especially, people. (I am challenged to imagine how one represents a new colour while limited to the colours of our visual spectrum?"

I was also especially pleased (or unpleased as we shall soon see) with its rendition of "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" (Adapted by Leah Moore & John Reppion and Illustrated by Leigh Gallagher). It succeeded in relaying the town's sense of isolation, destitution and, ultimately, emptiness. 

It was unpleasently soul emptying and I didn't want to continue reading at times! Well done!

In "The Call of Cthulhu" (Adapted by Ian Edginton and Illustrated by D'Israeli), depicting the corpse-city R'lyeh's strange angles is a difficult endeavor even for the most imaginative minds.

I believe it's no accident that Lovecraft himself never directly takes us to R'lyeh, instead ingeniously relying upon his fictitious character Johansen's testimony. (I know I myself am facing this particular challenge. I am currently working on finishing the third book of The Symbiot Series where I take the main characters directly into (read in, first person) the risen city of R'lyeh.)

This graphic novel's version of "The Call of Cthulhu" can be forgiven to rely on a variation of M.C. Escher's stairs. to represent R'lyeh's odd angles. The only other medium I can recall that was bold enough to attempt a direct first person perspective of R'lyeh's outré angles was the 2005 film "The Call of Cthulhu", and did the job well. (I only hope I can pull off writting a journey into R'lyeh myself!)

The Lovecraft Anthology Volume 1 should please the well read H.P. Lovecraft fan as well as serve as an appetite wetting introduction to the Lovecraftian world of the Cthulhu-mythos (or, more accurately, Yog-Sothothery!)

What a brave and bold endeavor! 
Four stars! I look forward to Volume 2! 

February 27th, Book Signing

Book Signing
Saturday, February 27th, 2016Noon - 4:00 pmChapters, South Keys  2210 Bank St, Ottawa, Ontario


Come down, get one of my books signed and meet me!







The Hunt: Symbiosys

Following immediately on the heels of The Symbiot, its events segue directly into "The Hunt: Symbiosys".

Barely eclipsing global extinction, the Gibbons' couple are forced to flee and hide from clandestine forces intent on their eradication.

Centering between Montreal and Tokyo, this sequel introduces an unimaginable new world threat!

A slow burning intercontinental chess match quickly escalates into its fast paced and violent conclusion!

This book drops delicious hints of the advent of Lovecraftian-mythos monsters! Foreshadowing a hidden but impending doom, this entire sequel is haunted by an unnameable undertow which promises to reach fruition in this trilogy's upcoming conclusion, Necropolis




The Symbiot


"Devoted music enthusiast and accomplished pianist, Lorne S. Gibbons, realizes the grim truth regarding a long lost and forbidden music as an evil entity is unleashed which threatens all existing life of Earth. As a crescendo of unknowable forces prepare to wipe out anyone in their way, Lorne and Veronica begin a race against complete annihilation. With little reinforcements, Lorne and Veronica have to fight against the god-aspiring creature to avoid further bloodshed. However, when godly power collides with humanity, the results are devastating."
Joshua Hubley

"One man's musical passion leads on a temporal hunt through a Lovecraftian world on a collision course with extinction! Reminiscent with Guy de Maupassant's The Horla"
'Seph Sayers, Blogger & Book Reviewer

"In the Symbiot, Weatherall has created a spine chilling tale reminiscent of the style of Stephen King"
TDC Book Reviews



Necropolis


"Woven throughout this entire literary piece are the stories of characters forgotten about from the original novella, The Symbiot. Written as three separate pieces, following 6 story lines set in 3 different ages, Necropolis is intricate storytelling!
"The first piece tells the story of the fall and demise of the ancient Egyptian man-god, Pharaoh Nyarlathotep. 
The second brings us back to the characters we left in the previous book, ten years later. The promises hinted at in TheHunt: Symbiosys, do not disappoint and come to fruition in Necropolis, with full blown Lovecraftian-mythos monsters! 
"It's Modern Tech versus forgotten aeons-old evil, with a reminiscent flavouring similar to Grandma Death's fictitious book (Donnie Darko, 2001)!

"It has been a decade since The Hunt and the Gibbons' children are humanity's last hope!

""The conclusion of The Symbiot Series spans three millennia - from Pharaoh Nyarlathotep's genesis and demise, to the discovery of the derelict Japanese Destroyer, the Yamayuki, to the world shattering rising of R'lyeh!

"The world is at its end!
R'lyeh has risen!
Cthulhu's high priest has awaken!
Ia! Ia! Cthulhu Fhtagn!"
'Seph Sayers, Blogger & Reviewer

A Dark Corner of My Soul

"An amazing collection of literary prose which Weatherall has kept locked in a desk drawer for two decades is now a short collection of dark and deeply disturbing  poems.
"The reader is transported into the mind of someone suffering and you can see the images of his words as if they were your own.
"As a sufferer myself, I was amazed at just how much he was able to write and convey how mental illness makes a sufferer feel. Those images which are so difficult to explain that haunt the head flow off the page, raw and exposed for all to see.I couldn't possibly choose a favourite in the collection as they were all so powerful and beautifully written. Michel  has a true talent and after reading I felt he was extremely brave to share such wonderful, if dark work."TDC Book Reviews After Dark

Book Signing - Jan. 16, 2016

A special thanks to Allanah Harriman of Chapters South Keys for her great help if organizing this book signing!
If you missed me yesteryday, I will be returning to Chapters South Keys, Feburary 27th, 2016 for another book signing!

What an awful picture of me looking kinda smug (ouch!)