Austin Shirey's Blog, page 3

CITY OF SPORES Cover Reveal & Pre-Order

Hey there, friends! I hope this finds you well.

I’ve got some exciting news: my novella, City of Spores, will be releasing FEBRUARY 15, 2024, via Madness Heart Press!!!

Not only that, but I’ve got the cover, back jacket copy, AND the pre-order link to share with you all!

So, without further ado, here it is, City of Spores:

Art by Luke Spooner

There’s something wrong with this city.

Welcome to Madripol, city of artists and madmen, city of mushrooms.

There’s something wrong with this city.

When a strange plague infects Old Town, Johanna Kolibrik thinks the graffiti messages scrawled all over the city might be right. Kolibrik’s got her own problems, though—like paying the bills and keeping her PI business afloat—so when a well-dressed man from New Town offers to double her fee to find his missing wife, she ignores her gut and takes the case.

There’s something wrong with this city.

But when she stumbles across a manuscript that shouldn’t exist, Kolibrik finds herself caught up in a vast web of conspiracy that will challenge everything she believes—a conspiracy that could shake the city of Madripol to its very foundations.

There’s something wrong with this city.

Because in Madripol, everything is connected …

City of Spores will be available in eBook and Paperback formats, which you can pre-order NOW directly from the publisher, Madness Heart Press!

eBook and Paperback will also be available from other booksellers (like Amazon) soon; I also plan on selling signed copies at some point shortly after the book releases, so if you’re interested in a signed copy directly from me, just know that will be happening.

I’m very proud of City of Spores, and I’m so excited for it to finally be released out into the world. Many, many, thanks to the Madness Heart Press team - they’ve been just an INCREDIBLE publisher to work with! Also, a big shout-out (and heartfelt Thank You!) to the amazing Luke Spooner, who created that stunning cover: it’s everything I was hoping for, and more!

That’s it for now. As always, thanks for reading!

Take care, and stay strange.

—Austin

If you enjoyed this newsletter, please subscribe—you’ll get a free eBook of my short story, “Magus,” available EXCLUSIVELY for subscribers!

Subscribe now

I’d also love it if you considered checking out my new illustrated chapbook, Goodly Creatures, a weird sci-fi thriller for fans of Jeff VanderMeer and Jurassic Park.

Rearview 2023

Well, friends, here we are: at the tail end of 2023. I, for one, feel like it snuck up on me—I can’t believe Christmas is only (checks calendar) 5 DAYS AWAY. It seems like each year goes by faster than the last, and even faster if you’ve got kids.

Even though the state of the world in 2023 has been…less than great, to say the least, it has, personally, been a great year for me and my family, as I hope it has been for you and yours.

Author Stuff

On the author front, 2023 has been pretty big for me. I had my chapbook collection of short stories, The Magic of Everyday Things, published in April by Alien Buddha Press; my novella, City of Spores, was picked up by Madness Heart Press for publication in 2024 (more info on that to come!) ; my short story, “Feels Like the End of the World,” was published by Wyld Flash in August; and in September, I self-published an illustrated chapbook, Goodly Creatures, featuring incredible artwork from Pat Hughes. I also spent the majority of the year working on my first novel, Black Coral; I’ve written over 60K words for it, but so far, only 30K of those words are useable. I’m taking a break for the holidays, but I plan on jumping right back into Black Coral at the start of 2024!

2023 also marked the first time I attended a con (AuthorCon in Williamburg, VA, in April) and the first time I did an in-person event (Lit Book Fair in Ashburn, VA, in September).

Pics or it didn’t happen: Baby’s first author event. Photo by Sarah Shirey. Best Of 2023

There were a lot of incredible books, movies, and music that came out in 2023, and I figured this last newsletter of the year would be a great time to share my picks for the Best of the Year. I’m going to try to pick JUST ONE for each category, which, as you’ll see, is very hard for me. Please note that these picks are very much MY favorite releases of the year—as in, this list is ridiculously biased!

Best Book of 2023

There were SO MANY great books that came out this year, it’s really an embarrassment of riches. A lot of my writing friends released books in 2023, so much so that I’m tempted to just paste all of them here, but in the spirit of a true Best Of list, I’m going to pick JUST ONE (God, this is hard…):

Don’t Fear the Reaper , by Stephen Graham Jones

This terrifying post-modern slasher novel is, in my eyes, a genuine masterpiece. It’s a triumph of voice, style, setting, character, and above all, gut-twisting terror. I have not stopped thinking about this book since I read it back in February.

Best Movie of 2023

There were some great flicks that came out this year—Barbie, Mission: Impossible, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Quiz Lady, and many more—but only one of them takes the cake for my Best of 2023:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

Mutant Mayhem felt like a movie made specifically for me: it’s funny, weird, goofy, and full of heart, with a banging soundtrack (courtesy of Nine Inch Nails maestro Trent Reznor) and mind-bogglingly gorgeous visuals to boot. And it’s rewatchable as all get-out.

Best Album of 2023

Okay, I’m going to have to cheat for this one. Picking one is just WAY too hard for me, especially since I’ve had FOUR albums that came out this year pretty much playing on repeat. So, for Best Album of 2023, I’m going with a 4-way tie:

War Against All , Immortal

I can’t get enough of Immortal’s brand of catchy, ice-cold, riff-based black metal, and even though I miss Abbath’s frog-like croaks and shimmering guitar work, Demonaz’ demonic shrieks do more than hold their own, and his own guitar work has never been better, or more volatile.

PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation , King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard

This album is just *chef’s kiss*, and definitely my favorite music discovery of the year. It’s effortlessly catchy, headbangable, and psychedelic all at once—often in the same song—and while it feels like a throwback to the heyday of Motorhead and the like, it’s somehow very much it’s own unique thing, and, I think, destined to be a stone-cold classic.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem , Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross

Anyone who knows me knows Trent Reznor is my favorite musician of all time. I hold him in very high regard—I think he’s a legitimate musical genius—and I can’t think of a single piece of music by him that I didn’t enjoy in some way, shape, or form. Reznor’s work with his longtime musical partner, Atticus Ross, on the Mutant Mayhem soundtrack is some of the most vibrant music he’s ever created—which is fitting for a such a vibrant film. I can’t fully articulate how much joy it brings me to have my favorite musician score a TMNT movie, as the Ninja Turtles were such a huge part of my childhood.

One More Time, Blink-182

I grew up listening to Blink-182, and it was a terrible blow when Tom left. Even though I enjoyed the albums Mark and Travis put out with Alkaline Trio frontman Matt Skiba, it was never really the same without Tom. So not only was I ecstatic that Tom came back into the fold and patched things up with Mark and Travis, but I was blown away by the strength of their comeback album—it’s like they haven’t missed a beat. Personally, I think it’s the best thing Blink’s put out since their self-titled album, and I think it rates right up there with Enema of the State, Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, and Self-Titled. One More Time is definitely the work of a more mature Blink-182, but don’t let that maturity fool you: this is just as powerful as the stuff they made in the days of their (our) youth, and at times, just as silly. It’s perfect.

Signing Off

Well folks, that’s it for 2023. I’ll see you in 2024!

Thanks again for stopping by and reading.

Take care, stay strange—and have a very Merry Christmas and very Happy Holidays!

—Austin

If you enjoyed this newsletter, please subscribe—you’ll get a free eBook of my short story, “Magus,” available EXCLUSIVELY for subscribers!

Subscribe now

I’d also love it if you considered checking out my new illustrated chapbook, Goodly Creatures, a weird sci-fi thriller for fans of Jeff VanderMeer and Jurassic Park.

The Big Noirvember

Welcome back, my friends!

I hope everyone had a pleasant holiday with lots of good food and good times with loved ones.

I’ve been working steadily on my book, Black Coral; I’m happy to report I’m now up to just under 26K words on this new draft! Still a ways to go, but I’m happy with what I’ve got so far, and I’m excited about where it’s going. I’d hoped to have the first draft of the novel done by the end of the year, but I’m having to remind myself this is a marathon, not a sprint: I need to just keep working away at it until it’s finished in its own time.

Other than that, I’m sitting on some exciting news that I will share just as soon as I get the go-ahead; until then, let’s just say I’ve got something new for you all coming very soon!

Stumbling into Noirvember

So, just what is Noirvember, you ask?

To be honest, I didn’t even know it was a thing until a couple weeks back. I’d just finished watching a lot of horror films for October, and since I was still obsessing over Twin Peaks, which I’d watched earlier this year (and I’m still obsessing over it, even now; in fact, I may dedicate a whole newsletter to Twin Peaks in the future), I was in the mood for more David Lynch and more detective flicks, and eventually I found myself watching a lot of film noir.

It was around this time, while reading up on film noir suggestions on Reddit, and scouring through the Criterion Collection archives, that I was made aware of the fact that some cinephiles have dedicated the month of November to the film noir genre (hence, “Noirvember”). Through some happy synchronicity, I, too, had been celebrating Noirvember, albeit unintentionally.

© Criterion Collection/MGM Studios/20th Century FoxWhat is Film Noir?

Personally, I define film noir as crime/mystery/detective/thriller films filled with morally gray protagonists, labyrinthine mysteries, and LOTS of shadows and/or stark lighting. (Side note: I would define noir books much the same, minus the shadows/lighting.) But here’s some other definitions of film noir I found:

Oxford Dictionary

“A style or genre of cinematographic film marked by a mood of pessimism, fatalism, and menace. The term was originally applied (by a group of French critics) to American thriller or detective films made in the period 1944–54 and to the work of directors such as Orson Welles, Fritz Lang, and Billy Wilder.”

Britannica

“Film noir, (French: “dark film”) style of filmmaking characterized by such elements as cynical heroes, stark lighting effects, frequent use of flashbacks, intricate plots, and an underlying existentialist philosophy. The genre was prevalent mostly in American crime dramas of the post-World War II era.”

Merriam-Webster

“A type of crime film featuring cynical malevolent characters in a sleazy setting and an ominous atmosphere that is conveyed by shadowy photography and foreboding background music.”

For example, the 1941 film The Maltese Falcon, starring Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor, and based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett, is often considered the first of the film noir genre, and it premiered many of the elements described in the definitions above.

© Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images

You’ll notice in that Britannica definition, it mentions “the genre was prevalent mostly in American crime dramas of the post-World War II era,” but film noir is by no means confined to only American films, or to that post-World War II era—one need only look to the excellent British, French, and Japanese film noirs, or to the modern film noirs (the so-called “neo-noirs”) to see that is not the case. I would simply argue that the genre was perfected by American filmmakers in that post-World War II era.

Why Film Noir?

Why do I like film noir? I like the complicated characters who struggle with moral decisions and their (often disastrous) consequences; I like the intricate plots that spiderweb this way and that, never going in the direction you expect; I like that overall dangerous feeling these types of film provide, that feeling of being “in over your head”; I like how they so vividly display the struggle between (the sometimes literal) light and darkness.

I’m also just a sucker for a damn good mystery.

My Noirvember Diary (So Far)

In closing, I thought I’d share my Noirvember Letterboxd diary with you; it’s by no means definitive, and, as there’s still a few days left in the month, by no means complete—I plan on watching a couple more film noirs before month’s end.

And yes, using the definitions provided above, both Vertigo and The Night of the Hunter are very much in the film noir genre.

All of the above films are great watches (please be mindful that some content in the films may be offensive, disturbing and/or upsetting to certain viewers, so use your judgment when deciding what to watch), but I want to point out three that I think are absolute must-watches:

Laura is a taut, mesmerizing mystery box of a film noir, with an incredible script and nuanced performances. This was my first time watching this film, and I was absolutely blown away by it.

Blood Simple, the first film by Joel & Ethan Coen (of The Big Lebowski and Fargo fame), is a perfect example of neo-noir: it’s filmed in color, but the protagonists and antagonists are straight out of the film noirs of yore, finding themselves in over their heads, forced to make increasingly complicated choices, and then facing the often brutal consequences of those choices. Highly recommended for fans of Joe R. Lansdale’s crime thrillers.

Last, but not least, my favorite film noir of all time: Kiss Me Deadly. I first saw this film in a undergrad film class I took, and it’s stuck with me ever since. It’s a weird, dark, unsettling, and intense piece of Cold War paranoia with a protagonist that can be just as unscrupulous as the shadowy figures pursuing him. You’ll find echoes of this film in movies like Pulp Fiction, Repo Man, and Lost Highway, but none of them even come close to the original; in my mind, it’s a perfect movie, and a perfect film noir.

Signing Off

Well folks, that’s it for November 2023. Hope you found something from this list to enjoy.

Thanks again for stopping by and reading!

Take care, and stay strange.

—Austin

If you enjoyed this newsletter, please subscribe—you’ll get a free eBook of my short story, “Magus,” available EXCLUSIVELY for subscribers!

Subscribe now

I’d also love it if you considered checking out my new illustrated chapbook, Goodly Creatures, a weird sci-fi thriller for fans of Jeff VanderMeer and Jurassic Park.

Thanks for reading Strange & Fantastic! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Book Review Round-Up

Hey there, hi there, ho there! I hope everyone is doing well this beautiful October afternoon.

That most wonderful time of the year - Halloween! - is almost upon us, and here at the Shirey house we can hardly contain ourselves (especially my 2- and 4-year-old daughters). In preparation, I’ve been watching a mixture of my favorite horror films as well as ones I haven’t gotten around to seeing, so that’s what I’ve doing most evenings after we’ve put the girls to bed.

Other than that, I’ve been working away at my dark fantasy novel, Black Coral. Funny story about that, actually: I’d written about 32K words of the book when I hit a wall and realized I wasn’t writing the story I really wanted to tell. I took some time away from the project, then came back and tried a couple things to get back into it. There was some trial and error involved, but eventually I found my way back in, and I’m happy to say I’ve already got about 11K words down, and I’m feeling MUCH better about it as a whole. Sometimes you just got to get out of your own way and let the story tell itself.

© Pexels.com

Anyways, I wanted to do something a bit different for October’s newsletter. I’ve read some great books recently, and thought it’d be fun to do a “book review round-up” this month, as opposed to my usual format. So if you’re looking for something new to read, you’re absolutely going to love this edition of Strange & Fantastic!

(The following reviews have been arranged by author in alphabetical order.)

X’s for Eyes Laird Barron

“Brothers Macbeth and Drederick Tooms should have it made as fair-haired scions of an impossibly rich and powerful family of industrialists. Alas, life is complicated in mid-1950s USA when you’re child heirs to the throne of Sword Enterprises, a corporation that has enshrined Machiavelli’s The Prince as its operating manual and whose patriarch believes, Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds, would be a swell company logo.

Consider also those long, cruel winters at the Mountain Leopard boarding school for assassins in the Himalayas, or that Dad may be a supervillain, while an uncle occasionally slaughters his nephews and nieces for sport; and the space flight research division of Sword Enterprises “accidentally” sent a probe through a wormhole into outer darkness and contacted an alien god. Now a bloodthirsty cult and an equally vicious rival firm suspect the Tooms boys know something and will spare no expense, nor innocent life, to get their claws on them.

Between the machinations of the disciples of black gods and good old corporate skullduggery, it’s winding up to be a hell of a summer vacation for the lads.”

It’s no secret that I’m a big Laird Barron fan—his cosmic horror-infused harboiled noir Isaiah Coleridge books are some of the very best modern pulp fiction has to offer (if you haven’t read them, stop reading this and go pick them up!). X’s for Eyes is a trippy, rollicking cosmic horror riff on the pulp adventure tales and Saturday morning cartoons of yesteryear. Think Jonny Quest/The Venture Bros., but set firmly in Barron’s personal Old Leech mythos. Fans of Barron's Isaiah Coleridge series will definitely want to read this one, as there's a lot of connective tissue here. It's a blast!

They Are Cursed Like You Holley Cornetto & S.O. Green

“Escape is only one spell away…

Courtney and her friends dream of escaping Shady Acres Trailer Park, a place of broken dreams and rusted out cars. Their wishes seem to come true when Courtney meets an older woman who promises to give them their heart's desires, but as the girls wind up in over their heads, Courtney begins to doubt the older coven's intentions while she and the girl she loves drift further apart.

But there is a force at work behind the scenes, darker and more dangerous than any of them could have imagined; the Wolf is owed four rabbits, and he’s come to collect.”

Holley is a dear friend of mine and writing partner, so trust me when I say she’s THE BEST, and one of my all-time favorite writers, full stop. They Are Cursed Like You is the kind of book I could see being the next big show on Netflix. It's a dark and witchy, bloody, heartfelt, edge-of-your-seat coming of age tale filled with nuanced, relatable characters and an abundance of twists, turns, chills and thrills. Cornetto and Green remind us that all magic comes with a cost, and that cost is often ugly, but trust me on this: the couple of sleepless nights you'll give in exchange for finishing this incredible book will be well worth the trade.

Grime TimeIvy Grimes

“This edition of Tales from Between Presents features a collection of strange stories from Ivy Grimes, one of the most exciting new voices in genre fiction.”

Ivy Grimes is another writer whose work I’ve fallen in love with, and Grime Time—her debut chapbook of stories—is one of my favorite things I’ve read all year. It’s a wonderful collection of stories, in every sense of the word. Ivy’s writing effortlessly exists in that liminal space between sleeping and waking, dream and nightmare, and much like the work of Leonora Carrington and Franz Kafka—two writers with whom Grimes' style shares a lot in common—there's a beautiful strangeness to these stories that both captures your imagination and refuses to let go, almost like the lingering tendrils of a half-remembered dream. An absolute joy to read.

The Massacre at Yellow HillC.S. Humble

“When George Miller is killed in the mines of Yellow Hill, his wife and children are left to try and piece their lives back together. Tabitha Miller, George’s widow, is thrown into deeper chaos when she discovers that George’s death had nothing to do with the cave’s collapse, but was caused by some terrible predator deep within the earth. His death covered up by the mine’s Proprietor-Jeremiah Hart.

In nearby Big Spring, freed slave-turned-occult bounty hunter Gilbert Ptolemy arrives with his adopted son in search of a murderous vampire. New revelations in Yellow Hill draw the duo toward the struggling Miller family, the strange mine, and the horrors lurking within.

The Miller and Ptolemy families are pitted against mundane and supernatural forces in this Weird West adventure. Family struggles, heart-stopping gunfights, and nightmare creatures from dark realms abound in this first novel from C.S. Humble, The Massacre at Yellow Hill.”

After picking up All These Subtle Deceits, the incredible first book in Humble’s excellent Black Wells supernatural thriller series, I became a fan for life. I’ll read anything Humble writes—it’s as simple as that. And The Massacre at Yellow Hill, the first in his weird West That Light Sublime trilogy, is yet another great example why: Nobody writes harrowing, rip-roaring supernatural adventure filled with big ideas, wonderfully human characters, and bold, beautiful, emotive prose quite like Humble.

This is the only book I’ve read that somehow manages to capture the spirit of Stephen King’s Dark Tower books while remaining its own unique thing.

(P.S. You can pick up the sequel, A Red Winter in the West, now; the third and final book of the trilogy; The Light of a Black Star, releases in November. I, for one, CANNOT wait to finish the trilogy!)

The Donut LegionJoe R. Lansdale

“In this standalone, Edgar-award winning author, Joe R. Lansdale, whom "few can match" ( Booklist ) beams a light on an East Texas town where a QAnon-style, evangelist cult is brewing trouble. 

Charlie Garner has a bad feeling. His ex-wife, Meg, has been missing for over a week and one quick peek into her home shows all her possessions packed up in boxes. Neighbors claim she’s running from bill collectors, but Charlie suspects something more sinister is afoot. Meg was last seen working at the local donut shop, a business run by a shadow group most refer to as ‘The Saucer People’; a space-age, evangelist cult who believe their compound to be the site of an extraterrestrial Second Coming.
 
Along with his brother, Felix, and beautiful, randy journalist Amelia “Scrappy” Moon, Charlie uncovers strange and frightening details about the compound ( a massive, doomsday storehouse of weapons, a leashed chimpanzee!) When the body of their key informer is found dead with his arms ripped out of their sockets, Charlie knows he’s in danger but remains dogged in his quest to rescue Meg.
 
Brimming with colorful characters and Lansdale’s characteristic bounce, this rollicking crime novel examines the insidious rise of fringe groups and those under their sway with black comedy and glints of pathos.”

This is the second Joe R. Lansdale book I’ve read (and loved!) this year. (By the way, anyone wanting a southern Gothic thriller should check out his book, Moon Lake, immediately.) I’m a huge fan of writers who have their own unique voice and style, and Joe R. Lansdale’s got that in spades. His newest novel, The Donut Legion, is a funky and suspenseful crime thriller filled with wonderful, larger-than-life characters, darkly absurd situations, and crisp, snappy writing. It’s a novel only Lansdale could write.

Dark HarvestNorman Partridge

“Winner of the Bram Stoker Award and named one of the 100 Best Novels of 2006 by Publishers Weekly, Dark Harvest by Norman Patridge is a powerhouse thrill-ride with all the resonance of Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery."

Halloween, 1963. They call him the October Boy, or Ol' Hacksaw Face, or Sawtooth Jack. Whatever the name, everybody in this small Midwestern town knows who he is. How he rises from the cornfields every Halloween, a butcher knife in his hand, and makes his way toward town, where gangs of teenage boys eagerly await their chance to confront the legendary nightmare. Both the hunter and the hunted, the October Boy is the prize in an annual rite of life and death.

Pete McCormick knows that killing the October Boy is his one chance to escape a dead-end future in this one-horse town. He's willing to risk everything, including his life, to be a winner for once. But before the night is over, Pete will look into the saw-toothed face of horror—and discover the terrifying true secret of the October Boy...”

I’ve been wanting to read this book forever—I mean, just LOOK at that cover—but hadn’t gotten around to it. Usually I like to read a Halloween-themed book in October, and often re-read Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes or Roger Zelazny’s A Night in the Lonesome October, but this year I decided now was the perfect time to read Dark Harvest. And I’m SO glad I did—it’s some of the most fun I’ve had reading this year. Partridge’s style immediately draws the reader in; it’s sharp, crisp, and almost noir-ish in the way it gets right to the point—not a word is wasted. It’s a potent mix of Bradbury, Jackson, and John Carpenter, and in my opinion, deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the perennial Halloween classics I’ve mentioned above.

The Last House on Needless StreetCatriona Ward

“In a boarded-up house on a dead-end street at the edge of the wild Washington woods lives a family of three.

A teenage girl who isn’t allowed outside, not after last time.
A man who drinks alone in front of his TV, trying to ignore the gaps in his memory.
And a house cat who loves napping and reading the Bible.

An unspeakable secret binds them together, but when a new neighbor moves in next door, what is buried out among the birch trees may come back to haunt them all.”

Man, this book got under my skin. I’m not going to say much about it because I don’t want to spoil anything, but suffice it to say The Last House on Needless Street is without a doubt one of the most unsettling, and, at times, disturbing books I think I've ever read. But it also just so happens to be one of the most beautiful, heartbreaking, and hopeful books I've ever read. It's an intricately plotted, breathlessly paced, and gorgeously written novel that absolutely lives up to the hype, and I look forward to reading more of Catriona Ward in the future. A “true nerve-shredder” indeed.

Signing Off

Well folks, that’s it for October 2023. Hope you found something from this list that piqued your interest, and if you do give any or all of them a read, please let me know what you think! I’d love to hear from you.

Thanks again for stopping by and reading!

Take care, and stay strange.

—Austin

If you enjoyed this newsletter, please subscribe—you’ll get a free eBook of my short story, “Magus,” available EXCLUSIVELY for subscribers!

Subscribe now

I’d also love it if you considered checking out my new illustrated chapbook, Goodly Creatures, a weird sci-fi thriller for fans of Jeff VanderMeer and Jurassic Park.

GOODLY CREATURES Available Now

Hi there, friends! At long last, the day has finally come:

The illustrated chapbook of my weird sci-fi horror story, GOODLY CREATURES, is available NOW, only on Amazon!

GOODLY CREATURES is available in eBook ($1.99), Paperback ($6.99) and Kindle Unlimited (free for KU subscribers) formats.

I’m so excited to finally have this dream project out in the world—I really hope you enjoy it!

Click here to grab your copy today.

As always, thank YOU for your support.

Until next time, stay strange.

—Austin

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Let's Get Animated!

Hello friends, and welcome back to Strange & Fantastic!

In honor of the impending release of my illustrated chapbook, Goodly Creatures, I wanted to devote August’s newsletter to all things illustrated and animated, so we’ll (mostly) be talking comics and animated movies.

© Paramount Pictures/Nickelodeon/Point Grey Pictures

So, let’s make like a (ninja) turtle and dive in. Cowabunga!

What’s The Buzz?

We’re just a couple weeks away from the release of Goodly Creatures, and I couldn’t be more excited!

ARC readers have continued to give it great reviews, which means more than I can put into words; it’s amazing to know this weird little story and project is resonating with readers, and I can’t wait for it to be available for everyone!

Goodly Creatures releases on Tuesday, September 5, 2023, and will be available in eBook, Paperback, and Kindle Unlimited formats. If you haven’t already pre-ordered the eBook, you can do so here—it’s only $1.99!

I’ve also been steadily at work on the first draft of my dark fantasy novel, Black Coral, and I’m happy to report I’ve finished drafting Part I (“Through a Door in the World”), which ended up clocking in at 28,563 words! I took a little break after finishing this first portion (writing a novel is very much a marathon and not a sprint), but I’m gearing up to start Part II (“Somewhere Beyond a Black Rainbow”) here very soon.

Lastly, I’ve had a surreal little story published online today by Wyld Flash. Considering I’ve spent most of the year working on longform fiction, it feels great to have a brand new short story released out into the wild. You can read “Feels Like the End of the World” here.

Fuel For The Reading End

I’ve loved comic books ever since I was a kid. My dad had a big box filled with the comics he’d collected during the 70s and 80s that he kept back in our shed when I was growing up, and sometime around the time I was ten or so, he pulled it out and gave the comics to me, and I’ve been hooked ever since.

In recent years, however, with the cultural oversaturation of superheroes—especially superhero movies (I’m looking at you, Marvel)—my joy in reading superhero comics has greatly dwindled. The never-ending, constantly-recycling-everything style of modern comics has become very tiring to me. That’s not to say I still don’t enjoy superheroes or comics for that matter—I still very much do—but the pool I choose to read from has grown much, much smaller. (For anyone seeking what I consider to be the ultimate superhero comic, you need to read Robert Kirkman’s Invincible run NOW.)

That being said, I wanted to highlight two comic book series I’ve fallen in love with over the past couple months: Mike Mignola’s incredible Hellboy series, and Kevin Eastman/Tom Waltz’s wonderful Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot.

Hellboy (Mike Mignola et al., Dark Horse) © Mike Mignola/Dark Horse Comics

Hellboy, created and written by Mike Mignola, with art by Mignola and others, is one of the greatest comic book series I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. I don’t consider it to be a superhero comic at all—it’s much more in line with the pulp horror-fantasy adventures one would find in 30s pulp magazines like Weird Tales.

Mignola’s art is a wonder to behold, and while the other artists he gets to help out from time to time are great, Hellboy is at its best when Mignola is writing and drawing the series. So what’s Hellboy about? Well, imagine if Indiana Jones or Doc Savage was a half-man, half-demon ghostbuster investigating the X-Files’ most Lovecraftian cases, and you’re just scratching the surface. It’s wicked, pulse-pounding, old school pulp goodness, through and through. I’ll even go out on a limb and say Hellboy is better than Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman… (Please don’t hurt me!)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Kevin Eastman & Tom Waltz et al., IDW) © IDW Comics

Written by original TMNT creator Kevin Eastman, co-writer Tom Waltz, and illustrated by a wonderful stable of incredible artists, IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot comic book series is everything a TMNT fan could ask for and more. It expands upon the original Eastman & Laird Mirage comics era of TMNT while adding in elements from beloved the 1987 animated series and the films that followed to create what is ostensibly the definitive comic book version of our heroes in a half shell.

Yes, there are definitely superhero elements to the series (the original TMNT began as a loving indie satire of Big Two superhero books, after all), but thankfully it feels so much more different from the standard Marvel or DC fare that’s everywhere nowadays—probably because it feels like Eastman and Waltz are trying to tell a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end instead of infinitely rebooting the status quo.

IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a high-concept, action-packed, yet ultimately character-driven series that blends heart, humor, science fiction, superheroes, and even some mysticism into a colorful whole that has brought HUGE smiles to this jaded comic book fan’s face time and time again.

Viewfinder General

I was born in 1987, so I literally grew up with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Some of my most vivid memories from my childhood involve waking up to find my parents had surprised me with a new TMNT action figure; I played for hours and hours on end with those figures (for the record, Leonardo’s my favorite, because SWORDS, and also blue is my favorite color). I say all this to point out that yes, I’m a BIG TMNT fan. I’m drawn to weird, wacky, absurd things, and that’s exactly what the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are, so they hold a special place in my heart, and probably always will.

But when I first heard they were making a new TMNT movie, I was not excited. I thought it was just another cash grab (we’re living in a time of endless regurgitation of IP and endless nostalgia), and after the abominations that are the Michael Bay-produced TMNT films, I wanted nothing to do with another TMNT movie.

Until I saw the first trailer for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.

I was hooked right away. The art style—which, according to director Jeff Rowe (The Mitchells vs. Machines), was meant to mimic the doodles a high school kid might scratch in their notebooks during class—was mesmerizing and vibrant, and the more I looked into who was behind the new film (Rowe, Seth Rogen, Ayo Edebiri and a host of other wonderful actors, plus Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross on soundtrack duties), the more excited I became. Add to that the fact that for the first time ever, the Turtles would be voiced by actual teenagers, and Mutant Mayhem quickly became my most anticipated film of 2023.

I was not disappointed. Mutant Mayhem leans into the absurdity and weirdness inherent at the heart of the franchise with a truly youthful glee; but it’s also extremely well-written, and incredibly animated. It’s a rare film filled with both big-screen spectacle and small-screen heart, and I dare you to leave the theater without a big stupid grin on your face.

It is, hands down, the best Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film yet.

Next up is Nintendo and Illumination’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie. I watched this with my four-year-old daughter, and we absolutely loved it.

It’s essentially a fairy tale, where down-on-their-luck Brooklyn plumber brothers Mario and Luigi are sucked through a portal into the Mushroom Kingdom, a fantastical land under attack by a beastly power-hungry turtle named Bowser; they must team up with the resourceful Princess Peach to stop him and save not only the Mushroom Kingdom, but our world as well.

The voice cast is great, the humor is actually funny, and the story has a timeless quality to it that I wasn’t expecting for a movie based on a video game. Even more impressive is how the makers of The Super Mario Bros. Movie use elements from the games in ways that are subtle and organic and actually serve the plot and characters, as opposed to just being nostalgia-fueled Easter eggs.

This movie, like Mutant Mayhem, isn’t just a cash grab, folks—it’s a genuinely fun, fantastic, and truly enjoyable movie for all ages filled with stunning animation: I’ve paused some of the scenes while re-watching just to take in what I was seeing, it was so beautifully rendered.

Also, Jack Black’s “Peaches” song is an earworm for the ages.

TV On The Radio Motorhead summons Godzilla to annihilate Earth…

For those wondering how I’d tie a music review into the illustration/animation theme of this month’s newsletter, take a gander at the art for King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s newest album, PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation (yes, it’s a mouthful).

This album is AWESOME. It’s a concept record (if you couldn’t tell by the ridiculous and ridiculously long title) about the climate change apocalypse and involves Godzilla-esque giant lizard kaiju. Musically, the album sounds just as ridiculous: imagine if Motorhead and Venom teamed up with Tool and was fronted by the lead singer of The Animals, and you’ll get an idea of what I’m talking about.

Signing Off

Well folks, that’s it for August 2023. Thanks again for stopping by and reading!

Take care, and stay strange.

—Austin

If you enjoyed this newsletter, please subscribe—you’ll get a free eBook of my short story, “Magus,” available EXCLUSIVELY for subscribers!

Subscribe now

I’d also love it if you considered checking out my debut chapbook from Alien Buddha Press, The Magic of Everyday Things, which consists of four short stories where the magical becomes increasingly inseparable from the mundane.

A Door into Mars

Hello friends, and welcome back to Strange & Fantastic!

I hope everyone’s July is going well. I’m switching things up with the newsletter this month as I’ve been busy working on my dark fantasy novel, Black Coral. Below you’ll find a couple updates, then a first for the newsletter: A flash fiction story from my archives, never-before-released!

Some Quick Updates

Speaking of Black Coral—I officially started writing the first draft about two weeks ago, and I’m happy to report I’ve already got 16,365 words down so far! Writing is going well, and I’m very excited about it. It’s going to be a long haul—more of a marathon than a sprint—so I’m just making sure I’m consistently putting my butt in the chair to do the work. This is definitely the biggest project I’ve attempted yet, which is equal parts exhilarating and daunting, but I’m having fun, which I’d argue is the most important thing, especially when getting a first draft down.

In other news, the eBook of my illustrated chapbook, Goodly Creatures, is now available for pre-order here, for only $1.99! The eBook, Paperback, and Kindle Unlimited versions of the chapbook will be available via Amazon on September 5, 2023.

If anyone is interested in reading an ARC (“Advanced Reader’s Copy”) of Goodly Creatures in exchange for writing up an honest review on Goodreads, you can do that here.

I’m so thankful for the handful of readers who have already taken the time to read and review the chapbook so far! Here’s what they’ve been saying:

Delightful…well written…unique… —Josh Romrell

Beautifully written…shocking and fascinating…highly recommend[ed]… —Nelli Lakatos

…absolutely weird and original…beautiful illustrations…Recommended… —Anastacia

Such a fun and interesting read…awesome illustrations by Pat Hughes… —visceralreads

Short and sweet!… —Brittni Quintana

A Story From The Archives Image © Mark Garlic, Science Source / WIRED.com

The following flash fiction story rough draft was written about three years ago as an exercise for one my MFA classes. We were supposed to write a story revolving around a door, and since I was reading Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles at the time, I came up with a story of two teenagers who find a door in the woods that leads to the Mars of Bradbury’s classic book. While I never did anything further with this story, it did plant the seeds in my head of what would eventually become the novel I’m working on now—Black Coral. So, without further ado, I hope you will enjoy The Doorway…

The Doorway

Leonard followed Wanda through the broken old shack’s waterlogged front door and into a bright, new landscape. Rock outcroppings rose from the red sands before him in magnificent formations; the color of the sky seemed to waver between cerulean and violet; two moons shone brightly down over everything. The air was thinner than it had been on the other side of the door, and he realized he felt lighter, too. It wasn’t terrible, actually. Just took some getting used to.

Wanda’s sneakers crunched through the crimson sand covering the ground as she moved quickly up into a rock formation that reminded Leonard of one of those massive waves he’d seen surfers riding through in Hawaii. She climbed into the outcropping and pulled out a six-pack of Bud Light she’d hidden behind some rocks, along with a pack of Marlboros and a lighter. She patted the rock where she was sitting, flashing Leonard a bright smile from behind her black hair.

Leonard climbed up and sat down next to her, taking the can of beer she offered him and popping the tab as she did the same. They clinked their cans together and took a drink. The beer was warm, but still frothy, and good. He took another sip and looked out from under the rock formation: there was nothing green—or anything not red or blue-violet—in every direction, as far as the eye could see. Nothing but the sand, the sky, and the doorframe they’d walked through. He could still see the woods just beyond the door where it cracked open a little.

Wanda lit up a cigarette and offered Leonard one. He waved it away; he was enjoying the beer.

“This really is badass,” he said.

Wanda blew smoke from her nose and nodded. “Hell, yeah, it is. The perfect place to get away from home. Have some smokes, drink some beers.” She smiled at him. “Make out a bit.”

“Hell, yeah,” Leonard said and kissed her on the mouth. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and they stayed like that for a long while.

Eventually they pulled apart, and Wanda lit another cigarette while Leonard guzzled the remainder of his beer. He crinkled the aluminum can in his hand, then looked around.

“Just toss it,” Wanda said, indicating the red desert around them. “That’s what I’ve been doing.”

Leonard noticed the half-buried remnants of other beer cans radiating out from the edge of the rock formation and shrugged. He tossed the can into the sand.

“I still can’t believe no one else knows about this,” he said, popping the tab on another beer. He wrapped his arm around Wanda’s shoulders. She flicked her cigarette out into the sand and took a sip of her own beer, then nuzzled under his neck. She smelled like Irish Spring; he loved her scent.

“Don’t think anyone comes back here except us,” she said. “Far as I knew, there was nothing back here, until last week.”

“Where do you think we are?”

“No idea.” She pointed up at the two moons. “Nowhere back home, though. That’s for sure.”

“Yeah. I’d say Far out, but that feels like an understatement.”

“You’re such a dork, Len.”

“What does that make you, then? You’re dating me.”

“Not much longer, you keep making jokes like that.”

“Ouch.”

“Oh, shut up and kiss me, dork.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

When they pulled apart again, something in the distance caught Leonard’s eye. He tensed.

“What?” Wanda asked, feeling his arm stiffen around her neck.

“Look,” he said quietly, pointing of towards the horizon.

Wanda followed his finger, squinting. Something seemed to be fluttering in the breeze, several hundred yards away from them, on top of a red dune.

“What is it?”

Leonard shrugged. “Can’t really tell.”

The fluttering thing seemed to slowly coalesce into something like a dark red cloak. As Leonard and Wanda watched, a tall, slender person with dark skin appeared, filling in the cloak. A strange, featureless mask covered the person’s face; bright golden eyes flashed from behind it. The stranger gripped a long, thin metal pole or pipe of some sort with both hands.

Before Leonard or Wanda could said anything, the stranger moved toward them, gliding gracefully over the crimson sand like a ghost on a breeze.

Leonard squeezed Wanda close.

The stranger stopped a couple yards away from their outcropping, golden eyes blazing.

“Um,” Leonard said. “What are—”

The stranger moved lithely, reaching out with the thin metal pipe it held and tapping the top of a beer can peeking out of the sand.

“Oh,” Wanda said. “Sorry, I can—”

Filthy intruders.

Leonard and Wanda stiffened. It had been a voice, clear as day, only it seemed to come from inside their heads.

“Did you say something?” Leonard whispered to her.

“No. I thought you did?”

Leonard shook his head. They both stared at the stranger in the flowing dark red cloak and strange mask with the blazing golden eyes.

Leonard thought the eyes looked angry.

“We’ll, uh, we’ll just head on back, then,” Wanda said, nudging Leonard to get to his feet.

“Yeah,” Leonard said, standing, and pulling Wanda up with him. “Sorry to intrude or whatever. We didn’t know this place was—”

Ruining one planet isn’t enough for you? You had to come here and ruin ours, too?

“What?” Wanda said. “No! Wait—planet?”

Mars.

The stranger brought the long metal pipe to its shoulder and fired, twice. Two golden bee-sized things blazed in the light of Mars’ two suns, filling the air with a high-pitched buzzing before blowing bits of skull and brain matter out the back of both Leonard and Wanda’s heads.

Their bodies slumped to ground, the red sand eagerly drinking up their blood as it pooled around them.

The Martian stood over them. It turned and saw the doorframe they’d come from.

Brothers, the Martian called in his mind. Sisters. I’ve found a way in...

Signing Off

Well folks, that’s it for July 2023. Thanks again for stopping by and reading!

Take care, and stay strange.

—Austin

If you enjoyed this newsletter, please subscribe—you’ll get a free eBook of my short story, “Magus,” available EXCLUSIVELY for subscribers!

Subscribe now

I’d also love it if you considered checking out my debut chapbook from Alien Buddha Press, The Magic of Everyday Things, which consists of four short stories where the magical becomes increasingly inseparable from the mundane.

GOODLY CREATURES Pre-Order

Hey there, friends!

Today’s the day: Pre-orders are LIVE for the eBook version of my Goodly Creatures chapbook!

Goodly Creatures will be releasing in eBook, Kindle Unlimited, and Paperback formats via Amazon on September 5th, 2023. You can pre-order the eBook HERE now for only $1.99; Paperback ($6.99) and KU (free for KU subscribers) formats will be available on release day.

The world is on fire.

The last remaining mega-corporation works its employees to the bone to hold us back from the very brink of calamity.

But what if the very things we believe to be our salvation are actually the harbingers of our doom?

In this shocking and surreal glimpse of humanity’s not-so-distant, climate-ravaged future, a beleaguered engineer at a monolithic biotech company must track down an elusive biosynthetic creature after it escapes containment and begins wreaking havoc throughout the facility.

Contains illustrations by Pat Hughes and a bonus story set in the same universe.

As always, thanks so much for reading.

Take care, and stay strange.

—Austin

Pre-Order GOODLY CREATURES eBook

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Refilling the "Creative Tank"

Hello, and welcome back to Strange & Fantastic!

June is here, and the temperature is steadily rising, which means we should all be staying hydrated, right?

Glass half empty, or…?

Well, as I continue work on my current writing project, I’m finding that the creative process—or my creative process, at least—has way more in common with hydration than I thought.

But first, some news!

What’s The Buzz?

In last month’s newsletter, I mentioned I’d been working on a “super secret” self-publishing project for the last year or so, and I provided a tease of the cover art. I also promised to reveal the FULL cover to you, my loyal newsletter subscribers, in June—a whole month before the project will be revealed to the world when it’s available for pre-order!

So, without further ado, here you go:

The world is on fire.

The last remaining mega-corporation works its employees to the bone to hold us back from the very brink of calamity.

But what if the very things we believe to be our salvation are actually the harbingers of our doom?

In this shocking and surreal glimpse of humanity’s not-so-distant, climate-ravaged future, a beleaguered engineer at a monolithic biotech company must track down an elusive biosynthetic creature after it escapes containment and begins wreaking havoc throughout the facility.

Contains illustrations and a bonus story set in the same universe.

Goodly Creatures is an illustrated chapbook containing two of my short stories set in a sci-fi horror milieu I like to call the “KindCorp Mythos.” The cover and interior illustrations were done by the incomparable Pat Hughes, an illustrator and toy designer whose vibrant work has appeared in Jeff VanderMeer’s Wonderbook, among others.

The chapbook will be available September 5th, 2023 through Amazon, in both Kindle eBook and paperback formats. (It will also be available free on Kindle Unlimited for all KU subscribers.) Pre-orders for the Kindle version will go live in early July, with the paperback version available on release day.

To say I am beyond excited for Goodly Creatures to be out in the world would be the epitome of an understatement: this project has been a labor of love a year or more in the making, and I am over the moon I get to share it with you all so soon.

Also, I’ll be looking for early reviewers to drum up some pre-release buzz, so if you’re interested in getting an ARC of Goodly Creatures to review, please don’t hesitate to reach out!

Fuel For The Reading Writing End

So, hydration and the creative process…they’re actually not quite as dissimilar as you might think.

Think about it: When our bodies get hot, we sweat, releasing the water stored in our body. If we aren’t drinking water to replenish the water we’ve lost, we become dehydrated, which can leave us feeling pretty crappy.

Likewise, as writers (I’d even venture as far to say that probably any creative, really), when we’re creating, building our stories up and out and putting words on the page, we’re draining that “creative tank” inside of us, so to speak, and if we’re not refilling that tank, that wellspring of imagination, well, I know I at least start to feel really crappy. Tired. Depressed. Stuck. Joyless. Uninspired.

For me, personally, those last two are the worst: Joyless and Uninspired. I write because it brings me joy; I love telling stories. I’m inspired by telling stories as much as I’m inspired by being told stories. So I’ve found that while I’m knee-deep in the writing process—like I am at the moment, working on my Black Coral horror/dark fantasy project—and draining my creative tank, I need to be steadily refilling it as I go along. And for me, the best way to do that is to read as much as I possibly can when I’m not actually writing at my computer or notebook.

It’s like stopping to drink spring water right from the source while hiking up a rugged mountain path.

When I’m working on a project, I usually like to read things in the same genre of—or at least adjacent to—whatever it is I’m writing. I find it inspires me, providing me ideas of what I want to do or don’t want to do, as well as keeping me excited about my project, reminding me of why I wanted to tell this story in the first place. It also helps me build a vocabulary of sorts—not of words, exactly (though that’s part of it), but of techniques, even structures, specific to the writing I’m doing. And last, but certainly not least, reading similar things reminds me that there are crazier things out there than what I’m working on, which gives me a much-needed boost of confidence to be bold in what I’m doing, to let my imagination run wild.

Okay, so, that’s kind of all over the place; sometimes I have trouble getting my thoughts out as clearly as I’d like. I think Matt Bell, one of my favorite authors, says it much more succinctly in his excellent, indispensable guide to writing novels, Refuse to Be Done, in the section regarding what he calls the “Art Life” (pages 27-29):

“Every novel I’ve written gradually accrued a project-specific foundation of other art: novels and short stories, poems and plays and essays, movies and music and visual art, all of which somehow felt in conversation with the book I was writing…

Finding your art foundation will help you see how your book already has its fellows in the world, ancestors and companions to help guide you on your way. There’s inspiration in this, and confidence and community and conversation. Some of my failed novels didn’t work out because they never found their own invigorating community…

The bigger you make your art life, the more possibilities your imagination will generate… Without a constant input of art, I stop wanting to make my own. I think that’s a pretty common experience. So, keep yourself fed, keep your diet varied, keep putting enough art in so that art keeps flowing back out.”

All of that to say, I thought I’d take a moment here to share some of the things I’ve been reading as I work on Black Coral:

Since I’m envisioning Black Coral as a mashup of horror and dark fantasy, on the darker end of the spectrum I’ve been re-visiting the beautifully grotesque Hellscapes in Nathan Ballingrud’s excellent collection Wounds: Six Stories from the Border of Hell, as well as diving into Clive Barker’s Cabal and Brian McNaughton’s The Throne of Bones for the very first time, all of which mix horror and dark fantasy in really unique ways, and are certainly not for the faint of heart.

On the lighter end of the spectrum, I’ve been reading a lot of portal fantasy—books like The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis, and the AMAZING Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire (I’ve seriously fallen head over heels in love with these books!)—since portal fantasy is actually a big part of Black Coral’s DNA.

(Just, instead of my characters wandering through a wardrobe into a relatively pleasant fantasy land, they get trapped in a horrific, Hellish realm filled with all manner of monsters and dark magic. You know, really happy stuff.)

Viewfinder General

Despite being an avid horror fan, I’m not a huge slasher fan, but I do enjoy them from time to time, with the original 1978 Halloween being my favorite, followed closely by the first Scream. In fact, the Scream series has the distinction of being the ONLY slasher franchise where I’ve actually watched—and to for the most part, enjoyed—every entry. I’m a big fan of how smartly written and meta the Scream films are, as well as how, in my opinion, they’re more classic “whodunit” films with bloody slasher elements than outright slasher movies, which—again, this is just my opinion—makes them a hell of a lot more fun than your typical slasher fare.

I loved 2022’s Scream reboot/sequel (“requel”), and I’m happy to report that this year’s Scream IV is even better. Scream IV is a phenomenal continuation of the previous film, with snappy writing, great characters (old and new), and some stellar set pieces. It had me laughing and freaking out in equal measure while providing hilarious commentary on Hollywood’s current obsession with franchise films, and, perhaps most impressively, it kept me guessing whodunit to the bloody, bloody end.

TV On The Radio A Son of Northern Darkness returns…

The end of May 2023 saw the release of one of my most anticipated albums of the year: War Against All, by Immortal.

I’ve mentioned before that Immortal is my favorite black metal band of all time, but it’s worth noting that starting with their 2018 album Northern Chaos Gods, my favorite member of the band, Abbath (lead vocals and guitars), is out of the picture, currently making music with his namesake band (which you should totally check out—Abbath, Outstrider, and Dread Reaver are all incredible albums!). And as of 2019, with the departure of longtime drummer Horgh, Immortal is now down to sole remaining member Demonaz, who provides vocals and guitars for War Against All, with bass and drums provided by members of Enslaved and Gaahl’s Wyrd, respectively.

Demonaz—er, excuse me—Immortal mostly hits it out of the park with War Against All. It’s full of blizzard fury and memorable tunes, all of varying intensity and tempos, with only two missteps, in my opinion, where I lose interest (the lumbering “Wargod” and the plodding instrumental “Nordlandhir”). Despite these hiccups, compared to the previous album, Northern Chaos Gods—where I only really connected with two or three tracks, and whose production felt pretty muddied—War Against All is fantastic; it’s a solid return to form and a welcome addition to the Immortal discography, picking up somewhere around where Demonaz left off with 1997’s Blizzard Beasts. Highly recommended!

Signing Off

Well folks, that’s it for June 2023. What have YOU been reading/watching/listening to? What did you think of the recommendations in this month’s newsletter? Do you have any suggestions, comments, grievances? I’d love to hear from you.

Thanks again for stopping by and reading!

Take care, and stay strange.

—Austin

Big News, Super Secret Project Tease, & Three New Book Recs

Hello, and welcome back to Strange & Fantastic!

I can’t believe it’s May already—2023 is really flying by. I’ve got some big news to share with you this month, as well as some recommendations I’m really excited about, so let’s jump right in!

What’s The Buzz? Image © Disney/Lucasfilm

I am your father. (Just kidding.)

Ahem. So, my Big News: This past Friday night I officially signed the publishing contract for my very first novella, a New Weird fantasy noir called City of Spores, which will be released by the awesome Madness Heart Press sometime in 2024!

I’m so thankful to Madness Heart Press and to their managing editor, John Baltisberger, for picking up City of Spores, and I CANNOT wait for it to be out in the world. I’ll be sure to provide updates as they come, through this newsletter and my socials (Twitter and Instagram), so be sure to give me a follow if you haven’t already!

But wait—there’s more.

Over the past year I’ve been working on a super secret project that officially wrapped last month. Without giving too much away before it’s time, I can tell you I will be self-publishing the project later this year. In the meantime, I wanted to give you, my newsletter subscribers, a tease of the cover:

Such a tease…

And next month, in June, you’ll get the FULL cover reveal—a whole month before the project is revealed in full to the world!

This project has been near and dear to me for a while now, and I am so excited I get to reveal it to you all very, very soon.

Besides those two announcements, I’d like to once again plug my debut collection, The Magic of Everyday Things, which was released by Alien Buddha Press this past April.

Do you believe in magic?

If you haven’t gotten a copy yet, it’s only available in paperback from Amazon.

I still have some signed copies left, which you can get from my Etsy shop—but they will only be available for one more week!

Fuel For The Reading End

There are a TON of great books coming out this month, all vying for your attention, but there are three specific releases I wanted to highlight in this month’s newsletter because they’re written by three of my incredibly talented friends. (You can check out my other recent book reviews on my blog, here.)

The Disappearance of Tom Nero (May 16)

First up we’ve got The Disappearance of Tom Nero, a horror novelette by TJ Price, releasing from Spooky House Press on May 16th:

The Disappearance of Tom Nero concerns a young man's investigation into the impossible disappearance of a friend. As he learns more about the circumstances and searches for answers, the re-emergence of a metatextual horror from legend puts not only him, but his new lover, in jeopardy.

The story explores themes of contagious and invasive thoughts, disappearances, as well as the relationship between reality and the written word. It is uniquely structured, with a variety of clues hidden in the text for the savvy reader-but beware, for the horror might not only affect the characters in the story...it may also affect the reader themselves.

I haven’t read the book yet, but I’m a BIG fan of TJ’s work in general (and TJ himself!), so this is an insta-buy/insta-read for me. TJ has an incredible gift for writing unsettling, dream-like stories filled with crisp, lyrical prose. I’m beyond excited to finally get this in my hands and to see how TJ fuses metatextual experimentation with his wonderfully emotive style.

Hungers as Old as This Land (May 17)

Next we’ve got Hungers as Old as This Land, a Weird Western novella by Zachary Rosenberg, releasing from Brigids Gate Press on May 17th:

The settlement of Grey's Bluffs is a prosperous town. An independent community dwelling in the shadows of the mountains known only as The Hungers.

Esther Foxman and Siobhan O'Clery have grown up in Grey's Bluffs, thriving out on the western territories in the aftermath of the Civil War. Devoted to one another and their home, the two set out to complete a regular pact at the Hungers to ensure that Grey's Bluffs continues to prosper.

Cyril Redstone is a man who knows death well. Becoming a mercenary after the Civil War, Cyril leads the marauding Blackhawks from one slaughter to the next. Hired to destroy Grey's Bluffs, Cyril cares little for morality, nor that he owes its founder his life.

Esther and Siobhan are left to defend the only home they have ever known from the Blackhawks, their confrontation driving them deep into the mountains.

Where the darkest secrets of the Hungers await them.

Zach is a dear friend and one of my favorite writers, and Hungers as Old as This Land showcases everything I love about his writing. It’s a vengeful, bullet-riddled and blood-splattered excoriation of anti-Semitism, colonialism, and American greed wrapped up in a fast-paced Weird West package boasting not one but TWO kick-ass main characters. If you want action, scares, plenty of blood, and yes, even a timely examination of more-than-relevant themes, you are not going to want to miss this book!

Chasing Devils (May 30)

Finally we have Chasing Devils, a mystery/thriller novel by B.C. Lienesch, releasing May 30th:

Jackson Clay has been many things to law enforcement in his time helping those who have fallen through society’s cracks: Witness. Ally. Asset. But there’s one thing he’s never been…

The prime suspect.

Until now.

When his ex-wife, Nathalie, is brutally killed along a lonely stretch of highway outside Washington, DC, all evidence points to Jackson. To clear his name and grieve the only woman he’s ever truly loved, Jackson thrusts himself head-first into the investigation. But what he learns may be even more heartbreaking than Nathalie’s death.

In the weeks leading up to her death, Nathalie received a phone call. The caller? Dale Jeffers—the very man incarcerated for the death of Nathalie and Jackson’s late son, Evan. His message? He didn’t kill Evan.

Now, Jackson must solve not one but two mysteries. Who killed Nathalie? And who is really to blame for his son’s death some fifteen years ago? The search for these and other truths will rip open old wounds and force Jackson to grapple again with a darkness he thought he’d put behind him.

But that same darkness is where the ultimate evil lurks. And it’s waiting, ready to strike should Jackson Clay get too close…

Chasing Devils is the third book in the Jackson Clay & Bear Beauchamp thriller series, so you’ll definitely get more out of it if you’ve read the first two books (The Woodsman and Country Roads, respectively), but each book also works nicely as a self-contained novel.

Now, full disclosure: I edited Chasing Devils (and Country Roads). I’m obviously super biased, but I’m truly a big fan of this series—I wanted to work on the books because I enjoyed them so much. Lienesch has a knack for anchoring his intense action sequences in fully-realized settings through simple, crisp prose; he’s also great at creating characters you can’t help but love and root for, and nowhere is that more true than Chasing Devils. So if you’re looking for a good read that will have you fully invested in the characters while keeping you on the edge of your seat with pulse-pounding twists and turns, I’d highly recommend grabbing a copy!

(Note: Pre-order info for Chasing Devils will be available soon on the author’s website and socials.)

Viewfinder General

My wife and I are big fantasy nerds, so we were both really excited for the new Dungeons & Dragons movie. I’m happy to report that we were NOT disappointed: Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is an absolute blast from start to finish. This a genuinely fun (and at times surprisingly heartfelt) character-driven fantasy adventure movie with its tongue firmly in cheek. It’s not trying to be Game of Thrones or The Lord of the Rings or Conan the Barbarian; its closest comp would be The Princess Bride (which the writers/directors even mentioned as a direct influence), but this is very much its own gloriously goofy gem of a film.

Some other current favorites: Tetris (Apple TV); Ted Lasso (Apple TV); Barry (HBO); and Star Wars: Visions (Disney+).

TV On The Radio Black metal for immortal battles

My favorite black metal band of all time is Immortal. Something about their blistering, blizzard-like mix of ice cold guitar riffs, battle-obsessed lyrics (based in a fantasy realm of their own creation, of course), and the demonic frog-croak screams of bassist-vocalist (later guitarist-vocalist) Abbath Doom Occulta scratched a particular itch I didn’t even know I had.

Which brings me to Los Angeles, California’s Lamp of Murmuur, and their newest album, Saturnian Bloodstorm. From the first note of the first riff to the last note of the last riff, Saturnian Bloodstorm is a love letter to Immortal. But that’s not to say it’s a rip off, or just an album’s worth of Immortal worship; no, like the best works of art, Saturnian Bloodstorm pays homage to what has come before while being uniquely its own thing.

Lamp of Murmuur’s sole member M. brings a modern, grooving approach to True Norwegian Black Metal, mixing it with riffs that would make Finnish black metal bands proud while keeping the (icy) heart of each song rooted in the Venom- and Bathory-inspired rock ‘n’ roll attitude of the genre’s forebears.

Simply put: Saturnian Bloodstorm is a black metal record that will transport you to a bleak and blackened realm where grim and frostbitten warriors are forever locked in never-ending warfare.

Signing Off

Well folks, that’s it for May 2023. What have YOU been reading/watching/listening to? What did you think of the recommendations in this month’s newsletter? Do you have any suggestions, comments, grievances? I’d love to hear from you, so feel free to message me.

Thanks again for stopping by and reading. If you haven’t already subscribed, please do so—you’ll get a free eBook copy of my short story, “Magus,” available EXCLUSIVELY for subscribers!

Take care, and stay strange.

—Austin

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