Robin Spriggs's Blog, page 4

“The Xenambulist: A Fable in Four Acts”

My latest tale (see title above) can be found within the pages of The Grimscribe’s Puppets, the Thomas Ligotti tribute anthology edited by the inimitable Joseph S. Pulver Sr.

Additional grim scribbles are provided by the following marionettes, no (visible) strings attached: Robert M. Price, Michael Cisco, Darrell Schweitzer, Gemma Files, Jeffrey Thomas, Livia Llewellyn, John Langan, Daniel Mills, Kaaron Warren, Joel Lane, Nicole Cushing, Cody Goodfellow, Michael Griffin, Scott Nicolay, Michael Kelly, Eddie M. Angerhuber, Jon Padgett, Richard Gavin, Simon Strantzas, Paul Tremblay, and Allyson Bird.

The Grimscribe’s Puppets is available from the publisher, Miskatonic River Press, as well as from the following on-line venders: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Book Depository.

Thanks for reading, friends.

Ä’Zma’n-d’Rüm!

The Xenambulist: A Fable in Four Acts

My latest tale (see title above) can be found within the pages of The Grimscribe’s Puppets, the Thomas Ligotti tribute anthology edited by the inimitable Joseph S. Pulver Sr.

Additional grim scribbles are provided by the following marionettes, no (visible) strings attached: Robert M. Price, Michael Cisco, Darrell Schweitzer, Gemma Files, Jeffrey Thomas, Livia Llewellyn, John Langan, Daniel Mills, Kaaron Warren, Joel Lane, Nicole Cushing, Cody Goodfellow, Michael Griffin, Scott Nicolay, Michael Kelly, Eddie M. Angerhuber, Jon Padgett, Richard Gavin, Simon Strantzas, Paul Tremblay, and Allyson Bird.

The Grimscribe’s Puppets is available from the publisher, Miskatonic River Press, as well as from the following on-line venders: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Book Depository.

Thanks for reading, friends.

Ä’Zma’n-d’Rüm!

You Say You Want a Revolution

Coming right up. NBC’S Revolution returns for the second half of season one on March 25, 2013. And a bit later—sometime in early May—be sure to watch for yours truly as  the decidedly unpleasant Captain Franco. The Monroe Republic is counting on you. And, yes, there will be a quiz.

Join “The Dance” in the Latest Issue of “Lovecraft eZINE”

Quite a few readers (and bless their hearts for caring) have complained that none of my work is available in electronic format.  This news is for them.

“The Dance”—one of my little prose poems/nano fables/micro tales—awaits your perusal in issue #22 of the always stellar Lovecraft eZine, accompanied by a delightfully macabre illustration from a certain Nick “The Hat” Gucker.

Edited by Mike Davis, this issue of Lovecraft eZine also includes stories by Samantha Henderson, Simon Kurt Unsworth, Don Webb, Joe Nazare, David Conyers and John Goodrich, as well as art by Steve Santiago, Adam Baker, Robert Elrod, and Dominic Black.

And for those who prefer listening to reading, an audio edition of the entire issue—elocuted by Chaz Engan, Morgan Scorpion, Vincent LaRosa, Lou Columbus, and David Binks—is available directly from Lovecraft eZine.

Thanks for reading, friends.

Ä’Zma’n-d’Rüm!

Join “The Dance” in the Latest Issue of LOVECRAFT EZINE

Quite a few readers (and bless their hearts for caring) have complained that none of my work is available in electronic format.  This news is for them.

“The Dance”—one of my little prose poems/nano fables/micro tales—awaits your perusal in issue #22 of the always stellar Lovecraft eZine, accompanied by a delightfully macabre illustration from a certain Nick “The Hat” Gucker.

Edited by Mike Davis, this issue of Lovecraft eZine also includes stories by Samantha Henderson, Simon Kurt Unsworth, Don Webb, Joe Nazare, David Conyers and John Goodrich, as well as art by Steve Santiago, Adam Baker, Robert Elrod, and Dominic Black.

And for those who prefer listening to reading, an audio edition of the entire issue—elocuted by Chaz Engan, Morgan Scorpion, Vincent LaRosa, Lou Columbus, and David Binks—is available directly from Lovecraft eZine.

Thanks for reading, friends.

Ä’Zma’n-d’Rüm!

“Swamp Dreams” Lives!

And remembers. And stalks the rain-drenched night of southern Appalachia. But don’t take my word for it; seek out the monster yourself in the fourth issue of Phantasmagorium, Gorgon Press’s quarterly journal of the literary fantastique.

In addition to being my latest published story, “Swamp Dreams” also serves as an excerpt (and puzzle piece) from the ever-elusive but nonetheless forthcoming book, The Untold Tales of Ozman Droom.

Edited by Joe Pulver and featuring the artwork and graphic design of J. D. Busch, Phantasmagorium #4 also includes fiction by Ken Asamatsu, Daniel Mills, Jayaprakash Satyamurthy, and Jeffrey Thomas; poetry by Kristine Ong Muslim; an interview with Ross Lockhart, Managing Editor of Night Shade Books; and a monstrously gorgeous illustration of “Swamp Dreams” by Rob Macabre Smits.

For readers who have expressed a desire to acquire my work in electronic format, this is your first opportunity. If, however, print remains your medium of choice, a trade paperback edition of Phantasmagorium #4 will soon be available from Amazon and directly from Gorgon Press.

Thanks for reading, friends.

Ä’Zma’n-d’Rüm!

“Would-Be Selves”

Come along, my would-be selves, and let us live a life, if for no other reason than to say, when it is over, that we did.

Think of all the loves and hates we will temporarily adopt, all the troubles and delights we will foster into being, all the laughter and the tears we will cause and quell alike, the days we will wake to and waste, the nights we will dream in and forget, the children we will make and mar, the parents we will thrill and bury, and all the silly things we will wear along the way, the hairstyles and habiliments, the passions and opinions, the banners and boredoms and outrageous beliefs. How mad it all will be. How mad and miraculous and not to be missed.

So come along, my would-be selves, and let us live a life, if for no other reason than to say, when it is over: “How ridiculous and wonderful it was.”

———

Painting (“The Intrigue”) by James Ensor, 1890

Would-Be Selves

Come along, my would-be selves, and let us live a life, if for no other reason than to say, when it is over, that we did.

Think of all the loves and hates we will temporarily adopt, all the troubles and delights we will foster into being, all the laughter and the tears we will cause and quell alike, the days we will wake to and waste, the nights we will dream in and forget, the children we will make and mar, the parents we will thrill and bury, and all the silly things we will wear along the way, the hairstyles and habiliments, the passions and opinions, the banners and boredoms and outrageous beliefs. How mad it all will be. How mad and miraculous and not to be missed.

So come along, my would-be selves, and let us live a life, if for no other reason than to say, when it is over: “How ridiculous and wonderful it was.”

———

Painting (“The Intrigue”) by James Ensor, 1890

To Every “Thing” a Season

“There’s this book,” he said, “called A Season in Carcosa. It just got here. By ‘here’ I mean this place that most folks call the world. Where it came from, I couldn’t tell you. Some say from the shores of Lake Hali, others from the cloudy depths of dim and forgotten Demhe. Anyway, this book, it’s got a bunch of writin’ in it—stories and a poem or two—that’ll change the shape of your soul. If you believe in that kind of thing. Souls and change, I mean. And even if you don’t, it don’t really matter, ’cause it’ll do what it does just the same. ‘Cause that’s the way it is, this book. If you know what I mean. And even if you don’t. If you know what I mean. Ad in-effin’-finitum.”

In addition to “Salvation in Yellow,” my Southern Gothic meditation on madness, the Bible, and “divine” intervention, this long-awaited anthology, edited by Joseph S. Pulver Sr., boasts the following table of contents:

“My Voice is Dead” by Joel Lane
“Beyond the Banks of the River Seine” by Simon Strantzas
“Movie Night at Phil’s” by Don Webb
“MS Found in a Chicago Hotel Room” by Daniel Mills
“It sees me when I’m not looking” by Gary McMahon
“Finale, Act Two” by Ann K. Schwader
“Yellow Bird Strings” by Cate Gardner
“The Theatre & Its Double” by Edward Morris
“The Hymn of the Hyades” by Richard Gavin
“Slick Black Bones and Soft Black Stars” by Gemma Files
“Not Enough Hope” by Joseph S. Pulver Sr.
“Whose Hearts are Pure Gold” by Kristin Prevallet
“April Dawn” by Richard A. Lupoff
“King Wolf” by Anna Tambour
“The White-Face at Dawn” by Michael Kelly
“Wishing Well” by Cody Goodfellow
“Sweetums” by John Langan
“The King is Yellow” by Pearce Hansen
“DT” by Laird Barron
“Salvation in Yellow” by Robin Spriggs
“The Beat Hotel” by Allyson Bird

And for those who like a little extra teasing, here’s the book trailer by Brendan Petersen, with music by Lena Griffin.

A Season in Carcosa can be purchased from Amazon, or directly from Miskatonic River Press. I hope you’ll give it a try.

Thanks for reading, friends.

Ä’Zma’n-d’Rüm!

New Tales and a New Book in the Offing

Just a quick note to let readers know that I do indeed have new work on the way. Look for the following in the coming weeks and months:

“Swamp Dreams” in Phantasmagorium (Gorgon Press)
“Salvation in Yellow” in A Season in Carcosa (Miskatonic River Press)
“The Xenambulist: a Fable in Four Acts” in The Grimscribe’s Puppets (Miskatonic River Press)
“Desultory Scholia on the Dhol Chants”  in The Starry Wisdom Library (PS Publishing)

And slouching toward Bethlehem (ever so slowly), the aforementioned book itself . . .

The Untold Tales of Ozman Droom (Double Feature Press)

More details on each to follow. Thanks for reading, friends.

Ä’Zma’n-d’Rüm!