Richard Gavin's Blog, page 18

PENUMBRAE reviewed

Penumbrae: An Occult Fiction Anthology has received its first review, a stellar one, courtesy of the blog Magic Under the Black Sun. 

They write: 

"When I say this book was good, I mean it was practically perfect in every way. Seriously, stop what you are doing, go order it, then come back and read this." 

The complete review may be viewed here.

Copies of Penumbrae may be ordered here.  

Announcing THE BENIGHTED PATH: PRIMEVAL GNOSIS AND THE MONSTROUS SOUL

It may now be revealed that my next book will be a non-fiction volume of esoteric thought and praxis. 
The Benighted Path: Primeval Gnosis and the Monstrous Soul will be published later this year by distinguished occult publisher Theion Publishing. I am very honoured to be working with Jessica Grote and my friend and brother David Beth of Theion Publishing on this project. A preliminary description of The Benighted Path has been posted on Theion's website and may be viewed here. 
As its title implies, this book is not a linear manual toward enlightenment. It is an orientation toward the luminous dark of the Night Primeval. 
Further details will be announced here in due course. 

PENUMABRAE available for pre-order

Penumbrae: An Occult Fiction Anthology is now available for pre-order via the Three Hands Press website.

Two editions are available:

1. Standard Hardcover Edition (brown cloth with full dust jacket)
2. Deluxe Edition (Hand-bound in full bistre goatskin with slipcase.

Pre-orders may be placed here.

Announcing PENUMBRAE: AN OCCULT FICTION ANTHOLOGY

The veil may now be lifted from a major project with which I am proudly involved...

Penumbrae: An Occult Fiction Anthology marks my first endeavour into co-editing an anthology. My partners in this process were every esteemed indeed: Daniel A. Schulke and Patricia Cram.

Penumbrae is the fruit of a long and multi-tiered process. Our aim was to feature the finest practitioners of a specialized mode of expression. Each story (including those submitted by the respective editors) was studied and discussed in-depth by all three of us. The tales were weighed not only by their literary merit, but also their ability to radiate the principles which were touched upon both in my writings for Clavis Journal 3: Cipher and Stone ("Through the Gate of Horn: Occult Fiction and the Primordial Image"), and in our Introduction to Penumbrae, wherein we state that:

"As they are popularly understood, works of the imagination are often viewed as commodities, outgrowths of common human experience rendered into entertainments with which a consumer may employ to while away a few hours in an act of pleasant escapism.
"But pulsing beneath this commercial detritus is a vital core that, when channeled with earnestness and skill, restores the creative imaginative faculty to its rarefied station, which, as Islamic scholar Henry Corbin (1903-1978) postulated, is the vital means of engaging with immaterial layers of reality that would otherwise remain unknown in the human sphere.
"The locus of the present anthology is in work that embodies precisely such a metaphysical position, as opposed to fiction that merely employs metaphysical trappings to enforce a materialist worldview."

The book's roster includes:

Hanns Heinz Ewers * Richard Gavin * Lee Morgan * Patricia Cram* Don Webb * Brian Evenson * Michael Cisco * Andrew D. Chumbley * Dale Pendell * Daniel A. Schulke * Kenneth Grant * Caitlin R. Kiernan * Sun Yung Shin

Patricia, Daniel and myself proudly consider Penumbrae to be not just a gathering of fine writings, but also both a poisoned arrow and a signal fire to demarcate an oasis in the modern world, a clearing wherein the art of imaginal writing may be restored.

Three Hands Press will be releasing Penumbrae in April. Pre-order information shall be posted here in the coming days.

"Weaned on Blood" now available

 Happy new year to you all! 2015 is already poised to be a very active year for me, so this site will likely see many updates over the next twelve months.
My first announcement concerns the release of Aaron J. French's vast omnibus, Monk Punk & The Shadow of the Unknown, which is now available courtesy of Hazardous Press. The book consists of two themed anthologies, one of cosmic Horror, the other of Horror stories that deal with monks and religious Horror. Monk Punk includes a brand new story from me entitled "Weaned on Blood." I confess I'm fond of this tale.
Trade paperback copies of this book can be obtained here.
Electronic versions for Kindle may be had here. 

CLAVIS Volume 3: CIPHER AND STONE available today

 Today marks the release of Volume 3 of Clavis Journal, Cipher and Stone. This edition includes my essay "Through the Gate of Horn: Occult Fiction and the Primordial Image", a piece of which I am particularly proud. As is its custom, Clavis includes a number of fine artists and authors, including Scott Finch, William Kiesel, Andrew Larson, and Aaron Cheak. 
Copies of both the Standard and Deluxe Editions may be obtained here.
I also encourage those in the Seattle area to attend the journal's official launch on December 19th, the details of which can be found here.  

THE STARRY WISDOM LIBRARY

Sometime ago editor Nate Pedersen approached me concerning a tantalizing project: a fictional archaic catalogue listing all the books from H.P. Lovecraft's fabled Church of Starry Wisdom. I immediately accepted Nate's gracious invitation and furnished him with an entry that detailed but one of the many grimoires that composed the Starry Wisdom Library.

PS Publishing is now accepting pre-orders for The Starry Wisdom Library, which may be done by clicking here. The roster is a who's who of weird authors. This book is sure to be a pleasurable read and a unique piece of Lovecraftiana.

IMAGINARIUM 3

I was very pleased to learn that Helen Marshall and Sandra Kasturi chose to include my 2013 story "A Cavern of Redbrick" in Imaginarium 3: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing, forthcoming from the excellent ChiZine Publications. The anthology has tremendous Canadian talent. And a beautiful cover.

It was also a pleasant surprise to have the wonderful Ellen Datlow grant Honourable Mention to three of the four stories I had published in 2013. This list is the adjunct to her annual Best Horror of the Year anthology series. It may be viewed here.

More anon...

Nine Horrors for Halloween

In honour of Samhain, here is a list of nine of my favourite Horror films:

1. L'arcano incatatore (1996) (dir. Pupi Avati)
 
"Wherever you may flee, you will be eternally bound to our pact."

2. Vampyr (1932) (dir. Carl Dreyer)

"...a young man whose studies of devil worship and vampires have distorted his perceptions..."

3. Born of Fire (1986) (dir. Jamil Dehlavi)

"I'm looking for the Master Musician..."

4. The Innocents (1961) (dir. Jack Clayton)

"What shall I sing to my Lord from my window?"

5. The Last Wave (1977) (dir. Peter Weir)

"A dream is a shadow...a shadow of something real."

6. I Walked with a Zombie (1943) (dir. Jacques Tourneur)

"Everything good dies here. Even the stars."

7. Beyond Dream's Door (1989) (dir. Jay Woelfel)

"Beyond dream's door, where horror lies..."

8. Rosemary's Baby (1968) (dir. Roman Polanski)

"He has his father's eyes."

9. La rose de fer (1973) (dir. Jean Rollin) 

"Search, my love. Search further. The land under the ground."

"The Old Pageant" on Weird Fiction Review

I'm pleased to report that my story "The Old Pageant" is now available online, courtesy of the excellent Weird Fiction Review. The story can be read here.

"The Old Pageant" is my foray into the carnivorous fictional cosmos of my great friend Laird Barron. It is also included in the fabulous anthology The Children of Old Leech edited by Ross E. Lockhart and Justin Steele. This book can and should be obtained here.