Richard Gavin's Blog, page 32

Simon Strantzas on OMENS

Earlier this afternoon I crept over to the website of my brother-in-shudders, Simon Strantzas, to see how many new stories he's sold or had chosen by Stephen Jones for The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror . (His "Cold to the Touch" will rightfully be appearing in this year's edition.) I was pleasantly surprised to see a familiar-looking book staring back at me from his site.

You can read Simon's kind and insightful words about my 2007 collection, Omens, here.

Occultation by Laird Barron: A Review

One "needs no earthquake to open the chasm," Hawthorne assures us in The Marble Faun, "A footstep, a little heavier than ordinary will serve." Fissures in the apparent, protagonists sucked into the expansive Real that seethes under the skin of the everyday; this is the quintessence of the weird tale. And while many writers broach this area, the result is often lacking. Authors sometimes gush with*too much* imagination, producing works that come off as self-indulgent and intangible, or by cont...

Charnel Wine: Memento Mori Edition, Table of Contents

Below is the complete Table of Contents for Charnel Wine: Memento Mori Edition, due out this summer from Dark Regions Press:

Author's Foreword to the New Edition

Charnel Wine
Reflections from the Abyss
Mrs. South
Fragments of a Primordial Gnosis
The Lodge
Berenice's Journal
View from a Ghost Ship
The Tides that Bind
Parting the Veils
Heirlooms
Porcelain & Pretty Lace
The Physics of Unseen Puppeteers
The Folly
Forewarning: The Good Doctor's Eternal Return
Flowers of Delirium
The Master's Posthumous Sermon
Leavi...

Reviewed on Dark Scribe

The Darkly Splendid Realm has been given an excellent review in Dark Scribe Magazine, couresty of lit. critic Joan Turner.

You can read the review here.

Nemonymous: Null Immortalis

I was very happy to learn that my story "Only Enuma Elish" has been accepted for publication in the final volume of Nemonymous, edited by the inimitable D.F. Lewis.

The Table of Contents for this anthology is still taking shape, but I'm already among stellar company: Steve Rasnic Tem, Joel Lane, Gary Fry...this list goes on.

My story "Berenice's Journal" (from Charnel Wine) originally appeared in Nemonymous 2, so I'm pleased to be in this, the tenth and final edition.

Nemonymous: Null...

CHARNEL WINE: Memento Mori Edition

In 2004 my debut collection Charnel Wine was released as a limited edition paperback, courtesy of Rainfall Books. It went on to become one of the fastest selling titles in the publisher's history. Since that time, demand for the book has grown among collectors of weird and decadent Horror, yet copies remain very scarce and often command high prices.

And so, it is with great pleasure that I announce Charnel Wine: Memento Mori Edition.

This summer, the fine folks at Dark Regions Press are re-rele...

Dead Reckonings

The latest issue of Dead Reckonings ,the invariably excellent literary journal from Hippocampus Press, features Jim Rockhill's review of both The Darkly Splendid Realm and Matt Cardin's Dark Matters.

Jim's knowledge of Horror fiction is encyclopedic, his critical eye keen, so I was truly thrilled to read comments such as these:

"Gavin's prose is a refined instrument capable of evoking whatever person, mood, or time period he chooses…"

Mr. Rockhill also has some wonderful things to say about Matt...

Shirley Jackson Awards 2009

The final ballot for the 2009 Shirley Jackson Awards was announced today.

I want to pass on my heartfelt congratulations to all the nominees, particularly my good friend Michael Kelly, who helmed the excellent anthology Apparitions (which was launched at our Ghost Story at Christmas event), and my good friends Gemma Files and Laird Barron who garnered not one but two nominations each. Nice.

So...since you guys have a total of five nominations between you, mind if I take one? ;-)

Readercon is goi...

Honorable Mentions

Renowned Horror fiction editor Ellen Datlow has released her list of Honorable Mentions for 2009. I'm proud to have three stories from The Darkly Splendid Realm included in this list: "Getting the Strap," "The Astral Mask," and "Where the Scarab Dwells." My thanks to Ellen for this acknowledgement. I'm in amongst stellar company.

These lists are an adjunct to Ellen's essential The Best Horror of the Year anthologies, which can be ordered here.

REALM reviewed at Speculative Fiction Junkie

A new and extremely flattering review of The Darkly Splendid Realm has been posted at The Speculative Fiction Junkie.

It's very satisfying to not only have the book be so well received, but to see different reviewers singling out different stories as what they felt were the highlights of the collection.

More news coming soon...