James Dorr's Blog, page 198

Ghost Brothers of Darkland County; Telling Tales of Terror, Garden Part of Damnation Books Halloween Fifty Percent Off Sale

It may not be my favorite show ever, but there was a lot to like in GHOST BROTHERS OF DARKLAND COUNTY in its premiere last night in the Indiana University auditorium in Bloomington Indiana.  Bloomington Indiana?  Yes, that’s the area composer/lyricist John Mellencamp hails from, although librettist Stephen King (who is, however, also an amateur musician himself) may be of more interest to horror readers.  Billed as a “Southern Gothic supernatural musical of fraternal love, lust, jealousy, and revenge,” it was reportedly reworked from more of a straight musical theatre format when it previewed in Atlanta last year to what band leader and musical supervisor Andy York has described as a radio show.  Think something like Nashville Tennessee’s Grand Ole Opry (though in this case perhaps moved a bit farther south into Mississippi delta country) with performers seated on stage, moving to a center stage spotlight in turn when it’s time for them to perform.

And so, in a way, they do as individuals and small groups, their songs going in increasing depth into their own stories, all the time circling the main plot having to do with a family tragedy that occurred in 1967 — and threatens to be recreated forty years later with a new generation.  Then add, stage right, the Zydeco Cowboy acting as a sort of chorus/narrator, Greek tragedy style, and, stage left, “The Shape,” as also narrator and deus ex machina although, in this case, more devil than god.  And, maybe a little bit reminiscent of the film CABIN IN THE WOODS, certain roles and motifs must come into the story, even if sometimes seeming a little forced (although in a good way), because . . . well . . . that’s the way folk legends of this sort work out.

Then a final note, while the audience gave it a standing ovation, I didn’t hear people walking out humming favorite tunes.  Because that’s not the way that part works, but rather it was a case of the music building up on itself, bringing the audience into the mood, until, as a whole, the entire thing seemed to blend together in a way that ultimately seemed to be just what the story required.

For a quick change of subject,  Damnation Books has announced they’re “celebrating October with a 50% off promo code good on our website all month.  Enter 31Halloween2013 at checkout.  It’s good until November 1st at http://www.damnationbooks.com.”  Not being told otherwise, I assume it’s good for all titles, including TELLING TALES OF TERROR:  ESSAYS ON WRITING HORROR AND DARK FICTION (cf. January 7 2013, December 13 2012, et al.), edited by Kim Richards with, as the blurb tells us, “Introduction by James Dorr.  Essays on writing horror and dark fiction by authors Kim Richards, Paula Johanson, Bob Nailor, Ivy Reisner, Mitchel Whitington, Carol Hightshoe, Cinsearae Santiago, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Kathryn Meyer Griffith, Lisa Morton, Sephera Giron, and Jason Gehlert.  Includes advice from current publishers.”  So, yes, it’s self-serving, but I recommend this for writers above a beginning level, interested in advice in some depth on particular aspects of horror writing such as suspension of disbelief, use of the occult, point of view, dialogue, setting and mood, etc., ending with a roundtable of specific insights by the publishers who might be buying one’s stories.

Then, as an example perhaps of horror mixed with science fiction, the sale also presumably includes my own (ahem) novelette THE GARDEN.  For more on it as well as TELLING TALES OF TERROR, press Damnation Books’s website address, above, and take it from there (the way the site is set up, I find it easiest myself to search directly for a book’s title rather than trying to narrow it down by genre, etc.)

100 Doors to Madness on Createspace, Amazon

A curt note, as befits its subject matter:

“From one hundred of the world’s finest storytellers of the macabre comes an epic anthology of short form terror fiction that will frighten, disturb and delight the reader. With stories from award-winning writers and emerging stars, including Eric J Guignard, Marge Simon, Michael Bailey, T Fox Dunham, Shaun Meeks, Adam Millard, James S Dorr, SJI Holliday, Ken Goldman, Christina Murphy, Michael Thomas-Knight, Carl Barker, Pete Aldin, Tim Jeffreys, Michael R Colangelo, Tim Tobin, Kerry GS Lipp, and many more.”

The book, 100 DOORS TO MADNESS from Forgotten Tomb Press (cf. October 4, June 5), “clocking in at over 400 pages” in paperback format, is now available, with a Kindle version expected to follow in as little as a day.  But if you can’t wait, the Amazon page can be reached by clicking here or, for Createspace, just click here.

My own piece here is a brief tale of vampire-servant relations called “Shackles,” originally published as a third place flash fiction winner on the theme of “shapeshifters” on LVWonline.org on December 1 2009.

And there you have it.

Mr. Happy Head Finds Spot in Bizarro Bizarro — Publication Date Set for November

It was set up to be a big deal, announcements all over the “usual suspect” horror sites.  BIZARRO BIZARRO!  As even now stated, “The authors who submitted to BIZARRO BIZARRO clearly have a passion for literature that is beyond the mass-market, fluffy airport paperback literature endorsed by Ronald McDonald and Ellen Degeneres.  The amount of talent we’ve been exposed to…  If we said it was ‘mind-blowing,’ that would sound cliché, so instead, we’ll say that it was heart-exploding. . . .”  The terms weren’t really all that great, but “all the best people” would be submitting to it.  Facebook pages added such hints as “We keep receiving a lot of great submissions.  A lot of humor!  We haven’t seen many experimental pieces so far. . . .”  Surely this would be the anthology where one would want to be seen.

So, okay, the guidelines also asked for a query along with the story itself, for screening purposes.  Authors’ names at the end of MSS to avoid the editors being dazzled by better-known authors’ fame.  They even included a link to a definition for the term “bizarro.”

So, okay, I’d bite, but I’d looked up the definition/article and so I wrote in my cover letter (as signed by “He Whose Name Cannot Be Put Here But Is At The Bottom Of The Attachment”):  “[the] article implies a synopsis of a bizarro story probably isn’t possible.  So here are reasons you may not like the attached (may I say its name here?  If not, please ignore the next three words) ‘Mr. Happy Head’:

“1. My computer doesn’t have Georgia font, so I used Times New Roman.

2. It isn’t the right length, being only 2700 words (though you do say send it anyway).

3. It ‘s a reprint, first published in WICKED MYSTIC, Spring 1996, but with reprint rights in my possession.

“Here are reasons you may like it:

“1. It’s non-linear which, if not truly experimental, may seem a little odd.

2. I’m sot sure it has a plot, being just about this guy who seems to be dead, but is okay with it (even if  he’s not a zombie or vampire).

3. He may have once been involved in crime, and he doesn’t like anybody very much.

4.  He once wanted to be a dentist’s hygienist.

5. His name is spelled differently in the title than in the story.

6. It has lots of birds in it.”

And so now you know what the story’s about to which I need only add that yesterday the acceptance came and this afternoon I’ve emailed back the contract for “Mr. Happy Head” for the Bizarro Pulp Press anthology BIZARRO BIZARRO.

“We are currently in the process of compiling our table of contents for the anthology; our intention is to publish the anthology in November of 2013.   As soon as you scan a signed copy of the contract and send it to us, you may announce your acceptance to the world!  Shout it from the rooftops!”

National Space Society Winners Official Announcement; “First Sundays” Prose Includes Silent Scream

Later this morning the official announcement came, so to see all the winners in all divisions one can now press the link here.  According to the accompanying email, this year’s National Space Society of North Texas/Fort Worth Haiku Society poetry contest “received over 120 entries; many were outstanding.  Thank you all who entered.  We are preparing an anthology to include most of the entries.  I will be sending you an email soon about participating in the anthology.”  More news on the anthology will appear here, as it becomes known.  Also the anthology of last year’s MARS:  THE NEXT FRONTIER competition has yet to be released, to the best of my knowledge, so as more is found out look for news of it here as well.

And I might mention also, in terms of friends in the Science fiction Poetry Association, the Horror Writers Association, and others, that there are some names in addition to mine on the winners’ list that may be familiar.

Then leaving space and returning to home, this afternoon I participated in the Bloomington Writers Guild’s “First Sundays” mostly-prose series (cf. August 5, March 3 2013, et al.) at local bookstore Boxcar Books with featured readers Rebekah Riebsomer Spivey, Ashley Ray Pérez, and Antonia Matthew.  Then five of us non-headliners read after the break for three or four minutes each, my offering being an as yet unpublished first-person psychological piece called “Silent Scream.”  Good presentations, good coffee and cookies, a mellow winding-down afternoon to prepare for an upcoming week on The Road to Halloween.

Limerick Cops Space Society Grand Prize (And an Extra, Almost Germane Lagniappe); Speaking of Vampires: Dracula 3D

At last it can be revealed!  Nine days in the knowing, but sworn to silence until this night, October 5, when it was revealed at FenCon X in Dallas/Fort Worth, which I was not at.  But then, I knew already.

Let us flash back to July 23 2013, September 22 2012, September 15 2011 . . . and the National Space Society of North Texas.  In 2011 and 2012 they held haiku contests on the themes of MOON:  THE EIGHTH CONTINENT and MARS:  THE NEXT FRONTIER, respectively, with chapbook anthologies to be published of the winners and other worthy entries.  And so it is I’ve been published in both (well actually not quite as the MARS book hasn’t been published yet, but soon, soon . . .).  And this year it has started to get big, taking on the Fort Worth Haiku Society as a co-sponsor and expanding the poetry to three divisions on the subject of  SPACE EXPLORATION:  DEVELOPMENT AND SETTLEMENT.

But wait.  Three divisions?  Yes, with a deadline of July 31 2013, one could enter in (to quote from the announcement) “Division one: Haiku/Senryu (17 syllables or less, no punctuation required, no capitalization required, titled haiku are accepted); Division two: intermediate length forms (Tanka, mondo, sedoka, limerick, cinquain, clerihew, sijo, 4 to 6 lines); [and/or] Division three: long forms (haiku sequences, renga, rengay, tan-renga, haibun, choka).”  But wait again.  Limericks?  And here I divulge a little-known secret:  that what I consider my first professional poetry sale was a limerick, “Axe Murder,” that won first prize in a contest by MIDWEST POETRY REVIEW and was published in their July 1984 issue.

True fact, yes.

And so, undaunted and at close to the last minute (getting into that pattern again?), I entered work in all three slots:  a senryu in Division 1, a limerick (ah, now) in Division 2, and a four-poem haiku sequence in Division 3.

The word came back on September 26  from Contest Coordinator Patricia Ferguson.  “Dear James, Congratulations!  Your limerick, ‘Future Plans,’ received the Grand Prize in the National Space Society of North Texas/Fort Worth Haiku Society poetry contest.  You also received Honorable Mention in Division 3 for your haiku sequence, ‘Quartet.’”  And, since I could not be at FenCon to receive it myself, “your prize of $50 and certificates will be mailed to you.”

Did I mention, the prize I won in 1984 from MIDWEST POETRY REVIEW was also $50?

And so it all comes around.  To read “Future Plans” we must wait until the SPACE EXPLORATION:  DEVELOPMENT AND SETTLEMENT anthology is published, most likely next year.  However, as an almost-germane lagniappe,  I can reprint 1984’s “Axe Murder” (the rules being to use the first line “Upstairs lived a [select choice from four synonyms for woman -- I picked the jazz musicians’ term ‘frail’] named Millicent” or else a similar first line with the male name “Elliot”).

AXE MURDER

Upstairs lived a frail named Millicent

Who on gigs would pick up only 10%

So her road man, the cheater,

She fried with her gee-tar,

And then copped a plea — 9/10 innocent.

The National Space Society of North Texas, I might add, is an organization to promote interest in people in the Dallas/Fort Worth area in space exploration and science including education in the space sciences, encouragement of commercial space enterprise, further probing of the “next frontier,” understanding the benefits from space exploration, and the creation of a spacefaring civilization.  More information on the NSSofNT can be found here.

And then, instead of making sure the above got posted before midnight October 5 instead of the wee hours of the 6th,  Saturday evening I went to the movies.  One of the perks of living in a university community is that film studies departments sometimes have rare or otherwise interesting showings the public can go to at cut rate prices.  This one was a premiere of Dario Argento’s DRACULA 3D, which the presenter himself admitted was no SUSPERIA and that we were allowed to laugh at when moved to, but which — despite some dismissive comments on Amazon as well — I found to be a pretty good movie even by 2D DRACULA standards.  And in 3D, sitting three rows back from a  full-size movie screen, many parts were spectacular.

On the down side some of the SFX were a bit silly, the most memorable probably being Dracula’s appearance in one scene as a giant praying mantis (but with the delightfully absurd realization that there’s no reason at all for him to take that particular form), and — perhaps a weakness in all 3D films — a bit too many scenes with pointy things being stabbed toward the screen.  But the story, while taking liberties with Bram Stoker’s novel (a proud tradition pioneered by such films as NOSFERATU and the Universal Pictures Bela Lugosi version of DRACULA), followed the gist of the story well enough, and possibly, dare I say, better than most (especially including the various Hammer films, fun as they may be on their own terms).  There is also gore, though relatively little by earlier Argento standards, plus some nudity (a bit of male, but mostly female) including a topless period-bathtub scene with Asia, Argento’s daughter, in the role of Lucy.

Be that as it may — some laughs, some gasps, some special effects that try too hard but others that work well, and, by the main, some very nicely done filming — I recommend it.

Vampire Reading at Fountain Square Poets; 100 Doors to Madness Full Cover Revealed

Three times a year for the last few years, in February, June, and October, the Bloomington Writers Guild and  the By Hand Gallery have presented the Fountain Square Poetry Series, a gallery exhibition combined with, in the downtown Fountain Square Mall atrium, a poetry  reading with musical interludes.  And so, this Friday evening, the poetry half of it presented the Bloomington Peace Choir along with local poets Nancy Chen Long, Evelyn Reynolds, Lavonne Jahan’Tigh, and . . . me.  These are varied presentations, the poets with different subjects and styles, the music usually instrumental but in this case vocal to fill intermissions between the poetry.  The poets appear in two half-hour sessions (that is, for seven and a half minutes each) and one quickie round of two and a half minutes each and, at least for me, between rounds rush to the gallery at the other side of the mall to swipe cookies, cake, and melon off the snack table they set up just outside their door.

There’s also free popcorn provided by the mall staff as well as punch on the By Hand Gallery snack table — neither of which are good for poets who are reading, though, given their tendencies to dry out and/or get sticky in one’s mouth.   But that’s just my opinion (and I did grab a bag of popcorn after the two main sessions, having also filled a cup with water at a mall water cooler).

While these presentations aren’t normally planned to be seasonal in flavor (though Evelyn Reynolds did read one or two poems on the beauty of autumn), I had been invited to read at this one specifically because of its relative nearness to Halloween.  And so, not to disappoint, I made up a program of poems entirely from VAMPS (A RETROSPECTIVE) — for more on VAMPS, well you know the drill, click on its picture in the center column — divided into three segments:  The Who (to meet some of the vamps, beginning with ”La Méduse,” “The Aeronaut,” “Vampire Thoughts,” “Nadja,” and “Night Child”); The Where (places where vampires may hang out, with “Why She Started Writing Poetry,” “Alley Thoughts,” “City Magic,” “When she Won the 1.000.000 Credit Galactic Lottery,” shorties “Daylight Saving” and “Naughty or Nice,” “The List,” and ”Chagrin du Vampire”); and for the brief final session, The Attraction (“Moonlight Swimming” and “The Esthete”).

Afterward one of the organizers said she was particularly impressed with the sensuousness of the female vampires in my selections.  I assured her that I would tell them she said that.

And speaking of vampires, word came today that while the flash fiction horror anthology 100 DOORS TO MADNESS (see June 5, et al.) seems to be running a little late with regards to a hoped for September release, a picture of its front and back covers is now available from publisher Forgotten Tomb Press — and so who am I not to pass it on?  My quickie-contribution to this one is an alternate ending for the 1934 Gloria Holden film DRACULA’S DAUGHTER, titled “The Shackles.”

Vampire Girl Meets Where the Dead Fear to Tread

“It’s that time of year again horror fiends.  A time when our admittedly odd sensibilities overtake the nation.  When stores have motion activated demons, and buying fake blood is so very easy.”  So has said M.R. Gott before on his blog WHERE THE DEAD FEAR TO TREAD.  And so today the countdown to Hallloween begins with, for me at least, a review of the Japanese film and all around fest of laughs, gore, and bad taste, VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL.  Nevertheless there are redeeming qualities, especially in the acting ability of Yukie Kawamura as vampire girl Monami who she plays with a deadpan charm reminiscent of Carolyn Jones as Morticia in the original mid-60s TV version of THE ADDAMS FAMILY.  At least, that is, if Morticia had been a Japanese schoolgirl.

Long-time readers may recall that a similar review appeared here on October 28 last year (with a follow up October 29, exclusive to this site), but this time, for those who might have missed it, there’s ample time to search for the film and find your own copy.  I wouldn’t recommend it though for the family children, the overly queasy, or the harder-nosed of the politically correct.  Or maybe any of the politically correct.  For which, to find out why, ample over to M.R. Gott’s site by pressing here, scroll down, and look to the right.

HWA Halloween Haunts, Other Posts Scheduled for October

The Horror Writers Association “Halloween Haunts 2013″ celebration begins tomorrow, October 1, on the HWA’s Dark Whispers blog.  A total of nearly fifty guest posts will appear on a schedule of one or two per day up through Halloween itself.  My own particular day on this is October 13 — my lucky number! — with a review of the film of the opera  DRACULA:  ENTRE L’AMOUR ET LA MORTE, complete with directions on how to find translations of the songs in English.  The film has been reviewed as well on this site on May 31 last year, but, for those who missed it then, October 13 may be just in time to order a DVD for yourself to enjoy with friends, along with candy and other appropriate refreshments, on Halloween night.

October, in fact, will be a big month for guest appearances for me as it’s shaping up.  Not only will that film be featured on the HWA blog on the 13th, another film review by me is scheduled to open this year’s WHERE THE DEAD FEAR TO TREAD (a.k.a. M.R. GOTT’S CUTIS ANSERINA) annual Halloween Celebration (cf. September 23).  Of which more, and a link, should appear tomorrow.  And then, on October 21, THE TEARS OF ISIS will be featured in Kate Hill’s HAUNTED LIBRARY — for more on Kate, who we’ve met before, see August 13 this year, as well as October 1 2011 on which the plug for the Halloween season was my poetry book VAMPS (A RETROSPECTIVE) — and, while the exact date hasn’t yet been set, yesterday I completed an interview with Cassie Carnage to appear in October on CASSIE’S HOUSE OF HORROR.

Back to the HWA’s Halloween Haunts, below is a messed up (that’s the way the internet works sometimes) but hopefully still readable schedule of events.  A facebook page has also been set up for late-breaking updates, including giveaways, which can be reached by pressing here, while for the blog itself, the HWA site can be found  by pressing here (of which I might add, scroll down to where it says “explore” on the right side, then click “Blog” to discover all sorts of other neat things as well).

DATE     POST     CONTRIBUTOR     GIVEAWAY

1-Oct     Welcome to Halloween Haunts 2013     James Chambers     one print copy each of The Dead Bear Witness, Tears of Blood, Three Chords of Chaos

2-Oct     Personal Experience in Halloween Fiction     Lisa Morton     N/A

3-Oct     Stoker Spotlight Interview with     L.L. Soares     N/A

4-Oct     Ghost in My House     Cat Winters     one print copy of In the Shadow of Blackbirds

4-Oct     Thats My Boy     Matthew Warner     N/A

5-Oct     Anti Christ Devil Children     J. Thorn     one personalized e-book; winner’s choice of title and format

5-Oct     Why Do You Write That Stuff     Thomas Smith     one print copy of Something Stirs

6-Oct     More than Just Candy     David B. Riley     one print copy of Gunslingers & Ghost Stories; one print copy of Steampunk Trails

7-Oct     Candy Corn Memories     Amy Grech     N/A

7-Oct     Halloween in the Hudson Valley     J.G. Faherty     N/A

8-Oct     Stoker Spotlight Interview with     Gene O’Neill     N/A

9-Oct     Halloween Hootenanny     Greg McWhorter     N/A

10-Oct     Stoker Spotlight Interview with     Lucy Snyder     N/A

10-Oct     Why I Write Horror     Carl Alves     one signed copy of Blood Street

11-Oct     Beware Jersey Devil     Carol MacCallister     N/A

12-Oct     Stoker Spotlight Interview with     Marge Simon     N/A

12-Oct     Night Terrors     Heather L. Reid     one print copy of Pretty Dark Nothing

13-Oct     Dracula: Entre l’Amor et la Morte     James Dorr     N/A

14-Oct     Halloween Animated Specials     Ed Erdelac     N/A

15-Oct     Stoker Spotlight Interview with     Rocky Wood     N/A

16-Oct     Halloween-What First Comes to Your Mind at the Thought?     John G. Rees     one print copy each of anoxic zone, Halocline, Black Tide, and Out of Stone (separate winners)

16-Oct     Halloween as a Kid     Michael J. McCann     five digital Kindle copies of The Ghost Man

17-Oct     Stoker Spotlight Interview with     Lisa Morton     1/2 page ad in 1/31/13 issue of Dark Discoveries, medium sidebar ad on Hellnotes.com, two sets, courtesy Journalstone

18-Oct     Opening the Vein     John Palisano     one e-book copy of Nerves

19-Oct     Stoker Spotlight Interview with     Greg Chapman     N/A

19-Oct     Coming Home to Horror     Rena Mason     one print copy of The Evolutionist, one print copy of East End Girls

20-Oct     Sunglasses At Night     Julie Campbell     one print copy of Steampunk Trails, one e-book Sabaska’s Tale

20-Oct     Reclaiming Horror     Annie Neugebauer     N/A

21-Oct     Traditions     Marge Simon     N/A

21-Oct     Halloween Is Every Day     Johnny Worthen     N/A

22-Oct     Stoker Spotlight Interview with     Jerad Walters     N/A

22-Oct     EquineAnatomy     Kenneth W. Cain     one print copy of Fresh Cut Tales

23-Oct     Plastic Fangs and Cotton Fur     Mark Onspaugh     one Netgalley review copy of The Faceless One, one Hydra mug

24-Oct     Distances     Marty Young     one print copy of 809 Jacob Street

25-Oct     The Slumbering One     Jinx Strange     N/A

26-Oct     Halloween Should Be Banned     Mick Sims     one print copy of Stronghold, Shelter, Demon Eyes, Black Cathedral, and Night Souls

27-Oct     Halloween Stories     Steve Rasnic Tem     N/A

28-Oct     A Walk in the Mists     Keith Deininger     one print copy of The New Flesh

28-Oct     Autumn People     Loren Rhodes     one digital copy of Wish You Were Here

29-Oct     Stoker Spotlight Interview with     Mort Castle     N/A

30-Oct     Haunted Halloween Party     Joe Augustyn     N/A

30-Oct     That Restless Halloween Feeling     John Mantooth     N/A

31-Oct     My Personal Haunted House     John F.D. Taff     one print copy, one digital copy of The Bell Witch

“Must We Say ‘Goodbye’ to Summer?”

(Photo and caption courtesy of The Bram Stoker Estate, via Facebook)

They Fall Like Apples: Ether World Picks Up Jeremy’s Woman

Sometimes they fall like apples from trees.  Yeah, if it were only so!  But this time, at least, in the past three days I have had three (count ‘em!) story acceptances.

So let us treasure it.  Late Sunday evening saw IN THE BLOODSTREAM take the Lovecraftian Christmas tale “A Christmas Carnage,” Monday brought Chupa Cabra’s acceptance of  “Invisible People” for WE WALK INVISIBLE, and then today, Tuesday, came this word from Diabolic Publications (cf. September 21, et al.):  “After reviewing your short story we would like the opportunity to include it in our upcoming anthology ETHER WORLD.”

The story in question is called “Jeremy’s Woman” and, as for ETHER WORLD, the call was for “original science fiction in which some facet of future science or technology is integral to the plot. The science needs to be physical, sociological, or psychological.  The technology can be any form such as electronic engineering, biogenetic engineering, and so forth.  All stories must be strong and realistic, with believable characters that may or may not be human.”

Thus “Jeremy’s Woman” who, herself, may or may not be human but also may be more than Jeremy and his team of space explorers expect.  And as for science fiction, it may add a tinge of horror as well.

Currently plans for ETHER WORLD are for a release date in January 2014.