James Dorr's Blog, page 92

Crow and Rat Honored in Mythraeum Icarus Competition, Includes New Acceptance

Let us recall our friends “Crow and Rat,” the lowest of the low, thieves and rascals of the New City as limned in, in this case, the British anthology HUMANAGERIE (see October 28, 3, et al.).  Born in the world of TOMBS:  A CHRONICLE OF LATTER-DAY TIMES OF EARTH.  But they have been up to other capers as well, behind our backs as it were, notably (they being good at sneaking into places where they might be [image error] thought to be not wanted) “The Icarus Contest.”  This was a call for stories concerning the Icarus myth, Daedalus and the Labyrinth and Crete and all that, a serious one run by MYTHRAEUM (recently renamed MYTHIC BEAST) and not one where riffraff would be expected — except that, like Icarus, Crow was said to be able to fly, and that for a few moments Rat actually did!  So why not try?
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The word came back late Saturday evening from contest curator Leslie Marrick, and, no, they didn’t win.  But they did receive an Honorable Mention!  How about that?  And with it came an offer that their tale be retold on the pages (or pixels) of MYTHIC BEAST, which — with a request that HUMANAGERIE be credited as the first to take them in — I accepted this afternoon.

Sockhops and Seances Contract Received; First DeadSteam Reviews

The writing life, a day of routine that goes with the game.  Two brief items this time (well, the second is rather long, actually), the first from 18th Wall Productions reaching back six months into the past, to a story, “Bottles,” and its acceptance for a 1950s-themed anthology, SOCKHOPS AND SEANCES (cf. May 1).  The story itself is a reprint originally published in CROSSINGS (Double Dragon, 2004) and also available in my collection THE TEARS OF ISIS, having to do with a young Puerto Rican woman and the Cold War as experienced in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and today the contract arrived — with edits promised to follow soon — and has as of this writing been, with a slight annotation, signed and readied for mailing back to Editor Nicole Petit tomorrow.

Then second an email from Bryce Raffle of Grimmer & Grimmer Books, publishers of DEADSTEAM with my story “The Re-Possessed” (see September 15, 4, 3, et al.), originally published in CEMETERY RIOTS (Elysium Press, 2016), which now has garnered a clutch of reviews.  None of these actually mention my [image error]name, but what the heck it’s a good anthology, and so just this once (“I would encourage you all to share the reviews, so fans know they’re buying something worth reading”) they are quoted herewith:

The first review here is from BookLife (A Publishers Weekly site); particular congrats goes to Ross Smeltzer, for his particularly high praise in this review.

Raffle brings together a fine selection of 17 “dreadpunk” (gaslamp horror and dark steampunk) stories in this gritty, enjoyable anthology.  The London Underground becomes a playground for the undead in Raffle’s suspenseful “Burke Street Station.”  A greedy lover gets her comeuppance in Jay Seate’s “The Velvet Ribbon.”  Rob Francis’s “B.A.R.B.” plays with the concept of devil worship, and the lengths a grieving man might go to revive his dying wife.  The pinnacle of the collection is Ross Smeltzer’s “The Hunger,” in which a man’s encounter with the undead in a forgotten cemetery lurches him toward Lovecraftian insanity.  Although Raffle includes several stories that hover around a similar idea or theme (there is a glut of vampire fiction in this anthology), the standout tales are those that break from conventional horror.  The nature of human frailty and propensity towards violence is underscored in all of the collected tales, making it more than just full of good scares.  Seasoned horror readers will appreciate this dark anthology.  (BookLife)

What a reading delight!!  This dreadpunk (steampunk horror) anthology is a perfect way to get in the Halloween mood.  These stories are reminiscent of classic penny dreadfuls and gothic horror.

I especially loved the tales where vampires were the focus.  Like Agony in Red by Jen Ponce and The Case of the Murderous Migraine by Karen J. Carlisle.  I haven’t read gothic vampire tales in a while and forgot how much I enjoy those tales.

Additionally, I absolutely was spooked by Harvesters by E. Seneca.  It reminded me strongly of The Monstrumologist series by Rick Yancey.  (Which I absolutely devoured those books).

Many of these stories I would love to have more fleshed out with a full novel or another short story.  This unique blend of horror and steampunk is exactly what I needed to upstart my spooky Halloween season.  Even if you don’t know about steampunk, I recommend this if you are a lover of classic horror stories and gothic literature.  (Clockwork Bookdragon)

DeadSteam:  A Chilling Collection of Dreadpunk Tales of the Dark and Supernatural is a great book for a newbie to dreadpunk like me.  Filled with stories that excite and tantalize the mind, I was on the edge of my seat for many of these short stories.  A great book to light some candles to, turn on the fire place and read in the chilly coldness this winter season. (Kay, Goodreads)

This is a delightful collection of seventeen dreadpunk horror stories, think Penny Dreadfuls.  I have never heard of dreadpunk but I have to say I have fallen in love with these stories.  They include several stories full of vampires, zombies, witches and so much more.  There is a story or two that will delight anyone that enjoys the horrors of the world.

I know I missed Halloween and this book would have been perfect.  But I still got the chance to dance in its pages amount the death, blood, and gore that make all things horror.  I loved the short stories, they gave a perfect taste of the author’s work.  There are more than a couple author’s that I will be looking into their other books.  But then again the down side to short stories is that I would just love to immerse myself in these worlds and find myself over with the trip quickly.

This is a wonderful collection of dreadpunk stories that I recommend checking out.  I will be keeping my eyes out for more in this genre.  (J Bronder Book Reviews) 

AbeBooks November Sale Continues Bargain Prices for Tombs

AbeBooks has announced today a post-Halloween sale through the end of November.  To quote the source:  Save up to 50% on books, art & collectibles from select sellers.  Click through to find a great selection of items discounted until November 30th.  Also, on their site:  AbeBooks is an online marketplace that connects you with professional sellers selling new, used, rare and out-of-print books, art and collectibles.  [image error]Each month, select sellers offer their items for sale on our site at huge discounts, making it easy to buy cheap books, art and collectibles online.  Whether you’re a crime fiction fanatic, a science fiction fiend or a collector of art, you’ll discover thousands of books and other items in our seller sale – all for a bargain.  We may remember (cf. September 25, 20, et al.) that my mosaic novel TOMBS:  A CHRONICLE OF LATTER-DAY TIMES OF EARTH has been one of the sale books in the past with some astounding bargains offered on both new and used paperback copies.  These are continued in this new sale and may be seen by pressing here.

Also, if you should obtain a copy of TOMBS — or have one already and enjoyed it — please consider sending a review to Amazon, Goodreads, and similar sites.  Only a sentence or two would do, but reviews can help us authors immensely (and that includes other books by other authors as well

Christmas Invasion: Edits Received, Minor CX Returned

Yes, it’s “Holly Jolly” (cf.  September 27), chugging along on schedule for a Christmas-ish release in the Winter 2019 issue of PLANET SCUMM.  Late yesterday I received suggested editorial changes, mostly somewhat condensing the story but keeping the plot points, which I went over today and, with a few corrections, sent back this afternoon.  “Holly Jolly,” we may recall, is the tale of a Christmas elf – or was that a cosplay “Mr. Spock”? – and the fate of planets, or at least this one.  Now all to be revealed before your eyes when the issue comes out, more on which will be posted here as it becomes known.

First Sundays Resume After Two Month Hiatus

Today saw the return of the Bloomington Writers Guild “First Sunday Prose Reading & Open Mic” (cf. August 5, et al.) at Bloomington’s downtown Thomas Gallery, having been pre-empted in September by the Fourth Street Arts Festival and Spoken Word Stage (see September 1) and in October by Frankenfest (see September 30).  The featured readers were Amy L. Cornell, an active participant with Woman Writing for a [image error]Change and on the board of the Writing for a Change Foundation and a past community columnist for the Bloomington Herald-Times, reading a flash fiction tale about a Presidential request for poetry, followed by a series of “relatively short poems” including a narrative of the re-invention of libraries and three retold fairy tales; Lisa Clay Shanahan, author of MURDER BY THE BOOK and MURDER MASTERPIECE in her Boston Publishing House Mystery Series and MFA candidate in creative writing in the Sewanee School of Letters, with a short talk about inspiration followed by the opening scene of a new novel, THE BROKEN CIRCLE; and me with my recently published dark romance “Crow and Rat,” out last month in the British anthology HUMANAGERIE (cf. October 21, 3, et al.).  This was followed after the snack break by a relatively short session with four walk-on readers, including both poetry and short prose.

A Night at the Movies, or, Days of the Dead

The way the IU Cinema docent explained it, in Mexico November 1 is for remembering departed children, November 2 for all the dead.  Not being Hispanic, I’d learned that the 1st is All Saints Day, the 2nd All Souls, but if one assumes that children die innocent these map together.  The occasion Thursday night, as I write this, was a special Dia de Meurtos (so it’s really a three-day plural “day,” also taking in October 31, All Hallows Eve) showing of the film COCO. Or, quoting the IU Cinema blurb:  Produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures, COCO is a vibrant tale of family, fun and adventure, as an aspiring young musician named Miguel (newcomer Anthony Gonzalez) embarks on an extraordinary journey to the magical land of his ancestors.  There, the charming trickster Hector (Gael Garcia Bernal) becomes an unexpected friend who helps Miguel uncover the mysteries behind his family’s stories and [image error]traditions. Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach, Renée Victor, Ana Ofelia Murguía, and Edward James Olmos round-out the cast.  The film won Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song, “Remember Me.”  The screening is part of IU Arts and Humanities Council’s First Thursday celebration of Day of the Dead.  And, yes, the events of the film take place on Dia de Muertos.

So I liked it.  It is fun and had good music, though as a Disney movie it also had some flaws, such as taking a visual joke that’s funny (in this case, a skeleton falling apart, then putting itself back together), repeating it while it’s still a bit funny, and then repeating it four or five times more.  Also heaping on its villain, making things worse and worse, stamping out even a hint at redemption.  But there are also bits of really good writing, one of which mentioned by the docent was the inclusion of the traditional song “La Llorona” near the end.  This is a film at heart of sadness and almost too-late reconciliation.  Also when the twelve-year-old hero requires his ancestors’ blessing — and needs it fast! — his great grandmother’s spirit first offers it if he’ll remember always to love his family (I don’t remember the exact words, but something like that — previously she had refused it unless he gave up music), then quickly changes it to “no conditions.”  It took me a moment to let that sink in, but yes, like love, a blessing that isn’t unconditional is really no more than a business deal.  And third, as it ended, I understood why the title of the film had to be “Coco,” why it couldn’t be anything else.

And . . . Nixies, Oath and Iron Acceptance Halloween Night

Technically received lateish on Halloween, though I only opened the email this morning.  But back to the call earlier this spring:  The story must address the “Oath and Iron” theme in some way.  To us, oath and iron is a reference to fairies and the treacherous bargains they make.  We’re interested in both classic and new interpretations of fairies.  We’re interested in clever, dangerous, unpredictable creatures, bargains and promises that aren’t what they seem, and bright, brave characters rising to the challenge.  We expect a fairy, faery, fae, elf, pixie, kobold, nixie, dryad, brownie, or other creature of Faerie in the story, but the role this character plays is up to you (protagonist, antagonist, contagonist, innocent bystander, etc.).  The anthology, from Spring Song Press, was to be called OATH AND IRON and would reluctantly accept a few reprints.  Also noted in the guidelines, [w]e  prefer “clean” stories and strongly prefer noblebright [image error]stories.

So “noblebright” isn’t really all that much my thing, but there was one story, originally published in DARK REGIONS MAGAZINE for Winter 1998-99 as well as reprinted in my first collection, STRANGE MISTRESSES: TALES OF WONDER AND ROMANCE.  The tale was called “Nixies” and had to do with wicked water sprites who collected men’s souls, including that of a charcoal burner’s husband who wanted her man back.  Noblebright enough, perhaps?

Thus the reply came from Editor C. J. Brightley, a nice top-off for the end of October:   I’m sorry for the delay in getting back to you with a decision — we had many great submissions to this anthology.  I enjoyed “Nixies” and am pleased to accept it for the OATH AND IRON anthology!  We will ask for a few edits, which I will pass along to you when we’re through the copy-editing phase.  You’ll have the opportunity to approve the edits before signing the contract.

Thanks for writing a wonderful story!

A Halloween Lagniappe: Poets Weave Vampire Trilogy Closes with Sunday’s Broadcast

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“…and to this hour the image of Carmilla returns to memory with ambiguous alternations — sometimes the playful, languid, beautiful girl; sometimes the writhing fiend I saw in the ruined church; and often from a reverie I have started, fancying I heard the light step of Carmilla at the drawing room door.”

– From J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla

So this, the final reading on THE POETS WEAVE, on radio station WFIU, was actually broadcast Sunday, October 28.  But that was simply because that’s the Sunday closest to Halloween, while here we can greet today officially with its recording.  Two previous segments were aired on October 14 and October 21 respectively (see October 17, 21), on the “Who” and the “Where” of vampirism.  And now, to end it, are four poems on the “Attraction of Vampirism,” as produced by LuAnn Johnson and introduced by Romayne Rubinas Dorsey:  “Moonlight Swimming,” “The Aeronaut,” “When She Won the One Million Credit Galactic Lottery,” and “The Esthete.”  All poems are still from my collection VAMPS (A RETROSPECTIVE) and may be heard by pressing here.

At the Movies, or, The Goth Cat Triana Reminds Us Today Is Also National Cat Day

Well, yesterday probably as you read this, but October 29 is National Cat Day in the US “to bring awareness to the number of homeless cats,” as Triana herself was before I found her at the County Animal Shelter.  And what better way to combine that with a Monday Pre-Halloween movie than . . . well, as the Indiana University Cinema explains:  Making its U.S. debut at IU Cinema on the 80th anniversary of its original release in Japan, THE GHOST CAT AND THE MYSTERIOUS SHAMISEN is a rare surviving example of a pre-World War II Japanese horror film.  Suzuki Sumiko, Japan’s original horror star, plays a jealous stage actress who murders her romantic rival — and her lover’s cherished pet cat for good measure!  But her bloody past comes back to haunt her … literally.  In Japanese with English subtitles.  Yes, a cat horror movie!  And, one may add, Suzuki Sumiko is not your Western-style “Scream Queen” either, but more often played the monster itself or, in this case, the second best thing.

As to the monster itself, though, there is a Japanese tradition of the ghost cat that comes upon a murder victim and drinks its blood, becoming itself a kind of ghost-monster.  Here it has evolved a little, however, with Kuro the cat as a go-between in what becomes a love triangle.  Or maybe not — our shamisen player is [image error]already promised to Ms Sumiko’s character as he explains to the second woman, a samuri’s daughter — and too high-born to be a musician’s girlfriend anyway — who had found and returned his missing Kuro to him.  He does end up giving her his shamisen though just before his betrothed takes matters into her own blood-stained hands and, well, the ghosts of the cat and the rival combine.  And the shamisen thus becomes a cursed object being passed from person to person — assisted by visitations by the cat/woman ghost, depicted through a sort of kaleidoscopic effect — until it winds up in the hands of the dead woman’s little sister, while in the meantime the actress has dumped the musician, becoming instead the mistress of the local feudal lord.  And then it happens there’ll be a kabuki theatre performance where actress, musician, lord, little sister, and ghosts come together. . . .

But let us end now with a guest review, courtesy of IMDb, which I will agree with for the most part.  I will add via the IU Cinema docent, though, that only about four of these pre-war Japanese horror movies have survived in complete form (after 1940 the Japanese movie industry turned to propaganda films, and afterward “revenge” films were banned until the American occupation ended in the early 1950s) and the print we saw, while less than perfect, was probably the best now in existence.  Also the Japanese described such movies, including the 1930s Universal films (e.g., DRACULA,  FRANKENSTEIN, which were shown there too) with a word that means not so much “horror” as “weird.”

Charming movie which lets itself down with poor horror special effects

19 February 2012 | by oOgiandujaOo_and_Eddy_Merckx

Seijiro is a shamisen player for a kabuki troupe (a shamisen being a type of stringed instrument).  He is engaged to Mitsue, a sociopathic actress.  Seijiro’s kindly behaviour towards his cat seems to prove good karma when the cat (Kuro) brings home Okiyo, a kindly and beautiful lady from a higher caste, with whom he forms a friendship.  For this gesture the cat is murdered by Mitsue.  Movies with ghost cats are apparently a genre in Japan, the only one I had previously been aware of is Kaneto Shindo’s Kuroneko, but this is an early example.

A number of scenes feature subsequent hauntings by the cat’s ghost.  The special effects in these moments unfortunately come across as fairly ludicrous.  The ending of the movie revolves around a kabuki performance that’s fairly unintelligible to a modern audience and some frankly pretty unwatchable action/horror scenes.

All that said though, I felt that the movie was very beautiful at points and was rather elegantly framed and shot.  I think what I love about black and white cinema is busy frames full of detail, and the contrast of light and shadow in these busy frames.  This movie, especially in the first half, is quite voluptuous and ornate, and shows a very idealised form of Japanese life, it’s easy to sense that the Japanese are a people who turned living into an art form.

British Anthology Humanagerie Contents, Cover: Crow and Rat Occupy 11th Slot

It’s a long, long list and there’s lots of poetry, but stories are there too, some of which I’ve read already from the proof copy.  The book:  HUMANAGERIE (cf. October 3, et al.), edited by Allen Ashley and Sarah Doyle and published in England by Eibonvale Press less than two weeks ago.  I’m looking forward to seeing a finished copy!  But in the meantime, I do have a table of contents now as well as a cover image that I can share.  My pup in the pack (ah, now), a story set in the world of TOMBS:  A CHRONICLE OF LATTER-DAY TIMES OF EARTH titled “Crow and Rat,” number eleven on the contents list, about the lowest of the low in New City’s beggar society aspiring to something perhaps too high.

But let’s let the editors give us an introduction to the book itself:

Inspired by notions of the animalistic, HUMANAGERIE is a vivid exploration of the nebulous intersection of human and beast.  From cities to wilderness, buildings to burrows, and coastlines to fish-tanks, these thirty-two poems and thirteen short stories explore emergence and existence, survival and self-mythology, and the liminal hinterland between humanity and animality.  This is an anthology featuring both poetry and prose.

CONTENTS

Animal Apology – Paul Stephenson

Beginnings – Elaine Ewart

Aquarium Dreams – Gary Budgen

Beetle – Sarah Westcott

Vixen – Cheryl Pearson

Augury – Tarquin Landseer

The Orbits of Gods – Holly Heisey

Polymorphous / Stages of Growth – Oliva Edwards

Pray – Scott Hughes

Seahorse – Tarquin Landseer[image error]

Crow and Rat – James Dorr

Phasianus Colchicus – Kerry Darbishire

And Then I Was a Sheep – Jonathan Edwards

Wade – Tonya Walter

Sanctuary – Lauren Mason

Sturnidae – Setareh Ebrahimi

Rut – Ian Steadman

When a magician – Kate Wise

Palavas-les-Flots – Paul Stephenson

Notes for the “Chronicles of the Land that has no Shape” – Frank Roger

Rough Music – Jayne Stanton

The Butterfly Factory – William Stephenson

Hibernation – Sandra Unerman

Jellyfish – Megan Pattie

Barred Owl – Kristin Camitta Zimet

Ouroboros – Douglas Thompson

The Great Eel of Jazz – Amanda Oosthuizen

University Library – Lindsay Reid

Vulpine – Tarquin Landseer

Sloth – Elaine White

Flock – David Hartley

Fishy Business – Diana Cant

Wojtek – Mary Livingstone

Susheela – Bindia Persaud

Fluke – Michael G. Casey

Buck and Doe – Jane Burn

A structure of perfect angles – Jane Lovell

Two Lost Souls – Tracey Emerson

Company to Keep at the Harvard Museum of Natural History – Jenny Grassl

Last night a deer – Kerry Darbishire

Miss Muffet Owns Her Inner Spider – Hannah Linden

Dewclaw – Ian Kappos

Female Skate – Sarah Westcott

Noctuary – Tarquin Landseer

Her Audience Shall Stand in Ovation – Jason Gould

Should one have a yen to order a copy, publisher Eibonvale Press’s info page can be found here.