Joshua Reynolds's Blog, page 31

Under-London

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Today’s look at the world of the Royal Occultist introduces the redoubtable men of the London Tunnel Authority, and the dangers of Under-London…

The body known as the London Tunnel Authority has existed, in one fashion or another, for as long as London itself. It is possibly older even than the offices of the Royal Occultist, supposedly having existed since London was Londinium.

According to what few sources from that time remain, the first iteration of the Tunnel Authority was created not long after the Roman Empire signed the Treaty of Pompelo with the Folk Below. Composed of gladiators fresh from the arenas, the group functioned as the wardens of the secrets roads running through the dark beneath the earth. Hundreds of secret battles were waged, even as Rome’s grip on their island territory slipped. When the Empire at last departed, the wardens of the secret roads remained, bound by oaths stronger than iron.

Currently, the Authority recruits members from the police and armed forces, rather than gladiators. The Royal Occultist is considered a ‘civilian adviser’ by the Authority and often works alongside them in order to investigate some mystery or to stave off some dark horror, such as in Rotherhithe in 1834, an incident during which Isambard Kingdom Brunel was rescued from a horrific burrowing entity of enormous size.

The Authority are responsible for the entirety of Under-London, patrolling the depths in grim rotations, twenty-four hours a day. The ghost-stations of the Underground, the semi-detached cellars, forgotten tube tracks and the sewers are their beat, and they wage an on-again, off-again cold war with the Folk Below, tracking and eliminating renegades who seek the surface.

More than once in recent years, the men of the Authority have been forced to enter some squalid East-End cellar with guns and fire and deal with what was nesting there, or wall up a long-lost tunnel in order to contain a lurking horror. Only time will tell if they’re winning the war in the dark, or whether their efforts are doomed to failure.

The London Tunnel Authority was inspired by one of my favourite short stories, “Far Below”, by Robert Barbour Johnson. The idea of a select squad of men, fighting eldritch horrors far below the unknowing streets of a major metropolis, was too good not to borrow. After all, someone must have dealt with the sinister forces slumbering beneath London before the position of Royal Occultist was created.

Since their introduction in “Iron Bells”, they’ve appeared a handful of times, always ably led by Ian Stanhook, the night-manager of the Thames Section. Stanhook is the sort of genial everyman I like to imagine being responsible for such a daunting task. He’s become one of the most popular supporting characters in the series, right after Philip Wendy-Smythe. And as with Wendy-Smythe, I have often considered writing London Tunnel Authority-focused stories, centred around Stanhook and his subordinates. So far, I’ve resisted the temptation. I think Stanhook and co. work best as supporting players for the Royal Occultist, though I reserve the right to change my mind at a later date.

The London Tunnel Authority have appeared in the following stories:

“Iron Bells”
“In the Dark and Quiet”
“The Creature from the Abysmal Sea”
“Hairy Shanks”
“Fane of the Black Queen”

For more on the adventures of St. Cyprian and Gallowglass, as well as past and future holders of the office, take a look at the Royal Occultist chronology on this site, as well as a number of free short stories, available only on Patreon. And be sure to ‘Like’ the Royal Occultist Facebook page, in order to keep up with all the latest news and info on the series!

Coming Attractions 2018

It’s been awhile since I’ve talked about what I’ve got coming out. I figured I should probably rectify that, it being my job and all. 

First up is a trio of new Royal Occultist stories, including one set in the early 1900’s, as well as one in the 1950’s. “The Disagreeable Bridegroom” sees the Royal Occultist, Edwin Drood, and his young assistant, Thomas Carnacki, match wits with foreign spirit of uncertain motive, while “The Great Revelry” finds Charles St. Cyprian and Ebe Gallowglass confronting a murderer with a peculiar mania for the Dionysian mysteries. “Unquiet in the Earth” follows an older Ebe Gallowglass and her duo of assistants, psychic Teddy Boy Albert Smythe and amateur occultist Honoria Jobson, as they investigate a ghostly giants and government conspiracies in a lonely Cornish village. The stories will be appearing in anthologies from 18thWall Productions and Pulpwork Press later this year, hopefully.

A new Amina Algol story, “The Ghoul’s Portrait”, will be appearing in a forthcoming anthology from Ulthar Press. In it, Amina and her ghoulish siblings, Arif and Bera, must track down a thief from the Waking World and halt the sinister machinations of an ambitious sorcerer.

There’s also a novella for Imperiad Entertainment, “The Divine Drowned”, that might be out this year or next. It involves the search for a legendary drowned city and two warring factions of cosmic monstrosities.

I’ve written a handful of short stories for Black Library that I can’t actually talk much about, at the moment. Though I can say that three of them are for the Age of Sigmar setting, including a new tale of Greywater Fastness, a story featuring one of the characters from my recent novel, Soul Wars, and the start of what I hope will be a new series, centred on everyone’s favourite chivalric plague-worshippers.

Sticking with Black Library, I have several audio-dramas on the way for later this year and early next, including a new Blackshields adventure. There’s also a novella for the recently announced Warhammer Horror line, which I’m working on at the moment.

Novel-wise, I’ve got two more for Black Library coming out this year – Shadespire: The Mirrored City in September, and Hallowed Knights: Black Pyramid, which will likely be out around Christmas.

There are a few more projects I’m waiting to hear back about, but for the moment that’s it, beyond a handful of stories that’ll be appearing on Patreon later this year, including a science-fiction story involving alien monsters and body modification.

It’s not much, I admit, but this has been a busy year for various and sundry reasons. I hope the next few months will see some stuff added to the list, but only time will tell.

Anyway, if you can’t wait for any of that, why not check out a more recent release, like Gaslight Gothic: Strange Tales of Sherlock Holmes, which includes my story, “The Ignoble Sportsmen”? Or maybe take a look at my Patreon, which has a whole host of short stories, some of which are even free to read.

The Amateur’s Amateur

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Today’s look at the world of the Royal Occultist centres on one of Charles St. Cyprian’s better-known associates, the amateur occultist, Philip Wendy-Smythe…

Philip Wendy-Smythe is the last of a once-proud line. Avowed orientalist and amateur occultist, he amassed a substantial collection of mostly fake, but occasionally extremely dangerous artefacts, grimoires and statuary.

Wendy-Smythe’s abiding obsession was the exploration of reality’s darkest corners. This obsession often led him into dangerous situations, such as the incident with Gussie Winkers and the Cult of Anubis. This necessitated his rescue on more than one occasion by the Royal Occultist and his plucky-yet-vicious assistant.

Over the course of his life, he joined and was subsequently expelled from over a dozen secret societies, prior to (and after) meeting St. Cyprian and Gallowglass, including the Cult of Gla’aki, the Order of the Cosmic Ram, the Starry Wisdom, the Golden Dawn, and a heretofore unnamed sect of cultists inhabited by brain-eating insects.

He was also the only man to be expelled from the Voyagers Club on three separate occasions, most recently after accidentally unleashing a phantom clowder of ancient Egyptian cat-ghosts in the communal billiards room.

Wendy-Smythe was mostly created to give St. Cyprian and Gallowglass an excuse to become entangled in various events. An amateur occultist and collector of eldritch kitsch, he’s at once a foil and a macguffin, dragging the heroes into one problem after another. I’ve toyed with the idea of spinning him off into his own stories, as he fits the Wodehousian aesthetic a lot better than St. Cyprian, and would be a natural protagonist for a series of occult comedies.

You can see Wendy-Smythe in action in “The d’Erlette Configuration”, available for free on my Patreon, or in “The Black Brotherhood”, which you grab for the Kindle.

Philip Wendy-Smythe has appeared in the following stories:

THE JADE SUIT OF DEATH
“Squatter’s Rights”
“The Black Brotherhood”
“The d’Erlette Configuration”
“Wendy-Smythe’s Worm”
“The Necromancer’s Drum”

For more on the adventures of St. Cyprian and Gallowglass, as well as past and future holders of the office, take a look at the Royal Occultist chronology on this site, as well as a number of free short stories, available only on Patreon. And be sure to ‘Like’ the Royal Occultist Facebook page, in order to keep up with all the latest news and info on the series!

Coming Soon-Black Pyramid

Black Library Live was last month, and among a host of other cool reveals was a sneak peek at the cover for my forthcoming novel, Hallowed Knights: Black Pyramid. 

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Hallowed Knights: Black Pyramid is the sequel to Hallowed Knights: Plague Garden, and finds Gardus Steel Soul and his Hallowed Knights journeying to Shyish to claim the ruins of an ancient city from the forces of Chaos. But the living are the least of the dangers that face those who journey to the Realm of Death.

The novel takes place some time after Plague Garden, following along from the short stories, “A Dirge of Dust and Steel”, available in the Black Library Events anthology, and “Ghosts of Demesnus”, but a few decades prior to my most recent novel, Soul Wars. It’s also a sequel – more or less – to Mortarch of Night. 

Which reminds me, at some point, I should probably put together a chronology of all my Age of Sigmar fiction.

At any rate, Hallowed Knights: Black Pyramid will hopefully be available at Black Library Weekender this year, for those of you looking forward to it. But in the meantime, that cover is pretty swell, hunh?

Ignoble Souls

Edge Publications’ newest anthology, Gaslight Gothic: Strange Tales of Sherlock Holmes, is now available as a Kindle download. Edited by Charles Prepolec and J. R. Campbell, it includes stories by a whole slew of talented authors. And also me. 

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My story, “The Ignoble Sportsmen”, finds Holmes and Watson joining forces with a Pinkerton agent to head off a murderous conspiracy that may have its origins in a supernatural vendetta. It was a blast to work on. As regular readers of this site might know, I’m a big fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his works, including the Holmes stories. I like to think Conan Doyle himself might have enjoyed this one.

If you’re interested, there’s an interview with the editors on the Edge Publications Facebook page. There’s also a new review, courtesy of The Science Fiction and Fantasy Reviewer.

Gaslight Gothic is available as a Kindle download from Amazon.com and its international subsidiaries. And if you’re interested in reading more of my Sherlock Holmes stories, why not check out Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective volumes 2 and 3 from Airship 27, which include my stories, “The Affair of the Wretched Flesh” and “The Singular Affair of the Sultan’s Tiger”, respectively. You could also pick up “The Door of Eternal Night” from 18thWall Productions, which features both Sherlock Holmes and his creator, Arthur Conan Doyle!

Hateful Hound

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In today’s look at the Royal Occultist universe, we examine one of Charles St. Cyprian’s deadliest foes…the monstrous Hound of Mons. 

The first recorded appearance of the gigantic canine known as the Hound of Mons was in Belgium in 1914, when it reportedly stalked No Man’s Land. An enormous black mastiff, driven mad by the death of its master, mauled a number of unlucky British soldiers before it perished in an artillery barrage. Or so the official reports claimed.

In reality, the Hound was anything but a normal dog. Dr. Gottlieb Hochmuller, vivisectionist, alchemist and member of the sinister Thule Society, created the beast by implanting a specially bred dog with the brain of a madman. When he unleashed his abominable weapon on the British forces at Mons, he attracted the attentions of then-Royal Occultist, Thomas Carnacki, and his apprentice, Charles St. Cyprian. In the ensuing confrontation, Hochmuller was seemingly killed his own creation, and the Hound itself was thought slain by a well-placed bullet.

But seven years later, the Hound returned to bedevil St. Cyprian and his own apprentice, Ebe Gallowglass. Despite a fiery plunge into the Thames, the bestial killer returned once more, this time allying with another old foe of St. Cyprian’s to threaten the life of Hochmuller’s estranged daughter. Again, the creature was thought to have perished, only to reappear – albeit in an altered state – and attempt to take his revenge on the Royal Occultist at a fancy dress party in Myrdstone, in a scheme involving a mysterious cult and a secretive race of corpse-eaters.

While St. Cyprian and Gallowglass have a number of reoccurring foes, the Hound is possibly my favourite of the bunch. The initial premise behind the character was to be an homage to the Universal Monsters. A creature created to return again and again, regardless of how it was dispatched in the previous story. And as with those old films,  I added a new wrinkle to things every time the Hound reappeared – a slight change to the formula, in order to keep the concept fresh.

I hope to write another Hound story at some point. Initially, I wanted to write one a year, and give them increasingly bizarre titles – “The Hound’s Tomb”, “Curse of the Hound”, “The Hound Strikes”, “The Cult of the Hound”, “The Hound Walks Among Us”, etc. – but only time will tell if he’ll rise from the grave to bedevil the Royal Occultist once more.

The Hound has appeared in the following stories:

“Hochmuller’s Hound”
“Return of the Hound”
“The Hound’s Daughter”
“The Bride of the Hound”

For more on the adventures of St. Cyprian and Gallowglass, as well as past and future holders of the office, take a look at the Royal Occultist chronology on this site, as well as a number of free short stories, available only on Patreon. And be sure to ‘Like’ the Royal Occultist Facebook page, in order to keep up with all the latest news and info on the series!

Cryptids Clashed

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CRYPTID

/ˈkrɪptɪd/

noun






an animal whose existence or survival is disputed or unsubstantiated, such as the yeti.

Last year, I had the pleasure of helping James Bojaciuk of 18thWall Productions to edit a series of novellas by some of the finest speculative authors of my acquaintance. ‘Cryptid Clash’ started as a joke on Facebook, and swiftly snowballed into an exciting project – one I’m proud to have been involved in. 

The premise of the series was simple. Each author was to choose two cryptids and come up with a situation in which they could meet – and then battle to the death.

Preferably, said battle would involve a lot of collateral damage, in the form of innocent victims and property destruction. I’m pleased to say each of the authors outdid themselves, with stories ranging from the chill shores of Loch Ness, to an alien planet in the far future. I even got to contribute, with a novella of my own.

In William Meikle’s “The Mouth of the Ness”, a band of vikings discovers a monster which may usher in the end of the world and seek to defeat it with a monster of their own.
In Gav Thorpe’s “Conquest of the New World”, two predatory species go to war on a futuristic colony world, with the colonists caught in the middle.
In David Annandale’s “The Thunder of Madness”, monsters, spies and occultists clash amid the chaos and confusion of World War I.
In CL Werner’s “The Himalayan Horror”, a Nazi expedition to Tibet finds itself caught between the guardians of the mountains and a horror from the trenches of the First World War.
In Nikki Nelson-Hicks’ “Rumble”, a natural gas station becomes the battleground between two creatures from Mongolian legend.
And in my contribution, “Inzignanin”, the Lee County Lizardman finds itself at the mercy of a phantasmal nightmare and its mindless followers.

Each of the novellas is currently available for the Kindle, at Amazon.com and its various subsidiaries. I encourage to pick one up and give it a read. Maybe leave a review as well, if you’re of a mind. Speaking as a co-editor and as one of the authors, I know all of us involved would appreciate it.

You can also hear interviews with a few of the authors over at the 18thWall blog, if you’re interested in learning a bit more about them, and their works. And why not check out the cover artist’s Tumblr for more of their work? 

Also, if you’ve already read and enjoyed the series, you’ll be happy to know that Round 2 is in the works. But more on that later…

Cemetery Without Crosses

There’s a new short story for patrons over at my Patreon. “Ia, Django, Ia!” is a weird western with a Lovecraftian twist, inspired by the many…many…many Django films of the Sixties and Seventies. There’s something iconic about the character, whether he’s played by Franco Nero or Terrance Hill. The story was a lot of fun to write, and if you’re looking for some accompanying music, you can’t go far wrong with this:

As it’s patron-only, it’ll cost you a buck to read it. But once you’ve become a patron, you’ll get access to a variety of other stories on the Patreon, including science-fiction, fantasy and horror. There’s also a few free stories, if you feel like checking things out before you get out the old wallet. Why not check it out, maybe leave a comment or even give it a retweet or a share on Facebook or Tumblr?

The Monas Glyph

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Today’s look into the secrets of the Royal Occultist focuses on one of the most potent artefacts in St. Cyprian’s possession…

It took something from him, to employ the Glyph. It was like a tuning fork for the psychical, and it made his soul shiver in him…

-The Whitechapel Demon (2013)

The Monas Glyph was supposedly created by Dr. John Dee in the rein of Elizabeth the First. The esoteric sigil is made of blackened silver, stiffened with copper wire, and is roughly the size of an athame or ritual dagger. It is shaped like a composite of various astrological and religious symbols, combining ankh, cruciform and crescent into a single shape.

The Glyph acts both as psychical conductor and amplifier, focusing and strengthening the latent psychic and/or spiritual abilities of the wielder for a brief period. As well as strengthening the gifts of its bearer, the Glyph contains its own innate power, and the merest sight of it is often enough to banish or drive back the most malign of spirits.

It is a potent artefact, but one that the various holders of the offices of Royal Occultist have rarely employed, save in the direst need due to the Glyph’s draining effect on its wielder. To use it for too long, or improperly could result in fatigue, madness or even death.

Nevertheless, Carnacki used it at least three times to exorcise monstrosities from the Outer Spheres, including during the Gogmagog Incident of 1914, and Dee was said to have employed it in putting paid to the last English dragon.

St. Cyprian himself has used the Glyph only a few times in his career, most notably during the events revolving around a 1920 confrontation with the monstrous doppelganger of one of London’s most notorious killers.

The Monas Glyph is one of a number of mystic artefacts that have appeared in the Royal Occultist stories and novels. It’s an homage to Doctor Occult’s Symbol of Seven, with a bit of Doctor Strange’s Eye of Agamotto thrown in. As the link above shows, the glyph itself has some historical basis – not as a magical weapon – but as an alchemical and philosophical symbol. I like to tie that sort of thing into these stories when I can, if only because I find it interesting.

Like most of the artefacts in these stories, it came about because I needed a solution to a particular problem – in this case, the daemonic Flea, from The Whitechapel Demon. Having solved that problem, it seemed a bit wasteful to never mention the Monas Glyph again. Hence its occasional reappearance. But, appropriately for such a powerful item, it only comes into play in the most dire of circumstances, notably whenever monstrous entities such as Nephren-Ka or Helen Strix show up.

The Monas Glyph has appeared in the following stories:

“Monmouth’s Giants”
THE WHITECHAPEL DEMON
“The Strix Society”
“The Door of Eternal Night”
“The Teeth of Winter”
“Terror on the Links”
“The Roaring Ship”

For more on the adventures of St. Cyprian and Gallowglass, as well as past and future holders of the office, take a look at the Royal Occultist chronology on this site, as well as a number of free short stories, available only on Patreon. And be sure to ‘Like’ the Royal Occultist Facebook page, in order to keep up with all the latest news and info on the series!

Seven Jackals Howl

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Children of the night, they howl about the Hill of the Seven Jackals when Kharis must be fed. Should unbelievers seek to desecrate the tomb of Ananka, you will use nine leaves each night to give life and movement to Kharis. Thus you will enable him to bring vengeance on the heads of those who try to enter.

-The Mummy’s Hand (1940)

I like mummy movies.

That sounds like an admission of guilt, doesn’t it? The phrase ‘mummy movies’ brings to mind certain images – the lumbering hulk in his soggy bandages, chanting priests, exotic sets that could be Cairo, Marrakesh or Istanbul. A worsening series of films, stumbling on as if in imitation of the eponymous monster, regardless of studio, actor or era. If there’s really a curse on poor old Kharis’ tomb, there it is.

And yet…and yet.

Recently, I was talking to my friend and fellow monster movie enthusiast, David Annandale, about horror films, as we tend to do at ever available opportunity. Somehow or other, we got on the subject of the various mummy films, including the 1940 Universal classic, The Mummy’s Hand. I use the term ‘classic’ loosely, of course. It’s a fun film, and likely the antecedent of Stephen Sommers’ 1999 reboot of the franchise.

Directed by Christy Cabanne, and starring Tom Tyler, Dick Foran, Peggy Moran, George Zucco and Wallace Ford, The Mummy’s Hand is less a sequel to the 1932 Karloff film than the start of an entirely new franchise. Even the eponymous creature is a different beast entirely. Karloff’s Imhotep is a sinister, cosmic evil – a sorcerer and fiend. But Tyler’s Kharis is a lumbering automaton – a drug-fuelled titan, rather than a subtle menace.

Despite that, I prefer Kharis to Imhotep. While Karloff plays the character with all the malign charisma you might expect, the script itself does him no favours. It’s solid, but Karloff’s Imhotep is almost pastiche of Lugosi’s Dracula – they’re remarkably similar menaces, dealt with in remarkably similar ways. By the same actor, no less, as Edward Van Sloan played a remarkably similar character to Van Helsing in The Mummy.

Kharis, on the other hand, is something unique – an engine of destruction, seemingly with no mind or will of his own, save in the film’s final moments. For most of the film, he’s the tool of George Zucco’s Andoheb – a lurching shadow, wreaking havoc wherever he goes. The priests of the Hill of Seven Jackals employ Kharis as an attack dog, to guard the tomb of the princess he loved in life. There’s pathos in that – in death, Kharis now protects what he desired in life, but can no longer have.

Too, the tana which controls Kharis is akin to the potion which turns Griffin into an invisible lunatic, or the flower which transforms Wilfred Glendon. But where those potions unleash the beast within their imbibers, the tana keeps Kharis in check. A small dose allows him to walk and kill, but little else. But give him enough, and the chain slips. The monster may be free to do as he wishes. Andoheb lives in terror of this possibility – often jerking the tana away from his lumbering servant, when he’s judged the creature to have had enough.

At the film’s climax, there’s a moment where Kharis is on the cusp of becoming something more. The stiff, awkward machine transforms..becomes something more graceful, more monstrous. Just for an instant. A brief moment. And then…a gunshot. The tana spills. And Kharis, desperate, sinks down to lap, animal-like, at the spreading liquid on the stone floor. He groans, trying to force the dark liquid past his frayed lips. All to no avail. Freedom, so close, is snatched away at the final moment, but not for the last time.

In that instant, Kharis is a man, again. Not a machine of meat, stiff and unaware, but a man, seeking his freedom from the curse that grips him, even as the flames from a fallen brazier engulf him. It’s a subtle thing. A brief thing, over all too quickly.

There are hints here and there, in the films that follow The Mummy’s Hand, that this independence is growing – or at least undimmed. That Kharis chafes in his bonds, and seeks to escape his fate. He twists and writhes in alchemical chains, testing his limits, waiting for his moment. Kharis is more than what he seems. A tool, but an unwilling one. One that might turn in the hands of his wielders, if given half a chance.

For me, the horror of Kharis is not what he does. It is what he might do, if freed from the control of petty men. There’s a story there, never told, but always teased. What might the monster do, if he was free?

Only the gods know. And they’re not talking.

But never, for any reason, must you brew more than nine leaves at one time. Should Kharis obtain a large amount of the fluid, he would become an uncontrollable monster, a soulless demon with the desire to kill and kill.

-The Mummy’s Hand (1940)