Joshua Reynolds's Blog, page 34
May 12, 2018
Death Rides the Moonbeams
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The werewolf is neither man nor wolf, but a Satanic creature with the worst qualities of both.
-The Werewolf of London (1935)
The first mainstream Hollywood werewolf film stalked into theatres in 1935, courtesy of Universal Studios. It was another six years before they tried again. Directed by Stuart Walker, and starring Henry Hull, The Werewolf of London is, like the eponymous lycanthrope, neither one thing, nor another. Where it’s successor, The Wolf Man (1941), is a fairy tale writ large, The Werewolf of London is as much a Wodehouse farce as it is a tale of lycanthropic madness.
Maybe that’s why no one really remembers Wilfred Glendon, and Larry Talbot gets all the copy. There’s something of the whipped dog about Lon Chaney Jr.’s Wolf Man – all instinct and fury. A murderous engine, much like Frankenstein’s creation. But Glendon’s monster is a different sort of beast altogether. He’s more calculating; almost slyly malign. A man’s cunning, married to a wolf’s instinct.
From his first scene, Glendon is damned by his own hubris. Where Talbot is sympathetic, Glendon is a son of a bitch. And yet…there’s something charming about such a charmless man. His transformation is more subtle than his predecessor’s agonised contortions – Glendon’s wolf isn’t buried very deeply at all. A bit of moonlight, and the beast slips right out. Glendon fights, he struggles, but even the juice of the marifasa lupina is but a stopgap measure. Blood will tell, and Glendon’s blood is as black as night.
There’s something hideously gleeful about the beast’s savagery – a calculating pleasure, quite at odds with the unfocused fury of the Wolf Man. Glendon is a man of icy calm, of almost inhuman restraint (save, notably, when in pursuit of a goal – there, the beast is all too visible in his eyes). But his alter-ego is Id run wild. Glendon is a man of sharp angles and precision, but his other self is almost…fluid. A shadow-self, a night-sending, loosed to visit terror and pain on those unlucky enough to cross his path.
Unlike Talbot, who has little memory of his other self, Glendon seems fully, painfully cognisant of these nocturnal perambulations. As with the Invisible Man, the curse is not just an imposition from outside but also something that has long been boiling away within Glendon. Once it takes hold, he is, in a sense, free to act on his worst impulses. The werewolf is a tulpa, born of frustration.
This frustration is the heart of the film, for me. Glendon is perennially frustrated – an adventurer, who would rather be in the foothills of Tibet than the drawing rooms of London; the jealous husband of a wife many years his junior; a scientist on the verge of a breakthrough that never seems to come; a man who demands solitude, but desires love; and finally, a beast who yearns to destroy that which he loves most. It all builds in soft layers, wrapping ever more tightly about him, until he finally gives in.
The wolf slips its leash.
Death rides the moonbeams.
Thanks for the bullet. It was the only way. In a few moments now, I shall now why all this had to be.
– The Werewolf of London (1935)
May 11, 2018
It’s Here!
The newest issue of Occult Detective Quarterly is here, and it includes “The Bascomb Rug”, a brand new Royal Occultist story that’s part locked room murder mystery, part monster mash.
While it’s only available in print at the moment, it will be available to download shortly. You can grab your copy from Amazon.com and its various affiliates. And if you haven’t yet checked out the previous three issues, I encourage you to do so.
May 7, 2018
Daughter of Pnath
A month back, I conducted an informal poll on social media, looking to see what sort of short story patrons of my Patreon were interested in. Sword and sorcery won handily, so, I decided to use the opportunity to revisit one of my favourite characters – Amina Algol.
Amina is a Lovecraftian Mowgli of sorts, albeit one raised by ghouls, rather than wolves. Alongside her monstrous siblings, Arif and Bera, she wanders the strange kingdoms of Earth’s Dreamlands, upholding the laws of the charnel-god, Mordiggian. Amina and co. have appeared in several of my stories, and there’s at least one more forthcoming this year. But for the moment, patrons can enjoy their newest adventure, “The Orphan of Bones”, in which Amina and her kin pursue a cagey pair of tomb robbers across the deserts of Khem, for the low price of a dollar.
If you do enjoy it, be sure to check out the other stories on my Patreon page – including a number which are free to read – and perhaps leave a comment, hit the ‘Like’ button, or even consider becoming a patron.
May 4, 2018
Doomed Meddler Deal
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A terrific deal, here, if you’re of a digital frame of mind. I have Royal Occultist stories in both issue 2 and issue 4, but I highly recommend that you grab all three. Occult Detective Quarterly is a fantastic magazine, and it needs all the support it can get.
April 6, 2018
Hungerpillar
Recently I conducted a poll, asking readers what sort of Patreon story they’d like to read. Sword and sorcery won by a fair margin, and I intend to start work on that story in the next few weeks, but I thought I’d give patrons a horror story involving a coffin, a pond and a county work crew to tide them over.
“Hungerpillar” is a bit of an experiment for me, in terms of plot and pacing. I wanted to try my hand at a proper weird tale, something I haven’t written in a while. Much like “The Bayonet”, it’s light on plot and explanations and heavy (I hope) on atmosphere and tension. I enjoyed writing it, and hopefully, you’ll enjoy reading it!
If you do enjoy it, be sure to check out the other stories on my Patreon page – including a number which are free to read – and perhaps leave a comment, hit the ‘Like’ button, or even consider becoming a patron.
April 2, 2018
Humble Bundle-Warhammer Style
Games Workshop and Black Library have teamed up with Humble Bundle for a good cause. You can grab a whole slew of titles, including novels, short stories and audio dramas for around fifteen bucks. There’s even a few of mine in there. Why not check it out?
March 14, 2018
A Devil on Two Sticks
Today, I’m turning this space over to my pal, Bob Freeman, for a special guest-post in honour of his newest collection, First Born: Tales of the Liber Monstrorum, now available from Seventh Star Press. So, without further ado, here’s the Occult Detective himself, discussing Gene Rodenberry’s SPECTRE…
In March, 1977, not long after my 11th birthday, I received a newsletter from Lincoln Enterprises announcing the pilot premiere of Spectre, an occult-themed thriller starring Robert Culp and created by Star Trek’s Gene Roddenberry.
I was instantly obsessed.
Debuting on Saturday, May 21, Spectre aired from 9-11pm to low numbers. It was not picked up by NBC and the pilot was cast into the morass of late night horror movie rotation.
I caught it every now and then, even managed to video tape three-fourths of it so I could watch at my leisure, which I did until the tape wore out sometime in the early 90s.
Spectre admittedly suffered from shoddy production values, and some of the lore is a bit wonky, but I dare say you’d be hard pressed to find a better occult detective film in spirit.
Culp’s William Sebastian is everything you could want from a paranormal investigator. He is a world famous criminologist for starters, but he is also a tortured soul. A confrontation with Asmodeus himself left Sebastian physically and spiritually scarred, forcing him to dedicate his life to occult research and to battling the forces of evil wherever they might arise.
Robert Culp was always a solid actor and his approach toward portraying William Sebastian gave the character both an air of intellectualism and a vulnerability that is hard to pull off.
The pilot had a terrific cast that included Gig Young as Sebastian’s best friend and colleague, Dr. Hamilton, Majel Barrett as his housekeeper Lilith, and a young John Hurt as Mitri Cyon.
There are a number of reason’s the pilot failed to find an audience. I suspect most of America was busy watching Starsky & Hutch or All in the Family instead, but ultimately, I don’t think the numbers were bad enough for NBC to pass on Spectre.
I suspect it had more to do with fear.
While Spectre is rather tame by today’s standards, in 1977, the pilot was more than a little titillating, with sexual roleplay on display and a couple of mass orgies filling Middle America’s TV screens.
Spectre had more than a passing resemblance to Eyes Wide Shut at times and that was probably a bit much for network executives.
Whatever the reason, Spectre didn’t make the cut and more’s the pity. If any show deserved revisiting, with modern sensibilities and production values, it’s this one.
I tried to contact the Roddenberry Estate regarding the franchise’s availability, but alas, their lawyers ignored my pleas. And so, Spectre remains relegated to a distant memory, late night movie fodder, and youtube viewings.
Even the novelization, which is a cracking good read by Robert Weverka, is long out of print and hard to find.
William Sebastian deserves better. I still hold out hope that one day the Roddenberry Estate will allow new life to be breathed into Spectre, no matter the medium.
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About the Book:
From the arcane sorceries of “The Wickedest Man in the World” to the supernatural exploits of Occult Detective Landon Connors and the harrowing investigations of Agents Wolfe and Crowe, this collection of macabre tales of the black arts treads the dangerous landscape between this world and that populated by angels and demons, gods and devils, ghosts and spirits, and the legendary creatures of our darkest imaginings.
First Born is the beginning of the journey into the Liber Monstrorum, the Chronicles of those Occult Detectives who are the last line of defense against those preternatural forces that threaten to destroy a world that refuses to believe that such things exist…
Buy Firstborn: Tales of the Liber Monstrorum at Amazon.com.
About Bob:
Bob Freeman is an author, artist, and paranormal adventurer whose previous novels include Shadows Over Somerset and Keepers of the Dead.
A lifelong student of mythology, folklore, magic, and religion, Freeman has written numerous short stories, articles, and reviews for various online and print publications and is a respected lecturer on the occult and paranormal phenomena.
He lives in rural Indiana with his wife Kim and son Connor.
Mr. Freeman can be found online at:
Website: http://occultdetective.com/
Twitter: @OccultDetective
March 7, 2018
The Undying King Rises
My Age of Sigmar novel, Nagash: The Undying King, is now available as a general release. Previously released as a limited edition, available only at Warhammer World, it’s now out in a variety of formats, which I’m pretty happy about.
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From the blurb:
Since the dark days of the Great Awakening, the scattered remnants of humanity have clung to a bleak existence, surviving howsoever they can, no matter what the cost. Tamra, a voivode of the Rictus clans, fights one last, desperate battle for the survival of her tribe, the Drak. Now her people face their most relentless enemy ever – the lumbering minions of the Plague God. Where is their lord Nagash, the Undying King, when his people need him most? As the gods and their servants vie for power in the Mortal Realms, Tamra is drawn into a deadly game between life and death, as beings long thought gone start to exert their powers once again.
If you’re interested, I did a quick interview with Michael Dodd from Track of Words about the book. And it was reviewed as well, in several places:
Track of Words
Mengel Miniatures
A Tabletop Gamer’s Diary
Civilian Reader
Age of Warhammer
Fjordhammer
2+ Tough
Nagash: The Undying King is available from Black Library as a hardback, in digital, and as an audio-book. It is also available on Amazon as a Kindle download. There are probably a few of the limited editions left as well, if you’re heading up to Warhammer World in the near future.
February 28, 2018
Talking Tricksters
Hey, I wrote a bit about Lukas the Trickster for Warhammer Community. Why not go check it out? And maybe pick up a copy of the book, after?
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February 24, 2018
Wolf and Serpent
My newest novel, Lukas the Trickster, is now available from the Black Library. Today also happens to be the release date for the softback version of Eight Lamentations: Spear of Shadows, so that’s two books for the price of…well, two books. But one is slightly cheaper! And the other has a very fancy limited edition.
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From the blurb:
Among the Space Wolves there are as many sagas as there are warriors. Though none quite like that of Lukas the Trickster. Renowned and reviled in equal measure, the Jackalwolf has ever stood apart from his brothers, passed from pack to pack by embittered Wolf Lords. But as a new enemy invades the icy reaches of Fenris at the height of the Helwinter, Lukas finds himself facing a foe who may rival even his legendary cunning – the drukhari corsair, Duke Sliscus. In the battle between wolf and serpent, who will emerge triumphant, and who will lay on red snow?
As you might be able to tell from the blurb, this is something of an origin story. Following along from my short story, “A Trick of the Light”, the novel finds Lukas settling well into his role as Jackalwolf, but not quite yet at the level seen in “The Art of Provocation”, “Jackalwolf” or The Ashes of Prospero.
If you’re interested in knowing more, here’s a recent interview I did about the book.
Lukas the Trickster is available in limited edition, hardback, and as an audiobook, narrated by the ever-amazing John Banks.
