Joshua Reynolds's Blog, page 59
December 7, 2015
Coming Attractions-2018 Edition
Hey. Psst. Wanna see something cool? Well, head over to the Onder Librum site and see what they’ve got cooking. And if you want to know why I’m mentioning it, why not take a peek at the For Wolf & Empire page to see something I’ll be talking about more in the future…a little thing called Wolves of the Silk Road…
December 4, 2015
An Old Acquaintance
The 2015 PulpWork Press Christmas Special is now available. Featuring stories by Joel Jenkins, Tom Deja, and myself, among others, it’s a chunky dollop of Yuletide pulp-fiction. My contribution, “The Return of the Hound”, is a brand new adventure of the Royal Occultist, featuring the return of old enemy.
It’s not spoiling anything to say that “The Return of the Hound” is a sequel to 2014’s “Hochmuller’s Hound”, which appeared in Monster Hunter: Blood Trails, from Emby Press. If you’ve read that story, you know what and who the Hound is and why he has a grudge against our friendly neighbourhood Royal Occultist. I had a lot of fun writing the story, if only because I’m a fan of monster movie sequels…Dracula’s Daughter, Son of Frankenstein, House of Dracula, Revenge of the Creature…I’m a sucker for that sort of thing.
The PulpWork Press Christmas Special 2015 is available in print and digital format via Amazon.
December 3, 2015
The Bard and the Beast
Imagine if it had been William Shakespeare, England’s greatest playwright, who had discovered the truth about the Great Old Ones and the cosmic entity we know as Cthulhu, rather than the American author Howard Phillips Lovecraft.
Imagine if Stratford’s favourite son had been the one to learn of the dangers of seeking after forbidden knowledge and of the war waged between the Elder Gods in the Outer Darkness, and had passed on that message, to those with the eyes to see it, through his plays and poetry.
Welcome to the world of Shakespeare vs Cthulhu! An anthology of tales of cosmic horror and the Elizabethan men and women who find themselves battling to resist the call of Cthulhu.
Edited by Jonathan Green and featuring brand new stories by the likes of James Lovegrove, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Graham McNeill, Josh Reppion, Andrew Lane, and Ian Edginton. And, well, me. Coming soon to Kickstarter!
Oh, and be sure to check out the Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu Facebook page to keep up to date on everything.
December 2, 2015
Phantasmal Predation
Mark of the Beast, an anthology of werewolf stories from Chaosium, is now available for purchase, via the publisher’s website. Ably edited by Scott David Aniolowski, it includes a new Royal Occultist story, “The Hunting of Philip Ackroyd”.
This one has been a long time coming. Written back in the dim days of 2011, it recounts St. Cyprian and Gallowglass’ second encounter with a lycanthropic killer, albeit one of the ectoplasmic variety. There’s an excerpt available, if you’re interested.
Mark of the Beast is currently available in print from Chaosium. Presumably it’ll be available in digital form and on Amazon at some point as well.
November 23, 2015
Ch-Ch-Changes
First and foremost, don’t panic. Secondly, what did I just say? Stop panicking. Take a breath. Now that that’s out of the way, down to business. Over the next few weeks, leading up to 2016, there’re going to be a few changes here and at https://royaloccultist.wordpress.com/. I’m going to prune some older posts on both sites that are annoying me for indefinable reasons, take some others down temporarily so that I can update them with new info and just generally give both sites a thorough tidying–so if a post or six go missing, or the theme changes that’s what happened. I will also be making an attempt to update both sites semi-regularly, after the holidays, but with less of the ‘hey, this is out-go buy it’ and more of the ‘hey, remember that story I wrote? here’s why I did it that way’ sort of thing.
This ain’t to say that there won’t still be promotional posts, but they’ll be surrounded by a comforting blanket of fluff and drivel, rather than looming like tombstones over the wasteland that is this site normally. I still won’t be discussing much of anything not related to my work and/or interests here-no opining on the state of political discourse at home or abroad, no chewing over the latest genre kerfluffle, skirmish or imbroglio…that’s what my twitter is for. I will, however, concede to occasional cat and/or hobby pictures should the mood take me. Maybe even a few more mixtapes.
Also, probably a lot more posts about occult detectives and monsters.
Anyway, just a heads up, for the three of you who actually pay attention to this thing. Change is a-comin’, hopefully for the better.
November 18, 2015
Deathless Vendetta
My 2015 Pro Se Press novella, The New Adventures of Jim Anthony, Super-Detective: Red Shambhala, is now available as an audiobook from Audible. Narrated by Bob Kern, it’s three hours of adventure, featuring a dead man seeking revenge, hidden treasure, and flesh-eating eagles. Download your copy today! And if you like what you hear, why not check out the Super-Detective’s previous outing, Death’s Head Cloud, available in print, digital and audio form?
November 5, 2015
Cloud of Death
My 2013 Pro Se Press novella, The New Adventures of Jim Anthony, Super-Detective: The Death’s Head Cloud is now available as an audio book from Audible. Ably read by Bob Kern, it clocks in at three hours and some change of rollicking New Pulp adventure. Download your copy today! And if you like what you hear, why not check out the sequel, Red Shambhala, available for Kindle or in paperback?
November 2, 2015
Ripperology
April Moon Books has announced that Short Sharp Shocks 4: Spawn of the Ripper is now available for pre-order. Even better, every pre-order will receive a free digital version of the book a full month before the book comes out.
Spawn of the Ripper is a love-letter to the films of Hammer and Amicus, and one I’m quite pleased to be a part of. My story, “The Fates of Dr. Fell”, sees the Royal Occultist match wits with the eponymous Dr. Fell and his deadly deck of tarot cards on a train bound for Penzance.
If that sort of thing interests you, why not pre-order your copy today?
October 31, 2015
A Treat (or Five) For Halloween
It’s that time of year…the leaves have changed color. The air is crisp and the moon is bright. Noon goes quickly, twilight lingers and midnight stays. That’s right, it’s Halloween, and if you’re a regular around these parts, you know what that means…a free Royal Occultist story to celebrate the season!
As with the previous two stories-“The d’Erlette Configuration” and “The Faceless Fiend”-this year’s eldritch offering, “The Creature from the Abysmal Sea” has its origins in the shadowy depths of the silver screen. Specifically, the Creature from the Black Lagoon (and, to a lesser extent, its sequels). Granted, it’s not exactly a subtle homage, but it’s not that sort of story. Instead it’s a rousing romp through the black guts of London, as St. Cyprian and co. hunt down a horror from an unearthly sea. And you can read it right now if you download this PDF containing “The Creature from the Abysmal Sea” AND “The d’Erlette Configuration” AS WELL AS “The Faceless Fiend” for ABSOLUTELY FREE. What are you waiting for?
If that’s not enough, why not check out these two Royal Occultist stories set firmly in the October Country: “The Gotterdammerung Gavotte” and “The Bells of Northam”. Both are free to read or listen to, courtesy of the Lovecraft eZine.
And if you’re still hungry for some Halloween goodies, why not check out these monstrous essays I wrote a few years ago?
“A New and Terrible Juggernaut of Destruction”-concerning the evolution of Karloff’s Frankenstein monster.
“We Didn’t Come Here to Fight Monsters, We’re Not Equipped for It!”-concerning the gill-man and his function.
Happy Halloween folks. May all your candy bars be full size and devoid of razorblades.
October 28, 2015
War of the Vigilantes
Just got word today that the second volume of Black Bat Mystery from Airship 27 is now available as an audiobook from Audible. Narrated by Bob Kern, it contains stories by Jim Beard, Aaron Smith, Frank Byrns and myself. My story, “The Black Bat at Bay!” sees the eponymous vigilante go head-to-head with the Super-Detective himself in a senses-shattering showdown. You can read an excerpt here, if you like.
