Joshua Reynolds's Blog, page 88
December 11, 2012
PSYCHOPOMP CHRISTMAS SPECIAL Now Available
The Psychopomp Christmas Special, last mentioned HERE, is now available in handy-dandy electronic format from Psychopomp Media. It includes my story, “Merry John Mock”, which sees St. Cyprian and Gallowglass dealing with ghostly swine and malevolent mummers during a Winter Solstice in the Channel Islands in 1919 and is a bit of Lovecraft by way of Hodgson for this holiday season.
From the blurb:
Each collection of Psychopomp is intended as a series of tales from worlds we have only previously heard of by hearsay, worlds where we hope never to find ourselves; worlds that may await all of us during darker
moments.
If you’d like to learn more about the world of the Royal Occultist and the adventures of St. Cyprian and Gallowglass, be sure to take a look at http://royaloccultist.wordpress.com/ and the Royal Occultist Facebook page! And be sure to check out the Psychopomp Media Podcast, as well!
December 10, 2012
PULPWORK PRESS CHRISTMAS SPECIAL 2012 Now Available
The Pulpwork Press Christmas Special 2012 is now available for the holiday season! It includes “Feast of Fools”, which finds St. Cyprian and Gallowglass facing down the sinister Saturn Society on a bothersome Boxing Day in 1922. There’s an excerpt available HERE. 
From the blurb:
Yuletide Tales of Horror, Woe and Destruction: Featuring characters and setting from their premiere New Pulp creations, here are four soon-to-be Christmas Classics from the pens of master pulpists Josh Reynolds, Joel Jenkins, Derrick Ferguson, and Russ Anderson.
Feast of Fools: The Royal Occultist, Charles St. Cyprian and his lovely assistant, the gun-toting and slightly bloodthirsty Ebe Gallowglass, take down an ancient cult on their Christmas holiday.
Lair of the White Apes: In search of a missing squad of warriors, the former cannibal Naegrik and his companions in arms travel to the snowy reaches of the Dire Planet and explore the not-quite abandoned temple of the One Son.
How to Get Rid of a Body on Christmas Day: It’s truly a twisted Christmas when a pair of old comrades contrive a way to dispose of an unwanted corpse one early Christmas morning.
Dillon and the Night Before Christmas: Global instigator Dillon begins to question the reason for his existence as he goes on a rum-soaked Christmas Eve bender, and discovers what the world would look like without him.
The Special includes stories by Joel Jenkins, Derrick Ferguson and Russ Anderson. It will be available as a FREE PDF until December 31 is available in both electronic and print format, from Amazon.The former will be a FREE DOWNLOAD from December 10 until December 15, and for a twenty percent discount on the latter, use the code 5YRZ6A8W at checkout.
And be sure to visit the Pulpwork Press site for more of the best in New Pulp publishing!
December 9, 2012
Two New Reviews
Is there any better way to start the week than with good reviews for your latest novel and short story, respectively? I think not. First up, Abhinav Jain said some nice things about my 1K word contribution to Black Library’s 2012 Advent Calendar, “The Riddle of Scorpions”, over at his review-blog, ANGELS OF RETRIBUTION:
And, adding to the general feeling of well-being, Neferata: Blood of Nagash has gotten its second (here’s the first) pre-release review, courtesy of the review site, FALCATA TIMES:
If you haven’t picked up a copy of Neferata yet, it’s currently available on Amazon UK and from Black Library in electronic format. It’ll be available from to US Amazon customers from the 18th of December, but, you can pre-order it, if you like.
‘Malevolent Mummers and Devilish Intruders…’
I’m pleased to announce that later this year, “Merry John Mock”, which sees St. Cyprian and Gallowglass dealing with ghostly swine and malevolent mummers during a Winter Solstice in the Channel Islands in 1919, will be reprinted in the Psychopomp Christmas Special 2012 by Psychopomp Media.
“Merry John Mock” was first published as the Third Annual Free Advent Day Story in 2011 via the old HUNTING MONSTERS blog, and was first reprinted in the Pulpwork Press Christmas Special in 2011, which is available via Amazon.
To read an excerpt from the story, head HERE.
And in 2013, an all-new story, “The Pnakotic Puzzle”, in which St. Cyprian and Gallowglass match wits with a bevy of devilish intruders, including a time traveller and an amorphous entity in 1923, will be published in an issue of the Lovecraft eZine!
For an excerpt from “The Pnakotic Puzzle”, head HERE.
If you’d like to learn more about the world of the Royal Occultist and the adventures of St. Cyprian and Gallowglass, be sure to check out http://royaloccultist.wordpress.com/ and the Royal Occultist Facebook page as well!
December 7, 2012
Crawling, Clutching, Clambering…
Hey, remember Sydney? Well, it turns out that she has a site of her own, and it’s pretty neat, especially if you, like me, are into monsters and mysterious creatures.
So why not take a few minutes to visit http://cryptidchronicles.tumblr.com/ this weekend?
“Walk Through the Dark Tunnel”
Today’s guest-post is courtesy of the ever-entertaining Greg Mitchell, whose site you can visit HERE. I encourage you to do so, because he’s a fairly interesting fellow.
Today, Greg’ll be talking about the forthcoming final book in his ‘Coming Evil’ trilogy, Dark Hour, which you can read more about HERE, as well as the intersectionality of the Christian faith and the Horror genre.
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If all goes according to schedule, early 2013 will see the release of my latest fright novel Dark Hour, the concluding chapter of my The Coming Evil Trilogy, begun with The Strange Man and Enemies of the Cross (available online and in book-stores now!). It’s a work I began back in 1998/9 and has been a passion of mine ever since.
For the uninitiated, The Coming Evil Trilogy tells the story of Greensboro, a small out-of-the-way place that has fallen on hard times. The growing apathy that the townspeople possess has, in fact, invited a malicious figure known only as “the Strange Man”—a demonic being that derives simple joy out of sowing suffering wherever he goes. Only a small group of ordinary folks have begun to suspect that something is wrong, and it may already be too late. The Strange Man’s enigmatic and ominous Master is returning to the Earth, even as the town falls into madness and men turn into mindless shambling beasts. In order for the small band of devil smashers to fight back the growing waves of horror that are descending upon their home, they will have to overcome their own grievances against each other and lay hold of something that’s on short supply in Greensboro—faith.
Dark Hour—and the entire trilogy—is a love letter to my two passions: monster movies and the reality of faith. I first conceived The Coming Evil Trilogy as a bold experiment: I wanted to write a “Christian Horror” novel.
I’ve gone on at great lengths on my blog about why I think that matters of faith are intricately bound up in horror—and have been since the very beginning of the genre. Even harkening back to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, we’re talking about the danger of Man playing God. How can we tell such a story if we do not, at least for the context of the story, ascribe to God a right to create and govern life? And it’s impossible to separate the Christian overtones and iconography from Dracula. Dr. Jeykll and Mr. Hyde is practically an essay on the warring natures of man—the holy and the profane—that the apostle Paul talked about in the epistles.
For my part, I made a profession of faith as a young child. We lived next door to an older couple who were foreign missionaries, on leave in the States. These people lived their faith every day, spending most of their lives in countries where practicing Christianity is against the law. This couple faced kidnapping, and saw their friends abducted and killed in the Middle East. They had gone without, living in remote African villages. They had suffered for their faith, but their joy was unmistakable. Sadly, as they returned to America, they were often dismayed at the careless attitude of Americanized Christianity. For this family, faith wasn’t something they adopted for Sunday morning in certain social circles—it was real. It was gritty and scary and life or death. Even as a kid, I sensed that passion, that reality of faith. I wanted to trust God like that, to make the world a better place, to fight for something worthwhile.
Growing alongside that spiritual awakening was a love for monsters. I was drawn to the horror section at my local video store, to marvel at the cover art of a thousand thrilling monster movies. Once I learned how to program the VCR as a kid, I would record A Nightmare On Elm Street movies when they played late on Friday night on WLMT-23 out of Memphis and wake up early Saturday morning to watch them before my parents woke up. It was a magical time as I faced down my fears—with the help of the fast forward button if things got too scary. I felt a deep kinship with the protagonists in scary movies, while also being entertained by the outrageous practical effects of the ‘80s monster movie scene.
Watching these monster movies through the lens of faith afforded an interesting perspective. Horror movies talked about God. They questioned religion and non-belief. They made arguments for or against Christianity. While I didn’t (and still don’t) always agree with the conclusions these movies make about God, it was still a lively discourse that no other form of entertainment offered. Looking back, I don’t even think the churches I grew up in provided such an atmosphere. The horror genre allowed me the freedom to explore faith, in my own heart. It caused me to ask questions—it even pushed me to seek out the Bible all the more. To understand what the Bible actually says as opposed to what Hollywood often believes it says. Through horror, I’ve been exposed to the different worldviews of the writers involved, and their philosophies have challenged me to solidify my own worldview and stand by it. If anything, horror movies have made me a stronger Christian.
But try finding a horror novel in a Christian bookstore.
As a teenager in the late ‘90s, I assaulted my ears with Stone Temple Pilots, Bush, and Nirvana, much to the chagrin of my parents, my youth pastor, my church, etc. I was often encouraged to find some “Christian alternative” to such music. I remember one local Christian trinket store had an actual honest-to-goodness “comparison chart”: “Hey, kids! You like that rock band Bush? Then try this Christian alternative!” And I tried. I really did. But I was always disappointed because the bands they offered in return were NOTHING like Bush or my other favorite bands. They felt like cheap counterfeits. In fact, that sadly seemed to be the case with a lot of “Christian entertainment” I encountered back then, be it music, books, or movies. They seemed to be just a watered-down alternative, and missed that spark that made the originals so powerful.
As a horror fan—and a Christian—I was dismayed. But in 1998, I wanted to change that with The Coming Evil Trilogy. I didn’t want to write a “Christian alternative” to horror. I wanted to write horror, inspired by my lasting love of John Carpenter, The Monster Squad, Stephen King, Lost Boys, Spielberg, Ghostbusters, Lovecraft, Fright Night—and everything that captured my imagination as a child. I wanted to bring Fangoria to the Christian market. Yet, in writing that horror novel, I wanted to talk openly about matters of faith. About decency and goodness. About maintaining hope in a world that seems to slip further into uncertainty and chaos each day. I wanted to explore a faith that is living and active—life-sustaining. I wanted to write about love and forgiveness and mercy and charity. About the difficulties of living and loving in the face of unspeakable horrors outside the realm of human understanding. About humanity and how we respond to the infinite.
I wanted to write Christian Horror.
I’ve done that with The Coming Evil Trilogy. I have poured my heart and soul into this final instalment I began writing this series as a young man, fresh out of high school with little idea what I wanted to do with my life or who I wanted to become. I’ve stumbled as a writer, I’ve learned more about my craft, I’ve been humbled, I’ve grown up. Now I’m a husband and a father. A better storyteller. A man of faith. It’s been a long journey, and I’m certainly not finished yet.
Dark Hour—the culmination of that “Christian Horror” experiment I began as an idealistic young man—is the story of my life, up to this point. It’s a magnum opus that I hope even my grandchildren will re-discover one day after I’m dead and gone, and know their grandfather a little deeper. Understand the things I cared about and then ask themselves the tough questions about God and their place in the universe. Those are good questions that I think everyone should ask. They’re questions that are often terrifying as we might discover that the answers demand something of us. But we have to push through the fear, walk through that dark tunnel, and face those monsters, until we finally come into the light and find peace and joy. That’s the only way to get any of the worthwhile things in life. That’s what the Bible teaches.
And it’s a valuable lesson I first learned from horror.
December 5, 2012
Strange Guns of the Nightmare Men
Over at http://royaloccultist.wordpress.com/, I’ve been pleased to present the first two of what I hope will be an ongoing series of guest-posts relating to occult detectives.
Last week saw Joel Jenkins talk about his gunslinging monster-killer character, Lone Crow. And this week, Bob Freeman delved into the strange origins of his creation, Dr. Landon Connors. But there’s more to come. Over the course of the next few weeks, I hope to present guest-posts by Chuck Miller and Jim Beard, among others.
And if you’re a writer (or artist) who’s a fan of the occult detective sub-genre, and who happens to have a character or occult detective-related project you’d like to introduce to the literally dozens of people who visit http://royaloccultist.wordpress.com/ on a daily basis, please feel free to inquire as to the schedule in one of the various and sundry ways available (i.e. through the comments here, or on Facebook or via my e-mail, should you be lucky enough to possess it).
Oh, and be sure to come back HERE tomorrow, because there’ll be a guest-post from Greg Mitchell on the intersectionality of Christianity and Horror Fiction, in regards to his forthcoming book, Dark Hour.
December 4, 2012
ATOMIC AGE CTHULHU Cover Sneak-Peek
Brian M. Sammons and Glynn Owen Barrass, editors of the forthcoming Chaosium anthology, Atomic Age Cthulhu: Terrifying Tales of the Mythos Menace, which will include my story of atomic testing, time-travel and mass mind-transference, “The Romero Transference”, have posted a look at David Lee Ingersoll’s Azathoth-awesome cover art.
Doesn’t that just make you want to sing the praises of the Idiot-Chaos? For a full run-down of the TOC and release date, visit my previous post concerning the anthology.
December 3, 2012
Context and Circumstance
Yesterday, my 1K word contribution to Black Library’s 2012 Advent Calendar, “The Riddle of Scorpions” went on sale. I also spoke briefly (if flippantly) about it on the BL blog. So check that out.
And if you enjoy “The Riddle…”, be sure to check out issue 25 of Hammer & Bolter, and “The Problem of Three-Toll Bridge”, wherein Zavant Konniger and Vido the Halfling investigate a murder that might not be all that it seems as Altdorf threatens to erupt in violence…
“Beats Forever Silver”
Today’s guest-post is courtesy of the irrepressible Sarah Cawkwell, fellow Black Library author, bon vivant and Mistress of the One Thousand Deadly Strikes. You can visit Sarah’s site HERE, and pick up copies of her novels–The Gildar Rift and Valkia the Bloody–HERE. I encourage you to do both.
Today, Sarah’ll be giving us a look at a certain argent-armoured Chapter of post-human killing machines, via Kipling.
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Questions, Questions…
Rudyard Kipling and Warhammer 40,000 seem very far removed from one another, but I can (alright, tenuously) link them together directly via my secondary school science teacher, Mr. Mitchell.
On the first day of science at secondary school, Mr. Mitchell (whose initials were ‘DWM’ – he told us it stood for ‘Damp, Wet and Miserable’) shared this 
extract of a poem of Kipling’s with us.
I KEEP six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
‘What you do,’ said Damp, Wet and Miserable, is you take those six things and you apply them to any subject. You question what and why and when and how and where and who… and you can generally come up with a conclusion. So I’m going to take his long-ago advice and I’m going to apply it to the world of Warhammer.
As those of you who have read any of my 40k fiction know, my chapter of choice has been the Ultramarines successor chapter, the Silver Skulls. There’s been a few lively discussions on the Black Library Bolthole forum recently, and a lot of questions asked at the recent Black Library Weekender – so at Josh’s invitation, I thought I could take a little look at them through the eyes of Kipling.
WHAT ARE THEY?
Well, apart from obviously being Space Marines, the Silver Skulls are a much understated chapter who had appeared occasionally in a various codex or two. They seemed interesting… which led to the next step.
WHY DID YOU PICK THEM?
They sort of picked me. The reason the Silver Skulls got into my clutches was because a group of fanfiction writers on the now defunct Black Library forum decided to run a little chapter-creation project. They had a shortlist of a few and the Silver Skulls ended up as the one they ran with. I was invited into the group dealing with them and created a few characters and bits of background of my own, initially geared towards a greater collective.
The more I did with them, the more I liked them and their superstitious nature (already something mentioned in existing canon). So I started writing a few little stories for them, particularly based around the character I had created initially as a support role. I expanded on one of them and it was fortunate enough to catch the eye of one of the Black Library editors when it was submitted for their consideration.
WHEN DID THEY MAKE THEIR FIRST APPEARANCE?
The first Silver Skulls story that saw the light of publishing day was Primary Instinct, a tale that appeared in both the first issue of Hammer & Bolter and then in dead-tree form in the anthology Victories of the Space Marines. Sergeant Gileas Ur’ten, in command of a squad of assault marines touched down on a jungle world where they encountered a hostile xenos life form unlike anything they had encountered. It all got a bit bloody. Then they made it home in time for tea and medals.
The erstwhile Sergeant and his squad showed up again in the back-to-back short stories Action and Consequence and Cause and Effect which also featured in Hammer & Bolter and in the story The Pact, we follow the exploits of the Talriktug, the chapter’s first company champions as they are forced to make a temporary alliance that sits well with nobody.
And of course the Silver Skulls fought against Huron Blackheart in The Gildar Rift, under the command of Captain Daerys Arrun, an arrogant veteran who prefers to do things his own way rather than follow the advice of the company Prognosticator.
HOW DO YOU KEEP TRACK OF THEM?
I have a Word document with all the so-far named Silver Skulls, their current whereabouts and state of health (and current complement of limbs).
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
In the hands of my editor, in the form of a novel…
WHO ARE YOUR FAVOURITE SILVER SKULLS?
Gileas is and always will be my ‘baby’. He’s one of the characters who I can get completely behind when I’m writing for him. Correlan, the Techmarine from The Gildar Rift is another personal favourite and I’ve really gotten fond of Siege Captain Rasheke Daviks as well over the course of writing… oh, yes. That book that’s in the hands of the editor.
The Silver Skulls have proven to be a fun chapter to write about. I had the joy of creating a little background information for the Star Dragons as well when I wrote Accursed Eternity, but for me, my heart is beating forever silver…
