European Poe

To all Poe fans across the pond: MODERN POE is now available via Amazon Europe, for the low price of £6.43 (GBP) or €7.26 (EUR)! For those in the US of A, you can still pick it up for the insanely reasonable price of $8.99 at: https://www.createspace.com/3610670

Horror's Least

Spooky Houses
Originally uploaded by sheiladeeisme

XXIX. Ghosts.

One need not be a chamber to be haunted,
One need not be a house;
The brain has corridors surpassing
Material place.

Far safer, of a midnight meeting
External ghost,
Than an interior confronting
That whiter host.

Far safer through an Abbey gallop,
The stones achase,
Than, moonless, one's own self encounter
In lonesome place.

Ourself, behind ourself concealed,
Should startle most;
Assassin, hid in our apartment,
Be horror's least.

The prudent carries a revolver,
He bolts the door,
O'erlooking a superior spectre
More near.

-- Emily Dickinson

Old Scratch

Tom lifted up his eyes and beheld a great black man, seated directly opposite him on the stump of a tree. He was exceedingly surprised, having neither seen nor heard any one approach, and he was still more perplexed on observing, as well as the gathering gloom would permit, that the stranger was neither negro nor Indian. It is true, he was dressed in a rude, half Indian garb, and had a red belt or sash swathed round his body, but his face was neither black nor copper colour, but swarthy and dingy and begrimed with soot, as if he had been accustomed to toil among fires and forges. He had a shock of coarse black hair, that stood out from his head in all directions; and bore an axe on his shoulder.

He scowled for a moment at Tom with a pair of great red eyes. "What are you doing in my grounds?" said the black man, with a hoarse growling voice. "Your grounds?" said Tom, with a sneer; "no more your grounds than mine: they belong to Deacon Peabody." "Deacon Peabody be d——d," said the stranger, "as I flatter myself he will be, if he does not look more to his own sins and less to his neighbour's. Look yonder, and see how Deacon Peabody is faring."

Tom looked in the direction that the stranger pointed, and beheld one of the great trees, fair and flourishing without, but rotten at the core, and saw that it had been nearly hewn through, so that the first high wind was likely to below it down. On the bark of the tree was scored the name of Deacon Peabody. He now looked round and found most of the tall trees marked with the name of some great men of the colony, and all more or less scored by the axe. The one on which he had been seated, and which had evidently just been hewn down, bore the name of Crowninshield; and he recollected a mighty rich man of that name, who made a vulgar display of wealth, which it was whispered he had acquired by buccaneering.

"He's just ready for burning!" said the black man, with a growl of triumph. "You see I am likely to have a good stock of firewood for winter."

"But what right have you," said Tom, "to cut down Deacon Peabody's timber?"

"The right of prior claim," said the other. "This woodland belonged to me long before one of your white faced race put foot upon the soil."

"And pray, who are you, if I may be so bold?" said Tom.

"Oh, I go by various names. I am the Wild Huntsman in some countries; the Black Miner in others. In this neighbourhood I am known by the name of the Black Woodsman. I am he to whom the red men devoted this spot, and now and then roasted a white man by way of sweet smelling sacrifice. Since the red men have been exterminated by you white savages, I amuse myself by presiding at the persecutions of quakers and Anabaptists; I am the great patron and prompter of slave dealers, and the grand master of the Salem witches."

"The upshot of all which is, that, if I mistake not," said Tom, sturdily, "you are he commonly called Old Scratch."

excerpt from

--THE DEVIL AND TOM WALKER by Washington Irving

In Memorium

Sad beyond measure. Fair thee well, Mr. B.

Something wonderful this way comes...

1920 - 2012

http://www.raybradbury.com

Discard Delight

Picked this very cool book up at a book sale at our local library for a quarter. From the early '80's, this book is filled with old-school make-up hints and home-haunting tips (and a little inaccurate information regarding the history of Samhain), and tons of great black and white photos. I would recommend picking this one up - you can easily find copies for mere pennies at Amazon and other online retailers.

11/22/63

I'm currently reading the latest book from horror scribe Stephen King: 11/22/63. While only half-way through it, I'm relieved to find that so far he only deals very briefly with Lee Harvey Oswald. Of course, I'm expecting that to change once I dive into the second act, which is frustrating when you see how embarrassingly naive King is about the events of that day, and with how thick a brush he paints Oswald as the one and only assassin - mentioning 'crack-pot conspiracy theories,' but then failing to talk about any of them save for one sentence about there possibly being an Oswald double in Dallas (one of the more far-fetched theories put out there). The fact that he based his conclusions off of Gerald Posner's cherry-picked JFK book CASE CLOSED pretty much says it all. King doesn't want to believe that something greater was behind that day than a deranged loner with a gun, so he simply writes history that way - even going so far as to say that he's 98% sure Oswald did it, maybe even 99%.

Okay Steve. Keep drinking the Cool-Aid.

For more information about the events of that day, might I direct you to just a few of the well researched books which ask the important questions that King ignores in his work of fiction:

CROSSFIRE by Jim Marrs
COUNTERPLOT by Jay Epstein
PLAUSIBLE DENIAL and RUSH TO JUDGEMENT, both by Mark Lane
JFK by L. Fletcher Prouty
THE TEXAS CONNECTION by Craig I. Zirbel

Radio King

Author Stephen King offers left-leaning talk show

Horror writer Stephen King offers left-leaning talk show for 2 Maine radio stations

BANGOR, Maine (AP) -- Stephen King is offering an antidote to what he sees as the biases of right-wing radio talk shows by hiring a former Green Party vice presidential candidate to co-host a morning talk show on two stations he owns. In a rare public appearance, the horror writer held a news conference Tuesday in Bangor, Maine, at the headquarters of his three-station Zone Radio network.

"The Pulse Morning Show" will be co-hosted by 50-year-old Pat LaMarche and 43-year-old Don Cookson, a former television reporter. LaMarche ran for vice president as a member of the Green Party in 2004. During the news conference King said, "We're a little to the left, but we're right." The show will begin airing on WZON-AM and WZON-FM at 6 a.m. on Sept. 12.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Author-Stephen-King-offers-apf-2302925734.html?x=0&.v=1

Support

I suppose a bit of explanation is in order.

The book that is 'Modern Poe: Vol. I' is a project that actually had its genesis several years ago - almost three years to be exact - while I was working at a local newspaper. A co-worker of mine happened to be an amazing artist, and we started talking about doing a project together: my words and her illustrations. The idea initially started out as a children's book - an offbeat history lesson for kids on the life and times of Edgar Allan Poe. What you see in the picture is a very different book indeed.

The main theme of our children's book was utilizing the alphabet and finding important people, places, and things regarding Poe to match those letters. Well, as you can probably guess, the subject concerning the letter 'E' was Poe's 1848 scientific treatise he called 'Eureka.' As I was studying up on 'Eureka' and trying to muddle my way through it so that I could write something about it in our book - I was immediately taken by the beauty of the language within. I read it again a little more carefully (but still didn't really understand it). Poe had been known to say that this would be considered his greatest work - and, while I wasn't sure I agreed, or even still to this day completely comprehend it - it definitely stands as a remarkable piece of writing that deserved more attention.

Slowly, the subject of our little book became overwhelmed by 'Eureka,' and what was once 26 letters became paired down to ONE (and important number to remember if you've ever read 'Eureka.') Once that decision was made to focus on this one piece of writing, I forged ahead with great ambition and never looked back. The book took on a life all it's own, practically assembling itself. Over the course of the past year, from August 2010 until now, 'Modern Poe: Vol. I' has been pieced together, page by page - and now it is finally complete.

It is with a great sense of relief, and a fair share of pride, that I announce the release of my first book. I send out a huge THANK YOU to Katie Aguado, my fabulously talented illustrator, and Brenda Stilson, my tireless editor, for helping this book be the best it could be. It is my hope that this book will intrigue readers of Poe - at the very least it would make an excellent gift for those who like to give something spooky or macabre during the Halloween season. Please help spread the word about this book - considering buying one for yourself - and remember that we are all within the Spirit Divine.

https://www.createspace.com/3610670

Modern Poe

My first book. Please visit my e-store to pick up your copy today! Your support and feedback is appreciated!

https://www.createspace.com/3610670

Run, Jane, Run!

My daughter brought this home from the library. Seriously.

Unhappy Birthday

Pennywise is back! How cool is this? Stephen King's awesome novel IT is celebrating its 25th anniversary. In honor of the occasion Cemetery Dance Publications has put together a limited, special edition of the novel.

While the rarest editions have already sold out (of course!), there are still copies of the deluxe oversized hardcover gift edition to be had if you've got an extra wad of cash laying around. The cover art is pictured above. It's limited to only 2,750 copies and will cost you dearly at $125 a pop, but it has some pretty nifty features to make it worth your hard earned deneros. They include:

• New afterword by Stephen King detailing why he wrote the book
• Deluxe oversized design (7" x 10") featuring two color interior printing
• Wrap-around full color cover artwork by Glen Orbik
• Nearly thirty pieces of interior artwork by Alan M. Clark and Erin Wells
• High-quality embossed endpapers and fine bindings

FYI...This version of the book will NOT be available at retailers like Barnes & Noble, Borders, etc., but you can pick up a copy directly from Cemetery Dance!

http://www.cemeterydance.com/

Carte Blanche

NEW BOOK. NEW LOOK. PURE BOND.

Thriller author Jeffery Deaver has announced on his official website the tour dates for his US book-signing tour in promotion of CARTE BLANCHE, the new 007 novel that is slated to hit bookshelves on June 14th from Simon and Schuster. Visit his website to check it out:

http://www.jefferydeaver.com/Schedule/schedule.html

11.22.63

This doesn't come out until November of this year, but the dust jacket was revealed for Stephen King's latest: 11/22/63. As a student of the assassination, I've read dozens of books on the subject and studied the case very closely. Along with the majority of Americans, I know without a shadow of a doubt that Lee Harvey Oswald was the patsy he claimed to be. Let's hope King gets this right and doesn't succumb to what our 'history books' claim: that Oswald acted alone with an impossible shot on a faulty rifle (and a magic bullet). After reading the official synopsis, I'm having serious doubts. Here's the lowdown:

The synopsis: Jake Epping is a thirty-five-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students—a gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night 50 years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk.

Not much later, Jake’s friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane—and insanely possible—mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake’s life—a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.

Bradbury

Picked up a hard-cover first edition of this incredible book for $1 at a local library book sale. I had no idea what it was about - I only saw the name 'Bradbury' and the amazing cover artwork and snatched it up. What a great find! I was mesmerized from page one - and, with the exception of Christmas break (when I accidentally left the book on my nightstand...d'oh!) I tore through the book with ghoulish glee. A wonderful ode to the author's Halloween memories - 'From The Dust Returned' is a darkly poignant novel that is written in Ray Bradbury's luxurious prose. This one is worth searching out if you've never read it, if you're a fan of Bradbury, or if you just love gothic, macabre settings in general - it's really that good!

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Just finished reading 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies' by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith. Obviously I went into it for the 'unmentionables,' but I came out of the novel with a serious appreciation for the original source novel. My younger sister thinks this kind of mash-up with a classic (coincidentally her favorite book of all time) is a travesty - but I disagree. Whatever gets younger people to read Jane Austen - or to read at all - is a good thing in my book (if you'll excuse the pun). Who knows how many people are going to go back and read the original novel because of this book? Give it a read if you haven't already!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_and_Prejudice_and_Zombies

Dear Santa...

I've found what I want under the tree on Christmas morn. It's a little (okay - it's actually quite big) book called THE ART OF HAMMER by Marcus Hearn. A compilation of poster art from every film Hammer put out from 1950-1979, The Art of Hammer showcases the beauty of poster art before there was Photoshop. This one's worth owning folks!

Z-Day

Took the kids to an amusement park yesterday to celebrate the waning days of summer. On the way home I begged the missus to stop by a Half Price Books. Glad I did. Found this beauty - hardcover First Edition - on sale for only $16.00. This should make for pretty good autumn reading as I make last-minute preparations for the Drive-In's grand opening...