Scott Nicolay

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Tag: William Faulkner

Robert Levy: A Secret Psychological Diary in Blue | The Outer Dark: Episode 22 — DECEMBER 3, 2015

glitteringworldRobert Levy unveils and explores the secret origins of his novel The Glittering World from his own personal experiences in Cape Breton, Canada, or, in other words, “taking a great memory and completely destroying it,” similarities between the old lore behind fairies and alien abduction mythology, his ambivalence about but recognition of genre marketing in the publishing business, how a genre-defying and Weird first novel got placed with a major publisher, other authors like Jeff VanderMeer and Paul Tremblay who are breaking the Weird into big publishing, structural similarities in The Glittering World to two Alfred Hitchcock classics, the Weird’s transition from shorter modes into the novel, the short story and novels as different forms, how the book sheds its skin as the main characters unfold the narrative akin to a four-course meal, when the glitter fades–his exploration of transitioning from the club scene fantasy lifestyle to adulthood, the title’s unexpected relationship to the tradition of Navajo emergent/creation robertlevystories, altered states as a form of escape, insects, parallels to the iconic relationship in Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, his fascination with people who are “right on the edge of oblivion or failure,” a stolen paperweight and life as a bizarre sequence of coincidences, storytelling as one way we try to give our life meaning, choice as the “anxiety of freedom,” taking his time to write a novel, fiction as a diary, future works which might have something to do with cults and found manuscripts, and his reading recommendations of other contemporary writers to watch including Livia Llewellyn, Desirina Boskovich, Dale Bailey, and Molly Tanzer.    

News of the Weird Special Guest: Writer/editor Mike Allen reveals the table of contents for Clockwork Phoenix 5 in another exclusive The Outer Dark announcement.

And Justin Steele joins Scott to review The Glittering World.

This archival episode will be available again at This Is Horror soon. In the meantime, subscribe at iTunes  or Blubrry to make sure you don’t miss an episode.

Next week’s guest: John C. Foster, author of the Libros de Inferno trilogy (Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing) which starts with Dead Men.

More Links:

Book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7RgOVF0XG0

https://www.trailpeak.com/trail-Fairy-Hole-Hiking-Trail-Cape-Dauphin-near-Baddeck-NS-6019

Footage of the Fairy Hole cave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCZovMZlUas

Rear Window timelapse: https://vimeo.com/37120554

https://navajopeople.org/blog/navajo-creation-story-nihalgai-the-glittering-or-white-world/

https://www.amazon.com/Din%C3%A9-Bahane-Navajo-Creation-Story/dp/0826310435

https://www.francnewcomb.org/

https://www.strange-aeons.com/

John Langan: Aspiring to Restlessness | The Outer Dark: Episode 4 — JULY 14, 2015

wcskyThis week John Langan discusses Readercon, the creation of the Shirley Jackson Awards and that award’s intimate connection to the Weird Renaissance, his upcoming third collection Sefira and Other Betrayals and second novel The Fisherman, rewriting classic monsters for the 21st century–from vampires to Frankenstein to Godzilla, the importance of Jeffrey and Scott Thomas to The Weird, approaches to narrative and the tricks of his trade, literary models from Henry James to William Faulkner, why character is key to keeping the cosmic horror worldview interesting, the importance of reading widely, who to read, and why the current Weird Lit movement is more exciting than ever.

This archival episode will be available again at This Is Horror soon. In the meantime, subscribe at iTunes  or Blubrry to make sure you don’t miss an episode.

Additional Links:

The Wide, Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies

The Wide, Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies, Deluxe Special Edition

Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters

NEXT WEEK’S GUEST: Nicole Cushing, author of Mr. Suicide 

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