Gerald Kersh’s “Men Without Bones” presents a virtual case study in the awkward position of midcentury Weird Fiction. A truly—literally—pulpy tale, its original publication in 1954 came not in Weird Tales but in Esquire. By that time the pulps themselves were moribund, while new markets were arising. Michael Kelly and I recently discussed on The Outer Dark how mainstream literary journals are currently publishing some of the best Weird Fiction, but here we find ourselves more than 60 years back with a classic of unfiltered cosmic horror in a magazine whose literary reputation was already established by authors including Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Gide. Despite such an auspicious initial placement, regardless of at least two dozen reprints since, or the fact that it remains in print today, I will wager “Men Without Bones” remains unknown to much of The Weird’s contemporary readership. Continue reading
Scott Nicolay
Ana Kai Tangata
Tag: Weird Tales (page 2 of 4)
Authors/editors Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward join Scott for a very special show focusing on diversity in Weird and speculative fiction. They start by recounting the story behind the origins of their Writing the Other workshop/book, its connections to Clarion West, the next set of upcoming online classes (March 13), its impact on spec-lit writers over its 25-year history, and their hopes for an updated book to reflect new language and examples. The conversation proceeds to positive directions with diverse characters, how writers need not to be afraid to write what they don’t know but they do need to research, the concept of “parallax” and W.E.B. DuBois, writing the other as a collaborative process, why treating equally or fairly doesn’t mean not seeing color, gender or other differences, rewarding examples of people who learned and gained courage from the Writing the Other program to increase 
their own representation of people of color as characters, teaching the “reptile brain,” the good example of Joe R Lansdale, and midwifing works by Sarah Smith and South African writer Nick Wood (Azanian Bridges. NewCon Press, Nov 2016). Cynthia and Nisi also talk about some of their own written and edited works. Cynthia discusses her edited anthology Lost Trails: Forgotten Tales of the Weird West, which features stories about non-white characters on the frontier, in the context of growing interest in the Weird Western in books, film and graphic novels, a second volume on the way, and several novels in progress, including Night Rising, the first in The Return of the Dark trilogy, an apocalyptic magic story set in Tucson which she calls a “cozy catastrophe.” Nisi reveals some of the back story about Stories for Chip: A Tribute to Samuel R. Delaney, which she co-edited with Bill Campbell (Rosarium Publishing), which has received 
considerable praise, as well as contemplating her interaction with horror and exploring a different relation to death and the status quo in the African diaspora in her 2008 James Tiptree Jr. Award-winning collection Filter House, confronting steampunk’s embedded imperialism in her upcoming Belgian Congo set novel Everfair (Tor, Sept. 2016), encountering ghosts in her middle grade novel Speculation, and much more. The conversation concludes with their recommended writers including Bill Campbell, J. Comer (Planetary Stories), Ayize Jama-Everett ( whose works include The Liminal War and The Entropy of Bones), Australian feminist writer Sylvia Kelso (The Blackston Gold and The Amberlight series), Aqueduct Press’s L. Timmel Duchamp (The Red Rose Rages Bleeding, The Marq’ssan Cycle, and more), Nigerian writer Tade Thompson (Making Wolf and Rosewater, Sept. 2016), Matt Ruff (Lovecraft Country) and Amy Wolf (The Misses Bronte’s Establishment).
News From the Weird: Special Guest Richard Thomas gives The Outer Dark listeners an exclusive sneak peek at the exciting plans for his highly anticipated new neo-noir spec-lit fiction magazine Gamut, featuring a who’s who of writers, artists and staff, and its Kickstarter campaign.
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: Will Ludwigsen, author of In Search Of and Others (Lethe Press).
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Bert and I: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPGf77t9hRA
Stagecoach Mary: https://www.blackcowboys.com/maryfields.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Leopold%27s_Ghost
Review of Lovecraft Country by Nisi Shawl: https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/books/matt-ruffs-lovecraft-country-horrors-in-1950s-america/
https://www.thedarkhousepress.com/
Show credits:
Host/Executive Producer: Scott Nicolay
Co-Host, News From the Weird/Producer: Justin Steele
Associate Producer/Show Notes/Publicist: Anya Martin
Logo Design: Nick “The Hat” Gucker
Music: Michael Griffin
A double veil extends between the monoglot Anglophone reader and Jean Ray’s oeuvre. As with Joseph Payne Brennan, with whom Michael and I began this series several weeks ago, death and subsequent estate issues choked off the publication of much of his work for decades, but of course it is the immense and elemental barrier of Babel that yet separates most of his work from readers in the Anglosphere. The Belgian School of the Weird produced many great authors, but even from amongst the ranks of Anne Richter, Thomas Owen, Franz Hellens, and Jean Muno, only Raymundus Joannes de Kremer, AKA Jean Ray, rose to the status of “the Belgian Poe.”
Continue reading
Who remembers Joseph Payne Brennan? Some of you I am sure, though not nearly as many as his work deserves. He merits a position in the lineages of Weird Horror analogous to those of David Goodis, Chester Himes, Jim Thompson, Dorothy B. Hughes, and Charles Willeford in Noir—a major practitioner of the form who arose in its postwar Silver Age. Stephen King remembers him, and has paid him homage in stories such as “Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut” and “The Raft.” Thomas Ligotti remembers him, and it becomes apparent in his verse—Brennan was perhaps the finest poet Weird Fiction ever had—yes, better for the most part than even Clark Ashton Smith, who had a tin ear (though “The Hashish Eater” is a masterpiece, no argument there). Continue reading
Mike Davis, editor/publisher of Lovecraft eZine, reveals how he built one of Weird fiction’s finest and most widely read online publications with 205,000 followers, a key early moment of encouragement from William Meikle, the collaborative side of his success, the significance of the journal’s name as H.P. Lovecraft enters the literary canon, the broader aesthetic of Lovecraftian literature/cosmic horror/Weird within Lovecraft eZine’s contents, inspiration from Ellen Datlow, expanding into a small press publisher and his editorial vision as exemplified by The Sea of Ash by Scott Thomas, an aside on Roger Zelazny and Trent Zelazny, his personal attraction to Fall and the Halloween season and how it came together in the upcoming anthology Autumn Cthulhu, a table of contents which is a who’s who of some of the top Weird fiction writers today, his pleasure in discovering new authors, the upcoming Kickstarter campaign and an anticipated delivery of early 2016, what’s next for Lovecraft eZine print publications including an Outer Dark exclusive reveal, why it’s a great time to be Weird, the first of several major announcements this week from host Scott Nicolay about John D. Keefauver, a classic Weird author with a Lovecraft eZine connection, Mike’s own fiction, and his commitment to support writers and artists.
Special Guest: Michael Wehunt visits The Outer Dark with an exclusive announcement sure to get surreal to both author and listeners/readers.
And Justin Steele joins Scott for this week’s installment of News from the Weird with another exciting exclusive 2016 publishing announcement from Dim Shores, as well as a review of upcoming collections from Undertow Publications and a journal wrap-up including several exciting new markets open to Weird fiction submissions.
Unfortunately, the cancer make the patients suffer a lot. Strong pain all over the body makes the relatives look for the Tramadol 100mg better ways of treatment.
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.
More Links:
https://www.strange-aeons.com/
https://www.nytimes.com/books/98/12/06/specials/stone-outerbridge.html
https://www.lastchanceillustration.com/
https://dimshores.apps-1and1.com/
https://www.undertowbooks.com/
https://suptales.blogspot.com/
https://liminalstoriesmag.com/
Next week’s guest: Clint Smith, author of Ghouljaw and Other Stories.
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