In the spirit of immersing oneself within stories, I would like to direct attention to a book, an RPG, and a Podcast that I have found quite interesting as they force you to ponder the nature of creating or discovering greater depths of the stories we humans weave:
Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff
Dave
This is another musical composition similar to the music I composed on Al Azif, although only four movements long with a total playing time of just over thirteen minutes. The title comes from the story by Ambrose Bierce entitled An Inhabitant of Carcosa which was further used and developed by Chambers and Lovecraft. The structure of each piece is connected more so than the pieces in Al Azif. It is mostly a pseudo piano concerto that descends from E minor in the first movement, D minor in the second, C minor in the third, and B minor in the fourth, which is symbolic of the fall of Carcosa.
Thanks to Chad Fifer and Chris Lackey at The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast for using music from Al Azif in Episode 114 – In The Walls of Eryx. As usual, they pulled off another entertaining episode. Sadly, they are coming to the end of Lovecraft’s body of weird tales with only two episodes left. They have mentioned that they will next be discussing weird tales that inspired Lovecraft, so I’m looking forward to that.
Thanks, Guys!
http://hppodcraft.com/2012/06/06/episode-114-in-the-walls-of-eryx/
This is artwork paying tribute to some of my favorite authors of horror:
Not only do I dabble in writing and visual art, I also compose and play music. I have been playing guitar since high school (that would be the 80’s). I’ve also studied composition for many years and have had pieces performed by classical guitarists and string quartets. My latest undertaking has been composing and arranging a cinematic album of dark music about Abdul Alhazred’s life and his life’s work – the dreaded Necronomicon (originally called Al Azif in his native tongue).
The following are links to some good stuff on YouTube about Lovecraft (some serious, most funny):
A Lovecraft Dream
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC0Gqt8VRKk
The Elder Sign
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWT07iRvI9M
The Love Craft
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnbE8VGLnZw&feature=related
Fishmen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tTHn2tHhcI
Lovecraft Interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jQtkGJMtH0&feature=related
Awake Ye Scary Great Old Ones
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9gRtHX6c08&feature=related
Episode 101 of the H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast was just released yesterday (Thursday, 26 Jan 2012). I wanted to publicly say thanks to Chris and Chad for another entertaining and amusing show – especially since they had to work with two lesser stories attributed to Lovecraft’s involvement and they did a great job plugging my work. Thanks, Gentlemen!
I didn’t really expect Chad to quote me as saying I wanted to be “Alabama’s H.P. Lovecraft” – damn you, Fifer, that was a joke.
Another entertaining episode and two great guys!
Check it out:
Having put much thought (and research) into a new story arc that will be the backdrop to a new series of stories, I’ve just about finished the first story that will likely weigh in at some 6,000 – 7,000 words. I’ve dubbed this cycle of stories the Wetumpka Cycle for the name of the town and its history in Alabama. These stories are to be integrated into the Cthulhu Mythos and will draw on much of the creatures, deities, and arcane literature that many authors before me have contributed to the Mythos.
Of course I will be adding my own elements to everything. A few of the books I’ve decided to draw on are real books: Tyson’s Necronomicon, the Nocturnicon, and The Book of Nod. There are various other real books that aren’t contemporary works that I’ve researched and will use. Mostly they are books on witchcraft, demonology, Hermeticism, and alchemy.
The plot of the larger arc that unfolds is based on some very real events in Alabama’s history. In Wetumpka, Alabama is the site of the state’s only confirmed impact crater. Matter of fact, I currently live inside of the caldera. The asteroid that caused it impacted the Earth many millions of years ago and was estimated to be as large as a football stadium. The result is that the current crater is about 5 miles in diameter. In the Mythos, this asteroid contained an alien metal that possessed sinister powers and was a conduit through which an alien, outside force could project its influence causing the psyches of the humans that would come to settle the area and come into contact with the metallic ore of the asteroid to change. The result usually being a gravitation towards madness, violence, evil, abuse, and various other dark behaviors.
The metal lay dormant for millions of years waiting to act on a sentience. The Native Americans were the first people to settle the area and they were the ones to discover the metal. Sensing the uniqueness of the metal, they revered it and incorporated it into their rituals. When Hernando de Soto came with his conquistadores through Alabama in the 1500’s they took the metal and fashioned it into a set of shields; but before they could leave the area the Indians rose up at the Battle of Mabilla and took back the shields. After that they were re-incorporated back into the rituals of the natives – thus becoming the object of the Brass Plate Dance in the Creek’s Green Corn Festival.
History lost them after white settlers arrived and the Creek War ended. Many legends as to their fate have circulated but the plates’ whereabouts remain a mystery. That is until it’s explained in the Wetumpka Cycle.
Trying to define just what the genre of Horror Fiction encompasses is a rather difficult task. The problem is that horror is based on the emotion of fear, and fear is a basic part of the human experience. It would be akin to trying to lump all tales, stories, myths, and novels that have any element of anger in them under a genre called Mad Fiction. The emotion of fear and elements of horror are an integral part of a good tale. Even before the invention of the written word, tales involved elements of fear and horror. One could very well imagine early man sitting around a campfire listening to a storyteller recount some myth or legend with everyone cringing at a part where the hero faced some horrifying event. But over the years tales that were specifically designed to delve into the fears of humans have evolved into a complete genre of fiction. Trying to classify all tales of horror into their well-organized sub-genres is a really difficult task and is most likely impossible. However, I would like to try and throw out many of the sub-genres that are in existence and give an archetypical description of that sub-genre.
Dark Fiction is many times seen as a term that is synonymous with Horror. Unfortunately, the term just hasn’t caught on as well as Horror and will probably never usurp the throne. It sounds like a more dignified term but people are used to the word Horror.
Dark Fantasy sounds similar to Dark Fiction but it is usually used to describe Fantasy stories that are set in an ominous or dark atmosphere – sort of a merging of Fantasy with Horror. When I think of Dark Fantasy I usually think of the Elric Saga by Michael Moorcock. Elric’s world is a world of sword and sorcery but the tone of the tales are dark and horrific in nature.
Supernatural Horror is used to describe horror stories that host creatures that are classically considered to be supernatural creatures. The typical list would include ghosts, spirits, demons, vampires, werewolves, and zombies. There have also been many sub-genres sprung out of these specific creatures – most notably are Vampire Horror, Ghost Stories, and Zombie Horror. Supernatural Horror doesn’t necessarily have to use creatures of myth and legend. There are also Supernatural Horror stories where there is an unknown or unnamed presence or force that produces the supernatural element needed for the classification. The Willows by Algernon Blackwood is a good example of a Supernatural Horror story that uses an unknown supernatural force to produce a quite effective sense of fear. Stories about haunted places also fall under the canopy of supernatural.
Weird Tales and Weird Fiction are two terms popularized by the pulp magazine Weird Tales. Although the magazine tried to publish stories that crossed many genres or couldn’t be categorized due to the fact that the tales were just too weird to fit a category, the terms have been hijacked by horror writers influenced by H.P. Lovecraft or who were influences to Lovecraft. Other sub-genres that have evolved that are akin to Weird Tales are Lovecraftian Horror, Lovecraft Mythos, and Cthulhu Mythos. These sub-genres are largely Lovecraft pastiches and/or writers who influenced or expounded on Lovecraft’s style or subject matter. Incidentally, I haven’t seen the word pastiche used so much as in connection with H.P. Lovecraft. I think it is a right of passage to write a Lovecraftian Horror pastiche at some point in a horror writer’s life.
Gothic Horror is another of the larger sub-genres of Horror Fiction. Gothic Horror describes the formative styles of horror elements in eighteenth-century English literature. Typically, the stories have oppressive, dark atmospheres and are set in large, brooding castles or locales. It was this type of literature that influenced the early horror writers of the short story format in both England and the United States. When I think of the quintessential Gothic Horror story I think of The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Alan Poe.
Dark Suspense and Thriller are two categories used to denote a sub-genre that is a mixture of Horror and Mystery in the former and Horror and Adventure in the later. Algernon Blackwood’s John Silence stories are good examples of Dark Suspense and Robert E. Howard wrote many horror stories that have his typical flare for adventure in them.
Psychological Horror is used to denote horror that is designed to affect the reader by building tension and fear within the psyche. Usually, this type of horror is more subtle in its presentation and doesn’t use external forces to explain the horror. It is common for Psychological Horror to present an altered or warped sense of reality. When I think of Psychological Horror the first short story that comes to mind is The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
Contemporary Horror is the name given to the modern style of short horror writing that emerged around the 1960’s and 70’s. This style of writing abandoned the Gothic Horror style and dispensed with verbosity of writing, ancient settings, and a reliance on subtler storytelling to achieve the intended effect on the reader. Contemporary Horror typically uses modern settings and tends to be more graphic in nature. Sub-genres that have emerged from Contemporary Horror are Erotic Horror, Noir, and Splatterpunk, which push the limits of what is acceptable in the mainstream by using blatantly graphic sex and violence and is usually set in an urban environment.
References:
Visions of the Dark 