This Yellow Madness

This I have to share~ ~~

2012-01-24T23:15:00.003-05:00

Busy as all get out, but this................. . I must share this. Amazed, stunned, and humbled yet again............ .

Mills & Boon [shakes head, laughs & LAUGHSSSSsssssssssssssssssss][but maybe, just maybe, some truth in that]
"nudibranch" . . . &
"a mug of hot Lear blended with Cummings, served with a squeeze of post-enema'd Shelley" . . .

What is all this babblin'? Go here and see~ ~~

http://medlarcomfits.blogspot.com/2012/01/upcoming-in-season-in-carcosa-editor.html

My deepest thanks to the author.

The Society of The Yellow Sign~ ~~

2012-01-22T13:04:00.000-05:00

gets another member!

I'm vewwy pleased to announce, Anna Tambour {Spotted Lily, Monterra's Deliciosa & Other Tales &} joins our guests on the balcony in Carcosa . . .

There will be further updates as our other guests arrive~ ~~

You can find Anna and her wonderfully surreal & sensual work here~

http://annatambour.net/

A Season In Carcosa update~ ~~~~~~~~

2012-01-17T19:27:00.000-05:00

There are a "number" of subs I'm wating for, but here's the current IN list~ ~~

The newest addition is Ann K. Schwader w/ "Finale, Act Two".

The final ToC will appear around MARCH 1st.

Joel Lane

Don Webb

Ann K. Schwader

Simon Strantzas

Edward Morris

Richard Gavin

[pulver]

Michael Kelly

Richard Lupoff

Daniel Mills

Allyson Bird

Gary McMahon

Cate Gardner

how to waste time & &&

2012-01-16T19:31:00.002-05:00

make the Muse un/happy~ ~~~~~~~~~

Inalienable rights. That’s what it says. ForEVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!! And fighting to keep them and make certain EVERYONE has themis vital.
Yes, I did. Once.
I love names. Weirdo perhaps, but to me, they’re the key to a tale. Name’swrong I can’t buy the character.
Record shop mrg, bouncer in a strip joint, lumberjack, witness . . . FOOL!
Never allowed to have a pet as a kid.
I don’t hate all my stuff. There are times I think “that” sentence is prettydamn good.
                                                                           Do I read others writers and think why the hell do you even bother? Damn rightI do! !! Long list!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anubis and Loki!
Damn right I like LOTR.
Yes, yoga and zen . . . long ago and faraway . . .
KILL ULGY RADIO!
Inhaled. I did have sex with that women. LIKE it –her! !!

Sin like you mean it!
                                                        It’s CLOBBERIN” time!

Love rocks, stones.
Drank a lot of take-home pay.
Love the desert!
LOUD – sometimes…

                                                                                                                       Yes, I’ve watched Jeremiah Johnson ‘bout 100 times. Not top 3 but top 5, betyer ass.

MASKS! Yep, the beard is one.
Put a lot of cotton in a 11ft sack;;;;;;;;;;;;; felt like it! !!
Saw a mountain of bullshit & GREED in that commune. Told him to jam it andwalked~ ~~
Raised in a lion’s den? Sure. Why the hell do you think have the new newminglewood blues? ??

BIRDS~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
One wing is HAWK, the other is pure DOVE! Try to soar on ideas when I can;;;;;;;;;;;;;

Destination:
                                      the next WORD, of course!

PART 1) )) Yes she was naked. Yes I sipped wine from her belly button as she read Homer tome. You think Keith Richards is the only one who ever pitched a wang dangdoodle all night long? ??

PART 2)))) )))))))) 5 days - 2 gallons of T and 4 worms~~~~~~~[smoke? Who can really recall?? ?]~~~~[yesthere were women]~~ You think Keith Richards is the only one who ever pitched awang dang doodle all night long? ??

Mathis, Bee Gees, Carpenters, YEP! Sun Ra and Mingus and Diamanda and the jamkickin’ 5 too. You don’t, maybe you don’t really like music and you’ll be dustafter that eye-blink trend gets blown away~ ~~
If I had to pick one I’d lean toward Odin.

Cap, Dr. Strange, FF, Daredevil, Thor. In that order.

Red Skull, Dormammu, HYDRA, Loki, Zemo. In that order.

Bats, Metal Men, Doom Patrol, GL, Challengers of the Unknown. In that order.

Am I ever gonna go Pulver on sparkly vamps. Yep!
cried
Will get around to a werewolf one day . . . Seems odd lookin’ in that mirror.

bEast. For good reason.

Song that started it all for me: Gene Pitney “Only Love Can Break Your Heart”.I was 7 or 8.
Think it was 8.
Autumn!
Thing’s a chessboard and a cage, help the other guy. It’s why yer here. Orshould be . . .
Moonlight!
                                 Goes w/out saying, a slow dance, of course.

Philip Lamantia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But thereare plenty of times I think E.E. – no it’s not ee! !! Go look it up.

Hated Hemmingway in high school. Washington Irving too.
I’d like to believe in YOU! !! But that’s up to you.
Sometimes w/out DRUMS. Please.
Found out.
Can’t blame too many folks. I put the wall up. They only handed me a few bricksevery once and again.
Hot: Earl Grey. Cold/on ice: green.
I remember all the faces . . . It’s no fun having a “full” fur coat! !!
Writer I hate the most: Vachss! Puts a new one out, I HAVE to have it NOW!& then BAM, few hours it’s gone and he makes us wait forever to getanother!!!!!!!!!! Ain’t right! Ain’t!
Apologies to a lot of brilliant writers, but best novel I’ve read in the lastfew years, Generation Loss by Liz Hand.
There’s one tale that scares me like no other. I never revisit it, can’t . . .JCO “Martyrdom”.
If you hadn’t guessed, Hesse’s STEPPENWOLF is a bible to me. One of them.

                                           Guilty? Too many times to count. Stupid? Too many times to count. Just plain wrong. Yeah. Give me a sec itwill come ‘round again . . .

FELT, you damn well better be!
THINK, you damn well better be!
BLUES!

                                                Lie shreds just like a hollow-point or a knife-edge.

Enlarge with FREE trail of porn star secrets. NO!
Said CURVES last time. Still mean it! !!
Dr. King. Gone too soon!.
Kosmische & Motorik when I can. Spell it Sandoz [in the rain once –yes, Idid!] and/or Hallogallo if you like.
Reading gives you depth. Listening to what the other person has to say does to!!! Try both.
How far is? ??
Gazed upon troubled. Then let the tango go ‘round. And ‘round! !!
FORWARD> >>>>>>>>>>>
Yes, alongside.
I do not say nice things about other people’s work for the hell or it, or toget ahead. I like what I like. Not sayin’ I’m right, just my 2cents is all. Youthink what you want, and I’ll do the same.
I have stage fright. Even doing one of those v-blog things.
“The Piata”. [sue me if I spelled it wrong!]
spell check – thiS ain;t no sub………..
Dirty Blvd. Is!
Royal scam. They’re runnin’ a lot of ‘em!
Comes n’achel. You waste all the time you want groomin’ yours in a mirror. I’vegot other demons to shoot at.

I don’t give a rat’s ass what you do in your bedroom! If it’s w/ a consentingadult, fine. You be you, I’ll be me. You see two men [or women] walking downthe street holding hands and that bothers you, turn your HATE up to FULL ONKILL and  go F**k yerself w/ it – and please, use a red hot, barbed poker. The EXIT sign forassbags is right over there – I’d be happy to show it toyou!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ! Hell, let me hold it open fer ya!

Jack was right, Cavey! My vocabulary did this to me. OK, yer right, Dylanhelped. All those books to.
Blame Harlan Ellison!

Yer damn right I wish there was net.Auguries, fragments, and a crown of weeds.
                                                                        Yes, I’ve read every KIY tale I’ve ever heard of [including a few hundredthousand unpublished words worth], except one, and no, I don’t care to discuss thehow and why of Chambers or the KIY. I write it, let the big brains and criticsanalyze. That said, yes I do think there’s a canon. And it’s rather small.There’s a bunch of tales I don’t not include in the canon that are good, but,to me, they just miss being canon worthy. I DO NOT consider anything of minepart of the canon!

                                                           Quietude.
Sleep? Been meaning to try it.
Hope the hell I’m not derivative!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Every word does not have to push the narrative forward.
Hardcore homebody.
                                                 Dinner and a movie – HELL YES!
Geek. Yep.
Compromise does not mean you have sold out. We thinking, feeling human beingsneed to live together, listening, communicating, and understanding, needs to beas important as breathing.
HATE is taught. Spreading it is criminal.
If she has wit and brains you’ve hit the jackpot!

No, twins are not hot. No, don’t want two at a time! !!

                                                                                                      Tombstone hand.
Political gerrymandering is a crime.
You say you care, yet you don’t vote? ????????????????????
You wanna talk and be reasonable and maybe find some middle ground, let’s. Ifnot, yes, that’s a fist.

Not ckin’ this one for spelling, grammar, or typos either.

A-yep, wastin’ time ‘gain……………. .

me: you write some words down. me I'm off to play~ ~~
MUSE: you better--
me: See that Spicer volume? Yep, they call it poetics. Start w/ that. I'll get back to you....................... .

why LAST YEAR cover up there; ;;;;;;;;;;;;; cause i wanted to ((((((((((((( (and it's my blog......................... .

[soundtrack ~ pet shop boys and steppenwolf]

a reader's 5 star review

2012-01-16T08:34:00.001-05:00

Good reviews from critics, yes please, but a rave from a reader, that's IT! !! Tells you someone sat in their easychair and let you lead the tango and they felt what you hoped they'd feel. So here's a very humbling rave for The Orphan Palace. Delighted this reader, who can be tough on what's good and what's not, enjoyed TOP, bet yer bottom! !!

http://griffinwords.wordpress.com/2012/01/15/words-in-the-orphan-palace-by-joseph-s-pulver-jr/

BIG~BIG YAYyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyYYYY!! !

2012-01-06T15:09:00.000-05:00

ANNA TAMBOUR
There I said it. FELT GOOD! !!

Posted this a couple of days ago w/out the MAGICIAN's name. Here she is! Pleased? Bet yer bottom I am!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !

"But to your own writing, shiiiiiit. Maybe you're influenced, but you sure aren't derivative. Sin and Ashes is unique, and it's so unusually honest emotionally. It's the opposite of pose. I'm so glad that you have managed to keep true to your own visions, not to mention I'm awed that they haven't destroyed you, but that you have taken them in hand. You wield words in ways that exercise them more than they've been used to. They don't get to put on makeup and primp either. You have also a most unmodern beauty of standing back in what you are writing too. There's a veracity there without the ego first, if that makes any sense. That you have live, are living, and know pain in every declension of it, but you don't revel in victimhood, or cruelty and snideness for its own sake. I do hate the linking of other writers with you, as you are more much more than the ones who are said to have influenced you. Your eyes have seen, your heart has experienced, and you're still very much alive and experiencing; these elements make the very poetry of a simple act, beautifully expressed and meaningful. She took off her limits. One at a time." -- Anna Tambour

I do hope yer reading this VASTLY-underrated lady. If you're not, boy are you missing out! !!!!!!!!!!!!

This one--2 bEastly paws WAY UP! !!--, "Klokwerk's Heart", [you can read it here online] is a STUNNER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !

http://www.strangehorizons.com/2002/20021202/klokwerk.shtml

You can find her other gems here [and there's a link to her blog] --

http://annatambour.net/

the newest from S.T.'s blog (JAN 4)

2012-01-06T14:50:00.001-05:00

Said YAY! !! before, so one mo time~ ~~~~~~~..~.

"Submissions are coming thick and fast to the various anthologies of Lovecraftian fiction that I am compiling this year—Black Wings III (for PS Publishing), Mountains of Madness (stories based on HPL’s At the Mountains of Madness), and The Madness of Cthulhu (a more general Lovecraftian anthology)—the latter two to be published by Titan Books. I have recently accepted some splendid stories by Joseph S. Pulver, Sr., Cody Goodfellow, and Will Murray, and more good material seems to have landed in my inbox."

I'm in 2 of these [crosses talons and looks at new, almost finished sub] . . .

http://stjoshi.org/news.html

Q & A sans interviewer/well, sort of

2012-01-05T12:15:00.002-05:00

Afraid of rats, snakes, and spiders. Yep.
Never read much T.S. Eliot. Keep meaning to . . .
Didn’t like or read the Beats until I was well into my 40s. Love listening toWSB but don’t enjoy reading him as much as I should.
Frank Zappa and Lin Carter are my biggest “literary” influences. You’ll have tofigure that one for yourself.
I HATE typing!I have never written a word [or come up w/ an idea] while under the influenceof drugs or alcohol.
Never used a cut-up machine. W/ a messed-up brain like this one who needs it???
I revise a hell of a lot more than anyone thinks! !!
Basically don’t care for my stuff. Would love to, but . . . It’s just nevergood enough to suit me. 90% of the time, I only stop working on a tExt as Ifind myself thinking, I don’t know what to do w/ it now/kinda feels done.
I almost never write without music on! !! Music isAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Many of the stories and images in and from “Creepy”, “Eerie”, pre-superheroMARVEL Comics, and The Twilight Zone are in so deep I’ll never escape . . .Strike that, I don’t want to.
Jacques Brel!Drink a couple of gallons a tea a day. Smoke like a chimney.
Afraid of needles!
I feel like a whore pushing my work, but friends say you have to. Wish I knewwhere the line was . . .
There’s more than a few Springsteen songs that bring on the tears – every timeI hear them.
I’d kill to write a Dr. Strange novel. Yes, the villain would be Dormammu!! !And Clea would be in it.
I “never” consider what a reader or an editor might think until I’m pretty muchdone, then it’s sheer TERROR!
Still trying to find a voice. Perhaps if I ever think I have one, I’ll be ableto tell if my work is of any merit?
Hope some of my work is good, or some merit. Am humbled by the kind praise I’ve been given,but I just don’t [can’t] see what they see. Wish the hell I could.
I’m not a big horror movie fan.
Do I feel like I’m boring. HELL YES. [I believe this thing/list/whatever it isproves my case.] Feel like a bumpkin? Often.
Don’t read too much horror anymore. Poetry and CRIME!! ! Still love good horrortales, but most often find myself somewhere else. Read a lot of WEIRD fiction too.
Excepting crime fiction, most of my favorite writers and poets are women. HATEthey are not receiving the acclaim and readership they deserve! !!
I have “hundreds” of things I’ve started, and put aside for any number ofreasons.
ECM is hands down my favorite record label.
Critics, yes. But would you please be polite? Would that hurt so much? Have tosay, a time or two it has been, fuck you, you try this!
I’d rather read a novel, a long one, than a short tale.
Do I have a favorite novel? Yep. FLICKER!! !
I love cactus.
CURVES, of course!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BESTest most wonderful thing on the whole damn planet – A woman’sMIND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ! [Yes, I like other parts, but w/outthe brain, who cares!!!!]
Jacques Brell, Eno, Dylan! !! My trinity! David Sylvain & FVZ have seats atthe table! !!
Harlan Ellison!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dangerous Visions!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ain’t a realbookshelf if it ain’t on it!
BRING ON THE BAD GUYS! How do I label my work? Most times I think I write horror, but really can’tsay.
I don’t outline outline. Not really. Each tExt wants to go where it wants togo. I let it. When I can, if I can . . .
Yes, there are days when I’d like to turn off the words!
Greatest fear – MADNESS. Nothing else is even close! I will forever LOVE andhate Robert Bloch for that!
Idol – Ben Grimm, The Thing.
Wanted to be 6 feet tall or better!
"Be a GOOD man."
BLUE! But grey ain’t bad.
The beard is there as I’ve never liked my face. It’s a mask! !!
Maybe 30 or so KIY tExts so far. Won’t rest until I write one worthy of thecanon. If I ever do, I’ll stop.
For fun – Beckett, David Lynch.
Yes, I did play the 1^st Sabbath album for 2 weeks non-stop whileworking on a very short text. Yes, I spent two weeks on it! !!
I envy anyone who can get a whole 8 hours sleep.
Thinking is the best way to travel! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My horror icons – The Headless Horseman, [[[[[[[Norman, Jack, and Juliette!!!]]]]]]]]]], Frankenstein, the Phantom of the Opera, The Creature From theBlack Lagoon, Caligari. & that KIY! !!
KARL EDWARD WAGNER, Baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !
Pizza! Thick crust, mushrooms, Italian sausage!! !
I’m not half the Lovecraftian fan some think I am.
#1 – guitar. #2 – b-flat clarinet #3 – a B-3 w/ a Leslie.
Best album ever recorded, easy – Jimmy Giuffre 3 1961.
Off the top of my head ladies who walk on water: Liz Hand, Caitlin Kiernan,Ellen Datlow, Bette Davis, Larrissa Szporluk, Harper Lee, Carla Bley, HelenMerrill . . . There are many others.
Not much on TV. Freak for a good film! !! Drama please.
Yes, I really do like the Bee Gees and the Carpenters.
If you HATE Black, LGBT, Women’s rights, etc., etc, crawl back in yer hole andgo screw yerself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !
Rhinos and owls! Love animals! !! Absolute freak for birds!! ! ! !! Luckybastards can sing and fly . . .
Scared of dying, bet yer ass I am.
I don’t do sports. Loved them as a kid, when I could play them, but watching,no and no.
If I could have picked, guitar player or artist, never a writer! !! I love theimmediacy of art and song! But I don’t think of this as writing. In my mid I’ma 16 year old kid upstairs in his bedroom trying to get songs out of thisguitar. Each word is a note, which I hope leads to a melody/song.
Don’t like zombies.
Didn’t figure on any of this. Didn’t. Wasn’t in the handbookeither!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love ghouls!! !
My desktop is a mess.
I don’t remember most of my work. Sometimes, more than I’d like, I don’t recallstory titles or what they are about until someone describes them to me.
I really don’t think I’m all that gory. Brutal, yes.
Yes, I repeat myself. Sue me.
We are losing sight of art and how important it is to humanity. There are fartoo many tied to various forms of hardship and to deny them art, strips dreamsand opportunity! !! Please put a book or a crayon or a guitar in the hand of achild.
Liberal! But not on crime. You hurt a woman or a child, 2 to the back of thefucking head! !! No jail, no 2 to 5! !! Rape should be a crime punishable byDeath! !! Murder as well!! ! Stalkers? Sorry, but fuck them too.
Absent-minded. Yes. Very.
Hate that every time I type the word sand it comes out snad. There are about twodozen others words where same thing happens . . . waht/what, etc………….. .
I waste too much time on the internet.
I’m not sure if PSYCHO or The Exorcist scared me more. Both left deep fights.
Stones! It took me a long time to care about the Beatles. I pick George.
Out of my mind freak for early Weather Report! !!
I have a lot of trouble reading on the computer screen.
Not happy that 90% of the time when I read my work, or speak it aloud, I readthe line without noticing the missing word/letters. Wish I knew how thathappens! Never happens when I read someone else’s.
Thoughts on politics and religion? Yes, I have them! !!
America is a beautiful MONSTER! !!
My top 3 films of ALL time - Man On Fire! All About Eve! A Man for All Seasons!
I wish I wrote differently. Like to be more of a “storyteller” and less bumpkin-poet,but the Muse didn’t let me pick. Hell, she never even asked my thoughts on thesubject.
MARVEL or DC? Do you need to ask? Also Cap or Bats . . .CAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Things I miss about America . . . The list would be longer than WAR AND PEACE.
Favorite short story of all time: TIE - “The Cask of Amontillado” and “A ToyFor Juliette”
Did I mention I hate RATS? ??
THINK and be HUMAN! Why the hell do you think yer here……………….. .
LIBRARIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Want to be a better writer? READ! This is a craft, sharpen your tools! !! Thengo outside and LIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, damn straight, I cry. Ain’t dead just yet! !!
The rats sure as hell scared me/that little kid, the junkie with the knife too,after the fact, but staring at my draft card day after day, almost nothing wasscarier than that was. Almost . . .
I HATE typin’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’.
OWLS! [all birds really]
This stuff is "fiction", folks!
Cancer. Moonchile. Does it show? ??
Out of context, but if I could be summed up by a line from a song it would be –“I’ve got scars upon my cheeks and I’m half-crazy.”
Advise about writing, some how to thing ? Easy. Put yer ass in the chair andtype! Get it on paper, worry about what you have after. If it needs work,that’s what other drafts are for. It may be easy for some, but for me, it’sblood, sweat, and tears – Yes, I swear at these thingSSSSSsss. You want towrite, let it bleed!
I think I’ve said most of this before . . . [Pretty sure I told you I’mboring.]
You harm a woman or a child, 2 to the back of the head. And we ain’t wastin’time or effort to bury you. Ants & crawlies have to eat……………………. .
Am I going to ck this for typos. Nope.
Next thing I plan on doing, a nap! Then again, maybe it’s tea time, light asmoke and look at this tale I need to finish again—MAYBE? ??
I would kill to be a better writer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~; …………………… .
Had to, that’s why. OK, I confess, I was wasting time………………. . Sometimes it’s agood pencil sharpener.

[soundtrack a bunch of ECM recordings]

teStin''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

2012-01-05T09:19:00.000-05:00

After my blog got blocked by FB for being "abusive" [might have been reported by that flat-earth-lovin' assbag who thought the REAL woman in the pic, the one with curves, was fat] I figure it's time to test and see if the network blogger thing works again................. .

Had some great news yersterday, but can't tell it yet.................... . Sorry.

I'm still at wAr w/ the ToC for Portraits of Ruin............. I've reworked it maybe 50 times. Think, yep, that's it. Then-- Will I ever be happy w/ any of these things? Doubt it! !!

Also looked at the ToC and saw a title I didn't remember [happens to me all the time!]. Went to look for it, zippo. Didn't have a clue as to what it was, or what is was about -- hey, I just write 'em then move on.......... Found it after nearly two hours. Different title, and in a folder in a sub-folder thing. How or why I put it there, if "I" did, is beyond me. But am happy I found the damn thing.

OK that's all the stuff that's fit to sing and this is just a test, so....................... Bye-bye!!

And the picture, well, let's just say CURVESsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss! !!

WHaT????????????? ?

2012-01-03T06:16:00.000-05:00

Some days you look at the pages ask/bitch/beg!!!!!!!!!!!!!/pray/hope~ ~~ Deep in a war over two dumbass WORD choices, and all you want is a ray of light . . or a razor blade.

And out of the blue you get something like this from a writer who is 7 billions times better than yer ever going to be.

"But to your own writing, shiiiiiit. Maybe you're influenced, but you sure aren't derivative. Sin and Ashes is unique, and it's so unusually honest emotionally. It's the opposite of pose. I'm so glad that you have managed to keep true to your own visions, not to mention I'm awed that they haven't destroyed you, but that you have taken them in hand. You wield words in ways that exercise them more than they've been used to. They don't get to put on makeup and primp either. You have also a most unmodern beauty of standing back in what you are writing too. There's a veracity there without the ego first, if that makes any sense. That you have live, are living, and know pain in every declension of it, but you don't revel in victimhood, or cruelty and snideness for its own sake. I do hate the linking of other writers with you, as you are more much more than the ones who are said to have influenced you. Your eyes have seen, your heart has experienced, and you're still very much alive and experiencing; these elements make the very poetry of a simple act, beautifully expressed and meaningful. She took off her limits. One at a time."
Shucks, thanks, HUGSsssssssssssssSSs, and humbled, just don't cover it. And those 2 words aren't looking as nasty & impossible as they were a couple of minutes ago! !!

NewSSsss from S.T.'s blog... and I'm up in it~ ~~

2011-12-26T06:21:00.000-05:00

So deep into The Work lately [yep, more new tales than a bEastie can shake demon at!] I seem to have missed S.T.'s announcement. I'm delighted to see this post as I'm part of it and could not mention it until he did! !! So, partially unleashed~ ~~

Here's what S.T. had to say in his DEC 10 post --

"I have concluded several important book deals... The other book deal is a two-book arrangement with Titan Books for all-original Lovecraftian stories. The first is one that I mentioned before—a volume of stories using At the Mountains of Madness as a springboard. The second is a more general Lovecraftian anthology. Aside from the usual suspects, I hope to entice a number of big-name authors, several of whom have not written Lovecraftian fiction before. All this will be done while I continue to assemble Black Wings III, which is due to PS Publishing next September. I am looking forward to the simultaneous appearance next March of Black Wings II (PS) and the paperback edition of Black Wings I (Titan)."

The Pulver up-in-it in this is, S.T. has accepted my tale, "WHITE FIRE" for his "AtMoM" spinoff. And he's accepted another new tale of mine, "…downblack staircases", for inclusion in either BWIII or his unanamed "Titan" Lovecraftian collection.

"WHITE FIRE" is a sequel to "AtMoM" and a riff of Jack London's "To Build A Fire" and a scene from Jerimiah Johnson, and "...down black staircases" is a Kingsport tale that was inspired by a pair of entries in HPL's Commonplace Book.

He's also accepted another "semi-Lovecraftian" tale of mine, "In . . . and Out", for the next issue of his "Weird Fiction Review".

I hope all of you are having a WONDERFUL holiday season! !!!!!!!!!! Wish every one of you all my bEastly BESTest for yer 2012! !!!!!!!!

http://stjoshi.org/news.html

[soundtrack for a Boxing Day morn various "early" N.R.P.S tunes...] Damn, teacup's empty 'gain~ ~~

MUSIKS & MYTHOS

2011-12-21T14:04:00.000-05:00

Coming March 2012 from SPECTRAL PRESS: [from Simon Marshall-Jones]

_MUSIKS & MYTHOS_ To start things off, here’s an update on what’s happening with the first release in the audio-CD series of Lovecraft readings accompanied by specially commissioned and composed music, released in conjunction with Temple ov Azathoth Records.

The first double-CD will be released in March 2012 and will feature Lovecraft’s "The Music of Erich Zann" and "Nyarlathotep". As to the modern writer whose story will be featured on the first disc, that honour will go to… JOE PULVER!! Joe’s story will be "The Delirium of a Worm Wizard" from his _SIN & Ashes_ collection, published by Hippocampus Press of New York.

Final details have yet to be confirmed (such as pricing, packaging format, etc.,) but as soon as they’re available I’ll be passing them on. In the meantime, if anyone is interested in purchasing or reserving copies, then please let me know by emailing me, Simon Marshall-Jones, at spectralpress[AT]gmail[DOT]com.

I think they say, "I'm chuffed!" AM! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That & a hell of a lot of YAYYYYYYYYYYYY

Yes, there will be updates as I have them............. .

More FUN news is coming soon [as they take me off the leash!]!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !

some newsssssssssssssssssS

2011-12-18T19:14:00.000-05:00

Can't announce the BIG newsSSSSSSSSSSSSSS ;; ; YET! !! Soon!!!!!!!! !
BUT~ ~~

to me these are FAB! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Spectral Press will be launching a series of audio-CDs of music and Lovecraft tales (along with Lovecraftian stories from modern masters)................ [drum roll] I'm on the 1st CD! !! My work -- YAYyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyY~ ~~ more news as it unfolds. .....;...........;;... .

http://spectralpress.wordpress.com/2011/12/16/a-little-news/

AND; ;;

                                     over at the BFS there's a review of TOP says~ ~~"If this extraordinary book isn’t at least nominated for a few awards, I’ll be astonished & disappointed."
     The award to me is the READER!!!!!!!!!!! That's the kind of reaction all writers dream of. And as I [and every other writer] sit here typing, that fuel keeps our fingers {and hearts} muscling new WORDS on to the page . . .

                              Oh yeah, "on Lynch's desk" that's the other stuff of dreams~ ;;~

http://www.britishfantasysociety.co.uk/reviews/the-orphan-palace-by-joseph-s-pulver-book-review/

MUSE: Get back to lookin' in that wishin' well. Story is not done!
me: Yes, Boss . . . Do I have time for a smoke first?
MUSE: No. Do you think these things write themselves?

My answers to The Weird Questionnaire

2011-12-14T20:45:00.003-05:00

1 – Write the first sentence of a novel, short story, or book of the weirdyet to be written.

Tark left Santiago and its stalkers to their experiments of felt.

2 – Without looking at your watch: what time is it?

Midnight.

3 – Look at your watch. What time is it?

1:30 am.

4 – How do you explain this — or these — discrepancy(ies) in time?

Was writing and got lost in the Zone.

5 – Do you believe in meteorological predictions?

Yeah.

6 – Do you believe in astrological predictions?

Nope.

7 – Do you gaze at the sky and stars by night?

Sure do.

8 – What do you think of the sky and stars by night?

Space is the place.

9 – What were you looking at before starting this questionnaire?

A new short work I’m tinkering w/.

10 – What do cathedrals, churches, mosques, shrines, synagogues, and otherreligious monuments inspire in you?

For the most part, nothing.

11 – What would you have “seen” if you’d been blind?

Perhaps, hopefully, my fantasies.

12 – What would you want to see if you were blind?

My fantasies.

13 – Are you afraid?

There are times, yes.

14 – What of?

Mostly of dying.

15 – What is the last weird film you’ve seen?

BLACK NIGHT.

16 – Whom are you afraid of?

Me. My self-destructive tendencies.

17 – Have you ever been lost?

Certainly was! !!

18 – Do you believe in ghosts?

No.

19 – What is a ghost?

Something in a tale or film, or baggage I carry around. Depends on my mood.

20 – At this very moment, what sound(s) can you here, apart from thecomputer?

A table fan running on low speed and a James Blood Ulmer song.

21 – What is the most terrifying sound you’ve ever heard – for example, “thenight was like the cry of a wolf”?

A simple scream from my son.

22 – Have you done something weird today or in the last few days?

Written a few new tales in the last week. Two set in Carcosa, one shaded byLovecraftian influence.

23 – Have you ever been to confession?

No.

24 – You’re at confession, so confess the unspeakable.

Not brave enough to take a hard look in that mirror.

25 –Without cheating: what is a “cabinet of curiosities”?

The contents of this caldron I call a brain.

26 –Do you believe in redemption?

Yes.

27 – Have you dreamed tonight?

Yes.

28 – Do you remember your dreams?

Very rarely. Most often I just have the sense I had a nightmare.

29 – What was your last dream?

I was having tea w/ Tom Ligotti and we were talking about Man on Fire. Anubiscame over to our table and asked if we wanted to play a game of cards. Therewere 2 blackbirds on his shoulders and they did not want us to play . . .

30 – What does fog make you think of?

The unknown.

31 – Do you believe in animals that don’t exist?

No.

32 – What do you see on the walls of the room where you are?

In front of me, over my desk: a painting of the King In Yellow, a shrunken head,and 4 masks. Most of the other walls are covered by bookcases.

33 – If you became a magician, what would be the first thing you’d do?

Make myself a better writer.

34 – What is a madman?

Someone whose reality is too strong to let him or her see this one.

35 – Are you mad?

Might touch upon it here and there in small ways? ??

36 – Do you believe in the existence of secret societies?

There could be, yes, I guess.

37 – What was the last weird book you read?

Submissions for a tribute anthology to Ligotti I’m editing.

38 – Would you like to live in a castle?

No.

39 – Have you seen something weird today?

No.

40 – What is the weirdest film you’ve ever seen?

Tie: Begotten and The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes.

41 – Would you like to live in an abandoned train station?

No. Too cold.

42 – Can you see the future?

Absolutely not.

43 – Have you considered living abroad?

Yes. I do.

44 – Where?

Germany.

45 – Why?

The wind kind of pushed me this way.

46 – What is the weirdest film you’ve ever owned?

See 40.

47 – Would you liked to have lived in a vicarage?

Maybe?

48 – What is the weirdest book you’ve ever read?

Perhaps RWC’s the king In Yellow?

49 – Which do you like better, globes or hourglasses?

Hourglasses!

50 – Which do you like better, antique magnifying glasses or bladed weapons?

Antique magnifying glasses.

51 – What, in all likelihood, lies in the depths of Loch Ness?

Nothing.

52 – Do you like taxidermied animals?

No. The thought of killing another living thing for a trophy is maddening! !! Thatsaid, I once saw a stuffed Snowy Owl that was found dead, and it was beautiful.

53 – Do you like walking in the rain?

No. I do not like being wet.

54 – What goes on in tunnels?

They are passages from this to discovery or need, so it would be whatever thejourney requires.

55 – What do you look at when you look away from this questionnaire?

My tea cup and me cigarette.

56 – What does this famous line inspire in you: “And when he had crossed thebridge, the phantoms came to meet him.”?

An interest in exploring.

57 – Without cheating: where is that famous line from?

[Draws a blank.]

58 – Do you like walking in graveyards or the woods by night?

Have a few times, but not as a rule.

58 – Write the last line of a novel, short story, orbook of the weird yet to be written.

Theexhalations of human hearts are dialogues of thin, impure bells melting intosilence

59 – Without looking at your watch: what time is it?

2:00am.

60 – Look at your watch. What time is it?

2:23am.

http://weirdfictionreview.com/2011/12/the-weird-questionnaire-by-edward-gauvin/

Interview I did with/and for Chomu Press

2011-12-13T15:54:00.001-05:00

Chômu interview #4 Joseph S. Pulver, Sr.
We come to our fourth exclusive interview, this time with Joseph S. Pulver, Sr., whose poetically pyrotechnical and paranormally pyromanical novel The Orphan Palace was released by Chômu Press in October. Here he talks about his move from the States to Germany, about the Blues, and, of course, about writing.

Chômu Press: You were born in New York, I believe, but you are currently living in Germany. Does the US look different to you from the distance of your current vantage point?

Joe Pulver: Yes, born and bred New Yorker -- upstate. 5 and 1/2 decades. Outside looking in, it's not so much different as it is vivid, and deeply stirring. Being parted from one's homeland for an extended period of time one comes to miss many things that were small and common and may have been taken for granted, or overlooked in the everyday dash. And adjustments to new cultural views and styles may come fairly easy, but as the old adage goes, you can take the boy out of the city, but you cannot take the city out of the boy. I may be an ex-pat now, but I have never been, and felt, more American. Be it Springsteen ("Youngstown" actually brings me to tears these days.) or Dylan, or any number of others, even the music I play these days moves me in ways it did not before. The same can be said for film and literature.

Germany is wonderful. It's slower, more laid back, the people here are lovely! I enjoy being a world citizen now, but the call of the West is strong, some days the current feels like the most powerful force in the universe.

When I look at things like the political gridlock in America now I felt less angry and more saddened. I could go on, but it would turn into a rant, or a love letter, or perhaps a call to arms . . .

I think it's time to go play "New York State of Mind". [Which has become one of my personal national anthems these days.]

CP: Do you think feeling more American than ever, in a foreign land, has fed into the writing of The Orphan Palace in any way? I’m a bit of a fan of things like the ‘Southern Gothic’ and there are similar elements in the novel that I enjoyed. I wondered how conscious this was, or if that was just the way it came out.

JP: TOP was penned just before I came here. I was thinking I was coming here, and my thoughts and ideas about a different life, an aftermath to the one I had, did enter in to it. Cardigan heading East and me looking East to Europe, that is certainly in there. Any “Southern Gothic” elements just showed up. I did not intend them.

First thought to THE END, TOP was written in 90 days. I edited and adjusted on the fly, sentence by sentence, page by page. My focus was on FELT, just let the whirlwind go where it needs to go. I had the final scene at the beginning, which was never changed in any way, and just asked myself where does this novel start and dashed from there to The End. 80+% of what you read is unchanged from the 1^st draft.

CP: The Beats, of course, by reputation, often wrote in a similar way, very spontaneously, with little revision. To what extent would you count the Beats as an influence?

JP: Not as much as one might think. I was nearly 40 before I really warmed to any Beat prose. The major exception was “listening” to Burroughs read. As a younger man I enjoyed some Beat poetry, not a lot, but some.

I think what people see in my work as Beat is more a combination of CRIME fiction, and Rock/Music, and poetics. I was 12 when I read my first hardboiled work – Clark Howard’s THE ARM, followed by Spillane, Shaft and Iceberg Slim. Bit deep, hard. I’m still a huge hardboiled/crime fan. The Street is hard and FAST, WHAM add the flash. Do it hard do it fast, that’s one side of it for me. Go with what you are feeling, get to THE END. Then you can go back and fix what needs to be fixed.

Hubert Selby Jr. was not a Beat, but his “get it down fast” style also hit me hard when I was young. So for “feel” that’s an influence. But the same “feel” is also in Blues and that was and is something I cling to and use. 1^st draft is always improvising on the theme [say, a vampire hires a gunman to kill another vampire] and make sure you get the feel up in it.

The Rock/Music side is a kid up in his room with his guitar. He wants to be Hendrix or Buddy Guy. So I’m riffing or crying a lead line. But with WORDS. And the words are influenced by tons of musicians. Dylan to Scott Walker to the Bee Gees. Could be Diamanda Galas or Zappa, John Lee Hooker, or Anat Fort. Depends on what I feel the needs of the tExt are.

Every tExt [of mine], to me, has a soundtrack, a backbeat. That’s key. It gets me in The Zone and keeps me there, and I find, it can and does inform the work for me. So let’s say I’m in Carcosa and I want despair. I may use Borhen & der Club of Gore or Jobim [or The Carpenters! SUE ME! !!] as the aural lifeblood, then it’s run w/ the feel.

I’ve been a poetry fan since 9^th grade. 2^nd drafts are always “Pump Up The Poetics” to me, so 1^st take or 5^th draft, I’m always looking for places in the tExt to add poetics.

Every piece of mine, be it a done in one take, or 5 drafts, it’s find the sound, type what the tExt needs/FEELS—fast as I can [1^st draft], then layer in the poetics. Some of my pieces come out done, or feel done to me. Some I go back and go back and go back in again. I try to stay close to the heart of the 1^st wave of tExt, the heart, but will and do go back and adjust as I feel they need it.

I often feel like I’m in a studio. I’ve got the raw basic track recorded, now add the backing vocals, put the oboe highlight there. Then I look at the mixing board and turn this up and push that further to the back in the left channel.

Guess the Beats’ [and Blues’] spontaneous heart, and how the tExt “feels” to me, is always in there, I want the thing to seethe (in its fashion), but in no way will I limit any form of “composition/construction” in later drafts. The needs of an individual tExt are paramount.

CP: You mention the Blues a couple of times there. Do you have any particular favourite Blues artists? Any recommendations? (I’m no expert but am currently fond of Skip James and Bukka White.)

JP: I began w/ John Lee Hooker and Champion Jack Dupree, Otis Spann too. Dupree & Spann were on a recording called RAW BLUES. I heard it at a friend’s house with Hooker’s Live at the Café A-Go-Go. To say they laid my soul to waste is an understatement. “I’m Bad Like Jesse James” got in deep.

The 2^nd British invasion in bloom, blues was everywhere and I took to it like Nosferatu to an artery. Chicago! Sweet home Chicago. Jump! Shout! Pitch a wang dang doodle! Bought as many “CHESS Records” as I could get my paws on! !! The guitar players had me hooked. BUDDY GUY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THEN! NOW!! He was the 1^st cat I heard play “One Room Country Shack” – still my #1 blues tune! !! “Trouble In Mind” is #2, followed closely by “Stormy Monday Blues” (At one point back in my vinyl days, I had over 40 versions of this song) and “Mannish Boy”. “I’m Bad Like Jesse James” rounds out my top 5. Add “Sweet Home Chicago” and “Texas Flood”, Hooker covering Van Morrison’s “The Healing Game” and Paul Butterfield’s “Born in Chicago”, I can pop them on and play that playlist for hours on end.

And I will be forever in Mayall’s debt for turning me on to J. B. Lenoir.

Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughan, T-Bone Walker, Albert King, and Clapton [I still spin FRESH CREAM often!], top my blues guitar list, but there are many others. But it’s not just screamin’ or crying guitars, when Hooker gets slow and low, swoonin’ sets in! He’s the voice to me. My other voice is Muddy! !! Let’s say, I can’t be satisfied.

As much as I love to hear an axe burnin’ the streets of Chicago down, most often my heart and my playlists are filled w/ “slow” blues. Souls on fire – Lady Gaga thinks she’s got a bad romance, HA! Tears and desolation. Rats and roaches, and the only thing you have left is the bottle you’re using as a cleaning agent to dissolve your heartache.

I’m still fond of a lot of the blues-based rock of the late 60’s, but put Hooker and Buddy Guy on the box and I’m in my 1-room county shack . . . and in the mood . . .

CP: While we’ve been preparing The Orphan Palace for publication, there have been riots in London with cars and buildings on fire, and things have been pretty hard all round; I couldn’t help thinking that this book is very much in the mood of our current times. Do you think that’s true? If so, do you have any ideas on what’s down the road for you, or just down the road generally?

JP: Yes, I wanted it to be a modern work – very much a mash-up/hybrid. The music and poetry [as well as most of the fiction] that influenced TOP is modern and the fire burns what fuel it is given.

I’m editing 3 big projects at the moment. A tribute anthology of all new tales for Tom Ligotti (The Grimscribe’s Puppets MRP 2012), and an anthology of all new King in Yellow tales (A Season In Carcosa MRP 2012). The 3^rd is w/ Laird Barron, but we are not ready to reveal what it is yet. Word on that after the holidays sometime . . .

I’ve just finished co-editing the AKLONOMICON w/ Ivan McCann and that’s due out later this year. I’m preparing [the ToC for] my next collection, Portraits Of Ruin, for release next summer from Hippocampus Press and working on a new novel, a tribute to Leigh Brackett and Mars, called A Fire Down Below. [Sadly, I had to scrap what I had written of my last novel as I was unable to secure permission to use the main character. Perhaps I’ll come across an idea of how to retool it?]

“Strange Aeons” magazine will be issuing 4 chapbooks as part of special giveaways in the next 6 months – all are new works by me. Double Feature Press will be publishing a new 40,000+ word collection of mine (Night Begets) next June. The book will pair my work w/ a “major new work” by my friend, Robin Spriggs (Diary of A Gentleman Diabolist 2010 Anomalous Press).

I also so have 6 or 7 [sorry, I lose track and my desktop is always a mess! !!] new tales I’m working on, as well as trying to stretch out in new ways. Beckett is speaking to me a lot these days, so I’m tinkering, in my fashion, w/ things inspired by thoughts of his work. Might play around w/ a play. I have a lengthy surrealist work, In & Out of bloom, pretty much done and I want to start shopping it – if I can find a publisher who is a little more than half crazy.

I have various tales coming in various anthologies next year . . . [I think it’s 6 so far?]

Lastly, my 4^th collection, Stained Translations, is about half done.

And I have just heard about a new fad called sleep that I’m dying to try……………………………. .

[NOTE: this interview [released as one of their newsletters] was done a while ago [SEPT? ??], so what's in the pipeline has been added to............. updates on that soon.. .]

http://chomupress.com/

A Mountain Walked: Great Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos

2011-12-06T14:56:00.001-05:00

[Happy, ~still shocked~ humbled!! !, full of YIPPIE~ !!] It's official now~ ~~

Yep, justsigned (and mailed) the contracts for S.T. Joshi’s A Mountain Walked: Great Tales of theCthulhu Mythos, coming next year from Centipede Press. This is the anthology [ofS. T. Joshi's "favorite" Cthulhu Mythos tales] that was called, TheSpawn of the Green Abyss. Itwill contain my new tale “…Hungry …Rats”.

I still remember sending my tale to S.T. as a possible sub for "Weird Fiction Review" (Centipede Press) and him replying, "No, I want this for my upcoming Best of the Cthulhu Mythos anthology."

There will be a signed/limited edition hardcover. More details as I can! !!

I've posted the ToC here on my blog before, but................... [well, you'll understand I get a charge out of seeing my name with these writers ~ LIGOTTI! !! KLEIN!!!!!!!!! CAMPBELL! !! WOW! !! What planet is this? ??]. I'm also over the moon to see my friends, Hopfrog [get well soon old friend!! !], ST.an, and Cody in this tome! !!
Contents:

"The House of the Worm," by Mearle Prout

"Far Below," by Robert Barbour Johnson

"Spawn of the Green Abyss," by C. Hall Thompson

"The Deep Ones," by James Wade

"The Franklyn Papers," by Ramsey Campbell

"Where Yidhra Walks," by Walter C, DeBill, Jr.

"Black Man with a Horn," by T. E. D. Klein

"Nethescurial," by Thomas Ligotti

"Black Brat of Dunwich," by Stanley C. Sargent

"The Phantom of Beguilement," by W. H. Pugmire

"...Hungry...Rats,"by Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. (original to this edition)

"Virgin's Island," by Donald Tyson (original to this edition)

"In the Shadow of Swords," by Cody Goodfellow (original to thisedition)

http://www.centipedepress.com/

Glowing reviews for TOP

2011-12-04T04:04:00.001-05:00

The Orphan Palace continues to receive glowing [and very humbling] reviews. Here's the last few I've seen.

http://hellboundtimes.blogspot.com/2011/12/orphan-palace-by-joseph-s-pulver-sr.html

http://noondaystars.blogspot.com/2011/10/orphan-palace.html

http://grimreviews.blogspot.com/2011/11/orphan-palace-by-joseph-s-pulver.html

When the heart of horror rises...

2011-12-01T14:32:00.001-05:00

Lotof AGAINST out there currently. Let’s show folks FOR! !!

For GOOD! !!

You can do a lot of GOOD with a toy for a needy child. Would the heart of horrorfeed and nurture these children? Would it cure the ills and nightmares thatwould blunt their dreams? I believe it will. How might it start? Like theopening scene in a long chiller, we need that first step toward nurturing achild’s imagination. Remember play time? You and a toy, you were creating,imagining. You stretched, dreamed, and as a fan of horror and the weird youstill dream. So my fellow dreamers, let’s shout down “against” and be for GOODand take that first small step! Be a creator—inspire wonder, fuel the creativemind, give them a toy.

You give a child a toy. We’ll give you a library!! !

Follow the link to see how to add your voice, donate a toy, and enter to win the library we're giving away

http://www.facebook.com/ToysForTotsHorrorStyle

Horror creators and fans UNITE! !!

2011-11-25T15:20:00.001-05:00

You give a child a toy. We'll give you a MONSTER-size library [over 3 dozen so far]!

http://www.facebook.com/ToysForTotsHorrorStyle#!/ToysForTotsHorrorStyle

As a writer of horror and weird fiction they say Pulver's bleak, brutal, DARK!, his work is a multi-verse of Hell, murder & madness are his loves. Guess that's fair. OK, OK, it hits the nail on the head! I've got friends who like to go to zombie cons and dress up, got pals who like to visit graveyards. I have many friends who are visual artists and their work gives me bloody nightmares, and I've got firends who watch scaryass horror films filled w/ demons and gore and MONSTERS and EERIE~sh*t even I can't sit through -- yep, fraidy cat me! !! And every one of them has a heart as big as Cthulhu or Gojira or King Kong. Bet all horror fans and creators have hearts that big! !! Hell, I know they do.

So I hoping the horror community ~who adore hauntings and baying all night long~ will take all that PASSION and creativity and support Toys For Tots~Horror Style. Please tell your friends--I know you're great at baying!, wear a hockey mask (or a gillman suit or get zombied-up) and threaten them if you like. Blog about this. G+, FB post, Tweet, v-blog, ETC! !!, but please share.

If you are a horror creator and would like to donate a book to the winner's goodie bag, great we'd love to have it. And we'd love to have your voice, your support as Hell's carnival barker as well!! And whom better than you weathermen and women of the DARKNESS, who write or paint with such magic & PASSION, to shout it loud?

Please send you friends and/or fans to the following link for details on entering and how to donate a toy for a needy child.

This year let's awaken joy in the heart of a child.

My deepest thanks to all of you! !!

http://www.facebook.com/ToysForTotsHorrorStyle#!/ToysForTotsHorrorStyle

To all horror writers, artists, and creators

2011-11-25T04:13:00.001-05:00

Remember your 1st story sale, or the 1st time you held one of your books in your hands, or your new release? Remember the first illo you did for a tale you loved, or your first cover? Remember that joy, the excitement? We all do. Walk over and look at that book or mag on the shelf, pick it up . . . Coming back to you? You feel that? It's great. You can give that feeling to a child.

You have a voice, a gift, you share it with your readers, with your fans, I'll like you to share your voice to support needy children this holiday season. Please help me spread the word about Toys For Tots ~ Horror Style. Blog it, tweet it, post news in forums, or on FB and G+. Let your fans and friends and all the wonderful people in the horror community know that the heart of horror has and always will be about the thrill of sharing something amazing. When you give a needy child a toy, you give them amazing, you give them a dream. And dreaming is what we do best! Share the dream!

http://www.facebook.com/ToysForTotsHorrorStyle#!/ToysForTotsHorrorStyle

What is Toys For Tots ~ HORROR style?

2011-11-21T22:21:00.001-05:00

To all entrants, please read this whole note!

What is Toys For Tots ~ HORROR style?

This is a group of writers/editors/publishers of Horror/Weird/Dark fantasy/etc. who want to do something nice for needy children this year. Each contributor will donate a signed book(s) of theirs [any book, chap, collection, HC, trade, mass market, novel, mag, edited by, etc.][sorry, no “eBooks” as we cannot be certain the winner will have a reading device] and *ONE WINNER* will win them all.

Folks post the pics [2 pics] of them donating to THIS page. One pic showing them holding the toy, one pic of the toy in the box. Sadly, there are a few who might try to cheat and not put the toy in the box, so we need to see the toy really was donated. Take a pic of you holding the toy, then take a 2nd pic of the toy in the box. The donated toy will need to have a price point of at least 5 dollars. I thought a lot of folks have cell phone cams so pics would be easy to take.

How do you enter?

Entrants will need to post a pic of them dropping a toy into a “Toys For Tots” donation box and when all is said and done, say the day after X-Mas, we’ll pick ONE WINNER. Kids get a bunch of toys and we do a little good for those in need in hard times. And someone out there gets a very happy new year! !!

Can a family enter?

YES! You donate a toy, you’re in. Your SO donates one, they’re in! But only one entry per person!

I picked TFT as it’s fairly common and most everywhere in the States. Sadly, due to postage, entrants must live in the States. I also picked this charity as I couldn’t think of another charity where we could be certain we’d be putting something “hard” under trees this year.

We’ll have a predetermined number to pick the winner, between 100 -200 it will be #?, 200-300 will be #?, 300-400, 400-500, 1,000+, etc., etc. [Yes, I hoping for a lot of entries! !!] Then I’ll post the winner’s name here (after X-Mas) and they can message me w/ their address. Then the books will start coming. Each contributor will be mailing the book(s) they’re donating to the winner, so they will not all come at the same time. Books will begin to be shipped after JAN 1st.

We are not a part of *any* group or affiliated w/ any organization. This is just a group of writers/editors/publishers who want to do something nice for children! !! We picked TFT as it will put REAL toys under trees this year!!

Please share this and help spread the word. If you have a blog please consider doing a blog post about this, Tweeting as well. Sharing means word gets out and that puts more toys under trees! !! I know there are no bigger hearts than those of the horror community, so let it bleed!! !

No dealers or booksellers please. This is not for profit in any way, shape, or form. If we find out an entrant is a seller that entry will be not be considered for the drawing.

I’ll be posting what books the winner will receive and adding to the list as I get word of new additions.

Note to any writers and editors and publishers I have not contacted, if you would like to be part of this, please message me here on FB. We would love to have you be part of this! !!

To all the current contributors, my deepest thanks! You make me very proud to be one of you! !!

All my bEastly BEST! !!

http://www.facebook.com/jspulver?ref=tn_tnmn#!/ToysForTotsHorrorStyle

FREE LEENIE! !!

2011-11-18T20:34:00.001-05:00

That nasty-old MEANY, Dr. Archer, says the inmates, ah, makethat, residents here in ZIMM’s are not allowed to vibrate w/ joy, or play cello,or guitar, or-- Archer suggests that could, under most conditionSSss; ;;lead to various forms of HOWLin’’’’’’’’’’,and maybe prancin’ ‘bout ALLgleeful & bEastly under craZy moonrays. Andthey "most certainly are not allowed!" to own and read the "subversive, lurid filth"of muse-maddened poetS! !! Callin’ my pals D’if and Sharkey to help bust this lovelygal out outta her room, um, cell; ;;;;;;;;before any vile snicker~snack{!!!!!!!!!!!!~!~~!}starts a-vibratin ’ and ruins her lovely& bEastlY brain! !!

Mr. .8gauge is LOCKED & LOADed~ ~~Gonna be a jailbreak tonight~ ~~~~~~~~~~..~.

Karl Edward Wagner

2011-11-15T17:27:00.001-05:00

KEW is one of my idols! !! To me, "THE RIVER OF NIGHT’S DREAMING" is canon.

Taken from an interview that was conducted by Chuck Owston for "Dark Troubadour" #1, Autumn 1994.

"Q: In "THE RIVER OF NIGHT’S DREAMING" you make references to THE KING IN YELLOW. How much did this classic influence you?"

"KEW: Much of my work has resonances of Robert W. Chambers. While almost all of his books were hack-work romances, the best of his supernatural horror can stand with the very best. The primary lesson I’ve learned from reading Chambers was to create a deliberate barrier against final comprehension — thus creating the lost uncertainty of an extended nightmare."

Scripture! !!

Looking at "black wings" in Kinsport as Gordon Lightfoot and Libby Van Cleeve's oboe lead me through a night of sharp, cold shadows~ I wonder if there's a place to rest my head in these sunless corridors~~ guess we'll see . . .

Light what a steppenwolf smokes, dream! !!

Some things of note~ ~~

2011-11-14T16:52:00.001-05:00

Yes, that's HAPPY DANCING here in Carcosa East! !!
Today I have the pleasure to share a few things...

It is always a delight to be praised by one's peers. Some may see it as merely pals patting each others' back, but these are the people who know what the craft demands, and their opinions count [as does every reader's], and they like you, are 1st and foremost readers. Today I received the following.

"I think T.S. Eliot and E. E. Cummings had a threesome with the Devil. Seems the only way to explain Pulver's masterful work." --Trent Zelazny, author of The Day the Leash Gave Way and Other Stories
"Grim Reviews" http://grimreviews.blogspot.com/2011/11/orphan-palace-by-joseph-s-pulver.html also posted a rave review of my new novel, The Orphan Palace (Chomu Press). As I have said in the past, yes, I like these kinds of reviews and yes, I'm still very humbled when I read them.

Over the weekend I had the very great pleasure of reading some new submissions for both The Grimscribe's Puppets and A Season In Carcosa [both coming from Miskatonic River Press 2012]. Both of these tribute anthologies (Thomas Ligotti/Robert W. Chambers) are on track for their summer and fall release dates. I also recieved word from some of the contributors regarding their upcoming sbumissions, all the updates were very pleasing and make me all more the hungry to read them! !! I believe when I have the ToCs ready in a month or two, readers will indeed be very, very happy and there may be a WOW or 2 shouted.

I also recieved a story acceptance yesterday for a tale in a major anthology which caused much GLEE & JOY here in Carcosa East! Trust me, I will SHOUT about it the very second they take me off the leash!! !

Finally, and this is no small thing to me, Simon Marshall-Jones of Spectral Press, http://spectralpress.wordpress.com/2011/11/14/musiks-and-mythos/ informed me he IS launching a series of Lovecraftain CDs. Each disc will pair a reading of an HPL tale w/ a work by a "modern" Lovecraftian writer. Each will be set to music. And it very much looks like I will be part of this thrilling series of "Musiks and Mythos" recordings! !! So put me down for a YAYYyyy! !!

There are many other things in the works, and I hope to have word of some more of them very soon!! !

Hope yer all well, and WARM! !!

As always, all my bEastly BEST! !!

Joe

Nightingale Songs by Simon Strantzas

2011-11-11T02:25:00.001-05:00

DarkRegions Press is proud to announce Nightingale Songs by Simon Strantzas, a newcollection that will be available on the DarkRegions.com website next Tuesday,November 15th! !!

In the dead of night,there are footsteps in the hall . . .In the dead of night,your past mistakes will haunt you . . .In the dead of night,you hear a discordant tune . . .In the dead of night, thenightingale sings . . .

Simon Strantzas, master of the subtle and thebizarre, returns with a dozen strange tales and eerie mysteries. From theshores of a remote oil-stained sound to deep within the familiar heart ofsuburbia, these are the songs of broken people who cannot find a way to fixthemselves, who must search the dark for salvation. Like a siren, thenightingale sings them onward to face their end. But it sings for you too. Arequiem in your honor. Because, for you, it is already too late.

Nightingale Songs is a dark gem. Strantzas demonstrates once again whyhe is so highly regarded amongst connoisseurs of the macabre and the fantastic.-- Laird Barron

Simon Strantzas displaysa gift for evoking disturbing atmospheres and creating odd, frighteningencounters with the uncanny . . .

-- Lisa Tuttle

He does not show you thegate to this new Golden Age of weird fiction that is upon us, but leads youthrough it.

-- Joseph S. Pulver
Strantzas deftlyestablishes ordinary and seemingly innocuous situations that spin out of thecharacters' control and always end with an uneasy sense of menace, even whentheir resolution is ambiguous or cryptic.

-- Publishers Weekly

Like the subtly disquieting locationsin which they take place—a suburban house obscured by weeds and darkbutterflies, the basement of a former home grown suddenly unfamiliar, a sleepclinic where the patients never meet—Simon Strantzas’ elegant stories worry atthe reader’s sense of certainty. The songs they sing won’t comfort you. But youwill remember them.
-- Glen Hirshberg

RICHARD GAVIN

2011-11-07T00:23:00.000-05:00

In The Great North there is thunder. Gemma Files, Simon Strantzas, Ian Rodgers, and RICHARD GAVIN! These titans rest on my shelves close to Thomas Ligotti, perhaps that tells you what I think of them and their ability to take away your breath . . .

Gavin is the acclaimed author of CHARNEL WINE, Primeval Wood, The Darkly Splendid Realm, and OMENS.

Earlier this year in "Dead Reckonings" (No. 9) the Review of Horror Literature that's edited by S. T. Joshi and Tony Fonseca, Richard Gavin reviewed my 2nd collection, SIN & ashes. To say I was pleased by the review is a vast understatement. With my new novel, The Orphan Palace, just out from Chomu Press and my 3rd collection, Portraits of Ruin, in the pipeline for a 2012 release from Hippocampus Press I wanted to post Richard's review for those who do not get to see or read the acclaimed "DR".

"Down Dark and Lonesome Highways"

Richard Gavin

JOSEPH S. PULVER, SR. Sin & Ashes. Introductionby Laird Barron. New York: Hippocampus Press, 2010. 325 pp. $20.00 pb.

     If mimicry truly is one of the gravest dangers a writerfaces when broaching weird tale country, then few writers are on safer groundthan Joseph S. Pulver Sr. With Sin & Ashes, his second collectionfrom Hippocampus Press, Pulver manages to further cement his reputation as oneof the most daring stylists currently working in supernatural fiction. He iscertainly no stranger to the realm of dark fiction, having built upconsiderable publishing credits over the years, primarily through the small andspecialty presses. But his time as one of the genre’s best-kept secrets appearsto be drawing to a close, as his books continue to reach an ever-broaderaudience and to garner fresh critical attention. With prose that hoverssomewhere between the hard-boiled crime genre, poetry, and the sheerlawlessness of Dadaism, Pulver’s work is truly sui generis, so much so that it almost defies classification.This brazen originality is given a hefty exhibition in Sin & Ashes.Whether broaching more poignant fantasy (“Even Night” and “Long-Stemmed GhostWords”) or the book’s hard-boiled forays into hexes and vengeance (“First Thereis a Mountain . . . Then”), Pulver invariably manages to impress hisfingerprints upon the material.

      The collection’s inaugural tale,“Love Her Madly,” intertwines the postmortem wanderings of Doors lead singerJim Morrison and those of a young woman adrift in an anguished, almost elegiacmodern-day California. It is a bizarre carousel of a story, one that suitablysets the tone for the forty-eight (!!) other tales, vignettes, and prose poemsthat comprise this gripping volume. “Love Her Madly” grants the reader a surveyof many of Joseph Pulver’s interests and inspirations: psychedelic rock, thegritty underbelly of contemporary culture, and an almost unbearable emotionalpitch of isolation and despair. Pulver then smoothly switches gears for thesecond story, “She’s Waiting,” a haunting, heart-squeezing gaze into onewoman’s sense of loss. This mournful riff repeats in several other entries,such as “When the Moon Comes to Call” and “As the Sun Still Burns Away.”

     The varied subjects and settingsthat comprise this book’s vast canvas, coupled with the sheer number of itspieces, make giving a tale-by-tale analysis all but impossible, for Pulver’swork is a gestalt, a tsunami of image and emotion. His words are unfailinglyrazor-keen, his tone beautiful and horrific at once. Stylistically, Pulver,with his penchant for fragmented, stream-of-consciousness narratives, is moststrongly reminiscent of William S. Burroughs. One never sees all in a JosephPulver story; rather these narratives play out like scenes reflected in ashattered mirror. We are afforded glimpses and oblique representations, but areoffered none of the pat comforts that a more conventional narrative mightprovide. For instance, in “Huddled in Rags in a Kingsport Alley . . .,” we seeH. P. Lovecraft’s seaport town through the prism of one its dejected and brokeninhabitants, a woman who has “no room for the devices of Christ-light in herfear-laced deeps.” For in the end, “the mouth of future closes. . . . No one isspared. . . . Little but the noise of the moon survives."

     This is heady stuff, yet it alsoexposes what might be the only artistic debit of Sin & Ashes: itsstories offer no light of salvation whatsoever. The reader has no breathingroom, no denouement which carries promise of relief or resolution. In fact,Pulver’s characters seem to relate to hope only as a quaint and hazy memory, anoasis that is now irretrievably lost. All these characters—and by extension,we, readers as well—have left to do is wait for that mouth of the future toclamp its jaws and drag us all down. However, this is not necessarily anindication of a deficiency in the writing. Rather, it stands as a testament toits complexity and relentlessness.

     Pulver is a demanding writer.The reader often has to work simply to navigate the murky, unnerving plots thebook presents. The horrors of Sin & Ashes might often only befleetingly illuminated by lightning flashes of words, but these hints are oftenbrutal and are apt to haunt one well after the book’s covers are closed. Take,for example, this extract from the remarkable “Just Another Desert Night withBlood”:

      Highway. Ditches full of seasons(and the cast-out containers of thirst quenchers). Winds traveling. Redtaillights—moon sold souls—bound for somewhere (easy?). Night’s not goinganywhere. Never does. The lies cooling. Not going anywhere . . . moth andspider goin’ nowhere . . . phone booth with a broken interior light . . . owl .. . clouds, not built or elaborate, flat on the dark rug of sky . . .asphalt—solid ground has no point . . . boots notch the dust on a roadgoin’nowhere . . . This nowhere land, a flat leviathan wearing blades andpuddles and smudges of black, seamed with memories, holds no scavengers, nomirages, no vultures.

     Here be a demonstration of oneof Pulver’s greatest strengths: an almost uncanny ability to pull the readerinto settings which are bewildering yet queerly familiar. We may not know whoit is who wanders this highway, or indeed which highway it is, yet we do know thisperson, having roamed that roadway ourselves, if only in dreams.

     Another pervasive characteristicof Pulver is the manner in which he dovetails the supernatural with the banal.Resisting the often disastrous technique of describing the otherworldly withflamboyant language, Pulver details the uncanny with the same edgy,matter-of-fact tone he uses to shed light on the underbelly of Americanculture, or indeed the fractured spirits of his characters. Forbiddengrimoires, ghosts, and dark gods do indeed lurk in these narratives, but theyare presented as elements no more or less startling than neon signs or stripclubs or a long vacant road at night. In this respect, Sin & Ashesmight be thought of as an extension to the mythopoeia of William Blake—whose Londonstreets were populated simultaneously by merchants and criminals, angels anddemons—as it is a current spin on the mythos of H. P. Lovecraft or Robert W.Chambers (a visible influence here). We need not find the cursed grove or thehaunted farmhouse, Pulver seems to tell us; the powers of darkness are in factroaming right alongside prostitutes and gangsters, working-class loners andwrecked dreamers.

     If you are a reader who seekslulling escapism, this book offers no such creature comfort. Pulver tales arenot the kind of stories one slips into like a warm bath. They are splashes offrigid water, which constantly jar and twist rather than flow headlong. This iswhat makes Sin & Ashes such a potent volume. Pulver is a writer whotakes risks with each story he fashions, which in turn makes reading themexceptionally rewarding.

(C) Richard Gavin 2011

Links:

RICHARD GAVIN http://www.richardgavin.net/

HIPPOCAMPUS PRESS http://www.hippocampuspress.com/journals/dead-reckonings/dead-reckonings-no.-9

http://www.hippocampuspress.com/mythos-and-other-authors/fiction/sin-ashes-by-joseph-s.-pulver-sr.

Rue Morgue / Chomu Press

2011-11-05T15:27:00.002-04:00

In issue #117, "Rue Morgue" shines its spotlight on Weird fiction publisher, Chômu Press.

Chômu has released 12 books so far. It's mind-bending roster contains, among others, Michael Cisco, Reggie Oliver, Rhys Hughes, and Mark Samuels.

“Remember You’re a One-Ball!”, by Quentin S. Crisp
I Wonder What Human Flesh Tastes Like, by Justin Isis
The Dracula Papers, Book I: The Scholar’s Tale, by Reggie Oliver
Revenants, by Daniel Mills
The Man Who Collected Machen and Other Weird Tales, by Mark Samuels
The Life of Polycrates and Other Stories for Antiquated Children, by Brendan Connell
The Great Lover, by Michael Cisco
Dying to Read, by John Elliott
Link Arms with Toads!, by Rhys Hughes
Nemonymous Night, by D.F. Lewis
Jeanette, by Joe Simpson Walker
The Orphan Palace, by Joseph S. Pulver, Sr.
Boy is there some TALENT on that list! !! And yep. The last one is mine. Talk about glee, amazment, and humbled [! !!] seeing my name with those, that's, to me, pretty mind-bending.

I'm also happy as heck to see my favorite horror icon, the Phantom of the Opera on the cover. I know he has nothing to do w/ Chomu, but yeah, I'm weird, so I got a kick out of it.Why's The Phantom my boy you ask? Music, a love story, a MASK!! ! You know, all the things I try to squeeze in my stuff . . . When they let me . . .

I'm dying to see what "Rue Morgue" has to say about CP, and word is I might even get a mention [insert bEastly grin and a wink].

Well the Muse is standing here, under the chilly-looking moon, holding open the door to the coach. Guess she wants me to hop in and start tonight's trek to Hammersmith . . . Tea, smokes, gris-gris bag, a new playlist, WORDS~ ~~ guess I'm ready to ride . . . I'll see you in some seedy, back-alley bar in Hammersmith. I'll be the bEast sitting in the deep shadows w/ the grave-robbers. We'll save you a seat. And be sure to bring yer own shovel.

[soundtrack~ ~~Leon Russell “Tightrope”, Mountain “NantucketSleighride”, Bee Gees “Stayin’ Alive”, Donna Summer “I Feel Love”, HerbieHancock “Actual Proof”]
http://chomupress.com/

The New School ~ ~~ E

2011-11-04T19:04:00.001-04:00

The wheel, sliced bread, CDs, information devices of every stripe, ATOMIC everything, and now eBooks [Yeah, might have left a few thing out...] . . . Like it or not, welcome to the 21st century, P'uul-yverre. Yep. Chomu Press has released The Orphan Palace as an eBook.

I like old school--PAPER! But I put these words out in hopes of finding readers, so if E is another way to share with/find readers, so be it. Bottom line - if somone is reading, no matter what thier choice of platform might be, that's a good thing! !!

PAPER or nope, VIVA WORDS! !!

Here's the link

http://www.amazon.com/The-Orphan-Palace-ebook/dp/B0062SBXOG/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=A12MGAGPLUJEQK

Old schoolers here's the PAPER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !

http://www.amazon.com/Orphan-Palace-Sr-Joseph-Pulver/dp/1907681116/ref=tmm_pap_title_0

Halloween TREAT[sSS]! !!

2011-10-31T05:36:00.003-04:00

While I was down &
                                     out; ;; ill [no; ;; not just my DOOM-sighing brain this time! !!]

                           highly-acclaimed author[!!!!!!!!!!], Des Lewis [Ol' Weirdtongue hizself, The NEMONYMOUS Man] was doing one of his mind-bending real-time reviews of my new one, The Orphan Palace. As I {rather joyously} read the vocal flights in Weirdtongue, he liked the novel...a....bit.............. .

AM;;;;;;;;;;;;; ; so glad he did! !!

What did Demonic Des say [as he tried to keep his powder dry]? ?? Go eyeball the thing here

http://nullimmortalis.wordpress.com/2011/10/27/the-orphan-palace-joseph-s-pulver-sr/

Also,; ,, as a Holloween treat [pt 2], I got an email saying my Easter~Ghoul tale, "Mrs. Spriggs’ Easter Attire", was accepted for editor, Scott Aniolowski's Horror For The Holidays anthology [Miskatonic River Press 2012]

http://miskatonicriverpress.com/

............... yer bEastie likes that! !! bEastly HIGSSssSs to Tara VanFlower [of LYCIA fame!] who kindly co-ed this one w/ me!!
                   She was so utterly~FAB to play CHOMP-CHOMP/BYE~BYE w/ me!!!

Here's the demonic ToC ~ ~~

Horror for the Holidays Table of ContentsIntroduction by Scott David Aniolowski
TALES OF ROSH CHODESHThe Tomb of Oscar Wilde by W.H. Pugmire
TALES OF VALENTINE’S DAYLove and Darkness by Oscar Rios
Be Mine by Brian Sammons
TALES OF PASSOVERCthulhu Mhy’os by Lois H. Gresh

TALES OF EASTERAnd the Angels Sing by Cody Goodfellow
The Last Communion of Allyn Hill by Pete Rawlik
Mrs. Spriggs’ Easter Attire by Joseph S. Pulver Sr. and Tara VanFlower
Seasons of Sacrifice and Resurrection by Adrian Tchaikovsky
TALES OF MOTHER’S DAYMother’s Night by Ann K. Schwader
TALES OF THE FOURTH OF JULYFree Fireworks by T.E. Grau
Doc Corman’s Haunted Palace One Fourth of July by Don Webb
TALES OF VJ DAYTranslator by James Robert Smith
TALES OF HALLOWEENHallowe’en in a Suburb by H.P. Lovecraft
Moonday by Will Murray
The Trick by Ramsey Campbell
TALES OF THE DAY OF THE DEADEl Dia De Los Muertos by Kevin Ross
TALES OF GUY FAWKES NIGHTTreason and Plot by William Meikle
TALES OF REMEMBERANCE DAYThe Dreaming Dead by Joshua Reynolds
TALES OF THANKSGIVINGEntrée by Donald R. Burleson
TALES OF YULEKeeping Festival by Mollie Burleson
Wassail by Tom Lynch
TALES OF CHRISTMASKrampusnacht by Joshua Reynolds
The Christmas Eve of Aunt Elise by Thomas Ligotti
Letters to Santa by Scott David Aniolowski
Keeping Christmas by Michael G. Szymanski
The Nativity of the Avatar by Robert M. Price

bEast LIKESssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!! !! Lots of BIG-BIG talented folkS on dat list O bEastiesSS!!! ! CONGRATSsssssssssssssssssssss to all the damn fine contributorssssSSSSSSSSSSSS!! !

HAPPY HALLOWEEN to all youse bEastSsssss & bEasteSSes! !!!!!!! Hope it's all TREATsssssssssss fer yas! !!
[soundtrack~ bEastie boys, Spoon, Little Feat, Sam Roberts................... ;]

A guest blog by Jeffrey Thomas

2011-10-26T13:54:00.000-04:00

PUNKTOWN! BLUE WAR! DEADSTOCK! And many more....... Jeff Thomas is one of weird fiction's best! And today Jeff has kindly stopped by to offer some of his thoughts on my new novel . . . So away we go~ ~~

THE ORPHAN PALACE, Joseph S. Pulver, Sr.

by Jeffrey Thomas

*****

OLIVER TWISTED

     In Joseph S. Pulver, Sr.’s THE ORPHANPALACE (henceforth, for ease, JSPS and TOP respectively), as a young man ourprotagonist Cardigan escapes from a sinister orphanage called Zimms, where anevil psychiatrist named Dr. Archer subjects his charges to various forms oftorture, abetted by his equally loathsome staff. In Dickens’ OLIVER TWIST,having himself survived a horrible orphanage/workhouse, the sweet and innocentOliver proves a shining example of the imperviousness of the human soul.Whereas Cardigan wants bloody revenge, and will walk right through the hole heshoots through you to get to it, if you stand in his way.

     So what does that teach us? Well, both books teach us the truth, really. We allwalk through fires. They all scar us. But how we as individuals react to thesame trials might be very different indeed.     So TOP teaches us the truth. It is arealistic novel, then, correct?

   Mm, yes. It is an abstractly realistic novel.

Are there really sinister orphanages, inwhich children are physically and psychologically tormented? Nowadays, Iwouldn’t think so. In our country’s past, yes, I would imagine there were, andsanitariums where the treatment was even worse. But it’s not JSPS’s point toexpose today’s evil practices. At least, not in such a literal sense. Thetitular Orphan Palace, Zimms, could serve as a metaphor for how we are shapedas human beings in general -- whether that Orphan Palace be as small as our ownhome, or as large as the USA. As large as this whole world of human beings. TheOrphan Palace is the forge of all human life. Whether we are truly orphans oreven if we have loving parents, ultimately we walk out its doors to fend forourselves in a world that might not be literally populated with the novel’sghouls and evil cultists, but the threatening forces those entities stand infor. Beyond counting, there are malignant people in positions of power, whetherthey be hateful little administrative types or world leaders, for whom we couldconsider Dr. Archer a symbolic mask.

    So for me, JSPS’s novel possesses at thesame time a very realistic feel -- an uncomfortablyrealistic feel -- and a fantastical, dream-like, hallucinatory quality. Andthat’s quite an achievement. This is art, my friend. Art can do tricky stufflike that.

You can find Jeff and his work here:

http://www.jeffreyethomas.com/

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_tc_2_0?rh=i%3Astripbooks%2Ck%3AJeffrey+Thomas&keywords=Jeffrey+Thomas&ie=UTF8&qid=1319651483&sr=1-2-ent&field-contributor_id=B000APMJZ4

Thought it was.. .Monday............. ?. ??

2011-10-25T15:45:00.000-04:00

I did.

Somehow I keep missing whole days................. . Perhaps sleeping on a regular basis would repair this? ?? But I fear if I start the Muse will take off the gloves - and she kicks me around pretty good so far............ Really don't care to she what she's like w/out them.

Woke up [...yes there was TEA & smokes.. .and Herbie Hancock {acoustic trio}] to discover a RAVE review of TOP at The Stars At Noonday blog
http://noondaystars.blogspot.com/2011/10/orphan-palace.html
Confess I liked it! !! A lot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [I'll skip the describtion of bEastly dancin' all happy-face giddy]!! And found it humbling.

And on TLO in the CHOMU PRESS thread http://www.ligotti.net/showthread.php?t=4336 I found Brendan Moody had posted this comment. "My review of The Orphan Palace, which also includes a very brief reflection on Chomu Press as of its dozenth book, is here. I don't think I've ever read a novel so thoroughly akin to poetry as The Orphan Palace; like Michael Cisco's The Great Lover, it's a Chomu book I recognize as brilliant but will have to reread, and look forward to rereading, to understand better why it's brilliant. That may sound like empty praise, but it's nothing of the kind."

And for those of you who do not know what TOP is about, or the Chomu Press giveaway, the info is here.

http://chomupress.com/news/the-orphan-palace-a-road-trip-to-madness/

I read another tale in Tremblay's & Langan's CREATURES! !! I'm loving this tome! !! Not even close to being done, but so far they sure as hell got it RIGHT! !! More on this book when I'm done!

http://www.amazon.com/Creatures-Thirty-Monsters-Clive-Barker/dp/1607012847/ref=pd_rhf_ee_p_t_2

Mail arrived and in it was the new issue of "STRANGE AEONS" magazine! #7. As some of you know, I'm a big fan!! Hope yer all reading it!! In the coming months "SA" will release 4 P'uul-yverre chapbooks as special giveaways [nice of 'em don'tcha think?]. The 1st 3 will be my "Russ Myer Triptych" ["TheDirector’s Cut", "SkinFlick sans Money Shot", "WhenThere’s A Riot Goin’ On…"] and the 4th ["…LIES……Thunder…… ashes…………..."] will be a tale I whipped up just for "SA" and the upcoming HPLFF. I'll be at the fest this time - even if it's just in a wee tome [insert bEastly grin! !!]

Here's the links:

http://strange-aeons.com/

http://hplfilmfestival.com/

Talked to my pal, Jarred, about a "bEast approved", new KIY product Dagon Industries will be coming out w/ soon. You can find all of DI's niffy products and TONSSSSSSSSS of other goodies at

http://arkhambazaar.com/

Well, I guess I'll stop boring the hell out of you and head off to find a new playlist and WORDS~ ~~~~~~~~~ [more babbling on other projects in the pipeline coming from Carcosa East soon]~ As Lin Carter used to say,

HAPPY MAGIK!! !

yer bEastie

Simon Strantzas on TOP

2011-10-24T16:55:00.001-04:00

Not sure how it is for others, but for me a new release is a big high . . . and it's a little scary. I keep asking the Muse to let me buy an ego, but she's a harsh mistress and continually says no - just keep yer ass in the chair typing . . . So I do.

One the the major peices of the high are, for me, when writers I respect and admire have kind things to say about my work. That said, here's a writer, a VERY underrated one in my book! !!, who was kind enough to say the following about The Orphan Palace.

“The Orphan Palace kicks you in the face and doesn’t stop. Pulver’s prose sees the world through a cracked lense of 60’s hedonism and 70’s grit, with a side order of unshakable terror. A serial killer novel that explores the dark side of America via Kerouac in a shell of cosmic horror. What he does is electrifying. I’ve never seen anything like it. My hair is still standing on end.” -- Simon Strantzas.

Simon is the HIGHLY-acclaimed author of Beneath the Surface and Cold to the Touch [both of which should be on your A-shelf! !!], and he's appeared in venues like The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror (ed. Stephen Jones), and "CD"

You can find Simon here:

http://www.strantzas.com/

And you can find out more abut TOP [watch the trailer, etc.] and enter the Chomu Press giveaway here:

http://chomupress.com/news/the-orphan-palace-a-road-trip-to-madness/

TOP can be purchased here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1907681116/ref=s9_simh_bw_p14_d0_g14_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-4&pf_rd_r=1XWJEV2SH34JX1PS14X3&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1321581422&pf_rd_i=283155

http://www.bookdepository.com/Orphan-Palace-Joseph-Pulver-Sr/9781907681110

[NOTE: The Book Depository ships world wide for free and takes Paypal]

There will be more news [the Kindle version should be released early next week, etc.] about TOP in the coming days.

Your room in _The Orphan Palace_ is ready! !!

2011-10-19T20:46:00.001-04:00

Chomu Press has released my new novel THE ORPHAN PALACE.
And what is it you ask?
It is NOT Sugar & Spice & everything nice . . .
Here is a ‘Route 66′ synopsis in exactly 66 words:

“Cardigan heads east through the night-bleak cities of America. His destination? Zimms County Home for Orphaned Children, the palace of dementia where Dr. Archer, ‘Lord of Chaos’, evilly presides – a trap baited with memories. Fires blaze in the rear-view mirror. On the roadside, ghosts, bounty hunters, mermen, Ghoul Hotels. Will D’if, the talking rat, help Cardigan escape this maze, or do all roads lead to madness?”

And here are the blurbs of two highly-respected weird fiction authors:

“Joe Pulver is like the answer to some arcane riddle: What do you get when you cross one of Plato’s Muse-maddened poets with a Lovecraftian lunatic, and then give their offspring to be raised by Raymond Chandler and a band of Beats? His work caters to a literary hunger you didn’t even know you had, and does it darkly and deliciously.” - Matt Cardin

“The Orphan Palace kicks you in the face and doesn’t stop. Pulver’s prose sees the world through a cracked lense of 60’s hedonism and 70’s grit, with a side order of unshakable terror. A serial killer novel that explores the dark side of America via Kerouac in a shell of cosmic horror. What he does is electrifying. I’ve never seen anything like it. My hair is still standing on end.” - Simon Strantzas

And you can sign up [until NOV 2] to enter the "Prize Draw for uniquely inscribed copy of The Orphan Palace". Where?

http://chomupress.com/news/the-orphan-palace-a-road-trip-to-madness/

And what do you get?

The CP “contest ed” will contain –
                                                 postcard(s) [with a note] from Carcosa East

                    signed & dated
         an unpublished poem/tExt;;;; or 2 . ?. ?.

                                               a “few” special annotationS sprinkled here & there . . {in REDink? ??}.

                                     a drawing of a RAT [this is good for a laugh as P’ull-yverre can’t draw! !!]
                 an illo of a bEastie [see above]
                                                           a TOP bookmark [one of only 25 made]
        a selections from the TOP "SOUNDTRACK" CD

                                                                                 [& maybe some stickers?/rubber stampings??/
. . . .................. and only CTHULHU knows what the hell else? ??]

Here's the CHOMU PRESS page for THE ORPHAN PALACE

http://chomupress.com/news/the-orphan-palace-a-road-trip-to-madness/

I hope you read it/like it/share it/tell Ma/tell Pa/.............. I hope it bothers you! !!
See you in Carcosa............... .~ ~~~~~~~~ ~ ~.~..

yer bEastie

http://www.amazon.com/Orphan-Palace-Sr-Joseph-Pulver/dp/1907681116/ref=wl_it_dp_o_npd?ie=UTF8&coliid=I3EQO0NH83VTHU&colid=2F4V4U3J4GAY8

http://www.bookdepository.com/Orphan-Palace-Joseph-Pulver-Sr/9781907681110

Laird Barron's "Phantasmagorium" is out now! !!

2011-10-16T15:47:00.000-04:00

"Phantasmagorium" is a NEW 1/4ly journal of horror/weird fiction edited by

Laird Barron! !!

Rejoice! It's out now! !! And it's only $3.99 for the e-version! !!!!!!!

The 1st issue of "Phantasmagorium" has stories by:

Simon Strantzas "Strong as a Rock"

Stephen Graham Jones "No Takebacks"
Joe Pulver "And this is where I go down into the darkness"

Anne Tambour "Cardoons!"

Genevieve Valentine "Bufonidae"

Scott Nicolay "alligators"
It's Halloween ~ ~~ TREAT yourself! !! to terrors! !!

http://phantasmagorium.co/wordpress/2011/10/

did you see them

2011-10-12T13:32:00.000-04:00

Helda………………. .

no sails
looking
in parts of the whole
       ,,,around ,,,the concrete trouble
no high priest
high on daylight-halo piece of mind
low
can’t fix the cherry tree with wings
close band-aid eyes ,,,hide
                                   (in a voyage of chocolate icecream lies)
hide the tide
       the circles to      remember ,,,try
look
at your own

           fist

the difficulted-hearted cluster of gestures and fabrications
                                                                    that stole
the end
of
all of your selected poems

(Buffalo Springfield “Broken Arrow”)

(C) Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. 2011

3 tExts

2011-10-12T11:54:00.001-04:00

They say some writers do things like putter away on FB or surf for porn for hours to avoid working on a new story or novel... I'm stupid, I write odd things thing like thisssssssssssssseSe ~~ ~~

no silence/no sleep: a few autumnal seconds

Leaf comes to the fall.
Yellow and grey open the curtain.
“Who judges the words of green?” He asks.
EYES BLACK: “Night.”
BEAK of MORE: “And all the days that close the bridge to water.”
Yellow feels the wind’s animal nature.
Would turnaway from the blackboard of SOLD HERE
and ask of the habitat of justice.
Would…
if he had not lost his, “HEY?” in a back of flat.
The journal of a mouth rubs its eyes,
looks at its essays of mon amour and decay
hands the lesser to Leaf.
Dust closes the size of its past.
There is no grace. Only inches too late.

(M Griffin “Gravity”)

(C) Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. 2011

AFTER THEY ROLL UP THE LAST CORRIDOR OF FIRE

Tom Waits: [staring over his cold coffee] …let’s put words on their skin andmake them scream.
bEast: [looking out over his warm tea] Blue words?
TW: [shrugs] Did you get the right size pillow?
b: Size 6.
TW: Does that fit?
b: Yeah. It’s OK. But I’m not very happy with the color pattern.
TW: Menu is short on options.
b: Is. But what can you expect?
TW: Oh. I almost forgot.
b: [looks at the bars] Them? That’s no little feat.
TW: If it was TUES and they passed out the ration of cigarettes would beeasier.
b: I still have some newspaper. Think we could smoke one of them?
TW: [looks at the bugs] Renfields. Never tried them. Could.
Samuel Beckett: [in the next cell] Will you assholes shut up. Joyce Mansourwill not want to caress my tomorrow if you keep this shit up.
TW: Put a lid on it old man [laughs]
b: Spicier than Spicer that.
SB: Shut the hell up.
TW: Nope and nope.
b: What he said.
SB: I’ll tell Hannibal.
b: I’m soooooooooooooo scared.
TW: You tell the man in the iron mask. So what? They took all the bite out ofhis cannibal.
b: [chuckles]
TW: [joins in]
SB: He can and will pass Bluto a note and you’re shower meat.
TW: Maybe we should just smoke this thing and hit the road to dreamland.
b: [nods let’s]
SB: So, Joyce. I was wondering . . . To what extend does your language ofsexuality signal a shift in male - female violence?
[Tom Waits and the bEast in their degenerate little island of no colors beginsnoring.]

(The Box Tops “Choo Choo Train”)

(C) Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. 2011

NOTE: Do you get a damn draft done? No. You light asmoke and find ways to waste 5 minutes . . .

(a piece) about angels left out in the rain

[no sound][tempest of rain moved on. itis dim and grey.]

I came upon two men.
Two.
Men.
One
in need of a shave
and shoes
and
he
sat.
There.
Just
sat.
There
and
the
other. He looked like rain. Rain that has broken a roof,
tasted
the birth of Death.
And
this
other
the
other
man,
paced.
Walked to the side of the
road
and
looked—
looked at the small hill.
The
dark
hill.
Thought to pace —first step to many steps— right up its side and reaching the
top
look out
and see
see
if
if he could see what had struck
the light
from
the sky.
The
man
that needed shoes
sat
ripped from sudden and years
sat on a rock.
He sat
like he was left there
left
there
to die.
In the shadows – in the void – that grey with no smile
left
there
alone
grey
forgotten
to die.
Two.
Men.
Two in their solitude.
Alone
together.
Two.
Men. A shadow of self and a shadow of
self.
Neither home from the to and fro neither. Niether about to turn from the waythat is parted from
close.
Two.
Men.
In the ashes of old
fading
light.
One
waiting—
lips hoping for soft. Soft. Hoping for a lamp to glow.
Light
for
this surface
of
fading
hoping…
The other
hoping
for
shoes. Or a lake filled with the starlight of Atlantis or lips to tell eyes ifthe weathervane could smell charms, or
see
shoes.
Travelers
unable
to turn
from
this
low.
This
faint
dim.
One
who would take light
or
crest the hill.
One
who would travel
if
the sun came out
if
the sun were shoes—
Shoes
and
light
to
spill empty.
The bottle of wine —there—tall—obvious— they did not drink.
One
would
drink
drink miles – again and again
until
he didn’t need an umbrella to cover his nakedness from
what dark
holds.
One
his mouth
holds
nothing.
One
who
has
hands. Hands that fade – again and again
—and
hold
no matters
that
glue
the stock to lips. Where they can be glued to
light
or
concern.
One.
And
one.
Waiting—
again—
like
they
waited
after
the
first again.
Hands
mouth
that
cannot catch
the sound
of
footsteps.
Footsteps
that brought stock.
Stock
still
they are.
One
man.
Waiting.
One
man
sat—
waiting…
I came upon two men who could not see the glow of my lantern. Neither couldhear the map I sang. Two.
Men.

(after watching Beckett’s FOOTFALLS andwondering what comment Ligotti might make. Perhaps he’d shake his head, or laughat me.)

(Soundtrack to the transcription: Paul Bowles Baptism of Solitude)

(C) Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. 2011

Phantasmagorium ~ OCT 13th! !!

2011-10-07T10:55:00.000-04:00

The 1st issue of "Phantasmagorium" edited by LAIRD BARRON{! !!} will have stories by:

Simon Strantzas "Strong as a Rock"

Stephen Graham Jones "No Takebacks"

Joe Pulver "And this is where I go down into the darkness"

Anne Tambour "Cardoons!"

Genevieve Valentine"Bufonidae"

Scott Nicolay "alligators"
"PHANTASMAGORIUM" will arrive on OCT 13th! !!

http://www.phantasmagorium.co/index.html

Phantasmagorium

2011-10-06T02:28:00.002-04:00

OCT 13th~ ~~~~~~~~~~~.

And The WINNERSssssssssssssssss are~ ~~

2011-10-06T00:05:00.001-04:00

Sarah at SheNeverSlept will be contacting the winners for contact/mailing info! THANKS to all of you who entered!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !

Chasing Shadows

2011-10-03T01:14:00.000-04:00

My friend, Julia Morgan, reads one of my very early King In Yellow tales. This was my 1st or 2nd KIY work, after 12+ years I don't remember.

It was penned while I was writting Nightmare's Disciple. Jules is a siren. I adore her readings of Poe and HPL. I am very pleased [and humbled] that Jules picked something of mine to read. I hope you enjoy it! !!

RAVE for TOP! !!

2011-09-28T14:56:00.001-04:00

When a new book or tale of mine is coming out I begin to sweat and FEAR takes a firm hold. WHY? Well, I've been very lucky and many [some very notable people and venues] have given my work praise, but there are a few who have not, and I don't mind having negative things pointed out to me--I'm hardly perfect and always want to improve my work and craft, but the broadswords to the gut hurt. So FEAR! Yes, it's the mindkiller.

She Never Slept has just published the 1st review of TOP and it's a RAVE, so YAYYYYYYYYYyyyyyyyyyy! !!

Here's the link:

http://sheneverslept.com/newsandreviews/archives/7058

The Best Horror of the Year. Vol. 3

2011-09-19T18:39:00.003-04:00

Review from "Library Journal":

The Best Horror of the Year. Vol. 3. Night Shade. 2011. c.384p. ed. by Ellen Datlow. ISBN 9781597802178. pap. $15.99. HORROR

A profusion of magpies portends ominous events in Tanith Lee's doomsday story "Black and White Sky," while in Laird Barron's "—30—," a pair of wildlife experts find themselves inexplicably altered by their research. Award-winning editor Datlow (Lovecraft Unbound) lends her expertise to this collection of top-notch tales of dark fantasy chosen from a variety of sources, including magazines, webzines, single-author collections, literary journals, and other anthologies. VERDICT From subtle psychological suspense to graphic violence, this collection of tales by authors like Richard Christian Matheson, Catherynne M. Valente, and John Langan provides a broad spectrum of styles sure to please most fans of the genre.

Ellen Datlow

Editor

www.datlow.com

THE BOOK OF CTHULHU gets a rave

2011-09-17T09:02:00.001-04:00

Over at Horror World, Brian M. Sammons, has many very nice things to say about editor, Ross E. Lockhart's THE BOOK OF CTHULHU (Night Shade Books 2011) . . .

http://horrorworld.org/hw/2011/09/the-book-of-cthulhu/

For info and ordering go here:

http://nightshadebooks.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=201

http://www.amazon.com/Book-Cthulhu-Ross-Lockhart/dp/1597802328/ref=pd_sim_b5

Lovecraft eZine is BACK

2011-09-12T22:06:00.002-04:00

The Lovecraft eZine: Issue six is out! !!

Ushered On the Wind, by Jeffrey J. Taylor
The Wagon’s Trail, by Joseph S. Pulver, Sr.
The Audient Void, by Mark Lowell
In Phantom Isolation, by W.H. Pugmire
The Weird Studies of Harley Warren, by Berin Kinsman

Read it free online --YES, FREE! !!, or there's Kindle and Nook versions for only .99! !!

News, great tales, interesting features, videos, what are you ghouls waiting for? ??
NOTE: "The Wagon’s Trail" is the 3rd part of my ongoing Lovecraftian WESTERN. Yep. I did say, western. All 3 parts are free in the Lovecraft eZine.

The beauty and value of a “best of” anthology

2011-09-12T20:58:00.004-04:00

Here's what David Marshall in "The Opinionator" had to say about The Best Horror of the Year: Volume 3 edited by Ellen Datlow.

The beauty and value of a “best of” anthology is as a demonstration of the strength of the genre under review. Now let’s be clear about this and, in doing so, assume there are objective criteria for judging the quality of fiction. Yes, yes, I know. Please forgive my attempt at humour. There could never be anything even vaguely objective in the process of judging fiction. But suppose, by whatever criteria you apply, only ten of the thousand and more stories published in any year are worthy of being included as one of the best. To make up the page count, the rest will be valiant failures. But if a “best of” anthology contains significantly more great than merely good stories, and there are no bad stories, it suggests there were plenty of high quality stories to choose from. Yes, I know it ultimately comes down to the taste of the editor making the selections and whether his or her taste matches my own. But this year’s The Best Horror of the Year: Volume 3 (Night Shade Books, 2011) edited by Ellen Datlow contains such a range and diversity of different themes and prose styles that I’m reassured the horror (and fantasy) field remains strong. No matter what criteria you apply, this is a wonderful book.

Allusive stories are the most difficult to write because once you start putting words on a page you’re limiting their meaning and defining their message. “At the Riding School” by Cody Goodfellow is a particularly fine example of the art of suggesting the routine occurrence of terrible things in an exclusive gated community dedicated to the “schooling” of young women — or perhaps that should be rewritten to involve their induction into a form of religious cult rooted in classical mythology where the participants in the rites risk rape and death if they fail to control themselves and the animals they must ride.

Stories about death and an afterlife are always tricky things to write but, in “Mr. Pigsny”, Reggie Oliver comes up with something genuinely unique. This is a completely fascinating tale about a faun or, since he evidently speaks classical Greek, a satyr with possible leprechaun overtones given one of his dance styles in a pub. Although the changing picture has been done to death (pun intended) in this context, we should not care. This is simply a delight!

“City of the Dog’ by John Langan is also weirdly wonderful as our hero’s on-off relationship with his girlfriend is suddenly distracted by her admission of infidelity and, later, her disappearance. Of course, if you set off to rescue her, it helps if you believe the explanation of what’s happened to her. That our hero only later acknowledges the truth means he does lose her to the other man.

“Just Outside Our Windows, Deep Inside Our Walls” by Brian Hodge reminds us that the power of our imagination is often strongest when we are young. Suppose all we needed to make a wish come true was the chance to draw it. That would make the power of the pen the ultimate weapon unless you tamed the savage beast of your childhood desires and reluctantly grew into a dull adult. Now that would be the real horror, just remembering what you might have lost.

“Lesser Demons”(1) by Norman Partridge makes you wonder what magic might lie behind the rise of the dead and the predators that eat their way out of their bodies. Except, of course, if you get too obsessed with questions, you might miss the simple solution at the end of a gun. “When the Zombies Win” by Karina Sumner-Smith is such an elegant idea, nicely expressed and admirably brief. It demonstrates a story does not need to be pages long to be a riotous success.“—30—”(2) by Laird Barron on the other hand remains a mystery to me. I was unimpressed when I first read it, and do not find it improves the second time around. Nevertheless, even though I feel it fails to focus properly, it’s beautifully written — perhaps that’s why I find the result so frustrating. It’s my sense of what could have been. . . For the record, I think the story listed in Honorable Mentions is far better.

“Fallen Boys” by Mark Morris strikes an interesting note with the annoying child. I’ve certainly met whiny kids like him and found the whole school trip beautifully balanced to set up the outcome when the lights go out. “Was She Wicked? Was She Good?” by M Rickert also sets up an interesting question about child development. It asks whether parents should discipline their children and, if so, how they should do it. Similarly, “The Fear” by Richard Harland creeps up on the reader as if you half-felt someone touch you on the shoulder but, when you turned, there was no-one there. It has a meticulously paced flow as investigators follow the trail of breadcrumbs to satisfy their curiosity about whether the horror director’s first film was ever finished.

“Till the Morning Comes” by Stephen Graham Jones encourages us to wonder what might be real in that half-waking time during the night when our bladder demands attention, but there’s fear in our heart. “Shomer” by Glen Hirshberg offers an insight into the ways of bereavement and death in the Jewish community. It’s always good when a story is both informative and potentially scary. “Oh I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside” by Christopher Fowler perfectly captures the hopelessness of life in a dead-end British seaside resort. It’s always amazing more of those imprisoned in these places don’t go on murder sprees to pass the time more interestingly. “The Obscure Bird” by Nicholas Royle is another of these weird ideas that works to inspire “horror” when you realise what’s going on. The last set of images is particularly striking.

“Transfiguration” by Richard Christian Matheson is powerful in a slightly off-beat way. It’s inclusion proves the admirable diversity of range in this anthology. This is another allusive story, this time about a trucker who, on his good days, thinks he’s an angel as he drives across the frozen landscape. “The Days of Flaming Motorcycles” is the best thing I’ve read by Catherynne M. Valente and one of the most interesting zombie stories of the year. “The Folding Man” by Joe R. Lansdale does a beautiful job in one of the most difficult tropes, namely maintaining the pace as the boys run for their lives.“Just Another Desert Night With Blood” by Joseph S. Pulver is as much about the writing as about the content. It’s highly stylised and somewhat poetic, but interesting. “Black and White Sky” by Tanith Lee is an outstanding story, beautifully evocative, recalling some of the classics of the early English natural disaster novels like J G Ballard’s The Wind From Nowhere. I’m not sure it’s horror, but it’s a superb read (who cares about genre boundaries, anyway?!).“At Night, When the Demons Come” by Ray Cluley continues a post-apocalypse vein with a story justifying acute misogyny. Who would have thought a few devils could cause so many problems when a few well-directed bullets can bring them down. There’s something disproportionate about the logic. Taking nothing away from the power of the story, it would be interesting to hear the author explain what happened to reduce the most gun-happy culture in the world to this sorry plight. And finally, “The Revel” is the second story by John Langan. This is wonderfully knowing, deconstructing the iconography of a werewolf story. It works beautifully both as a piece that could be used for academic study and for those who just want to read a very clever horror story.

Put all these elliptical comments together and you should get the message. The Best Horror of the Year: Volume 3 is a superb anthology, demonstrating just how well Ellen Datlow judges stories and picks winners.

(1) First appeared in Black Wings: Tales of Lovecraftian Horror

(2) First appeared in Occultation

Andrea Bonazzi creates AGAIN! !!

2011-09-12T05:14:00.000-04:00

My dear friend and visionary of images eldritch and ill, Andrea Bonnazzi, was out again... Stepped out of his time machine [an old rusty bike he lovingly calls, Sequence] w/ his camera and snapped this shot of a certain power trio in 1921... It appears they were deciding if mankind would continue breathing and dabbling with cascades of f~e;;l;t~~............ . & as the photo quite clearly shows, they finally agreed on Howard's special plan for the world. AKLONOMICON co-editor and publisher, Ivan McCann, always the man in the middle of V.I.L.E. things, was vEry pleased [they say he only likes killing off things on WED, and this was taken on a FRI]... The bEast, well, he would have pushed the OFF button and ended the conspiracy of the human race -- if Howard had let him... [perhaps next time~ ~~]

"The Cosmicomicon" opens the doors to The Orphan Palace

2011-09-06T10:06:00.000-04:00

Ted Grau has posted a very wonderful feature on my upcoming novel, The Orphan Palace, on his blog. I hope you'll pop over and see what madness Pulver and Chomu Press are about to release on OCT 19th.

The Orphan Palace has been praised by some of weird fiction's finest writers - Gary McMahon, Simon Strantzas, and Robin Spriggs . . . And none other than, Michael Cisco, wrote the foreward to TOP.

http://cosmicomicon.blogspot.com/2011/09/coming-in-october-ophan-palace-by.html

Laird Barron edits new 1/4ly journal! !!

2011-09-02T14:39:00.001-04:00

Laird Barron has chosen!!! We promised an author announcement here at "Phantasmagorium", and we always deliver. The first issue of "Phantasmagorium" will contain works by:

1. Stephen Graham Jones author of "Demon Theory" (www.demontheory.net)
2. Scott Nicolay author of "Ana Kai Tangata" (www.aklopress.org)
3. Joe Pulver author of "Blood Will Have Its Season" (www.thisyellowmadness.blogspot.com)
...4. Simon Strantzas author of "Beneath the Surface" (www.strantzas.com)
5. Anna Tambour author of "Spotted Lily" (www.annatambour.net)
6. Genevieve Valentine author of "The Nearest Thing" (www.genevievevalentine.com)

Look for it soon!!!

http://www.phantasmagorium.co/

in the poetry corner............... (somewhere bettween Ligotti and Beckett).

2011-09-01T09:01:00.003-04:00

just a little more pain

Right
hand in a landscape
without a girl
or a flower.
No echo of truth haunts the illusion.
So why does the naïve consciousness travel for answer?

Think on it…

The wings . . . The facts and values and the last gasp . . . The scrapes in ink . . .
No biography
or tidal wave of Blake and Shelly in your cigarette . . .
No sentence that holds the lifetime of Atlantis . . .

Answers?

Did you try using the chisel?

No skeleton in the dark place . . .
No kiss.

After all the weeds & sweat & tears—

An empty right
hand in a landscape
without a girl

…or a flower

(Anat Fort “Not the Perfect Storm”)

(C) Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. 2011

Robin Spriggs on TOP......................... .!

2011-08-26T18:41:00.001-04:00

One of weird fiction's VERY BEST -- the ultimate diabolist! !!, Robin Spriggs, has the following to say about TOP --

"Mad, malevolent, and incantatory, The Orphan Palace reads like the hagridden fever dream of one who has not only stared the Abyss in Its black and fathomless face, but welcomed Its gaze in return . . . and become Its living embodiment. It is a journey to be taken by none but the bravest of readers, and by souls with an ardent desire to savor their own damnation." --Robin Spriggs, author of Diary of a Gentleman Diabolist

You can find Robin here:

http://www.houseofnine.com/

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

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_tc_2_0?rh=i%3Astripbooks%2Ck%3ARobin+Spriggs&keywords=Robin+Spriggs&ie=UTF8&qid=1314398414&sr=1-2-ent&field-contributor_id=B001KCA8PY

Andrea Bonazzi creates "Robert W. Chambers creates Pulver"! !!

2011-08-25T17:22:00.000-04:00

Our beloved Mad GENIUSSsssssssssssssssssss, Andrea Bonazzi, made this! !! Over the moon AM I! ~~!! Many know & LOVE(!!!!!!!!!!!!~!) his Lovecraftian montages, to be in one is a rare joy!! ~!

ThanksSSSS.S.SSS.S..S;Ss, Andrea! !!

THE ORPHAN PALACE (Book Trailer)

2011-08-24T15:59:00.000-04:00

Pearce Hansen on SIN & ashes

2011-08-23T16:51:00.000-04:00

"SIN & ASHES is a scathing collection. Jarring and unsettling from the git go, Joe refuses to allow the comfort of standard story structure to interfere with his assault on the reader."

"I'm in love with this man's work. This is not for you if you prefer bland, `normal' horror writing - but IMHO he is one of the most important voices in the genre today (if you can even impose the term `genre' on a style so personal and sincere). "

How does one say anything after a praise like that? Amazing talents like Tom Ligotti, Laird Barron, Ellen Datlow, Paul Tremblay, Simon Strantzas, [and a dozen others! !!] have praised my work, and I was over the moon --still am!! !-- but this is no less humbling.
Pearce is one of hardboiled’s BEST! His novel, STREET RAISED, is a monster! Dynamic, authentic [and HONEST], vivid to a degree where the words fly off the page like bullets and tears, his novel is an “astonishing” showcase of his awe-inducing talent as a writer. The last time a hardboiled debut impressed me this much was Will Beal’s L. A. Rex. That another giant would gift me with this kind of praise, well, it leaves me without words. So I’ll just say, thank you.

Doubt I’ll ever get used to praise and I sure as hell do not want to, but I will confess, it makes all those hours (and the fears) worth it!

His full review of SIN is here:

http://www.amazon.com/review/R1QLY6O4C1G8BR/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_asr_u0-JC.1EQKY5N

Pearce Hansen on SIN & ashes

2011-08-23T16:35:00.000-04:00

"SIN & ASHES is a scathing collection. Jarring and unsettling from the git go, Joe refuses to allow the comfort of standard story structure to interfere with his assault on the reader."

"I'm in love with this man's work. This is not for you if you prefer bland, `normal' horror writing - but IMHO he is one of the most important voices in the genre today (if you can even impose the term `genre' on a style so personal and sincere). "

How does one say anything after a praise like that? Amazing talents like Tom Ligotti, Laird Barron, Ellen Datlow, Paul Tremblay, Simon Strantzas, [and a dozen others! !!] have praised my work, and I was over the moon --still am!! !-- but this is no less humbling.

Pearce is one of hardboiled’s BEST! His novel, STREET RAISED, is a monster! Dynamic, authentic [and HONEST], vivid to a degree where the words fly off the page like bullets and tears, his novel is an “astonishing” showcase of his awe-inducing talent as a writer. The last time a hardboiled debut impressed me this much was Will Beal’s L. A. Rex. That another giant would gift me with this kind of praise, well, it leaves me without words. So I’ll just say, thank you.

Doubt I’ll ever get used to praise and I sure as hell do not want to, but I will confess, it makes all those hours (and the fears) worth it!

His full review of SIN is here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1QLY6O4C1G8BR/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_asr_u0-JC.1EQKY5N

" You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them." ~ Ray Bradbury.

2011-08-22T17:38:00.001-04:00

Today is Ray's birthday! He is and will remain one of our most gifted writers!! And I was so thrilled for him -- 91! !! Hot damn! I hope he's good for 90 more! !! . . . Then Liz Hand (another writer w/ gifts as important as air! !!) posted this and bye-bye happy . . .

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/22/are-books-dead-ewan-morrison

Are book dying? Will they die? Will writers? ??

You are the reader. Make that THE READER! We sit and write, we dream of sharing w/ YOU! !! I hope you need and want us, I know we NEED YOU! !! How do you keep us breathing, singing? Simple. SHOUT IT OUT LOUD! RAGE HARD! !! Tell Ma, tell Pa, and your friends. Write reviews, LIKE books you love, share the links. You have the power to click and send a message . . .

"If" [shuttters] books are dying, you are the heart of the revolution. Your comments count! People and venues like Amazion take notice. And when they do a writer you like, or love, sells another book, and maybe gets to write another book . . . And we need books.

WHY?

Because if we do not have books we do not have writers--magicians!, and what would happen if we never had Ray? ???? ????? ??????? ??? ? ???? ??? ? Or a hundred others you can name off the top or your head . . . Think about no Ray, or no Hesse, or no Fowles. No Ellison or Leiber or Zelzny. No Harper Lee. No Brackett. No Mary Shelly [Just kill me now!] . . . Insert a name you LOVE -- how do you feel?

Books are not luxuries, they are the messengers of FELT and dreams and YOU & I need to dream. W/out our dreams this world is The Abyss.

Please, go LIKE a book, like a writer. SHARE! !! SHOUT IT OUT LOUD!

We are you. We hope we speak for you and to you, and we hope we gift you w/ dreams.

You are the READER! You are the REVOLUTION! BURN! Go out and raise the torch of BOOKS! !!

TOP stuff [Pt. 78.2]

2011-08-18T08:32:00.000-04:00

T- 60 days and The Orphan Palace arrives........................

We now have a cover............. . . which I've been posting all over the net :) And Chomu Press have updated the TOP page on their site.

http://chomupress.com/our-books/the-orphan-palace/

Amazon has added a TOP page as well . . . You can't pre-order it yet, but soon! !! And it is even listed on Amazon JAPAN -- NEAT! !! Now we just need an Amazon CHINA? ??

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1907681116/chomu-20/ref=nosim

She Never Slept will be doing a review of TOP very soon. I'll post the link when it goes up! !! Don't forget there's a contest/giveaway going on at SNS. They have 3 copies of TOP to giveaway. Pop over and see how to win one.

http://sheneverslept.com/newsandreviews/archives/6764

And Ted E. Grau over at "The Cosmicomicon" will be doing a little TOP feature very soon . . .

http://cosmicomicon.blogspot.com/

And a little nightgaunt tells me that one of the best writers of WEIRD fiction, Simon Strantzas, will be stopping by here soon w/ a guest blog, and he just might mention TOP. You are reading Simon, right? If you're not, you sure NEED to be! !!

http://www.strantzas.com/

the cold bleak facts

2011-08-16T19:07:00.000-04:00

...just the cold bleak facts . . . for those who dare look into the abyssssssssssssssssssSsssssssssssssssss...
http://chomupress.com/our-books/the-orphan-palace/

We have books to give you.........................

2011-08-15T18:56:00.001-04:00

At She Never Slept we're giving away 3 copies of my new novel, The Orphan Palace [and maybe(! !!) some Xtras]... Go see how to win one and what the Xtras are! !! And GOOD LUCK! ~!!

Here's the contest link:

http://sheneverslept.com/newsandreviews/archives/6764

A new interview! !!

2011-08-15T15:47:00.000-04:00

Giesterspigel.de has a new interview w/ me -- IN GERMAN! !!

I'd say YAYyyyyyyyyyy! !! & YIPPIE*! ~~!, but not sure how to spell them in German :)

http://www.geisterspiegel.de/index.html?background/interviews/interview_mit_joseph_s_pulver_sr.html~mainFrame

Simon [Strantzas] says

2011-08-14T15:45:00.001-04:00

The Orphan Palace kicks you in the face and doesn't stop. Pulver's prose sees the world through a cracked lense of 60's hedonism and 70's grit, with a side order of unshakable terror. A serial killer novel that explores the dark side of America via Kerouac in a shell of cosmic horror. What he does is electrifying. I've never seen anything like it. My hair is still standing on end.

--Simon Strantzas, author of Nightingale Songs

http://chomupress.com/our-books/the-orphan-palace/

She Never Slept reviews "Strange Aeons" magazine! !!

2011-08-14T03:23:00.002-04:00

http://sheneverslept.com/newsandreviews/archives/6730

"STRANGE AEONS" is a rare delight! !! I'm proud and humbled to be part of it, as a contributor. as a reader I'm simply thrilled! ~!! She Never Slept, the wonderful review site for HORROR and LOVECRAFTIAN wonders, be they books or film or joyous trinkets, has reviewed all the issues and it is, as it should be[! !!], a RAVE! !!

Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire on TOP! !!

2011-08-12T18:34:00.000-04:00

This just in, one of WEIRD fiction's best writers has read TOP and had this to say --

"Joe Pulver's poetic prose is hypnotic and intoxicating, so beautiful
and strange that it transports the reader. Yet it does the work of
creating fascinating characters and telling story. Story-telling is an
art, and none are more accomplished than Pulver. Weird fiction's primal
duty is to fuck [alternative word: debauch] your brain and kiss your
sense of wonder. This book has done that for me, as few horror novels
have. Absolutely brilliant."
--Wilum Pugmire

cover art for THE ORPHAN PALACE

2011-08-12T18:31:00.000-04:00

Peter Diamond did the wonderful wrap around art for my new novel

You can find Peter here:

http://www.peterdiamond.ca/

TOP news at CHOMU PRESS is here! !!

http://chomupress.com/our-books/the-orphan-palace/

This is NOT yer Daddy's HPL to REH letter ......... NOPE! !!

2011-07-28T15:14:00.002-04:00

Once upon a time I sent Gary McMahon my new novel to see if he, should he like it, might give me a blurb...................... Here's his email back~ ~~

Hey, Joe.

I read aout 2 thirds of your novel in the hospital yesterday, while I was waiting for test results. I can't think of a more perfect time to have experienced this: a time that was raw, gut-punhcingly scary, and tettering on the edge of absurdity. Just like the novel. :-)

Anyway, I'm loving it. No: I'm fucking loving it. Amazing stuff.

Here's a blurb before I even finish:

"The Orphan Palace is not a story. With this novel, Joe Pulver wants to press your face right up against the horror, the crime, the sheer madness and absurdity of the cosmos, and rub your nose in it. He wants you to eat it like a dog eats its own vomit; he wants your face to be covered in black-shining stars and rainbow-filth when you're done; he demands that you be changed by what you have consumed. This is not a novel. It is a unique literary experience."

I hope that's okay, my friend...

Gary.

Matt Cardin on Pulver, SIN & ashes, TOP...

2011-07-25T18:49:00.000-04:00

"Joe Pulver is like the answer to some arcane riddle: What do you get when you cross one of Plato's Muse-maddened poets with a Lovecraftian lunatic, and then give their offspring to be raised by Raymond Chandler and a band of Beats? His work caters to a literary hunger you didn't even know you had, and does it darkly and deliciously." -- Matt Cardin, author of Dark Awakenings

Some days the inbox has something wonderful [and very humbling] in it.

Thank you, Matt! !!

SIN & ashes [Hippocampus Press]

http://www.hippocampuspress.com/mythos-and-other-authors/fiction/sin-ashes-by-joseph-s.-pulver-sr.

The Orphan Palace [Chomu Press]

http://chomupress.com/our-books/the-orphan-palace/

KIZUNA: Fiction for Japan comes this week!

2011-07-25T04:20:00.002-04:00

http://tsunamianthologyinfo.tumblr.com/

Kizuna: Fiction for Japan, a charity book for Japan relief will be out this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !

Every penny of this goes to aid for our friends in Japan!! ! EVERY penny! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

70 contributors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Moorcock! John Shirley! !!

From Tokyo : Katherine Govier
Downtown Pharmacy : Ken Asamatsu
E-mail to Mother : Lee Pletzers
Small Ocean After Solar : Joseph S. Pulver, Sr.
A Cure for the World : S.A. Gambino
100 Fingers and the Tree : Michael Allen Rose
Ploughman : Nickolas Furr
Orpheus in the Underwear : Garrett Cook
Pocket : Touya Tachihara
The Norwegian Makes Lemonade : Jess Gulbranson
Breakwater : Alvin Pang
HO(locaust) Scale : Robert M. Price
Inconceivable : Kevin Lovelace
Memories of Ken : Junichi Ashikawa
Whispers : Adam Joffrain
Jackie Ω Has Gone Too Far : Moxie Mezcal
Throat Wad : Andersen Prunty
The Push of Man : L. Christopher Bird
The Old Man and Honey : Minoru Inaba
Sharan Gali : Richard Wright
Island Swarm : Kirk Marshall
Kopy Cats : Davide Mana
Why Wear Red? : Sho Tomono
Thrones & Powers : Jon Courtenay Grimwood
Yara-ma-yha-who : Christene Britton-Jones
Bille_Goat_Gruff_2056 : Philip Overby
Cherry Guard : Yuusuke Tokita
Eternal Case of the Mondays : David Agranoff
The Game : Bradley Sands
Initiation : Naohiko Kitahara
The Ice-Flock Storks of Sørøya : Michael John Grist
Nothingness Dust : Trent Zelazny
Five short Twitter novels : Riri Shimada
Conservation Hero Blues : Made in DNA
Dissolution : Glynn Barrass
Dead and Breakfast : Fulvio Gatti
Plum Blossom : Melissa J White
The Flower : Fumihiko Iino
A Tale of Smoke and Ash : Curt Seubert
Back Beyond The Hedgerow : Elizabeth Black
Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Giant Rat of Sumatra : John F. Rice
A Summer’s Melody : Hiroshi Yamamoto
Humanitas Ex : Volker Baetz
Tarma’s Song : Andrew Freudenberg
The Power of Perspective : Terrie Czechowski
Legends : Lucía González Lavado
If Only Flowers : Mie Takase
Dial Tone : Stephen A. North
The Starlet and the Fishman : Ran Cartwright
Recollections : Ukyo Kodachi
The Loft in the Sky : Danilo Arona
Last Embrace : David Naughton-Shires
The Girl with Eyes in the Back of Her Head : John Shirley
Heart of an Angel : Jonathan Moon
The Music Box : Tadashi Ota
Not Alone in the Dark : Richard Salter
Natsumi’s Diary : Midori Tateyama
Sweet Hearts : Grant Wamack
Appointment at the Oji Inari Shrine : Massimo Soumaré
The Story without a Key : Yufuko Senoh
The Feast of the Fly : Berry Sizemore
A Second Metamorphosis : Ash Lomen
Homecoming : Adam Breckenridge
Mom, Dad and Hiro : Yasumi Kobayashi
The Bubbling Road of Self-Loathing : Jason Wuchenich
That Day… : Ryuto Hijiri
The Dream-colored Morning : Vittorio Catani
The End of the Royal Palace and the Kingdom : Joji Hayashi
The X-ray : Kevin David Anderson
The Mermaid Princess’ Love, Curse and… : Tamao Kanroji
Walking the Hog : Michael Moorcock
That Long Day : Shinya Gaku

The foreword to The Orphan Palace

2011-07-24T16:13:00.000-04:00

I’ve received Michael Cisco’s foreword to The Orphan Palace. To say I’m delighted and pleased is an understatement! !!

The Orphan Palace [CHOMU PRESS] arrives in OCT 2011.

http://chomupress.com/our-books/the-orphan-palace/

We should be hearing an update about this soon

2011-07-22T05:20:00.000-04:00

Spawn of the Green Abyss, the anthology of S. T. Joshi's "favorite" Cthulhu Mythos tales:

"The House of the Worm," by Mearle Prout
"Far Below," by Robert Barbour Johnson
"Spawn of the Green Abyss," by C. Hall Thompson
"The Deep Ones," by James Wade
"The Franklyn Papers," by Ramsey Campbell
"Where Yidhra Walks," by Walter C, DeBill, Jr.
"Black Man with a Horn," by T. E. D. Klein
"Nethescurial," by Thomas Ligotti
"Black Brat of Dunwich," by Stanley C. Sargent
"The Phantom of Beguilement," by W. H. Pugmire
"...Hungry...Rats," by Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. (original to this edition)
"Virgin's Island," by Donald Tyson (original to this edition)
"In the Shadow of Swords," by Cody Goodfellow (original to this edition)

Some days this is exactly what you NEED to hear! !!

2011-07-21T16:36:00.000-04:00

Allyson Bird [on Facebook] posted this today.

"Savouring it. Slowly working my way through Joe Pulver's Sin and Ashes....poetic, mesmerising, dramatic, stream of consciousness writing that I appreciate. Vivid imagery steam driving itself through my mind."

Gots'ta give that lady a bEastly hug! !!

Thanks, Ally! Yer da BEST! !!
You can find Ally here! !! YOU ARE READING HER, R I G H T ! !!

http://www.birdsnest.me.uk/

LAIRD BARRON wins 2 Jackson awards! !!

2011-07-17T14:55:00.000-04:00

I said many times Laird's OCCULTATION was head and shoulders the finest collection released last year and now the jury for the Shirley Jackson Awards has spoken and they agree. Laird also recieved the SJA for NOVELLA with his tour de force, "Mysterium Tremendum". Both of these awards are well deserved!! !

Last year was a great gift to horror readers, so I'd like to say CONGRATS to all the SJA winners and the fabulous nominees too! !!

http://www.shirleyjacksonawards.org/sja_2010_winners.php

"Lena... cries" and some odds & ends...

2011-07-16T18:36:00.002-04:00

"Lena… cries" 5,102 [yellow] words in the done file~ ~~ this King in Yellow tale [loaded w/ hybrid poetics and more than a few in-jokes] was inspired by Lena Griffin and her beguiling cello performances on her CD Extended Gestures For Cello [Hypnos] . . . I’m preparing my new Hippocampus collection, Portraits of Ruin, and this one IS going in it. I’ll be putting up the “ToC” fairly soon . . .
You can find samples of [and buy] Lena's CD here

http://hypnos.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=HOS&Product_Code=hss08&Category_Code=hss

News from S.T. Joshi's blog: Black Wings I: New Tales of Lovecraftian Horror (reprint: Titan Books, March/April 2012) . . . My tale "Engravings" is in this widely-acclaimed anthology.

http://stjoshi.org/

We’ve found a cover artist for my novel The Orphan Palace [SEPT 2011 Chomu Press] so there’ll be a cover to show you soon . . .

“It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how valuable it is, nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you.” --Martha Graham.

I should tape that to the wall over my desk . . .

I reviewed the wonderful short film THE CURSE OF YIG by Paul von Stoetzel for SNS.
http://sheneverslept.com/newsandreviews/archives/5919

Author's Notes for SIN & ashes

2011-07-15T11:49:00.000-04:00

Author’s Notes for SIN & ashes

[[[Remember, Pulver, you don’t like spoilers, so watch what you say here! !!]]]

Sit at desk – hope to hell WORDS show up………….. Tea ~ got to. Smokes ~rough & ready. Was there any doubt? ?? Thinkin’ cap on ~duh? I’ll try… Muse says, “Try hell, Worm.” [flashes whip! !!]

Book’s called SIN & ashes. Knew that before my first collection came out. 1^st time the title flashed across mindspace I thought it would be a tale . . . but then I thought Blood Will Have Its Season is long, so go short w/ the next title. Did.

“Laird Barron’s FOREWORD”
S.T. asked about the foreword.
bEast: “Well, in you win the grand prize-land I’d have one by Laird.”
S.T.: “Why don’t you ask him?”
bEast: “I’d hate to bother him. Man’s a giant. You don’t bother the masters.”
But I did. And he did. [insert BIG YAYyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyY! !!] And I sailed over the moon! !! I mean c’mon folks, it’s LAIRD BARRON! !!
{When he emailed it to me I read it about 10 times in a row! You would have too! !!!!!!!!!! !}

“Love Her Madly”
Rock ‘n Roll heaven, nope & NO! !! Ain’t! More like Hell – extra damnation. Janis and Phil Ochs soaked in pain and tears, that, sure as shootin’, ain’t heaven . . . So Morrison would be there . . . BAM, that’s the tale. Jim comes back from the dead. I had one note for this tale – Morrison comes back from the dead. LA noir. WHY? ??
For all of 5 minutes this was going to be a novel J

“She’s Waiting”
Just wanted to do FANGSsssssssssssssssssssssss! Sharp ones. Muse asked, “What REALLY hurts?” Typed . . .

“First There Is A Mountain…Then”
My note said there’s a man sitting on the edge of a bed in a cheap motel room. He’s been drinking . . . I hear Dave Alvin singin’ ‘bout they come and they go. And that was that. Just added some BLOOD.
[This one came out fast.]

“In The Desert Even the Air Burns”
Simple. I love the desert! !! It’s clean and the facts of life are stated right upfront. You see bleached bones you know what yer getting . . . I was listening to Dylan, thinking about the West [where the sun sets] and my friend Alanna [Mistress of the Yellow Chamber] and missing people [and places] . . . This is another one of my sitting alone at night just letting my mind drift texts . . . I never know where they are going . . . I leave that to the Muse.
[As a rule I’m never happy w/ my stuff. I kinda of like this one.]
[Imagine you have to wait 54 pages for Pulver to drop a King In Yellow tale on you . . . Yeah, weird things DO happen……….]

“Even Night”
A poem I wrote back when I was working on the 1^st draft of Nightmare’s Disciple.

“Crow In Trick Town”
Another old thing I penned back when I was working on ND. Came to me as I listened to Jack Bruce. I’ve always wanted to look at Crow again . . . What else has he been up to?

“When the Deal Goes Down”
Everything is vampires and zombies these days, so I try to play w/ them from time to time. But I’m not a big fan so mine come out a little different . . . Puttered w/ the idea of a whole series of tExts w/ this character roamin’ ‘round FIXING things J

“Devil’s Got the Walkin’ Blues”
Desert. Serial killer. Starting to be a theme in this collection… Cellars scare me, so a song on my playlist kicked this one into gear . . .

“Dead ’Round Here Tonight”
I don’t care for zombies – maybe once in a blue moon in b-movies. When I want Mindless Ones I turn to Dr. Strange. I love ghouls. Wanted one to like FRESH meat. Thought about shopping in a meat market…

“The Delirium of a Worm-Wizard”
Another 10 year old tExt. The darkangel, Michael Cisco used to come to Bob Price’s Kalem Klubs and always blew my mind w/ his FANTASTIC readings. I really wanted to up my game and try my hand at “Language” in this . . . I wrote part of this on the roadside [of the NYS Thruway] coming home from Bob’s after a KK… I read it at a KK and Cisco praised it. I was vEry happy!! !

“As the Sun Still Burns Away”
I read a screenplay by the director of the BRILLIANT[! !!] AM1200, David Prior, got me thinking . . . Another desert, another female lead, some whisper of la Llarona, dead babies . . . Cody Goodfellow says, “While everybody else in horror is still aping the shallow visual palette of cinema, Joe Pulver calls down a storm of psychotronic nightmares charged with the evocative depth and relentless pulse of the Devil's music. This isn't a book that wants to be a movie. This is a drug disguised as a book. ”, well, this is one of the few times I tried to think film…
Yes, for 10 minutes I thought this could be a film J

“Caligari, Again”
I never tire of Cal! !! Never will”. There were to be 3 pre-Holstenwall texts, this is #2 . . . #3 is in some file somewhere J

“Long-Stemmed Ghost Words”
Yes, again one for Alanna. Dylan got me thinking . . . Tats on pale skin, cloth and shears, Carcosa, just had to wander that way! Might have been voodoo or witchcraft, or just the sound of her voice . . .

“When the Moon Comes to Call”
My friend Stan [Sargent] and I were on the phone talking about music - as we often do. After our conversation I put on a Miles cd that lead to Sha and thoughts of simmering jazz in a club.

“After Reading Michaux’s “In the Land of Magic”
Something I penned for Cisco… Man’s a genius! !!

“The Walking Man Walks”
After a nap where I dreamed Tom [Ligotti] and me sat in a park. We talked about serial killers . . . I rarely remember my dreams [wish I did!], but we talked about Man On Fire and Jim Thompson and frolics, so I tried to get part of it on paper.

“Silent No Longer”
Another old thing from my ND days. Bob asked me to be the music reviewer for “Crypt of Cthulhu” and I had half a thought of starting a column w/ this tale . . . Didn’t.

“The Maiden of the Pines”
Yep. This be an old one. I don’t really recall it [common for me – I write ‘em and move on. Often people mention a title to me and I have no idea what the thing was about w/out getting filled in.]. Was in a file and S.T. liked it so we put it in.

“Last Year in Carcosa”
Started w/ watching Last year In Mareinbad [love it! !!]. I had an image of a gun under a linen napkin and just typed from there. Only thing I knew going in was the beach was Carcosa and I wanted to play w/ The Dynasty in Carcosa as part of play.

“Scarlet Obeisance”
Bob [Price] said he wanted to do The Tindalos Cycle. I penned this for it. Everyone loves Cthulhu, I sure don’t. When it comes to Mythos beasties I love Chaugner Faugn, so I tried to say I love you to Robert Bloch again! !!

“Rendezvous Under Shadow Bridge”
I was toying w/ thoughts about a tale w/ a night watchmen in it. Thought I might make it all daily “reports”. One night I was putting away some books, Last Exit to Brooklyn, and a couple of Ligotti tomes, and began to wander what Bohren & Der Club of Gore covering Bill Evans might be like – [I do that kind of thing a lot]. This is what popped out.
Good or bad, it’s one of my “one take” numbers.

“in front of an empty house in dead city”
Sometimes I just putter, think Sonny Rollins up on the bridge, play and see what comes out. This is one. Let’s call it woodsheding.

“Ain’t No Love on the Street”
Written around the same time as “ifoaehidc”. More woodsheding. Yes, I do that a lot!

“Perfect Grace”
Grace Jones. I had just seen her new video for “Corporate Cannibals” and was blown away. This is what popped out after viewing it.

“Kynothrabian Dirge”

“The Exorcism of Iagsat”
X-mas morning a fax from Bob listing 11 “titles” from the SUB-Mythos [as discovered by Will Murray]. He wanted me to come up w/ spells and litanies to go w/ the titles. I thought you get to play Dr. Strange for the Mythos – ran w/ it! !! They were fun to write! These were in Bob’s THE BOOK OF EIBON [Chaosium][They were also translated into Japanese]

“Lonesome Separate Ways”
A Steve Earle tune came on I started typing . . . And just kept wandering.

“Just Another Desert Night with Blood”

I’ve never been in the desert but I dream about it. Cactus, sand, more sand, quietude. It comes in different colors, it has a different language. It’s like an itch. One day I’ll discover its contours until then I’ll just keep walking in the sand.

“After Death”

Can’t say I remember much of this. Had a few scraps of poetry. Started typing, just to see where it would go.

“I Often Dream of Words”

Watching some Eno videos on YouTube, skipping around. Fragments started talking to me. Watch for a few minutes. Made a few poetic notes, then typed as fast as I could.

“Forever Changes”

I haven’t looked at this since I wrote it. When I write I enter what I call The Zone. It’s the bedroom of a 16 year old kid that just got a new guitar. I’m that kid, often it’s just me sitting there riffing, going where the notes, words, wanna go. There’ll be some piece of music playing, in this case it was Love Forever Changes and I just wanted to see what forever changes meant. A different day in The Zone it would have meant something completely different.

“In the White Walls of Silence”

I originally wrote one Caligari piece, a prequel to the film, and thought I’d keep going. Caligari is one of my oldest and most favorite Horror inspirations. Wanted to write five or six Caligari texts. If I remember correctly, this was the third. It’s dedicated to Robert Bloch and also inspired by Bloch. Whenever I deal with murder I take Bloch’s heart out of the little jar I keep it in and put it in my chest. And I let it sing to me. Pretty sure, one day I’ll return to Caligari . . . Perhaps many times. Bloch will be there w/ me! !!

“Mother Stands for Comfort”
Sat with a paper and a pen and watched the Q6 film Din of Celestial Birds. Just put words on paper. Didn’t think about it. Didn’t correct it. Ran a spellchecker through it. Done. Not the first time this has happened. I’m betting it won’t be the last.

“Blow Wind Blow”

I love names. Places, people, names want to tell me stories. Ionesco. That name wanted to tell me stories. Thought I might use this character in a whole series of texts. I don’t ever want to talk about him. He just walks. Sees a problem, fixes it. For this one I wanted him to meet people that had been changed by darkness and I wanted to see how he would fix them.

“8’s & Aces”

Plank and the Belldog. Wanted to use them as characters for a long, long time. To me they’ve always been gravediggers. Wondered what happens to gravediggers that are dead. Thought, ah, they turn into ghouls, can’t steal from the grave, at least you can have dinner. Then I wondered what happens when the meal hasn’t laid down and died, yet.

“A One-Way Fare”

Derrick Hussey is my publisher and a friend. Spent many a happy hour on the streets of New York, walking around with him. Mostly we’d go to bookstores and record stores. Came home from NYC one night with a few CDs I had bought in the city. Looking at song titles words started popping into my head. Didn’t have a story in mind, just a bunch of words from song titles. I wrote them down on a piece of paper. They were in no real order. Decided it was a map, but it looked like a puzzle, so I typed until I connected the dots.

“Don’t Look Back”
John Lee Hooker. Sonny Rollins. “Maggie May”. All in my head at the same time. What does it mean? Only way for me to tell is type. I did. This is another one of those I typed it, I ran a spellchecker through it. Then it goes in the “done” pile.

“Long is the way and hard . . .”

Hubert Selby, Jr. big influence. Huge. Dog eat dog world, you bet your ass. But when I thought about it, came out “Cain eats Cain”. Little Mott the Hoople and a couple of lines of poetry . . . Don’t know what else to say about this one. Parts of it I loved. Parts of it I wasn’t sure of. But when I kept going back and looking at it, it seemed done . . . I often write these things pretty quick, then spend half an eternity deciding what they look like on the page. As I don’t “see” a lot of my work as stories, but texts or poetry of some stripe, it’s critical to me how they look on the page. This is one of those that came real quick and then I spent days with the layout.

“huddled in rags in a Kingsport alley . . .”

I have a friend in London. Julia. Lovely lady! !! She reads poetry. I think of her as a siren. She has a gentle, alluring voice I could listen to for hours, yet she reads some of the darkest literature that has been written. I often wonder what dreams haunt that gentle voice. I wanted to write something poetic and dark just for her. This piece began with a line of poetry I had written, but had not used ‘Little but the noise of the moon survives’. I could hear her whisper that . . . I typed, searching for darkness . . .

“Dead Ends and Empties”

I almost never outline. A line of poetry occurs to me or the tone of a piece of music sets me off and from there I type, drift, just to see where the words go. This one was just that. Me typing, to see where the words wanted to go.

“Sharp Fangs + Blood = Murder”

I was thinking of my best friend Bob Price and his collection of short stories. I couldn’t get the word blasphemies out of my head. Every time I heard the word or thought it, I thought it came out as a howl. I could see the face, sharp fangs, spittle, that equaled blood to me. Robert Bloch taught me blood equals murder. So that was it. Sharp Fangs + Blood = Murder. No plot in mind, just typed. After about a page or two I thought this one needed a soundtrack. As I recall I spent a couple of hours looking for the right song. Found it. U2. Then I typed like hell.

“Saint Nicholas Hall”

Nearly 20 years ago I used to go to Bob’s house for KaLeM Klubs. Cisco was one of the writers who was often there. He’d come in with his new tales and read. I’d sit in awe. Years ago I was going to do a King in Yellow anthology. Sadly that didn’t happen, and for that book I had asked Cisco to write a King in Yellow tale. He did. Wrote one I think is brilliant, worthy of the canon. I’ve always wanted to write one back, a thank you. There’s no way I can ever walk in the field Cisco walks. No one can. This is merely my humble tribute to one of the very best writers of Weird Fiction we have ever had.

“Funeral in a Hate Field”
When I was a teenager, I loved Sword & Sorcery. Conan. Kane. Elric. Lieber! !! Loved Sword & Sorcery!! ! Since I’ve begun writing I often think about writing a Sword & Sorcery tale. Thinking about Lin Carter one night I began I paragraph, thinking this would be my Sword & Sorcery tale. Didn’t have a plot, thought like Conan I’d just see where my wandering took me. This one is very short, but it’s where the darkness took me. This isn’t what I had envisioned as a S & S tale, but it’s one of the few things I’ve written that I am actually happy with. One of these days I might write a “real” S & S TALE until then, this how I see S & S.

“An Orange Tick-Tick-Tick-Tick-Tick”
Rules? I guess they’re good things, but not in literature. Literature is about passion. It’s about getting sweat and blood on the page. Anyone with half a brain isn’t going to write a prequel to Caligari, or a sequel to A Clockwork Orange . . . Brain? I don’t think so. Rules? No.

So, I’m watching A Clockwork Orange and again it occurs to me how much I love the words, the language. As someone who is always searching for words, I thought what a great field to play in. When I was 13 or 14 I read A Clockwork Orange. I loved it. I didn’t know there was a glossary in the back of the damn book. But when I got to the end and found it I thought it was amazing. Sitting there, watching that film, I remember reading the book and wishing the glossary was in front of it. And as I sat there, the muse said you have to, have to, use some of these words. Yep, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. Just wanted to say, in my fashion, THANKS, AB! !!

“Engravings”

S.T. asked me to contribute to a book called Black Wings. I was half in a panic thinking about it. I was a needle stuck in a groove. What the hell can I write for that? He wanted Lovecraftian, but he didn’t want tentacles. And he didn’t want those names. All I kept thinking about was Nyarlathotep. He’s a trickster. So I wanted to start in one place and move to another. Rain’s a place. The desert’s another place. To get from A to B you either walk or drive. I decided to drive. Somewhere in the middle of the first page I asked myself the question, why. Then I typed until I found the answer.

“The Last Few Nights in a Life of Frost”

I love Jack O’Connell. Love! He walks on water! !! After reading one of his short pieces online I couldn’t get parts of it out of my head. I tried and I tried and I tried, but like one of those songs that won’t go away it stayed there. The only way to get rid of it, was to make a story out of it. There’s two versions of this story. The first one I named the character ST, not S.T., and when he read it he said I have some place I want to use it, so he thinking people would think ST was S.T. he asked me to change it. So ST became LT and he used it. As I’ve said, I don’t normally like my stuff. This one I do.

“Epilogue for Two Voices”
No one can or should pen the KIY play. So here’s my thoughts on a KIY “PLAY”. ‘nuff said!

“To Live and Die in Arkham”
Most of the time I think I’m done with HPL and the mythos, then half of some idea hits me and say, no. But usually it won’t stop talking to me and I have to type it to get rid of it. For this one, I wondered what Arkham looked like if you were from the wrong side of town, if you were Selby or Bukowski . . . So I walked away from the finely manicured lawns of Miskatonic University just to see what life on the bottom looked like and to see what it thought of those who lived privileged lives.

“The Last Twenty Miles of Wandering Again”
So I’m playing David Crosby’s “Cowboy Movie” and some Dylan tunes and I have a few images that I’d come upon in a nap that afternoon. I’d already used Morrison as a character so I thought, what about Dylan? And if we were pards where might we roam? Carcosa, naturally. Why? Who the hell knows. But I spent a few hours having fun, finding out.

So, I guess that’s the “uncorrected” look at SIN & ashes. I wonder if S.T., somewhere down the road, is going to want to annotate SIN? If he does, maybe this will help J

yer bEastie JUNE 2011

I'm in . . .

2011-07-14T21:36:00.000-04:00

Multi-award winning editor, ELLEN DATLOW called SIN & ashes "a deliciously varied and ambitious collection." and included a text from it in her widely-acclaimed THE BEST HORROR of the YEAR 3.

I'm in THE BOOK OF CTHULHU

2011-07-14T21:31:00.000-04:00

Ross E. Lockhart bought a tale from SIN & ashes for his upcoming THE BOOK OF CTHULHU [SEPT Night Shade Books]

TPB & Ebook of ND out now

2011-07-14T21:25:00.000-04:00

Nightmare's Disciple has been rereleased w/ an "intro" and "afterword" by by the acclaimed Lovecraftian editor/scholar/critic/writer, Robert M. Price! !!

The Curse of Yig

2011-07-13T11:56:00.000-04:00

I just had the chance to see Paul von Stoetzel's Lovecraftian short film, THE CURSE OF YIG and posted a review of this wonderful film at SNS.

http://sheneverslept.com/newsandreviews/archives/5919

SIN & ashes as an Ebook

2011-07-09T19:57:00.000-04:00

SIN & ashes as an EBOOK will be - "format release will be Adobe eBook (EPUB) which can be viewed on a boatload of devices" . . . Coming to the E-world in 2 weeks! !!

And we may be adding my complete "Author's Notes" to the E-release . . .

SIN gets another RAVE! !!

2011-07-09T10:20:00.000-04:00

Part of it says " this volume is a MUST-READ for those who appreciate literary horror/speculative fiction. I should correct that statement to read "MUST-EXPERIENCE", because the reader doesn't only read a Pulver story, the prose and story-telling are so devastatingly powerful that each story is a soul-searing EXPERIENCE. Highly recommended."

The rest of it is here

http://pagehorrific.blogspot.com/2011/07/sin-ashes-by-joseph-s-pulver-sr.html

Some of the things in the pipeline

2011-07-08T13:43:00.001-04:00

My newest collection - SIN & ashes as an EBook [Summer 2011 Hippocampus Press]

http://www.hippocampuspress.com/mythos-and-other-authors/fiction/sin-ashes-by-joseph-s.-pulver-sr.

I’m in - Ross Lockhart’s The Book of Cthulhu [Night Shade Books Sept 2011]

http://www.nightshadebooks.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=201

My new novel - The Orphan Palace [OCT 2011Chomu Press]

http://chomupress.com/our-books/the-orphan-palace/

I'm co-editing and in The AKLONOMICON

http://aklopress.org/

I’m editing - A Season in Carcosa [MRP Summer 2012]

http://www.miskatonicriverpress.com/

I’m editing - The Grimscribe’s Puppets [MRP Fall 2012]

My next collection - Portraits of Ruin [Hippocampus Press Summer 2012]

A collection I’m splitting with Robin Spriggs [Double Feature Press Summer 2012]

http://doublefeaturepress.com/

And this winter Laird Barron & I will begin co-editing a “THEMED” anthology [Summer MRP 2013] . . . Expect something a bit DIFFERENT! !!

Bob Price & I are preparing a "LOST" manuscript by ? ?? STAY TUNED! !!

More to be announced soon . . .

Lena's cello is to die for! !!

2011-07-07T20:12:00.000-04:00

Entering cello heaven~ ~~ thanks to Lena! !! Haunting beauty - this is worthy of David Darling and Hildur Gudnadottir~ ~~

There IS a tale in this entrancing music! !! Samples can be found here! !!

http://hypnos.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=HOS&Product_Code=hss08&Category_Code=hss

TOP news

2011-07-07T11:38:00.002-04:00

Galleys for TOP are turned in! !!

http://chomupress.com/our-books/the-orphan-palace/

Cover coming soon! !!

HARD

2011-07-02T05:14:00.000-04:00

If you read my work then you know I love the HARD stuff! !! The last few monsters of "Hard" that rocked my world and left me in AWE ~

Andrew Vachss THE WEIGHT
Ken Bruen ONCE WERE COPS
Will Beall L.A. REX

Now I'm reading Pearce Hansen's STREET RAISED

When Speedy raises from Pelican Bay State Prison, he hitchhikes home to Oakland only to find his little brother, Willy, a homeless crack addict, and his best friend, Fat Bob, bouncing in SF’s underground punk clubs. When two of their childhood homeboys get wrapped in chains by Mexican Mafia drug dealers and thrown in the American River alive, our heroes somehow get it together enough to plot revenge. Sure, it maybe takes the edge of Speedy’s game a little when he starts playing house with beautiful phone psychic Carmel. And it complicates things a bit more when Officer Louis, the same black cop who put Speedy in prison, starts dogging their steps like an unwelcome relative. But when a racist coven of skinheads comes howling for Speedy and Carmel’s blood, and a serial killer with a monster in his head decides that Speedy is the answer to all his unholy prayers, things get really interesting . . .

Add him and his book to that list! !! This is a monster! !! In "my" Crime/Mystery/Hardboiled library, Hansen is now in my Top 50 of all time [yes, I typed that right!] and I'm not even done with it yet! !!

You NEED this! NUFF SAID!

http://www.amazon.com/Street-Raised-Pearce-Hansen/dp/0809556596/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1309597660&sr=1-1

Piano With A Broken Key

2011-06-27T19:22:00.000-04:00

Piano With A Broken Key

Moon
not at war tonight. Hours
deep as any dark
clocking
me.
Please was breached.
I watched it turn away from
endure.
Sleep
would like to go back and make it right.
I’d like
to show willing
the ghost
in this knife.
Like to.
I’d like to
smother
in the soft
cheek of blue. Like to.
Scramble
but I lack intent.

[Bill Evans]

(C) 2011 Joseph S. Pulver, Sr.

off the desktop

2011-06-27T15:29:00.000-04:00

and into the done file . . .

“The Director’s Cut”
“Herding Fire: a murder mystery”

“Memories Can Wait”
“My Mirage”
“6 . . . 6—”

Hoping to finish the revisions on "Lonely . . . and a long way from home" tonight as well . . .

My guest blog arrives

2011-06-25T13:32:00.000-04:00

For my guest blog at SheNeverSlept I've typed up my "Author's Notes" for SIN & ashes . . . Perhaps S.T. will find them of use when it comes to the "corrected" version of SIN :-D

Here's the link

http://sheneverslept.com/newsandreviews/archives/5516

Guest blog on SNS

2011-06-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

just sent my guest blog for SheNeverSlept.com to Sarah . . . Tore up a few attempts then settled on a "Author's Notes" for SIN. I was lucky enough to win a 2010 NIGHTMARE AWARD for SIN from SNS, so I thought I'd shared some of the behind the scenes of SIN . . .
My post will be up sometime this weekend. Drop by and look behind the curtain . . . If it causes you to yawn, don't blame me, yell at the editors . . .

SNS [and their rave review of SIN] is here

http://sheneverslept.com/newsandreviews/archives/4164

And my books are here

http://www.amazon.com/Joseph-S.-Pulver-Sr./e/B002U41JRC/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

Ross E. Lockhart's The Book of Cthulhu gets a ToC! !!

2011-06-22T16:30:00.000-04:00

I'm over the moon to have a tale in this anthology! !! Coming this fall from Night Shade here's the ToC. All I can say is WOW!! !

And to all the contributors, CONGRATSssssssssssssssssssssssssssS! !!
Caitlin R. Kiernan - Andromeda among the Stones
Ramsey Campbell - The Tugging
Charles Stross - A Colder War
Bruce Sterling - The Unthinkable
Silvia Moreno-Garcia - Flash Frame
W. H. Pugmire - Some Buried Memory
Molly Tanzer - The Infernal History of the Ivybridge Twins
Michael Shea - Fat Face
Elizabeth Bear - Shoggoths in Bloom
T. E. D. Klein - Black Man With A Horn
David Drake - Than Curse the Darkness
Charles R. Saunders - Jeroboam Henley's Debt
Thomas Ligotti - Nethescurial
Kage Baker - Calamari Curls
Edward Morris - Jihad over Innsmouth
Cherie Priest - Bad Sushi
John Hornor Jacobs - The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife
Brian McNaughton - The Doom that Came to Innsmouth
Ann K. Schwader - Lost Stars
Steve Duffy - The Oram County Whoosit
Joe R. Lansdale - The Crawling Sky
Brian Lumley - The Fairground Horror
Tim Pratt - Cinderlands
Gene Wolfe - Lord of the Land
Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. - To Live and Die in Arkham
John Langan - The Shallows
Laird Barron - The Men from Porlock

http://www.nightshadebooks.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=201

After the Stokers

2011-06-19T13:14:00.000-04:00

The Stokers are great, but there is another award, the best one a writer can get, that's the READER! !! Readers can give books and writers/editors that award by getting out there and making noise about books they've enjoyed. Share on FB, push the LIKE button on Amazon [post reviews too], tweet and blog, make mentions on TLO and other forums, and the books you enjoy get noticed . . . This is a great time for horror fans -- Get out there and HOWL at the moon! !!

When you push that LIKE button on Amazon it's like you hug the writer or editor. Musicians get applause, we have you The Reader and we do want to hear what you think.

2010 Bram Stoker Award Winners

2011-06-19T05:31:00.000-04:00

What a GREAT year for horror! !!

Winner: A Dark Matter by Peter Straub Rot and Run by Jonathan Maberry
Dead Love by Linda Watanabe McFerrin
Apocalypse of the Dead by Joe McKinney
Dweller by Jeff Strand

Superior Achievement in a First Novel (tie)
Winner: Black and Orange by Benjamin Kane Ethridge
Winner: Castle of Los Angeles by Lisa Morton
A Books of Tongues by Gemma Files
Spellbent by Lucy Snyder

Superior Achievement in Long Fiction
Winner: Invisible Fences by Norman Prentiss
The Painted Darkness by Brian James Freeman
Dissolution by Lisa Mannetti
Monsters Among Us by Kirstyn McDermott
The Samhanach by Lisa Morton

Superior Achievement in Short Fiction
Winner: The Folding Man by Joe R. Lansdale
Return to Mariabronn by Gary Braunbeck
1925: A Fall River Halloween by Lisa Mannetti
In the Middle of the Poplar Street by Nate Southard
Final Draft by Mark W. Worthen

Superior Achievement in an Anthology
Winner: Haunted Legends edited by Ellen Datlow and Nick Mamatas
Dark Faith edited by Maurice Broaddus and Jerry Gordon
Horror Library IV edited by R.J. Cavender and, Boyd E. Harris
Macabre: A Journey Through Australia’s Darkest Fears edited by Angela Challis and Marty Young
The New Dead edited by Christopher Golden

Superior Achievement in a Collection
Winner: Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King
Occulation by Laird Barron
Blood and Gristle by Michael Louis Calvillo
The Ones that Got Away by Stephen Graham Jones
A Host of Shadows by Harry Shannon

Superior Achievement in Nonfiction
Winner: To Each Their Darkness by Gary A. Braunbeck
The Conspiracy Against the Human Race by Thomas Ligotti
Wanted Undead of Alive by Jonathan Maberry and Janice Gable Bashman
Listen to the Echoes: The Ray Bradbury Interviews by Sam Weller

Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection
Winner: Dark Matters by Bruce Boston
Wild Hunt of the Stars by Ann K. Schwader
Diary of a Gentleman Diabolist by Robin Spriggs
Vicious Romantic by Wrath James White

HWA Specialty Press Award 
Dark Regions Press

HWA Silver Hammer Award
Angel Leigh McCoy

HWA Richard Laymon Award
Michael Colangelo

Grim Reviews posts about The Orphan Palace

2011-06-14T07:16:00.000-04:00

Grim Reviews just gave (my 2nd Hippocampus Press collection) SIN & ashes a very, very nice review and now they've posted about the upcoming release of my new novel The Orphan Palace. TOP is coming from Chomu Press in October.

http://grimreviews.blogspot.com/2011/06/joseph-s-pulver-announces-new-book.html

http://grimreviews.blogspot.com/2011/06/review-sin-ashes-by-joseph-s-pulver.html

You can find SIN and my other books here on my Amazon "author page"

http://www.amazon.com/Joseph-S.-Pulver-Sr./e/B002U41JRC/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

something from a Chomu Press post . . .

2011-06-13T10:14:00.001-04:00

I came across this [very humbling] tidbit of description in a CP post.

"Speaking of which, those following developments on the site will have noticed that after Nemonymous Night, we have also scheduled releases for two very different (to each other and to just about anything else we’ve encountered) novels, Jeanette, by Joe Simpson Walker (July release), and The Orphan Palace, by Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. (October release). The former is in the transgressive tradition of Pauline Réage, with a gritty British sixties setting. This will also be the longest work we have so far published. The latter comes from one of the rising stars of the weird, for whom, we believe, the stars are now right; a novel of madness, written in poetry, or perhaps a novel of poetry, written in madness. "

http://chomupress.com/news/update-near-the-eve-of-the-tenth-chomu-release/

Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire SINner!! !

2011-06-12T10:39:00.001-04:00

"The imagery is so amazing I want to keep quoting it: "The moon is a window of ice wrecked in soft embrace of the river of midnight...its banks couldn't hold the invisible..."

But, no -- you must buy the book so as to find yourself FULLY entranced, pulled into the web of words and brutal/beautiful fancy. This is the neoteric world haunted by Joe's daemons, and his raptures. It is a celebration of the Literary, and rock'n'roll; of that which seduces and will not save you. It is the language of the lost, which has found its tongue in the idiom of pure originality. It is the taste of sin in your mouth, mixed with the debris of ash -- and it's taste is delicious and decadent and deadly, that savors of damnation. It is Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. -- one of today's truly original and effective artists, before whom we bow, hypnotized."--Wilum Pugmire, author of The Tangled Muse

You can find Hopfrog here

http://www.lovecraftianhorror.blogspot.com/

DEAD BUT DREAMING 2 is at the printer! !!

2011-06-09T06:25:00.000-04:00

Yep. It's coming! !!
Edited by Kevin Ross! !!
DBD2 is 22 tales of Lovecraftian horror from: Scott David Aniolowski, David Annandale, Donald R. Burleson, Cody Goodfellow, John Goodrich, T.E. Grau, Rick Hautala, Walt Jarvis, Erik T. Johnson, William Meikle, Will Murray, Daniel W. Powell, Wilum Pugmire, Joseph S. Pulver Sr, Pete Rawlik, Kevin Ross, Brian Sammons, Darrell Schweitzer, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Michael Tice, and Don Webb.

http://miskatonicriverpress.com/products/dbd2.shtml

Ellen's BEST HORROR of the YEAR gets another RAVE! !!

2011-06-08T17:04:00.000-04:00

Hardly a shock to see Ellen Datlow get another rave for one of her anthologies. This time it's from POP MATTERS. They give the book a 9 out of 10! !!
Congrats to all the writers and ELLEN for a wonderful book!! !

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/142326-the-best-horror-of-the-year-volume-3-by-ellen-datlow/

an Orphan Palace update . . .

2011-06-06T07:10:00.000-04:00

Well folks, here tis, the offical handy-dandy release info page for my new novel . . . As you'd expect I'm excited as a bEast on a mad YAYyyyyyyyyyy! !! bender. . .

We do not have a cover yet, but that will be coming soon . . .

I'll keep ya posted.

http://chomupress.com/our-books/the-orphan-palace/

Amazon author page

2011-06-04T11:19:00.000-04:00

I've updated my Amazon author page w/ the SIN book trailer, tweets/blog feeds, and a new bio . . .

http://www.amazon.com/Joseph-S.-Pulver-Sr./e/B002U41JRC/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

I'd love to see readers post some reviews.

Grim Reviews praises SIN & ashes

2011-06-03T14:52:00.000-04:00

"There are few weird horror collections that can vacillate between subtle terrors and visceral apocalypses without becoming wildly unbalanced. Now, though, the horror community is joined by Joseph S. Pulver's latest collection, Sin & Ashes, a sizable nightmare gallery published by Hippocampus Press that accomplishes this rare feat. By some indeterminate black magic, Pulver successfully dishes out the grotesque, the chilling, and intellectual dreads by short story and poetry, without losing his foothold on readers' unsettled reptile brains."

That's the opening paragraph of the review . . . Funny how you can find yourself doing the happy dance and humbled at the same time . . .

http://grimreviews.blogspot.com/2011/06/review-sin-ashes-by-joseph-s-pulver.html

CHOMU PRESS will release The Orphan Palace this fall

2011-06-02T12:50:00.000-04:00

It gives me great pleasure to be able to announce my new novel, The Orphan Palace, will be released this October by CHOMU PRESS. To have a work of mine released by a publisher with a roster of literary magicians which includes among other gifted writers, authors Reggie Oliver, Michael Cisco, Mark Samuels, and Rhys Hughes is thrilling! [insert several rows of YAYyyyyyyyyyyyYs!! !] !! TOP will also have a foreword by none other than Michael Cisco. To say I'm over the moon and humbled doesn't even come close to covering it.

Chomu Press and their dazzling[! !!] releases can be found here

http://chomupress.com/

The amazing, unique, and vastly underappreciated, Michael Cisco (The Divinity Student, The Tyrant, The Great Lover) can be found here
http://www.prostheticlibido.org/news.html

A new interview

2011-06-01T10:25:00.001-04:00

When my first collection, Blood Will Have Its Season, was released in 2009, Sarah at SheNeverSlept.com was kind enough to interview me. With the release of my 2nd collection, SIN & ashes, she's up to her ghoulish tricks again . . .

Here's the link to my new interview w/ Sarah . . .

http://sheneverslept.com/newsandreviews/archives/4538

Another rave for Ellen Datlow's The BEST HORROR of the YEAR! !!

2011-05-27T17:09:00.000-04:00

Ellen Datlow is a legend! And she's won every award there is, many of them many times. Why? That's easy - book after book, year after year, Ellen's talent [! !!] and eye have given readers gifts like this book. So another rave for her work may not be a surprise, but celebrating the release of another book edited by her is!

As I've said before, I'm very proud and humbled to be in a book with her name as editor on the cover. To me, and I'm betting many others, having her select one of your tales for one of her books is a prize, the best one a horror writer can get! !!

So here's the link to the rave review of volume 3 of her BEST HORROR of the YEAR series

http://noondaystars.blogspot.com/2011/05/best-horror-of-year-volume-three.html#comment-form

Thank you Mr. Moody and thanks Ellen!! !

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Horror-Year-3/dp/1597802174/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1306530314&sr=1-1

This Yellow Madness

This I have to share~ ~~

The Society of The Yellow Sign~ ~~

A Season In Carcosa update~ ~~~~~~~~

how to waste time & &&

a reader's 5 star review

BIG~BIG YAYyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyYYYY!! !

the newest from S.T.'s blog (JAN 4)

Q & A sans interviewer/well, sort of

teStin''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

WHaT????????????? ?

NewSSsss from S.T.'s blog... and I'm up in it~ ~~

MUSIKS & MYTHOS

some newsssssssssssssssssS

My answers to The Weird Questionnaire

Interview I did with/and for Chomu Press

A Mountain Walked: Great Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos

Glowing reviews for TOP

When the heart of horror rises...

Horror creators and fans UNITE! !!

To all horror writers, artists, and creators

What is Toys For Tots ~ HORROR style?

FREE LEENIE! !!

Karl Edward Wagner

Some things of note~ ~~

Nightingale Songs by Simon Strantzas

RICHARD GAVIN

Rue Morgue / Chomu Press

The New School ~ ~~ E

Halloween TREAT[sSS]! !!

A guest blog by Jeffrey Thomas

Thought it was.. .Monday............. ?. ??

Simon Strantzas on TOP

Your room in _The Orphan Palace_ is ready! !!

Laird Barron's "Phantasmagorium" is out now! !!

did you see them

3 tExts

Phantasmagorium ~ ~~ OCT 13th! ~~!!

Phantasmagorium

And The WINNERSssssssssssssssss are~ ~~

Chasing Shadows

RAVE for TOP! !!

The Best Horror of the Year. Vol. 3

THE BOOK OF CTHULHU gets a rave

Lovecraft eZine is BACK

The beauty and value of a “best of” anthology

Andrea Bonazzi creates AGAIN! !!

"The Cosmicomicon" opens the doors to The Orphan Palace

Laird Barron edits new 1/4ly journal! !!

in the poetry corner............... (somewhere bettween Ligotti and Beckett).

Robin Spriggs on TOP......................... .!

Andrea Bonazzi creates "Robert W. Chambers creates Pulver"! !!

THE ORPHAN PALACE (Book Trailer)

Pearce Hansen on SIN & ashes

Pearce Hansen on SIN & ashes

" You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them." ~ Ray Bradbury.

TOP stuff [Pt. 78.2]

the cold bleak facts

We have books to give you.........................

A new interview! !!

Simon [Strantzas] says

She Never Slept reviews "Strange Aeons" magazine! !!

Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire on TOP! !!

cover art for THE ORPHAN PALACE

This is NOT yer Daddy's HPL to REH letter ......... NOPE! !!

Matt Cardin on Pulver, SIN & ashes, TOP...

KIZUNA: Fiction for Japan comes this week!

The foreword to The Orphan Palace

We should be hearing an update about this soon

Some days this is exactly what you NEED to hear! !!

LAIRD BARRON wins 2 Jackson awards! !!

"Lena... cries" and some odds & ends...

Author's Notes for SIN & ashes

I'm in . . .

I'm in THE BOOK OF CTHULHU

TPB & Ebook of ND out now

The Curse of Yig

SIN & ashes as an Ebook

SIN gets another RAVE! !!

Some of the things in the pipeline

Phantasmagorium ~ OCT 13th! !!