Dracula: The UnDead

Well I got a copy of this a few weeks ago, and was excited at the prospect. I am sucker for Dracula, hmm, no pun intended, and enjoyed The Historian immensely.

The prospect of Dacre Stoker pairing with a fan of the genre, Ian Holt, captivated me. I read the preface and drooled.

I should have known.

Years ago I picked up a book that was a sequel of Dickens, and it had Tiny Tim as an adult. After a few pages, I decided not to buy the book. It just didn't do anything for me.

I had high hopes for this one, but as good as I'm sure it is, I can't do it. I read the first few chapters, and the characters went a direction that made me sad, and it ached to see them lose their nobility. I saw that they bickered a lot. I had no problem with what they did with Dracula, or his key vampiric protagonist, but again, not for me. I could only scan the rest of the book, and read the last few chapters, too.

I guess what really did it, was - as a horror writer myself - I saw a key story plot telegraphed for me. That vanquished a good portion of the mystery element.

If you read this, or have read it, I hope that you enjoyed it. Kudos for the courage to write it, and many salutes to the Stoker family. But, it wasn't meant to be for me.

Happy Thanksgiving !!!

It is only "Thanksgiving" in the U.S., but despite the mountain top experiences, and the valley endurances, we try to be thankful everyday.

In 1911 Lovecraft wrote a poem to his mother, and I'm sure he was thankful for his bowl of "puffed wheat" she left for him.

I'm thankful for many, many things, though I am deeply sorry Thanksgiving Day is only a speedbump between Halloween pumpkins and Christmas buying. We need more time to reflect on the good things of life, though sometimes we have to try very hard to find the silver lining in that grey cloud.

Thanks for reading the HPL blog.

... In love-craft, Hallow-eve ...

Happy Halloween, 2010 !!!
_____



A HALLOW-EVE CHANT.
William Allingham. *

I.
The Autumn's fairy gold turns pale,
And twilight closes fast and chill.
And dirge-like winds, with lengthening wail,
Moan low, or rise w ith whistle shrill:
In winter's night the year declines,
Yet gaily we that night receive.
For thick with happy stars it shines,
Its IHesper, Hallow-eve !
Fresh-dawning Hallow-eve !
Sweet, new-old Hallow-eve !
For what thou wert, for what thou art.
Thrice welcome, Hallow-eve!

II.
It freezes ; but no frost on earth
The seasons of the soul can blight;
Here bloom at once a Spring of mirth,
A Summertide of joy to-night;
Though days grow short, the fire's a sun
That will not set without our leave ;
Our hearts are flowering, every one,
In the beams of Hallow-eve!
Bright-blazing Hallow-eve !
Warm-glowing Hallow-eve !
Far sweeter flowers than April's dowers
Are these of Hallow-eve !

III.
'Tis fruit-time, too; who can may snatch
Gold apples from the branch or pail;
But Fire and Water closely watch
The treasure, as in fairy tale:
And sure this is a fairy hour
That lets the ghostly world retrieve
A little while its ancient power,
In right of Hallow-eve !
Mysterious Hallow-eve!
Weird-mantled Hallow-evc!
Much joy and pain have cause more vain
Than ours of Hallow-eve!

IV
Heaven's stars were used as lamps, of old,
The mist from future time to clear ;
By earth-stars are our fortunes told,—
The nuts in constellation here :
Glimpse of the patterns, gay or dull,
From which the Fatal Spinsters weave,
Or work our lives, like Berlin wool,—
Is caught at Hallow eve !
Love-sybil Hallow-eve !
Heart-prophet Hallow-eve!
A nut can hold the story told
All through by Hallow-eve !

V
Now Love in cabbage-stalk can read
Papyrus-wealth of mystic lore ;
Or raise full-grown from garden seed
A human crop like that of yore.
To-night, beforo the wasted fire
A semblance turns the drying sleeve;
The treasured thought, the heart's desire,
Takes place at Hallow-eve!
Yet truly, Hallow-eve,
In love-craft, Hallow-eve,
Thy magic, arms with needless charms
Our witches,—Hallow-eve!

VI.
Come, then! let none look sourly grave,
Nor creak, this night, in rusty talk !
Let cares take flight before our stave
As ghosts at crowing of the cock!
How many things that are indeed
Mere ghosts and shadows men believe
The sole true substance!—Men whose creed
Despises Hallow-eve.
Without one Hallow-eve,
Or time like Hallow-eve,
Of loving mirth,—how great a dearth
Is theirs—dear Hallow-eve !

*published in
Howitt's journal of literature and popular progress, Volume 2
By William Howitt, Mary Botham Howitt
1847

Colour Out of Space in New Mexico

Fireball Over New Mexico
SPACE.com
posted: 24 September 2010
06:20 pm ET

A brilliant fireball lit up the night sky above parts of New Mexico and Texas ...
The fireball, thought to be created by a small space rock, occurred Tuesday night (Sept. 21) at about 11:01 p.m. EDT (0301 GMT) and was captured in a video camera ... It lasted 23 seconds ..."I was inside at the time, but heard and felt the sonic boom," said radio astronomer Thomas Ashcraft... outside of Santa Fe, NM ...

Guillermo del Toro talks At the Mountains of Madness - JoBlo.com

For years, filmmaker Guillermo del Toro has been trying to make his dream project, an adaptation of HP Lovecraft's arctic terror tale AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS. And while it's closer (thanks to Universal and producer James Cameron), it's still a dream.

As del Toro tells Deadline: "We are not green lit, we are still budgeting and designing, and we are partners on this. I believe in my heart we are going to be making this movie in June of next year. We are budgeting the creatures and met with Spectral Motion and ILM, where Dennis Muren told me the sweetest words ever when he said, no one has ever seen monsters like this. That was truly one of the highlights of my fat life, a demigod like Muren saying that."

More:

Guillermo del Toro talks At the Mountains of Madness - JoBlo.com

Joe Pulver !!!

Joe has started a blog:

http://thisyellowmadness.blogspot.com/


Our own Lovecraftian of great note, Laird Barron, will be penning the intro to his new Hippocampus collection, SIN & ashes [coming this fall]. S.T. is again eiditing.

And Ellen Datlow, on her Best Horror of the Year, 2009 list, gave 8 tales in BLOOD "Honorable Mentions".

Pulver, Sr. Joseph S. “A Night of Moon and Blood,Then …,”Blood Will Have Its Season.
Pulver, Sr. Joseph S. “An American TangoEndinginMadness,”Blood Will Have Its Season.
Pulver, Sr. Joseph S. “And She Walks Into the Room…” Blood Will Have Its Season.
Pulver, Sr. Joseph S. “Blood Will Have Its Season,” Blood Will Have Its Season.
Pulver, Sr. Joseph S. “Carl Lee & Cassilda,” Blood Will Have Its Season.
Pulver, Sr. Joseph S. “Erendira,” Blood Will Have Its Season.
Pulver, Sr. Joseph S. “One Side’s Ice, One’s Fire,” Blood Will Have Its Season.
Pulver, Sr. Joseph S. “Stone Cold Fever” Blood Will Have Its Season.

And Joe just had a tale in the 1st issue of "Strange Aeons" magazine.

The Lobster! In Yellow!

"...and lobstering. Everybody trades mostly either here or in Arkham or Ipswich..." The Shadow Over Innsmouth, HPL


Shades of HPL an dRobert Chambers: It came from Narrangasett Bay!


"I thought, holy cow, this is unusual," said Denny Ingram, the lobsterman who discovered the curious crustacean in one of his traps. "No one else around here has ever seen anything like it either."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/08/01/2010-08-01_rare_yellow_lobster_caught_in_narragansett_bay_off_rhode_island.html#ixzz0vOHPvkzg

Real Life Rhode Island Sea Monster

Just released information was found by Alban. As the news is listed as restricted, I will give a brief synopsis, and the link for you to read the full article.

Fall River residents ... were at a section of Portsmouth Tuesday afternoon when things got a little scary. ... what seemed to be the perfect summer afternoon got turned upside down {by a} scream. ... An unknown ominous sea creature seemed ... -- described as being about 15-feet long, with ... teeth, greenish-black skin and a white belly -- was swimming ... and popping its head out of the water to expose its teeth and hiss ...

More here:

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread980/pg1

New Lovecraft Project !!

This just in ...
_____

I'm a new filmmaker trying to create a mythos film based on the story
of Romeo and Juliet. http://www.julietandromeo.co.uk it's called the
"Transition of Juliet and Romeo" a play on "The Transition of Juan
Romero" and it's mostly influenced by "The Dunwich Horror" and
"Through the Gates of the Silver Key" (although the second draft is
shaping up to have a large influence from "The Shadow Out of Time" as
well)

We've put the first draft script out there for mythos fans to enjoy
(and feedback on) at http://teamgeckoproductions.co.uk/wiki/ and the
subsequent drafts will be released there as the story progresses.

However we really need as many Lovecraft supporters to join us in
attempting to fund the production (in return everyone who contributes
gets at minimum a digital copy of the film after completion) even by
giving £1 ($2) our campaign is on Facebook at http://bit.ly/YogSothoth
or on IndieGoGo at http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Transition-of-Juliet-and-Romeo

We hope you can consider spreading the word amongst your friends and
encouraging them to get involved in this exciting project. Our target
Date for reaching full funding is the 1st of September so we really
need to find 15,000 who like Lovecraft, weird writing, or even just
real horror that isn't all about slashers but actually makes you
think.

Regards,

Stuart Jamieson

Providence Potential Flooding (2010)

From a ProJo image.

Record rainfalls in Providence (2010)

Here is a brief summary from the national Weather service.

“... people are living through history,” said Walter Drag, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Taunton.

The deluge of rain this week has set all-time highs for daily rainfall and amount of rain in any month measured in Providence, the nearest point to Fall River where the National Weather Service records detailed data.

The amount of rain dumped on the area in the past few weeks “is unprecedented in the last 100 years of weather history in southeastern New England,” Drag said. The all-time record in Providence for any month is 15.38 inches, set in October 2005. As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, this month has had 15.58 inches.

Providence received 4.58 inches of rain on Tuesday (30 March 2010), according to the 5 p.m. report, with more rain likely to add to the total. On Monday (29 March 2010), the city received 3.47 inches of rain.

... unofficial dispatches Tuesday afternoon include 7.12 inches in Taunton, 5.38 inches in Dighton, and 8.75 in East Providence.

Nancy O. Greene Review: Lovecraft Unbound !

My colleague Nancy just reviewed this!



In THE EVOLUTION OF THE WEIRD TALE, S. T. Joshi states that H. P. Lovecraft, in his own words, endeavored to emulate the style of eighteenth century writing in his work. While he may not have always succeeded, he certainly created his own form and his works convey a unique sense of fear that has survived over the ages when many of his peers have been forgotten ...

More ... click here to go to Dark Recesses!

LOVECRAFT UNBOUND edited by Ellen Datlow
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Dark Horse Books (October 7, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1595821465
ISBN-13: 978-1595821461

Allen M Steele

I have been wanting to type this for some time. In January 2010's Asimov, there is an excelent story by Allen M. Steele that will delight all horror antiquarians. His "The Jekyll Island Horror" is, in my humble opinion, quite Lovecraftian without being Lovecraft. It involves a secondary witness to the alien horror, and is set in Lovecraft's time period.

Kudos and Bravo!

If you can peruse it at your local Border's or B&N, download it to your kindle, or buy a copy.