Mantichore 14

14 Contents this issue Mantic Notes………………………………..……….…1 A Contribution by Leigh Blackmore for the Sword & Sorcery & Weird Fiction Terminus (Aug 2, 2009/ 34th mailing), & Esoteric Order of Dagon (Aug 2, 2009/ 147th mailing) amateur press associations. Leigh Blackmore, 78 Rowland Ave, Wollongong, NSW 2500. Australia. Mantichore 4, No 2 (WN 14) Email: [email protected] Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leigh_Blackmore Official Website: Blackmausoleum – http://members.optusnet.com.au/lvxnox/

‘‘Siren Songs: An Interview with Michael Fantina ………………………….………………………………..4 Four Poems by Michael Fantina…………………….8 Profile of Rob Hood…………………………….…..…9 Books By My Bedside………………………………..11 Mantichorus: Mailing Notes………………………..12

IN MEMORIAM GLAYNE-LOUISE BLACKMORE 10 Dec 1971-22 June 2009 & J.G. BALLARD (15.11.1930 – 19.4.2009). The Atrocity Exhibition will continue!

Giant Toltec figure at Tula, Mexico

© Margi Curtis 2009

Mantic Notes (Pronunciation:'man-tik. Etymology: Greek mantikos, from mantis : of, relating to the faculty of divination; prophetic). Process: Receiving the latest mailing of EOD or SSWFT... fumbling with palsied fingers at the outer packaging, excitedly tearing off the envelope to behold the Lovecraftian, fantastic and outre contents within. If it’s the EOD, I always read Nuclear Chaos first, to see what’s included in the current mailing and what S.T. has said. Next, What is Anything, S.T.’s own zine; reading it fascinatedly for any hints about the personal life of this fellow who strides the world of Lovecraft studies like a colossus; and all too often gaping slack-jawed at the prodigious number of projects he has on the go. Next, whether EOD or SSWFT, I turn to mailing comments in each zine. Did anyone respond to me? (Egotistical? Hell, yeah!) Lapping up the ones that did, grumping about the ones that didn’t. Only then do I settle myself somewhere and begin to read each zine from cover to cover, a process that may take anywhere up to a week. My own contribution for next mailing of each APA is always being put together in advance (at least it is these days – I hope the days of throwing a zine together in the last week or so before a deadline are now past) but I still leave mailing comments until the end of the process. After I have completed all my own content for my zine, I re-read each and every zine of the last mailing (but skimming this time, to remind myself of the parts I want to comment on) and do my mailing comments onto the computer in order to polish off the current Mantichore issue. And that, as of mid-2009, is my way.

Life has been up and down. In March (just after the last Mantichore) I was hospitalised for the third time in 18 months, this time with a horrific bout of food poisoning due to salmonella, with which Margi was also stricken (but not hospitalised). Near renal failure due to loss of fluid was averted in my case via a week’s stay while I was rehydrated intravenously. I managed to read several books while in hospital including a gripping thriller by Glenn Meade, The Devil’s Disciple, and two books on Lizzie Siddall, the Pre-Raphaelite poet and model who will form the basis of my university creative project. I hope the hat-trick of illnesses is now completed and I can remain healthy for some time to come! During May I proofread for pay the typescript of Meredith Jones’ new anthology Cosmetic Surgery: A Feminist Primer, to be published by Ashgate UK. I also did corrections for the appearance of my essay on John Harrison in Studies in the Fantastic No 2, and wish to express my gratitude to S.T. Joshi for suggesting to Richard Matthews at University of Tampa Press that they take this piece. (Meantime I’ve learned from S.T. that, sadly, this journal has ceased with No 2, and that he hopes to convince Hippocampus Press to issue a new journal to replace it.) S.T. has also accepted my essay on Lovecraft’s “The Transition of Juan Romero” which ran in Mantichore 13 for the next issue of Lovecraft Annual, a very pleasing development. I continued working on my critical thesis on Terry Dowling for university, and also on “Ghosts in the House of Life”, the creative writing part of my Honours year project. I had a recent short story, “The Roomer” accepted by a local Wollongong magazine, The Stack, and that should appear shortly. I hope to write a story later in the year for an anthology David Wynn at Mythos Books is putting together, and I will also be contributing an essay to 21st Century Gothic, a critical anthology being edited by Danel Olsen. On May 23 Chris Sequeira joined me in Wollongong for a day of brainstorming plots for our Sherlock Holmes stories for a Canadian anthology. This was a successful day and it was good to catch up with Chris. As a good omen, the day we had chosen turned out to be the 150th anniversary of Conan Doyle’s birth! My story is titled “Exalted Are

the Forces of Darkness”; I believe the book, Gaslight Grotesque: Nightmare Tales of Sherlock Holmes, will appear around November (Edge Publishing). Thanks to Margi for valuable critiquing and editing help on this story. On May 24 Graham, Margi and I travelled to Sydney to attend the launch of the beautifully designed and packaged volume Trunk Books 1: Hair, in which I have

an article on “Hair in Magick and Occultism.” See

http://emmacollison.com/hair-a-procative-newbook-sydney-writers-festival-launch/. This launch was part of the Sydney Writers Festival and took place in the Bangarra Theatre at The Wharf in Sydney’s Rocks area.

See the call for papers for the next volume (Book 2 will be on ‘Blood’) at: http://trunkbook.com/blood.html. On May 27 (coincidentally, the birthday of horror film actor Vincent Price), we travelled again to Sydney. As special guest for the night (go figure!) I did a reading from Spores from Sharnoth and Other Madnesses as special guest at

the Live Poets Society, who meet at Don Bank Museum in North Sydney. Joining me on the night were my partner Margi Curtis, (Graham was teaching that night) and Wollongong writer Andrea Gawthorne (both of whom read poems). Danny Lovecraft was interviewed in forum with me briefly before I read, and also present was Perry Grayson (who read one of his own poems, one by Frank Belknap Long, and two dirty limericks by Raymond Chandler!). Kyla Ward, co-author of horror

novel Prismatic, also read some dark verse, so the night was dominated by fantastical poetry before the rest of the members went on to read poems about cows and flower arranging. A pleasant night; thanks to Danny Lovecraft for organising this. I even got paid, and had some pre-publicity in a North Shore newspaper! No 3 of our journal Studies in Australian Weird Fiction appeared in May, somewhat later than initially scheduled. This has pushed back the release date of Issue 4 which would have been due in June, to around October this year. Ben Szumskyj did a fine job with his final issue, to which I contributed two interviews (uncredited); now it’s over to new chief editor Phillip A. Ellis. http://www.australianhorror.com/SiAWF/ Sales are fairly low so far but it’s a quality product (100 pages-odd per issue) and I encourage all who are interested in the field to purchase copies from: http://www.equilibriumbooks.com/siawf3.htm Currently there is a special deal if you buy the first three issues together, so go for it! I have joined my partners’ band following the departure of their guitarist earlier

this year. Currently our trio is rehearsing covers, mainly melodic material we like personally, with the aim of going out to play live later in 2009. The set is gradually coming together. I’m singing backing vocals and probably will play bass later. Margi does lead vocals and guitar, with Graham playing keyboards, MIDI controllers for the rhythm section, etc. Fitting in two or more band practices a week with other commitments is a challenge, but it’s going well so far. On June 19, I travelled to Sydney again, this time to appear on the ABC television programme ‘Jennifer Byrne Presents’. Byrne is a well-known Australian TV presenter who has a regular programme called ‘First Tuesday Night Book Club’ and the ‘Presents’ programmes are spinoff specials from FTNBC. This special was titled “Monsters and Bloodsuckers”: guests apart from myself included novelist & model Tara Moss, novelist Will Elliott and children’s novelist Catherine Jinks. The show mainly focussed on the iconic horror novels Dracula, Frankenstein, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and The Werewolf of Paris (by Guy Endore). It was fun to be featured on this; the program will probably air in Australia around August, with an unedited version at the ABC website as a vodcast. I’ll keep you posted when it’s up so that interested members can check it out online. I have had some satisfying personal contacts with members of the EOD lately. Ken Faig reprinted an old article of mine from the 1980s, “Leon Stone: Pioneer Lovecraft Collector” in The Fossil and also traded me a copy of his wonderful new essay collection The Unknown Lovecraft (Hippocampus Press). Don Burleson was kind enough to obtain for me a copy of his collection Beyond the Lamplight. Both these gentlemen kindly supplied signed labels for me to stick in my copies of their books, as did Richard L. Tierney, who gifted me with a copy of his new novel Drums of Chaos. And I have made contact with writer Joe S. Pulver and artist Dave Carson, both of whom have assented to interviews for future editions of Mantichore. Not only that, but John Haefele of EOD kindly supplied me with an out of print issue of Firsts magazine with a very useful article about Arkham House ephemera.

With Margi I’ve been catching up on Battlestar Galactica (the TV series). I resisted it for a long time but I had heard too many good things about it; and indeed, Season 1 is excellent. We will probably watch the other seasons and mini-movies as we seem to have been hooked. Horror is my first love, but I sometimes really enjoy a good rollicking space opera, and this one is well worth checking out. (Forget the cheesy original movie; the TV series is a whole new ballgame, with tight plotting, great acting, and fantastic special effects). I’ve been gradually transferring over all our VHS tapes to DVD. A very timeconsuming process, and sometimes the source tapes are not in good condition. I hope to complete this process sometime around 2020 the way it’s going. In family news, we have continued to work on the house, building woodpiles to store our supplies of wood for the winter and fixing various other things. I helped Graham install fibreglass ceiling bats in our roof the other day, which was very strenuous but ultimately worthwhile. Stepson Rohan continues his TAFE studies in network engineering, Margi is still doing art at TAFE, Graham is teaching away at school. I received the sad news in late June that my ex-wife Glayne Louise-Blackmore had passed away. With Glayne I ran the specialist sf store at Dymocks Sydney between 1995 and 2000. I had not seen her for some years (since 2004) when I received the news. That night was the night before my major Oral Presentation for my Critical thesis at uni in front of the head of school and academic staff; don’t know how I got through it, but I did. Glayne’s death was very saddening; however, I gave a short eulogy at the funeral which took place in Sydney on June 30 (my 50th birthday). May she rest in peace. On July 4th I celebrated my birthday with a gathering at my house followed by a dinner at a local restaurant, Nickelangelo’s. The age of 50 is an age for pondering. I certainly thought when younger that I would have accomplished more by now. However, I confess myself fairly satisfied with the way things are progressing. The birthday party was excellent. I received some wonderful gifts including books like O Fortunate Floridian: Lovecraft’s Letters to R.H. Barlow (yay! At last!),

Cannon’s The Lovecraft Papers, a DVD of Behind the Fridge by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore and a long-wanted book, The Mystical and Magical System of the A.A.; Poe: A Life Cut Short (Peter Ackroyd); Watercolours by Norman Lindsay; two James Ellroy crime books; and CD’s including music by Joni Mitchell, Madness, George Harrison, Woody Guthrie, The Stranglers, Peter Gabriel, Brian Eno, and our own Perry Grayson; and even a bass amp and bass, so that I can play as well as sing in the band; but the best thing was being able to spend time with friends and family. The party day’s enjoyment was somewhat mitigated by having to have our oldest cat, Isis, euthanased; she had been sick for some time, wasn’t eating, had lost weight and was so weak she could barely move anymore. So in the midst of party preparations we took her to the vet to be put to sleep. We buried her in the backyard next day. I received my complimentary copies of Studies in the Fantastic No 2 with my essay on M. John Harrison; very pleased with this. I’ve sent a copy off to M. John Harrison himself after exchanging a few emails (like speaking to God for me!) and have my tentacles crossed that he likes the piece. Now it’s down to a hard half-year of grinding out my thesis; there are various problems associated with it, but I’m sure I’ll overcome them one way or another.

SIREN SONGS: AN INTERVIEW WITH

MICHAEL FANTINA By Leigh Blackmore LB: Michael, you have been publishing in the fantasy scene for a long time now. I recall reading a piece of yours about Donald SidneyFryer’s work, “Upon Reading Songs and Sonnets Atlantean”, in Harry O. Morris’s wonderful Nyctalops magazine, back in 1976 (that’s 33 years ago!). How old were you when that piece appeared? Can you tell us what led to its publication?

MF: Well, I’d discovered Lovecraft about 1972 and was thrilled to see someone had written a type of poetry that I really loved. So I began reading him and many of the pulp writers and only became aware of fandom gradually. At the time I thought I wanted to become a fictioneer--a writer of horror and supernatural tales. I began subscribing to a few magazines like Nyctalops, which was one of the best. When I got a hold of Sidney-Fryer’s Song and Sonnets Atlantean I fell in love with them. So I wrote that tribute, which by the way I have not seen in years. I decided to send it off to Nyctalops. I was about 30 years old when that was published. LB: Your Lovecraftian sonnets, under the title Night Terrors, were first printed in book form as long ago as 1974. What was the story behind that edition? The book now seems to be rare and collectable – abebooks lists a copy at $100 US!. MF: Wow, $100, for an old copy of my Night Terrors! I was determined, back then, to see it in print as a whole and not published piece meal. So I checked with some printers and had a local printer in Plainfield, NJ, do the job. I think it cost me about $130 to have 110 copies printed. I sold them for one dollar each. Also, it is riddled with errors, most of them mine… LB: Fantasy verse appears to have been your main literary love but I can think of at least one early short story by you – “Headsman”, from Eldritch Tales No 5 back in 1979. Have you written other fiction? There is something called “The Ring of Azathoth” that has appeared in an anthology called Cthulhu’s Creatures. (2007). Who published that anthology and is your contribution a story? Can we expect more Mythos stories from you in the future? MF: Yes, I have long been addicted to the writing of fantasy verse. I believe I have about 3,000 poems and 98% are fantasy/supernatural. Yes, when I wrote “Headsman”--which was actually based upon one of my sonnets from Night Terrors (now of course renamed “Flowers of Nithon”)--I sent it off to Eldritch Tales, but never heard a word back from Crispin. It was only several years later that I discovered that he had published it! I gave up fiction writing about 1979 as I felt that my

prose abilities were extremely lacking. Then about 2003, when I found myself with a great deal of time on my hands I began writing again, and much to my surprise I found some people liked what I was writing and some were even willing to pay me for it, at least on occasion. “The Ring of Azathoth” is a Mythos tale, about ten thousand words in length, that was published by Steve Lines of Rainfall Books, both in an issue of his magazine, Lovecraft’s Disciples #8, and also, in the collection of Mythos tales called Cthulhu’s Creatures, published in conjunction with Rainfall Books and Jeff n’ Joy’s Books. This story contains my recurring character “Brother Eusebius” a cloistered monk at St. Volusian’s Monastery near Hexam Massachusetts, who has the power of bilocation, among other things, and is one of three Mythos tales I’ve written. There may be more. I’ve also written about 20 other assorted fantasy and supernatural tales. LB: When did you first discover your talent for poetry? And how did authors like Clark Ashton Smith and HP Lovecraft influence you? What other authors formed your early influences in your own work? MF: I grew up with my mother reciting poetry around the house, so I thought it was the most natural thing in the world to love poetry--it was a large surprise for me to learn that most of the outside world loathed poetry. I was 14 when I wrote my first poem. Over the next ten years that I wrote poetry, however, I wrote nothing you could even remotely call “good” until I was 24. Shortly after that I discovered HPL, I was a Johnnycomely-lately to Lovecraft. But I owe him a large debt as I discovered CAS through him. I cannot tell you how I felt when I first read Smith. I was absolutely transported! Lovecraft and Poe were certainly early influences on my poetry. My sonnets were, and still are influenced by HPL and also by the sonnets of Edwin Arlington Robinson, who directly influenced the Italian sonnets which make up Fungi From Yuggoth. Other influences on my poetry would certainly be Oscar Wilde, Algernon Charles Swinburne, Arthur Symons, Robert E. Howard (who is much under appreciated as a poet) and others. LB: Going back a bit further, can you tell us about where you were born and grew up? You were educated at schools in New

Jersey and Kentucky, right? What led you to take psychology at University College Rutgers in New Jersey? MF: I was born in Indiana, but grew up in Bernardsville, NJ where I went to grammar and high school. I spent three years at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky, did not graduate, but left and was drafted into the US Army at the height of the Viet Nam war. In fact I was drafted in the largest draft call since World War II. I spent 2 years in military intelligence at Ft. George G. Meade in Maryland, where I was an interrogator who never interrogated anyone. After the military I bounced around at a number of jobs, everything from truck driver to jelly cook, to cold roll mill operator. I became enamoured with the work of Swiss psychologist, Carl Gustave Jung, and I returned to college at Rutgers University in New Jersey and received a BA in psychology in 1984. I worked at Rutgers in various capacities until 1990 when I moved to Miami, Florida for two years. There I worked as registration supervisor at Florida International University. Chased out of the state after Hurricane Andrew in 1992 I returned to New Jersey and Rutgers where I worked in the Labour Studies Program until 1998… the last 7 years I have worked as a security officer just a few miles from the town where I grew up. LB: I understand many of your Lovecraftian sonnets were written at a young age – why was that? Did your later time in military intelligence hinder or help your literary pursuits? MF: A young age--well 24 to me is a young age! And that is when I wrote them. Actually I’ve probably already answered this question, but I was so struck by what Lovecraft had done, and I knew I wanted to write, or try to write like that. That is an interesting question about whether or not my time in the military was a help or a hindrance. At the time I thought it was a terrible hindrance, however, the years have softened my view of those days, and now I think it was no hindrance--a help? Ah, who can say? LB: Has writing been a continual passion for you, or it something you have done sporadically over the years? MF: Another interesting question! I wrote off and on from about 1966 until 1996 and then something happened, and I have written almost constantly these past 13 years. Poetry is a true compulsion with me. Then, of course, I do now write the occasional short

story, although that seems something like a chore. LB: You’ve had many poems published over a period of thirty years or more. For instance, work of yours appeared in an anthology Visions of Khroyd’hon (edited by Wilum Pugmire back in 1985) and more recently in The Red Candle Treasury, ed. M.L. McCarthy (The Red Candle Press, Britain: 1998). You’ve had poems in many print magazines such as Aoife’s Kiss, Fantasy Macabre, Tales of Lovecraftian Horror and Midnight Shambler, The Lyric, Candelabrum. And there’s Nightscapes whose online version has published a number of your wonderful Lovecraftian sonnets under the Night Terrors title: (http://www.epberglund.com/RGttCM/nightsc apes/NS14/ns14po3.htm). And then there are your many online appearances for instance at. Poetry Sonnet Scroll, The New Formalist, Ironwood Journal, The Writer's Hood, Dark Moon Rising, Shadow Keep, Fable and also at Aphelion (http://www.aphelionwebzine.com/authors/FantinaMichael.html) , at http://www.thehypertexts.com/Michael%20Fan tina%20Poet%20Poetry%20Picture%20Bio.html, at Vagabondage Press (http://www.vagabondagepress.com/81001/V1I 5PT4.html), at Twilight Times (http://www.twilighttimes.com/apr02/m_Fanti nap16.html) and so on. That’s a considerable body of work. Do you feel you should be better known in the fantasy community at this stage? MF: Well, I am smiling at the question. Yes, I do feel I should be better known, however, for the most part, poetry, of whatever kind, always gets very little notice. LB: Your Lovecraftian sonnets, in expanded form, have now been published by the UK’s Rainfall Books as Flowers from Nithon (2008). They have also collected many of your poems in Sirens and Silver (2006), correct? You’ve also had work in various of Rainfall’s magazines such as Thrilling Tales, Beyond the Borderlands and Weird Worlds. Can you give us an overview of your career in submitting poetry to zines, and how did your relationship with Rainfall Books develop? MF: An overview? Well, back in the 60s and 70s apart from submitting to fanzines, I did try, occasionally, to get into print in more mainline poetry publications, but I knew in advance that

it would be difficult as almost none of them would consider verse that was rhymed and/or metered. But eventually, after years of trial and error, I began to see what sorts of publications might print my poetry, and I started having some successes. My relationship with Rainfall developed in an exchange of emails with Steve Lines. I probably sent him some poetry for submission. Eventually he asked me if I had enough fantasy poetry for a book length collection (I actually have 3 unpublished collections, each of 200 pages). I sent him an ms of 200 pages Argosy of Dreams. However, that collection is now on permanent hold, in the interim Sirens & Silver was published – 40 pages and lavishly illustrated by Steve. I also told him that I had some fiction on hand and asked to send it along and I think he has published 7 or 8 of my fantasy and horror tales with more slated for the future. LB: Robert M. Price included several of your poems in his volume The Book of Eibon (Chaosium, 2002). What was it like working with the Reverend Price, and did this book publication of some of your work bring you much more exposure than previously? MF: Bob Price is just a wonderful and cordial person and a pleasure to be around. When he lived in NJ I visited him on two occasions for several hours. He is a fount of knowledge on so many different subjects, an affable and exuberant host. Well, it is hard for me to say if my appearance in The Book of Eibon brought me more exposure, although I’m sure that it must have. (Bob also bought and published my fantasy tale “Return of the Spider Witch” for issue number 8 of Strange Tales.) LB: You have appeared in print quite a number of times alongside poet Richard L. Tierney, whose rather misanthropic viewpoint in his work is well-known. Do you share that misanthropic viewpoint? As an admirer of Nietzsche, what do you think of the human species and how does this affect your attitudes in your poetry? MF: Dick Tierney is, I believe, the greatest living fantasy/horror poet, and he is a superb writer of fiction. He has been a great source of encouragement to me over the years, and not only to me but to many others as well. No, I do not share Dick’s “misanthropic” views

of mankind. Eleven years ago I returned to the religion of my childhood, Catholicism, and I share that world view. Well, as you know there are two distinct views on Nietzsche, one is rather hard core, and the other a softer sort, which is the one I see. The interesting thing about Nietzsche, unlike many philosophers, is that you seem to be able to pick and choose the ideas you like! LB: How do you feel in general about the life of the poet, especially the weird poet? Is formalist verse a dying art? And what do you see as the future of weird verse? MF: Well, it seems that to speak of the life of the poet is to fill up space with a boat load of clichés so I will refrain from doing that. Whatever else the poet does, he needs to forego feeling sorry for himself as that is the bill of fare in nearly every age. I think that formalism is making a slow but steady come back. Thirty years ago there was almost no place accepting formalist verse, but that has changed. In the UK you have Candelabrum Poetry Magazine, which has been publishing a great deal of formalist verse for over 25 years now. Weird or fantasy poetry will always be with us. Just look at the poetry from different periods of history, it is chock full of fantasy poetry of nearly every stripe. The poets, moderns and post-moderns, who live within their academic ivory towers are not only oblivious to fantasy, but run screaming from it. No one but other academics reads their poetry--however, Leigh, I must exclude you! You are a superb formalist poet and an academic! [Here the interviewer pauses to blush] LB: Your work is, I understand frequently referred to in Supernatural Horror in Literature: A Core Collection and Reference Guide ed. M.Tymn [Bowker & Bowker: 1989]. Does Tymn’s book give any sort of an assessment of your work? And what is the best review, notice or comment you have had upon your poetry from any source? MF: It’s been a while since I’ve looked at Supernatural Horror in Literature, which I believed was published in 1989? It might be interesting to note that since that date I have tripled my output of poetry. The best review I’ve received from any source was probably from a 19 year old girl, a college student, who read one of my poems. She told me that she had had no interest in poetry whatsoever, but she enjoyed my poetry so much that it sparked a new interest for her and she began to read the verse of others.

LB: How do your other interests, which include the American Civil War and the Second World War, fit with your poetry writing? MF: Interesting, I don’t know if this question has an answer. Off the top of my head I can think of only one poem I’ve written about WW II--a sonnet on the P-51 Mustang, and I’ve written, I think, 2 or 3 short poems about the American Civil War. Whenever I think of war and poetry however I always think of World War I, The Great War, which took the lives of so many young poets. At one time I began compiling a list of poets who died in that conflict, and it was an incomplete and long one. LB: Lastly, can you describe how you normally write? Is it a daily routine for you, or do you write only when inspiration strikes? Picture for us your study or work area where you write your poems. Do you write longhand or use a computer? MF: Believe it or not for the past 8 years I’ve written 99% of my poetry at work, which I can as I work security. Most of the day I sit in front of a PC and answer the phone and direct visitors who enter the building, or in the evening I sit at another desk in a remote area of the building. And, yes, I write every day, or at least 5 days a week. From here I have written nearly 2,000 poems and 130,000 words of fiction during this period. I need almost no inspiration for poetry. I jokingly say that when I have no inspiration I can always write sonnets! But what often inspires me is the work of other poets, or, as always, a beautiful girl, or anything beautiful. LB: Michael, thank you so much for your time.

FOUR POEMS BY MICHAEL FANTINA

So many years beneath these hills I’ve slept in sadness in the dirt, Dreaming how the young girls flirt To banish all my earthly ills. For some dark sin I haunt the march And frighten lovers near the yews Until the dawn when morning dews Drip from the shattered Gothic arch. But then the dark comes on once more, The werewolf’s howl rebounds and grows To echo in the Winter snows, In Summer round the blasted tor. In Spring the nights are deadly still, The screech owl sounds his plaintive cry, And over the dark and Moonless sky Is answered by the whippoorwill. Up from the putrid, dripping slime I rise when night jars call my name, And every night it is the same, From now until the end of Time!

Beyond The Cairn Beyond the cairn, beyond the fallen wall The star winds send my spirit on its way, To lands where sorceress and mage hold sway, Where magics rule from realms sidereal. Here on pellucid lakes where never squall Or ripples break the mirrored surface day Or night, she stands, and lifts her hands to pray, This regal girl so pale and proudly tall. And I have come to seek from her a boon, A promise that will heal me, make me whole, I pray that she will hear me soon, now soon, That I may live and shrive my weary soul. I have no coin to pay her heavy toll, My heart becomes as barren as the Moon!

The Haunted March Through the brick and mortar wall I float when darkness claims the bog. My bones rest in a hollowed log Near the haunted manor hall. When evening falls I find the trail That snakes through swamp and marshy grass. Here once I walked with some pert lass Who is a ghost now cold and pale.

Winter I watch the grey ponds harden When Winter stalks the day. And watch the gales blow whitely, Both daily and then nightly, Dead flowers in my garden, With winds blown from the bay. I watch the grey ponds harden

When Winter stalks the day. Now stark and all asunder, My roses lie in death Until the warm Sun gleaming Once more its life is streaming And will the Winter sunder, And give us breath for breath. Now stark and all asunder, My roses lie in death. Though now the king of cold is Harsh liege of all this land, And haply lords it over The flowers, grasses, clover, Until the Sun’s pure gold is New liege above the strand, Though now the king of cold is Harsh liege of all this land. Here right beside this willow, Within this haunted night, Half waking and half dreaming, I hear the snow storm screaming, As wan as any billow, And deathly, deathly white, Here right outside my window, Within this haunted night! Then out upon the headland I hear the breakers roll Where titan waves are crashing Ghost ships yet listing, thrashing Across this icy dead land I hear the bronze bell toll. Then out upon the headland I hear the breakers roll. And then at freezing midnight I see the ghost of Spring That comes the Winter after With love and lovers laughter And where all the world seems light Here joyous bells will ring And then at freezing midnight I see the ghost of Spring. This storm so like a river That rages to the sea, That howls like grey wolves stalking, Like goblins laughing, talking Until I quiver, shiver, In my extremity. This storm so like a river That rages to the sea,

I spy the storm winds veering Across the Channel Isles. There where the dead are sleeping, Their secrets guarding, keeping, As out there in the clearing, The ruined peristyles. I spy the storm winds veering Across the Channel Isles. I watch the grey ponds harden When Winter stalks the day. And watch the gales blow whitely, Both daily and then nightly, Dead flowers in my garden, With winds blown from the bay. I watch the grey ponds harden When Winter stalks the day.

When Darkness Comes

I see the pinions flap when red dawns rise Above the parapets hard by this sea, Here on these mighty cliffs where white gulls flee High into clouds that throng these dawning skies. Across this bay the castle’s shadow lies, Opposing cliffs sprout from the tide lapped scree Below those soaring walls of porphyry, Where ghosts convene until the starlight dies. The morning fog the sea wind’s blown away, Where that rough headland casts its stony arm, The thunder of the tide yet falls like drums Throughout the night and all across the day, And gives this place a glad and subtle charm, Until the ghosts convene when darkness comes.

PROFILE OF ROBERT HOOD by Leigh Blackmore

[Note: This brief profile was written as part of my Journalism Features Writing classes last year. There is (somewhere) a much longer, 5000 word version of this interview but I seem to have mislaid it. If I find the fuller version I’ll print it later.]

When Rob Hood writes horror, his mood is not always doom and gloom. Despite the dark subject matter, he often has fun with it, as when he co-wrote the Creepers books with Bill Condon. “One of us would write the first chapter, subsequently faxing it to the other, who would continue with the next chapter, ending each chapter with some sort of crisis/cliffhanger. It got very competitive and escalated through each book. “Let’s see you get ‘em out of that one!”“ Oh, yeah! Well, take that!” It made the books rather breathless!” The fun aspect doesn’t mean he’s taken less seriously as a writer. Ben Szumskjy, critic and editor of the journal Australian Studies in Weird Fiction, says of him, “Illawarra’s most prolific author Robert Hood is among the finest authors of Australian weird fiction. An author to inspire, influence and set the benchmark for all newcomers, he is Australia’s answer to Ramsey Campbell.” (British writer Campbell has won more awards for his horror fiction than any other living writer). The balding, bespectacled Hood comes across as genially intellectual, readily justifying his preference for horror as a literary form. “Horror stories are about change--” says Hood “-– physical, metaphysical, philosophical, perceptual – and are given metaphorical shape in terms of mortality. My concentration on it derives from an acute awareness of the fragility of human life.” Born in Parramatta in 1951, he moved with his family aged nine to Collaroy Plateau, on Sydney’s northern beaches. “My strongest memories of Primary School involve winning an art contest with a drawing of a cartoon ape; reading Captain W.E. Johns' Mars books; and trying to trick my parents into letting me stay up to watch late-night horror movies on telly.” A natural writer, Hood started writing stories in primary school, continuing throughout high school. “I started writing because I loved reading and wanted to write

the books that others didn't.” His first novel was written in exercise books during Maths lessons: “it involved an eccentric professor, his beautiful daughter, alien invaders, flying saucers and man-eating vines,” he recalls. In high school, he read H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds, and credits it with getting him obsessed about reading SF. After that he read “everything I could find, from pulp SF magazines to War and Peace.” He also wrote long English compositions, which were “always fantastical, despite attempts by teachers to make me produce something more naturalistic.” He remembers organising a school play which he directed and in which he played Frankenstein's monster; and aged 12, having a short story rejected by the American IF Magazine. He loved both the fiction classics (Frankenstein, Dracula, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde) and ‘modern’ stuff, - “mainly short stories in the form of Weird Tales magazine, Alfred Hitchcock anthologies and the Pan Book of Horror Stories series.” A Wollongong resident for over twenty years, Hood has edited anthologies including Crosstown Traffic and three volumes of Daikaiju! “The best part of editing is finding stories you like, bringing them together. For example, with the Daikaiju books, I wanted to read giant monster stories. There were very few around, so I encouraged people to write some. But anthologies are exhausting. The three Daikaiju anthologies I did with Robin Pen took me away from my own writing for nearly two years.” His published work also includes two collections of short fiction - Daydreaming on Company Time and Immaterial, and the very successful young adult horror novel series, Shades. Hood’s life was struck by tragedy about ten years ago when his stepson Luke was killed in an accident on railway tracks. His novel Backstreets was written as a personal response to the event, and he was featured in an episode of ABC’s ‘Australian Story’. While the incident still affects him deeply, he has moved on, and prefers not to dwell on that part of his life now. He chooses instead to discuss an incident perhaps even more bizarre than Luke’s death. “I’d written something for a crime anthology that fictionally “solved” unsolved Australian crimes. It was one of my most disturbing stories, about the Wanda beach murders, in which my main character

witnesses the crime (child abuse, sexual assault – post-mortem as well as pre-mortem -- and murder). When the book came out I received a letter that only had my suburb as an address. (It got to me because the local PO knew who I was and held it for me.) The letters said the writer was convinced that my main character was a real person and that the story had really happened. He asked me to pass on a card he’d included to the detective character (Crowe). Crowe’s card indicated that the writer recognised the crime’s (fictional) perpetrator and believed that he knew who the real killer was. It was hinted that he had suffered abuse at this person’s hands as a child.” Disturbed by this, Hood took the letter to the police. “They were, of course, indifferent (in a TV show it would have led somewhere!). They were quite clear though that I should let them know if this person contacted me again. I feel rather pleased that my depiction of the killer and his actions was so psychologically convincing. But it left me unnerved for some time and made me think about how fiction can intersect with reality in a way that blurs the distinction.” He shakes his head, musing on the strange incident. Unsurprisingly, the themes of his work partly reflect these dark incidents in his life. But also, Hood says, “some things crop up whenever I think about what I'm doing : the vagaries of perception; the power of the human mind to mould its own realities; the thin line between the objective and the subjective worlds. And the importance of empathy.” He still reads avidly. “But these days it takes me a long time to get through a book. Cinema has been feeding my passion for storytelling, with its visual and auditory immediacy.” Right now, he’s reading Max Brooks' pseudo oral history of the zombie plague, World War Z. “It's a rather fractured vision -- the only characters are hordes of faceless undead -- but when it sparks, the vista is amazing, and it builds its bigger picture relentlessly.” His favourite form is the short story. They are, he says, “like a burst of flame in an otherwise smouldering fireplace, and as such they can focus and entrance, while novels are bush fires and too often rage out of control, and end up a dark ruin.” Always busy, he talks eagerly of his raft of current projects. “I'm trying to finish a horror novel. I have several commissioned short stories (mainly horror) to write for anthologies. I'm writing a YA supernatural

romance novel, a book on giant monster movies, and a fantasy novel.” His new short story collection, due out from Altair Australia in October, is titled Creeping in Reptile Flesh (its title derived from William Blake). It will include “mainly stories that have been published but mostly in obscure places, the titular novella and one or two new stories.” He has two basic rules for submitting. “One – keep stories out there, because good editors all see the same problems. Then revise again or put it aside for later, more objective consideration. Two – keep your ear to the ground for potential markets, particularly anthologies.” What else would he advise young writers to do? He doesn’t want to ‘pontificate’, but does offer: “You have to find your own way. But you do need to listen and evaluate; be critical, but also enjoy. Try not to think too much about writing as a career; expecting too much can stifle you. Just write. Lots. Send the stuff out when you're happy with it.” But that’s not all. “Avoid selling to easy markets just because they're easy,” he says. “It's no use whatsoever having a CV full of publications in magazines that will publish anything that wasn't written in crayon. If you wrote the story over breakfast and haven't revised assiduously, then it's probably crap.”

Books By My Bedside Due to time limitations I have to restrict this section to some brief notes instead of full reviews as I’d hoped. John Haefele has issued Lest We Forget via George Vanderburgh’s Battered Tin Dispatch Box. Lest We Forget is a highly detailed chronological listing of every piece of writing August Derleth composed about writer H. P. Lovecraft (each with a brief quote to provide context and essence) supplemented by little known letters selected from Derleth's personal papers. Lest We Forget is a reminder to everyone about the important role August Derleth had in

fostering the literary reputation of H.P. Lovecraft until Lovecraft was well on the way to becoming the canonical American author he is in 2008. Specifically, it is directed to the generation of Lovecraft aficionados and critics who upon the heels of Derleth benefited from his nearly halfcentury of devotion to a friend. Where what Derleth wrote might now seem commonplace, it is nevertheless interesting to note just when he wrote. Available from: http://www.batteredbox.com/ArkhamHouse /Lest%20We%20Forget.htm Donald R. Burleson’s Beyond the Lamplight is a must-have collection of horror stories that was published by Jack o’ Lantern Press back in 1996. It’s now worth quite a lot of money, if you can find it. Burleson is a superb writer and although I’ve not yet finished reading this, the quality shines through in every line of the first few stories. Worth hunting down. The Dark Grimoire Tarot is something I wasn’t aware of until one of Margi’s Tarot students here in Wollongong brought it along to show me. I immediately recognised the imagery throughout the deck as being based on Lovecraft’s stories. The pic shows the front of the box, with Abdul Alhazred writing the Necronomicon, and the back of each card has a portrait of HPL. You can see more images from the deck at: http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/darkgrimoire/. It’s available to buy from Amazon, Llewellyn online, etc. Or from the Italian publisher, Lo Scarabeo at: http://www.loscarabeo.com/catalogo2004/ home.htm

That makes three Lovecraft Tarot packs that I know of. Lovecraft’s penetration into popular culture and indeed into the worlds of magic seems to know no bounds! Here’s something that isn’t a book, but comes from a book I own. My copy of F B Long’ s memoir of HPL, Dreamer on the Nightside, contains the following inscribed bookplate by Long. His handwriting was pretty shaky even back in 1976 when the book was published. I didn’t meet Long until 1990, in New York, but it’s great to have this signed label dating from around fifteen years earlier.

MANTICHORUS: MAILING NOTES EOD mailing #146 (Apr 30, 2009) Joshi: What is Anything?: Sorry to hear of the loss of your cat Lily. I look forward to Black Wings. Great about the Mencken titles, although I’m most looking forward to Classics & Contemporaries. 2 vol unabridged HPL bio- wow!!! Put me down for one! Perilous Press sounds promising. Nice essay on Lytton et al. Livesey: Redux: Enjoyed your piece on Hugh Elliott, though much of the science is beyond me. And thanks for your comments on Spores and my Harrison essay. Walker: Criticaster: I always find lots in your notations to chase up – not that there’s ever time to find all these things! RYCTM, “By Their Fruits…” was titled after a phrase from the Bible, though the reference escapes me as I write. Goodrich: Raw New Things: Congrats on ”The Patriot”. I hope to get the antho sometime. Sad about Keith Herber’s passing. The Houdini/HPL stuff interested me. I published a long article many years ago (in the Australian mag EOD) about the connection between the two.

Dapkus: Sidereal: Fabulous verses by Fred Phillips. Someone should publish a collection by Fred. Derrick Hussey? Danny Lovecraft? I commend him! Nice news item on Derleth. Andersson: Aurora Borealis: You’re doing good work! Always fascinating to hear of Lovecraftiana published in languages other than English. The B&N errata list is very useful. Thanks for your extensive emcees – I wish I had space/time to match them. My best find recently as a member of the AHODR (Drowned Rat for short) was a nice copy of Fergus Hume’s Mystery of a Hansom Cab. Sorry you found the Viriconium stories hard going; hope you have a second go. Good on you for having those two O’Keefe covers; he is underappreciated as an artist. Phillips: Kommati: Glorious Raven on the front of the Jan 29 issue! I enjoyed the piece about alchemy, as this is one of my occult interests. I have given the odd workshop about it. Jung, of course, was a great explicator of the alchemical function as a method of psychological integration; as was Israel Regardie, one of Crowley’s students. The piece on the Devil’s Chord was good, too. Reminds me of Genesis P. Orridge and Psychic TV, who have often explored the use of sound to deliberately activate certain parts of the psyche. Enjoyed the museum notes and poem in the later issue, too. Indick: Ibid: Vastly enjoyed your book reviews. Thanks for the good wishes on my writing! Drake: Potpourri: Nice piece on the Golden Age which expanded my knowledge of pulps. Briggs: Dark Entries: I really enjoy your zine, Scott, it’s a great mix of heartfelt opinion, reviews etc. Nice long review of ST’s Rise and Fall. The Bauhaus stuff fascinated me as I haven’t heard anything of theirs since the heyday (I have a CASSETTE tape of classics in my collection, and once had a picture disc-remember them? – of “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”). I just got a copy of Die Wontcha from Perry, so will re-read your review

when I’ve listened to the CD. Those Midnight Oil albums are classic, all right. If you can’t afford to buy Spores let me know – I can probably send you one. If you want to read M. John Harrison, his short story collections Travel Arrangements and Things That Never Happen are indispensable. Funny, I recently started reading The Einstein Intersection by Delany but got distracted; will get back to it. Delany is awesome; I’ve read most of his stuff – funnily, with the exception of Dhalgren (which I will get to). Rajala: Nonconformist: Nice zine. Thanks for the postcard transcriptions. Harksen: Philosopher: Congrats on the birth of My! And sorry to hear of your mother passing away. You have my sincere sympathies. Sorry I haven’t been able to review Eldritch Horrors yet; just too busy! Nice to hear of the forthcoming publications including Phillip Ellis’ poetry volume. Keep up the good work with fiction! Enjoyed the notes on horror and the reviews. Everts: Laney: A curious figure in the world of Lovecraft fandom. I’d like to get a copy of Ah! Sweet Idiocy but I guess it’s rare. Burlesons: Morgan & Rice Gazette: Congrats on success of the UFO/Oppenheimer book. Excited to learn of a new collection of your fiction – keep us posted, won’t you? Thanks for the HPL postcard. Haefele: Hesperia: Greatly enjoyed “The Ackermonster and the Aug”; wellresearched and balanced piece. Faig: EOD Letter: The O-Wash-Ta-Nong stuff was much appreciated. And indeed, I enjoyed all your book (and stage) reviews. As to “wandering bishops”, there is quite a tradition of this connected with the EGC (Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica) (of which I am an ordained Deacon) and the OTO (Aleister Crowley’s magical order). I’d be happy to chat further on this subject. Thanks for ordering Spores – glad to know Gavin Smith can supply it! Caitlin Kiernan is a curious writer, not least because of her transgendered sexuality! Anderson: Nodens’ Notebook: I love your reviews of old scarce fantastic works. I’ve

been reading some of your others in some issues of Wormwood that Mark Valentine sent me. As usual, makes me despair of ever having an encyclopedic knowledge of the weird; but having critics like you willing to wade through and discuss some of the obscurities definitely helps! Phillips: Cyaegha: Such a well-produced attractive zine! Enjoyed all the contents. I used to correspond with Eddy Bertin many years ago. I bought a copy of the original Eyurid portfolio from Space Age Books in Melbourne in the late 1970s, though I no longer have it. SWWFT Mailing #33 (March 2009) Garrett: Coin-Op: Enjoyed your poem. Good luck with the degree. Howard: Change-Winds: Some of my old faves in the Derleth pbks in your cover pic. Things like the Four Square Sleeping and the Dead turned me onto horror, along with When Evil Wakes and others. A slim issue, John, though I enjoyed the emcees. Hope to see more material from you in future issues. Phillips: Sercon: Enjoyed your various tidbits and comments, and emcees. Best part was your verse. Great to see. I believe there’s a missing syllable in the last line of that beginning “The ruby splendour of the setting sun…”; maybe something to fix? Barrett: Koshtra Belorn: Nice essay on Clifford Ball. Confess I’ve not read his short stories; another to follow up! Congrats on the Dark Horizons appearance, and other in-print work. Valentine: Opharion: I like your eclectic reading. One day I’ll obtain the Ex Occidente Press volumes; the usual difficulties with money while I’m a poor student. Thanks for the Seer of Trieste, which I enjoyed. Just saw the movie In Bruges, which you might appreciate for its Belgian background. Oh God, I keep meaning to renew my FOAM membership…Good luck with the sarcoidosis; we all have our health problems at times, it seems. So glad you enjoyed MJH’s Course of the Heart. I recommend his Signs of Life as well –

heart-rending stuff in places. Frank Baker article very informative. All for Deans that read their students ghost stories! We don’t get that tradition in Australia. I see Baker has a website: http://www.frankbaker.co.uk/ Hadn’t realised he was a friend of Machen. Mary Butts was also a Crowley acquaintance. I must get The Tregerthen Horror – one of the recent books about Crowley that has not yet found its way into my collection. Ellis: Elegant Amusement: Beautiful poem. I was not familiar with the form of the pantoum; now I am. And the word “fleam” was new to me – what a great word (an instrument of bloodletting). Nice essay in brief on Eleusinia by Machen. I’ve not read much of his poetry (if any). ‘Twould be curious to give a closer examination to how the Grecian/mystery rites theme of his poem plays out; perhaps a subject for another article (which I’d like to write, for I’m interested in the Eleusinian rites). I think I have read this essay on Lovecraft’s poetry before – perhaps you sent it to me; good to see. Andersson: Hyperborean: Good heavens, you’ve only read Cold Print by Ramsey Campbell! You must read at least Alone with the Horrors, a large collection of his best short horror fiction; and The Face That Must Die, if not many others of his horror novels. Many book acquisitions and books read, as usual! I am desperate for Joshi’s updated Lovecraft biblio – don’t know why it’s taking so long to appear. Didn’t know about the annotated Dexter Ward – yay! Hope you enjoyed your Tolkien jaunt! Schultz’s projects promise to keep us in Lovecraftian letters and other good stuff for years to come….Who is publishing Smith’s Tales of India and Irony??? Thanks for the HPL reprint article. Shaeffer: Dalriadic Chronicles: Enjoyed “Shadow over Comic Con”. I enjoyed how your essay highlighted the changes Serling made to Matheson’s story. Gonna come back to you about “Corporate Ethics” didn’t get time to read it (sorry). Glad you like Sabbath.