H.P. Podcraft pods saved

04 Friday Nov 2011

Posted by in Lovecraftian arts

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The H.P. Podcraft full-story readings were teetering on the verge of toppling and sinking below the black mire of iTunes bandwidth…

“from this point forward, our full story readings will no longer be appearing as Podcast episodes – they’ll only be available exclusively from the site, and will be disappearing from the iTunes feed in the future.”

But they’re been rescued by Michael Walker, and will still be available on the site. Nice one, Michael! Currently available full readings for download: “From Beyond”; The Picture in The House”; “The Haunter of the Dark”; “Cool Air”, and “The Cats of Ulthar”.

I don’t use iTunes, but I’m puzzled why bandwidth should be an issue there. Is it that… when bandwidth for free iTunes stuff exceeds a certain amount, Apple pulls the plug and makes you offer it for payment?

Ernst Haeckel

04 Friday Nov 2011

Posted by in Historical context, Lovecraftian arts, REH

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Genius British comics artist Hunt Emerson provides a lovely new portrait of Ernst Haeckel, Zoologist and Painter, on the Steampunk and Phenomena profile of Haeckel.

Haeckel’s full set of Kunstformen der Natur plates are available on Wikimedia. These are likely to have visually influenced Lovecraft and Giger, and Haeckel is cited as one of Lovecraft’s “chief philosophical influences” via Haeckel’s The Riddle of the Universe (1899). He was also an influence on R.E. Howard (circa 9th August 1932, Howard told Lovecraft that he… “used to be a violent admirer of Haekal”). There’s also a 60 minute documentary on Haeckel, Proteus (2004).

Spyders of Burslem, now on the Kindle

01 Tuesday Nov 2011

Posted by in Lovecraftian arts, New books, Odd scratchings

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The hand-coded ebook edition of my The Spyders of Burslem novel has just landed on the Kindle. It’s now available from Amazon USA and Amazon UK. If you’re in France or Germany, it’s there too.

“It is the year 1869 in the English Midlands pottery town of Burslem, where a new age of industry and learning struggles to be born. A young graduate has arrived to teach the workers, but finds himself on the trail of a deadly evil.”

60,000 words, hand-coded, linked table of contents. Five passes of extra proof-reading for the Kindle edition.

The Spyders of Burslem, available now

31 Monday Oct 2011

Posted by in Lovecraftian arts, New books

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I’m very pleased to say that my novel The Spyders of Burslem has been published on Halloween, as planned. Available to buy now as a paperback. Kindle users will have to wait just a little longer, because the Amazon approval process holds things up for a day or two. Here’s the blurb…

The Spyders of Burslem. A dark historical mystery, brought to vivid life. It is the year 1869 in the English pottery town of Burslem, where a new age of industry and learning struggles to be born. A young graduate has arrived to teach the workers, but finds himself on the trail of a deadly evil. A new and original novel of 60,000-words, rich with authentic period details and characters.

Here are the chapter contents from the book’s website… with a link to a free sample chapter. Kindle users will, of, course, be able to read the first 10% of the new book for free.

CONTENTS:

Chapter One: Arrival.
Chapter Two: A Providential Meeting.
Chapter Three: The Raising of the Zodiac.
Chapter Four: A Pint of the Finest.
Chapter Five: In a Darkling Aetherstorm.
Chapter Six: Death and Time.
Chapter Seven: Discoveries.
Chapter Eight: The Scrying.
Chapter Nine: A Cunning Kiss.
Chapter Ten: What the Dark Brings.
Chapter Eleven: The Face and the Mind.
Chapter Twelve: The Shadows of the Blind.
Chapter Thirteen: The Workings of Men.
Chapter Fourteen: Lost and Dreaming.
Chapter Fifteen: A First Frost.
A historical note.

Lovecraft as archaeologist

28 Friday Oct 2011

Posted by in New books, Scholarly works

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JAS Arqueologia has published a special academic monograph by Riccardo Frigoli, in Spanish, called: “Las excavaciones de R’Lyeh: La arqueología como metodo, la prehistoria como idea y la literatura fantastica de H.P. Lovecraft”. I very roughly translate this as… “The Excavations at R’Lyeh: the methods of archaeology and the prehistory of this [profession, as found] in the fantastical works of H.P. Lovecraft.” The Introduction, in Spanish, is online as a free PDF, if anyone wants to create an accurate English abstract.