Deadite Press Gears Up

 
One of the saddest horror stories of 2010 was the demise of Leisure Books' horror line and ousting of editor Dan D'Auria. For several years, Leisure published two paperback horror novels a month from literary luminaries such as Brian Keene, Wrath James White, JF Gonzalez, Bryan Smith, Edward Lee, Ray Garton, Gord Rollo, Richard Laymon, Simon Clark, Mary Sangiovanni, Tim Lebbon, and many others.  I was a member of their horror book club and always looked forward to the thud of that cardboard box of pulp goodness on my doorstep. When they started sending me books from other publishers, I smelt a James Herbert-sized rat. 

For many of Leisure's authors, the end, like most ends, was a messy affair. Advances had not been received. Pending releases hung in holding patterns. Anger spilled over into blogs.

With 2011 now upon us, so is some very good news. Deadite Press, a specialty publisher with solid horror bona fides, has embraced and will be releasing the past and future work of Leisure lifeboat authors Brian Keene, JF Gonzalez, Bryan Smith, and Edward Lee, to name a few.

Deadite is already an active horror publisher and has demonstrated a healthy jones for extreme, wild, and deliciously subversive material. They also publish works from Bizarro writers such as Carlton Mellick III (Apeshit), AndreDuza (Necro Sex Machine), Adam Pepper (Super Fetus), and Robert Devereaux (Slaughter House High).

 Upcoming novels from Deadite include re-publishings of the Guy N. Smith-inspired Clickers books (there are two so far)  from JF Gonzalez -- if you haven't read his Survivor, you ought to, because then you'll know what it feels like to be ass-raped through your eyes. Jack's Magic Beans is coming from Brian Keene; and Bryan Smith has Highways to Hell, a new short story collection, and The Killing Kind 2, on the way.

Baby's First Book of Seriously Fuck-Up Shit, by Robert Devereaux, sounds like a must-read based on  title alone; it hits stores in March. Other upcoming Devereaux titles include Santa Steps Out, Santa Conquers the Homophobes (a certain reader of this blog had better watch out!), and Book Three of the Santa Chronicles

Wrath James Wright, who wrote the troubling Succulent Prey, has His Pain out in September, and Population Zero available for immediate fondling.

 Already available from Deadite and recommended is Edward Lee's Trolley No. 1852, a tale so much in the Lovecraftian tradition, it's backstory is that it was written by Lovecraft himself when he was skint. From what I've heard, the dark scribe was skint most of the time. The stories within this framework involve a strange sex club that smells like a more gentlemanly version of Ray Garton's den of slut vampires in Live Girls. By gentlemanly, I'm not suggesting that nothing much happens in Lee's club but cigar smoking and cricket chat --  on the contrary, much perversion occurs, but it's seen from Lovecraft's more sexually conservative point of view, and not described with the relish Mr. Lee is famous for.

Leisure has gone, but Deadite survives, and should thrive with its new roster of warped wordsmiths.  

 

Here's a more official rundown of the blood-, gore-, and semen-soaked magic upcoming from the publisher:

February
Urban Gothic by Brian Keene
Jack’s Magic Beans by Brian Keene
Clickers by J. F. Gonzalez and Mark Williams
Clickers II by J. F. Gonzalez and Brian Keene

March:
A Gathering of Crows by Brian Keene
Take the Long Way Home by Brian Keene
Baby’s First Book of Seriously Fucked-Up Shit by Robert Devereaux (a new collection of short fiction)

April:
Highways to Hell by Bryan Smith (a new collection of short fiction)

Coming later in 2011

The Corporation by J. F. Gonzalez
His Pain by Wrath James White
The Killing Kind by Bryan Smith
Freakshow by Bryan Smith
Depraved by Bryan Smith
Dark Hollow by Brian Keene
A Gathering of Crows by Brian Keene
Darkness on the Edge of Town by Brian Keene
Castaways by Brian Keene
Ghost Walk by Brian Keene
Ghoul by Brian Keene
Dead Sea by Brian Keene
Kill Whitey by Brian Keene
The Conqueror Worms by Brian Keene
The Conqueror Worms: Selected Scenes from the End of the World by Brian Keene
The Rising by Brian Keene
Walking Wounded by Robert Devereaux
Santa Steps Out by Robert Devereaux
Santa Conquers the Homophobes by Robert Devereaux
Book Three of the Santa Chronicles by Robert Devereaux

Bazaldua and the Great Caruso

I have been reluctant to re-post the incredible work of Oscar Bazaldua (Nava) because it is already being posted regularly at !Historietas Perversas!

*** http://historietasperversas.blogspot.com/ ***

The Historietas blog is primarily devoted to Bazaldua's sensationally lurid, truly beautiful art. It's the kind of art that will be celebrated for its true greatness one day (probably just before the poor bugger dies).

Most of Bazaldua's illustrations are taken from Mexican adult comics (Ghetto Librettos).

Bazaldua's use of color, form, shape and texture is exemplary, and I find him to be one of the most inspiring artists I have ever seen (alongside Toshio Saeki, Rudolph Balarski, Suehiro Maruo, and Hideshi Hino).

Conceptually, his work is several cuts above almost anything else out there. Execution-wise, he has few peers.

Combining elements from Westerns, Porn, Horror, and Men's Adventure, he has produced a mountain of amazing, transgressive, and very "fine" art.


Working in a very different vein, artist Santiago Caruso is the equal of Bazaldua in terms of talent and craft.

Perhaps you will agree with me that the illustration above, La Otra Inseguridad, is a work of true greatness, and understatement.

Mr. Caruso has demonstrated a great sensitivity towards the works of Lovecraft, and it shows in this fine piece of work.

Sembraron Futuro (above) is an exquisite statement on the future, the past, and the seeds of our destiny.

I can only stare at these in a state of awe.


From the cover of More Adventures in Arkham Country, this 'View of Innsmouth' goes beyond capturing the essence of Lovecraft's love of specific architecture.

I can't look at 'House of Windows' and not feel sadness that Lovecraft didn't live to see these masterpieces of cosmic horror.

Mr. Caruso, who hails from Argentina, deserves to be called Great.

http://santiagocaruso.blogspot.com/

The Perfect Marriage of HP Lovecraft and Santiago Caruso

These somber, grotesque, and beautiful scans were originally sent to me by fellow blogger Shon Richards who writes the fascinating Erotiterrorist.

They are from an obscure 2008 volume he found in Old San Juan.

It is The Dunwich Horror, with illustrations by the brilliant Argentina(Buenos Aries)-based Santiago Caruso, whose blog can be found here: http://santiagocaruso.blogspot.com/

Fittingly, the young book was covered in a carpet of dust.


I have substituted some of Shon's scans with scans from Mr. Caruso's amazing blog.

Shon writes:

"I think what I like best about these images is there is an inherent sadness to Wilbur Whatley. In the story he comes across as a bitter, nasty agent of evil, but in the drawings he looks like a poor person who was born into something he wouldn't have chosen. I find Wilbur far more sympathetic than anyone else in the story. The guy should get a movie."

Indeed!


These are some of the most vivid, organic visions of Lovecraft's world I have ever seen.



Extraordinarily beautiful!

I look at these and feel that I am "home".

Thanks, Shon, and thank you, HPL and Santiago Caruso.

Remembered and Never Forgotten

Do you recognize this writer?

It's HP Lovecraft.

In the fantastic Lovecraft Remembered (Arkham House, '98) ...


... those who knew the man (Neighbors, Friends, Confidantes, Colleagues, Critics & Fans) reflect on every aspect of his work and persona. It's like a warm wake of one fondly remembered and treasured, a mind-boggling collection of rich words and wonders.

I unearthed this tome in a dusty, under-the-stairs book nook in San Francisco. It took my breath and hooked my imagination. The bookshop no longer exists.

Why, then, do I insist on visiting the building it once occupied whenever I have business or pleasure in the City on the Bay?

I don't know. Not for sure, anyway. But I think it has something to do with HP himself. Like no other dead writer, his spirit lingers like a welcome, purple bruise on the flesh of dark literature . At least for me, anyway. This book is a solid extension of the man, and a literary autopsy of a rich, troubled inner life that paralleled some of my own, and that of many other devotees, too, I'm sure.

There's a good reason why we all find ourselves bobbing in the same boat.

Upon hearing of HP's passing, the great Robert Bloch penned the following:


HP bruised Mr. Bloch, too.

Whenever I travel, even if I know there will be little time for reading, I take this book with me. Keeping it close maintains some kind of connection. A part of me clearly needs to be connected to HP. To his world. To his spirit of dedication to the word. To his creations.

This piece from August Derleth, who championed the writer like no other, raises the subject of HP's mother, and her obsession with her son's "awful" appearance.

Derleth expands on Mrs. Lovecraft's belief that her son was "hideous", giving us extraordinary insight into Lovecraft's upbringing and reclusive demeanor.


In "Lovecraft As I Know Him", HP's wife, Sonia H. Davis, also writes about HP's image of himself, and how the writer's mother molded that image:

Winfield Townley Scott, in the chapter, "His Own Most Fantastic Creation", wrote of the author's work and dietary habits prior to his journey north to the last Mountains of Madness.


Howard Lovecraft, the man who defined "Weird Tales", left a legacy with a tangible presence that is as strong today as it ever was.