For those heel-dragging Luddites who still see no use in social/business networking sites, I submit this member’s entry at LinkedIn. Whilst I would aver that some of the info presented on the LinkedIn page of His Sleepiness might smack of both bravado and bragadaccio (and it also displays a poor command of the English language; which is understandable, considering his foreign national status), the bottom line is that The Big C is a mover n’ shaker with an absolutely fanatical grass-roots movement behind him. His message, in a nutshell, is “Change.” Now that he’s begun to use the Interwebs in a strategic fashion, I really don’t see anything that can stop him. Log in (while there’s still time) and become wild and free.  The stars are right.

*My thanks to Metallica for the headline…

“…the older Christopher Lee gets, the cooler Christopher Lee gets.”

— Steve Tompkins, “The Voice of Saruman, Speaking the First Age Into Being”

While I’d heard whispers of a new Christopher Lee project on the Official Robert E. Howard Forum,* it was this fine blog entry by Jeff Sypeck on the Quid Plura? site which motivated me to get up off the parliamentary side o’ me arse and compose a blog entry of my own.

(Continue reading this post)

A while back I read Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill. Joe is an important new voice in horror, having won a Bram Stoker award for his short story collection 20th Century Ghosts. This is his first novel, and it is a doozy. The villain is a former CIA interrogator who learned hypnosis and mind control tricks while in Vietnam, and now that he’s dead, he can really get into your head. The action is fast-paced and never lets up, and Slasher fans will appreciate the role the protagonist’s dogs play in this story. If it reads a bit like Stephen King, that is natural, as Joe is Stephen King’s son, and grew up listening to his father’s stories.
See review here.

Craig Clarke, proprieter of the literary blog, Somebody Dies, has been a busy man the last two years. Since the final week of December, 2007, Clarke has posted over two hundred entertaining and insightful reviews of genre novels ranging from westerns to hard-boiled noir to horror.

That was all well and good, but then last May Clarke discovered REH by way of Del Rey’s The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard. Clarke became a born-again, hard-core Howard-head and posted two more REH book reviews in fairly short order. In a mere six months, REH is now lodged in the midst of Clarke’s “Favorite Authors” list, right there amongst Lawrence Block, Ed McBain and Westlake. Clarke has also given Howard due honor by placing REH in his “Favorite Reads of 2009” list.

Here’s what Craig Clarke had to say about Robert E. Howard in his review of Crimson Shadows:

As a final note, I would just like to mention that, before being introduced to the work of Robert E. Howard, I was under the impression that fantasy was a tired genre with nothing to offer me. Also, short stories held no appeal. These two perceptions were turned on their ears upon entering Howard’s world. After only one book, The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard, I was an instant enthusiast, and Crimson Shadows has given me all the more reason to remain that way. It confirms my opinion (formed by the Horror Stories) that Robert E. Howard was a Great Writer and one who deserves to be reevaluated by those who feel that men who do their best communicating with swords, guns, and large fists are not to be taken seriously. This collection strongly suggests otherwise.  

I would welcome Clarke into the fold, but considering he’s now a Howard fan, I’ll just say, “Welcome to the pack.”

Nothing rings in the holiday season like cosmic horror. So, without further ado, let’s look at upcoming publications featuring either the works of the Man From Providence or those of his acolytes, all of which bear some connection (sometimes tenuous) to Our Reason For Being here at The Cimmerian.

Courtesy of Coming Attractions, we find that Girasol Collectables, publishers of several fine facsimile editions of the pulp appearances of Robert E. Howard, is gearing up to present two volumes collecting all the stories of Lovecraft which appeared in Weird Tales. Here’s the blurb:

All of Lovecraft’s fiction from the original run of WEIRD TALES, in facsimile form right off the original pulp pages!

Girasol Collectables is pleased to announce their upcoming hardcover project, which will be the Weird Writings of HP Lovecraft.

It’ll be similar in format to their REH books; facsimile scans right from the original pages, with no edits or reset text, containing all of HPL’s material from the original run of WEIRD TALES.

A 2 volume set, with one oversized volume to cover the bedsheet issues from 1923 and 1924, and a smaller 7×10 sized volume for the standard sized issues.

Limited Edition of 200 copies.
Pre-release price of $150 + $10 s&h
until Jan. 15, 2010 (Save $25)
(within North America)
After 1/15/2010: $175

We’ll do our best to match existing numbers for REH buyers, but can’t guarantee it; get in early for the best chance at that.
Due out Spring of 2010.

(Continue reading this post)

Robert E. Howard’s seminal Southern Gothic horror tale, “Pigeons From Hell,” continues to go from strength to strength in the pop-cultural arena, bloody axe in hand. During the last week of October, a stage adaptation of “Pigeons From Hell” was performed at Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills. Now, as I just learned from Bill Thom’s Coming Attractions, the television adaptation filmed for Boris Karloff’s Thriller will be released in 2010. Here’s the blurb straight from Bill:

Boris Karloff’s THRILLER – Coming to DVD in 2010!
Boris Karloff’s THRILLER anthology series was aired from 1960 to 1962. The series featured a wide variety of stars such as William Shatner, Mary Tyler Moore, Rip Torn, Richard Chamberlain, Robert Vaughn, Elizabeth Montgomery,  Leslie Nielsen, John Carradine, and Ursula Andress. Stories were based on the works of Robert Bloch, Edgar Allan Poe, and Robert E. Howard. The entire remastered series will be released as a deluxe collectors box set featuring all 67 episodes of the show. Extensive special features are being developed including audio commentaries as well as never-before-seen extras.

Included in this release is Robert E. Howard’s “Pigeons From Hell.”

(Continue reading this post)

Just posted on Bill Thom’s Coming Attractions…

Centipede Press: Conversations with the Weird Tales Circle
Now available to order with the majority being released in late November
and early December.
Conversations with the Weird Tales Circle is a massive, oversized celebration of the lives of H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, Frank Belknap Long, Seabury Quinn, E. Hoffmann Price, Henry Kuttner, C.L. Moore, Lee Brown Coye, Hannes Bok, August Derleth, Edmond Hamilton, Manly Wade Wellman, Fritz Leiber, Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, Donald Wandrei, Mary Elizabeth Counselman, and many others. Each writer has their own section in the book, complete with a custom drawing of the author by noted artist Alex McVey.

(Continue reading this post)

The Nom de Guerre Theatre Guild is proud to announce that the 2009 Wicked Literature Halloween Theatre Festival will debut at Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills. Wicked Lit will be produced as a joint venture between Nom de Guerre and Theatre 40 in association with the City of Beverly Hills Recreation and Parks Division.

The plays featured for 2009 include:

The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe ~ Adapted and Directed by Paul Millet
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving ~ Adapted by Jonathan Josephson & Directed by Paul Millet
Pigeons from Hell by Robert E. Howard ~ Adapted and Directed by Jeff G. Rack (Continue reading this post)

The choice news on this week’s Coming Attractions was not limited to a word-up concerning Dark Agnes and Other Historical Adventures. There are plenty more upcoming projects that fans of Robert E. Howard and pulp fiction should get excited about. (Continue reading this post)

Over on the REHupa blog, Morgan Holmes has written a fine essay about Karl Edward Wagner. Returning the serve, Scott Oden, author of the upcoming Lion of Cairo, has posted this in remembrance of the Man From Knoxville and his most famous creation, Kane, on his “Echoes of Forgotten Ages” blog. In addition, fantasy author, David J. West, reports an interesting KEW-related dream over on his blog. (Continue reading this post)