A Motley Vision's Interview With W.H. Pugmire

Lovecraftian writer W.H. Pugmire had an interview posted earlier this month from a less common source. A Motley Vision is a blog centering on Mormon arts and culture. This venue opened up a fascinating vista of Pugmire's world, an interview in which he discusses his spiritual life, sexuality, and prolific Lovecraftian career in detail.

Pugmire's devotion to a purist Lovecraftian aesthetic is a major drive in his work, and one that seems rare in an environment where Cthulhu Mythos writers are practically driven at gunpoint to get outside Lovecraftian fiction for career's sake. His personal revolt against this pressure has been a success, judging by the number of Pugmire stories and collections.

It's this unique dedication to penning what he is best at that results in an enduring spotlight on his writing and the life behind it. And, in my opinion, he makes a rich subject for interview, a bonus quality seen in only a few other weird fiction contemporaries like Thomas Ligotti. There's something to be said for the weird writer consistently interesting enough to produce good interviews. Here you will find thoughts and experiences going beyond mere accompaniments to their literary output, and into the realm of alternative storytelling.

-Grim Blogger

A Motley Vision's Interview With W.H. Pugmire

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The Giant Penguin Hoax

H.P. Lovecraft's giant penguins help establish an atmospheric backdrop in his novella of Antarctic horror, "At the Mountains of Madness." Little known is a real hoax involving giant penguins, documented in this article.

In 1948, faux traces of the make-believe Florida cryptid resulted in a naturalist writing a whole book arguing for the big bird's existence. He called it "Florida Three-Toes." Its existence was not thoroughly debunked for decades, until the hoaxer who made the giant footprints stepped forward.

It's interesting to consider if Lovecraft's oversized penguins could have influenced this affair. There is no evidence that this is the case, but the timing leaves open a shred of possibility. The hoaxer later said he and his accomplice were trying to emulate dinosaur tracks when they made the enormous footprints with cast iron shoes. But why did researcher Ivan Sanderson conceive of a penguin? One might have drawn this conclusion from studying the tracks (though only by omitting the thought of what a penguin would be doing in a tropical climate like Florida), but it doesn't seem too far fetched that he could have encountered "At the Mountains of Madness" somewhere along the line.

-Grim Blogger

The Giant Penguin Hoax

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The Ooze Talk Radio Show

The Ooze is a talk radio show that started earlier this year, notable here for its discussion of H.P. Lovecraft and other subjects relevant to the weird. It's hosted by "Beast" and "Venger" at noon (central time) every Saturday. Venger is the short form of Venger Satanis, a name that has stirred a mixture of interest and controversy for several years. This is, in fact, Darrick Dishaw's alter-ego/mystical name(?), the real Cult of Cthulhu's High Priest.

Aside from his fledgling cult that seeks to blend Satanic and Lovecraftian forces into a dark whole, Dishaw has pursued other media and art projects, including a Role Playing Game and Lovecraftian paintings. This radio show appears to be his latest effort.

Some may balk at the appearance of a talk radio show melding Lovecraft with Satanic and sexual content. On the other hand, radio devoted to these subjects, much less weird fiction, is exceedingly sparse to begin with. So, Satanis may inadvertently create a prototype for a radio show based around the weird aesthetic. This would be a heady step up in terms of media for the weird, in my opinion, regardless of the wrapper its packaged in.

Keep an ear on The Ooze in the weeks to come. The hosts seem friendly enough to callers based on the episodes I've sampled, and the subjects chosen for each installment have potential to go in nearly any direction.

-Grim Blogger

The Ooze Talk Radio Show

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Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown to Screen for Second Life Community

Wyrd Studios reports it will be holding a major online event this February 27. Their documentary, Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown, will be screened in conjunction with a Q&A and Online Party centered around Lovecraftian designs. The screening will be held at Erie Isle Haunted Island Roleplay, a popular community for the MMORPG Second Life. Check out Wyrd Studios' post for a full schedule.

-Grim Blogger

Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown to Screen for Second Life Community

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Necronomicon Ad

Here's an advertisement that promotes a different type of "Good Book" for modern living. H.P. Lovecraft's Necronomicon appears in standard imagined form: heavy leather binding, crabbed text, and hideous illustrations. The actors and the commercial look of the piece show it's the same group responsible for the Elder Sign spoof.



-Grim Blogger

Necronomicon Ad

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Weird News: Latvian Ghost Town Sold to Russian Investor

Eastern Europe hides many crumbling horrors rife with last century's ghosts. One of these is Skrunda, a former Soviet military town in Latvia, and a deserted outpost recently sold to an enterprising gentleman for several million. Sad to report, it will probably be overhauled and refurbished to provide new, less spartan living spaces. Give me the day when certain derelict marvels will be set aside as preserves of decadent modernity, not unlike the national parks. For the time being, Eastern Europe's Chernobyl will remain one of these places, but more by necessity than enlightened choice.

Latvian Ghost Town Auctioned Off for $3.1 Million

-Grim Blogger

Weird News: Latvian Ghost Town Sold to Russian Investor

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Creepy Images: Famous Cloaked Ghosts

The spirit whose features are obscured remains one of the most hair raising images in our psyche. The veiled monstrosity appears time after time in weird literature, film, art, and via other mediums. What is it about this type of specter that's so enchanting? Many of the most infamous, purportedly true phantoms are those without a distinct face. Come to think of it, the simplest Halloween costume remains the crumpled sheet with a few holes cut in it, a nearly universal homage to the hidden ghost. Chances are many have seen these photos before, but they deserve re-posting here for the insurmountable fog of strangeness they exude.


The notorious "Brown Lady" was photographed on a staircase at Raynham Hall in the 1936. It's more interesting, though, to forget the name and potential gender connotations. The complete distortion of fine details means this figure could be almost anyone or anything beneath its cloak.


This church occupant has been described as the leftover presence of a monk since the time it first began making the rounds. It is unique in being a fairly clear image. However, the clarity of its hooded face and imposing stature ram home an otherworldly horror.


Hampton Court's recent ghost is said to have a fondness for opening and closing doors. This camera image reportedly binds it to film. Note the almost bulky appearance beneath its robes.

-Grim Blogger

Creepy Images: Famous Cloaked Ghosts

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Dandies Blog: Unemployment in Arthur Machen's Work

In the hubbub of other weird fiction developments, I somehow overlooked this excellent post from the Dandies and New Women blog. "Arthur Machen's Horror of Unemployment" is a thought provoking article that illuminates economic horror in the Welsh author's work. Clearly, it's also one that hits close to home in today's post-meltdown order. As blogger Marc Dipaolo notes, Machen himself experienced a grim period of austerity when he was just starting his writing career. This may have contributed to his dour portrayal of joblessness long after his literary star began to rise.

One wonders if the stricken economy will generate new lenses for weird fiction interpretations that wouldn't otherwise be available. The economic imprint on other authors' work may become clearer as the minds of scholars are unable to wrench themselves away from today's crises.

-Grim Blogger

Dandies Blog: Unemployment in Arthur Machen's Work

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Centipede Press Offers Reggie Oliver Omnibus

Centipede Press is serving up a 900 page omnibus of Reggie Oliver's strange stories this spring. The mega-tome collects original artwork and dozens of stories from his first three books: The Dreams of Cardinal Vittorini, The Complete Symphonies of Adolf Hitler, and Masques of Satan. This collection should be greeted with cheers from sectors of weird fiction lovers longing to sample Oliver's work for the first time, and those merely hungry for more. His works telling of haunted theaters and neo-gothic horrors have spurred increasing admiration in the weird community, but also some frustration, purely due to the extreme rarity of his first two collections. The new Centipede collection, Dramas from the Depths, should do much to assuage this trouble and put Oliver's older stories onto an accessible footing for readers.

It will also be interesting to see how, if at all, the new book impacts the online selling of Oliver's rare books issued by Haunted River Press. Cardinal Vittorini and Hitler Symphonies have gone for bank account sapping sums up to about a thousand dollars in the past year. This is seemingly the product of high demand among a mixed crowd of weird fiction enthusiasts and booksellers looking for a sizable profit.

In any case, the $125.00 price of Dramas from the Depths is a trifle compared to a potential tenfold pricetag needed to own the three books individually.

ADDENDUM: If Dramas from the Depths is a bit too expensive for your blood, then check out his very affordable novel, The Dracula Papers: The Scholar's Tale.

-Grim Blogger

Centipede Press Offers Reggie Oliver Omnibus

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Sheridan Le Fanu Pilgrimage

This Youtube video offers a nice overview of sights related to weird writer Sheridan Le Fanu. The tour covers Dublin places relevant to his life in a fashion not unlike the handful of Lovecraftian tours of Providence that have sprung up as online videos. It's encouraging to see resurgence interest in Le Fanu, who was highly regarded in prior decades by literary descendants like H.P. Lovecraft and M.R. James, but has sunken somewhat into obscurity in our own time.



-Grim Blogger

Sheridan Le Fanu Pilgrimage

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Valentines from Innsmouth

As the years pass and H.P. Lovecraft gains increased notoriety online, the armada of Lovecraft themed holiday trinkets swells. It's not completely far fetched to imagine real Lovecraft Valentine's Day cards being passed around one day. Until then, enjoy these digital creations. Note that all of these are Innsmouth inspired.



-Grim Blogger

Valentines from Innsmouth

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Weird News: Great Squid Hunt Rages in California Waters

The biological flotilla of giant squid in the ocean off southern California's coastline has brought an equally impressive swarm of hunters. Potential Lovecraftian connotations aside, it's mildly disturbing to see these freshly slain creatures juxtaposed with humans. One wonders what the greater horror is in images like the one above...

Giant Humboldt Squid Taking Southland Anglers by Storm

-Grim Blogger

Weird News: Great Squid Hunt Rages in California Waters

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Reggie Oliver's Stage Frights

Ghost story writer Reggie Oliver has launched an experimental form of "stand up horror" called Stage Frights. This shouldn't be surprising when one considers his extensive background in the world of theater before writing weird fiction. Oliver's one man shows are essentially dramatic presentations of several stories selected from his body of work, a retooled type of story telling as it may have been formerly known in the time of bards and chieftains. He has already put on a couple performances, and will likely do so again at this year's World Horror Con in late March.

A few scenes from last month's performance, in addition to a video interview with Oliver by Haunted River proprietor Christopher Barker, are captured in these Youtube clips:







-Grim Blogger

Reggie Oliver's Stage Frights

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S.T. Joshi's Website Reanimated

S.T. Joshi, arguably weird fiction's most famous and tireless authority, launched a revamped website several weeks ago to help chronicle his ongoing explorations of the genre. Visitors won't find the site clanging with high-tech bells and whistles, but they will find a utilitarian, easily navigable resource on Joshi's scholarship. His past writings are described and listed on several bibliographical pages. Others provide contact information and an autobiography.

Followers of Joshi's scholarship, however, are possibly more interested in what he is up to now. In what will hopefully be the first of many blogs, Mr. Joshi expounds on his forthcoming projects. Among his recent works are several edited volumes of Cthulhu Mythos fiction, an elaborate history of supernatural literature, and an updated two book biography of H.P. Lovecraft called I Am Providence.

Joshi's seemingly boundless energy has long been an asset to the field of weird literature. H.P. Lovecraft might not be treated as seriously as he is today without Joshi's critical eye and advocacy insisting on the importance of Lovecraft's works. Moreover, Joshi occupies a unique niche in the weird aesthetic, a full time position investigating the nuts and bolts of classic and contemporary writers--something rarely found in other spokesmen for the weird, who are often occupied with promoting their own literary careers. He shows no sign of letting up either, and this remodeled website is a welcome addition to his sturdy career of identifying and illuminating the weird's vast topography.

-Grim Blogger

S.T. Joshi's Website Reanimated

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Poe Toaster Absent in 2010

In case you hadn't heard, the sixty year tradition of the Poe Toaster has been broken...perhaps forever. The unknown figure ritually laid roses and cognac on the grave of Edgar Allan Poe on every anniversary of his birth. For reasons unknown, the Toaster was absent this year--possibly as a result of meeting his own untimely end, or as an intentional break in ritual now that 201 years have passed since Poe's birth. This article from the Associated Press contains the full story.

It's unknown if new tributes will spring up in the wake of this gaping absence. Only subsequent birthdays will show if any others are willing to don the black garb of the Poe Toaster (if the present toaster has truly died) and revive the tradition.

Poe Toaster
R.I.P. (?)
1949-2009

-Grim Blogger

Poe Toaster Absent in 2010

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H.P. Lovecraft's "The Picture in the House" Short

This black and white short film captures the atmosphere of H.P. Lovecraft tale "The Picture in the House" very effectively. The movie evidently screened at last year's H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland. In my opinion, it exemplifies the rising trend of decent amateur Lovecraft productions that have appeared lately. The better films seem to be those which cling to the script (i.e. Lovecraft's original prose)--avoiding the dreadful mistakes of previous attempts that tried to incorporate overly modern, adventurous, or otherwise divergent effects.



-Grim Blogger

H.P. Lovecraft's "The Picture in the House" Short

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Weird News: Two Jailed Over Deadly Exorcism

I found this item curious because the traditional exorcism is believed to have been used as a form of therapy for poorly understood mental disorders. In this instance, one of the murderers who caused this ritual to go terribly awry was supposedly afflicted with bipolar problems. Are today's exorcists the true sufferers of madness (or supernatural possession, depending on your interpretation)? Or has this been the case for far longer than many would care to consider?

Two Jailed for Fatal Exorcism

-Grim Blogger

Weird News: Two Jailed Over Deadly Exorcism

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Thomas Ligotti's Conspiracy Available for Pre-Order

Thomas Ligotti's long awaited argument against existence went on pre-order earlier this week from Hippocampus Press. The Conspiracy Against the Human Race is set to be a 240 page hardcover that caps Ligotti's long fictional career exhibiting the horrors of consciousness and being. Unlike his earlier literary endeavors, Conspiracy is a decidedly non-fictional work of philosophy. That certainly doesn't mean the elegant flourishes of language Ligotti is identified with will be absent, though. The book will be an undeniably controversial, but colorful read, even if the colors used are the darkest in the spectrum. It will be unleashed on the world in April.

-Grim Blogger

Thomas Ligotti's Conspiracy Available for Pre-Order

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Omnia Exeunt in Mysterium: LTC Rolt

The Omnia Exeunt In Mysterium blog has come out with a fascinating post on the life and writings of L.T.C. Rolt. "Who?" is likely the exclamation sputtering from the mouths of many, both in and out of the weird literary circle. As the linked blog tells us, Rolt was an engineer, transportation enthusiast, and weird fiction writer who produced a well received collection of tales in the traditional ghostly model called Sleep No More. He's also another curious link in the history of weird writers who have latched supernatural phenomena to industrial conveyances, much like Robert Aickman and Stefan Grabinski.

Rolt is worth re-exploring now, in part, because we're fast approaching his centennial. February 9, 2010, marks the birth of this elusive figure. According to blogger Kai Roberts, it will become a bit easier to read Rolt's contributions to the weird, thanks to a planned re-issue of his ghostly collection by History Press. This is scheduled for an unknown release later this year.

Rolt's jittery world of possessed industry deserves a wider readership, and perhaps things will be set in motion to that end with this anniversary of his birth. Those who can't wait for the reprint of Sleep No More can try seeking a copy of the out-of-print edition of this book by Ash-Tree press.

-Grim Blogger

Omnia Exeunt in Mysterium: LTC Rolt

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