Attack from the 80s – Nicholas Diak's Homepage

Personal / Website News

H. P. Lovecast Podcast

New episode of H. P. Lovecast Podcast is online! We had a bit of a modified schedule these past two months due to the holidays and other obligations, but we will be back to a regular schedule in January.

For our latest episode we take a look at the new Raw Dog Screaming Press anthology, Attack from the ’80s. Edited by Eugene Johnson, we dive into “Permanent Damage” by Lee Murray and “The White Room” by Rena Mason. The episode can be streamed at our Buzzsprout website or via your podcast app of preference.

Scholars from the Edge of Time

Michele and I had an episode of Scholars from the Edge of Time drop last Thursday.

Our episode was on the film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. You can stream the episode at BlogTalkRadio.

AnnRadCon CFP December Deadline

The CFP for the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference closes at the end of the month.

AnnRadCon Logo by Greg Chapman

Details of the CFP can be found at the StokerCon website.

General Neo-Peplum News

MCU and Pepla

George Chrysostomou has an opinion piece at SreenRant called “10 Genres That Have Been Underutilized By The MCU.” The last genre Chrysostomou suggests in the article that the Marvel universe should dive into is the sword and sandal genre. From the article:

The sword-and-sandal genre fits perfectly with characters like Thor and Loki. It really hasn’t been used properly, though, with fantasy elements and sci-fi features becoming a mainstay of those movies instead. The genre itself has really died, but Marvel can be the company to renew it.
Hercules is a natural fit for this genre, as a film surrounding the early life of the Olympian before moving across time to the modern-day would be a fantastic introduction to the character. It could play into the mythology of Ancient Greece in a way Thor’s Norse history did not get featured.
George Chrysostomou

Yes, I agree! Bring forth Marvel’s Hercules!

New Hrossharsgrani Release

My friend Alex Wieser has a Viking metal project called Hrossharsgrani (which I have written extensively his Pro Liberate Dimicandum Est album in my essay in the forthcoming Gladiator book). After around a decade hiatus, his project is back in action with a new release.

It is a split album with German Viking/black metal Nachtfalke called Journey’s End. The album can be bought at Christhunt Productions.

Personal / Website News

General Life/Project News

This weekly news report is a bit on the lighter side. Part of that is its the holidays, but the main reason is Michele and I are knee deep in projects that will bear lots of fruit in 2022:

Michele and I are conducting a top secret interview with another person for a book to be published in 2022.
Prepping for an interview with another author for my website.
I am starting an essay for a magazine that’s due at the end of January. My biggest magazine writing gig yet!
Knee deep in coordinating the interviews for this month’s HP Lovecast Podcast which is focused on the book Attack From the 80s.
Plotting the first three months of HP Lovecast in 2022 (take a look at the podcast page for a sneak preview).
AnnRadCon coordination.
Editing a previous essay of mine to submit to a journal.

So as you can see, there is lots of big stuff going on behind the scenes! Stay tuned as these projects come to completion. In the meantime, here is some general personal and peplum news.

McFarland Mythology & Folklore Book Sale

My publisher, McFarland, is having a sale on their books classified as mythology and folklore. Until December 19th, if you use the code MYTHOLOGY25 during check out, you’ll get a 25% discount on these books.

Included in this sale is my book, The New Peplum. If you’ve been curious about the book, (maybe as a Yuletide gift?), check it out at McFarland’s product page.

AnnRadCon CFP December Deadline

The CFP for the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference closes at the end of the month.

AnnRadCon Logo by Greg Chapman

Details of the CFP can be found at the StokerCon website.

General Neo-Peplum News

Frozen Shield’s Ínia Review

Hal C. F. Astell has reviewed the new Frozen Shield folk/Viking metal album, Ínia, at his website, Apocalypse Later.

Kara Cooney’s Afterlives New Episode

If you have not been listening to Kara Cooney’s podcast, Afterlives, you should!

New episodes drop every Monday. Last week’s episode is called “A Leaders Power and Trickle Down Economics” and can be heard on Apple Podcasts and other platforms.

Recent Acquisitions

I’ve scored lots of neo-peplum and adjacent loot this past week! Hey, it’s Yuletide season, I can treat myself, right?

First up, arriving in the mail last week, is a vinyl copy of the Ex Der album, The Thirteen Years of Nero, autographed by Maurizio Iacono. I love it! The new album is stellar and I love the song “Imperator.” Both Ex Deo and Warkings are the two prominent metal acts that are just slaying the neo-peplum genre when it comes to music.

Next up, we had a friend and academic colleague visit us on their road trip. We decide to treat them by taking them to one of the Zia’s in Phoenix, which of course we love to go to and scavenge for cool loot. First up, got some new Blu-rays to upgrade my copies of 300 and 300: Rise of an Empire.

For only $9.00 I plucked up this Troy DVD boxset. This was too good to pass up, it full of so much swag. I think I’ll do a separator unboxing post showing off its stately contents.

Lastly, I purchased King of Kings by Leaves’ Eyes and The Witch of the North by Burning Witches.

Leave’s Eyes is symphonic Viking metal that, to me, sounds like a cross between Corvus Corvax, Qntal, and Die Prophezeiung-era E Nominee. I really dig it.

Burning Witches isn’t really peplum-metal, but there’s trace elements of Norse, Viking, and Medieval, so I’ll allow it. Very catchy all-female heavy metal.