Brand new episode of the H. P. Lovecast Podcast is online!
Thumbnail by Michele Brittany
Last month we had a Twitter poll on what film we should watch and discuss for this month, Cthulhu Mansion or Feed the Light, and Cthulhu Mansion won. So, we subjugated ourselves to it.
The episode can be streamed at our Buzzsprout site, via the embedded podcast link above, or via your podcast application of preference.
For our Transmissions episode that drops the last day of June, we will be interviewing Lora Senf and Robert Ottone. Stay tuned for that episode.
General Neo-Peplum News
Kino Release of Samson and the 7 Miracles of the World
Kino has been on a roll lately with their classic sword and sandal releases. Recently they put out Son of Samson. They have Sudan coming out in a Maria Montez and Jon Hall collection, and now they’ve announced a release of Samson and the 7 Miracles of the World.
Amazon does not have an order page up yet, but there is a product page for the Blu-ray at the Kino website.
Though not peplum, but of interest to me in my Emmanuelle studies, Kino also announced a release of the Sylvia Kristel film Mata Hari.
That film’s product page can be found here. You better believe I’ll be ordering both!
100 Bible Films Released
Last month, Matt Page’s 100 Bible Films was released by BFI last month.
Our monthly Transmissions program went up last Tuesday.
Thumbnail by Michele Brittany.
This episode concluded our May Music Month. We interviewed Thomas Blakeley and Matt Toronto of the musical A Dream at the End of Time, and Dorian Williamson and Jim Field of the dark ambient band Northumbria.
HPLCP Transmissions – Ep 12 – A Dream at the End of Time and Northumbria –
H. P. Lovecast Podcast
The episode can be streamed via our Buzzsprout website, via the embedded player above, or via our podcast app of preference.
For June, we will be talking about the film Cthulhu Mansion on our primary episode, and interviewing Robert Ottone and Lora Senf on our Transmissions episode. Stay tuned!
The New Peplum Citation
Kevin Wetmore’s essay, “In the Green Zone with the Ninth Legion: The Post-Iraq Roman Film” has been cited in Óscar Lapeña Marchena’s essay “Defendiendo el limes desde Britannia hasta Irak: nuevos enfoques bélicos en el cine de romanos del siglo XXI” in the book Pantallas en guerra.
Cover taken from Google Search
Marchena previously cited Wetmore’s essay in “La recepción de la guerra en la antigua Roma a través del cine: un estado de la cuestión.”
Unofficial Emmanuelle / Black Emanuelle CFP
Sometime in the latter half of 2022 (after I am finished with AnnRadCon 2022) I plan on publishing an official CFP calling for essays on Emmanuelle and its sequels and spinoffs, Black Emanuelle and its sequels, and all other Emmanuelle knockoffs. I already have an interested publisher, but I want to present to them a fully laid out TOC for an ambitious collection as this.
Though my CFP will not go live until later 2022, if you have any interest in being a part of this collection, let me know! Send me an email or social media message (see my about me page for contact info) to let me know your interest. If you have an abstract already, even better.
General Neo-Peplum News
Recent Acquisitions
During a trip to Bookman’s last week I happened upon this EC Comics collection:
I already have the EC Comics collection of Valor comics and wasn’t thinking of Two-Fisted Tales since it seemed centered on war narratives. But there were quite a few pre-1900s battles in the comic and there just happened to be a peplum one:
It’s called “Pigs of the Roman Empire” and I am glad I happened upon it. I’ll now have to keep an eye out for other EC collections that just might have more sword and sandal stories in them.
Of course, obligatory seamed stockings panel.
On Sunday Michele and I went off to Zia’s Records looking for treasure. The metal section is always a treasure trove of pepla-music. I happened upon Visions of Atlantis’ Pirates album.
Believe I’ve said on a prior news post, to some pirates are pepla to others they are not. I like to toss in news about pirate-pepla when I can. I’d never heard of Visions of Atlantis (Greek mythology name there!) and the cover of their Pirates album seemed to promise pirate metal in the vein of Alestorm. But I was wrong! It’s symphonic power metal and it’s damn good! So good I plucked up the vinyl and the CD.
For dirt cheap I also happened upon this Blu-ray boxset of Ben-Hur. I actually do not have a copy of Ben-Hur in the sword and sandal collection, so that’s been rectified. The boxset is big, but unlike the Troy boxset I did an article on, there isn’t much in here. I think I’ll still do a quick unboxing article later this week. Content is content, ya know.
The Kickstarter for issue 2 is also in the interview, so consider supporting.
Cthulhu Mansion Voted for HP Lovecast Episode
It’s unanimous: 92.9% of voters on our Twitter poll selected Cthulhu Mansion as the film Michele and I will watch and discuss on the June episode of H. P. Lovecast Podcast.
Blu-ray from my personal collection.
We have not seen it before, and though it is Spanish, it looks like it has all the right qualities of a fantastic 80s Italian horror film. We’re excited to watch it and talk about it.
For fans of Feed the Light, worry not! We will visit that movie down the road.
Thank you all who partook in our poll. We will do another in the future.
H. P. Lovecast Podcast Transmissions – May
The May episode of HP Lovecast Transmissions will be published Tuesday, May 31st. In this episode we interview writer Thomas Blakeley and director Matthew Toronto about their upcoming musical, A Dream at the End of Time, and Dorian Williamson and Jim Field of the dark ambient band Northumbria. Subscribe to our podcast via your app of preference to be notified when it goes live!
Scholars from the Edge of Time – Moon Knight
New episode of Scholars from the Edge of Time is online. This one is on YouTube (was done via Zoom) and has special guest Travis Lakata. We all talk about the Disney+ series, Moon Knight. I, unfortunately, had to take off mid-vidcast for unexpected phone call.
Highlander Call for Papers
Michele has an active CFP on the Highlander franchise. She is looking for essays on the Highlander movies, the television show, comics, everything.
If you’re interested, check out the CFP at her website and please share with others. With a possible reboot on the horizon, this is definitely a book you want to be a part of.
Unofficial Emmanuelle / Black Emanuelle CFP
Sometime in the latter half of 2022 (after I am finished with AnnRadCon 2022) I plan on publishing an official CFP calling for essays on Emmanuelle and its sequels and spinoffs, Black Emanuelle and its sequels, and all other Emmanuelle knockoffs. I already have an interested publisher, but I want to present to them a fully laid out TOC for an ambitious collection as this.
Though my CFP will not go live until later 2022, if you have any interest in being a part of this collection, let me know! Send me an email or social media message (see my about me page for contact info) to let me know your interest. If you have an abstract already, even better.
General Neo-Peplum News
Witcher Short Story Review at Fanbase Press
In sword and sorcery news, Michele has a write up over at Fanbase Press on The Witcher: A Grain of Truth.
I’ve been playing a lot of State of Decay 2 on the ol’ Xbox lately, having a blast… blasting zombies.
Screenshot I nabbed. Might have to zoom in, it’s kinda dark.
Over the weekend I was looting a house and was kinda checking out some of the background elements in the game and I found a faux-boardgame sitting on someone’s table. It’s called The Aquaductor, and it looks to be a neo-peplum board game of sorts – probably like Carcasonne but with Roman aqueducts. I’d play it if it existed!
A new episode of H. P. Lovecast Podcast is online! This is the 50th episode of our flagship program (though we have more if one includes our Transmissions and Fragments programs).
Thumbnail by Michele Brittany.
For this episode we take a dive into James Wade’s short story “The Silence of Erika Zann” from the 1970s anthology The Disciples of Cthulhu. The episode can be streamed at Buzzsprout or via your podcast app of preference.
H. P. Lovecast Film Poll for June Episode
For our June episode of our H. P. Lovecast Podcast we are going to dive into a Lovecraftian movie (sorta like what we did previously with Underwater and The Void).
Blu-rays of Feed the Light and Cthulhu Mansion from my personal collection.
We’ve narrowed what movie to cover down to two possibilities: Feed the Light released by Severin Films or Cthulhu Mansion released by Vinegar Syndrome. But, we don’t know which to pick!
What movie should we cover in one of our June podcast episodes?
To remedy this, we put the fate of what movie we will be watching and doing a podcast on in your hands! We’ve created a poll on the H. P. Lovecast Podcast Twitter account. Head on over there (or use the embedded tweet above) and cast your vote no later than May 24th.
Between now through May 31, use coupon code MEDIEVAL25 to receive 25% off all medieval studies books on the McFarland website.
Michele Appears on Fan2Fan Podcast
Michele makes her first appearance on the Fan2Fan Podcast!
Promoting her CFP (see below), she talks all things about the first Highlander film. Have a listen at the Fan2Fan Podcast Page.
AnnRadCon Mk 1 2017-2022
Michele and I have voluntarily stepped down from chairing the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference. For more information on future endeavors from the Horror Writers Association, please visit Horror.org.
Highlander Call for Papers
Michele has an active CFP on the Highlander franchise. She is looking for essays on the Highlander movies, the television show, comics, everything.
If you’re interested, check out the CFP at her website and please share with others. With a possible reboot on the horizon, this is definitely a book you want to be a part of.
Unofficial Emmanuelle / Black Emanuelle CFP
Sometime in the latter half of 2022 (after I am finished with AnnRadCon 2022) I plan on publishing an official CFP calling for essays on Emmanuelle and its sequels and spinoffs, Black Emanuelle and its sequels, and all other Emmanuelle knockoffs. I already have an interested publisher, but I want to present to them a fully laid out TOC for an ambitious collection as this.
Though my CFP will not go live until later 2022, if you have any interest in being a part of this collection, let me know! Send me an email or social media message (see my about me page for contact info) to let me know your interest. If you have an abstract already, even better.
General Neo-Peplum News
Son of Samson Review at DVD Beaver
Essential Blu-ray/DVD compare and review site, DVD Beaver, has a write up about the newly released Son of Samson Blu-ray from Kino.
Son of Samson Blu-ray from my personal collection.
MERC Publishing just released issue one of their neo-peplum comic series, Born of Blood.
Two versions of issue 1 from my personal collection.
I did a write up of all the Kickstarter loot I received along with a few observations in the first issue. Check out my article here.
AnnRadCon Presentation Online
This past weekend was StokerCon and with it was the fifth year of Michele’s and my Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference. Still decompressing from the event. Our scholars rocked it out the park with their presentations.
I am making my presentation, “Correlating the Contents: Mimetic Desire in The Call of the Cthulhu,” publicly available. It is a short, 17 minute presentation applying Rene Girard’s Mimetic Theory of Desire to H. P. Lovecraft’s renown story. Check it out in the embed above.
Raw Dog Screaming Press/AnnRadCon News Articles
Michele and I are deeply grateful for Raw Dog Screaming Press for sponsoring AnnRadCon this year. RDSP sent out a press release about their sponsorship and other endeavors, “Black Authors and Academics Shape Horror Business,” and it was picked up by a few venues:
Between now through May 31, use coupon code MEDIEVAL25 to receive 25% off all medieval studies books on the McFarland website.
Highlander Call for Papers
Michele has an active CFP on the Highlander franchise. She is looking for essays on the Highlander movies, the television show, comics, everything.
If you’re interested, check out the CFP at her website and please share with others. With a possible reboot on the horizon, this is definitely a book you want to be a part of.
Unofficial Emmanuelle / Black Emanuelle CFP
Sometime in the latter half of 2022 (after I am finished with AnnRadCon 2022) I plan on publishing an official CFP calling for essays on Emmanuelle and its sequels and spinoffs, Black Emanuelle and its sequels, and all other Emmanuelle knockoffs. I already have an interested publisher, but I want to present to them a fully laid out TOC for an ambitious collection as this.
Though my CFP will not go live until later 2022, if you have any interest in being a part of this collection, let me know! Send me an email or social media message (see my about me page for contact info) to let me know your interest. If you have an abstract already, even better.
General Neo-Peplum News
I am a Barbarian Preorders
A luxurious version of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ peplum story, I am a Barbarian, is being released by Cedar Run Publications.
Limited to 600 copies, the graphic novel will come in two versions, the difference being a presence of a bookplate signed by Thomas Simmons, Mike Dubisch and L. Jamal Walton. The book will be posted the week of June 15th. More information can be found at the Cedar Run Publications website.
Jesus the Christ (1923) at Bible Films Blog
Matt Page has updated his Bible Films Blog with a write up of the silent film Jesus the Christ from 1923.
Picture from Page’s Bible Films Blog
As a reminder, Page’s book, 100 Bible Films, comes out this week! Don’t forget to preorder at Amazon and Bloomsbury.
Recent Acquisitions
Lots of sword and sandal loot arrived in the mail last week!
Shout! Factory had a sale on their going out of print titles, so I used the opportunity to pluck up Blu-Rays of Hercules and Hercules 2 starring Lou Ferrigno. I also picked up a Lethal Ladies 2 Collection that contains the original version of The Arena.
Kino did a nice release of Son of Samson which I’ve had pre-ordered for a while now. That pre-order just arrived. Side note: Kino, if you need someone to do a commentary track or essay on a future sword and sandal release, hit me up!
Last week was LV-426, aka Aliens Day! I love to celebrate Aliens Day by writing articles that help spotlight the Aliens mythology in different and interesting fashions.
Later this year a new novel, Aliens: Vasquez will be published. I had the honour to interview author V. Castro about her book. It can be read here.
New Episode of HP Lovecast
Michele and I have a brand new episode of our Transmissions programming on HP Lovecast Podcast.
Thumbnail by Michele Brittany
In this episode we interview David Rose about his novella, Lovecraft’s Iraq, and Jonathan Maberry about his upcoming Dark Fantasy book, Kagen. The episode can be streamed at our Buzzsprout website or via your podcast app of preference.
This Is Horror 2021 Nominations Open
The publication nominations for works for consideration for the 2021 This Is Horror awards are open.
HP Lovecast Podcast qualifies for the non-fiction award category. If you feel our podcast is meritable, consider nominating it. The rules and nomination process can be found at this post at the This is Horror website. Thank you in advance for your consideration.
StokerCon 2022 Souvenir Cover Reveal
The cover art for the souvenir book for StokerCon 2022 has been revealed!
The book is edited by Cynthia Pelayo and the cover art done by Kealan Patrick Burke. Michele and I have two articles in this book: one is a quick essay about the five year anniversary of AnnRadCon and the other is an interview with one of the guests of honour, john Lawson.
Writing in the Dark Spring 2022 Appearance
Michele and I appeared as guests at the All Access Con’s Writing in the Dark Spring 2022 event. For an hour starting 2:00 pm PST on Saturday the 30th we talked about AnnRadCon and being academic writers.
Michele has an active CFP on the Highlander franchise. She is looking for essays on the Highlander movies, the television show, comics, everything.
If you’re interested, check out the CFP at her website and please share with others. With a possible reboot on the horizon, this is definitely a book you want to be a part of.
Unofficial Emmanuelle / Black Emanuelle CFP
Sometime in the latter half of 2022 (after I am finished with AnnRadCon 2022) I plan on publishing an official CFP calling for essays on Emmanuelle and its sequels and spinoffs, Black Emanuelle and its sequels, and all other Emmanuelle knockoffs. I already have an interested publisher, but I want to present to them a fully laid out TOC for an ambitious collection as this.
Though my CFP will not go live until later 2022, if you have any interest in being a part of this collection, let me know! Send me an email or social media message (see my about me page for contact info) to let me know your interest. If you have an abstract already, even better.
General Neo-Peplum News
100 Bible Films vs. The New Peplum
Matt Page’s (interviewed by me here) 100 Bible Films and my The New Peplum are neck and neck on one of Amazon’s sales ranking book categories:
Help Matt not only blow past my book, but to have a super successful debut book launch by pre-ordering his book! You can order at copy at Amazon and Bloomsbury.
My essay, “Permission to Kill: Exploring Italy’s 1960s Eurospy Phenomenon, Impact and Legacy,” that appears in James Bond and Popular Culture: Essays on the Influence of the Fictional Superspy, has been cited in Rui Lopes’ essay “The Eurospy boom and the evolution of Europe’s transnational identity” in the journal of Intelligence and National Security.
“Building on the vernacular film framework developed by Mikel Koven to analyze giallo movies, Nicholas Diak emphasizes the fact that Eurospies were hastily and cheaply made to be consumed in places such as the Italian third run theaters (terza visione) – the equivalent of grindhouse theaters in the USA – by an audience of blue-colour [sic] workers socializing among friends and not necessarily adopting the silent, attentive attitude expected in upper-tier cinemas (hence the primacy of viscerally exciting, playful, and exploitative content).”
Michele has an active CFP on the Highlander franchise. She is looking for essays on the Highlander movies, the television show, comics, everything.
If you’re interested, check out the CFP at her website and please share with others. With a possible reboot on the horizon, this is definitely a book you want to be a part of.
Unofficial Emmanuelle / Black Emanuelle CFP
Sometime in the latter half of 2022 (after I am finished with AnnRadCon 2022) I plan on publishing an official CFP calling for essays on Emmanuelle and its sequels and spinoffs, Black Emanuelle and its sequels, and all other Emmanuelle knockoffs. I already have an interested publisher, but I want to present to them a fully laid out TOC for an ambitious collection as this.
Though my CFP will not go live until later 2022, if you have any interest in being a part of this collection, let me know! Send me an email or social media message (see my about me page for contact info) to let me know your interest. If you have an abstract already, even better.
They are doing a series of episodes about the Twilight Zone and I am on an episode discussing the movie Encounter with the Unknown. This episode can be heard at the Fan2Fan Libsyn page or via your podcast app of preference.
A reminder: later this year my essay, “Strange Realities: Twilight Zone-sploitation in Encounter with the Unknown” will be published in the collection The Many Lives of the Twilight Zone: Essays on the Television and Film Franchise, edited by Ron Riekki and Kevin J. Wetmore Jr. The book can be pre-ordered at the McFarland product page.
Shudder Magazine Article by Michele
Michele has a new article up at her website: a review of a few issues of Shudder magazine.
Photo by Michele Brittany of her Shudder magazines.
Michele has an active CFP on the Highlander franchise. She is looking for essays on the Highlander movies, the television show, comics, everything.
If you’re interested, check out the CFP at her website and please share with others. With a possible reboot on the horizon, this is definitely a book you want to be a part of.
Unofficial Emmanuelle / Black Emanuelle CFP
Sometime in the latter half of 2022 (after I am finished with AnnRadCon 2022) I plan on publishing an official CFP calling for essays on Emmanuelle and its sequels and spinoffs, Black Emanuelle and its sequels, and all other Emmanuelle knockoffs. I already have an interested publisher, but I want to present to them a fully laid out TOC for an ambitious collection as this.
Though my CFP will not go live until later 2022, if you have any interest in being a part of this collection, let me know! Send me an email or social media message (see my about me page for contact info) to let me know your interest. If you have an abstract already, even better.
General Neo-Peplum News
Review of Kimaera’s Imperium
Apocalypse Later has a review at their website on Kimaera’s new album, Imperium.
The review can be read at Apocalypse Later while the album can be bought digitally at Kimaera’s Bandcamp page. I’ve bought the album and am giving it a listen: symphonic death metal with unclean vocals. Digging the music and the few instances where there are more clean vox. Album cover art is cool.
Review of Crusade of Bards’ Tales of the Seven Seas
With the hit streaming series Our Flag Means Death, pirates are officially back to being pop culture juggernauts since the Pirates of the Caribbean series lost the wind in its sails in the mid 2010s. The pirate genre has straddled the line of being considered pepla or not, but with films such as Morgan the Pirate (1960) and Hercules and the Black Pirate (1963), the boundaries are nebulous – so go for it! Pirate pepla!
In addition to the aforementioned Kimaera review, Apocalypse Later has a review of the new Crusade of Bards album, Tales of the Seven Seas. The review sounded complimentary, but actually listening to this band is a hard feat! Their Bandcamp page has only their old album, and you can only buy it, not listen. Their Discogs page is barebones. There are a few official videos on YouTube, and I dig it. Reminds me a bit of Leaves Eyes.
Two years ago Michele and I resurrected the H.P. Lovecast Podcast!
Logo by Philip Yount
To celebrate, we got a new logo/thumbnail! Check out this badass piece done by Philip Yount. We love it!
We have a new episode up as well: we recap our last year of podcasting, accomplishments, and talk about goals and upcoming projects. The episode can be streamed at our Buzzsprout website or via your podcast app of preference.
Highlander Call for Papers
Michele has an active CFP on the Highlander franchise. She is looking for essays on the Highlander movies, the television show, comics, everything.
If you’re interested, check out the CFP at her website and please share with others. With a possible reboot on the horizon, this is definitely a book you want to be a part of.
Unofficial Emmanuelle / Black Emanuelle CFP
Sometime in the latter half of 2022 (after I am finished with AnnRadCon 2022) I plan on publishing an official CFP calling for essays on Emmanuelle and its sequels and spinoffs, Black Emanuelle and its sequels, and all other Emmanuelle knockoffs. I already have an interested publisher, but I want to present to them a fully laid out TOC for an ambitious collection as this.
Though my CFP will not go live until later 2022, if you have any interest in being a part of this collection, let me know! Send me an email or social media message (see my about me page for contact info) to let me know your interest. If you have an abstract already, even better.
General Neo-Peplum News
Elysian Fields Remaster Indiegogo
Michael Oden has an Indiegogo campaign going for a remastered version of his Elysian Fields comic book.
Also part of this campaign is SPQR’s Bizarre Adventures: Rubicon Invaders. The campaign can be viewed here.
The second part of my interview with the Fan2Fab Podcast called “Sword, Sandals, and Sorcery Part 2” has been published.
Banner made by the F2n2Fan Podcast.
The episode can be streamed at the Fan2Fan Libsyn page or via your podcast app of preference. There is also a video version on YouTube (complete with 100x more arm flailing). Sincere appreciation to hosts Pete and Bernie for having me as a guest!
Horror Literature from Gothic to Post-Modern Citation
Dr. Hurley cites his own essay, “Richard Laymon’s Rhetorical Style: Minimalism, Suspense, and Negative Space,” which was published in Horror Literature From Gothic to Post-Modern.
Highlander Call for Papers
Michele has an active CFP on the Highlander franchise. She is looking for essays on the Highlander movies, the television show, comics, everything.
If you’re interested, check out the CFP at her website and please share with others. With a possible reboot on the horizon, this is definitely a book you want to be a part of.
Unofficial Emmanuelle / Black Emanuelle CFP
Sometime in the latter half of 2022 (after I am finished with AnnRadCon 2022) I plan on publishing an official CFP calling for essays on Emmanuelle and its sequels and spinoffs, Black Emanuelle and its sequels, and all other Emmanuelle knockoffs. I already have an interested publisher, but I want to present to them a fully laid out TOC for an ambitious collection as this.
Though my CFP will not go live until later 2022, if you have any interest in being a part of this collection, let me know! Send me an email or social media message (see my about me page for contact info) to let me know your interest. If you have an abstract already, even better.
General Neo-Peplum News
The Kings of Strength
Not really sword and sandal, but definitely adjacent, my publisher, McFarland, just released a book called The Kings of Strength: A History of All Strong Men from Ancient Times to Our Own.
The book looks to focally mostly on early 1900s strongmen, however it does contain a small section called “Physical Strength in Antiquity” which may provide some historic contextualizing to use while watching pepla. The book can be ordered at McFarland.
“Enjoy My Flames”
Dr. Jeremy Swist has a new essay published titled “Enjoy My Flames: On heavy metal’s fascination with Roman emperors”. It can be read at Lapham’s Quarterly.
Kagen the Damned
In sword and sorcery news, Jonathan Maberry has a new epic fantasy novel coming out titled Kagen the Damned.
