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News Roundup W/E 2021-06-13

Personal / Website News

Interview with Sidereal Fortress

New interview at my website! I’ve interviewed so many comic book creators as of late, time to hop over to another medium for a bit. I had the honor to interview the dungeon synth outfit Sidereal Fortress about their neo-peplum album, Circus Maximus. Check it out here.

ICYMI H. P. Lovecast Podcast Episode

ICYMI, a new episode of the HP Lovecast Podcast dropped last weekend. In this episode Michele and I talked about the comic book series Vinegar Teeth from Dark Horse Comics. Vinegar Teeth is more-or-less “The Colour out of Space” made into a buddy cop story. The episode is uploaded to our Buzzsprout website and also available on all major podcast applications.

Also, don’t forget to check out my essay on Vinegar Teeth called “Cullzathro Fhtagn! Magnifying the Carnivalesque in Lovecraft through the Comic Book Series Vinegar Teeth.”

The next episode of H. P. Lovecast will be a fragments episode on Caltiki: The Immortal Monster and will drop on my birthday, June 20th.

HWA Academics Board Updates

I’ve updated the HWA Academics Board with some new CFPs. These include:

  • AnnRadCon alumni Dr. Naomi Simone Borwein’s CFP on Global Aboriginal Horror
  • Horror Homeroom looking for abstracts for a special issue on Slasher Films
  • Howard David Ingham looking for presenters for online conference for Rural Gothic
  • Call for abstracts for the The Oxford Handbook of Black Horror Film
  • Hellbore has a call for a special issue on Summonings
  • The Horror and Monstrosity Studies is seeking proposals for books, collections, and monographs.

CFP for Classical Association Conference 2022

The Classical Association has a CFP out for the 2022 conference in Swansea. More info can be found at their website.

General Neo-Peplum News

Divination Hollow Essay

Great article at Divination Hollow titled “From Hades to The Song of Achilles: Greek Mythology Still Slaps” on the relevance and importance of Greek mythology today, on books to TV shows to fandom.

Interview with Tabernacle

Dr. Jeremy Swift has interviewed UAE heavy/power metal band Tabernacle at his Heavy Metal Classicist website.

Dr. Swist Interview Part 2

Part two of Dr. Swist being on the Against the Lore Podcast is live and can be found here. Part one can be found here.

Isidora #2 Kickstarter Live

G. A Lungaro‘s crowdfunding campaign for issue 2 of his Lovecraft/neo-peplum comic Isidora is now live and can be viewed on Kickstarter.

There is a stretch goal at $3,500 contributors will receive this gorgeous pinup.

Folks, I NEEED this pinup, it’s amazing! So check out the campaign and consider contributing. A reminder: I had the honor to interview G. A Lungaro about Isidora #1, so check that out too.

Rest in Peplum

Ned Beatty passed away on June 13th at the age of 83. His contribution to the peplum genre was portraying Diomed in The Last Days of Pompeii TV miniseries in 1984.

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News

News Roundup W/E 2021-06-06

Personal / Website News

H. P. Lovecast Podcast

Two episodes of the H. P. Lovecast Podcast went online this past week. The first is the Transmissions episode where we interview Amy Grech and Cathy McCarthy. The second is our flagship program in which we discuss the comic book series Vinegar Teeth.

The Podcast Index page has been updated with most of the episodes and their dates running to the end of August. If you take a peek, you’ll see some of the programming in store.

HWA Academics Board

I’ve updated the HWA Academics Board with lots of new CFPs.

Upcoming Projects

I don’t often share too much of upcoming projects since sometimes they can fail to materialize. But, I’d like give a run down of what I am working on, so yall can see what is on my plate:

  • Review of the video game The Touryst for Exotica Moderne (completed, turned in, will be in the next issue) Completed/Published Early 2021-08.
  • Conducting an interview with Miss Corsair Debonair for a future issue of Exotica Moderne (just started) Completed 2021-09-26 and sent in (just waiting on pinup pics)
  • Article on Caltiki: The Immortal Monster for Exotica Moderne (have not started yet, will prioritize the pinup interview first)
  • Review of the book Scared Sacred (been working on this off and on for a year, I need to get this done and out the door someday, it’s an albatross)
  • Conducting an interview with the dungeon synth project Sidereal Fortress (completed, will go online later this week) Completed/Published 2021-06-18
  • Various reviews of John Carter comic books (have not yet started)
  • Review of the book Mists and Megaliths by Catherine McCarthy
    Completed/published 2021-09-07
  • Review of the book To Boldly Go: Marketing the Myth of Star Trek (to be worked on after the Scared Sacred book)
  • My monograph on Lovecraft and Rene Girard (long term project, need to resume)
  • Article on Nisi Shawl and the Jungle Bird cocktail from her short story (rough draft done)
    Completed/Published 2021-08-17
  • Review of Dark Moon Book’s Han Song primer (have not started)
  • Review of the video game Story of a Gladiator (idea board project, may not materialize)

Let’s see how many of these I can realize as I keep spreading myself thin on personal projects. Maybe making some of this overt will help drive me further to realize these projects.

General Neo-Peplum News

Dr. Swist on Against the Lore

Dr. Jeremy Swist makes an appearance on the Against the Lore podcast to discuss ancient history in metal music.

Best Gladiator Films

Screen Rant has a top 10 list of the best gladiator films, though I challenge the “gladiator-ness” of some of these films. The opening sentence it makes it sound like the article means general sword and sandal films. Regardless, to save you a click, here is the list:

  1. Spartacus (1960)
  2. Ben-Hur (1959)
  3. Gladiator (2000)
  4. The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)
  5. Barabbas (1961)
  6. Demetrius And The Gladiators (1954)
  7. Cabiria (1914)
  8. Centurion (2010)
  9. The Eagle (2011)
  10. Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
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News

News Roundup W/E 2021-05-16

Personal / Website News

StokerCon 2021

StokerCon will start later this week. Along with Michele, I’ll be co-charing the AnnRadCon academic conference, giving a presentation on the film Encounter with the Unknown, and being a panelist on a panel called “Horror Pods and Vlogs Go Viral: The Pandemic and Beyond.” All of this will be able to be accessed ad hoc during the StokerCon event. More info can be found at the StokerCon 2021 website.

HWA Academic Board Updates

I’ve added some new CFPs to the HWA Academic board. They include CFP for the Aeternum Gothic Journal, a German language CFP for the worlds of Lovecraft, Undead Superheroes, and Cine-Excess.

General Neo-Peplum News

Call for Abstracts – Ancient World, Modern Music

Dr. Swist has an open CFP called “Ancient World, Modern Music” for the Classical Association of the Middle West & South conference in March 23-26 2022 at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina:

We are seeking abstracts for a panel on the reception of antiquity in modern music. 15-minute papers on the topic may discuss any genre of modern & popular music, including folk & country, rock & metal, hip-hop & pop, and theater & soundtracks, and may focus on lyrics, album artwork, music videos, live performances, or the music itself. We are particularly interested in questions of how musicians integrate ancient culture, myth, and art into modern medium, and how they read antiquity in response to the personal, the aesthetic, and the political.

Send 300-word abstracts & questions to Jeremy Swist (jeremyswist@brandeis.edu) by 10 July 2021. Potential panelists must commit to present in person if accepted.

Classical Imagery in the Album Artwork of White Supremacist Metal Bands

In more Dr. Swist news, a lecture he did earlier this year has been turned into an article at Pharos. The article is called “Classical Imagery in the Album Artwork of White Supremacist Metal Bands” and can be read at the Pharos website.

Eaters of the Dead Book

Dr. Kevin Wetmore has a new book coming out from Reaction Books this September called Eaters of the Dead: Myths and Realities of Cannibal Monsters.

The book focuses on cannibal monsters, but makes mention of mythological entities such as Thyestes, Pelops, Dionysus, and so on. It can be preordered at Reaktion Books and Amazon.

A Knight’s Tale turns Twenty

Variety has a retrospective up on Heath Ledger’s film, A Knight’s Tale, which just turned 20.

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News

News Roundup W/E 2021-04-11

Personal / Website News

Podcast News

H. P. Lovecast celebrated its one year (resurrection) anniversary! A year ago last April the world was knee deep in an apocalyptic pandemic (which we are still in). With so much uncertainty out there, Michele and I decided to bring back the dormant podcast. Since then, we’ve consistanluy published new episodes, expanded the scope of the podcast, brought attention to new writers, and hopefully given a little hope out there. In this month’s episode, we recap the last year, talk about goals for the upcoming year, while also taking a deep dive into William Meikle’s “Dagon Rising.” The podcast can be streamed on Buzzsprout or on your app of preference.

The episode of Scaredy Cats that I am a guest on has been delayed in being published. Unfortunately I don’t have an ETA yet.

S.P.Q.R. Comic

Did an interview with Riley Hamilton about his comic, S.P.Q.R. It can be read here.

General Neo-Peplum News

CFP for Ancient World Academia

The Society of Classical Studies has a CFP out for their Annual Meeting for Postgraduates in the Reception of the Ancient World. It can be found here.

Rest in Peplum

English actor Paul Ritter passed away at the age of 54. He was Galba in The Eagle (2011).

Italian make up artist Giannetto De Rossi passed away. He worked on a variety of filone films, and his peplum work includes:

  • Asterix and Obelix vs. Caesar (1999)
  • Conan the Destroyer (1984)
  • DragonHeart (1996)
  • Kull the Conqueror (1997)
  • The Last Legion (2007)
  • Pompei (2007)
  • Sword of Xanten (2004)
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News

News Roundup W/E 2021-04-04

Personal / Website News

Podcast News

This past Thursday, Jessica Scott and myself were guests on the Scaredy Cats Podcast talking about the film The Slumber Party Massacre. The episode will go online on Thursday the 8th across all major podcast platforms (I recommend their Buzzsprout page).

Michele and I appeared on the Voice of Olympus program on Tuesday to talk EC Comics. Michele covered War Against Crime while I talked about Valor.

Due to timing, billing cycles, and so on, the newest episode of H. P. Lovecast Podcast will go online on April 5th.

Horror CFPs

I run the horror academics board for the Horror Writers Association. I try to add new CFPs for papers, presentations, and keep tabs on publishers who accept academic and non-fiction submission. When I update it, go forward, I’ll mention the updates here as well in order to help proliferate the CFPs. The board can be found here and can be viewed by anyone.

General Neo-Peplum News

Das Neue Evangelium

The Bible Films Blog has a write up of Das Neue Evangelium (The New Gospel, 2020), which contains shot-for-shot remakes of Pasolini’s The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964).

John Carter Video Game

Sword and planet hero John Carter is getting a video game treatment called John Carter: Warlord of Mars. A website has been setup about the game as it develops at http://jcwom.com.

Elysian Fields: “The Pyramid Gambit”

The newest issue of the Elysian Fields comic series, “The Pyramid Gambit,” has started shipping. I’ve received my copy:

Elysian Fields: The Pyramid Gambit: Loot from the Indiegogo campaign

A call back: I interviewed Michael Oden about Elysian Fields #0 on my website. It can be read here.

Isidora issue #2 News

G. A. Lungaro has completed the script for Isidora #2. The new issue will have four different covers (Jay Espin, Vic King, Mark McKenna, and a mystery person). Issue 2 will also be crowdfunded via Indiegogo this time instead of Kickstarter and is expected to go live May/June. Other related news is that issue #1 is going to be re-lettered and there appears to be a special edition that will contain issues 1 and 2.

Another call back, I interviewed Lungaro very recently about Isidora #1.

Teaching With Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey

Dr. Deb Trusty will be giving a talk titled “Playing in the Past: Reflections from a Classicist on Playing, Streaming, and Teaching with Assassin’s Creed Odyssey” via Zoom on April 7th, 2021 at 7:00 pm PST. Registration is here.

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News

News Roundup W/E 2021-03-14

Personal / Website News

Interview with G. A Lungaro

I conducted an interview with G. A. Lungaro about his Neo-peplum/Lovecraft comic series, Isidora and the Immortal Chains.

General Neo-Peplum News

Byzantine Conference

The 47th annual Byzantine Studies Conference has a CFP open. More details can be found at the Byzantine Studies Organization of North America’s website. The CFP closes May 1st. Because of Covid, there’s a 50-50 chance it will either be in person or all online.

Soundtracks

Intrada released a 40th anniversary edition of the soundtrack for Ulysses 31, an old school anime which took the story of Odysseus and bumped it to the 31s century.

Peplum Parody

The folks at ScreenRant have done a faux pitch meeting for 300.

Rest in Peplum

Comic book artist and writer Frank Thorne passed away at the age of 90. He was known for his contributions to the Red Sonja comic during the 1970s.

Categories
News

News Roundup W/E 2021-02-28

Personal / Website News

Roman-Themed Fry’s Retrospective

ICYMI in the wake of Fry’s Electronics closing down, I penned a short article about the Roman-themed Fry’s that was in Costa Mesa, CA.

Call for Papers – Closed!

The Call for Abstracts for the collection of neo-medieval media is now closed. I’ll be assessing the submissions over the next couple of days to determine if the project is go/no go. But in advance, thank you to all who have submitted.

Podcast News

Our newest episode of the H. P. Lovecast Podcast is live! In this episode we dive into the anthology Cthulhu Deep Down Under Volume 2 and look at three stories: “Dead End Town” by Lee Murray, “The Island in the Swamp” by J. Scherpenhuizen, and “Depth Lurker” by Geoff Brown. The episode can be streamed at Buzzsprout or your favorite podcast program.

Also earlier this week Michele and I had an episode of the Scholars from the Edge of Time podcast. In this episode we interviewed Dr. Jeremy Swist on ancient worlds and heavy metal. That episode can be streamed/downloaded at Blog Talk Radio.

General Neo-Peplum News

Peplum Children’s Book

Children’s author and classicist Annelise Gray will have a new fiction book titled Circus Maximus: Race to the Death published by Head of Zeus on March 4th. It’s elevator pitch is Ben-Hur meets National Velvet for 9-12 year olds.

Rest in Peplum

Italian director Giancarlo Santi passed away at the age of 81. He was an assistant director on the Lou Ferrigno Hercules films: Hercules (1983) and The Adventures of Hercules (1985).

After a prolonged illness, British actor Ronald Pickup passed away at the age of 80. He played Orpheus in the Atlantis (2013-2015) television series, played King Sharaman in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010), and an appearance in the biblical peplum In The Beginning (2000).

Acclaimed sound editor Alan Robert Murray passed away at the age of 66. He worked on:

  • 300: Rise of an Empire (2014)
  • The 13th Warrior (1999)
  • Quest for Camelot (1998)
  • Ladyhawke (1985)

Categories
News

News Roundup W/E 2021-02-21

Personal / Website News

Call for Papers

The Call for Abstracts for my collection of essays on neo-medievalism is live. The CFP can be found here. This upcoming week is the final week this CFP will be open.

HP Lovecast Podcast

Our newest episode of the H. P. Lovecast Podcast will be going up later today. Yesterday our podcast host, Buzzsprout, was the target of DDoS attacks, so we really couldn’t access anything.

General Neo-Peplum News

Academic Talks

Dr. Jeremy J. Swist gave an online lecture earlier this week called “An Unholy Trinity: Antiquity, Heavy Metal, and White Supremacism.” That talk is now available on YouTube and can be streamed here.

Of supplemental interest, Dr. Swist gave another online lecture in 2019 called “By Spartan Law: Laconophilia in Heavy Metal Music” that is also on YouTube.

Depictions of the Trojan War

Tony Keen has a short article at his website called “Modern Adaptation of the Trojan War Tropes” where he muses on tropes found in modern day depictions of the Trojan War.

Biblical Pepla

Matt Page has updated his Bible Films Blog with a write up of Histoire de Judas (2015).

Categories
News

News Roundup W/E 2021-01-17

Personal / Website News

Call for Papers

The Call for Abstracts for my collection of essays on neo-medievalism is live. The CFP can be found here.

Podcast News

New episode of the HP Lovecast Podcast is online! For this month’s Fragments episode, we interview Jason Parent about his new novella, Eight Cylinders. The episode can be streamed at Buzzsprout or your podcast application of preference.

General Neo-Peplum News

Rest in Peplum

Animator Dale Baer passed away at the age of 70. He worked on quite a few sword and sandal-adjacent and sword and sorcery animated movies:

  • Robin Hood (1973)
  • The Lord of the Rings (1978)
  • The Smurfs (1980s)
  • The Black Cauldron (1985)
  • Quest for Camelot (1998)
  • The Emperor’s New Groove (2000)

Mona Malm passed away at the age of 85. She was in the super important Bergman film, The Seventh Seal (1957).

Categories
News

News Roundup W/E 2020-12-13

Personal / Website News

Citations for The New Peplum

I’ve finally procured a copy of The Borgia Family: Rumor and Representation and was able to confirm that Jennifer Mara DeSilva’s essay “The Secularization of Cesar Borgia and the American Motion Picture Production Code” contains my intro to The New Peplum listed in the bibliography. I’ve updated the page for The New Peplum to reflect this. The book can be found for sale at the Routledge store website.

The Borgia Family: Rumor and Representation

Dr. Hannah Mueller’s essay, “Male Nudity, Violence and the Disruption of Voyeuristic Pleasure in Starz’s Spartacus” is cited in Dr. Maria San Filippo’s book, Provocauteurs and Provocations: Screening Sex in 21st Century Media. This book can be found at the Indiana University Press bookstore.

Provocauteurs and Provocations

McFarland Sale on Viking Books

McFarland is having a sale for books about Vikings in film and pop culture. From now until December 31, if you use the code VIKINGS30 during check out, you’ll get a 30% discount. The New Peplum is part of this sale, no doubt due to the presence of Steve Nash’s excellent essay “There are no Boundaries for our Boats: Vikings and the Westernization of the Norse Saga”.

Call for Papers

The Call for Abstracts for my collection of essays on neo-medievalism is live. The CFP can be found here.

General Neo-Peplum News

Dr. Ross Clare has given a presentation on Herodotus from Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey that has been published on the YouTube channel of Herodotus Helpline.

Rest in Peplum

A little late on the news for some of these folks as I’m just hearing of their passing.

Abby Dalton, perhaps best known for Falcon Crest, passed away at the age of 88 on November 23rd. She starred in The Viking Women and the Sea Serpent (1958, Roger Corman)

Romano Ghini passed away on October 25th. This guy was a prolific sword and sandal star:

  • Samson (1961, Gianfranco Parolini)
  • Triumph of Maciste (1961, Tanio Boccia)
  • The Black Invaders (1962, Franco Montemurro)
  • Fury of Achilles (1962, Marino Girolami)
  • The Fury of Hercules (1962, Gianfranco Parolini)
  • Hercules Against the Sons of the Sun (1964, Osvaldo Civirani)
  • Antony and Cleopatra (1965, Vittorio Cottafavi)