Tag: HP Lovecast Podcast

Categories
News

Biweekly News Roundup 2024-09-08

Personal / Website News

H. P. Lovecast Podcast

After a few months hiatus Michele and I are back with H. P. Lovecast!

We have some interviews with folks we will need to connect on and get out the door, but we are going to slowly transition back into a normal schedule.

In the meantime, here is our first episode in a while! We talk about the 2022 cosmic-horror/dark comedy film, Glorious, directed by Dr. Rebekah McKendry. Check it out here, via the embedded player below, or through your podcast app of preference.

Ep 61 – Rebekah McKendry's Glorious – H. P. Lovecast Podcast

Scholars From The Edge Of Time

The August episode of Scholars from the Edge of Time is also online. For this episode we take a gander at the 2017 sorta-Templar film, Pilgrimage, which we both really dug.

The episode can be watched on YouTube.

For September we are looking to do Krull (1983). If you have suggestions for sword and sandal/sorcery/planet movies you’d like us to cover, let me know!

Panthans Journal #328

The newest issue of the The National Panthans Journal has been published. This issues contains a re-print of my review of Carson of Venus: The Flames Beyond #3.

Publishing Recap

Below is a recap of my publishing endeavors so far in 2024.

Comic Book Review: “Carson of Venus: The Flames Beyond#1″ reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #326.

Comic Book Review: “Carson of Venus: The Flames Beyond#2″ reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #327.

Comic Book Review: “Carson of Venus: The Flames Beyond#3″ reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #328.

Calls for Papers/Proposals

Here are some new pop culture CFPs that have crossed my paths. Links to these will also be in the CFP page on the navigation bar.

Expanding Our View of Sherwood: Exploring the Matter of the Greenwood in Comics

Sponsored by Medieval Comics Project and International Association for Robin Hood Studies (IARHS)

Organized by Michael A. Torregrossa and Carl B. Sell

60th International Congress on Medieval Studies

Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, Michigan)

Hybrid event: Thursday, 8 May, through Saturday, 10 May, 2025

Please Submit Proposals by 15 September 2024

Session Information

According to a recent search of the Grand Comics Database, creators of comic books and graphic novels have produced approximately five thousand comics directly based on or inspired by the Robin Hood tradition. These comics span over one hundred years and come from at least ten countries; however, the true scope of Hood’s influence on the medium appears much larger. A variety of archers, both heroes and villains, also feature within the pages of comics, and some, such as DC Comics’s Green Arrow, have even made the transition to the screen. In addition, Hood and his fellows have also frequented cartoons, comic strips, and manga, although their adventures there remain largely uncatalogued.

Of this vast array of comics and related media, relatively little of the corpus seems known to enthusiasts of the Matter of the Greenwood. Although Robin Hood scholars (working since the 1990s) have started to share some comics, much work still remains to be done to more fully assess the world of Sherwood Forest depicted in their panels. Therefore, in this co-sponsored session, we hope to create a deeper connection between Robin Hood Studies and Comics Studies to highlight items from this rich corpus and provide ideas and reflections on how to find, access, and employ Robin-Hood-themed comics in our classrooms and research.

Applicants to the roundtable are invited to revise their work for publication in a special issue of the open-access journal The Bulletin of the International Association for Robin Hood Studies.

Thank you for your interest in our session. Please address questions and/or concerns to the organizers at Comics.Get.Medieval@gmail.com. A full PDF version of this call can be accessed from Academia.Edu.

Submission Information

The process for proposing contributions to sessions of papers, roundtables and poster sessions for the International Congress on Medieval Studies uses an online submission system powered by Confex. Be advised that submissions cannot be accepted through email. Rather, access the direct link in Confex to our session at https://icms.confex.com/icms/2025/round/papers/index.cgi?sessionid=5826. You can also view the full Call for Papers list at https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/call.

Within Confex, proposals to sessions of papers, poster sessions and roundtables require the author’s name, affiliation and contact information; an abstract (300 words) for consideration by session organizer(s); and a short description (50 words) that may be made public. Proposals to sessions of papers and poster sessions also require a title for the submission (contributions to roundtables are untitled).

Proposers of papers or contributions to roundtables for hybrid sessions should indicate in their abstracts whether they intend to present in person or virtually.

If you need help with your submissions, the Congress offers some resources at the Participating in the Congress page at https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/participating-congress. Click to open the section labeled “Propose a Paper” and scroll down for the Quick Guide handouts.

Be advised of the following policies for participating in the Congress:

You are invited to propose one paper (as a sole author or as a co-author) for one session of papers. You may propose a paper for a sponsored or special session or for the general sessions, but not both. You may propose an unlimited number of contributions to roundtables and poster sessions, but you will not be scheduled to actively participate (as paper presenter, roundtable discussant, poster author, presider, respondent, workshop leader, demonstrator or performer) in more than three sessions.

Further details on the Congress’s Policies can be found at https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/policies-guidelines.

A reminder: Presenters accepted to the Congress must register for the full event. The registration fee is the same for on-site and virtual participants. For planning, the cost for the previous year’s event is posted at the Congress’s Registration page at https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/registration.

If necessary, the Medieval Institute and Richard Rawlinson Center at Western Michigan University offer limited funding to presenters. These include both subsidized registration grants and travel awards. Please see the Awards page at the Congress site for details at https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/awards.

Miscellaneous Tidbits

Want to give some appreciation and shoutouts to some friends who have big projects that just came out or are about to come out.

Ian Welke’s Messing With Mr. In-Between

Ian Welke, friend who has been on both Scholars from the Edge of Time and H. P. Lovecast, has a new book out called Messing with Mr. In-Between.

The book can be purchased at its Amazon product page. Check it out!

Global Indigenous Horror

Global Indigenous Horror is an upcoming collection edited by Naomi Simone Borwein, who has been a presenter at the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference and also published in Horror Literature form Gothic to Post-Modern.

More information and the ability to pre-order can be found at its University Press of Mississippi product page. Also – that cover is rad. Keep an eye out!

Philippe Gerber Scores

Composter Philippe Gerber, who creates music under the John 3:16 moniker and also did the theme song, “Azathoth,” for the H. P. Lovecast Podcast, has been scoring films lately! There’s two of them right now from SRS Cinema.

The first is The Final Possession, which can be found on Indiegogo.

And the next is Venus Die-Trap, (love the name), also on Indiegogo.

Check them out, consider backing/ordering the films!

Brenda S. Tolian’s Bestial Mouths

Friend and H. P. Lovecast interviewee alumnus Brenda S. Tolian has a new book coming from Raw Dog Screaming (aroooo) Press: Bestial Mouths. It’s a poetry collection! RDSP just did a cover reveal:

The collection is slated to come out November 14th and can be pre-ordered at the Raw Dog Screaming Press product page. The cover is wicked cool with all the mushrooms.

Ripple Effects Kickstarter

FanBase Press is about the launch their very first Kickstarter. This will be for a deluxe edition of Jordan Hart’s Ripple Effects.

Get notified when the Kickstarter goes live at the campaign’s Notify Me On Launch page. Consider backing! Or, if you’d like the current trade paperback edition, that can be found for purchase here.

Categories
News

Biweekly News Roundup 2024-03-03

Personal / Website News

Hearteater #1 Review

New comic book review is now online!

I take a look at the debut issue of Hearteater, a NSFW erotic pirate adventure comic. It can be read here.

HP Lovecast Podcast

A new episode of HP Lovecast Podcast is also online!

We have a returning guest, David Rose, on the show talking about his short story collection of Lovecraftian military fiction, Monsters in the Bush. The episode can be streamed at the HP Lovecast Buzzsprout page, via the embedded player below, or through your podcast app of preference.

HPLCP Transmissions – Ep 29 – David Rose and Monsters in the Bush – H. P. Lovecast Podcast

Scholars from the Edge of Time

The February Scholars from the Edge of Time vidcast is now online.

Michele and I start our retrospective of the peplum films of Bella Cortez with Vulcan, Son of Jupiter. I’ll be typing up my notes as a “Peplum Ponderings” article later this month.

The episode can be watched on YouTube. Stay tuned in March for the next Bella Cortez film we tackle which will probably be The Tartars (1961).

Emmanuelle Legacy CFP Re-opened + Bibliography

Since garnering publisher interest, I’ve re-opened the CFP for the Emmanuelle legacy book. The updated CFP can be found here.

I’ve also started annotating Emmanuelle scholarship and posting it here at my website so other scholars have a nice bibliographic resource. The bibliography and annotations can be found hereand it’s a major WIP.

Miscellaneous Tidbits

Recent Peplum Acquisitions

I never heard the term “spear and fang” before as a genre, I just kinda called them “prehistoric peplum,” but alas, it’s a term and it has its roots in a Robert E. Howard story of the same name (story found here).

Coincidentally, at the same time of learning about “spear and fang” I had ordered such a film from Amazon. I never heard of it before, but it is called Alpha (2018). I learned of it while researching my In the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds write up in that both films star Natassia Malthe).

I’ve never seen it, but it looks tough. I also know the poor pupper is not going to make it.

In the mood for some new peplum music to write to I plucked up off discos the soundtrack to the Conan TV series of the 90s.

This was a series that was greenlit to capitalize on the success of the Hercules/Xena shows. Conan managed to slip by me growing up, so I’ll have to hunt down the boxset of it to watch (but it’s way OOP). It does star Ralph Möller who is always bad ass, from Universal Solider to Gladiator. He looks like a good Conan on the cover of the album.

The music is fun – great background music to write to.

On the subject of Möller and music, I’d be remiss if I didn’t bring up his guest appearance in the E Nomine song “Schwarze Sonnne” which has Möller wielding a sword in a post- apocalyptic city while fighting tech ninja. The song slaps hard:

Next up is In The Name of the King 3: The Last Mission.

After seeing Two Worlds, I felt obligated to complete the trilogy. I hope in this one they actually lean into the modern day soldier/merc doing stuff in Medieval times. If you want to read my thoughts on In the Name of the King 2: Two World, click here.

Also procured is Damon and Pythias (1962), another classic era sword and sandal I have not seen.

I’ve been trying to get the Warner Archive releases of sword and sandal films when I can. I heard scuttlebutt that Warner was going to wind down their production of physical media, which would be a shame because they actually took care of their films so their peplum releases actually look decent on home video.

I don’t know how I stumbled across it, but it was random on Discogs, but I had to have a copy of Inferno’s The Roman Empire.

Someone on a Sword and Sorcery Discord I go to said the cover looks like Encarta barfed all over it (they’re not wrong!). I am going to try to hunt down all the pictured that where used in the collage work on this album. I’ve identified one: The chariot and horse scene near the top left is from the Hercules Unchained poster (see bottom right):

The music is early 90s Eurodance style. It’s campy, but kinda catchy and fun. If I can find more image sources I’ll do an article proper on this album.

Categories
News

Biweekly News Roundup 2024-01-14

Personal / Website News

2023 Accomplishments

Michele and I recapped a majority of our accomplishments and projects on the last episode of the H. P. Lovecast Podcast, however I’d like to do a personal breakdown here.

Publication Accomplishments

Honoured to appear in five physical publications this year:

Sincere appreciation to Rachel Carazo, Jonathan Maberry, Evan Jordan, Michael Duda, and William Sloan for letting me be part of their projects.

Podcast Accomplishments

Links to all podcast appearances can be found on the Podcast Index page. Sincere thanks to Bernie Gonzalez, Peter Charbonneau, Hercules Invictus, and Sherri Nunn for having me be a part of their programs.

Conference Accomplishments

Michele and I attended CoKoCon 2023 and ere on two panels. It was also our first time ever vending at a con. Thank you to Hal and Dee Astell for having us.

2024 Looking Forward

I am hoping that 2024 will be as successful as 2023 was. This year will see a decade of me writing (since the publication of my first essay in James Bond in Popular Culture).

On the podcast front, Michele and I already have the first half of 2024 planned for H. P. Lovecast. We’ve also already recorded a few episodes with the folks at Fan2Fan Podcast, so expect those episodes to drop throughout 2024.

My essay on peplum cats, currently titled “Hic Sunt Leones: Peplum Strongmen and the Nemean Lion Legacy” was accepted last year by editor Simon Bacon for his collection, Cats: A Companion. The manuscript was sent to the publisher in early December, so hopefully this book winds up being published later this year! Nice to have a publication already on the docket.

I still have a pile of reviews I want to get done that have been piling up. I also have a list of essay ideas I have approval on, I just need to write and get out the door. It’s been a while since I’ve submitted to Exotica Moderne, so hopefully I can get an essay or two to them this year.

The main project for 2024, however, is the Emmanuelle Legacy book. On my timeline I have submit a manuscript to the publisher in October, which will be here before I know it. I have an intro and an essay to write, along with editing other folks’ essays. I’m super excited to try and realize this project, so it’s going to be nose to the grindstone for this one.

Thank you to all the folks who support me and my endeavors. You are sincerely appreciated!

Horror Literature.. Review

The collection, Horror Literature from Gothic to Post-Modern: Critical Essays, that Michele and I edited has just gotten a new review from the Journal of Ecohumanism, and it is a very positive one!

The review (along with the rest of the journal) can be read in its entirety here.

New Episode of H. P. Lovecast Podcast

New episode to kick off 2024! We kick off the new year interviewing Pat Shand about his three issue comic book miniseries I Summoned Cthulhu to Fund my Kickstarter.

The episode can be streamed at the HP Lovecast Podcast Buzzsprout site, via the embedded player below, or through your podcast app of preference.

HPLCP Transmissions – Ep 28 – Pat Shand and I Summoned Cthulhu to Fund my Kickstarter – H. P. Lovecast Podcast

H. P. Lovecast on BlueSky

H. P. Lovecast is now on Blue Sky. If you’re using that social media please consider giving us a follow there! The username is: @hplovecast.bsky.social .

Emmanuelle Legacy CFP Re-opened + Bibliography

Since garnering publisher interest, I’ve re-opened the CFP for the Emmanuelle legacy book. The updated CFP can be found here.

I’ve also started annotating Emmanuelle scholarship and posting it here at my website so other scholars have a nice bibliographic resource. The bibliography and annotations can be found here and it’s a major WIP.

Miscellaneous Tidbits

The Neverending Streamer Substack

My friend, Travis Lakata, has started a Substack called The Neverending Streamer. Give him support and subscribe – check it out here: https://travislakata.substack.com.

Rest in Peplum Jennell Jaquays

Fantasy artist Jennell Jaquays passed away last week. She did lots of fantastic work. Her covert art for the Dragon Mountain boxset is probably one of the most iconic pieces of 90s 2nd Edition Dungeons and Dragons.

My copy of the box proper hasn’t survived the 30+ years, but the contents have! Here is book 1 of the module which sports the legendary red dragon.

Legends of the Lance Newsletter

While digging through my old Second Edition stuff I happened upon these five issues of the Legends of the Lance Dragonlance newsletter. Apparently these are extremely rare! I love how they look though and the art on them is aces.

Endless Armies Jeff Grubb Autograph

For this roundup of autographs, since I was going through my D&D stuff, figured I would show of my copy of Endless Enemies autographed by Jeff Grubb.

Way back in the 2000s my comic book store was Spy Comics in Federal Way. Apparently that was also Jeff Grubb’s comic book store to go to as well. The owner, Richard, arranged an in store event with Jeff Grubb who was on hand to autograph stuff he wrote. I got a few things signed by him, Endless Armies being one of them. Somewhere there is a photo of the event, I hope I can find it!

Categories
News

Biweekly News Roundup 2023-11-05

Personal / Website News

Alicia Carter and Robot #2

Been a while but I’ve got new write up at my ol’ website here!

I’ve did a review of Alicia Carter and Robot #2 (I had previously done issue one as well). The third issue is currently being crowdfunded on Kickstarter so this seemed like a good opportunity to write about the series.

HP Lovecast Podcast

Our monthly Transmissions episode is now online!

For the month of October we have the honor to interview filmmaker Jesse Terrell about his Lovecraftian short film, Sights Unseen. The episode can be streamed via the embedded player below, at the HP Lovecast Buzzsprout website, or through your podcast app of preference.

HPLCP Transmissions – Ep 27 – Jesse Terrell and Sights Unseen – H. P. Lovecast Podcast

Scholars from the Edge of Time Episodes

In October Michele and I appeared on two episodes of Scholars from the Edge of Time.

First, for our typical 4th Thursday of the Month, we talked about the classic Mario Bava sword and sandal film Hercules in the Haunted World (1961), perfect for the Halloween season. That episode can be found on YouTube.

Next, on the 5th Tuesday, Michele talked about the neo-peplum film Centurion (2010) and I talked about Mondo Balordo (1962).

That episode can also be found on YouTube.

And finally, I made a good and forgot to share September’s Scholars from the Edge of Time episode. I flew solo on this one and talked about Ironmaster (19830. Here is its YouTube link.

Emmanuelle Legacy CFP Re-opened + Bibliography

Since garnering publisher interest, I’ve re-opened the CFP for the Emmanuelle legacy book. The updated CFP can be found here.

I’ve also started annotating Emmanuelle scholarship and posting it here at my website so other scholars have a nice bibliographic resource. The bibliography and annotations can be found here and it’s a major WIP.

Publishing Recap

Below is a recap of my publishing endeavors so far in 2023.

Published in February, this collection contains my essay “Dance or Dēcēdere: Gladiator and Industrial Music Sampling.”

Vernon Press Product Page

Published in May, this issue of Weird Tales contains my essay “When the Stars are Right.”

Weird Tales Product Page

Published in late March, the first issue of the zine Footage Fiends, contains my essay “Analisi Della Cosa: Found Footage in Caltiki and Italian Theater Going Practices.”

Limited to 50 physical copies.

Order via Patreon.

Published in early August, Dark Dead Things #2 contains my essay “Correlating the Contents: Mimetic Desire in H. P. Lovecraft’s ‘The Call of Cthulhu’.”

Order via Dark Dead Thingswebsite.

Miscellaneous Tidbits

I Am a Barbarian on Sale

Thomas Simmons’ titanic graphic novel, I Am a Barbarian is on Sale for $49.95 through the month of November.

I had the honor to interview Simmons and artist Mike Dubisch about their graphic novel which can be read here. Check out the interview if you want to know more about the comic and if you are interested in purchasing, contact Simmons at cedar.run.publications@gmail.com.

Samson at Bible Films Blog

Matt Page has a new article on a Biblical peplum film at his Bible Films Blog!

Check out his write up for Samson (1961) which can be read here.

Categories
News

Biweekly News Roundup 2023-10-08

Personal / Website News

New Episode of H. P. Lovecast Podcast

A new episode of our monthly HP Lovecast Podcast is online!

Angela Sylvaine returned to the podcast to talk about her debut novel, Frost Bite. The episode can be streamed at our Buzzsprout website, via the embedded player below, or through your podcast app of preference.

HPLCP Transmissions – Ep 26 – Angela Sylvaine and Frost Bite – H. P. Lovecast Podcast

Later this month we will be discussing Mimic 3 on the podcast, concluding our year tradition of diving into the Mimic franchise (Listen to Mimic and Mimic 2).

McFarland Horror Sale

My publisher, McFarland, is having a sale this month on their horror titles. If you use code HALLOWEEN2023 during check out you’ll get a 25% discount on the horror tiles. An entire list of eligible titles can be found here.

Numerous books I’ve been a part of are included in this sale. If you want to pluck something up I’ve either co-edited or contributed an essay to, now is a good time!

Publishing Recap

Below is a recap of my publishing endeavors so far in 2023.

Published in February, this collection contains my essay “Dance or Dēcēdere: Gladiator and Industrial Music Sampling.”

Vernon Press Product Page

Published in May, this issue of Weird Tales contains my essay “When the Stars are Right.”

Weird Tales Product Page

Published in late March, the first issue of the zine Footage Fiends, contains my essay “Analisi Della Cosa: Found Footage in Caltiki and Italian Theater Going Practices.”

Limited to 50 physical copies.

Order via Patreon.

Published in early August, Dark Dead Things #2 contains my essay “Correlating the Contents: Mimetic Desire in H. P. Lovecraft’s ‘The Call of Cthulhu’.”

Order via Dark Dead Thingswebsite.

Miscellaneous Tidbits

CFP: The Mummy Edited Collection

Michele is teaming up with Sean Woodard to do an edited collection on The Mummy series. They have a CFP listed at UPENN, but I am also sharing a copy below.

Editors: Michele Brittany and Sean Woodard

Contact email: mummybookproject@gmail.com

Abstract Deadline: December 15, 2023

Chapter Drafts Deadline: June 15, 2024

Essays sought for an edited collection focused on Universal Pictures’ The Mummy franchise.

The 1999 Universal reboot of The Mummy, starring the indelible duo of Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, remains a tentpole of ’90s popular culture and cinema. Not only did The Mummy launch two sequels, a spin-off series, and a reboot, but it has lived on as a cult film, loved by fans for its mixture of horror, action/adventure, and humor. The film has also developed a strong meme culture on social media — one of the most viral examples contains a photo of a car bumper sticker proclaiming: “Honk if you’d rather be watching the 1999 cinematic masterpiece ‘The Mummy’ starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz.”

While academic research has been focused on various releases of The Mummy (1932, 1959, 1999, and 2017), there has not been a singular scholarly text devoted to the film franchise. The recent “Brenaissance” in Fraser’s film career and the film’s anticipated 25th anniversary in 2024 make it an appropriate time to celebrate and re-evaluate the film.

The purpose of this edited collection is to place The Mummy into a cultural and theoretical context, as well as critically analyze the franchise, its connections to other genre films, and its continued influence.

We seek proposals for chapters that approach the subject matter with theoretical concepts that will appropriately meet the rigorous expectations of an academic work, but through a prose style that shall be accessible for both an academic audience and a general readership.  

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

  • Resurgent interest in Brendan Fraser/“Brenaissance”
  • Stephen Sommers as an auteur
  • Representation of Egypt in popular culture and early filmic representation
  • Eastern mythology/culture/religion
  • Exoticism of non-western cultures
  • Post/De-colonialism 
  • Heroic representation
  • Body horror
  • Eco-horror/Ecocriticism
  • Gender representation
  • Toxic depictions in film
  • Queer/LGBTQ+ representation
  • Meme/GIF culture
  • Psychoanalysis
  • Generational nostalgia 
  • Element of music/film scoring
  • Genre hybridity
  • Film cycles/reboots/retcons (such as The Scorpion King, The Mummy animated series, Universal Classic Monsters, Hammer Studios, Dark Universe, etc.) and related adventure/archaeological-driven films (such as Ark of the Sun God, The Sphinx, The Librarian franchise, etc.)

Please send abstracts of 300 – 500 words with a working title and five (5) keywords, accompanied by a short third-person author bio (100 words max), to mummybookproject@gmail.com as a Word document. Final essays should be 6,000 – 8,000 words in length, including endnotes and bibliography, and be formatted according to the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition. The collection is being considered by a leading academic press.

Proposed Timeline

  • October 1, 2023 thru December 15, 2023 — Call for Papers
  • January 15, 2024 — Notification of abstract acceptances sent to authors  
  • January 15, 2024 thru June 15, 2024 — Book chapters drafting period
  • June 15, 2024 thru July 15, 2024 — Initial editorial review of submitted chapter drafts
  • August 1, 2024 thru October 1, 2024 — Double-blind Peer Review Period
  • October 1, 2024 thru November 15, 2024 — Contributor revision period
  • December 1, 2024 — Final editorial acceptance decisions
  • December 1, 2024 thru January 15, 2025 — Layout design, indexing, and proofing stage
  • January 15, 2025 thru February 15, 2025 — Copies of chapter proofs sent to contributors for copyediting review
  • March 1, 2025 — Final manuscript submitted in hard copy and digital formats to publisher

Editor bios:

Michele Brittany is a writer, editor, podcaster, and artist. She edited James Bond and Popular Culture and the Bram Stoker Award-nominated Horror in Space: Critical Essays on a Film Subgenre. She co-edited Horror Literature from Gothic to Post-Modern: Critical Essays and co-hosts H. P. Lovecast podcast with Nicholas Diak. She lives in Glendale, Arizona.

Sean Woodard (MA | MFA) is a PhD candidate in English at University of Texas at Arlington. He also serves as the Assistant Editor for Global Insight: A Journal of Critical Human Science and Cultureand the Film Editor for Drunk Monkeys. He has contributed chapters to the edited collections Journeys Into Terror: Essays from the Cinematic Intersection of Travel and Horror and Bloodstained Narratives: The Giallo Film in Italy and Abroad. His research interests include horror cinema, the American West, psychoanalysis, fairy tales, and film scoring.

Autograph Stuff

Here are some of the autographed treasures I shared on social media these past two weeks.

First up is my copy of Nightmare of Ecstasy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood Jr. signed by longtime Wood collaborator, Conrad Brooks.

In the latter 2000s I contacted Brooks via his website and he reached out to me via phone. He actually thought I was a lady, probably because of my less-than-masculine voice. He let me send him all my Ed wood stuff for him to autograph (this book included) and he also sent me back some of his movies he directed himself and released via Alpha Video. He was a charming dude and we talked on the phone a few times, but I lost contact with him after we moved to California. I was sad to find out he died, one of the last vanguards of singular era of exploitation films.

Next, following along with classic exploitation, is The Complete Night of the Living Dead Film book, signed by John Russo.

Back in the latter 2000s Michele and I lived in Federal Way and our comic book shop was Spy Comics owned by Richard Spychalski. Richard was the man and we go to his shop every week to pick up our orders we made from Previews and stay well after the shop closed, talking with him and petting his dog Ollie. The bulk of my comic book collection was bought from Richard during this time.

This book popped up as something to order through Previews. The book is actually from 1985. I suspect Avatar Press, which was publishing some NOTLD comics, probably got a box of these books from Russo who has them sitting in his garage and asked for the publisher to sell them. Slap an autograph on them and a certificate of authenticity and voila! Anywho, I liked NOTLD well enough so I ordered this book with one of my previews orders and Richard was able to get it in for me.

I really, really miss having a local comic book store.

To go with my Mike Nelson autographed copy of Plan 9 From Outer Space I shared on 8/27, here’s my copy of Carnival of Souls signed by the MST3K alumni.

I bought this way back in early 20004 while living in University Place. This was an era I was hungry for more MST3K stuff, and at the time only Mike Nelson was doing anything like it. This version of Carnival of Souls was the first time I ever seen the cult film. It’s a great one – a very slow burn one.

#HorrorGameOctober

For #HorrorGameOctober I’ll be (well, am currently) playing two games: The Evil Within and The House of the Dead Remake.

There’s a theme to these two games: they both have lenticular covers!

Michele bought me The Evil Within as a yuletide gift way back in 2015. I played it for a bit, but something stopped me from getting too far in it. Something wasn’t jiving? I got distracted by another game? I’m not sure, but here I am 8 years later giving it a legit go.

The House of the Dead I used to play when I was a teen in the arcade at the Three Rivers Mall in Kelso. I never got far. The game was for sale dirt cheap on Amazon this summer so I plucked it up. I was able to beat it a few times, something I would never think I would do! The game made me feel very nostalgic. I’m going to give it a few more play throughs this month and score a few more Xbox achievements.

I am going to try and fit in a proper write up about these two horror games before the month ends.

Categories
News

Biweekly News Roundup 2023-08-13

Personal / Website News

Black Emanuelle Boxset Unboxing

Severin Films recently released a titanic boxset of the Laura Gemser Black Emanuelle films. I, of course, did an unboxing article of it.

I also bring up prior incarnations of Black Emanuelle DVD releases. Check out the write up here.

Citation News

There’s been an uptick in work being cited lately and I am here for it!

Firstly, my essay “Lost Nights and Dangerous Days: Unraveling the Relationship Between Stranger Things and Synthwave” from Uncovering Stranger Things has been cited in the essay “‘Dad, every serial killer is somebody’s neighbor!’ The Problem of White Supremacy in Summer of ’84” by Erika Tiburcio Moreno and published in the edited collection The ’80s Resurrected: Essays on the Decade in Popular Culture Then and Now.

The book was published by McFarland in March earlier this year. More info can be found on the book’s product page at the McFarland website.

Next, Hannah Mueller’s essay “Male Nudity, Violence and the Disruption of Voyeuristic Pleasure in Starz’s Spartacus” from The New Peplum has been cited by James K. Beggan in his essay “Why is he there? Male presence in a sexually explicit magazine geared towards heterosexual men” that was published in the Porn Studies journal.

The New Peplum
Cover art for The New Peplum

If you have access the essay can be read at the journal’s page at Taylor and Francis.

New Episode of HP Lovecast

A new episode of our monthly Transmission program is now online.

For July we interviewed Chelsea Pumpkins, editor of the horror anthology AHH! That’s What I Call Horror: An Anthology of ’90s Horror. The episode can be streamed via our Buzzsprout page, the embedded player below, or through your podcast app of preference.

HPLCP Transmissions – Ep 24 – Chelsea Pumpkins – H. P. Lovecast Podcast

CoKoCon Schedule

The schedule for CoKoCon 2023 is starting to take shape! You can find Michele and I on the following panels:

  • Saturday Sept 2 9pm – Fiesta Ballroom 2: From EC Comics to Shudder: Horror Comics That Excite and Scare Us
  • Sunday Sept 3 6pm – Coronado: Creepy, Crawly, Otherworldly Bumps in the Night, or Cosmic Horror Films
  • Monday Sept 4 1pm – Coronado: 1pm: Weird West in Popular Culture

I’ll be on premises the entire con, so feel free to hunt me down to say hi! Michele and I will also have a table we were sill be selling and signing books.

Publishing Recap

Below is a recap of my publishing endeavors so far in 2023.

Published in February, this collection contains my essay “Dance or Dēcēdere: Gladiator and Industrial Music Sampling.”

Vernon Press Product Page

Published in May, this issue of Weird Tales contains my essay “When the Stars are Right.”

Weird Tales Product Page

Published in late March, the first issue of the zine Footage Fiends, contains my essay “Analisi Della Cosa: Found Footage in Caltiki and Italian Theater Going Practices.”

Limited to 50 physical copies.

Order via Patreon.

Essay about mimetic desire in Lovecraft’s Call of Cthulhu in Dark Dead Things #2/

Order via Dark Dead Things website.

Miscellaneous Tidbits

New Acquisitions

Kino Lorber just had a summer sale on their Blu-rays so I took the opportunity to pluck up some Italian films for the library.

The Last Hunter I already had on DVD, from Dark Sky Films. In fact, here is my copy autographed by Antonio Margheriti’s son, Edoardo Margheriti:

I did a presentation on The Last Hunter at the Southwest Popular/American Culture Association conference waaaaaaay back in 2010. Not my best presentation and still very green at being an academic, but the text of it can be read at my Academia.edu account.

Ironmaster I have not seen. It sounds like an Italian sword and sorcery flick, but in a prehistoric age. I am a fan of Umberto Lenzi’s work so this should be a fun watch.

Lastly is Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, which I also have not seen. I’ve seen the iconic image of Sophia Loren slipping off her stockings that I feel like I’ve seen the film. I always think of Mastroianni from Divorce, Italian Style.

Pasolini’s The Gospel According to St. Matthew Commentary

Matt Page, author of 100 Bible Films, has recorded a commentary for Paolini’s 1964 Biblical peplum, The Gospel According to St. Matthew. The commentary and be streamed from YouTube. Criterion Collection recently released a Pasolini boxset that contains this film.

Call for Papers

Michael Torregrossa has a few CFPs out there. I’m sharing them here to help get the word out. Check them out and consider submitting!

Beowulfs Beyond Beowulf: Transformations of Beowulf in Popular Culture (Panel)

Sponsored by the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture and the Monsters & the Monstrous Area of the Northeast Popular Culture Association

Organized by Michael A. Torregrossa, Richard Fahey, Carl Sell, and Benjamin Hoover

Call for Papers – Please Submit Proposals by 30 September 2023

55th Annual Convention of Northeast Modern Language Association

Sheraton Boston Hotel (Boston, MA)

On-site event: 7-10 March 2024

The Old English epic Beowulf remains an important touchstone for connecting us to the medieval past, yet it also has continued relevance today through its various transformations in cultural texts (especially works of popular culture). Our hope with this session is to expand our knowledge of these works and assess their potential for research and teaching. 

Please visit our website Beowulf Transformed: Adaptations and Appropriations of the Beowulf Story (available at https://beowulf-transformed.blogspot.com/)  for resources and ideas. 

The full call for papers (with complete session and submission information) can be accessed at https://tinyurl.com/Beowulf-Transformed-NeMLA-2024.  

Session Information

Over a millennium old, the story of Beowulf is disseminated primarily through its editions and translations and its transformations. These three types of Beowulfiana represent a massive corpus of over 1000 works according to the Beowulf’s Afterlives Bibliographic Database; though, as medievalists, we tend to focus on the first two categories rather than the last concentrating on scholastic pursuits rather than entertainments. Consequently, many are often surprised by the variety and vitality of this corpus and its vast potential for research and teaching.

New versions of the Beowulf story feature in all forms of modern mediævalisms, yet (as is true with most medieval texts) research continues to focus primarily on depictions of Beowulf on screen (about 100 examples according to the Internet Movie Database). We hope in this session to expand our view of Beowulf’s reception by creators and look more deeply at the text’s wider use. 

We are particularly interested in explorations of the adaptation and/or appropriation of the text, its characters, and its themes in works of fiction (at least 250 examples according to the Internet Speculative Fiction Database and much more recorded by the Beowulf’s Afterlives Bibliographic Database) and comics (at least 380 examples according to the Grand Comics Database), as well as their representations in new and neglected works on screen (including film, television, entertainment consoles, and the Internet). Additional versions of Beowulf can be found in works of creative, performative, and visual arts that also need more attention. 

We hope to make our conversation productive. Therefore, we request that submissions highlight the ways the new text transforms the old (for example as interpretations or appropriations of the poem or as an intertext for another work) as well as its value in furthering the Beowulf tradition rather than focusing solely on any perceived defects. 

Please see our website Beowulf Transformed: Adaptations and Appropriations of the Beowulf Story (at https://beowulf-transformed.blogspot.com/) for a growing list of ideas, resources, and support. 

All proposals will also be considered for a themed issue of the open-access journal The Heroic Age: A Journal of Early Medieval Northwestern Europe.

Please address questions and/or concerns to the organizers at popular.preternaturaliana@gmail.com.

Submission Information

All proposals must be submitted into the CFPList system at https://cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/20596 by 30 September 2023. You will be prompted to create an account with NeMLA (if you do not already have one) and, then, to complete sections on Title, Abstract, and Media Needs. 

Notification on the fate of your submission will be made prior to 16 October 2023. If favorable, please confirm your participation with chairs by accepting their invitations and by registering for the event. The deadline for Registration/Membership is 9 December 2023.

Be advised of the following policies of the Convention: All participants must be members of NeMLA for the year of the conference. Participants may present on up to two sessions of different types (panels/seminars are considered of the same type). Submitters to the CFP site cannot upload the same abstract twice.(See the NeMLA Presenter Policies page, at https://www.buffalo.edu/nemla/convention/policies.html, for further details,)

Thank you for your interest in our session. 

Again, please address questions and/or concerns to the organizers at popular.preternaturaliana@gmail.com.

For more information on the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture, please visit our website at https://MedievalinPopularCulture.blogspot.com/.  

For more information on the Monsters & the Monstrous Area of the Northeast Popular Culture Association, please visit our website at https://popularpreternaturaliana.blogspot.com/.

Categories
News

Biweekly News Roundup 2023-06-04

Personal / Website News

H. P. Lovecast Podcast

May’s Transmissions episode is online!

In this episode we interview Tom Starita about his new horror novel, Delta, and Beth Cato about her new chef/swashbuckling novel, A Thousand Recipes for Revenge. The episode can be streamed at the H. P. Lovecast Buzzsprout website, the embedded player below, or through all major podcast apps.

HPLCP Transmissions – Ep 22 – Tom Starita and Beth Cato – H. P. Lovecast Podcast

Scholars from the Edge of Time

For May’s Scholars from the Edge of Time episode Michele and I discuss the 1955 Howard Hawks film Land of the Pharaohs. It can be viewed on YouTube.

We also did another episode a week later, with Michele talking about the white cat in Mummy (1999) and me talking about cats in strongman sword and sandal films of the late 50s/early 60s. Also on YouTube.

Publishing Recap

Below is a recap of my publishing endeavors so far in 2023.

Published in February, this collection contains my essay “Dance or Dēcēdere: Gladiator and Industrial Music Sampling.”

Vernon Press Product Page

Scheduled to be published in May, this issue of Weird Talescontains my essay “When the Stars are Right.”

Weird Tales Product Page

Published in late March, the first issue of the zine Footage Fiends, contains my essay “Analisi Della Cosa: Found Footage in Caltiki and Italian Theater Going Practices.”

Limited to 50 physical copies.

Order via Patreon.

Miscellaneous Tidbits

History of the World Pt 1 and Jeana Keough

I shared this on Twitter the other day and since it is peplum related I thought I would share it here.

Here is my DVD copy of Mel Brooks’ History of the World Part 1 signed by November 1980 Playboy Playmate Jeana Keough (Tomasino).

Aside from her Playboy spread, Keough is probably best known for her appearances in various ZZ Top music videos of the 80s and in The Real Housewives of Orange County series. She only had a cameo part in History of the World Part 1 during the Roman Empire segment. I had the honor to meet Keough at a Glamourcon convention way back in 2010:

Jeana Keough (Tomasino) – Glamourcon 2010

Aside from autograph my copy of History of the World, she also autographed an 8×10 of one of her Playboy pictures for Michele and I:

Jeana Keough Playboy picture with super stockings.
Categories
News

Biweekly News Roundup 2023-04-23

Personal / Website News

Mighty prolific last two weeks with articles, podcasts, and other projects. It’s also three consecutive weeks of me publishing an article at this website, and I have another one queued up this Wednesday. Feeling good!

Buzzworthy Book Review

I have a new book review up at my website. I return to the world of Jennifer Croll’s homage cocktails. Previously I did a review of her Art Boozel.

Croll’s newest book, Buzzworthy, was published earlier this month, and holy smokes in a rare instance of me being timely, I had a review of it written up and posted. Not to brag, (but I will), I think one of the things I do when I review cocktail books that other websites don’t do is actually make some of the cocktails inside. Anywho, my review of Buzzworthy is online, check it out and consider plucking up Croll’s newest release.

Claus Larsen Interview

Next up I return to my roots of music journalism! I have not really written about/interview anyone since my Heathen Harvest days, so I thought it would be fun to dip back into penning an article on something industrial.

Claus Larsen’s EBM act, Leæther Strip, recently released a new album and I enjoyed it throughly. I reached out to Larsen to ask if I could ask him some questions about it and he said sure! So, here is my mini-interview with Larsen about his newest album, Last Station.

New H. P. Lovecast Podcast

Happy three year anniversary to the resurrected H. P. Lovecast Podcast! Back in 2020 when the pandemic had really started, Michele and I brought the podcast back and have done quite a bit since: read some good (and bad) works, interviewed lots of cool people.

On this episode we discuss the 1970 AIP adaptation of The Dunwich Horror. Arrow Video did a restored release of the film on Blu-ray this past January and we had hoped to do an episode then, but house stuff and other projects got in the way. So, a little late but here is our episode. It can be steamed at the HP Lovecast Buzzsprout page, via the embedded player below, or through your podcast app of preference.

Ep 57 – The Dunwich Horror (1970 Film) – H. P. Lovecast Podcast

The New Peplum Citations

Princeton University Press recently published the book, Helen of Troy in Hollywood, by Ruby Blondell (a super expert on classics and Helen of Troy canon).

Very flattered to see essays from The New Peplum cited in this tome! Unfortunately I don’t have a copy of the book so I am using preview pages from Google Books to deduce what has been cited. From what I can tell:

  • Steven Sears’ afterword
  • My introduction
  • Haydee Smith’s “Queering the Quest: Neo-peplum and the Neo-femme in Xena: Warrior Princess“
  • Valerie Estelle Frankel’s “Hercules, Xena, and Genre: The Methodology Behind the Mashup”
  • Paul Johnson’s “Adapting to New Spaces: Swords and Planets and the Neo-peplum”

I love to see The New Peplum continued to be cited and used in new scholarship. More information about Helen of Troy in Hollywood can be read at the Princeton University Press’ product page for the book.

Fan2Fan Podcast Appearances

The cool kids at the Fan2Fan Podcast are doing a series of episodes about folk’s favorite theme songs from TV shows.

Michele and I are on an episode talking about ours which can be heard at the Fan2Fan Libsysn, on your podcast app, or via the embedded player below. Sincere thanks to Bernie and Pete for having us on.

Our Favorite TV Theme Songs Michele and Nick – Fan2Fan Podcast

A side note, one of the shows I mention is the theme song to Mission Hill, which is an edited version of Cake’s “Italian Leather Sofa.” It’s one of my favorite cartoons ever and I talk about why on the episode.

But, for fun, here is my autographed copy of the Mission Hill DVD signed by Brian Posehn. I met him at an Emerald City Comic Con way back in the late 2000s.

Emmanuelle / Black Emanuelle CFP

The Call for Papers for Emmanuelle, Black Emanuelle, and Emmanuelle derivative films is open until the end of this month (April 30th).

Emmanuelle the Private Collection Soundtrack.

The CFP can found on this page. If you know other scholars who would be interested in this project, please share! I’d be super appreciative to get the word out.

Publishing Recap

Below is a recap of my publishing endeavors so far in 2023.

Published in February, this collection contains my essay “Dance or Dēcēdere: Gladiator and Industrial Music Sampling.”

Vernon Press Product Page

Scheduled to be published in May, this issue of Weird Talescontains my essay “When the Stars are Right.”

Weird Tales Product Page

Categories
News

Biweekly News Roundup 2023-02-12

Personal / Website News

Death Nell #1 Write Up

New article up here at my website. I take a look at the first issue of Death Nell from Bad Bug, a gothic-comedy-light-horror-erotic comedy comic.

The write up can be read here.

H. P. Lovecast Podcast Episode

The Bram Stoker Preliminary Ballot has been published and like last year on the podcast we are looking to spotlight some of the authors on the list and help get the word of their works out and entice readers to consider their works. Because of this, we are also flipping the order of episodes this month: Transmissions in the first half, normal episode at the end.

For this special episode of Transmissions Michele and I interviewed David Aquilone about Kolchak the Night Stalker: 50th Anniversary and Donna Lynch about Girls from the County.

HPLCP Transmissions – Ep 19 James Aquilone and Donna Lynch – H. P. Lovecast Podcast

The episode can be streamed via our Buzzsprout website, via the embedded player above, or through your podcast app of preference. Give it a listen and consider checking out Aquilone and Lynch’s works.

Scaredy Cats Podcast Appearance

Back in 2021 I had the honor to be a guest on the Scaredy Cats Podcast to talk about the influential slasher film, The Slumber Party Massacre (episode link here).

Host Sherri invited me back on the podcast, along with co-host of the Schitt’s Simply the Best Podcast, Katie, to talk about the 2015 meta-horror-slasher film, The Film Girls. It was a lot of fun to watch the film and then discuss it.

The episode can be streamed at the Scaredy Cats Buzzsprout page here or via your podcast app of preference. Sincere gratitude to Sherri for being asked on.

Emmanuelle / Black Emanuelle CFP

The Call for Papers for Emmanuelle, Black Emanuelle, and Emmanuelle derivative films is open.

Severin DVD (left) vs Full Moon Blu-ray (right) of Emanuelle and the White Slave Trade.

The CFP can found on this page. If you know other scholars who would be interested in this project, please share! I’d be super appreciative to get the word out.

A Hero Will Endure Preorder

A Hero Will Endure: Essays at the Twentieth Anniversary of Gladiatoris available for preorder at the Vernon Press website.

This collection contains my essay “Dance or Dēcēdere: Gladiatorand Industrial Music Sampling” and is slated to be released later this month.

Miscellaneous Tidbits

New Edge Sword and Sorcery Kickstarter

The Kickstarter for New Edge Sword and Sorcery is now live!

The Kickstarter campaign can be found here. The project is currently (evening of 2/12) at 71.77% funded with 19 days left. Consider backing it!

Miss Corsair Debonair YouTube Channel Launch

Pinup/stockings model Miss Corsair Debonair (who I interview for Exotica Moderne issue 14) has launched a YouTube channel (found here).

Her first video (which can be found here or in the embedded player above) has her showcasing a vintage pair of tan RHT stockings. One of her kitties makes a cameo! Check out her video, consider subscribing so you can see her next stockings/nylons/kitties video.

Categories
News

Biweekly News Roundup 2023-01-15

Personal / Website News

Born of Blood #2 Writeup

The second issue of the neo-peplum comic Born of Blood was released late 2022 by MERC Publishing.

I’ve done a write up of the issue which can be read here.

Emmanuelle / Black Emanuelle CFP

The Call for Papers for Emmanuelle, Black Emanuelle, and Emmanuelle derivative films is open.

Personal copy of Emmanuelle 4 signed by Brinke Stevens.

The CFP can found on this page. If you know other scholars who would be interested in this project, please share! I’d be super appreciative to get the word out.

New Episode of H. P. Lovecast

A new episode of H. P. Lovecast is now online. This episode was recorded last month, but with all the moving and getting settled, we are publishing it now. It’s a recap episode where Michele and I talk about accomplishments of 2022, personal projects, and goals for 2023. Check it out at our Buzzsprout website, at the podcast player below, or via your podcast app of preference.

Ep 56 – 2022 Recap, Podcast News, Upcoming Projects – H. P. Lovecast Podcast

A Hero Will Endure Cover Reveal and Table of Contents

A Hero Will Endure: Essays at the Twentieth Anniversary of Gladiator has a (draft) cover reveal and a table of contents! Here is the cover (might be slightly changed):

Draft cover.

And here is the table of contents:

  • Introduction: On Comets, Cakes, and Toys – Marking ‘Gladiator Days’ for (More than) Two Decades – Rachel L. Carazo
  • Chapter 1 “A Vital and Adrenalized Contributor”: DreamWorks, Gladiator, and the Establishment of a Movie Studio – Kimberly A. Owczarski
  • Chapter 2 ‘Wailing’ and ‘Moaning’: Gladiator’s Music Phenomenon and Legacy – Matthew Hodge
  • Chapter 3 “What We Do in Life, Echoes in Eternity”: An Ecocritical Reading of the Scenery and Landscapes in Gladiator – Stefano Rozzoni
  • Chapter 4 Maximus – The Twenty-First-Century Hybrid Hero: The Bridge Between Traditional and Counterculture Hero Archetypes in Gladiator – Kristen Leer
  • Chapter 5 “Father! I would butcher the whole world, if you would only love me…”: The Character of Commodus, between Historical Reality and Cinematographic Representation – Livio Lepratto
  • Chapter 6 “Commodus is not a Moral Man”: Nemesis, Narrative Construction, and Historical Reconstruction in Gladiator – James Shelton
  • Chapter 7 Games for the Throne, the Thread of Love, and Women and Heroes: Mythic Gendered Arenas in Gladiator and Game of Thrones – Loraine Haywood
  • Chapter 8 “…But Not Yet”: Reflections on Juba, the Spirit Guide and “Eternal Echo” of Gladiator – Ashley Weaver
  • Chapter 9 Ecce homo heroicus! The Enduring Maximus, Twenty Years On – Peter Burkholder and Krista Jenkins
  • Chapter 10 Roman Religious Figurines that “hear you […] in the afterlife”: Maximus’ Lares, His Vilica, and the Pomerium of Elysium in Gladiator – Rachel L. Carazo
  • Chapter 11 Dance or Dēcēdere: Gladiator and Industrial Music Sampling – Nicholas Diak
  • Chapter 12 Gladiator and Contemporary Roman Customs: The Myth of Maximus on the Roma and Lazio Soccer Fields – Antonio Valerio Spera

The collection is set to be published this February by Vernon Press which has a product/pre-order page.

Citation News

Just discovered that my essay “Assimilate and Manipulate: Industrial Music and Cyberpunk in the Comic Series ‘Shatter’” at We Are The Mutants was cited in an article titled “Soundtracks to a Dying World: Death Grips” at a website called Neon Dystopia. Very cool!

Miscellaneous Tidbits

Queen Esther (1948) Reviewed

Matt Page has a review of the newly resorted 1948 Biblical peplum film Queen Esther starring Ottilie Kruger (in her only non-stage acting role per IMDB) as the titular character (from the Book of Esther).

Screen capture from Matt Page’s article.

The review can be read at Page’s Bible Films Blog.

Double Pulver/Mamatas Lovecraft

This past Friday the 13th turned out to be a lucky day for me because I received not one, but two! Joseph S. Pulver. Sr. edited Lovecraftian anthologies that contain Nick Mamatas autographs.

The first is The Leaves of a Necronomicon which Nick Mamatas graciously autographed to me. Copies can be ordered via this link at Books Inc.

Next is the Dreamlands anthology New Maps of Dream. This anthology was actually released back in 2020, but the edition with autograph pages from the contributors was delayed due to the sheets being lost in the mail. However, this edition is now released and can be purchased at PS Publishing.

One of the autograph pages.

Michele and I did two episodes about New Maps of Dream on the H. P. Lovecast Podcast. The first was our deep dive into the short stories by Scott R. Jones and Matthew M. Bartlett.

Ep 47 – New Maps of Dream: Scott R. Jones and Matthew M. Bartlett – H. P. Lovecast Podcast

The second was our interviews with contributors Kaaron Warren, Christine Morgan, and Matthew M. Bartlett.

HPLCP Transmissions – Ep 09 – Kaaron Warren, Christine Morgan, and Matthew M. Bartlett – H. P. Lovecast Podcast

Emmanuelle à la Crepax

Italian erotic comics artist Guido Crepax has been having his body of work republished by Fantagraphics. At the tale end of 2022 the publisher released The Complete Guido Crepax: Erotic Stories 1 which contains all of his Emmanuelle adaptations:

I had trade paperback editions of Emmanuelle 1 and 3 but missing 2, so having this collection released was an excellent surprise.

Of course, if anyone wants to write about sequential art versions of Emmanuelle, I happen to have a CFP open…..

Funko Toga and Sandal Homer

Michele gifted me this rather adorable Toga and Sandal-themed Funko Homer Simpson named Obeseus.

It’s not shown in this picture, but he’s holding a drumstick. I love it!

Xiphos – The Rise and Fall of Athens

The Rise and Fall of Athens is the debut album of the martial/neo-classical outfit Xiphos.

As can be seen from the cover and title, the neo-peplum album is about Ancient Greece. Two of the members of Xiphos, Miklós Hoffer and Troy Southgate, and also a part of the neo-classical outfit H.E.R.R. who have an album called XII Caesars that explores the same subject matter.

Hoffer was gracious to autograph a copy of the album to me. Copies of the limited edition digipack can be ordered by PayPaling 11.99 euros to mgahoffer AT hotmail.com