Jennifer Croll has done some unique and inventive takes on cocktails and cocktail culture, with Free the Tipple: Kickass Cocktails Inspired by Iconic Women in 2018 and her recently published this past spring, Dressed to Swill: Runway-Ready Cocktails Inspired by Fashion Icons.
Personal copy of Art Boozel
Art Boozel is Croll’s book from 2021, and it’s fantastic. I’ve done a few cocktails from the book and enjoyed them so I though I’d do a book review. The write up can be read here.
New Episode of H. P. Lovecast
August has just ended so that means a new Transmissions episode of the H. P. Lovecast Podcast.
Thumbnail by Michele Brittany
For August we focused on the recently published horror anthology, Even in the Grave. For our normal episode we discussed Trevor Firetog’s “What’s Your Secret?” and Steven Van Patten’s “Blind Spot.” That episode can be found at our Buzzsprout website.
HPLCP Transmissions – Ep 14 – Carol Gyzander, Trevor Firetog, and Steven Van Patten –
H. P. Lovecast Podcast
We conclude the month by not only interviewing Firetog and Van Patten about their stories, but also returning guest Carol Gyzander who co-edited the book. This episode can also be found at our Buzzsprout website, at the embedded player above, or streamed via your podcast app of preference.
CoKoCon 2022 Panel Appearances
Michele and I will make an appearance at CoKoCon 2022 over Labour Day weekend.
CoKoCon is a local (Phoenix) sci-fi/fantasy fan con. More info on the con can be found at CoKoCon website, along with ticket and guest news.
Michele and I will be appearing on three panels over the course of the con. The schedule is below, but I also have the information on my Conference Appearances page:
Horror & Sci-Fi from Pre-Code Films Saturday, Sept. 3rd 10:00 am – 11:00 am Fiesta Ballroom 2
Your Mom is Lovecraftian: Why Cosmic Horror is So Hard to Get Right Sunday, Sept.4th 9:00 pm – 10:00 pm Coronado room
Swords, Sandals, Sorcery, and Other Planets Monday, Sept. 5th 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm Fiesta Ballroom 1
Scholars from the Edge of Time
New episode of Scholars from the Edge of Time is now online! This one is on YouTube, so you get to see my acting like a doof. In this episode I talk about the sword and sorcery film, DragonHeart, but also bring up Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire and Troma films.
I had the honor to interview Tom Simmons and Mike Dubisch, the creative team behind the comic book adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ novel I Am a Barbarian.
This is the first episode of our themed month on the anthology, Even in the Grave. In this episode we take a look at “What’s Your Secret?” by Trevor Firetog and “Blind Spot” by Steven Van Patten. The episode can be streamed at our Buzzsprout website, via the embedded player above, or at your podcast app of preference.
For our transmissions episode this month we will be interviewing editor Carol Gyzander, and contributors Firetog and Van Patten. Stay tuned!
Short Film: Dinosaur Joke
I made a short film and put it on YouTube!
I bought a box of Trix cereal this past week, and on the back, to promote the new Jurassic Park film, there were cutout dinosaurs and pop up trees, inviting you to make a movie with the back of the box. I don’t know how many kids actually do these things, but I decided I would! So, give it a watch, and maybe a like or a comment. It was silly, but a fun thing to do.
Fan2Fan Podcast Appearances
The folks at Fan2Fan had me back on their podcast for two (2!!) new episodes that dropped this past week!
The first episode is about sword and sorcery cartoons of the 80s, which can be heard at the Fan2Fan Libsyn page (or via your podcast app of preference).
A chance to show off my autographed animation cell of Teegra from Fire and Ice!
The second episode is an entry in their series where they ask folks about their dream Saturday morning cartoon lineup. You can hear mine here.
Here’s four of my dream line up! Gotta listen in to hear the rest.
Sincere thank you to Pete and Bernie for having me on their show. It has been a wonderful experience and I always appreciate their support.
CoKoCon 2022 Panel Appearances
Michele and I will make an appearance at CoKoCon 2022 this labour day weekend!
CoKoCon is a local (Phoenix) sci-fi/fantasy fan con. Michele and I will be appearing on a few panels. More info to come, but for now, check out the CoKoCon website for ticket information and guest news.
General Neo-Peplum News
Blog Entries at DMR Books
Here a listing of genre relevant blog articles at DMR Books this past week:
My essay, “Cullzathro Fhtagn! Magnifying the Carnivalesque in Lovecraft Through the Comic Book Series Vinegar Teeth,” has made the preliminary Bram Stoker Award ballot in the short non-fiction category. Note: this does not denote I am nominated or a finalist. It simply means I am on the preliminary ballot and have a 50% chance to advance to the final ballot.
Active and Lifetime members of the Horror Writers Association who would like to read my essay for final ballot consideration find it online at Academia.edu. Note: if there is a big ad in the way taking up the screen, just hit the X at the top right. Academia.edu is silly that way.
New H. P. Lovecast Podcast Episode
New episode of H. P. Lovecast Podcast is online!
Thumbnail by Michele Brittany. Mighty cat of Ulthar is Algernon.
In this episode we focus on two short stories from New Maps of Dream, released by PS Publishing and edited by Cody Goodfellow and Joseph S. Pulver Sr.: “The Dankness over Dylath-Leen” by Scott R. Jones and “The Malls of Ulthar” by Matthew M. Bartlett. The episode can be streamed at our Buzzsprout website or via your podcast app of preference.
The last day of this month we will post our Transmissions episode which will feature interviews with Matthew M. Bartlett, Christine Morgan, and Kaaron Warren. Stay tuned!
H. P. Lovecast Bram Stoker Prelim Ballot Recap
During 2021 Michele and I had the honour to review the works / interview the folks that have appeared on the preliminary ballot. A listing of those episodes (from both H. P. Lovecast and Scholars From the Edge of Time) will be listed below in an effort to promote the writers and their works in their respective paths to the final ballot.
Small press publisher Things in the Well looks to be closing shop in a few weeks. This means two of their anthologies that I have short stories published in will be going OOP:
Amazon links to buy both books are in the links above. Thank you all who have been curious about my fiction work and who have bought these books. I’ll find a home for these short stories in the future.
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
Recent Acquisitons
Been a while since I plucked up some pepla films. I went on Amazon and procured these two items:
I’d never seen Ulysses before, but Justin Decloux mentioned it as an essential sword and sandal film in one of the supplements in his release of Fury of Achilles (read my write up) and it’s been on the wish list to get for a while, so time to scoop it up.
I was also in the mood for some 80s sword and sorcery. The new Blu-ray releases of the Deathstalker films from Shout Factory are already out of print! So this four pack will do instead, and that’s fine. But seriously, some Shout Factory Blu-Rays just go OOP right away. I recall last year trying to find their versions of Slumber Party Massacre 2 and 3 and what the hell?
While exploring the Transcending Obscurity Records Bandcamp site I happened upon the neo-peplum metal album Dust of Aeons by Towards Atlantis Nights.
I ordered this album back in November I believe and it came all the way from India, arriving last week. I’ll be giving it a listen this upcoming week. Cool cover!
We concluded our King in Yellow month on the HP Lovecast Podcast. This past Tuesday our monthly transmissions episode went up which contained interviews with James Chambers, Carol Gyzander, and Meghan Arcuri about Under Twin Suns: Alternate Histories of the Yellow Sign. This episode can be streamed at our Buzzsprout website or via your podcast app of preference.
Candyman Essay
Taking advantage of the renewed interest on Candyman ’92 because of the new Candyman ’21, I’ve written an article about bands and music projects that sample the original Candyman. This was a fun article to do and it continues one of my interests to explore the world of sampling.
General Neo-Peplum News
Essay on Antiquity and Far-Right in French Heavy Metal
Fascist Receptions of Antiquity in Metal Music Presentation
Dr. Swist will also be giving a presentation called “Fascist Receptions of Antiquity in Metal Music” at Brandeis University on October 19, 5pm via Zoom.
In sword and planet news, Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc. is publishing a new Carson of Venus novel, Skies of Venus: A Novel of Actor.
The new novel is written by Neal Romanek with cover art by Richard Hescox. The book is available for pre-order at the ERB website and is expected to be released in the upcoming Winter.
Hercules Invictus started a new program of sorts on his Voice of Olympus show called Hercules and the Planetary Powers, which has a focus on space stuff. Because of this, for the next few episodes, Scholars from the Edge of Time will be doing more sword and planet oriented programming. Our first episode kicked off with a talk about the cult film The Ice Pirates. Check it out on the Voice of Olympus BlogTalkRadio website.
HP Lovecast News
We’ve finished recording and editing the August episode of Transmissions. This episode will feature interviews with James Chambers, Carol Gyzander, and Meghan Arcuri and will conclude our King in Yellow month for August. This episode will post Tuesday the 31st.
The Podcast Appearance page has been updated with dates and programming until the end of the year. These are subject to change, of course, but should give you a general idea of what we are covering and when for the remainder of the year.
Horror Writers Association Cook Book
The Horror Writers Association did a cover reveal of their upcoming cook book.
Cover by Robert Payne Cabeen
The book is edited by Marge Simon, Robert Payne Cabeen, and Kate Jonez, with Cabeen also doing the spooky cover art. Currently unknown publish date. Also, I am not sure, but I may be in this book? Long ago the editors were collecting recipes and I did some sort of vegetarian dish. But that was way back in 2016. So, maybe 50-50 chance I got a recipe in this book or not. We will find out together!
General Neo-Peplum News
Bible Films Blog and Cover Reveal
Matt Page has added a new review to his Bible Films Blog: the silent film Absalon (1912).
Also, Page’s upcoming debut, 100 Bible Films, has a cover reveal!
More info and pre-ordering options can be found at the Bloomsbury product page for the book.
Ancient World in Media
Helicon Storytelling has a new article up called “Classical Reception Studies: The Ancient World in Media.” They cover movies Gladiator and Troy, the Hades video game, the 2000s Battlestar Galactica iteration, and the books Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller and the Cicero Trilogy by Robert Harris.
Sons of Chaos at UCLA
Sons of Chaos author Chris Jaymes will be speaking at the UCLA SNF Hellenic Center about his graphic novel. Zoom registration details are here. The event is September 18th.
Ancient Greeks on the Human Condition
My publisher, McFarland Books, has just published a new book by Matthew Sims called Ancient Greeks on the Human Condition.
Starting another series of articles at this website called “Dark Libations” where I look at the usage of cocktails in horror and dark fiction. My first article is online and it is on the Jungle Bird in Nisi Shawl’s short story “Street Worm.”
King in Yellow Month Continues on H. P. Lovecast Podcast
New episode of the H. P. Lovecast Podcast is now online!
Thumbnail by Michele Brittany
In this episode Michele and I discuss the graphic novel adaptation of The King in Yellow done by I. N. J. Culbard. The episode can be streamed at our Buzzsprout website or via your podcast app of preference.
Thumbnail by Michele Brittany
This episode, along with all of our other programming this month, is all themed on Robert W. Chambers’ influential collection, the King in Yellow. The first episode that dropped this month was on the Hippocampus Press release of Under Twin Suns: Alternate Histories of the Yellow Sign, in which we talked about “The Yellow Crown” by Carol Gyzander and “Found and Lost” by Meghan Arcuri. This episode can be listened to at our Buzzsprout website.
The final day of the month on our Transmissions episode we will be publishing interviews with James Chambers, Gyzander, and Arcuri about their work with Under Twin Suns.
In addition, I’d like to highlight that the Horror Writers Association released their own version the The King in the Yellow via their Haunted Library of Horror Classics series. Consider plucking up a copy (Amazon link), being supportive of the organization, and following along our podcast this month.
