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Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship (ECOF) 2025 Gathering Recap

Welp, I have been sharing it on the news updates posts at my website here for months, and now it finally happened: The Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship (ECOF) gathering for 2025. Or, it happened a few weekends ago. It was a great time, I got to meet some awesome folks, and even go to do a presentation about the peplum genre and Tarzan and the Lost Empire.

The monument (obscured by roses from my angle), Bonnaud, her son, Llana Jane Burroughs, and Frank Puncer, who all lifted the cover of the stone memorial. — The monument unveiled.

I did my best to document everything I could. My write up of Michele’s and my adventures driving to Willcox (and stopping at THE THING? on the way there) and of the ECOF event proper can be read here. Do check it out!

McFarland Horror Booksale

My publisher, McFarland Books, is currently doing a book stale on all their horror books. This includes four books I am a part of:

Since I’m the co-editor of Horror Literature from Gothic to Post-Modern, purchases of this book send a few royalty dollars my way (so it is a great way to show support). But all four books are great references to purchase.

Cover is black and red. The black is a spooky person in a hooded cloak surrounded by silhouettes of trees. Behind the figure is a red light. — Cover of Horror Literature from Gothic to Post-Modern: Critical Essays.

Cover is a frame from the movie Jason X where it shows Jason walking through a circular hallway on a space station. — Cover for Horror in Space.

When purchasing these (or other horror) books, use the code “HORROR40” at checkout to get 40% off. This sale ends Halloween, so don’t miss out!

Scholars from the Edge of Time

This upcoming Thursday Michele and I will be recording our discussion of Wrath of the Titans (2012).

Blu-ray that contains the two Clash of the Titans films and Wrath of the Titans. the cover is divided into three horizontal sections, with each section showing the title of the film and a scene/poster art of it. — Personal copy of the Clash of the Titans ’81, Clash of the Titan 2010, and Wrath of the Titans 3 Movie Blu-ray set.

Keep an eye out for the link when it goes live!

Publishing Recap

Below is a recap of my external publishing endeavors so far in 2025.

Cover art of the Panthans Journal #332. It depicts a woman and a man with a hawk head, hunkered in a hole, firing laser pistols. The art is by Mark Wheatley. — Panthans Journal #332

Comic Book Review: “The Moon Maid: Catacombs of the Moon #2″ reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #332.

A continuation of the cover of #332. This cover shows the woman and the hawk man, defensively shooting laser pilots out of a hole in the ground, wile savage barbarians with bows and axes descend upon them. The art is by Mark Wheatley. — Panthans Journal #333

Comic Book Review: “The Moon Maid: Catacombs of the Moon #3″ reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #333.

Cover art of Panthans Journal #335, done by Mark Wheatley. It shows Tarzan leaping from a tree branch. All the colors are very dark blue, so it might be night time in the jungle. — Panthans Journal #335

“Tarzan Cocktail: Deconstructed – Reconstructed” reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #335.

Original can be read here.

Panthans Journal #338. Cover is by Mark Wheatley. It shows Dejah Thoris riding atop a mountain against a red martian landscape with a domed building in the background. — Panthans Journal #338

“She’s Got the Killer Instinct: Vanya Issue 01” reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #338.

Original can be read here.

Cover is by Mark Wheatley. It shows a 4 armed aliens holding two swords, in a dungeon, fighting John Carter and Dejah Thoris. — National Capital Panthans #339.

“Hunter – Lover – Killer: Vanya 02” reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #339.

Original can be read here.

Cover of Panthans Journal #340. Art is done by David Michael Beck. It depicts Tarzan stabbing a dinosaur (A T-rex?) through the next with a spear, while the dinosaur stands atop a tree of roots and vines. — National Capital Panthans Journal #340

“Thunder in God’s Country: Interview with Jeffrey Mariotte” reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #340.

Original can be read here.

Cover of Panthans #341 by Mark Wheatley. It's monochrome - black and brown. It shows Dejah Thoris in the center holding a sword and being her John Carter and a 4 armed alien. Behind them are the silhouettes of a city full of towers. — National Capital Panthans Journal #341

“Jungle Romps and T-Rex Chomps: Vanya 03″ reprinted in the National Capital Panthans Journal #341.

Original can be read here.

Cover art for "Merry Creepsmas - The Red Book". It is red with a large X-mas tree that appears to have small, globby bodies as ornaments. The cover reads: Wicked Shadow Press Merry Creepsmas: The Red Book Christmas-Themed Horror Stories Edited by Parth Sarathi Chakraborty — Merry Creepsmas – The Red Book

“There’s Always Room” in Merry Creepsmas: The Red Book. Edited by Parth Sarathi Chakraborty. Wicked Shadow Press, 2025.

Cover art for the Burroughs Bulletin #109 by Dan Parsons. The top says "The Burroughs Bulletin New Series #109 Fall-Winter 2024". The art shows a T-rex chomping on a dude in a striped shirt. Below him are explorers with rifles. Behind him his a prehistoric sky, jungle, and a waterfall. — Burroughs Bulletin #109

“Tagliolini al Tarzan: Interview with Actress Bella Cortez on Taur the Mighty” in The Burroughs Bulletin #109. Edited by Henry Franke III. February, 2025.

Miscellaneous Tidbits

Some fun things I shared online from these past few weeks. Highlighting things from my personal collection of pop culture artifacts. Or artifacts I’m digging out of the archive. Just, general cool or unique things to show off.

Autographs from the Archive

Here are some autographed treasures I’ve shared on social media recently.

Perfect Crime Party

A graphic novel-anthology was just recently released titled Perfect Crime Party.

Cover shows a dog detective investigating a crime scene. The crime scene is an outline of another dog with a bonk on its head. A bird, a mouse, a poodle, and a cat in a suit look on. The cat is hiding a bone behind its back, indicating he did the bonking. — Personal copy of Perfect Crime Party

Speculative fiction/cult author Nick Mamatas wrote one of the stories in it! I’m a fan of Mamatas’ work, so I bought a copy from him which he signed.

Title page of the 21 foot rule signed by Nick Mamatas in silver pen. — The 21 Foot Rule autographed by Nick Mamatas.

Have not read it yet, but looking forward to! The cover for the book is adorbs.

Grand Theft Auto IV

One of the things I have been doing lately if I have a few moments is going back and playing some of my video games I did not 100% complete (ie. get all the achievements). Grand Theft Auto IV is one of those games I have not touched in 17 years, and only had a handful of achievements.

Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto 4. The cover shows a collage of various characters from the game. In black ink it is signed "To Nick, have fun in LC! Michael Hollick AKA Niko" — Personal copy of Grand Theft Auto 4 autographed by Michael Hollick.

It has been both fun and frustrating revisiting the game after so long. What is cool about the game is back in 2008 Michele and I went to SDCC where Michael Hollick, who played Niko Bellic in GTA4, was one of the celebrity guests. I brought my Xbox 360 copy of the game for him to sign and he excitedly did. A real gem in my autograph treasure.

The Brood / Rest in Peplum Samantha Eggar

Rest in Peplum to Samantha Eggar who passed away last week! Peplum-wise she voiced Hera in the Disney Hercules movie and TV show.

Standard black case DVD. The Brood cover is black and red in color. It shoes a freaky kid. In silver ink it is signed "For Nick, Thank You, Samantha Eggar". — Personal copy of The Brood DVD signed by Samantha Eggar.

She was a guest at a Hollywood Collectors Show back in the late 2000s/early 2010s, where she autographed my copy of David Cronenberg’s The Brood.

Joanna Pacula Addendum

Back on 8/17 I posted my copy of Gorky Park that was signed by actress Joanna Pacula.

Nick is wearing a shirt with a Metroid on it. Joanna is dressed in all black. — Nicholas Diak and Joanna Pacula, 2010.

I forgot to post with it a picture of me with her! So, I’ve updated my old post the photo, plus added it here.

News from Friends

Cool kids I know have been busy lately! Here are some signal boosts I’d like to give out.

New Ride the Stream Episode

Michele and Travis have a brand new episode of their Ride the Stream vidcast online at YouTube. As they are currently recording episodes about season two of Lost, they done an in-between episode to talk about Raiders of the Lost Ark. Check it out here on YouTube or via the embedded player below:

Expect new episodes to resume being published every Friday on YouTube. Keep an eye on their YouTube channel, or give them a follow on Bluesky.

New Fan2Fan Episodes

The Fan2Fan Podcast has released a lot of mini “Flash” episodes of their podcast for this Halloween season. Check these short episodes out:

First it is the 2023 film The Conference:

Then the 1997 horror anthology Campfire Tales:

Followed by the post-Scream cult classic Urban Legend:

And Alfred Hitchcock’s classic Psycho:

Which leads to their discussion of Psycho 2:

Then they talk about 1981’s Wolfen:

And then the video nasty-centric Censor from 2021 (which I need to see!):

Jumping back to the 80s they talk about Final Exam:

(shameless self plug of my autographed copy of Final Exam)

Standard black DVD case. Artwork show a silhouette of a person holding a knife standing in front of a campus. In silver ink it is signed "Nick! Radish rocks! — Personal copy of Final Exam DVD signed by Julia Marchese.

And finally this episode on Horror movie trivia:

Older episodes of Fan2Fan can be found at its Libsyn page or via your podcast app of preference.

Flash Frights – The Conference – Fan2Fan Podcast

Flash Frights – Campfire Tales – Fan2Fan Podcast

Flash Frights – Urban Legend – Fan2Fan Podcast

Flash Frights – Psycho 1960 – Fan2Fan Podcast

Flash Frights – Psycho 2 – Fan2Fan Podcast

Flash Frights – Wolfen – Fan2Fan Podcast

Flash Frights – Censor – Fan2Fan Podcast

Flash Frights – Final Exam – Fan2Fan Podcast

Final Cut – The Horror Movie Trivia Show! – Fan2Fan Podcast