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TROPICAL HORROR

November 14, 2014, 7:00 am
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 TROPICAL HORROR
"As I look the Thing comes further over the rail. It is rising, rising, higher and higher. There are no eyes visible; only that fearful slobbering mouth set on the 
tremendous trunk-like neck;"

"For a few seconds the hideous creature lies heaped in writhing, slimy coils. Then, with quick, darting movements, the monstrous head travels along the deck. Close by the mainmast stand the harness casks, and alongside of these a freshly opened cask of salt beef with the top loosely replaced. Then those lips open, displaying four huge fangs;"

"There, right about the mouth, is a pair of little pig-eyes, that seem to twinkle with a diabolical intelligence."

"There, with its tail upon the deck and its vast body curled round the mainmast, is the monster, its head above the topsail yard, and its great claw-armed tentacle 
waving in the air."

"It is curling and twisting here and there. It is as thick as a tree, and covered with a smooth slimy skin. At the end is a great claw, like a lobster's, only a thousand times larger."
William Hope Hodgson, A Tropical Horror

 
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News...

November 18, 2014, 7:00 am
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Hey folks! There won't be any new monsters this month, but December will be full of them! This week, I'll be making a few Yog-blogsoth related news posts.

This first one is a big thank you to Sam over at the William Hope Hodgson Blog. He featured my WHH birthday monster tribute the first day they were posting. That blog, and the Sargasso zine he edits, are the absolute best source for all things past, present and future concerning Mr. Hodgson. The zines go fast so head over and grab one!


Hopefully with all the noise being made, the WHH revival will keep goin on the upswing!
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News...part 2

November 19, 2014, 7:00 am
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About a month ago, I was contacted by Dave Kirkby asking if it was ok for him to sculpt a miniature of my drawing of Nyarlathotep as Jack O' Lantern (based on Scott David Aniolowski's description). It's part of a Halloween custom he and his daughter partake in every year where they each make creepy sculpts for the holiday. 


Of course I said yes. I appreciated that he contacted me ahead of time and specified it would be one sculpt and one time. Especially with the problems I've had in the past, it's nice to see someone who's respectful and courteous.

So, You can see his progression photos over on his blog, including more detailed versions of the finished piece. Thanks so much Dave for including this in your Halloween tradition!


I also JUST realized that Scott David Aniolowski himself made and encouraging comment on the Jack O' Lantern piece on this blog! Be sure to check out his blog, Whispers From the House Of Secrets!

That's all for today but later in the week there will be BIG news for Christmas and Yog-Blogsoth/Illustro Obscurum fans!



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News...part 3

November 20, 2014, 7:00 am
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Another bit of news today. My friend Trevor Henderson is putting a haunted house zine together where a different artist is illustrating each room. Artists include Trevor himself, Jenn Woodall, Alan Brown, Sam Heimer, Kat Verhoeven, Jeanne D'Angelo, Zé Burnay, Andrea Kalfas, Patrick Sparrow, and about 20 other artists. I can't wait for this zine!

 

I chose the "sacrificial chamber" and decided to weave my mythology into the piece. You can see a secret ritual performed by the Order Of the Eternal Serpents. 


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News...part 4

November 21, 2014, 8:07 am
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Today is the biggest news of my news week. I may have hinted at it before but I'm going to start a "zine label" or more appropriately a "publishing haunted house" called Seventh Church Ministries. The idea is to ask artists whose work I love to illustrate weird fiction stories and I'll help 
print/promote/distribute them.


The inaugural book will be Alan Brown's I See A Shadow Coming based on the stories of M.R. James.  I should actually say all the stories of M.R. James. Alan did over 30 gorgeous pieces covering every single one of James' published works. His paintings are eerie and unsettling, reminding one of Stephen Gammell, Virgil Finlay or "Ghastly" Graham Ingels!

 Alan's illustrations of An Evening's Entertainment and The Wailing Well

Since James is known for his Christmas ghost stories, it's only fitting that I See A Shadow Coming will be available just in time for the holidays. It will also be full of bonus materials. The package will not only include Alan's 8.5"x 5.5." zine, but a mini edition of Illustro Obscurum with my versions of 10 M.R. James monsters and a stunning full color print by Jeanne D'Angelo depicting the creature from James' chilling story The Treasure Of Abbot Thomas!

THIS PACKAGE WILL BE AVAILABLE DECEMBER 1st IN
THE YOG-BLOGSOTH STORE!!

 A detail of Jeanne D'Angelo's illustration of The Treasure Of Abbot Thomas

There will also be a few handmade "artifacts" and three additional posters by Alan Brown. I really can't wait for this. Stay tuned for more info next week!

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M.R.JAMES PACKS ALMOST GONE!!

December 4, 2014, 12:02 pm
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Hey guys! So, the first batch of Standard Editions went out yesterday and the second will be going out tonight. There are only SIX copies remaining!!


 I See A Shadow Coming
Illustro Obscurum Yuletide Compendium Volume I
LIMITED TO 40 COPIES

I See A Shadow Coming by Alan Brown
based on the writings of M.R. James
  • 64 pages.
  • Features 32 paintings.
  • 8.5"x 5.5" format. 
  • Cover hand screen printed gloss acrylic
         on Canson brand Jet Black paper
         with hand colored gold embellishments.
  • Hand stamped, numbered and signed.
Illustro Obscurum Yuletide Compendium Volume I
based on the writings of M.R. James
  • 12 pages
  • Features 10 drawings of monsters
    based on the writings of M.R. James.
  • 8.5"x 5.5" format.
  • Hand stamped, numbered and signed






    Shipping incl.





The Special Edition zines are SOLD OUT! There are still plenty of Standard Editions but they're selling fast!
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News...

December 5, 2014, 8:06 am
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Hey everyone! Just a quick update about next week. 

There will be TWO birthday posts for two of my favorite weird fiction authors. 
One current and one past, both really awesome.

After that there will be a little break before I post the new M.R. James monsters during Christmas week.

Two of Alan Brown's pieces from his zine I See A Shadow Coming in the M.R. James pack

And just a heads up. If you want an M.R. James pack and you want it to arrive before Christmas, now's the time to order. There are only SIX copies left. You can click the link in the previous post or go to the Yog-Blogsoth Store.


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Happy Birthday Simon Strantzas

December 8, 2014, 7:00 am
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Tomorrow is Simon Strantzas birthday and to celebrate I'll be posting a drawing of a creature from his short story On Ice from his collection Burnt Black Suns.

Toronto based, Strantzas has written four collections thus far and the praise for them is astounding. I've only read two (Cold To the Touch and Burnt Black Suns) but I loved them and plan on reading the rest. He's also edited two collections, Aickman's Heirs (out next year) & Shadows Edge.

Up until now, all the birthday post art I've done have older, mostly dead, authors. But if there's one thing (aside from monsters!) that I'd like this blog to do, it's introduce people to modern authors that are upholding the traditions of the weirdos we all know and love from the 30's. Right now, there is a huge boom of great, interesting and diverse horror fiction. My Nyarlathotep project is another way I'm hoping to help spread the word about these folks (at some point I'll post a list of my reading list from this year). But if you haven't read any of these modern authors, I honestly can't recommend them enough.


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THE ANCIENT DEVOURER

December 9, 2014, 7:00 am
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THE ANCIENT DEVOURER 
"There was a monstrous creature encased halfway in the solid ice. It had large unlidded eyes, milky white; its mouth wide and round, its scaled flesh reflecting light dully. Where its neck might have been was a ring of purplish pustules, circling the fusion of its ichthyic skull to its tendonous body. Chunked squid limbs lay outstretched, uncontrollable in its death."
Simon Strantzas, On Ice


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Happy Birthday Karl Edward Wagner

December 11, 2014, 7:00 am
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This Friday is Karl Edward Wagner's birthday. To celebrate, I'll be posting a creature from his amazing story Where the Summer Ends. 

Wagner was a strange dude. He started off his professional career as a psychiatrist but then became known to the weird fiction world for his anarchistic biker attitude and appearance. 

His short story Sticks is known as one of the best Mythos stories, his Kane character is widely accepted as one of the best anti-heroes in the sword and sorcery genre and he's responsible for excising L. Sprague DeCamp's clumsy attempts at continuity from Howard's Conan stories and restoring them to the original text. On top of all that he was also known as a fantastic editor, having helmed  The Year's Best Horror for 15 years.

He's also full of great quotes

On choosing content for YBH:
" I play no favorites with authors. Big Name Pro has the same shot as first story small press writer. I’ve run stories by Stephen King, and I’ve run stories by writers who may have never written another story. I have maintained this attitude for fifteen years as editor: No taboos. No holds barred. No free rides. Excellence required. Whiners piss off."

On why horror is so popular:
"That question does get asked a lot and I've thought about it a lot and I know the answer. Because it's sex. It's dirty, smutty stuff, there's subliminal messages hidden in there. If you read Frankenstein backwards.... (applause/laughter) So now you know. If you take close ups, photographs, I've seen this done, of simple words in these horror books, you can see suggestive shapes and poses. The paper on which these things are printed has been imprinted with a subtle aphrodisiac. If you turn the pages you're already a lost soul."

On Lovecraft:
"To my mind, what’s im­pressive about Lovecraft is his profound cosmic negativism: the idea that mankind is confronted by horrors that are completely beyond his comprehension, forces against which he is powerless, and when he begins to realize these horrors exist, they inevitably destroy him."
Karl Edward Wagner interviewed by Dr. Elliot, July 1981

 
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KUDZU DEVIL

December 12, 2014, 7:00 am
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 KUDZU DEVIL
"There  was a skull beside it on the table. Except for a few clinging tatters of dried flesh and greenish fur-the other was bleached white by the sun-this skull was identical to Gradie's Japanese souvenir: a high-domed skull the size of a large, clenched fist, with a jutting, sharp-toothed muzzle. A baboon of some sort, Mercer judged, picking it up."

"'No,' Mercer said dully, glancing at the freshly typed label he had scooped from the table. 'He's boiling off the flesh so he can exhibit the skull.' For the carefully prepared label in his hand read: 'Kudzu Devil Skull. Shot by Red Gradie in Yard, Knoxville, Tenn. June 1977'"

"'They're little green devils,' Gradie raved weakly. 'And they ain't no animals-they're clever as you or me. They live in the kudzu.'"

"'Hiding down there beneath the damn vines, living off the roots and whatever they can scavenge. They nurture the goddamn stuff, he said, help it spread around, care for it just like a man looks after his garden. Winter comes, they burrow down underneath the soil and hibernate.'"
Karl Edward Wagner, Where the Summer Ends




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MERCURY

October 9, 2014, 7:00 am
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MERCURY
"In Circes palace grand. 
To beasts at her command. 
But Mercury did set him free 
From witcheries like this 
Unhappy he his men to see 
Engaged in swinish bliss."
H.P. Lovecraft, The Poem Of Ulysses

"Hermes (Mercury) was depicted as either a handsome and athletic, beardless youth, or as an older bearded man. His attributes included the herald's wand or kerykeion (Latin caduceus), winged boots, and sometimes a winged travellers cap."
Aaron J. Atsma, The Theoi Project: Greek Mythology 

"Celestial messenger of various skill, whose powerful arts could watchful Argos kill. With winged feet 'tis thine through air to course, O friend of man, and prophet of discourse; great life-supporter, to rejoice is thine in arts gymnastic, and in fraud divine."
Orphic Hymn 28 to Hermes

"The principal attributes of Hermes are a travelling hat, with a broad brim, which in later times was adorned with two little wings;"

"The white ribbons with which the herald's staff was originally surrounded were changed by later artists into two serpents, though the ancients themselves accounted for them either by tracing them to some feat of the god, or by regarding them as symbolical representations of prudence, life, health, and the like. The staff, in later times, is further adorned with a pair of wings, expressing the rapidity with which the messenger of the gods moved from place to place."
Sir William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
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Merry Christmas M.R. James

December 19, 2014, 7:00 am
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It's not M.R. James' birthday next week but it is Christmas. And if James is known for anything, it's for his annual "ghost" stories that he would write and read aloud to the Chit Chat Club on Christmas around a fire. So in honor of the master of the ghost story, I'll be posting a full week's worth of monsters next week, including Christmas Day. 

You may notice I put "ghost" in quotes. That's because most of James' stories don't concern actual ghosts but demons, banshees, curses and unnameable horrors. His obssession with church architecture and the history of England add an undeniable sense of reality and place to stories where dark specters lurk in grim atmosphere. 

"At the opposite pole of genius from Lord Dunsany, and gifted with an almost diabolic power of calling horror by gentle steps from the midst of prosaic daily life, is the scholarly Montague Rhodes James, Provost of Eton College, antiquary of note, and recognised authority on mediaeval manuscripts and cathedral history. Dr. James, long fond of telling spectral tales at Christmastide, has become by slow degrees a literary weird fictionist of the very first rank; and has developed a distinctive style and method likely to serve as models for an enduring line of disciples."
H.P. Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror In Literature 

 
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FROG DEMON

December 22, 2014, 7:00 am
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FROG DEMON
"The door was opening again. The seer does not like to dwell upon what he saw entering the room: he says it might be described as a frog – the size of a man – but it had scanty white hair about its head. It was busy about the truckle-beds, but not for long. The sound of cries – faint, as if coming out of a vast distance – but, even so, infinitely appalling, 
reached the ear."
M.R. James, The Haunted Dolls' House


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RUNE DEMON

December 23, 2014, 7:00 am
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 RUNE DEMON
"One was a woodcut of Bewick's, roughly torn out of the page: one which shows a moonlit road and a man walking along it, followed by an awful demon creature."

"So he put his hand into the well-known nook under the pillow: only, it did not get so far. What he touched was, according to his account, a mouth, with teeth, and with hair about it, and, he declares, not the mouth of a human being."

"The man bent over and looked at him. 'The devil? Well, I don't know, I'm sure,' Harrington heard him say to himself, and then aloud, 'My mistake, sir; must have been your rugs! ask your pardon.' And then, to a subordinate near him, ''Ad he got a dog with him, or what? Funny thing: I could 'a' swore 'e wasn't alone.'"
M.R. James, Casting the Runes


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TOME DEMON

December 24, 2014, 7:00 am
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TOME DEMON
 "At first you saw only a mass of coarse, matted black hair; presently it was seen that this covered a body of fearful thinness, almost a skeleton, but with the muscles standing out like wires. The hands were of a dusky pallor, covered, like the body, with long, coarse hairs, and hideously taloned. The eyes, touched in with a burning yellow, had intensely black pupils, and were fixed upon the throned King with a look of beast-like hate. Imagine one of the awful bird-catching spiders of South America translated into human form, and endowed with intelligence just less than human, and you will have some faint conception of the terror inspired by the appalling effigy."

"There was black and tattered drapery about it; the coarse hair covered it as in the drawing. The lower jaw was thin — what can I call it? — shallow, like a beast’s; teeth showed behind the black lips; there was no nose; the eyes, of a fiery yellow, against which the pupils showed black and intense, and the exulting hate and thirst to destroy life which shone there, were the most horrifying features in the whole vision. There was intelligence of a kind in them — intelligence beyond that of a beast, below that of a man."
M.R. James, Canon Alberic's Scrapbook


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TOMB GUARDIAN

December 25, 2014, 7:00 am
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 TOMB GUARDIAN
"Suddenly, he began to hear a faint sweeping or rustling noise approaching over the carpet. He turned half over, nothing to be seen. The room being, as I said, very fairly light by reason of the strong moonlight outside. It came to the side of the bed, then a pause, next a very slight stretching of the bedclothes over his legs towards the outside of the bed. Much as if a kitten had jumped up. Harry was not much affected by this but on the alert. The next phenomenon was the touch on the bare back of his neck of something bristly. So much so that it pricked the skin. He whipped over in the bed thoroughly frightened and to just time to see a very strange object against the white window blind before it disappeared. It was long and sharply crooked in the midst. He could only describe it by saying that it was like a very long finger covered thickly with short hairs. He was out of bed in a second, had a candle lighted and searched the room thoroughly. The door was fastened and the window shut and there was no sign of man or beast in any corner."

"And then straight upon that, two sharp points had been plunged into his neck. He had cried out and clutched with his hands at the spot only to feel something hairy, which pricked his fingers and seemed to melt away under them."

"'What in the world is this on the table in the picture? Why, it's an enormous spider.'"

"And so it was, painted there no doubt as the emblem of industry or avarice or both."
 M.R.James, Speaker Lenthall's Tomb


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WAILING WRAITH

December 26, 2014, 7:00 am
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 WAILING WRAITH
'"And what were they like? Do tell us!" said Algernon and Wilfred eagerly.
 
"Rags and bones, young gentlemen: all four of 'em: flutterin' rags and whity bones. It seemed to me as if I could hear 'em clackin' as they got along. Very slow they went, and lookin' from side to side."

"What were their faces like? Could you see?"

"They hadn't much to call faces," said the shepherd, "but I could seem to see as they had teeth." 

"He looked at the field, and there he saw a terrible figure — something in ragged black — with whitish patches breaking out of it: the head, perched on a long thin neck, half hidden by a shapeless sort of blackened sun-bonnet. The creature was waving thin arms in the direction of the rescuer who was approaching, as if to ward him off: and between the two figures the air seemed to shake and shimmer as he had never seen it: and as he looked, he began himself to feel something of a waviness and confusion in his brain, which made him guess what might be the effect on someone within closer range of the influence."
M.R.James, The Wailing Well


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2015: The Year Of 100 Monsters!

January 1, 2015, 6:36 pm
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Hey everyone! 2014 was a great year. I did pieces for zines by both Trevor Henderson and Jenn Woodall, a Houdini/Lovecraft piece for a show in Brooklyn, I collaborated with some of my favorite authors for the Nyarlathotep project, I put out Illustro Obscurum Volumes VII & VIII as well as Collection II, an M.R. James mini zine as well as a zine by Alan Brown, I did a work for Adepticon, and a three record covers. 
 
Above is a monster round up of all 73 pieces from the past 12 months. I plan on starting trying to make 2015 even better by drawing ONE HUNDRED monsters/gods. And I'm not wasting any time. Next Monday January 5th will mark the first monster. Get ready!


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Happy Birthday Ramsey Campbell

January 2, 2015, 7:00 am
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This weekend is Ramsey Campbell's birthday and to celebrate I'll be posting a drawing of a creature from his works everyday next week. 

Born in Liverpool, England, Campbell started writing at the age of 11. He wrote and illustrated a full book of short stories called Ghostly Tales (later published in Crypt Of Cthulhu). After this, he moved onto Lovecraftian tales and began corresponding with August Derleth. His Lovecraftian work is very juvenile but still creates a sense of urban desolation reminiscent of his later work and even Thomas Ligotti. He manages to create some truly bizarre creatures as well. Gla'ak, Eihort, Daoloth, Y'golonac are all supremely alien and "weird".

He would later disavow HPL (and even later, re-embrace him) and focus on creating his own form of horror. The Face That Must Die is a grim and very personal tale of a paranoid schizophrenic set in a gritty urban environment that would come to define Campbell's work. He can turn a paper bag in a pile of trash into the deflated head of a terrifying creature or the broken glass of a window into a gaping maw.

He's also really good at writing believable strong female characters that are very often his main protagonist.

Often described as a horror writers horror writer he's one of the most prolific authors of his generation with over 30 novels and around 20 short story collections. And the list of awards and nominations is almost as long as the list of stories. He's won the British Fantasy Award, The World Fantasy Award, The Bram Stoker Award, British Fantasy Society Award for best novel and International Horror Guild for best novel. 
Some of my favorites of his work include the collections Cold Print, Dark Companions and Waking Nightmares as well as the novels Incarnate, The Face That Must Die, The Darkest Part Of the Woods, The Nameless and The Last Revelation Of Gla'aki.

I could honestly talk about Ramsey Campbell all day. I highly recommend checking out any of his insane bibliography. You won't be disappointed.

PS-Some even think Campbell is the partial inspiration for Garth Marenghi!


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