NECON is moving!

I suppose most people already learned this exciting news via other mediums, but in case anyone out there only goes by my blog updates;

NECON, the NorthEastern Writers Conference, has a major change coming for NECON 40, in July 2020. After holding 39 NECONs in Rhode Island, the conference is moving to Salem, MA. This also allows them to move the cap from 200 attendees to 250.

You can read all about the hows & whys here;

NECON is moving to Salem!

tinyurl.com/y5kwqwjv

What do I think?

I think it looks great!

Yes, my ride will be much shorter. Believe it or not, I'll kind of miss it. I liked getting away to Rhode Island annually. I will miss all the osprey sightings. But the new arrangements look amazing. I'm really glad there will be lots more common spaces to cluster and hang out. That was definitely a limitation of the old location.

Often during NECON at some point, people will take a break and head into Providence or other destinations, and that usually eats up a half-day. With downtown Salem so near, quick breaks can be taken to visit sites without taking a chunk out of the conference programming.

Speaking of the programming, if you didn't know, historically NECON spun out from World Fantasy Con. NECON's focus is usually the horror genre. In recent years, "horror" has been dropped from the official name (the 'H' was never included in the NECON abbreviation, anyway.) Lots of the guests write across genres. A handful or more of crime & thriller writers have been attending in recent years. The conference is more for speculative fiction now, though many of the panels are still horror oriented.

It will be a great time!

recent read; SGT JANUS RETURNS by Jim Beard

SGT JANUS RETURNS by Jim Beard

I will try to avoid spoilers, but the big one can't be avoided. If you're reading SGT JANUS RETURNS, then you know Jim Beard killed off Roman Janus in the previous volume. (Or, more precisely, made him disappear with near certainty of death.)

Though Beard shifts to a single, Watson-esque, narrator for this book, if you're expecting a straight "Hurrah! He's back!" (a la THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES) in the opening pages, Beard wisely creates further mystery instead.

An amnesiac woman appears in a small village and solves a ghost problem. Thereafter, she whisks young Joshua Hargreaves into a life of adventurous "spirit breaking." As time passes, "Lady Janus" adopts more of Janus's habits and manners. Who is she? Is she possessed by Janus? Is she Janus reincarnated? Will we ever truly learn the nature and details of Roman Janus's disappearance?

These stories are much more tightly linked than the stories in the first volume. Beard builds a great sense of mystery and suspense as the stories stack on top of each other, creating further complications, rushing toward a thrilling conclusion.

With SGT JANUS RETURNS, Jim Beard has created the best kind of sequel. The book is its own story, with a familiar feel, but not falling to routine or re-treading the first volume.

Highly recommended for fans of pulp mystery and occult detectives. Just be sure to read SGT JANUS, SPIRIT-BREAKER first!

recent reads; Joseph Payne Brennan

Dover have reissued two hard-to-find horror collections by Joseph Payne Brennan. I'd been waiting to get a hold of THE SHAPES OF MIDNIGHT for a long time. Happy that NINE HORRORS AND A DREAM showed up, too.

These collections are a master class in writing short fiction. The stories contained in NINE HORRORS AND A DREAM are not flash fiction but with a few exceptions, they are short shorts. Brennan gets in, gets to the core of the tale, and gets out. The stories are lean and trim. The stories in THE SHAPES OF MIDNIGHT are slightly longer but still short overall.

Each volume is short. NINE HORRORS AND A DREAM is 106 pages. THE SHAPES OF MIDNIGHT is 124 pages.  (And they are printed in a decent sized font, too.)

My favorites were "The Willow Platform," "Canavan's Back Yard," and "The Mail for Juniper Hill."

If you are a horror or classic pulp horror fan, you owe it to yourself to add these to your collection and read them.

A few notes on these editions;

These are bare-boned editions. There are no introductions. Given that Stephen King wrote an introduction for the original THE SHAPES OF MIDNIGHT, and the fact that Brennan passed away in 1990, an introduction to the writer and his work would have been a value--especially for readers discovering him for the first time. (There is a Wikipedia page for Brennan, if you're curious.)

There is no information about the original appearances of the stories (where and when.) This might be the case with the original editions, I don't have them to compare. Not a deal breaker but I'm always curious about that.

Originally these collections appeared decades apart, so two stories overlapped. They have been cut from this edition of THE SHAPES OF MIDNIGHT but are included in NINE HORRORS AND A DREAM

recent read; SGT JANUS, SPIRIT-BREAKER by Jim Beard

SGT JANUS, SPIRIT-BREAKER by Jim Beard

Yup! Another entry from Derrick Ferguson's 75 New Pulp Book To Get You Started list. (which, you should keep handy.)

If you enjoy occult detectives, like Carnacki, Sgt. Janus needs to be added to your reading list.

Janus is a mysterious character. His use of rank title and manner of dress suggest a military background. Some people are convinced he is a charlatan. He tangles with ghosts and other occult manifestations.

Beard has a clever twist on the presentation. Rather than sticking with a single chronicler (e.g.; Doctor Watson,) Janus requests that his clients provide written reports of the incidents. This allows different points-of-view and adds variety to the tales.

Further variety is provided by Beard's plots. Some cases are undertaken in the field. Others take place in Janus's sprawling house in the country, where clients come to him.

The stories have wonderful atmosphere. Each story works alone, though there is a definite arc threaded through the collection. Clearly, this is a set of stories written to be presented together.

I'll be rushing to read the sequel, SGT JANUS RETURNS!

recent read; GREEN LAMA UNBOUND by Adam Lance Garcia

THE GREEN LAMA: UNBOUND by Adam Lance Garcia

Another entry from Derrick Ferguson's 75 New Pulp Book To Get You Started list. (which, you should keep handy.)

I've not read any original Green Lama tales, nor have I read Garcia's Green Lama tales leading into this story. (It's the third in a series.) But that did not matter. I got hooked into the story. I had no problems locking in and going for the ride.

I don't want to give away too much. The plot, in a nutshell; Nazis ally themselves with cultists of the Old Ones. They are preparing to awaken Cthulhu when the stars align and R'lyeh rises from the sea bottom. The Green Lama and his companions, of course, are the ones who must stop the cataclysm.

I don't know how much of the original tales told of the Green Lama's origin. Garcia threads an in-depth origin story via flashbacks as the plot unfolds. He does a good job of tying the Green Lama's power and fate to the fate of Cthulhu and the Old Ones.

There are even a couple of pulp Easter eggs, with certain heroes being described but not named, who have crossed the Green Lama's path. And a few Lovecraft story title nods along the way, too.

I enjoyed this novel, a lot. It is done well.

In fact, I enjoyed THE GREEN LAMA: UNBOUND so much, I will be reading Garcia's two previous volumes. And I will need to try some of the original Green Lama pulp stories, too.

WICKED WEIRD available now!

 

 

WICKED WEIRD is here!

(Well, kind of. The Kindle edition is available for pre-order. It appears the print edition can be ordered now.)

recent reads

No full reviews here. Just thought I'd highlight books I've read lately that I really enjoyed (that I have not yet mentioned on the blog.)

Damballa by Charles R. Saunders

Saunders's take on The Shadow & 1930s pulp heroes. Plus, he gets to bring his boxing reporter chops to the page, too. (Good voices narration on the audiobook.)

Nobody Lives Forever by John Gardner

First non-Fleming James Bond I've read. Bond has a price placed on his head. He must get to the mastermind before various spies and criminals assassinate him first. (Audiobook was great.)

Gates of the Dead by James A. Moore

The finishing novel of The Tides of War trilogy. This grimdark story, though certainly epic in fantasy scope, has plenty of horror and sword-&-sorcery chops. Brogan McTyre is one of the most (Robert E.) Howardian characters I've read in a long time. Brogan will stand to the last, swinging steel at the gods themselves.
 (Also of note; James A. Moore is battling cancer. The prognosis is good. But medical costs will be steep, even with insurance. This month (Aug 2019) Angry Robot will pass through all the money from sales of their catalog of Jim's books [Seven Forges series, Tides of War trilogy] directly to Jim. So--good time to buy the books if you were thinking about it.)

Grim Death and Bill the Electrocuted Criminal by Mike Mignola & Tom Sniegoski

Another take on The Shadow, this time from the weird minds of Mignola & Sniegoski. Grim Death is a vigilante, a servant of Death, carrying out capital punishment where justice has failed. But now one of the ghosts who haunts him needs him to prove a man's innocence. This story is pure pulp with humorous and macabre touches only this team of creatives could deliver.

 (The Best of the) Bolos: Their Finest Hour edited by Hank Davis, created by Keith Laumer

Sentient battle tanks. 'nough said!