Month: March 2015

Heads Up. Sun’s Down. NIGHTSCRIPT, Vol. I, Table of Contents Announced

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Nightscript

In his introduction to Daniel Mills’ haunting debut collection, The Lord Came at Twilight, Simon Stranzas noted, “In some way, the last great revolution in horror was its rediscovery of its past.”

Make no mistake, just because certain camps of weird- and horror-related writers keep those strange homefires burning doesn’t mean the medium grows stale.  In fact, think of this past-present relationship as a Mobius strip, ribbons of prescient visions braided with thematic cords from our predecessors.  Echoes, if harnessed properly, have the capability of providing new momentum—new dimension.

As the editorial helmer of the annually-planned Nightscript, C.M. Muller is guiding us into steady—though nightshaded—waters.  And owing to his well-read awareness, we should accompany with confidence.

There are no tricks here, folks.  Muller is a mensch who knows his stuff.  If he hasn’t read it, he’s heard of it.  If he doesn’t own an obscure copy of a critical text, it’s probably because he’s kindly sent it along (gratis) to an acquaintance with kindred tastes.

Sure, I’m beyond honored to hold court with my fellow Nightscripters; but I’m also eager to see where—over the next few burnt-orange, smoke-scented Octobers—Muller has in mind to take us.  You’d do well to follow…

Nightscript, Vol. I—TOC:

“Everything That’s Underneath” — Kristi DeMeester
“Strays” — Gregory L. Norris
“In His Grandmother’s Coat” — Charles Wilkinson
“The Cuckoo Girls” — Patricia Lillie
“The Sound That the World Makes” — David Surface
“Below the Falls” — Daniel Mills
“The Keep” — Kirsty Logan
“She Rose From the Water” — Kyle Yadlosky
“Animalhouse” — Clint Smith
“Tooth, Tongue, and Claw” — Damien Angelica Walters
“Momma” — Eric J. Guignard
“The Trees Are Tall Here” — Marc E. Fitch
“A Quiet Axe” — Michael Kelly
“The Death of Yatagarasu” — Bethany W. Pope
“The Cooing” — John Claude Smith
“A Knife in My Drawer” — Zdravka Evtimova
“On Balance” — Jason A. Wyckoff
“Learning Not to Smile” — Ralph Robert Moore
“Fisher and Lure” — Christopher Burke
“The Death of Socrates” — Michael Wehunt

Location, Location, Vocation

/ Clint Smith / 1 Comment

These first few months of 2015 are marked by several pieces of writerly news — notably, the acceptance of a pair of stories in two, inceptive publications, each helmed by estimable editors possessing inventive visions.

“Nøkken,” Theodor Kittelsen, entitled (1904) XNOYBIS, No. 1

My story “Animalhouse” found placement in CM Muller’s inaugural Nightscript,  “N. is a venue for ‘strange tales’,” writes Muller, “fictions supernatural, uncanny, [and] weird.”  The content will no doubt possess “subtle and darksome literary horror.”  Look for fictions in the vein of Robert Aickman, Shirley Jackson, Dennis Etchison, Flannery O’Connor, Terry Lamsley, Lisa Tuttle, Thomas Owen, Mary Shelley, and Arthur Machen,

The second odd abode in which my tale “The Rive” has found a “home” is in Jordan Krall’s venture, Xnoybis, a journal of weird fiction, the first issue of which will feature a “never-before-published interview with Thomas Ligotti from 1999 which has been approved by Tom himself,” according to Krall.  (The interview was conducted by David Edwards.)