DEAD BUT DREAMING 2

When I was a kid in high school I was obsess'd with horror films, & I finally did a really fine film fanzine, calling it Fantasia and getting all of the big-name film fandom writers to contribute to it.  I decided to have a section of tributes to Forry Ackerman, and somehow I got Robert Bloch's address and asked if he would write a wee tribute to 4sj.  (I also asked Bob for Ray Bradbury's address, which he supply'd, and Bradbury also wrote a few lines of tribute to ye Ackermonster).  When I was shipped to Northern Ireland to work as a missionary for the Mormon Church, I wasn't allow'd to go see horror films (I had fantasies of spending every off-day in some cinema watching Hammer Films...), so I began to buy books by Bloch, with whom I was still in correspondence.  It was in Ireland that I bought my first editions of H. P. Lovecraft, mostly because in the title story of one, The Haunter of the Dark (Panther Horror), I saw that the title story was dedicated to my buddy, Bob Bloch.  I began to buy anthologies in which Bloch was one of many writers, and thus I became a reader of weird fiction.  Influenced by Bloch's letters and his wonderful stories, I began to write my own weird fiction while serving in Omagh, and soon placed a story with Space & Time.  Returning to ye States, I discovered Arkham House and became a Cthulhu nut.  I was determined to become a famous Mythos writer. 

One of Bloch's stories that really thrilled me was "The Skull of the Marquis de Sade," and I loved the Amicus film that it inspir'd as well.  Early on in my "career" as a horror writer, I was determined to write a sequel to Bob's story.  He pretended to be enthused when I wrote to tell him so.  The idea never evolv'd into an actual tale, and as I grew older & older, I fancied that it was but one of those youthful enthusiasms that wou'd never really take form in reality.  But I couldn't let go of the ache of desire to write that story, and over the decades I kept trying.  & I amaz'd myself, one week, by actually writing ye damn'd thing!!!  I decided to play with narrative voice and wrote it in a kind of colloquial style, such as HPL had done with "Pickman's Model."  I am happy to see that the story will soon be in print, in Dead but Dreaming 2.  I think this book will be a fantastic treat for all Mythos fans.  It is nigh available for pre-order at Miskatonic River Press, and all of ye who pre-order will received a fancy book mark sign'd by -- the Queen of Eldritch Horror!  So put that bitch to work, y'all, and let us see many copies pre-ordered!!!