My new chapbook is now available for pre-order at
mythinkbooks.storenvy.com/products/9937909-these-black-winged-one
Ye wonderful news is that one of my favourite modern Mythos writers, Peter Rawlik (pictur'd with me below) has agreed to write a substantial Introduction to ye booklet. I love Pete's work, and he understands absolutely the
fun factor of writing modern Lovecraftian weird fiction.
I like life's little surprises. I have been wanting to write a story in this haunting setting for many years, & had ye core of an idea but never enough to form an actual plot. More and more, I find it strange that Lovecraft planted this bit of dark phantasy into a story that is otherwise set in a world of solid reality. Suddenly, we enter a realm of pure myth--potent legend. What are these black-winged devils that are said to murder they who worship Great Cthulhu in the dark haunted woods?
And what of ye formless white thing of nightmare that is said to dwell in those woods, wandering through them or glaring with luminous eyes as it floats within ye depths of a hidden lake? I've been trying for quite some time to write this story. Then, my friends Anthony and Jesicca said they wanted to publish a wee chapbook featuring a new story of mine own; & that was whut it took to get me to write the thing at last. I knew I wanted the story to be 3,000 words, so as to give the chapbook a goodly number of pages; and I wanted to have a strong female character in the tale.
I suspect that ye chapbook will be publish'd in an edition of 100 or 200 copies. It will then be included, eventually, in my forthcoming second collection from Centipede Press.
Happy October, my pets.
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Looking good, Wilum!
ReplyDeleteWow, that is an evocative pair of illustrations. Ye Night Gaunts are some of my favourite HPL scaries, along with ye zoogs and ghasts. I have pre-ordered this, Sir and look forward to reading it. I am so pleased yourMuse is gracing you with her presence. So looking forward to the Centipede Press book too. Hope the annotated is giving you more weird foodstuffs. G :-)=
ReplyDeleteThat second illustration isn't in my booklet--I just found it on Google and really love it. In "The Call of Cthulhu," there is mention of a formless white thing seen appearing the black haunted woods. "This man, Joseph D. Galvez, I later met and questioned; and he proved distractedly imaginative. He indeed went so far as to hint of the faint beating of great wings, and of a glimpse of shining eyes and a mountainous white bulk beyond the remotest trees..." So, whether this is the white thing stalking ye woods or merely rising out of the hidden lake I can not ascertain. I don't think the Black Winged Ones are meant to be night-gaunts, but some other form of daemonic entity, exclusive to this haunted swamp-land region and its hidden lake. ""There were legends of a hidden lake unglimpsed by mortal sight, in which dwelt a huge, formless white polypous thing with luminous eyes; and squatters whispered that bat-winged devils flew up out of caverns in inner earth to worship it at midnight." Intriguing legend indeed.
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