To See Beyond

Above is Tom Brown's illustration for "To See Beyond." The illustration will appear in An Ecstasy of Fear and Others, whut will be publish'd by Centipede Press at the end of this year. I love Tom's work, and this drawing is almost perfect--in ye story the lens of these magick glasses are black in hue. My story is a sequel to Robert Bloch's amazing short story, "The Cheaters," which was later turned into an effective episode for Boris Karloff's THRILLER television series. In Bho's original tale, a fellow named Grimm (who narrates the story's final section) prepares to shoot himself while wearing the glasses, thus destroying both himself and the daemonic lens. In my tale--well, I'll let ye read how the fellow is interrupted in his preparation for extinction:

Grimm glanced down at the last page of his manuscript and saw its final word: finis. Yes, this was the end. A chill ran down his spine as he reached for the revolver that sat upon the desk, the metal of which was so horribly frigid to the touch. His fingers raised the tip of the barrel to one of the lenses as the author sought the courage needed to pull the trigger.

"The won't be required, Grimm," spoke a soft voice near his ear. A large hand wrapped its talons around the revolver's barrel. "It would be a crime to destroy those so amusing spectacles. Here, let me take them from your face."

Who is this bold interrupter, and why does he care about the fate of these sinister spectacles? If you've not read my story, you will get a chance when it is republished in my book at year's end. This is not ye first time I have written a story influenced by ye work of Robert Bloch (my favourite weird writer after Lovecraft), nor will it be ye last.