What can I say? Few people are not familiar with Poe’s tale of people trying to isolate themselves from a ravaging pandemic, a tale eerily appropriate for our time.
Author: Phil Slattery
Publisher, Rural Fiction Magazine; publisher, The Chamber Magazine; founder, the Farmington Writers Circle. I have written short stories and poetry for many years. In my careers as a Naval officer and in the federal government, I have written thousands of documents of many types. I am currently working on a second edition for my poetry collection and a few novels.
“Diabolical: Three Tales of Vengeance and the Sorcerer Jack Thurston” is Free Today
Today, Diabolical is free.
Go to amazon.com/author/philslattery or Goodreads or any other social media to leave a review.
Jack Thurston is a retired professor of medieval literature and history. He is also a widower and father and a retired sorcerer who has returned to the black arts to exact revenge for the death of his wife, daughter, and brother. He has an intriguing position in the universe at a focal point of life, the afterlife, logic and reason, anger and hatred, the ancient and the modern worlds, grief and his attempts to escape grief through self-destruction. Though he wants to have the peace he once found with his wife, Agatha, he is pulled in many directions by circumstance and by his powerful negative emotions.
Reader Edward Z says about these three tales:
“Three of the stories feature a sorcerer named Jack Thurston, who is a really well done evil sort of character and the best of the bunch in my opinion. The author methodically goes through his rather complicated and gross preparations for the spells and it adds a bit more weight to them then usually found in these kinds of stories.”
Reader Tabs says about this collection of three tales:
“I very much enjoyed this short read. It was interesting and allowed for me to develop great imagery. Will recommend to friends.”
This collection of three short tales is perfect for those who have only a few short breaks to escape into the hidden world of horror, black magic, sorcery, and anger-fueled revenge.
I am a fan of the old school horror practiced by such authors as H.P. Lovecraft, Poe, Edward Lucas White, and Arthur Machen. I endeavor to make a story as terrifying and suspenseful for the reader as possible without resorting to gratuitous blood and gore for a simple shock or quick feeling of disgust.
You can find this and other works at my Amazon author’s page: www.amazon.com/author/philslattery.
Currently, Jack has a Twitter account (@jthurston666), where he has attracted a small following.
Information on more social media accounts and other characters (as they are developed) can be found at: philslattery.wordpress.com.
Show your appreciation for these stories by leaving a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or other social media.
If you enjoy horror, check out my collection of horror short stories A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror: Stories of wizards, werewolves, serial killers, alien worlds, and the damned, which includes these stories.
“Diabolical: Three Tales of Vengeance and the Sorcerer Jack Thurston” is Free Today
Today, Diabolical is free.
Go to amazon.com/author/philslattery or Goodreads or any other social media to leave a review.
Jack Thurston is a retired professor of medieval literature and history. He is also a widower and father and a retired sorcerer who has returned to the black arts to exact revenge for the death of his wife, daughter, and brother. He has an intriguing position in the universe at a focal point of life, the afterlife, logic and reason, anger and hatred, the ancient and the modern worlds, grief and his attempts to escape grief through self-destruction. Though he wants to have the peace he once found with his wife, Agatha, he is pulled in many directions by circumstance and by his powerful negative emotions.
Reader Edward Z says about these three tales:
“Three of the stories feature a sorcerer named Jack Thurston, who is a really well done evil sort of character and the best of the bunch in my opinion. The author methodically goes through his rather complicated and gross preparations for the spells and it adds a bit more weight to them then usually found in these kinds of stories.”
Reader Tabs says about this collection of three tales:
“I very much enjoyed this short read. It was interesting and allowed for me to develop great imagery. Will recommend to friends.”
This collection of three short tales is perfect for those who have only a few short breaks to escape into the hidden world of horror, black magic, sorcery, and anger-fueled revenge.
I am a fan of the old school horror practiced by such authors as H.P. Lovecraft, Poe, Edward Lucas White, and Arthur Machen. I endeavor to make a story as terrifying and suspenseful for the reader as possible without resorting to gratuitous blood and gore for a simple shock or quick feeling of disgust.
You can find this and other works at my Amazon author’s page: www.amazon.com/author/philslattery.
Currently, Jack has a Twitter account (@jthurston666), where he has attracted a small following.
Information on more social media accounts and other characters (as they are developed) can be found at: philslattery.wordpress.com.
Show your appreciation for these stories by leaving a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or other social media.
If you enjoy horror, check out my collection of horror short stories A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror: Stories of wizards, werewolves, serial killers, alien worlds, and the damned, which includes these stories.
Phil Slattery’s Sci-Fi Novelette “Alien Embrace” is Free Today on Amazon Kindle.
Logan Rickover, owner of a hardware store in a small town in Kentucky, has lucid dreams of life as an astronaut that intrude upon his life at any moment. Which of his lives is real? The quiet paradise of Danville or the terrifying jungle world of Stheno D?
This novelette is a terrific read for those who have only a quick break to take a breather and escape to another reality. In this sci-fi thriller, I endeavor to blur the boundaries between alien-induced hallucinations, the brutal reality of the present, and memories of an idyllic past.
Ron Baker calls it “Nightmare Planet”, gives it five stars, and comments: “This short has exactly what I like in science fiction: planet exploration and bizarre otherworldly aliens, in this case insectoid. The horrendous purpose the aliens have for the hapless astronauts who make planetfall to find the numerous previous missing exploration teams is grisly. I love the mystery of the planet and the authors device of alternating from the aliens bizarre perspective then switching to the astronauts point of view.”
Follow this link to obtain your free copy.
Don’t forget to leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or other social media.
Check back frequently for updates and check out my Amazon Author’s page for more great works.
This novelette is included in my horror collection A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror.
Book Review by Ligeia Resurrected: The Dark and the Disturbed by Guy de Maupassant
I recently discovered Ligeia Resurrected. Her focus is on all things Goth, but the majority of her videos seem to be on gothic literature and music, dress, make-up, and absinthe, naturally. I enjoy her book reviews and will start posting them here occasionally. I am considering having book reviews by myself or others at 8:00 p.m. on Fridays, but that is still in the concept stage. If I do them, they will probably be written as my video production skills are rudimentary at best. I may make videos of them later. I hope you enjoy this presentation.
A Change of Pace: Rick Grime vs. Walter White, an Epic Rap Battle of History
If you haven’t seen the Epic Rap Battles of History Channel on YouTube, you are missing out on one of YouTube’s most enjoyable channels. Here are two of today’s most famous fictional characters in a duel to the musical death.
Phil Slattery’s Sci-Fi Novelette “Alien Embrace” is Free Today on Amazon Kindle.
Logan Rickover, owner of a hardware store in a small town in Kentucky, has lucid dreams of life as an astronaut that intrude upon his life at any moment. Which of his lives is real? The quiet paradise of Danville or the terrifying jungle world of Stheno D?
This novelette is a terrific read for those who have only a quick break to take a breather and escape to another reality. In this sci-fi thriller, I endeavor to blur the boundaries between alien-induced hallucinations, the brutal reality of the present, and memories of an idyllic past.
Ron Baker calls it “Nightmare Planet”, gives it five stars, and comments: “This short has exactly what I like in science fiction: planet exploration and bizarre otherworldly aliens, in this case insectoid. The horrendous purpose the aliens have for the hapless astronauts who make planetfall to find the numerous previous missing exploration teams is grisly. I love the mystery of the planet and the authors device of alternating from the aliens bizarre perspective then switching to the astronauts point of view.”
Follow this link to obtain your free copy.
Don’t forget to leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or other social media.
Check back frequently for updates and check out my Amazon Author’s page for more great works.
This novelette is included in my horror collection A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror.
„Rebecca“ von Daphne du Maurier (1938) — Testkammer
524 Seiten / Insel Verlag / 12 € Buchkritik: Der Roman „Rebecca“ (OT: „Rebecca“) von Daphne du Maurier, erschienen 1938, kann sowohl als Liebesgeschichte als auch als Schauerroman gelesen werden und bot und bietet so genügend Stoff für einigen Fernseh- und Kinoverfilmungen. Die bekannteste ist wohl jene von Alfred Hitchcock aus dem Jahr 1940, für…
Book Review | Shadow and Bone (Shadow and Bone, #1) by Leigh Bardugo — The Perks of Being Noura
Shadow and Bone Author: Leigh Bardugo // Published: June 5, 2012 ★★★ Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee. Alina Starkov […]
via Book Review | Shadow and Bone (Shadow and Bone, #1) by Leigh Bardugo — The Perks of Being Noura
Off on a tangent for a moment…
I saw this on Twitter and just had to share it, if for no other reason, than to caution the younger generation not to judge a book by its worn and tattered cover.
When you are 24 and break into a 73 yr old’s house and threaten him and his wife with a knife and didn’t know he was a boxer, a marine, and hand to hand combat instructor. pic.twitter.com/RI7oaoVW8c
— Tiffany🌊🌊🌊💙💙💙 (@tifflovesoils) May 13, 2020
A Short Analysis of John Keats’s ‘To Hope’ — Interesting Literature
Written in February 1815 when he was just nineteen years old, ‘To Hope’ is one of John Keats’s early poems. Although it is not as celebrated or as polished as his more mature work, the poem is worth sharing, so below we reproduce the text of the poem, and offer […] The post A Short…
via A Short Analysis of John Keats’s ‘To Hope’ — Interesting Literature
Dark “In the Hall of Mountain King”
Another of my favorite musical pieces made beautifully dark and eerie. Watch it alone or with really close lover by candlelight with the wind whistling around the corners of your hose.
Jenna Moreci on the Best Women in Fiction
Jenna Moreci is one of my favorite YouTubers. She provides practical writing advice, criticism, and insight.
Lovecraft’s Lack of Publicity in His Time
I have read a fair amount of Lovecraft’s works and I have been watching some animated versions on YouTube lately (see the May 9 Saturday Night Special for an example; more are forthcoming). Also, within the past few years, as a soon-to-be novelist, I am becoming familiar with how critical publicity is to the success of an author.
I suppose my subconscious has been working in the background, but a thought occurred to me this morning out of the blue. Maybe why Lovecraft was not successful in his time was because he lacked publicity, at least I am not aware of any publicity campaigns he undertook.
It has been said that Lovecraft was unappreciated in his time, because people did not recognize the quality of his writing. It seems to me that the reason that the public did not appreciate might be because they didn’t know it existed. Though I am no Lovecraft scholar, does anyone know where his work was mentioned outside of the magazine in which it was currently appearing? For that matter, does anyone know of an instance where Lovecraft submitted his work to a more highly-respected magazine than Weird Tales or other pulp fiction mills? Does anyone know of Lovecraft being interviewed on the radio or in a magazine. Maybe he did all of the above, but I never heard about it. Of course, there’s the fact that Lovecraft never wrote a full-length novel (depending on your definition of a novel, of course). Then his publisher would have had to drum up some publicity for him at least.
Instead, like any lonely geek, he stayed in his room, writing his letters and stories, submitting the latter to magazines, I suppose at every opportunity, and sending the former to his friends who were also writers.
I see this same characteristic among many other writers I have met over the years. They write quality work, but because writers frequently tend to be introverts, they either avoid publicity, because it makes them uncomfortable, or, being naturally humble, they don’t have faith in their works. They lack confidence.
I wonder how the literary world would have changed had Lovecraft taken the publicity avenues that were available to him then.
I wonder how many undiscovered Lovecrafts are living now in ignominy because of their unfamiliarity with the numerous ways to publicize themselves today or that haven’t had the confidence in themselves or their works to sally forth with a novel, which might make a world of difference to their careers and lives.
I don’t want to seem unsympathetic (being something of an introvert myself), but the problem boils down to the old military adage: “No guts, no glory”. A writer needs “glory” (of some type at least) in order to be successful.
Lovecraft is a good example of that.
Comments?
The Saturday Night Special: The Animated “Dagon” by H.P. Lovecraft
I am trying something different for this Saturday, something that I hope will turn out to be quite enjoyable.
I linked this post to an animated version of Lovecraft’s “Dagon” on YouTube. I watch YouTube a lot and they have scads of interesting videos. If this works out, I will do this more often. Let me know what you think. To get the full effect, hit the “full screen” toggle in the lower right which looks like a box with a hole in each side. To exit this, hit your escape button. The video last 18 minutes and 55 seconds.
I apologize for any commercials. I am not certain if they will turn up when you view the film or not. Unfortunately, commercials are the sine qua non of YouTube and many other media. But these will be either very short or you can skip them by pressing “skip ads” in the lower right after five seconds. I am sure you are used to this kind of annoying marketing. It’s a fact of 21st century life.
Phil Slattery, Writer, Publisher 