Reveling in the Grotesque
Overwhelmed and Out of Control
Hoo boy things have been busy.
And I have to admit that I kind of struggle when things are busy the way they have been busy for me.
Don’t feel bad for me. Everything is fine. I’m just trying to explain myself. I don’t know why, but I feel like I have to explain myself.
Anyway I had a blast at NecronomiCon tabling alongside Eric Williams (check out his book Toadstones!) and Matthew Bartlett (check out his book Gateways to Abomination!). Those guys are my Necro table brothers forever now.
I also had fun on Nicholas Kaufmann’s 90’s TV panel, which was a mostly smart conversation about smart shows until I started going off on a tangent about weird gross MTV cartoons like The Head and The Brother’s Grunt.
The release party for the new anthology of Rhode Island horror, Monsters in the Mills, was unbelievably rad too. The range of voices in the anthology is truly impressive. Much respect to editors Christa Carmen and L.E. Daniels for cobbling this thing together. It’s crazy how much horror talent we have packed into our little state!
Also the NecronomiCon organizers let me lead another mushroom walk as part of the weekend’s extended programming. The 20 or so participants who followed me through the moist undergrowth of Providence were rewarded with glimpses of candy colored slime, spectacular fungal fuitings, and a number of abnormally sizeable slugs.
Keep an eye out for me at Voidcon in Huntington, W.V., later this month. I’ll be tabling with my former bandmate Stanely Stepanic, whose new book A Vamp There Was offers an eerie, delightfully woeful, and highly researched take on the gothic vampire tale.
One of my favorite online publications, Maudlin House, reviewed SKULL SLIME TENTACLE WITCH WAR.
Editor Mallory Smart says the book is “fun, funny, sad, and downright disgusting. A wild ride that challenges conventional storytelling and leaves you questioning the very fabric of reality. A thought-provoking invitation to revel in the grotesque.”
(If you’ve read the book, please consider posting a review on Amazon or Goodreads. It really helps.)
I’ll be honest, the way my brain has felt fried lately has made it difficult for me to sit down and enjoy the things I usually enjoy. Some exceptions:
INVAGINIES by Joe Koch: I’m just a few stories in but holy shit, I am in awe of Joe’s exquisite surrealist prose and nightmarish imagination. These stories are traumatizing as hell and I intend to savor each and every one.
COYOTE by Max Restaino: Gritty, grimy, and gruesome. This hits like the book version of the weirdest, goriest VHS cover in the cult section of the video stores. Highly recommend for the best kind of bad time.
BREEZE by Fire-Toolz: Okay so this new album is Fire-Toolz doing the same mind-melting juxtapositions of 80s jams and black metal vocals and grindcore riffs and straight-up noise that Fire-Toolz always does, but doing it somehow on a higher level than ever before in a way that absolutely fucking kills me. I love it.
Ok that’s it! Go enjoy your life! Read a book! Or don’t!
xoxox
Rick
That review quote is incredible 🤣 Who wouldn't wanna read that?