As some of you probably know, my friend and publisher Sam Gafford unexpectedly passed away over the summer, leaving the future of Ulthar Press, including the magazines it published, in doubt.

Occult Detective Quarterly, which has published both some of my Thomas Carnacki work and the first of my Azuma Kuromori stories, is in the process of relaunching as Occult Detective Magazine. It's still under the guidance of editors John Linwood Grant and Dave Brzeski and the goal is to keep the feel of the magazine the same, including keeping ODQ's numbering.

John recently put up a post about the "new" magazine and included in it excerpts of some pieces from past issues, as well as future issues, including the second of my Azuma Kuromori stories, "Beyond the Faded Shrine Gates," which delves into Kuromori's first encounter with the Other Shore, during his childhood. The story is scheduled for Occult Detective Magazine #7, but you can read the opening right here.

I hope you'll enjoy this excerpt, as well as the other three from other authors that John has made available, and consider buying back issues or maybe even subscribing to future issues. As many of you probably know, small press publishing's lifeblood is readers, especially when it comes to keeping magazines viable. 

Recently, I reread Harlan Ellison's first novel, WEB OF THE CITY.

The first time I read this, I was not Harlan Ellison fan. The only one of his novels I'd previously read was THE DOOMSMAN, and I didn't care for it. People kept telling me, "He's a short story guy. Read his short stories." Since that first read, I've found several short stories of Ellison's that are brilliant and I loved. I wanted to revisit this novel and see how it felt in light of my new thoughts on Ellison.

Well, I liked it. It's not brilliant, but it's good.

This was Ellison's first novel, based on a novelette he'd written about the same main character. In fact, the first quarter of the novel is almost word for word the original novelette, except where the novelette ends, Rusty Santoro makes a different choice, leading us to the path that becomes the novel. And it's okay, but it's kind of messy. The novelette's story about juvie gang revenge and posturing doesn't segue especially well into the main story of the novel--which is basically a detective story featuring a J.D. out for revenge--but it works, in a sort of ham-handed kind of way. But it's a first novel, so it's all good. Ellison certainly grew from there.

As when I first read it, it did brought to mind a few questions, such as why Ellison strayed from the crime fiction path. He wrote a number of short stories, but I believe this is his only crime novel and it makes me wonder what kind of writer he'd have become if he stuck with it, instead of branching out to science fiction and fantasy.

I have a feeling that he'd be a writer whose work I'd enjoy more, but I also have a feeling that he wouldn't have made the impact he did on the literary world. Maybe he knew that his future wasn't in crime fiction, but I do wonder what other crime novels a more-polished Ellison the storyteller might have written.

Two reminders:

First, you can read my western mystery, the first story about Marshal Ernie Farrar, for free right here or by clicking the image below.

Second, if you like my western fiction, please remember to support and share the Eight Gunshots Kickstarter, as it includes a new western story by me, plus seven more works by seven other authors, each accompanied by an illustration.
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Please check it out, pledge and share it!

Earlier this year, I was invited to submit a story a western anthology. The result was a piece I'm very proud of called "To Hell With It," about a man running from himself who finally tries to do the right thing even though he knows it'll cost him more than anyone else. The organizer of the anthology, Luke Foster, is now running a Kickstarter campaign to publish that book, Eight Gunshots: Stories of the West.

"Eight Gunshots" is a prose anthology magazine with eight short stories by some of the best writers in the modern pulp scene. 

It includes a wide variety of stories with action, emotional depth, and a lot of fun and each story is accompanied by an illustration.

These stories include:

• "Chief Hokomon," by Alverne Ball, illustrated by Eraklis Petmezas
• "To Hell With It," by Brandon Barrows, illustrated by Keith W. Cunningham
• "Gold Hen," by Christopher Charlton, illustrated by Jason J. McCuiston
• "The Sins of Peste Negra Rodriguez," by Luke Foster, illustrated by Keith W. Cunningham
• "A Miracle in Anderson," by Robert Jeffrey II, illustrated by Eraklis Petmezas
• "Bitter Springs," by Jason J. McCuiston, illustrated by Jason J. McCuiston
• "To Meet and Kill a Devil," by Shawn Pryor, illustrated by Stephen Reid
• "Bad Medicine," by David J. West, illustrated by Wolly McNair

Plus, a full-color cover by Ariela Kristantina, with colors by Bryan Valenza!

I'm a big fan of the western genre (if you follow my twitter feed, you know every week it's Western Wednesday for me) and I was thrilled to be invited to participate in this anthology.

Your support is needed to make this book come to life, though! Get in on the ground floor and get some excitement!

Please check out more details and pledge your support by clicking here!

This week, my offering for you is THE CASTLE-TOWN TRAGEDY, my collection of Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder stories.

'Tis the season, so how about some horror?

Let's start with MYTHOS, the four-issue Lovecraftian horror series I did with artist Hugo Petrus. 

Duane Pesice interviewed me for Grey Dog Tales recently and sitemaster John Linwood Grant put in his own 2 pence about some of my work.

Head on over and read for yourself as we talk about fiction, truths, beer, pizza and everything in between!

Comic Central has awarded Petty Little Stings, the dark fantasy comic I wrote and Randy Haldeman drew, its Comic of the Week Award!

Petty Little Stings is a dark fantasy about hubris, in which a young man follows tavern tales, seeking out a legend, and finds more than he ever imagined. Gritty, nihilistic and slightly PG (for violence).

Get yours at Comic Central!

You'll remember my fondness for novelizations of films, something I've mentioned often. Here's one I picked up not because of any affinity for the movie, which I saw once as a kid and barely remember, but rather because I was curious about the authors, especially George Clayton Johnson, who co-wrote (with William Nolan) Logan's Run, the original novel the movie was adapted from. I've read a few GCJ short stories in magazines from the 50s, but never an entire novel.

Well, what did I think? Read on...

Firstly, it's often hard to say, when two writers collaborate, what part of the work is the brainchild of which person. Sometimes, if you're familiar enough with a writer's solo work, you can tell. I cannot here as it's the only work of Jack Golden Russell's I've ever encountered. Together, though, these guys were pretty good. They also, by the by, wrote the original treatment that Harry Brown wrote the novel's screenplay from, which I find amusing: two guys writing a novelization of a film adaptation of their original story. But that's Hollywood, I guess.

At any rate, one of the first things that struck me is how much this reads like unformed, or perhaps not yet matured would be a better phrase, Westlake. Of course, the film and the novelization predate the first of Donald Westlake's comedy-crime novels by several years, but I do wonder if there was any influence on Westlake as the style really is quite similar.

So, the novel. It's good, but not amazing. It's amusing, but except for a few passages, not particularly memorable. The characters are mostly defined by unusual speech patterns and, in the case of Danny Ocean, Jimmy Foster, and Sam Harmon, by how others refer to them: everyone is or wants to be Danny's friend, so they're very hail-fellow-well-met; Jimmy Foster is either admired or reviled as the millionaire's son; Sam Harmon is simply "the pianist" to many people and "Danny's best friend" to others. One of the best-developed characters is, ironically, the character who's supposed to have the least in his head: Mushy O'Conner. Supposedly, he's a simple thug, but the authors give us a fair view of his real character, and fairly subtly, as he's torn between loyalty to his employer (the gangster Spyros Acedos, who has also employed Ocean) and Ocean, who he feels tremendous friendship and loyalty to.

The first thing that surprised me, and I honestly can't remember how it was in the movie, is how little is spent on the actual crime. Barely a chapter or two is allotted to it while we mostly spend on our time on the various relationships between fourteen or so people. And it was fine, it wasn't what I expected, but it was mostly enjoyable.

The other was how dark the ending of the novel gets. In fact, the last chapter almost seems like it came from another work, its tone is so bleak. But it was also a fine ending, one that the story, and especially Danny Ocean, earned, so I have no complaints.

You probably aren't likely to run across this book, as it's sixty years old and not particularly collectible or anything, but if you do, by all means, read it for yourself. Compare it to the movie and see how it stacks up. As I said, it may not be anything special, but it is enjoyable.

On my mind today: a novel I bought on a whim because the elevator pitch--"Rashomon in an all-girl's high school"--sounded like it might have potential. Not only did it have potential, it blew away my expectations.