|
Post by dem bones on May 21, 2017 19:52:56 GMT
Another welcome newcomer: Sam Gafford & John Linwood Grant [eds.] - Occult Detective Quarterly #1 (Electric Pentacle Press, Fall/ Winter 2016) Terry Pavlet (logo by Bob Freeman) Sam Gafford & John Linwood Grant - Editorial
Fiction
Willie Meikle & David T Wilbanks - Got My Mojo Working Amanda DeWees - When Soft Voices Die Adrian Cole - Don't Say I Didn't Warn You Joshua M Reynolds - Orbis Tertius T. E. Grau - Monochrome Aaron Vlek - The Baron Of Bourbon Street Oscar Dowson - The Adventure Of The Black Dog Willie Meikle - The Occult Legion: Part 1: The Nest
Non-Fiction
Charles R Rutledge - The Occult Files of Dr Spector Charles R Rutledge - An Interview with Don Glut Tim Prasil - How to be a Victorian Ghost Hunter
Reviews
Tim Prasil - Help For The Haunted: A Decade of Vera Van Slyke Ghostly Mysteries 1899-1909 (Reviewed by Dave Brzeski) Jessica Amanda Salmonson - The Complete Weird Epistles Of Penelope Pettiweather, Ghost Hunter (Reviewed by Dave Brzeski) Carnacki, The Ghost Finder . (Reviewed by James Bojaciuk) Describin' the Scribes/ Credits
Illustrators: Bob Freeman, Dave Felton, M. Wayne Miller, Mutartis BoswellAm looking forward to tackling this over coming week. From the editorial: Details: Occult Detective Quarterly
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on May 22, 2017 21:08:14 GMT
Willie Meikle & David T. Wilbanks - Got My Mojo Working: We were promised spook busters with a difference and protagonist, Gus, is certainly that - a hard-drinking, chain-smoking two-fisted, simian occult dick with an eye for the dames and a lust for bananas. Here he's called upon to investigate a malevolent haunting at a Laurel Canyon mansion where artist Lucille Bennett's obsessive reproductions of a cave painting have conjured a terrifying Aboriginal demon. Gorillas don't scare easy but will brawn, jungle magic and an endless supply of juju bags be enough to drive his super-malevolent adversary back to Hell? Robert Freeman Amanda DeWees - When Soft Voices Die: When her fiancée's family home burns down, young Sybil Ingram Lammie, English actress and psychic medium, is forced to seek temporary accommodation. Best friend, Arabel, introduces her to Mrs. Sutton of Brooke House, a spacious property in the wilds of the Hudson Valley. Unfortunately Brooke House is full unless, of course, Sybil is prepared to take her chances in the haunted room. Hardly has Sybil's head hit the pillow than the ghost makes its presence felt. A very tidy Victorian supernatural horror melodrama replete with rancid old lecher, innocent serving maid, and mouldering skeleton in the root cellar. Adrian Cole - Don't Say I Didn't Warn You: First met Nick 'Nightmare' Stone in the author's superb four story collection, Tough Guys, so have been particularly looking forward to a reunion. Isaiah Constantine Massamboula, the fabulously wealthy, thoroughly ruthless diamond merchant, has brought a new slant to big game hunting. Massamboula's passion is for collecting beautiful women and transforming them into statues. An adept in African Black Sorcery with a private army at his disposal, ICM is not a man to defy. Nick steels himself for a visit to the Pulpworld and a reunion with Arabella, a former lover sworn to kill him, and the one person who can help him bring down the mad mogul. Exciting ending sees another unique sculpture added to Massamboula morbid museum. All good so far.
|
|
|
Post by andydecker on May 22, 2017 21:25:33 GMT
This sounds really interesting as a package, even if I am a bit tired of the occult detective. I read some Meikle and Grau who do a lot of Mythos stories.
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on May 23, 2017 9:13:44 GMT
This sounds really interesting as a package, even if I am a bit tired of the occult detective. I read some Meikle and Grau who do a lot of Mythos stories. It's an impressive début. Visually the magazine reminds me of Pulp Mania!. By happy coincidence I've come to #1 off the back of Peter Haining's Supernatural Sleuths anthology and the Occult Detective Quarterly stories to date have been livelier than some of the solid if unremarkable material he saw fit to revive for the occasion (though Joseph Payne Brennan's contribution is excellent). Not sure if there's any mythos action in #1 but Monochrome looks to have been inspired by Robert Chambers The King In Yellow.
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on May 23, 2017 17:52:24 GMT
Josh Reynolds - Orbis Tertius: Some fool member of London's Voyagers Club steals a proscribed book for the trophy room, unleashing a mania which sees the forty-strong membership argue in gibberish and violently attack one another. God help us should the riot spill out onto the street! Luck is on our side this once as, who should come bounding into the fray but Charles St. Cyprian, the Royal Occultist, ably handicapped by understudy Ebe Gallowglass! St. Cyprian has mastered the power of the third eye, enabling him to evade the clutching tendrils of the astral anemone of doom and save the world from alien invasion - but has he done the right thing? Either I have Ronald Chetwynd-Hayes on the brain or Charles and Ebe are a Georgian Francis St. Clare and Fredericka Masters with better jokes. Oscar Dowson - The Adventure Of The Black Dog: London, circa 1904. After sustaining a near fatal spider bite during the Boer conflict, our narrator is invalided out of the army and shipped back to the Capital. At a loss for accommodation, he flat-sits for a globe-trotting pal and waits for adventure to take him. It duly arrives in the form of a monstrous black dog with no eyes which leaves him terrified to leave the house for fear of being torn apart. Enter his mysterious neighbour, Dr. Henry Jerusalem Crow, to restore order. Not really a horror story (nor is there any reason why it should be) as the benign Dr. Crow and his associate, Miss Isabella Woolfinder, exude such confidence that there is never any doubt they have the situation under control. The spectral Hellhound is impressive as is the explanation for its coming into being. Non-fiction highlights to date include Charles Rutledge's feature on Vault favourite Don Glut's 'seventies Gold Key comic creation, Dr. Spektor, incorporating an interview with the author, and Dave Brzeski thoughtful, very favourable review of Jessica Amanda Salmonson's The Complete Weird Epistles of Penelope Pettiweather, Ghost Hunter which mutates into an appreciation of Mary Ann Allen's The Angry Dead ("with a warning that the print is uncomfortably small"!)
|
|
|
Post by ropardoe on May 24, 2017 8:53:08 GMT
Gosh - I didn't know about that Mary Ann Allen mention. I'm trying to arrange a magazine trade with the editor but I haven't heard back from him yet. I might have to check that he got my email. Everything to do with me seems to suffer from small print size (even when I personally haven't been responsible for it, as was the case with The Angry Dead). I frequently get complaints about G&S too, and I can't say I blame people. But as I always say to them, increasing the print size would result in my having to reduce the quantity of content quite substantially.
|
|
|
Post by cauldronbrewer on May 24, 2017 22:45:12 GMT
This looks excellent, from the stories to the review selections to the illustrations. What did Mr. Brzeski make of Tim Prasil's Help for the Haunted? I read it a few months ago and thought it was a charming effort at creating a old-fashioned ghost detective series. Prasil also edited two worthwhile anthologies of occult detective stories that include some rarities: Giving up the Ghosts (2015) and Those Who Haunt Ghosts (2016), both from Coachwhip Publications. His blog is worth a read, too.
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Jun 7, 2017 13:50:35 GMT
This looks excellent, from the stories to the review selections to the illustrations. What did Mr. Brzeski make of Tim Prasil's Help for the Haunted? I read it a few months ago and thought it was a charming effort at creating a old-fashioned ghost detective series. Good to hear from you, Mr. Brewer! Dave Brzeski writes very favourably of Help For The Haunted, and apparently there is a second collection of Vera Van Silke investigations in the works. Mr. Prasil's How to be a Victorian Ghost Hunter scores with the crucial recommendation that the would-be occult detective should always be accompanied by a dog they're not overly fond of. Article is related to his research for Those Who Haunt Ghosts (which sounds excellent). Two of the stranger horror entries. Aaron Vlek - The Baron Of Bourbon Street: The blackest take on the Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) concept, with the living half, Detective Alphonse De Cartier partnered by none other than Baron Samedi, Master of Crossroads, etc. A spate of brutal mutilation murders has the Baron in a terrible mood on account of the culprit is stealing the victims' souls before he can lay claim to them. Pity the killer should they fall into the clutches of the diabolical Samedi. T. E. Grau - Monochrome: (Glynn Owen Barass [ed.] The Court Of The Yellow King, Celaeno Press, 2014). The play's the thing to uncover the consciousness of the King. Carnacki fans will surely find it difficult to equate Henry Katz, former LAPD homicide cop turned freelance reporter, with a 'psychic detective.' He's a semi-functioning alcoholic Tourette's syndrome on legs whose one saving grace is a nose for a good weird story - and they don't come much weirder than the Plaza Park hotel "eating" four gangland kingpins. Of recent weeks, clusters of masked, silent figures have taken to painting the town a putrid yellow as part of a "cleansing programme" heralding the coming of the King. First these sinister mime artistes brutally (if quietly) eradicate the criminal fraternity, then they string up the forces of law and order. Katz may catch on to what is going on faster than those around him, but he is as out of his depth and helpless to prevent the new order as the next man.
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Jun 8, 2017 15:16:23 GMT
Which leaves ... "The Occult Legion is a multi-chapter serial story written by some of the best writers of Occult Detective fiction today. ODQ is proud to serialise this landmark tale beginning with the first instalment." Willie Meikle - The Nest (The Occult Legion: Part 1): Alexander Seton, the King's occultist, investigates cosmic goings-on in the caverns beneath Laws Castle. It seems Seton is doomed to immortality, having traded his soul for the 'Wee Man's accursed gift, although "no one could feel this much guilt and still be soulless." Baron Of Bourbon Street is arguably the nastiest story, but my pick of the issue is perhaps the most traditional ghost story, Amanda de Wees When Soft Voices Die. Oscar Dowson's Adventure Of The Black Dog is a little too tame for my lurid tastes but there's nothing remotely "bad" in here. Favourite illustrations, Terry Pavlett's cover painting and Robert Freeman's work for When Soft Voices Die. Occult Detective Quarterly #2 is now available, this time via Am*z*n which should significantly improve distribution. Sam Gafford & John Linwood Grant [eds.] - Occult Detective Quarterly #2 (Electric Pentacle Press, April 2017) Alan M. Clark Sam Gafford & John Linwood Grant - Editorial
Fiction
Brandon Barrows - The Arcana Of The Alleys Mike Chinn - The Black Tarot Edward M. Erdelac - Conquer Comes Calling Tim Waggoner - The Grabber Man Tricia Owens - White Ghost In The City Bruno Lombardi - Devil In The City Of Lights Kelly A. Harmon - Light From Pure Digestion Bred Steve Laskow - Death And The Dancing Bears Joshua Reynolds - Occult Legion Part 2. Terror On The Links
Articles
Danyal Fryer - The Constant Englishman: John Constantine, Hellblazer The Man Who Is Carnacki: An Interview with Dan Starkey Tim Prasil - Doctors Of The Strange: The Tradition Of The Occult Physician
Reviews
Illustrators: Luke Spooner, Mutartis Boswell, Sebastian Cabrol, Russell Smeaton and Morgan Fitzsimons.AmazonAmazon UK
|
|
|
Post by cathaven on Jun 25, 2017 23:09:19 GMT
First met Nick 'Nightmare' Stone in the author's superb four story collection, Tough Guys, so have been particularly looking forward to a reunion. I strongly recommend you pick up the excellent British Fantasy Award winning collection, NICK NIGHTMARE INVESTIGATES from Alchemy Press. Dave
|
|
|
Post by cathaven on Jun 25, 2017 23:19:23 GMT
Thanks for all the encouraging comments on ODQ. Looking forward to reading opinions on #2.
Dave Brzeski
|
|
|
Post by benedictjjones on Jul 20, 2017 21:54:35 GMT
Need to grab these - they also have a sub window opening soon (next month I think) if anyone is looking
|
|
|
Post by helrunar on Jul 18, 2019 15:46:52 GMT
For anyone who knows Sam Gafford or is interested in the ODQ project (I'm not familiar with Ulthar, though as a cat owner, I should be!), I wanted to pass on this message posted by John Linwood Grant on a social media page for ODQ. I offered my hopes that Sam will be healed and whole, and that John will find all due support and practical assistance in pursuing whatever decision he makes with regards to the stories and related work.
Thinking positive thoughts, Steve
From John Linwood Grant:
The bad news is that Sam Gafford is still in intensive care, and still unresponsive after his heart attack. I have reluctantly had to consider two things – the worst outcome, or the fact that Sam may be in no position to cope with publishing anything if he recovers. There may be no Ulthar (I can still hope otherwise, of course).
The obvious move would be to give in on ODQ, which would save me time, stress and probably money. I’m not the publisher, and the US side is out of my hands anyway. But… Sam and I were always heavily invested in the occult detective concept – I wrote my first OD short story for him, through our mutual love of William Hope Hodgson. And we have a ‘family’ of very supportive people here, readers and writers…
So I’m in discussion with people over options. Ideally, I would at least like to put in print those stories we’ve already accepted. If necessary, this could be exactly the same format and content as ODQ, but named just ‘Occult Detective Magazine’ or something, to tide us over until we know what happens next. And it would have to be a paying gig for the contributors. Lots to think about - I’ll keep you updated.
|
|
|
Post by helrunar on Jul 21, 2019 2:58:06 GMT
I guess nobody here was in Sam Gafford's circle. It was reported today that he died without regaining consciousness from his heart attack. As reported by a family friend on social media:
"It wasn't unexpected, but that makes it no less painful. Sam never did regain consciousness after his heart attack. Obviously, this has hit us pretty hard. We have been kicking around some ideas for the future, but it's going to be a while before we'e in any position to put anything into motion."
Best wishes,
Helrunar
|
|
|
Post by dem bones on Jul 21, 2019 15:18:24 GMT
Had no dealings with Sam Gafford but was impressed with the issue of ODQ I read. It's clear a lot of time, thought, effort and love went into the magazine's creation. Our condolences to those who knew and loved him.
|
|