This is a longer post than usual, but if you’ll read it through you’ll find out about some very cool stuff coming up!

LOVECRAFT EZINE ANNIVERSARY:

As of today, February 1, 2012, Lovecraft eZine is officially one year old.  I’m so happy with how far this magazine has come in one short year, and I’m thankful for all the help I get: co-editors, readers, artists, voice talent, Kindle/Nook talent.  The magazine is so much greater than it would be without all of those talented people.  And I’m also grateful to my readers: Thank you for your monetary contributions, your help spreading the word, your kind comments… thanks for being here.  Lovecraft eZine will be around for a long time to come… that’s a promise.

ISSUE #11 PREVIEW:

Issue #11 will be published on Thursday, February 16.  We’ve really got a killer issue coming up, with six stories instead of the usual five!  And as per usual (starting 2 issues ago) each story will have an audio version.  Here’s a preview:

Marked as Urgent, by A.J. French.  Aaron explores a concept in this story that I have always felt would a great fit for Lovecraftian fiction: Simulated realities.  I had my own illusion from which to wake. And my world was more spotlessly designed than yours. Still, the tentacled sky gods reused some similar concepts—same ones they’ve used for centuries. Space, time, cosmos, the scientific laws: gravity, motion, force, etc…

This Scattered Ash, by W.H. Pugmire and Jacob Henry Orloff.  I’m always so proud to publish original stories by Wilum Pugmire, a gent whose talent is exceeded only by his kindness, and I love this collaboration between him and Jacob Henry Orloff.  Welcome to Lovecraft eZine, Jacob, we’re glad to have you!  The sudden storm clouds were unexpected and unwelcome, and his frown deepened as chill air swept from above and encased his mortal flesh. The darkness above him seemed peculiar, like the hungry shadow of some cosmic daemon that was passing near Harold’s earthly domain…

I Am the Key, by Mike Davis.  Yep, a story by yours truly.  I’ve mainly concentrated on poetry in the past, and I’ve won a prize or two (my favorite prize was a $100 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble!), but I’ve only recently gotten serious about writing fiction.  I wrote this story a couple of weeks ago, and felt it was pretty good, but I also did not want to publish it in Lovecraft eZine simply because I’m the editor and I can.  So I went through the same process that every other writer submitting to this magazine does — I submitted the story to my co-editor, A.J. French, and, not only that, I submitted it to him under an alias.  In other words, Aaron had no way of knowing that I wrote it.  Long story short, I got a thumbs-up from Aaron, and also received the following comment from Chris Dead, the guy who is voicing the audio for I Am the Key: 

Mike, I read for you because I am an aspiring actor, and I love the horror genre. I do not read for you out of a strong interest in Lovecraft (never read lovecraft or lovecraftian before working for you).  That said, this story is AMAZING!!! I am so enthralled with this… dark ones cult, hell on earth, referencing us humans as ants. This is EXACTLY what I look for in a horror movie/story. I am so happy that you have “chosen” me to read it. Get it, chosen? Haha, sorry referencing your story… I told Ami “Wow, you wont believe this story that Mike wrote… its BADASS! I can’t wait to read it…. now I see why he runs the ezine, he is a seriously talented writer”.

I also sent the story to W.H. Pugmire to get his opinion.  His reply: I found the story excellent. You convey an authentic atmosphere of cosmic Lovecraftian horror… Frank’s character comes across beautifully–his horror at his fate, &c. And that horror is like a disease that taints the narrator and utterly haunts him at the end, quite wonderfully.

So I apologize for the long-winded explanation, but I just want you, the readers, to know that no writer gets a free pass — not even me.  Every story published here has to be great.

Inheritance, by Patricia Correll.  A futuristic Lovecraftian story that I really enjoyed.  The light illuminated a long, narrow room, empty but for a desk and the lamp. On the desk lay the remains of what might have been a cat, a broad-bladed dagger pinning it firmly to the wood. A gaping hole in the corner- an old well? -had once been fenced off with boards and wire, but the boards lay splintered on the floor and the wire was torn like old lace. A dozen people were arranged around the well, in a pattern too studied to be random. The way they stood sparked an ancient memory in Melanie’s brain: people standing just like this in her father’s library, and she was a child, frightened by the strange, ugly chanting…

Dark Ambient Metamorphosis, by John Claude Smith.  A mind-bender of a story in the tradition of The Music of Erich Zann… and Mars Homeworld, composer of the soundtrack to Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown, will be voicing it!  My co-editor A.J. French thought it would be perfect for Mars, and I couldn’t agree more.  The vocals, though still harsh and beyond understanding–this is not the pristine melancholic gobbledygook of Sigur Ros, or the abysmal ululations of Thee Parchment Souls—seem to hold both an insect quality as well as something completely alien. The clattering clicks and chattering nuances seem to speak in tones that fill the night—think the language of insects, of a crowded insect festival—but with a decidedly unearthly, hence, alien, tendency…

The Locked Door, by Brian M. Sammons.  Last, but not least!  “The locked door,” was all Miranda could think to say.  “What about it, Ms. Theroux?” the cold man asked.  “It…it’s opening…soon.”  A smile touched Raymond’s lips as he pulled his hand out from under the table and pointed the automatic pistol at her face. “Yes, I know.”

LOVECRAFT EZINE T-SHIRTS:

Yep, you read that right!  Coming soon, we will have Lovecraft eZine t-shirts for sale, and you’ll also have the chance to win them in upcoming contests.  I’m discussing details with the designer, but I’d love your feedback, too.  Please comment below with your ideas!

CTHULHU IDOL & CHOCOLATES CONTEST:

Remember, there will be four winners this time!  Go here to enter the contest.  You could win this horrifically cool Cthulhu Idol (pictured at right)!

NEW BANNERS:

You may have noticed that every time you visit this website, or hit your browser’s ‘refresh’ button, you see a new banner at the top of the page.  Some very talented artists have created these, and the latest three were done by Leslie H. — visit her website!

ADVERTISING:

You can now advertise at Lovecraft eZine.  However, I am never going to take money from someone to advertise their book or product if I don’t think it’s any good.  In other words, you can be confident that if I’m asking you to check out someone’s book, game, whatever, then I think it’s worth checking out.  And please remember, those who buy advertising are supporting this magazine, and I’d sure appreciate it if you click their links.

With that in mind, Lovecraft eZine currently has three advertisers:

Call of Cthulhu, The Wasted Land:  “The best strategy game on the iPad yet.” DigitallyDownloaded.net – “I’ve been playing this for the past couple of days and it is brill… Lovecraft would be proud.” liveforfilms.com – “It’s freakin’ awesome.” TouchGamePlay (Download it here!)

That Which Should Not Be: One of the best Lovecraftian novels I have ever read.  Seriously.  Buy it in hardcover, paperback, or for your Kindle, and check out all the stellar Amazon reviews!  By Brett J. Talley.

Hissmelina: “Smith writes with a brisk intensity that goes for the throat.” — Scott Nicholson, author of Liquid Fear.  In Elijah, high in the Carolina mountains, police officer Frances Jennings is drawn into a mystery involving several missing persons and the return of local matriarch Hester Keener. While Frances battles city fathers over her position as Elijah’s first female officer, her boyfriend is seduced by the power that emanates from The Crag, the peak that dominates Elijah, by his attraction for that place and for Hester’s young heir. What dark forces are at play? Who, or what, is the twisted form called “Hissmelina”? Frances peels away the layers of darkness to find an answer she may not wish to know.  (Buy it here — only $2.99!)  By James R. Smith.

THAT’S ALL, FOLKS…

Comment below with your thoughts on anything above — especially your t-shirt ideas!