AT FEAR'S ALTAR

The inimitable D.F. Lewis has posted his impressions of Primeval Wood as only he can. I think he enjoyed the piece, but one can never be sure with Des. The man is nothing if not a mystery.

You can absorb the Weirdmonger's thoughts here.

I'm going to keep this report extremely brief:

Readercon was easily the best convention experience I've had. Everyone I spoke to, listened to, and/or hung out with into the wee hours were all wonderful. Thank you.

Those attending Readercon 21, take note: The Canadians will be back...

Tomorrow, bright and early, I'm off to Massachusetts to attend Readercon 20 along with my Canadian compadres Simon Strantzas and Ian Rogers. I confess to being pretty eager about it. This conference comes at the perfect time, as I've just finished scouring the proofs of The Darkly Splendid Realm with a fine tooth comb and am now more than happy to simply hang out and talk shop with friends both old and new.

Barring any unforeseen detours, strip searches at the the U.S./Canadian border, or traffic jams, I'm hoping that our party will be at the hotel in time to catch Laird Barron, Caitlin R. Kiernan and Ellen Datlow reading from and discussing the forthcoming Lovecraft Unbound anthology. I'm also very much looking forward to Saturday's panels on short horror fiction, and another later that day that will examine the question "Is all fiction inherently evil?" But to be honest, I've no idea where we'll be at or what we'll be getting up to over the weekend. Frankly, this sits just fine with me. I've never been one for strict itineraries.

If you happen to be attending Readercon, please do come up and introduce yourself. I'd like to meet you and I'll even have some swag to offer: some chapboooks (including a handful of copies of Primeval Wood as well as a special Readercon-only publication, courtesy of the notorious Simon S.), and some handsome cards that my lovely wife did up to announce The Darkly Splendid Realm. You'll definitely want one of these, since the cards offer a preview of the incredible cover art that Harry O. Morris has done for the book.

I hope to have much to report come Monday. In the meantime, I'm off to fill my suitcase with books, pens, paper...and maybe a change of clothes if there's space.

John A. Keel --- Cryptozoologist and occult theorist par excellence --- has died.

In a field that is overrun with childish fantasies, inane pseudo-science, and general idiocy, Keel stood apart as a mature and insightful voice, primarily because of his fascinating notions about how "supernatural" entities are in fact longstanding facets of our world; facets that modern man would prefer to keep out of sight and mind.

To me, Keel's finest works were rooted in the exploration of consciousness, human and non, rather than in goofy tabloid accounts of martians and monsters. His famous book The Mothman Prophecies remains one of the most fascinating and terrifying works of the esoteric I've ever had the pleasure of reading.

A memorial and career overview can be found here.