-
Old Weird, New Weird, or Just Plain Weird
You can hear a recording of the ‘Old Weird, New Weird, or Just Plain Weird’ panel, which I participated on during the 2015 World Fantasy Convention in Saratoga Springs, NY. It’s hosted on the Project Radio web site. The line-up was: moderator: Thomas F. Monteleone, and panellists: Ellen Datlow, Michael Kelly, me, Anya Martin, and Scott Nicolay. http://www.projectiradio.com/?powerpress_embed=88215-podcast&powerpress_player=mediaelement-audio It was an interesting discussion, but not a surprise considering the range of talent on the table and our passion for the subject.
-
World Fantasy Convention 2015
I'm attending the World Fantasy Convention 2015 in Saratoga Springs, NY.
-
The Green Book – issue 3
Today I received my contributor’s copies of The Green Book: Writings on Irish Gothic, Supernatural and Fantastic Literature, issue 3. The Green Book is a handsome anthology of essays and reviews published regularly by The Swan River Press, edited by Brian J. Showers. Issue 3 is devoted to examining the work of Ireland pre-eminent 19th century supernatural writer – Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. It’s the 200th anniversary of Le Fanu’s birth this year, so it’s quite right the work of Dublin’s ‘Invisible Prince’ gets a proper celebration. This issue comes with a postcard as a lovely extra – it’s a rare image of Le Fanu’s death mask (© Anna &…
-
very important clothes
This is a weirdly cool window display from Stockholm in Sweden. Yes, the jacket is decorated with plastic skeletons (the buttons are made of little skulls). Perhaps it’s a mad dictator’s formal wear. The little ferret under the bear lady’s chair is wearing a hat. We are surrounded by the odd all the time. Hurray, I say!
-
shrouded
A cold, dank mist smothered Galway today. There were none of the usual markers of morning, noon and twilight, just a constant grey tone that collapsed suddenly to darkness in the evening. It was the kind of day that offered no incentive to venture outside, but the dog needed her walk, so in the afternoon I braved the woods. It was still, muffled. The thick mist suggested much and illuminated nothing. A rook cawed intermittently throughout my walk, there were occasional bangs – fireworks, or a gun – but otherwise it was utterly silent. The woods were eerie and mysterious, and I thought how easy it would be to conjure…
-
weird thoughts
I am a fan of weird – the word, and what it suggests. Its meaning is rooted in the Old English wyrd, which is associated with fate (it translates as Urðr in old Norse, which is the prophesying Norn of Norse mythology). If you look back further you see that the base *wer- means “to turn, bend”. Nowadays, weird is associated with something that seems odd, strange, bizarre, or uncanny (another fine crop of words). Its link with modern speculative fiction was cemented with the publication of the short story magazine Weird Tales in 1923. Today, it’s in vogue again with the arrival of what is termed new weird fiction.…
