"Art & Beauty in Weird Fantasy"
It is not intuitive to seek beauty in art deemed grotesque, but most authors who produce horror/fantasy actually are usually (a) serious about their craft, and (b) driven my strange muses. I have been fascinated by how the historical weird fiction masters (RE Howard, Poe, Clark Ashton Smith, H.P. Lovecraft,...) held series beliefs that their "horror" was actually beautiful. Going beyond writing essays & posts, this collection engages contemporary authors & artists on the theme of "Art & Beauty in Weird/Fantasy Fiction."|
|
1) Janet
E Morris Interview (2014, Link): Janet E. Morris has pushed people's expectations of sexuality and the role of women in fantasy fiction since 1976; check out my interview with her as we explore the role of Art & Beauty in Fantasy Fiction. This features the book: High Couch of Silistra. |
|
|
2) E B Hudspeth Interview (2014, Link): E.B. Hudspeth’s novel/art-book combination The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black chronicles an artist/scientist as he “revives or brings to light again (aka resurrect)” a dormant beauty inside humanity. With a horrific tale complementing beautiful anatomical drawings of hybrid creatures, he invites us to reconsider the boundaries (if any) between man & animal…between art & science. |
|
|
3) C Dean Andersson Interview (2014, link): C. Dean Andersson (a.k.a. Asa Drake) has written Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror since the 1980's and just released Hel X 3 (an eBook omnibus of his Bloodsong saga). The interview discusses how his fine arts education/creative-process informed his fiction, and features a previously unpublished painting. Find out how C. Dean Andersson makes the corpse-side of Hel appealing, putting a pretty face on his fears. |
|
|
4) Tom Barczak Interview (2014, link): Barczak is an artist & architect
who has a beautiful ability to capture angelic warfare with drawing pencil
and keyboard. He says: "I can’t not write about loss and love, death and
rebirth. It’s very much a part of who I am... Everyone has their own Heroes
Journey. Tell it. And if you’re still on it, finish it. Then tell it." |
|
|
5) Forrest
Aguirre Interview (Oct 1st 2014) Forrest's short fiction has appeared in over fifty venues,
including Asimov's, Gargoyle, Apex, and Polyphony. He is a World Fantasy
Award winner for his editorial work, with Jeff VanderMeer, on the Leviathan 3
anthology. His novel, Heraclix & Pomp has just been
published by the Underland Press imprint of Resurrection House press; with a
corpse and fairy as protagonists, there is a lot of beautiful horror
here! Learn about his fascination with weird art and creativity,
including the mysterious death's-head fez: Totenkopf, and
why he thought he'd never live past 36! |
|
|
6) Death Panel Convenes on why it is OK to
go to Hell at anytime (2015): Some authors from the Doctors in
Hell anthology convened for a death panel to decide your fate. Your
affliction needing help? Well, you heard about the recent release of
this book but realized it is #18 in the Heroes in Hell series... is it okay to jump in now? You are a bit
timid to jump into death, so why not have the tour guides explain your
worries away? |
|
|
|
|
|
8) Katrina Sisowath Interview (2016),
Katrina Sisowath is a contributing author at Ancient-Origins.net. Her The Doom of Undal is a beautiful blend
historical fiction and alchemical fantasy with fictionalized the plight of the royal Anunnaki (serpent cults
with roots in ancient Mesopotamian deities of the Sumerian, Akkadian,
Assyrian, and Babylonian cultures). The Dragon Court series continues with
the recently released Fall of Undal. Let's
learn about the author’s muses. Thanks to Katrina Sisowath for sharing
her weird attraction to serpents, mythology, and sacred pregnancies! |
|
|
9) Simon Williams Aona series 2016 Simon Williams is the author of the Aona dark fantasy series comprising
five installments that just concluded. His work is attracting growing acclaim
for its fusion of different genres and atmospheric, character-driven
narrative. He has also written "Summer's Dark Waters", a sci-fi
/ fantasy /supernatural novel aimed at young adults.
|
|
|
10) Jerome Stueart
2017: Jerome Stueart is a writer and illustrator whose work has
appeared in Lightspeed's Queers Destroy Science Fiction, Fantasy,
Tor.com, Geist, Joyland, Icarus, Tessaracts anthologies, and other journals and magazines. He is a
Clarion 2007 grad, a Lambda Literary fellow, a Milton Fellow and a Fulbright
fellow--meaning he's a queer science fiction/fantasy writer of faith who has
dual citizenship in Canada. Come learn about his Angels and Better Beasts! |
|
|
11) John R.
Fultz 2017: John is an established fantasy and weird fiction author.
Influenced by Weird Fiction kings such as Clark Ashton Smith and Darrell
Schweitzer, John Fultz has published the epic fantasy "Books of the Shaper"
trilogy and has become a regular contributor to Weirdbook.. Learn about his past graphic necromancy (SKULLS) and his
future releases (Veneration... and Son of Tall Eagle)! (ported into Black Gate Dec 2023) |
|
|
|
|
|
13) Aliya Whiteley, 2018: Aliya Whiteley has written over thirty novellas and
short stories in a range of genres. Her excellent novella The Beauty offers a compact dose of
weird fiction in which humanity is evolving into mushrooms. It is entirely
unique, but could be described as a mashup of Kafka’s body horror (The
Metamorphosis), Golding's social dynamics (Lord of the Flies), and James' infertile dystopia (The Children
of Men). “The Beauty” is an action-packed tale saturated with
philosophy on "what is beautiful?" and "what is
humanity?", a true must-read for those who enjoy intellectual meat
(shrooms?) with their adventure fiction. Let’s learn more about Aliya
Whiteley and her muses. Does she eat mushrooms? |
|
|
14) Richard Lee
Byers (2018): known for his Forgotten Realm contributions. He holds a
Master's degree in Psychology and worked in an emergency psychiatric facility
for over a decade, then left the mental health field to write. He is the
author of more than fifteen books, including the lead book Dissolution (first book in the War of the Spider Queen series). Here
we’ll focus on his approach to making horror pleasing, reveal his muses
for creating beautiful dark fiction. And, eh gad, let us subject him to a Rorshach test! |
|
|
15) Darrell
Schweitzer (2018): Darrell Schweitzer (a.k.a. “Brother Darrell” in the Esoteric Order of Dagon) is an American writer, editor, and essayist in the field of speculative
fiction. Much of his focus has been on dark fantasy and horror, although he
does also work in science fiction and fantasy. Schweitzer is also a prolific
writer of literary criticism and editor of collections of essays on various
writers within his preferred genres. Together with his editorial colleagues
Schweitzer won the 1992 World Fantasy Award special award in the professional
category for Weird Tales. His poem Remembering the Future won the 2006
Asimov's Science Fiction's Readers' Award for best poem. His novels include The White Isle, The Shattered Goddess, The
Mask of the Sorcerer, and The Dragon House. He has also been known to lead the choir at Cthulhu Prayer Breakfasts,
where his The Innsmouth Tabernacle Choir is used. Check out his cartoon drawing of
Wilbur Whateley, learn about his Conan the Deliverer novel (not the
"midwife" type he clarifies), and what inspires his weird fiction! Note, this was
simultaneously broadcast via Black Gate.com. |
|
|
|
|
|
17) Charles A. Gramlich (2019): In Gramlich's Weird Fiction Review #7 essay called “The
Beautiful and the Repellent: The Erotic Allure of Death and the Other in the
Writers of Weird Tales”, he
notes how Howard Phillips Lovecraft and Edgar Allen Poe (and many more
speculative fiction writers) juxtaposed content that were both repulsive
& beautiful. In his words: “Repulsive
elements and events are intertwined with the grotesque and beautiful
ones—often through the use of poetical prose—thus transmuting the ugly into
something that, if not exactly lovely, still compels attention.” He posits two types of repellent beauty in weird
fiction (and associated adventure, like Sword & Sorcery/Planet). the Erotic Allure of Death (EAD) and the Erotic Desire for the Other (EDO). This is simultaneously broadcast
via Black Gate.com (link). |
|
|
18) Anna Smith Spark (2019). DESIRE and DISGUST: She is the Queen of Grimdark. The David Gemmell Awards shortlisted her The Court of Broken Knives. The sequel The Tower of Living and Dying continued the Empires of Dust trilogy (Harper Voyager US/ Orbit US/Can).
The finale, The House of Sacrifice, will be published August 2019. Anna lives in London, UK.
She loves grimdark and epic fantasy and historical military fiction. Anna has
a BA in Classics, an MA in history and a PhD in English Literature. This will be
simultaneously broadcast via Black Gate.com (link). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
22 Sublime, Cruel Beauty: Jason Ray Carney 2021: Carney is a champion of the fantastic, from writing, professing (teaching), editing & publishing... so tapping his mind reveals all sorts of perspectives. It's terrifyingly fun! Learn tidbits on making horrific fiction more accessible, and find out the true identity of Ayolo! The academic-in-you may will enjoy sublime leads from classic authors Edmund Burke and Walter Benjamin. Simulcast on BlackGate.com |
 |
23 Beautiful Plagues: An Interview with John C. Hocking 2022. We explore his exciting, and sometimes "plagued" journey with Conan pastiche as well as his fears of the infinite, cold universe. Simulcast on Black Gate (with a companion interview on the Tales From the Magician's Skull Blog: Archiving the King’s Blade Champion: An Interview with John C. Hocking ) |
 |
24 BEAUTIFUL AND REPULSIVE BUTTERFLIES: AN INTERVIEW WITH M. STERN 2022 (Simulcast on Black Gate). This covers emerging author M. Stern who writes weird/horror fiction and sci-fi. He has had stories appear in Weird Book #44, Startling Stories#34, and Doug Draa’s clown anthology Funny As a Heart Attack. There’s some strange and complicated beauty to be found in all of those. He also has published in several other markets including Lovecraftiana: The Magazine of Eldritch Horror and flash fiction that deals with aesthetics and transgression in Cosmic Horror Monthly #19. |
 |
25) MAKING WEIRD FICTION FUN: GRILLING DORGO THE DOWSER! 2022 (Simulcast on Black Gate) : I’m excited to corner Joe Bonadonna this round. When his
Dorgo character grilled/interviewed me in 2017, the questioning began with: Who
the Hell are You? JB: Who in the Nine Circles
of Hell do you think I am? Quasimodo? Doctor Frankenstein? You mean you don’t
know who I am? Have you never heard of me? Why, I’m famous the world over! |
 |
26) C.S. Friedman - Beauty and Nightmares on Alien Worlds (2023) [Simulcast on Black Gate]. Inspired by the release of Nightborn: Coldfire Rising (July 2023, see Black Gate’s review for more information), we are delighted to interview C.S. Freidman! Since the late 1990’s she has established herself as a master of dark fantasy and science fiction, being a John W. Campbell award finalist and author of the highly acclaimed Coldfire trilogy and This Alien Shore (New York Times Notable Book of the Year 1998). Let’s learn about C. S. Friedman’s muses & fears, her experience with art, and tease a future TV series! |
 |
27) "The Magical Power of Art" Foreword and 2024 Interview with John R. Fultz for his re-release of The Revelations of Zang (Rogues in the House Podcast). Black Gate simulcast Link: THE REVELATIONS OF ZANG BY JOHN R. FULTZ RELEASED BY ROGUES IN THE HOUSE: READ THE FOREWORD AND INTERVIEW (Jan 2024) |
 |
28) Robert Allen Upton (2024), an Edgar Rice Burroughs aficionado and author. reveals the horror and beauty in their work! Black Gate simulcast Link: HORROR AND BEAUTY IN EDGAR RICE BURROUGH’S WORK: AN INTERVIEW WITH ROBERT ALLEN LUPTON (May 2024) |
