I have been woefully remiss in updating my blog of late. And that is doubly annoying to me this month because October is probably my favorite month. It’s always had a special place in my heart. I love the change of seasons and the chill in the air, and it contains two of my favorite holidays: my birthday and Halloween. Last year on the blog — in celebration of Halloween — I did a book review a day on horror-themed books. That was a lot of fun to do, but also a lot of work, and I just haven’t had time this year. (I am finishing my dissertation, teaching a college course I didn’t know I would be teaching, and am undergoing the ritual hazing of the academic job market right now.) Well, apologizing for not updating more regularly doesn’t do any of us any good, but I do have some useful, interesting material for you until I can resume my normal posting schedule (whenever that might be).
Here we go:
First up, Subterranean Press has a new iteration of their fabulous pre-order sale. Order five or more pre-orders and you get 50% off. What a deal. I’ve done this myself previously, and it’s turned out great. I’m not sure if I’ll do it this go around, but I certainly want a copy of the new Glen Cook anthology at a minimum.
Second, if you’re interested in “weird fiction,” especially the classic stuff, you should know about a new weekly reading group on LibraryThing (“The Deep Ones”!) that reads one weird tale each week and discusses the story. I’m a lurker in the group, but I’ve been following along with the reading and the discussions thus far. It’s been a great introduction for me to some classic tales I had never read and an excuse to reread some old favorites. So far we have read “Shambleau” by C.L. Moore; “The Sword of Welleran” by Lord Dunsany; “Dreams in the Witch House” by H.P. Lovecraft ; “The Great God Pan” by Arthur Machen; and “The Yellow Sign” by Robert Chambers. You don’t have to be a member of the group to read the postings (someone correct me if I’m wrong about that), and if you’re at all interested in the topic, you’ll enjoy the discussions and the links to where you can locate copies of these stories in-print and online. If I had more time, I’d love to review each of these stories in detail here. Alas.
Last, but certainly not least, let me provide you with some additional reading suggestions, courtesy of Michael R. Collings, a gentleman and a scholar, who happens to have written quite a few horror novels you may not be familiar with. I will be reviewing one of his works here very soon. I have not yet had the pleasure of reading these, but I hope to soon. I don’t want to simply replicate his blog post that describes them in detail, so I will simply point you to that link. They all appear to be available for extremely reasonable prices on Amazon, particularly if you’re interested in eBook editions, and I can certainly vouch for Collings: he has a real way with words.
I promise to be back with some more posts by the end of the month, so until then, Happy Halloween!
Tales from the Bookworm's Lair 
Many thanks for the post. I may drop by “The Deep Ones” for a look. Sounds interesting.
I was happy to do it, Michael. Always happy to support great writers who aren’t getting enough attention from the reading public. I firmly believe that we are on the cusp of a real revolution in books because of the rise of eBooks, and it has never been a better time to be a reader or a writer. But, and this is a big “but,” it’s still really, really hard for authors who don’t already have huge followings to bring in new readers. I’m happy to help in any way I can.
And please do drop by “The Deep Ones.” The story this week was “Nethescurial” by Thomas Ligotti, so it was the first “non-classic” weird tale that we’ve read. I can’t say that I found it to be as amazing as some of the other readers did, but I’m glad that it helped expose me to a writer I’ve been wanting an excuse to check out for a long time.