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Tales from the Bell Club TOC

Posted in fantasy, gothic, horror, news regurgitation, writing with tags , , , , , , , , , on February 3, 2012 by jason nahrung

tales from the bell club logo

I’ve only just stumbled across the table of contents for Tales from the Bell Club (edited by Paul Mannering for KnightWatch Press), in which I’ve managed to place a story entitled ‘The Kiss’.

It was one of those yarns that popped up out of the ether, a happy collision between a visit to the gallery to see an exhibition about the Secessionist painters of early 20th century Vienna and the announcement of the anthology. In particular, a painting of Count Verona by Oskar Kokoschka and the unavoidable if enigmatic presence of Emilie Floge. It took a while to get this one to come together; I was dreading trying to reconfigure it if it missed the mark for the Bell Club. I realise now that, with last year’s riff on the disappearance of Harold Holt, I’ve definitely joined the ranks of alternative history; bless you, Emilie Floge, and your crazy band of artists! It will be interesting to see who else is rubbing shoulders in the Bell Club halls…

emilie floge (detail) by gustav klimt

Emilie Floge

count verona by oskar kokoschka

Count Verona, 1910

The TOC:

The Adventure of the Laboratory – Kathleen Brandt
Tell Tom Tildrum – Edward M. Erdelac
The Quarrantine Station – Lee Zumpe
A Gentleman’s Folly – Phil Hickes
The Kiss – Jason Nahrung
Divine Providence – Robert J. Santa
The Widow Dotridge – Jason D. Moore
Spawn Of The Crocodile God – John McNee
Life and Limb – Andrew Freudenberg
The Girl In The Cabin – Richard Barnes
The Wager – Jeff C. Carter
Sayuri’s Revenge – Helen Stubbs
Fluke (originally: untitled) – Lynne Jamneck
The Shrieking Woman – Doug Manllen

the kiss by gustav klimt

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‘Salvage’ available for preorder

Posted in books, gothic, horror with tags , , , , , , on January 10, 2012 by jason nahrung

My novella Salvage, a seaside Gothic, is available for pre-order in paperback from Twelfth Planet Press for $15 plus postage.

salvage by jason nahrung

“Seeking to salvage their foundering marriage, Melanie and Richard retreat to an isolated beach house on a remote Queensland island.

“Intrigued by a chance encounter with a stranger, Melanie begins to drift away from her husband and towards Helena, only to discover that Helena has her own demons, ageless and steeped in blood.

“As Richard’s world and Helena’s collide, Melanie must choose which future she wants, before the dark tide pulls her under … forever.”

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The novella, Salvage, surfaces at last!

Posted in books, fantasy, gothic, horror, writing with tags , , , , on December 14, 2011 by jason nahrung

salvage by jason nahrung

Twelfth Planet Press has announced the forthcoming publication of my novella, Salvage – big smiles all round. The novella was written primarily over three consecutive years, at my writers’ group retreat on Bribie Island, and then finished off in a fourth retreat on the shore of Lake Weyba at Noosa. The cover art is by Dion Hamill, who also provided covers for TPP’s Horn, amongst others (and not, as previously written here, TPP’s edition of Marianne de Pierres’ Glitter Rose). Now, the edits…

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Good stuff while my back was turned

Posted in awards, books, horror, news regurgitation, travel with tags , , , , , , , , , on November 5, 2011 by jason nahrung

We’re back, and a wee bit tired as the clock has turned over the 36-hour mark since we got up some morning recently in my beloved New Orleans, and here’s some of the stuff that’s been happening in my absence that’s too good not to share:

Anywhere But Earth, launching today in Sydney, is all systems go at the online store

Brisbane’s awesome Sarah Calderwood is interviewed on ABC Radio about her debut solo album! The song she sings in the studio is stunning.

Beat magazine makes it official: The Tea Party have tested the reunion waters and found it warm enough to take another splash — cool!

Kyla Ward has launched her solo poetry collection, The Land of Bad Dreams, with aplomb — see the vids! (Okay, this actually happened before we left, but we couldn’t be in Sydney for it, and it looks like it was a hoot of a night.)

Oh, too: Macabre, an excellent overview of Aussie horror fiction, and Surviving the End, in which I have a story, are both available — the first as e-book showing there’s still some life left in the sadly collapsed Brimstone Press, the latter as a pre-order. Check out more happenings in Aussie horror publishing at From the Pit.

Looking ahead: for those in Melbourne, wicked Brissie band Tycho Brahe support Psyche at the Espy on November 12 — that’s this Saturday. Sad, I was, to miss their Halloween gig back in Bris.

And this time, my back wasn’t turned, because I was at World Fantasy Convention to see Alisa Krasnostein receive her press’s achievement trophy. A superb effort!

I am a judge for the Aurealis Awards. This item is the personal opinion of the writer, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of any judging panel, the judging coordinator or the Aurealis Awards management team.

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Surviving the End

Posted in books, horror, writing with tags , , , on October 9, 2011 by jason nahrung

surviving the end anthologyDark Prints Press has released the table of contents for its Surviving the End anthology, to be launched at the Swancon “Doom Con” in Perth at Easter next year — lovely thematic resonance, there! (Marianne de Pierres is a good choice of guest of honour, given her dystopian outings.) The antho sounds nice and tight, with extra interest thanks to the inclusion of Craig’s between-story interludes and the novella.

As well as my yarn, ‘The Last Boat to Eden’, there is:

  • Unwanted, by Martin Livings
  • The Long Ago, by Amanda J Spedding
  • Hiatus, by Michael Bailey
  • The Stuff of Stories, by Kathryn Hore
  • Harvest, by Ashlee Scheuerman
  • the novella, The Failing Flesh, by Joseph D’Lacey
  • and narrative interludes by the ‘Story Collector’, Craig Bezant

    • The end is in sight — bring it on!

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    Stormlord Rising, Snow Crash, Kraken, The Broken Ones, Phoenix Rising: one of these things is not like the others

    Posted in books, fantasy, horror, review, science fiction with tags , , , , , , , , on September 26, 2011 by jason nahrung

    Recent reading:

    stormlord rising by glenda larke

    Glenda Larke’s Stormlord Rising, book 2 of the Watergivers series, and quite superb. Just like book 1, The Last Stormlord (reviewed here). In which Larke beautifully uses landscape to sculpt her cultures, right down to the vernacular. Gives religion a thumping, stage-manages her rather large cast very well, manages to cause her characters a few headaches along the way as well. I was particularly chuffed at how book 2 feels quite self contained, while still managing to provide plenty of reasons to read book 3. Which I will do, very shortly.

    snow crash by neal stephenson

    Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. Fair to say that this, along with William Gibson’s Neuromancer (gushed about here), is a core plank of cyberpunk? Still holds up, after all these years, even if no one has bothered to fix that bothersome literal role/roll model. Coolest pizza delivery peeps evah! Will soon be lining up for his massive Reamde – wish me luck.

    kraken by china mieville

    Kraken, what passes for a romp in the land of far-too-talented China Mieville. A little cloudy in its cleverness in places — inky, one could say — as a vibrantly realised magical London (nice nod to a previous short story concerning cartography, too) and uber-clever dialogue as cults and other interested parties are caught up in the tentacles of a plot to bring about apocalypse. Evolutionary stuff!

    the broken ones by stephen irwin

    The Broken Ones, in which Stephen M Irwin gives Brissie a haunted makeover while trashing the place. Occult conspiracies, a tenacious detective and true chills. It’s Irwin’s second novel and, IMHO, shows the maturation of a mighty promising talent. I’ve burbled on about this one over at ASiF. I’m quite looking forward to Irwin’s next book.

    phoenix rising

    And then there’s Phoenix Rising, by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris. Sadly, a few factors combined to hobble my reading of this one, the first in a series. I say sadly because I was, despite the steampunk lingerie on the cover, really quite keen, thanks to the combination of a Kiwi heroine and rather spiffy dialogue. But then there’s the solo attack in Antarctica carried out in thigh-high boots and a fur coat, the willy nilly distribution of literal and spelling errors, the (non-authorial) disconcerting use of American spelling in a story about a Commonwealth agency in Victorian London: I do hope the new world order of international publishing isn’t all about the lowest common denominator (that’s you, America, or rather, it’s not ‘u’). It certainly isn’t about proofreading, is it? Anyway, maybe it was my flu making me more ornery than usual, but I just couldn’t wade through the glibness and clumsiness. I’ll keep it on hand for another shot, because I really do like that librarian, sorry, archivist, on the cover sipping tea.

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    Germany has Madigan Mine covered

    Posted in books, fantasy, gothic, horror with tags , , , on September 1, 2011 by jason nahrung

    you are mine by kirstyn mcdermott

    Tasty cover for Kirstyn’s Madigan Mine thanks to Piper, who is publishing the German edition — and keeping an English title. Not quite as poetic as the Aussie version, perhaps, but you get the gist straight up! The edition is due out … later.

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    Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2010

    Posted in books, fantasy, horror with tags , , , , on August 25, 2011 by jason nahrung

    years best australian fantasy and horrorIt’s great to see that someone has risen to fill the gap (almost) left by Brimstone (horror and dark fantasy) and MirrorDanse (science fiction and fantasy) no longer compiling a year’s ‘best of’ of Australian spec fic. Awards listings have been the best guide to quality Aussie writing in their absence.

    But Ticonderoga Publications is releasing a best of: fantasy and horror published in 2010, edited by Talie Helene and Liz Grzyb. It’s the first of an ongoing annual snapshot. The contents have already been released, and now, the recommended reading list. What a superb springboard into an exploration of flights of fancy from Australian pens!

    best australian fantasy and horror 2010 contents

    RJ Astruc: “Johnny and Babushka”
    Peter M Ball: “L’esprit de L’escalier”
    Alan Baxter: “The King’s Accord”
    Jenny Blackford: “Mirror”
    Gitte Christensen: “A Sweet Story”
    Matthew Chrulew: “Schubert By Candlelight”
    Bill Congreve: “Ghia Likes Food”
    Rjurik Davidson: “Lovers In Caeli-Amur”
    Felicity Dowker: “After the Jump”
    Dale Elvy: “Night Shift”
    Jason Fischer: “The School Bus”
    Dirk Flinthart: “Walker”
    Bob Franklin: “Children’s Story”
    Christopher Green: “Where We Go To Be Made Lighter”
    Paul Haines: “High Tide At Hot Water Beach”
    L.L. Hannett: “Soil From My Fingers”
    Stephen Irwin: “Hive”
    Gary Kemble: “Feast Or Famine”
    Pete Kempshall: “Brave Face”
    Tessa Kum: “Acception”
    Martin Livings: “Home”
    Maxine McArthur: “A Pearling Tale”
    Kirstyn McDermott: “She Said”
    Andrew McKiernan: “The Memory Of Water”
    Ben Peek: “White Crocodile Jazz”
    Simon Petrie: “Dark Rendezvous”
    Lezli Robyn: “Anne-droid of Green Gables”
    Angela Rega: “Slow Cookin’ “
    Angela Slatter: “The Bone Mother”
    Angela Slatter & LL Hannett: “The February Dragon”
    Grant Stone: “Wood”
    Kaaron Warren: “That Girl”
    Janeen Webb: “Manifest Destiny”

    recommended reading list, australian fantasy and horror 2010

    Deborah Biancotti, ‘Home Turf’ Baggage
    Jenny Blackford, ‘Adam’ Kaleidotrope #9
    Simon Brown, ‘Sweep’ Sprawl
    Mary Elizabeth Burroughs, ‘The Flinchfield Dance’ Black Static #17
    Steve Cameron, ‘Ghost Of The Heart’ Festive Fear
    Stephanie Campisi, ‘Seven’ Scenes From The Second Storey
    Matthew Chrulew, ‘The Nullabor Wave’ World’s Next Door
    Bill Congreve, ‘The Traps of Tumut’ Souls Along The Meridian
    Rjurik Davidson, ‘The Cinema Of Coming Attractions’ The Library of Forgotten Books
    Stephen Dedman, ‘For Those In Peril On The Sea’ Haunted Legends
    Felicity Dowker, ‘From Little Things’ Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #43
    ——— ‘The House On Juniper Road’ Worlds Next Door
    ——— ‘Bread And Circuses’ Scary Kisses
    Will Elliott, ‘Dhayban’ Macabre: A Journey Through Australia’s Darkest Fears
    Mark Farrugia, ‘A Bag Full Of Arrows’ Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #48
    Jason Fischer, ‘The House Of Nameless’ Writers of the Future Vol. xxvi
    Bob Franklin, ‘Take The Free Tour’ Under Stones
    Christopher Green, ‘Jumbuck’ Aurealis #44
    Paul Haines, ‘Her Gallant Needs’ Sprawl
    Lisa L Hannett, ‘Singing Breath Into The Dead’ Music For Another World
    ——— ‘Commonplace Sacrifices’ On Spec
    ——— Tiny Drops’ Midnight Echo #4
    Richard Harland, ‘Shakti’ Tales of the Talisman
    ——— ‘The Fear’ Macabre: A Journey Through Australia’s Darkest Fears
    Narrelle M Harris, ‘The Truth About Brains’ Best New Zombie Tales: Volume 2
    Robert Hood, ‘Wasting Matilda’ The Mammoth Book Of The Zombie Apocalypse
    George Ivanoff, ‘Trees’ Short & Scary
    Trent Jamieson, ‘The Driver’s Assistant’ Ticon4
    Pete Kempshall, ‘Dead Letter Drop’ Close Encounters of the Urban Kind
    ——— ‘Signature Walk’ Sprawl
    Martin Livings, ‘Lollo’ Close Encounters of the Urban Kind
    Penelope Love, ‘Border Crossing’ Belong
    Geoffrey Maloney & Andrew Bakery, ‘Sleeping Dogs’ Midnight Echo #4
    Tracie McBride, ‘Lest We Forget’ (audio) Spectrum Collection
    Kirstyn McDermott, ‘Monsters Among Us’ Macabre: A Journey Through Australia’s Darkest Fears
    Andrew J McKiernan, ‘All The Clowns In Clown Town’; Macabre: A Journey Through Australia’s Darkest Fears
    Simon Petrie, ‘Running Lizard’ Rare Unsigned Copy: tales of Rocketry, Ineptitude, and Giant Mutant Vegetables
    Michael Radburn, ‘They Own The Night’ Festive Fear
    Janeen Samuel, ‘My Brother Quentin’ Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #44
    Angela Slatter, ‘A Porcelain Soul’ Sourdough and other stories
    ——— ‘Gallowberries’ Sourdough and other stories
    ——— ‘The Dead Ones Don’t Hurt You’ The Girl With No Hands and other tales
    Cat Sparks, ‘All the Love in the World’ Sprawl
    Grant Stone, ‘Dead Air’ (poem) Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #46
    Lucy Sussex, ‘Albert & Victoria/Slow Dreams’ Baggage
    Anna Tambour, ‘Gnawer Of The Moon Seeks Summit Of Paradise’ Sprawl
    Kaaron Warren, ‘Sins Of The Ancestors’ Dead Sea Fruit
    ——— ‘The Coral Gatherer’ Dead Sea Fruit
    ——— ‘Hive Of Glass’ Baggage
    David Witteveen, ‘Perfect Skin’ Cthulhu’s Dark Cults

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    Stake Land: getting its point across

    Posted in horror, movies, review with tags , , , on July 4, 2011 by jason nahrung

    stake land vampire movie poster

    This is the apocalypse with fangs, indie-style, as envisaged by director and co-writer Jim Mickle. Stake Land tracks young Martin, orphaned by a ravaging vampire, who is taken under the wing of solitary hunter Mister (co-writer Nick Damici). Shotguns, arrows, spears and stakes (no fire) are their arsenal against a zombie-like plague of vampires who have turned the USA and, it is suggested, the world, into a wasteland. The pair have a plan — to drive to New Eden, an idyllic, vampire-free zone (once again, the American fascination with Canada as a haven is front and centre).

    Along the way, they pick up passengers including a nun, a pregnant singer and an ex-marine. The group scavenge food and fuel on their way north via a series of fortified towns, which try to maintain the conventions of society amidst the carnage.

    A map of America reveals a number of zones of control, each posing dangers to travellers, and none moreso than the realm of the Brotherhood: a fanatical bunch of religious nutters who not only think the vampire plague is a sign of the apocalypse, but revel in it, seeking to make it worse, not better. Rape and murder are their tools of trade and they pose the greatest obstacle to the travellers.

    The story meanders a bit, struggling to find a high level of suspense and direct conflict. This is largely due to it being a road journey linking various separate set action pieces which don’t always serve the plot. The characters do make some overly stupid mistakes towards the end. However, it does carry a mood of melancholy and desperation you’d hope to find in such a bleak scenario, and is pleasantly understated — there isn’t too much chatting and the performances are restrained.

    Stake Land is a gritty, realistic film where the vampires are very much monsters, essentially zombies with a vulnerability to sunlight and dicky tickers, if you can get a hunk of wood through their reinforced rib cage. The actual rules by which the vampires are created remain obscure, and this does weaken the credibility of the premise a little. While a degree of confusion about the origin of the plague is to be expected in a world gone to hell, and it isn’t necessary within the context of the film, I’d have liked a clear indication as to how the vampirism spreads so I could better appreciate the threat to the characters, who do engage in a lot of hand-to-hand combat.

    There is a suggestion that there are different generations — some are too tough to stake and can only be stopped by a stake to the back of the head, for instance — and indeed there is mention of mutations of vampire — some are capable of higher thought, most seem to be little more than animals. But yet, a bite appears to be a likely way of making a vampire, which suggests vampirism as contagion.

    But this movie is not about the vampires; in fact, a zombie plague would’ve worked just as well, and there is little difference between the two as depicted here.

    No, the sharp end of the flick is aimed at the religious right as Mickle tests society’s thin veneer when it’s brought under stress, and vampires were just a handy critter for some cool effects and fight scenes. All that blood, and there is something cool about an ornery mysterious stranger riding into town and popping a bag of extended canines on the bar, isn’t there?

    In some ways, the story has the mood of The Road, but that slice of post-apocalyptic America has far more intensity. Stake Land does, however, deliver a well-acted, good-looking and above-average adventure where the humans can be just as inhumane as the monsters. Tasty, but not overly filling.

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    Continuum: sex, violence, vampires

    Posted in books, horror with tags , , , , , , , on June 8, 2011 by jason nahrung

    vampire circus movie poster

    It’s almost Continuum time, the great gathering of the clan in Melbourne to celebrate all things speculative and often fictional, and there will be vampires. On Saturday, I’ll be talking sex and the undead with Emily Derango, Narrelle Harris and Peter Marz. On Sunday, I’ll be discussing the role of the rest of the supernatural horde in the ‘vampire circus’ (but are they invited guests, or are they gate crashers?), with a bumper panel of Narrelle, Kirstyn McDermott, Heath Miller and Julia Svaganovic.

    Also on Sunday, I’ll be giving a wee reading, though whether it’s sex from More Scary Kisses or violence from Dead Red Heart I haven’t decided yet.

    The official guests for the convention are Catherynne M Valente, who had most interesting things to say about writing, publishing and moral sensibilities at last year’s Worldcon, and local Dave Freer, who certainly knows his way around the publishing landscape (a sense of direction being a valuable asset when one lives on an island).

    Also worth noting is that A. Friday night attendance is FREE and B. the Conquilt, bearing 100 signatures from Worldcon attendees including, well, all of the folks below, comes up for auction on ebay on Friday night, closing on June 20.

    Alan Baxter, Alastair Reynolds, Alisa Krasnostein, Alison Croggon, Amanda Pillar, Andrew J. McKiernan, Angie Rega, Bill Congreve, Bob Eggleton, Carrie Vaughn, Cat Sparks, Catherynne M. Valente, Charles Stross, China Mieville, Chris Miles (an associate of H. I. Larry), Chuck McKenzie, Cory Doctorow, Deborah Biancotti, Delia Sherman, Dirk Flinthart, Duncan Lay, Fiona McIntosh, Foz Meadows, Gail Carriger, Garth Nix, George Ivanoff, George R. R. Martin, Gillian Polack, Glenda Larke, Grace Duggan, Howard Tayler, Ian Irvine, Ian Nichols, Jane Routley, Jason Nahrung, Jay Lake, Jean Johnson, Jenner, Jennifer Fallon, Jetse de Vries, John Scalzi, Jonathan Strahan, Juliet Marillier, K. A. Bedford, K. J. Taylor, Kaaron Warren, Kaja Foglio, Karen Haber, Karen Healey, Kate Elliot, Kate Paulk, Kathleen Jennings, Keith Stevenson, Kim Stanley Robinson, Kirstyn McDermott, Kyla Ward, Lara Morgan, Leanne Hall, Lisa L. Hannett, Lucy Sussex, Marianne de Pierres, Mary Victoria, Matthew Hughes, Michael Pryor, Michelle Marquardt, Narrelle M. Harris, Nick Stathopoulos, Nicole R. Murphy, Paul Collins, Paul Cornell, Paul Haines, Peter M. Ball, Peter V. Brett, Phil Foglio, Richard Harland, Rjurik Davidson, Rob Shearman, Robert Hood, Robert Silverberg, Russell B. Farr, Russell Blackford, Russell Kirkpatrick, Seanan McGuire, Shane Jiraya Cummings, Shaun Tan, Sue Bursztynski, Tansy Rayner Roberts, Tehani Wessely, Tracey O’Hara, Trent Jamieson, Trudi Canavan.

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