Tag: weird

An Oldie But a Goodie

On By Tony LaMalfaLeave a comment

The fine folks at Sirens Call Publications have accepted my story, “The Crimson Curse”, for reprinting in the Halloween issue (#51) of their Dark Fantasy and Horror eZine, The Sirens Call. Thank you!

This online publication includes short stories, flash fiction, poetry, and artwork of all grisly sorts.

The entire catalog of The Sirens Call is available to download, for free, at the following link: http://www.sirenscallpublications.com/ezine.htm

Be sure to check out this wealth of content if you are at all a fan of the macabre!

The title of this post also applies to a very significant milestone in my life: my first encounter, at age 8, with media inspired by H. P. Lovecraft: Alone in the Dark (which trumps my last post—about my initial adult encounter with Fantasy Flight’s Arkham Horror board game).

Playing a demo of this virtual adventure, the first 3D survival horror game, on my grandmother’s old Macintosh computer during the summer of 1994 brings back fond memories of childhood.

Developed by Frédérick Raynal and published in 1992 by Infogrames (now Atari SA), Alone in the Dark was the coolest demo on the Club Kidsoft CD, which my brother and I received with a magazine.

Other 30-some-year-olds may also remember this sample disc’s “The Turkey from Albuquerque” tune, by the fictional band Blue Oyster Stuffit.

At the time, I did not understand Alone in the Dark’s origins, nor did I realize the profound influence it would eventually have on my literary interest later in life; but needless to say, I was hooked!

Yours in R’lyeh,

Tony LaMalfa

Birthday Bookends

On By Tony LaMalfaLeave a comment

With the maiden voyage of this website, please extend Happy 130th Birthday wishes to the memory of Providence, Rhode Island native and writer Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890-1937)—more widely known as H. P. Lovecraft.

If you are unfamiliar with the “Father of Weird Fiction and Son of Providence” but interested in learning about his literary legacy, please click on the above hyperlink (alternatively, you can check out his Wikipedia page).

It was in 2013 that I first encountered the body of works written by Lovecraft. I was interested in cooperative board games that possessed a central antagonist(s) driven by the game’s own mechanics—as opposed to a competitive board game or one in which a player took on the role of the antagonist. After enjoying the VHS-driven, a-la “party” board game Nightmare, I discovered Fantasy Flight’s Arkham Horror. (Funny enough, I would never end up playing this game after owning it for years.)

The most important consequence of my interest in Arkham Horror was that it led me to Lovecraft. Rather than crack open a “Collected Works of . . .” or read online versions of his stories, I stumbled upon pure gold: Audio Realms’ The Dark Worlds of H. P. Lovecraft, narrated by Wayne June. This six-CD set contains some of Lovecraft’s most distinguished tales, and the production quality is second to none. Add the flavorful, frightening narration of June, and you have what I believe is the best vehicle with which to digest the fiction written by this “Son of Providence.”

I vividly recall the nostalgia of listening to The Shadow over Innsmouth. Every line led me deeper into that “ancient, blight-shadowed town” while its climax had me standing on pins and needles—I had previously been sitting cross-legged on the carpet. My wife indulged me, listening along for my second go-around and allowed herself to influenced by my enthusiasm for Lovecraft’s stories. It’s been seven years, and I’m happy to say that we’ve never looked back . . .

Yours in R’lyeh,

Tony LaMalfa