The sleepers wake: attendees start the fourth day of Necronomicon In the usual life cycle of a con, Sundays range from DOA — they expired sometime in the dark of night and when the sun rises all one finds is an empty, sun-baked dusty street with flies buzzing desultorily on piles of yesterday’s horse dung — to a lively old age that becomes more fragile as the day goes on. Checkouts at the hotel desk are consistent, though a good…
The glorious Vendor Hall at Necronomicon As Necronomicon enters the full adult stage of its four day life, wee Thursday toddlerdom and energetic Friday late-teens giving way to brawny, wide-shouldered, keen-eyed prime of life. Today sees peak attendance, as day-trippers flock in to swell the ranks of shoppers on the Vendor Hall and help pack the seating in panels and presentations. The Armitage Symposium organizes traditionally academic panels at Necronomicon, a nice way to draw a distinction between them and…
There’s nothing like a well-run ‘con, and veterans of the circuit know the feel of competence, from the preliminary materials and communications to the execution of the event on site. Chief character of this con? The Biltmore Graduate hotel. Still proudly wearing the Biltmore name, this fine building shares con duty with the Omni Hotel here in Providence, Rhode Island. There’s even a Time Machine. Bright and early, a strong crowd gathered for New York State of Mind: Lovecraft’s New…
Opening ceremonies, featuring our emissaries from space and the sea With organ and dance, in august surroundings (in August, no less), we celebrated the sixth Necronomicon’s beginning here in Providence, Rhode Island. This every-two-years con gave every appearance of being organized, thoughtful, and creative, and their Thursday game is strong. Very strong. Opening ceremonies took place in the First Baptist church, an amazing space for this event as it comes equipped with a kick-ass organ. Summoning Cthulhu, an ebon-winged bird…
Not the book of cosmically horrible… stuff, we’ll say “stuff” and let that be that, shall we? Not the Necronomicon of dread lore and Lovecraftian literary shenanigans. No, Necronomicon, as in a ‘con, Providence, Rhode Island, beginning August 15. Following in the upswell of interest in Lovecraft — or, more accurately, an uptick in cultural stuff (there’s that word again!) that relates to Lovecraft — the organizers of this event have reanimated it, and from all the early signs they’ve…
(With sincerest apologies to H. P. Lovecraft) Original title, Watdiz Rafaflafla — Rafaflafla being the word used by residents of the greater Pittsburgh area to designate that harrowing sound (made by insects and tiny flying horses) suppos’d to resemble the flatulence of daemons who have been tuned to the key of B flat. Composed by Haminah Haminah H. Haminah, Esq., a sad clown and learned scholar of the Peoria, in the American caliphate of the Illinois, who is said to…
A1-4: Scourge of the Slavelords by David “Zeb” Cook, Allen Hammack, Harold Johnson, Tom Moldvay, Lawrence Schick, and Edward Carmien (TSR, 1986), and Oriental Adventures: Night of the Seven Swords by Jon Pickens, David “Zeb” Cook, Harold Johnson, Rick Swan, Edward Carmien, and David James Ritchie (TSR, 1986). Cover art by Jeff Easley and Clyde Caldwell Always a writer, the first significant things I wrote were role-playing adventures, some for old-school Dungeons & Dragons, but mostly for what the kids…
Orbit 6, edited by Damon Knight (Berkley Medallion, June 1970). Cover by Paul Lehr “No more stories.” So ends Joanna Russ’s great novelette “The Second Inquisition.” But in many ways the story is about stories — about how we use them to define ourselves, protect ourselves, understand ourselves. It’s also, in a curious way, about Joanna Russ’s stories, particularly those about Alyx, a woman rescued from drowning in classical times by the future Trans-Temporal Authority. “The Second Inquisition” first appeared…
Greg Mele recently paid tribute to Richard L. Tierney at Black Gate. That memorial post covers the author’s life and bibliography very well, so check that out; Tierney co-authored books with David C. Smith will be echoed here. The Goodreads S&S group is hosting a two-month group read of his work presently (March-April 2022), which spurred me to read Scroll of Thoth; Simon Magus and the Great Old Ones. That book lingered way too long on my shelf. It was…
Richard L. Tierney It was not long ago that I wrote an obituary here for Charles R. Saunders, the father of Sword & Soul and a man who showed the possibilities of sword & sorcery/heroic fantasy in non-European settings. Now, I must poor libations for another who took a genre’s flickering torch and in his own, and very different way, showed how to keep it burning. Richard Louis Tierney (7 August 1936 – 1 Feb 2022) was an American writer,…