The Pinworm Factory: A Tribute to Eraserhead

 Scott Dwyer of Plutonian Press has published some stellar anthologies (Phantasm/Chimera: An Anthology of Strange and Troubling Dreams, Pluto in Furs: Tales of Diseased Dreams and Seductive Horrors, Pluto in Furs 2, and The Pinworm Factory: A Tribute to Eraserhead), as well as a fantastic collection, Carrion Men by Jeffrey Thomas. I've been lucky to have tales in some of the collections. I look forward to every publication from this amazing small press because of the distinct, unique vision Dwyer brings to the table with what he wants, which is definitely not familiar horrors. He likes to dig deeper into places one might rather avoid, which has also been one of my primary goals as a writer of weird horror fiction. 

I enjoy working with Scott because he brings honest, unflinching perspectives to the tales I've brought him. He's made suggestions that have pushed me to explore a different avenue within a tale that made the tale stronger, as I did with the ending of "Chrysalis," from Phantasm/Chimera was completely rewritten, while a suggestion in shifting the ending of another moved us back to the original. He's not set in the mindset that his suggestion will be the right one, though it comes with a lot of thought, he just wants to see something within the tale from a different angle, trying to find the true strength in what it can be. I always like working with editors who do this, the give and take of the process being inspiring for me.

Anyway, beside the point and moving forward, here's the ad copy for his latest venture, The Pinworm Factory: A Tribute to Eraserhead.

Smoke-stained skies. Abhorrent bodies hidden in shadow. Squirming fetuses under your blankets. Dark wet abysmal holes. Welcome to the world of Eraserhead. David Lynch's filmic dream of strange and troubling things. Now with The Pinworm Factory, we plunge deeper into that world. The Pinworm Factory is a literary homage to Eraserhead, seeking to further explore its themes and ideas. Inside this factory, you will find nightmares and body horror crafted just for you. This short story collection features works inspired by Eraserhead by such amazing authors as Michael Cisco, Mike Allen, LC Von Hessen, Adam Golaski, Roland Blackburn, and Kurt Fawver among others.

Included 'among others' is yours truly with a psycho-sexual nightmare called, "Emma Unbound." It is one of my personal favorite tales I've written, but with the TOC of top-notch writers, there's much to devour here for those into uncommon horrors. 

(Excuse me. I went to Dwyer's FB page to snag the full list of contributors as well as credit for the fabulous cover art. Here ya go: "Cover art by the amazing Don Noble. Featuring stories by Michael Cisco, Sara Century, Adam Golaski, Sam Richard, K. H. Vaughan, John Claude Smith, Rhys Hughes, Kurt Fawver, LC Von Hessen, Brendan Vidito, Mike Allen, Maria Barnes, Liliana Carstea, and Roland Blackburn." That's a killer list, I must say!) 

It all sounds like too much grim fun to me, so why don't you pick up a copy today?! One more time, as I've put a bunch of hyperlinks in this post for all of the Plutonian Press titles, as well as the label's blog, that will lead you to hours of excellent weird/body/erotic horror for your reading pleasure. Buy your copy of The Pinworm Factory: A Tribute to Eraserhead Here. 

***

     “Welcome home, sweetie,” a voice said. A voice without definition or gender. A voice threaded with something artificial, as if it were a machine, yet not a machine, an organic quality caressed the edges. A voice seething with menace. 

***

And here's the captivating cover. 

 

Waffle House: I May Be A Horror Writer But...

...I also write poetry that is all over the place when it comes to focus. Sure, a lot of it is dark, the themes veer from obsessions to addictions to many other off-ramps leaning into darkness. Dread is a favorite subject. Horror creeps into some, of course. And weirdness is threaded through many of them. 

Occasionally, I need a break or assume, as I am putting together a poetry collection, the reader might need a break from the heaviness, while still keeping it weird and/or amusing. 

Which brings me to Waffle House, a poem based on a true experience. Really, c'mon, for somebody just passing through the Southwest--Louisiana, to be precise--one has to eat at a Waffle House at least once, to see what it's all about. 

This, my friends, is the truth about what it is all about. Vague as it may be. 

Enjoy!

***

Waffle House

 

I have no idea what she said

Menu options spoken in an

Alien language

Stared dumbfounded as her lips moved

Its lips moved

It could not have been of this earth

I nodded and said “sure”

Not knowing what I was agreeing to

Anal probes or a side of grits

The woman sitting across from me

A transient partner just passing through

Shrugged as we laughed

The outcome of our vague decisions

Still up in the air

Perhaps with The Mothership

Or the Starship Enterprise.

 

Waffle House, man

Good for a hearty breakfast

In the Twilight Zone…

***

I kid you not. That was one weird experience. 

While I am here, I will remind you I have a new, expanded reissue of my second collection that is looking for your eyes to read and perhaps your pen or keyboard to type up a review. Here's the link. Autumn in the Abyss Redux - Kindle edition by Smith, John Claude. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

And here's Waffle House!

 

Something's Happening: Reissues and More!

Somebody's laughing. God? The Universe? I made plans...and then the world tipped off its axis. 

After I'd published Occasional Beasts: Tales, what I felt it was my best collection and contained some of my best tales. I thought, yes, this will generate sales. 

It did not generate much of anything, sadly. 

This was 2018. I had been consistent in getting out a book or chapbook for a few years running, so decided to pull back on the reins, give myself and the readers, however few they may be, a break. I decided not to publish a book in 2019. 2020 would have to do.

Yeah, right. 

We all know what 2020 threw at us. Top that off with two of the three publishers for my books going out of business between then and Right Now, and nothing I had planned in my head was even in the realm of possibility. 

But, even amid the chaos of Covid, I kept writing. Sometimes sporadically, sometimes locked in. Strange times, but I tried to lean on writing as a way to keep myself sane, which is often what I lean on it for. 

Fast forward to late 2022. I hooked up with Crossroad Press for reissues of three of the books...which became three and a half. Up first is Autumn in the Abyss Redux, which will contain the five tales from that mini-collection, all of Occasional Beasts: Tales, and six tales from The Dark is Light Enough For Me. Twenty-Five in all, this is a burly beast of a collection, a recap of the first part of my so-called writing journey (though, TBH, a true summing up would include many of my earliest tales in a collection, which I might actually look into putting together at some point). Along with a re-issue of Riding the Centipede, my Stoker nominated debut collection, this seems a succinct way to re-introduce myself to the world today. Something like that, c'mon. 

But it's all with a purpose but not set plans. Not teasing out more laughter from any unknown, unseen forces, but I like getting these earlier titles re-issued with what should follow. 

What, exactly, should follow, JCS? 

Out in submission land, there's a lot going on. 

I have two completed novels (Odd Blue, originally called Birdland, as well as Our Savage Anatomies), along with a novella that needs me to shove it out of the nest, The Ouroboros Ballads, and, soon after that, another novel, The Ecstasy of Becoming. More details on all of these sooner than later.

That's a lot in the pipeline, a lot for a publisher and/or an agent to love. 

Add to that at least one compilation, tentatively titled, It's Hard To Be Me & Other Confessions...or something like that, haha...and even a poetry collection. 

So, plans falter, but I kept my nose to the grindstone and wrote a fair amount--this doesn't even include short stories and a long novelette/short novella, etc. Busy is good, as I often say. 

But for now, with more details to come, Autumn in the Abyss is up first. You know that from the previous blog post. This was supposed to be the lead in post for that one, but as noted already about how things go: plans? hahahaha... 

Are you ready for this? 

I certainly am!

Here's a link to the book: Autumn in the Abyss Redux - Kindle edition by Smith, John Claude. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

And, for the sake of amusement and because this is how it often feels when writing, here's J.G. Ballard's edits for the first page of Crash, one of my, if not my, favorite novels.