It starts with a window in Messenger popping up, and it's the late, great writer, Joseph S. Pulver Sr. It's late August or early September of 2014 or 2015. I'm in Rome, where I spend my summers with my girlfriend, Alessandra (it's where she lives). He gives me the info about an anthology he's going to edit dealing with the origins and history of the John Dee's version of the Necronomicon, H.P. Lovecraft's diabolical tome. He asks me if I want in.
It's Joe Pulver in the editing chair--damn straight I want in!
[from this point onward, everything highlighted in yellow leads to a link, just click on them.]
As we go back and forth, he details how the anthology--The Leaves of a Necronomicon (the TOC is stellar, and the book deserves your attention!) --is to be staged by decades. The 1970's are still available, so I nab it. He mentions something about poetry (this was around the time of my book, Autumn in the Abyss, the title story of which deals with one man's obsessive search for a missing poet whose words wield apocalyptic power via a poem of which the title is the title of the book; you can read it in the expanded reissue of the collection, Autumn in the Abyss Redux), asks if I could maybe add "Soul Francisco" to the tale. I laugh to myself and respond, Sure, though I am uncertain of where it will fit. Yet. We end our chat and I mention the details to Alessandra. She immediately responds, you should add Jim Morrison to the tale.
What?
I think she's crazy.
Twenty minutes later, I've got it all mapped out.
In order to get the tale right, to get a special something within the tale right, I buy Morrison's books of poetry. Why, pray tell, did you buy his books of poetry? Because within the tale there would be a poem, one used as the title of the story: "American Ghost." I had to study his lines, get the tone right, the use of specific words, think of him reciting the words as I wrote the poem at the heart of the tale.
The original version ended with a snippet from "Break on Through to the Other Side" by The Doors, of course, though during the editing process, it was decided rights might be an issue--even as I barely used anything, but I understood completely--so I whipped together the final stanza for the poem, which made for a more appropriate, stronger finale. After too many years--seven or eight--the anthology was finally published and as noted above, is a worthy venture.
Anyway, it's all here as presented by the intriguing Freezine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, a site that includes a lot of compelling fiction as well as authors such as John Shirley (!!!), Vince Daemon, and the work of the person running the show over there, Shaun Lawton, and many more!
(I've had a few other tales published there: "Not Breathing" a blending of drug addiction and a living dead aesthetic; "Blood Echo Symphonies," a slightly futuristic SF story that features shape shifting, music--yes, music is a favorite playground for me--and love...kind of; and "The Perfect Pumpkin," for all the Halloween Horror enthusiasts. Check them out, too!)
For your pleasure, I present for you "American Ghost," one of my personal favorite short stories I've ever written.
Here's the art Shaun put together for the piece.
Dig it!
