Weird Fiction – Damien Walter

What do we do about Lovecraft?

The more I think about the issue, the more concerned I become about the honouring of H.P.Lovecraft in Horror, Fantasy, SF, weird and speculative fiction. The argument has come to the fore again in my mind because of the furore at Weird Tales, which also roughly coincided with Lovecraft’s birthday. Lovecraft’s racism is not widelyContinue reading “What do we do about Lovecraft?”

Weird Tales editor has insulted us all

The genres of SF, Fantasy, Horror and other styles of the fantastic have changed a lot in recent years. Those changes, to my mind, have been hugely positive. And if I can identify one cause at the heart of those changes it is this: diversity. To use the Hugo and Nebula awards as a benchmarks,Continue reading “Weird Tales editor has insulted us all”

Questionnaire with a Dark Lord.

Éric Poindron’s Étrange (*) Questionnaire. Discovered at the Weird Fiction Review. (*) Bizarre, extraordinary, singular, surprising. Le Robert Dictionary 1 – Write the first sentence of a novel, short story, or book of the weird yet to be written. It is a truth universally acknowledged that a Dark Lord in posession of a plot to destroy theContinue reading “Questionnaire with a Dark Lord.”

Mieville, Embassytown and radical SF

Is SF becoming cool? If it is, as China Miéville claims, then the award-winning author, whose new novel Embassytown hit the shelves yesterday, may have something to do with it. In our current era of austerity, with the largest-ever protest march on the nation’s capital and a previously apathetic youth culture rallying to the UKContinue reading “Mieville, Embassytown and radical SF”

Machen is the forgotten father of weird fiction

When first encountered, the publications of Tartarus Press seem almost as numinous as the supernatural tales they contain. The simple elegance of their presentation, hand-stitched hardback bindings jacketed in uniform cream covers with only minimal decoration, recall an earlier age when books were as rare and treasured as jewels. Read more on the Guardian bookContinue reading “Machen is the forgotten father of weird fiction”