There Are Ghouls in My Grave…
Jeff VanderMeer • March 24th, 2010 @ 12:21 pm • News
…and I have to get the little blight-ers out. They’re insidious, and they like to trip you by stamping on your shadow.
Most likely, this space will keep blinking back at you with the exact same text until Monday, unless something news-worthy comes along. Better no posts than filler-posts. Meanwhile, as I clear out the ghouls, feel free to tell me what you’ve been up to, dear ghosts.
(Meanwhile, I will be messing about on facebook as my “down’ time.)
March 24, 2010 at 12:52 pm
Ah! I got the ghouls in my mailbox yesterday. But I’ve started reading Jean Ray’s Malpertuis. Oh Oh. And Oh. Only thing that dragged me away from that novella was my ms and its unfinished editing.
March 24, 2010 at 1:17 pm
I blogged about a cheesy, hand-drawn, crackpot flyer that I made for my first novel ten years ago that still works as well as most glowing reviews in motivating people to buy when I “hand sell” at trade fairs, etc : http://www.wetmachine.com/item/1958
March 24, 2010 at 2:51 pm
I’ve been looking for an extra crutch. Seen any on houses lately? What ever happened to the one in your neighborhood?
March 24, 2010 at 3:01 pm
I couldn’t stand seeing it on the roof of the neighbor’s. It was just gnawing at my mind. Every time I sat down to do anything, that crutch would appear inside my brain–the illogic of it, the ridiculousness of it, the irritation of it. Out of place. Out of context. So unnecessary. It soon became a personal taunt–a way that someone, the neighbors or some more insidious and secret presence, was saying “F U” to me. There is only so much of this kind of abuse and provocation one can take.
So a few nights ago I went over there and I doused it in gasoline and I lit it on fire. It was really late at night and I made sure it was a quiet fire, so I was convinced no one would come out of the house. But then the wind changed and the roof caught on fire so I thought it was best to get the heck away from there. But then when the house started catching fire and their car in the carport exploded, I called the fire department and showed up with a pail of water to show my solidarity. After all, my beef was purely with the crutch, and its location. Everyone was just fine–and best of all, the crutch isn’t there anymore!
JeffV
March 24, 2010 at 3:16 pm
I am utterly jealous of the ghouls in your grave. I read Ray’s “The Last Traveler” in one of Marvin Kaye’s anthologies back in the 80s. It’s still one of the scariest short stories I’ve ever read.
March 24, 2010 at 3:23 pm
“…I made sure it was a quiet fire, so I was convinced no one would come out of the house.” Cheers.
March 24, 2010 at 3:31 pm
That Gerald Kersh collection, edited by his fan Harlan Ellison, introduced me to Kersh who became one of my favorite writers. If you haven’t read any of his novels, try Fowler’s End or The Song of the Flea. The novels generally aren’t fantasy, like the short stories, but Kersh’s heightened writing style makes them feel strange and unusual anyway.
March 24, 2010 at 4:44 pm
Reading his stories now–some good ones.
March 24, 2010 at 4:51 pm
how is ghouls in my grave? I really want more jean ray in english but they’re so damned expensive.
March 24, 2010 at 4:59 pm
It’s freakin’ awesome.
March 24, 2010 at 9:34 pm
Jeff,
I just got back from a drill with Tisbury 651, the ladder truck of whose company I’m a member. We went to Tisbury School, a frequent drill site, and practiced (for the umpteenth time) hydrant hookups, pump operations, connecting and advancing attack lines, radio communication and so forth. On what, exactly, did we pour our water, you ask? Why, on the playground fixtures of Tisbury School — the only interesting such fixture being the merry-go-round, which is easy to make spin with h20 at 150 psi in a direct stream.
I by no means wish to condone arson, but I think that as a firefighter I would have had a more interesting evening in your neighborhood.
March 24, 2010 at 9:38 pm
Read my essay “Everybody Loves Cthulhu” at http://www.blackgate.com
CTHULHU’S REIGN hits stores April 6
March 25, 2010 at 4:09 am
Gee, I have exactly the same edition of Isak Dineson’s “Carnival”, didn’t know you could still buy it.
March 25, 2010 at 3:21 pm
Speaking of ghouls, are you ever going to write about Throne of Bones? I seem to recall you planning to devote a blog post to that at one point or another.
March 25, 2010 at 3:23 pm
I did that long ago on some other website.
March 25, 2010 at 3:50 pm
It’s better than having graves in your ghoul.
March 26, 2010 at 5:11 am
i’m going to my nearest borders bookshop tomorrow…….what books can’t i do without, and remember i’m in australia (what has that got to do with anything, i hear you ask) and i have a budget of money and time in which i can sit down and read anything…….what do i absolutely need to buy as far as recent literature goes…..
monkey brain sushi, ay? rates right up there with prairie oysters……
peace and love…..
March 29, 2010 at 12:26 pm
I’m reading Dan Simmon’s “Carrion Comfort” right now. That’s providing my requisite level of creepiness.