The 31st Delusion

Karl Edward Wagner and the Infected Voices

The newsletter is late. I’ve decided to run it on Monday mornings instead of Sunday. At least for a while. See how that goes. But it’s Tuesday, so…

We’ve been foraging for mushrooms and other wild edibles lately. My wife has really gotten into this. We’ve found delicious wild garlic, chicken of the woods mushrooms that are a great substitute for meat, chicory, and more. I’m not a fan of mushrooms, but that’s my favorite thing to look for. We’ve been having storms almost daily and the typical southern humidity of summer, so mushrooms have been sprouting like mad. My wife does enjoy mushies, so she’ll be trying the chanterelles I found the other day, and maybe a blue cap we found yesterday. Oh, I think we found psychedelic mushrooms in the backyard.

We were scrounging around the second acre looking at these potential psychedelic mushrooms when there was a disturbance in the overgrowth. About four feet from me a fawn emerges out of nowhere and darts off. I marvel at how much nature a mere two acres has to offer.

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News

Not much by way of news. My new short story collection Infected Voices is proving that short story collections are hard sales. It’s feeling more and more like a bad decision. I mean were talking abysmal sales. Baby Fights continues to outsell everything, but to illustrate how bad sale of Infected Voices are, my old book Death Obsessed has sold just as many copies so far in July.

I hope the book does better at conventions. It has a damn cool cover. And I happen to think the 21 stories within are pretty swell.

If you’re so inclined, you can grab a copy of Infected Voices HERE, or get a signed copy HERE.

My next release This Damned House is going through the second round of edits. I need to reach out for cover art. I have a few artists in mind that I’ve worked with before. This book is four novelettes tied together with a wraparound story. I happen to think it’s really good and hope it is well received. I’ll be starting to write more about it in newsletters to come.

I am currently writing a story I call The Toll Great Art Has Upon Thee. No, that’s not going to be the final title. It’s a mouthful, and using thee in a title is ridiculous. It’s a story I started years ago, but didn’t finish. I do that a lot, figuring I’ll come back when the time’s right. I guess the time’s right. I absolutely love the concept, but I’m going to keep that to myself for now. It’s an ambitious tale, possibly something I will submit to agents. Feels more mainstream that what I normally write.

Recent Reads From Hell

Right now I’m reading The Chihuahuan Centipede by Nicholas Gray, The Magic Wagon by Joe Lansdale, and Long Lost by David Morell. But what I really was to talk about is a book I finished called . . .

In a Lonely Place by Karl Edward Wagner

So this is a book that I have been looking for forever. It has been fairly recently reissued by Valancourt Books, but I wanted an original copy, because as many of you know I am a collector of vintage horror paperbacks. I was fortunate to find not one, but TWO copies of his other collection Why Not You and I? in one used bookstore earlier this year. I kept one for myself and sold the other to Patrick C. Harrison III, who was quick to ask about it when he saw pictures of my bounty. And despite what he might tell you, he got it for half of what I would have sold it on eBay, because I think he’s a pretty cool cat. I happened to be on Facebook when a dude out of Georgia was posting books for $5 shipped. Good books. one of which was In a Lonely Place. Holy shit! And I was lucky enough to nab it. On a side note, I went to the bookstore Mr. Bubba Que and his sister run and met the whole family. Great people with a cool little used bookstore. I came out with a bag full.

So that’s how I got the book. I devoured it shortly after. For years I’ve been told that “Sticks” was not only the best Karl Edward Wagner story, but one of the best horror stories ever. I’m not disputing that, but for my money it wasn’t even in my top three of the book. I liked every story in the book, but there were other standouts for me.

My favorite story in the collection was “Where the Summer Ends”. I’d read this story almost 25 years ago in the Dark Forces anthology, but couldn’t remember who the author was, only that the creepy story about kudzu had always stuck with me. Now that I live right around Knoxville, Tennessee, where this story takes place, it had an even stronger impact, really showing how good Wagner’s writing prowess and story crafting was. The kudzu itself is a character, an ominous force, but there’s something even darker lurking within the invasive vine. A simple idea, and yet done in such a way that it elicits dread and despair right up until the end where the pieces of the puzzle that had been sprinkled here and there in the narrative come together.

Another standout story in this collection was the opener, “In the Pines”. After reading this little treat, I knew I was in for something special. It’s a haunting ghost story, and though that description alone will cause some people to recoil—for me it’s mentioning a zombie or werewolf story—hauntings are my weak spot, when done well, and this story delivers in spades. It really illustrates how much Wagner could put into a short story, how rich he could develop characters and setting and plot.

All of the stories are good. There isn’t one stinker in the bunch. You milage may vary, and there’s a good chance you’ll like the cosmic story “Sticks” above all others, like so many readers do, and that’s great. Or perhaps you’ll like the final story “Beyond Any Measure” to be a delight. This one deals with hypnosis and connecting with past lives. It’s a treat. Or maybe the gothic mind-fuckery of “The River of Night’s Dreaming”, or perhaps “The Fourth Seal”, a story that speculates on the truth behind major medical breakthroughs in the modern world.

The point here is, you NEED to read this book.

In Closing

That’s all for this edition of Confusions, Delusions and Formidable Impressions. It was kind of a short one this week, but I had a lot to write about In a Lonely Place. Did you make it to the end? Good. I have five proof copies of Infected Voices. The first five people who comment that they’d like one, gets one. US only due to our ridiculous international shipping rates.

Until next time . . .