new member stumbling in

[neilmt]

Not sure I’m doing this right–I’m a techno-dinosaur--
I’d like to embarrass Steve right off, by thanking him for his stellar help. (I suspect that under the sinister exterior of Alien Redrum, there lurks a heart of golden mush.) My name’s Neil McMahon. I’m the author of three horror novels whose covers Steve just posted (and I get to share the page with Scarlett Johansson.)
Let me hasten to add–I’m very aware that forums like this aren’t meant for self-promotion, and that’s not my intention. I just want to say that I’d be glad to chat about horror / thriller writing in general, questions or comments that anyone might have, and anything else along those lines. Thanks–it’s nice to be aboard.

[Alien Redrum]

Welcome to the forum! Glad you registered!

[neilmt]

My pleasure--I'm much looking forward to this.

[DJBenz]

My pleasure--I'm much looking forward to this.

You'll change your mind once TGM gets here.

Welcome from me though. :penis:

[neilmt]

Thanks, DJ--There are a lot of rumors floating around on the street about both you and TGM--spot of bother in India / Africa about trafficking in body parts that were still alive, wasn't it?

[Spez]

Welcome to the forum. Do your books have any pictures? Those are the only kind I read now.

[neilmt]

Hey, Spez--
No pictures, sorry--these are straight prose novels. The cover images are pretty nice, thanks to ace designer Jason Neal, but I realize that doesn't go very far by way of illustrations.
For what this is worth: I don't want to sound pretentious, but I tried to make the writing as visual as I could, so readers would form the spooky images in their own minds. In particular, I tried to do this with the evil Templar, Guilhem de Courdeval (who appears with armor and broadsword); his demonic familiar, a fearsome little creature known as celui; and in CAST ANGELS, the "companions", led by the imp Hasmoday, who are right out of a Bosch painting.

[DJBenz]

Thanks, DJ--There are a lot of rumors floating around on the street about both you and TGM--spot of bother in India / Africa about trafficking in body parts that were still alive, wasn't it?

The bastard told me I'd never be linked to that.

[TGM]

Welcome... I'll love you forever if you use my name as a character in one of your books. Ricky Silverspoons has a nice ring to it, no?

PS: I only review shitty movies, and I usually hate them, because they're shitty. So you will likely escape my wrath.

[neilmt]

Thanks, DJ--There are a lot of rumors floating around on the street about both you and TGM--spot of bother in India / Africa about trafficking in body parts that were still alive, wasn't it?

The bastard told me I'd never be linked to that.

Ve haf vays of making zem talk, DJ.

[neilmt]

Welcome... I'll love you forever if you use my name as a character in one of your books. Ricky Silverspoons has a nice ring to it, no?

PS: I only review shitty movies, and I usually hate them, because they're shitty. So you will likely escape my wrath.

Well, I can't guarantee that my books AREN'T shitty, but I'm not going to come right out and say they ARE shitty, either. But just to give myself a safety net, you bet, I'll use Ricky Silverspoons as soon as I can--I'm trying to cook up a new book now.

By the way--sorry to sound so dumb about this stuff, but I really am--am I doing this right, by hitting the "Quote" button to respond to a particular post? Or should I submit a new post instead?

[DJBenz]

By the way--sorry to sound so dumb about this stuff, but I really am--am I doing this right, by hitting the "Quote" button to respond to a particular post? Or should I submit a new post instead?

You're doing it exactly right.

[neilmt]

By the way--sorry to sound so dumb about this stuff, but I really am--am I doing this right, by hitting the "Quote" button to respond to a particular post? Or should I submit a new post instead?

You're doing it exactly right.

Great--a lucky blunder. Thanks.

[neilmt]

Okay, you guys--I apologize in advance if this doesn't seem appropriate (although that has rarely stopped me in the past)--

I've been out of the horror loop for many years, and I'm not much up on contemporary film and fiction (mea culpa). I'm working on it.

But I LOVE the old stuff--what got me fascinated with horror in the first place, so that I wrote three novels (and would have written more but for circumstances, and hope to again)--

So here's a list of my own faves--shoot it down, shoot me down, ignore it. One of the great lines in fiction comes (as I recall) from Raymond Chandler--it was used as an epigraph by my great old friend Jim Crumley (The Last Good Kiss): "Nobody called, nobody came by, nobody cared if I died or went to El Paso." Which Jim did for several years.

Okay, story list: by M.R. James, by my lights the all-time great:

Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book
Count Magnus
Lost Hearts
The Experiment
The Fenstanton Witch

By Lovecraft:
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
The Dreams in the Witch House
The Rats in the Walls

By E. F. Benson
The Room in the Tower
Mrs. Amworth

By Arthur Machen:
The Great God Pan

That list is by no means complete--just a bet tossed into the pot.

I'm much less informed re film, but I'll mention Daughers Of Darkness, which I think is much overlooked--Delphine Seyrig is ravishing, the ambience is ur-creepy--and sexy--and the scene where Karlen phones home to Mother is priceless.

For what it's worth.

[shiki-jitsu]

By Arthur Machen:
The Great God Pan

Great story, even better illustrations by A. O. Spare.


Austin Osman Spare 2 by Cardboard Cutout Sundown, on Flickr