Thursday, March 30, 2017

The Wind Whales of Ishmael

“One man survived.

The great white whale with its strange passenger and the strangled monomaniac its trailer, had dived deeply. The whaling ship was on its last, its vertical, voyage.”

The Wind Whales of Ishmael

This will be my fifth book in the Wold Newton Universe series that I have read. Like the rest of Farmer's work, it is hard to put this one down. This volume is a sequel to Melville’s Moby Dick in a way that only Farmer could come up with.

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

A Prophetic Leaflet

To the prophetic leaflet which Mrs. Nixon had dropped in the garden? It was literature created by a little Welsh "skunk" named Richards which runs a small chapel in New Barent.

"THE NEW AND CHOSEN SEED OF ABRAHAM

PROPHECIES TO BE FULFILLED IN THE PRESENT YEAR

1. The Sailing of a Fleet of One hundred and Forty and Four Vessels for Tarshish and the Isles.[79]

2. Destruction of the Power of the Dog, including all the instruments of anti-Abrahamic legislation.

3. Return of the Fleet from Tarshish, bearing with it the gold of Arabia, destined to be the Foundation of the New City of Abraham.

4. The Search for the Bride, and the bestowing of the Seals on the Seventy and Seven.

5. The Countenance of Father to become luminous, but with a greater glory than the face of Moses.

6. The Pope of Rome to be stoned with stones in the valley called Berek-Zittor.

7. Father to be acknowledged by Three Great Rulers. Two Great Rulers will deny Father, and will immediately perish in the Effluvia of Father's Indignation.

8. Binding of the Beast with the Little Horn, and all Judges cast down.

9. Finding of the Bride in the Land of Egypt, which has been revealed to Father as now existing in the western part of London.

10. Bestowal of the New Tongue on the Seventy and Seven, and on the One Hundred and Forty and Four. Father proceeds to the Bridal Chamber.

11. Destruction of London and rebuilding of the City called No, which is the New City of Abraham.

12. Father united to the Bride, and the present Earth removed to the Sun for the space of half an hour."

A Fragment of Life, The House of Souls, Arthur Machen

Monday, March 27, 2017

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume 2

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, volume 2 is a graphic novel that is illustrated by Kevin O’ Neill and written by Alan Moore. There are three volumes in this series.

With its host of extraordinary characters, fantastic storyline, and saucy scenes, the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, volume 2 takes over where the last volume left off.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie takes its storyline from this series of graphic novels.

Sunday, March 26, 2017

The Disembodied Whispers

“There was the distinct sound of low, whispered words! Gabrielle held her breath to listen. She tried to distinguish what the words were, but in vain. Then she endeavoured to determine whence they emanated, but was unable to do so. Again they sounded—again—and yet again. Then there was another voice, still low, still whispering, but not quite so deep as the first. It sounded like a woman's.

Local tradition had it that the place held the ghosts of those who had died in agony within its noisome dungeons; but she had always been far too matter-of-fact to accept stories of the supernatural. Yet at that moment her ears did not deceive her. That pile of grim, gaunt ruins was a House of Whispers!

...But her thoughts were very naturally full of the weird story told of the dead and gone owners of Glencardine. She recollected that horrible story of the Ghaist of Manse and of the spectre of Bridgend. In the library she had, a year ago, discovered a strange old book—one which sixty years before had been in universal circulation—entitled Satan's Invisible World Discovered, and she had read it from beginning to end.”

Chapter XI Concerns the Whispers, House of Whispers, William Le Queux

Saturday, March 25, 2017

The Ships of Black Beard the Pirate

A little over of a week ago I made a post on my review of Tim Power’s On Stranger Tides. I mentioned that On Stranger Tides was the inspiration for Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Disney’s On Stranger Tides makes use of the Powers use of magic, and although there are a few other similarities the Disney film diverges its own course.

The pirate, Black Beard figures prominently in both stories. In Power’s On Stranger Tides Black Beard is in command of Adventurer, toward the end of the story and his life. Having taken over the body of another human being he in effect is reincarnated.

Black Beards Queen Anne's Revenge

In Disney’s On Stranger Tides Black Beard is in command of the Queen Anne’s Revenge. The ship in which Jack Sparrow finds himself after being shanghaied.

Screenshots from Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Friday, March 24, 2017

Loving and Perishing

" 'Loving and perishing: these have tallied from eternity. Love and death walk hand-in-hand. The will to love means also to be ready for death.'

Gabrielle Heyburn recognized this truth. She had the will to love, and she had the resolve to perish—perish by her own hand—rather than allow her secret to be exposed. Those who knew her—a young, athletic, merry-faced, open-air girl on the verge of budding womanhood, so true-hearted, frank, and free—little dreamed of the terrible nature of that secret within her young heart.

Chapter VIII Casting the Bait, House of Whispers, William Le Queux

Thursday, March 23, 2017

Do you remember what Zarathustra says:

'Verily, ye could wear no better masks, ye present-day men, than your own faces,' Who could recognize you?

Thus Spake Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche, House of Whispers,

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Castell Gloom

“The history of Scotland is full of references to the doings at Glencardine, the fine home of the great Lord Glencardine”.  Now in disrepair, those “gaunt ruins of the old castle” were the muse for Baroness Nairne for these lines of prose.

 Oh Castell Gloom! thy strength is gone,
    The green grass o'er thee growin';
  On Hill of Care thou art alone,
    The Sorrow round thee flowin'.
  Oh Castell Gloom! on thy fair wa's
    Nae banners now are streamin';
  The howlit flits amang thy ha's,
    And wild birds there are screamin'.
      Oh, mourn the woe! oh, mourn the crime
        Frae civil war that flows!
      Oh, mourn, Argyll, thy fallen line,
        And mourn the great Montrose!
  The lofty Ochils bright did glow,
    Though sleepin' was the sun;
  But mornin's light did sadly show
    What ragin' flames had done!
  Oh, mirk, mirk was the misty cloud
    That hung o'er thy wild wood!
  Thou wert like beauty in a shroud,
    And all was solitude.

Baroness Nairne


The House of Whispers, William Le Queux

Monday, March 20, 2017

Two Repulsive Models Kits

Glob

Glob Sprue

These easy to assemble models are by Hawk models, part of their Weird-O line. These models are in 1/24 scale and depict two very scary monster types.

Voop


History of the Hawk “Weird-Ohs” Plastic Model Kits

Other Books from the Cthulhu Mythos

The Book of Azathoth

The Book of Azathoth features a “parody of scripture which praises the Outer Gods” and belittles Christianity.

The Book of Dagon

The Book of Dagon was a gift to Captain Obed Marsh from the Deep Ones after he had founded the Esoteric Order of Dagon.

The Book of Dzyan

This book contains a collection of ancient wisdom. This wisdom exists on a “higher spiritual plane” where only psychically sensitive travelers can connect with it. “Per tradition, the first six chapters of this book were brought to earth by the Lords of Venus”.

The Book of Eibon

The original manuscript was said to be written by the wizard Eibon. Legend has it that the manuscript was found amid the ruins of Eibon’s blasted tower.

The Book of Hidden Things

This text is mentioned in a manuscript discovered by Alonzo Typer. There is nothing else known about this text.

The Book of IOD

Although the Book of IOD is of unknown origin, folklore attributes it to the mysterious “Khut-Nah”.

The Book of Karnak

The Book of Karnak is a digest of occult knowledge.

The Book of K’ Yog

This book predates the age of Eibon and has been lost for a millennium.

The Book of Night

The Book of Night is purported as being a dangerous work on necromancy and is said to have been written by the Hyperborean wizard, Vizooranos.

The Book of Skelos

The Book of Skelos is an ancient text thought to have been written by the blind sage Skelos; the scroll being preserved by his devotes. However, some attribute its authorship to the serpent people's wizards of Valusia.

The Book of Thoth

This text is attributed to the Egyptian God of wisdom and magic, Thoth. Thoth is said to have authored thousands of texts on occult subjects.

The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia, Third Edition, Daniel Harms



Other books, manuscripts, scrolls and text fragments mentioned in the Cthulhu Mythos.

Friday, March 17, 2017

Quotes from the Necronomicon

I have started to pick through my copy of the Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia. There is more material here than I what to do with.

The Necronomicon is one of several texts mentioned in H. P. Lovecraft’s writings; this purported text, like the rest mentioned in his works are fictional in nature are are all part of the Cthulhu Mythos.

There are many writings included in the manuscript including the following couplet and translation.

A famous couplet:

“That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange eons even death may die.”

In the original Arabic, it is translated as:

“That thing is not dead which has the capacity to continue to exist eternally,
And it the abnormal (bizarre, strange) ones (things, times) come, then death may cease to be.”

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

The Wold Newton Universe

The Other Log of Phileas Fogg
Tales of the Wold Universe
Time’s Last Gift
Hadon of Ancient Opar
A Feast Unknown
Lord of the Trees
The Mad Goblin
Lord Tyger
The Wind Whales of Ishmael
Flesh
Venus on a Half-Shell

These titles are published by Titan Books

Monday, March 13, 2017

On Stranger Tides

This book was the inspiration for the Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. With a host of cut-throat pirates with the likes of Blackbeard, hordes of the undead, ghosts, the Fountain of Youth, and magic spells, On Stranger Tides was a great read. It was one of those swash-bucklers that was hard to put down.

Saturday, March 11, 2017

On Stranger Tides the Epilogue

I faded on the crowing cock.
Some say that ever `gainst that season comes,
Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated,
The bird of dawning singeth all night long;
And then, they say no spirit can walk abroad;
The nights are wholesome;
Then no plants strike,
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
So hallow’d and so gracious is the time.

William Shakespeare

Friday, March 10, 2017

The Preambles of On Stranger Tides


Book 1  


…And unmoored souls may drift on stranger tides
Than those men know of, and be overthrown
By winds that would not even stir a hair…

William Ashbless (On Stranger Tides, Tim Powers)


Book 2


Cut off from the land that bore us,
Betrayed by that land we find,
Where the brightest have gone before us,
And the dullest are most behind-
Stand, stand to your glasses, steady!
`T is all we have left to prize:
One cup to the dead already-
Hurrah for the next that dies!

Excerpt from East India, by Bartholomew Dowling


Book 3


“Whats o’ clock?”
It wants to quarter to twelve,
And to-marrow’s doomsday.

-T.L. Beddoes


Thursday, March 9, 2017

On Stranger Tides

“And then all at once they were no longer alone-in fact, the clearing was crowded now with human-shaped forms that were nearly transparent to the torchlight, though the light was dimmed if a number of them overlapped in front of it, and all of these insubstantial things were crowded in toward he blood pit and crying out imploringly in tiny, chittering, birdlike voices.”

On Stranger Tides, Tim Powers

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

A Host of Characters-Governor Sawney

When Shandy (Jack Chandagnac) met up with the old hoot Sawney. “Swaney was wearing a baggy, bright yellow trousers and an embroidered silk jacket, and if he had on any sort of neck-cloth it was concealed under his tangled beard, which was the color of bleached bones.”

Swaney, otherwise known as the Governor had been to the fabled Fountain of Youth back in 1521. Sawney had dropped blood and had drank from the waters and had become immortal, that is as long as the plant that had sprouted up from his bloodletting stayed green.

Over two hundred years ago Sawney had been the governor of Porto Rico, and of all the islands there about. Sawney, AKA the governor, was no other than Juan Ponce De Leon.

On Stranger Tides, Tim Powers

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

More Mutterings of the Old Pirate, Sawney

“Bendita sea el alma,
Y el Senor que nos la manda;
Bendita sea el deá
Y el Senor que nos lo enviá”

“Blessed be the soul, and the Lord that keeps it in order; blessed be the day, and the Lord that drives is away.”

On Stranger Tides, Tim Powers

Monday, March 6, 2017

The Mutterings of the Old Pirate, Sawney

“Mas molerá si Dios quisiere- Cuenta y pasa, que buen viaje faza.”

“More will flow if God wills-count and let it happen, and the voyage will pass more quickly.”

On Stranger Tides, Tim Powers