Two Fables, by Roald Dahl

(hb; 1986: story anthology. Illustrations by Graham Dean.)

From the inside flap:

"In these two new fables, Roald Dahl has once again written startlingly original stories that, while owing something to the clarity of his writing for children, are firmly intended for adults. In 'The Princess and the Poacher,' the beastially ugly Hengist is granted a dark wish, but cannot bring himself to fulfill it. In 'Princess Mammalia,' Mammalia is driven to attempt murder when her beauty dazzles every man in the kingdom except the one she truly wants."

Review:

These two fables ("The Princess and the Poacher" and "Princess Mammalia") exhibit everything a fable should: a fast-moving story that effectively sketches out and defines its characters' motivations; a tale that's light on the surface, with undercurrents of twisty, character-based darkness, as well as a finish that, without seeming too obvious, sums up its shown moral(s).

Graham Dean's ink-blot, character-centric illustrations suit the tone of Dahl's tales: salient and sublime work that cuts to the core.

Two Fables is a perfect, short read - worth owning, and memorable.

**MICROSTORY: Yup

By Steve Isaak


The arthritic sharp chirography on the unsigned letter had directed him to this midnight, neon phone booth, its eructative, aural velitations inspiring towering, wood-creaky trees to bow to him.

The dream angel was calling to confirm last night’s message: today was his day to play God, in this earth-smart inherit the earth age. He smiled.



Copyright ©2012 Steve Isaak. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce in any form, including electronic, without the author’s express permission.

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This was posted for 3 Word Week #33, The Mag #105 and Mr. Knowitall's latest/weekly Friday Flash 55 writing prompt.

Join us in the scribble fun!

Vincent Price Presents, by various writers and artists

(graphic novel; 2010. Introduction by Roger Corman)

From the back cover:

"The Gothic horror tradition of film icon Vincent Price is revived in these twisted comic book one-shots that transplant the best of the horror genre into innovative and bizarre landscapes for a new generation of Vincent Price fans. Vincent Price serves as iconic host and muse for these unforgettable stories, which include horrific transformations, twisting plots, perversions of science, labyrinthine castles, Gothic dread, surreal revelations, and a little unexpected genre-bending. With an introduction by film legend and Vincent Price collaborator, Roger Corman.


Overall review:

This graphic novel, put out by Blue Water Comics, is an okay quadrilogy of Price-referencing stories, with mostly-good artwork and a pleasant, brief introduction by Roger Corman.

Though Vincent Price Presents isn't worth its cover price ($17.99), it may prove a fun, second-hand read for Price and horror fans for a buck or two.



Review, story by story:

1.) "Canus" - Darren G. Davis & Chad Helder: A tween boy's birthday brings new anxieties - in the form of the titular cyborg dog - and, along with it, new opportunities.

Good tale and artwork here, excellent ending.


2.) "Road Rage" - Darren F. Davis, Paul Salamoff & Patrick Broderick: An arrogant advertising executive (Glen Manning) causes a car accident, then flees the scene of it, setting in motion further violence. This otherwise solid morality tale is ruined by a gotcha/forced "twist". Sloppily constructed hack work, at best, with good artwork.


3.) "Here To There" - Scott Davis and Rey Armenteros: Casey Morrow, a celebrated writer with a decade-long case of writer's block - born of unrealistic expectations - goes through another day of driving his cab, and discovers a secret undercurrent to his life.

Solid story with some quotable lines and okay artwork, this.


4.) "Rue Morgue High" - Chad Helder and Derliz Santacruz: An insane, malevolent nerd with wild psychic abilities (Edwin) torments his more popular step-brother (Fred) with visions and killings drawn from Edgar Allan Poe's "first tale of ratiocination", Murder in the Rue Morgue.

Interesting, mostly good story with good artwork and a meh finish.

**One of my sexplicit stories, Isaak’s Fables: the Writer, the Money Man & the Insect, was republished on the Every Night Erotica site

One of my sexplicit stories, Isaak’s Fables: the Writer, the Money Man & the Insect, a cautionary tale about choosing one’s lovers wisely, was republished on the Every Night Erotica site.

Check it out, maybe leave a comment, if you're so inclined. =)

3 Word Week #33

Here's the guidelines for Three Word Week.

I'll have a new 3 Word Week posted by 4:00 p.m., every Thursday from here on out.

The weekly deadline for posting 3 Word Week stories is the following Wednesday - or, more specifically, prior to midnight, Thursday.

Post your pennings to your websites. List your name and the link of your post in the Mister Linky widget below. On your site posts, please be sure to mention/hyperlink this site's central 3 Word Week link. (Thanks!)

Please submit one story per week - and list it once in the Mister Linky Widget.

I look forward to reading your work! =)

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Please note that the word count for these weekly prompts was upped to 700 in November 2011 (though I initially forgot to change that in the 3 Word Week guidelines).

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I.) chirography (also called cheirography) - n. Penmanship.

1. the penmanship of a person, especially when used in an important document, as in an apostolic letter written and signed by the pope.


2. the art of beautiful penmanship; calligraphy.




II.) eruct - vb. - To belch.

1. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Physiology) to raise (gas and often a small quantity of acid) from the stomach; belch


2. (Earth Sciences / Geological Science) (of a volcano) to pour out (fumes or volcanic matter).



III.) velitation - n. - A dispute or contest; a slight contest; a skirmish.

**Baird Nuckolls' Chickens roosting in the trees was published on the Microstory A Week site

A new story is up on the Microstory A Week site.

Baird Nuckolls penned this week's story, Chickens roosting in the trees, about a woman vacationing in an exotic, futuristic paradise.

Check this short story out. =)

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Are you or somebody you know looking to publish stories on an experimental-writing-friendly, 700-words-or less site?

If so, check out the Microstory A Week site, which is in dire need of new stories.

The site is a mix of speculative/horror fiction (think Joe Hill, Clive Barker, Ray Bradbury and Harlan Ellison), noir (think Will Viharo, Jim Thompson and Charles Willeford), slice of life works (think Stranger, Baird Nuckolls and Mama Zen), humor (think Douglas Adams and David Wong) and everything in between. No X-rated stuff, please.

Here's the guidelines.

Harbor, by John Ajvide Lindqvist

(hb; 2008, 2011: translated from the Swedish by Marlaine Delargy)

From the inside flap:

"One ordinary winter afternoon on a snowy island, Anders and Cecilia take their six-year-old daughter Maja across the ice to visit the lighthouse in the middle of the frozen channel. While they are exploring the lighthouse, Maja disappears - either into thin air or under thin ice - leaving not even a bloody footprint in the snow.

"Two years later, Anders, a broken man, moves back to his family's abandoned house on the island. He soon realizes that Maja's disappearance is only one of the many strange occurences, and that his fellow islanders, including his own grandmother, know a lot more than they're telling. As he digs deeper, Anders begins to unearth a dark and deadly secret at the heart of this small, seemingly placid town."

Review:

Fans of Stephen King will likely appreciate this milieu- (and leisurely-)paced novel that recalls King's pre-It novels, before his propensity for word bloat set in.

Harbor is a good book by an excellent author, one that ably juggles character and larger-element histories, pervasive mood and description, as well as occasional, familiar-with-a-Swedish-flavor horror scenes.

Check Harbor out from the library, no need to own it, if you already own King's pre-It novels and story/novella anthologies.

If you're interested in Lindqvist's better, worth-owning works, check out Let Me In and Handling the Undead.

**One of my mainstream horror microstories, They return - dream?, was published on the Leodegraunce site

One of my mainstream horror microstories, They return - dream?, will be published on the Leodegraunce site, from February 20 - 26, 2012.

Caliban and Other Tales, by Robert Devereaux

(pb; 2002: horror anthology)

From the back cover:

"His mother was a sorceress, and his master is a powerful magician. His home is a dark, wild island of enchantment, spells. . . and evil. He is Caliban. Is he human, spirit or demon? Who can say? All he knows is that he burns with a lust for revenge and his growing powers may soon make it possible. But even he cannot predict the nightmarish shape his vengeance will take. . . or the tempest of terror it will unleash."


Overall review:

Most of the stories in Caliban and Other Tales sports the same audacious, carnal and maleficent spirit of Devereaux's genre milestone, Santa Steps Out.

This gleefully debauched and sometimes sublimely horrific anthology isn't for those who find Stephen King or Dean Koontz "too scary or gory" - those readers should not read this ferociously graphic and often-funny work; Caliban is for true, unrepentant, sex-and-gore horror fans.

Worth owning, for the aforementioned latter group.


Review, story by story:


1.) "Bucky Goes to Church": A shooting spree takes an even more disturbing plot detour.

Excellent, vivid, with its colorful and sometimes laugh-out-loud language: fans of a certain 1970's Larry Cohen film will probably enjoy this.




2.) "Ridi Bobo": Hilarious, ultra-violent, clown-centric piece about a cuckolded clown (Bobo) who takes revenge on his wife (Koko).

Clever, greasepaint-with-noir horror story.



3.) "Clap If You Believe": A young, philosophical man (Alex) tries to impress the parents of his fairy diminutive girlfriend, Titania Jones, at a get-to-know-you family dinner.

Solid, amusing, sometimes raunchy - like the other stories in this anthology - work.



4.) "The Slobbering Tongue That Ate the Frightfully Huge Woman": A back-office molestation of a female pharmacy employee (Sally Holmes) by her employer (Baxter) leads to a grotesque, lascivious and kaiju-eiga-esque confrontation.

Slobbering is a hilarious and ferociously anti-P.C.story that takes a morally icky subject and turns it into a gloriously salacious b-movie.



5.) "A Slow Red Whisper of Sand": Lust-, death- and greed-constant story about Los Angeles bloodsuckers. Solid, orgiastic and intense/emotive piece.



6.) "Caliban" (novella): Caliban, an ugly supernatural being, plots against Prospero, a magician who murdered Caliban's witch mother, as he grows in power and age.

The lead-in to this Shakespearean-sourced tale feels comparatively long to the other pieces in this anthology - logical, considering it's a novella, not a short story - but in the last quarter of its two hundred and twenty-two pages, it gets intriguing, its slow-build plots/motivations and character-based twists coming to devious, understandable and surprisingly sympathetic finishes.

Good piece, for those who appreciate a well-written, slow-burn work.

**MICROSTORY: X chaff

(for Rick Santorum & Kathleen Passidomo)


By Steve Isaak


Ricki Passidomo, Christian demagogue, beleaguered a polite, cringing protester in jeans and a t-shirt with “you were raped because of what you wore!”

She, smirking, defended her actions by reciting, twisting Bible verses.

Lightning later struck her twenty times in three minutes; one Christian witness wondered if Passidomo had been winnowed by what she swore.


Copyright ©2012 Steve Isaak. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce in any form, including electronic, without the author’s express permission.

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Have you googled “Santorum frothy Savage” lately? You should, every day! Be warned, the results are icky - even so, these googlings make a strong moral and political point to an "advanced fifteenth-century thinker," as Santorum has been (accurately) called.

This Steve-typical vent piece was posted for:

1. The revived 3 Word Week, whose words for this week are: beleaguer, demagogue and winnow. The next 3 Word Week writing prompt will be posted on this site on Thursday;

2. Mostly Fiction Mondays, created by Stranger and Me, whose theme for next week is "X"; their theme for this week is "Stranger".

3. Mr. Knowitall's latest/weekly Friday Flash 55 writing prompt (which will be posted later today).


Join us in our scribble and post joy. =)

3 Word Week #32

Here's the guidelines for Three Word Week.

I'll have a new 3 Word Week posted by 4:00 p.m., every Thursday from here on out.

The weekly deadline for posting 3 Word Week stories is the following Wednesday - or, more specifically, prior to midnight, Thursday.

Post your pennings to your websites. List your name and the link of your post in the Mister Linky widget below. On your site posts, please be sure to mention/hyperlink this site's central 3 Word Week link. (Thanks!)

Please submit one story per week - and list it once in the Mister Linky Widget.

I look forward to reading your work! =)

#

I.) beleaguer - v.
1. To harass; beset: We are beleaguered by problems.

2. To surround with troops; besiege.

vb. tr.
1. To trouble persistently; harass.

2. (Military) To lay siege to.




II.) demagogue - n. -
1. A leader who obtains power by means of impassioned appeals to the emotions and prejudices of the populace.

2. A leader of the common people in ancient times.

3. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) A political agitator who appeals with crude oratory to the prejudice and passions of the mob.

4. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) (esp in the ancient world) Any popular political leader or orator.




III.) winnow - v. -
1.
a. To separate the chaff from (grain) by means of a current of air.
b. To rid of undesirable parts.

2. To blow (chaff) off or away.

3. To blow away; scatter.

4. To blow on; fan: a breeze winnowing the tall grass.

5. To examine closely in order to separate the good from the bad; sift.

6.
a. To separate or get rid of (an undesirable part); eliminate: winnowing out the errors in logic.
b. To sort or select (a desirable part); extract.


v. intr.
1. To separate grain from chaff.

2. To separate the good from the bad.

n.
1. A device for winnowing grain.

2. An act of winnowing.

**POEM: Old friend: open soda

By Steve Isaak


You’re like canned caffeinated calories –
bubbly, propulsive
at sixteen,
fizzed out, left over
at forty.


Copyright ©2012 Steve Isaak. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce in any form, including electronic, without the author’s express permission.

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Old friend: open soda will also be included in my forthcoming mainstream poetry anthology, Almost there: poems. It's scheduled for autumn 2012 publication.

I posted this for Theme Thursday's "Bubbles" theme.

Join us in our scribble and post joy. =)