Fiction

Folks, it’s been a while since we dropped some mad Martian Migraine Press knowledge on you, so here goes: gird your loins for a NEWSCLUSTER!

We’re told by our author SRJones that his auto-ethnographical non-fiction book, When The Stars Are Right: Towards An Authentic R’lyehian Spirituality, is nearly complete. “It’s reading less like a work of Lovecraftian apologetics now, and more like a wigged-out crank religious text,” he says. “Which bothered me, initially, but I’ve since decided to just go with it. Y’know, git mah crank on.” CRANK AWAY, sir! We’re looking forward to getting our editing mitts on the thing, and we’re excited by some of the early illustrations coming in from Michael Lee MacDonald, an illustrator from Victoria BC, that Jones has tapped to provide cover and interior artwork! Check out this mock-up our DesignDroid5000 slapped together on a down-cycle!

Originally we had been looking at Lovecraft’s birthday for the release of When The Stars Are Right, but, since this is going to be our first actual physical book-type consumable product (as well as our usual electronic edition) and since we’d like to do this up right (or at least as right as possible — is anything ever truly perfect? Hmm) there is a possibility that the release date may be pushed towards Halloween. Appropriate, yes? Yes. And of course, Jones’ weird musings on all things squamous and spiritual will be available for pre-order. Follow Martian Migraine Press on the twitter @MartianMigraine for updates as they happen!

Martian Migraine Press authors have been getting some truly lovely reviews lately! Here’s just a sampling…

Jordan Stratford (author of Mechanicals) on JustineG’s ORGY IN THE VALLEY OF THE LUST LARVAE

Low-brow, squelching fun. You don’t grab a book like this on literary merit, you dive headfirst into unapologetic escapism. It is unrepentant camp without resorting to self-satire (which shows admirable restraint). There’s a lot informing this – Lovecraftian subtext and J-Pop tentacle hentai, even French New Wave surrealism a la Moebius and the Métal Hurlant crowd, Laloux’s La Planète sauvage – Like a Ray Bradbury Theater rerun gone horribly, horribly wrong. It is a fever-dream of adolescent-imprinting and sexual development during the era of underground VHS cult. Deviant, imaginative, grotesque and what-the-hell-else-were-you-expecting-exactly-with-this-title. The name promises, the text delivers. It’s a three dollar bid to see how the author can top this title with her next foray into pulp depravity. Seriously, there is simply no better answer to “What are you reading?” while sitting next to someone on a train.

Calum MacIver (UK blogger at Kult Kulture) recently picked up Justine’s BLACKSTONE Erotica series and here’s some of what he had to say about that…

Red Monolith Frenzy is a superb read; fast moving, cleverly constructed and delivering both a knowledgeable Lovecraftian pastiche (honourable mentions of The Unaussprechlichen Kulten of von Junzt, Pnakotic Manuscripts and the Hidden Plateau of Leng) alongside the slippery, slimy cosmic sex that Lovecraft sublimated in most of his best work.  The plot is intriguing, the writing is smooth and elegant and there are some really clever turns of phrase that help the forward momentum and at the same time deliver an intriguing off-kilter feel.  The combination of bizarre perverted sex, weird supernatural elements and insane cosmic horror all work in perfect unison to make Red Monolith Frenzy a magnificently entertaining read and the perfect combination of Lovecraftian creepiness, freaky erotica and cosmic horror.  All the other books in the Blackstone Erotica series are queued on my Kindle.

You can read the full review over on the Kult Kulture site here. Calum also has some nice things to say about us! Clearly, we’re happy to have him as a reader.

Finally, a discerning reader makes favourable comparisons between Nick Mamatas’ Cthulhu Senryu and our own skawt chonzz’s R’LYEH SUTRA. We’re not surprised, per se, but we have had our hair blown back a bit. Having chonzz in the bullpen here at MMP HQ has never been… easy. But reviews like this make it worth the drain on our psyches and various glands…

Exploring new ground in Mythos poetry, skawt chonzz’ avant garde verse recalls some of the more experimental and daring works from THE STARRY WISDOM: A Tribute to H P Lovecraft and Songs of the Black Wurm Gism: The Starry Wisdom Part 2 (Creation Oneiros). Like Nick Matamas’ Cthulhu Senryu, R’lyeh Sutra can be enjoyed both from a straight reading and at a higher level, reflecting on how skawt chonzz uses and refers to the Mythos – often in ways that might surprise some of the more hidebound Mythos fans!

Yes, if you’re a “hidebound Mythos fan”, Martian Migraine titles may not be for you… but if you can grok a little originality with your Old Ones, then we might hit that sweet spot in your soul.