VODYANOI

 VODYANOI

"All these monsters stared about seeking him, but they could not find him, since he was protected by his sacred circle."

Nikolai Gogol, The Viy

"In appearance, the vodyanoi resembled a repulsive old man with hirsute body and long, matter hair and beard. It was frequently suggested that, like the devils in Russian icons, he looked black or that is body-hair was black. Some physical details, on the other hand, suggested the influence of the watery milieu in which he lived. Thus, his hair might be green or he might have webbed feet, a fishy tail, scaly skin. "
Elizabeth Warner, Russian Myths 

"This is the name of a dangerous water being in the folklore and traditions of Russia. The Vodianoi, also called Vodyanoi, Vodyanoy or Vodnik, is variously described as an old man with a blue face, white beard and green hair; an old man covered in scales or fur with huge paws, glowing eyes, horns and a tail; or entirely as a grotesque fish."

Carol Rose, Giants, Monsters and Dragons

AEGIPAN

AEGIPAN

“And God! The shapes of nightmare that float around in that perpetual daemon twilight! The blasphemies that lurk and leer and hold a Witches’ Sabbat with that woman as a high-priestess! The black shaggy entities that are not quite goats—the crocodile-headed beast with three legs and a dorsal row of tentacles—and the flat-nosed aegipans dancing in a pattern that Egypt’s priests knew and called accursed."

H.P. Lovecraft & Zealia Bishop, Medusa's Coil

"In an instant every moving entity was electrified; and forming at once into a ceremonial procession, the nightmare horde slithered away in quest of the sound—goat, satyr, and aegipan, incubus, succuba, and lemur, twisted toad and shapeless elemental, dog-faced howler and silent strutter in darkness—all led by the abominable naked phosphorescent thing that had squatted on the carved golden throne, and that now strode insolently bearing in its arms the glassy-eyed corpse of the corpulent old man."
H.P. Lovecraft, The Horror At Red Hook

"Capricorn or Sea Goat. This sign resembles Aegipan, whom Jupiter (Zeus) wished to be put among the constellations because he was nourished with him, just as he put the goat nurse we have mentioned before. He, first, as Eratosthenes (Greek poet C3rd B.C.) says, when Jupiter attacked the Titanes, is said to have cast into the enemy the fear that is called 'panikos'. The lower part of his body has fish formation, because he hurled shellfish against the enemy, too, instead of stones."
Pseudo-Hyginus, Astronomica 2. 28

MANDRAKE

MANDRAKE

"It stood among osiers and alders on a low, mound-shaped elevation; and in front, toward the marshes, there was a loamy meadow-bottom where the short fat stems and tufted leaves of the mandrake grew in lush abundance, being more plentiful and of greater size than elsewhere through all that sorcery-ridden province. The fleshly, bifurcated roots of this plant, held by many to resemble the human body, were used by Gilles and Sabine in the brewing of love-philtres."

Clark Ashton Smith, The Mandrakes

"It looks as if the name 'mandrake' may have been applied to very strong plantroots shaped like little statuettes of the human figure. It was believed that small familiar demons took up their abode in these plants. Mandrakes revealed knowledge of the future by shaking their heads when questions were put to them."
Grillot de Givry, Witchcraft, Magic & Alchemy

"Mandrake. A poisonous perennial herb that grows in the Mediterranean region and that is reputed to have powerful magical properties. Mandrake, part of the nightshade family, has a strong and unpleasant odor. It is highly toxic, though it is used in theraputic remedies and as an aphrodisiac in love philtres. The magic attributed to mandrake is due to the shape of its thick root, which looks like a man or woman. According to lore, mandrake shrinks at the approach of a person. Touching it can be fatal. If uprooted, it shrieks and sweats blood, and whoever pulls it out dies in agony. 
Rosemary Ellen Guiley, The Encyclopedia Of Witches and Witchcraft

VAMPIRE

VAMPIRE 

"105-Vampire visits man in ancestral abode-is his own father." 

H.P. Lovecraft, Commonplace Book

WRAITH

WRAITH

"Where wraiths, wind-wafted, kept their distant den;
Where sighing spirits move the listless leaves,
And owlets nest on ruin'd castles' eaves"

H.P. Lovecraft, To the Late John H. Fowler, Esq.

"The apparition or "double" of a living person, generally supoosed to be an omen of death. The wraith closely resembles its protoype in the flesh, even to the details of dress."
Lewis Spence, An Encyclopedia Of Occultism

WEREWOLF

WEREWOLF

"Here howl by night the werewolves, and the souls

 of those that knew me well in other days."

H.P. Lovecraft, Aletheia Phrikodes

"This is the name of a transformation of a human into a monstrous cannibal wolf."

 "The Werewolf is essentially a human form during the day but transforms, according to different versions, either at the height of the full moon, or by donning a special wolf skin, or permanently by some curse." 

Carol Rose, Giants, Monsters and Dragons

This was a redrawing in preparation for my first (of three!) book of monsters coming out through Lethe Press.

NECRONOMICON 2019 WRAP UP!

Well, NecronomiCon 2019 has come and gone and I already can't wait til 2021. This year was the best one since Niels & co restarted it back in 2013. The panels, films, vendors and guests were all stellar. My only complaint was that there was so much cool stuff it was hard to pick what to do and what to skip. Here's a rundown of how spent the Con.

First off, Jeanne D'Angelo and I leisurely drove up from Philadelphia with Justine Jones and Tanya Finder. We stopped at Rosedale Cemetery in Orange NJ to see the graves of tennis champion Althea Gibson and workers rights heroes Quinta & Amelia Maggia.

Once we arrived in Rhode Island we went to the Providence Art Club for the Ars Necronomica art show where Jeanne & I had work on display. Tons of other great artists were represented including Brandon Kawashima, Michelle Souliere, Liv Rainey-Smith,  Matthew Jaffe, Allen Koszowski, Jason Bradley Thompson, Joe Broers, Dave Felton, Ryan Lesser, Mike Knives, Karen Main, Kurt Komoda,  including Seventh Church Ministries collaborators Caitlin McCormack, Sam Heimer & Jason McKittrick!

Clockwise from top left: 

Sam Heimer, Kyla and James Quigley, Cryptocurium, Nick Gucker.

We then hightailed it out of there to see Robert Lloyd Parry perform two readings as M.R. James! He did the Ash Tree and Oh Whistle And I'll Come To You, My Lad with no microphone and lit only by 5 candles! It was fantastic and I'm so glad I got to see the performance.

The next day started with me on the very first panel of the con! It was called Scripturum Obscurum: Remarkable Unsung Authors and I, as promised, blathered about Margaret St. Clair and Charles Saunders. I was a little intimidated because the other panelists were pretty amazing. Fiona Maeve, Gemma Files, Leslie Clinger and Victor LaValle (go read his book The Changeling!) and they all suggested intriguing authors/books. The two most notable: Victor suggested Corregidora by Gayl Jones (about a woman who, after a hysterectomy, begins hearing the voices of her ancestors through the empty space in her abdomen!) and Fiona suggested Tentacle by Rita Indiana (a post apocalyptic epic with a voodoo prophecy and a transgender character that transitions with the help of a sacred anemone!).

After that we did what we came to do, we set up our table! We met two more weirdos that attached to our now mega-table, Stephen Wilson and Christian Degn. The vendor's room was great this year and was filled with spectacular artists: Yves Tourigny and Seventh Church Ministries collaborators Nick Gucker, James Quigley (aka Gunsho), Sam Heimer and Jason McKittrick (Cryptocurium)! Scott Nicolay, Anya Martin and Justin Steele were there at the Outer Dark table as well! He wasn't tabling but it was great to see Craig Gidney as he stopped by the table a few times to chat! 

Myself and Scott Nicolay Photo by Matthew Bartlett

The next day we tabled then I was on another panel, this one about Manly Wade Wellman! Again, an intimidating crew. I was sandwiched between Nathan Ballingrud and Orrin Grey two authors whose work I love and respect. We had a great time and I think we got to shed some light on Wellman's works and adaptations.

Orrin Grey, myself and Nathan Ballingrud

Photos by Kevin Wilson

We also got to see two of the films that were being screened: Aniara, (Sweden, 2019: an extremely depressing space epic) and The Hellstrom Chronicle (USA, 1971: a somewhat faux documentary about insects framed as a horror movie).

But probably my favorite part of the whole trip was hanging out with our carload of crudbags and Phil Gelatt & Victoria Dalpe who hosted us for the weekend. We stay with them every NecronomiCon and there's always the same cavalcade of sweet weirdos. Jordan Smith, Laura Maxfield, Andrea Sparacio (who did the cover and GOH illustrations in the Memento book!), Tim Mucci and Joseph E Dwyer. Usually we just see each other in the morning while chugging coffee or at night before we pass out, but this year we got some quality time and barbecued. Orrin Grey and Joshua Hackett were there and it was great to hang out with them not just on the vendor room floor.


Justine, Andrea, Tim, Vicki & Jeanne during the nerd BBQ!

Regrets? You bet. There are tons of people I only got to see for seconds like Paul Tremblay, John Langan, Simon Strantzas and Matthew Bartlett. And I didnt even get to say hi to Silvia Moreno-Garcia or  Molly Tanzer (who's work I love). And of course I was super sad that Marcelo Gallegos, Skinner and Michael Wehunt didn't make it out.

On the way back we managed to stop at Ender's Island, a beautiful Christian retreat that offers art classes and recovery treatment. They also happen to have the mummified arm of St. Edmund on site!

I had an absolute blast this year and I'm honestly sad that it's over. I was filled with inspiration and hope. Thank you to all the organizers and volunteers that make NecronomiCon go. Extra thanks to Niels Hobbs and s.j. bagley who are great people (and the organizers I personally know haha!). Also super special thanks to my amazingly talented, inspired, inspiring and supportive partner Jeanne D'Angelo who had her own amazing zines for sale but also talked to people about my work and calmed me down when I was stressing out about dumb stuff. She's also an excellent navigator. 

PS-I sold out of a lot of things, but not all.
Stories From the Borderland III will go on sale in the Yog-Blogsoth store on Friday September 13th at 11AM EST!

News....

Hey everyone! This is the first of two news posts. I just wanted to give you a heads up about two anthologies that I did the covers for. 

First up is Broken Eye Books' Lovecraft themed anthology Welcome To Miskatonic University! It includes stories from Kristi DeMeester, Gwendolyn Kiste, Matthew M. Bartlett, Brandon O'Brien, Marcus Chan,  Liz Schriftsteller, Elliot Cooper, Bennett North, Gina Marie Guadagnino, Scott R. Jones, Brenda Kezar, Nate Southard & K.G. McAbee. If that publisher sounds familiar it's because did interior illustrations for the Broken Eye Books anthology Ride The Star Winds. 

Next up is the David Cronenberg-themed anthology from Weirdpunk Books titled The New Flesh! This anthology features stories by Brian Evenson, Sara Century, C.M. Muller, Leo X Robertson, Max D. Stanton, Emma Alice Johnson, Cody Goodfellow, Bruno Lombardi, Katy Michelle Quinn, Jack Lothian, Mona Swan LeSueur & Fiona Maeve Geist, Madeleine Swann, Charles Austin Muir, Ryan Harding, Alex Smith, Gwendolyn Kiste, 

Brendan Vidito, & Sam Richard! If this publisher looks familiar it's because I did the cover illustration for their anthology Zombie Punks Fuck Off!

I'd highly recommend either of these collections since I've worked with both publishers before and I'm familiar with most of the authors involved.

Stay tuned because I'll be posting NecronomiCon news within the next few days!!

ELDER THING

ELDER THING

"Objects are eight feet long all over. Six-foot five-ridged barrel torso 3.5 feet central diameter, 1 foot end diameters. Dark grey, flexible, and infinitely tough. Seven-foot membraneous wings of same colour, found folded, spread out of furrows between ridges. Wing framework tubular or glandular, of lighter grey, with orifices at wing tips. Spread wings have serrated edge. Around equator, one at central apex of each of the five vertical, stave-like ridges, are five systems of light grey flexible arms or tentacles found tightly folded to torso but expansible to maximum length of over 3 feet. Like arms of primitive crinoid. Single stalks 3 inches diameter branch after 6 inches into five sub-stalks, each of which branches after 8 inches into five small, tapering tentacles or tendrils, giving each stalk a total of 25 tentacles.

“At top of torso blunt bulbous neck of lighter grey with gill-like suggestions holds yellowish five-pointed starfish-shaped apparent head covered with three-inch wiry cilia of various prismatic colours. Head thick and puffy, about 2 feet point to point, with three-inch flexible yellowish tubes projecting from each point. Slit in exact centre of top probably breathing aperture. At end of each tube is spherical expansion where yellowish membrane rolls back on handling to reveal glassy, red-irised globe, evidently an eye. Five slightly longer reddish tubes start from inner angles of starfish-shaped head and end in sac-like swellings of same colour which upon pressure open to bell-shaped orifices 2 inches maximum diameter and lined with sharp white tooth-like projections. Probable mouths. All these tubes, cilia, and points of starfish-head found folded tightly down; tubes and points clinging to bulbous neck and torso. Flexibility surprising despite vast toughness."

“At bottom of torso rough but dissimilarly functioning counterparts of head arrangements exist. Bulbous light-grey pseudo-neck, without gill suggestions, holds greenish five-pointed starfish-arrangement. Tough, muscular arms 4 feet long and tapering from 7 inches diameter at base to about 2.5 at point. To each point is attached small end of a greenish five-veined membraneous triangle 8 inches long and 6 wide at farther end. This is the paddle, fin, or pseudo-foot which has made prints in rocks from a thousand million to fifty or sixty million years old. From inner angles of starfish-arrangement project two-foot reddish tubes tapering from 3 inches diameter at base to 1 at tip. Orifices at tips. All these parts infinitely tough and leathery, but extremely flexible. Four-foot arms with paddles undoubtedly used for locomotion of some sort, marine or otherwise. When moved, display suggestions of exaggerated muscularity. As found, all these projections tightly folded over pseudo-neck and end of torso, corresponding to projections at other end."
H.P. Lovecraft, At the Mountains Of Madness

SERVITOR OF GLA'AKI

SERVITOR OF GLA'AKI
"But those in the cult certainly were supposed to have the real witches' marks. It was the long, thin spines which are supposed to cover the body of their god Glaaki. In the initiation ceremony the novice was held (sometimes willing, sometimes not) on the lake shore while Glaaki rose from the depths. It would drive one of its spines into the chest of the victim, and when a fluid had been injected into the body the spine detached from itself from the body of Glaaki."

Through the emission of impulses, perhaps magnetic, from the brain of Glaaki, the man was kept alive while he was controlled almost completely by the being."
Ramsey Campbell, The Inhabitant Of the Lake