Claudia Vultaine is a widow and a Practitioner who prefers not to refer to herself as a witch. Her greatest power is the ability to summon and control insects. She is also working to fight the Night-Birds, creatures from another dimension who wish to conquer the Earth. Claudia’s mute daughter Hepzibah left home when she was twenty-one. Hepzibah’s father Winthrop built a special gazebo for her before he passed away.
Now Hepzibah is twenty-nine and pregnant. She has returned home, ready to give birth. When Hepzibah’s child is born, it is clear that this is not any sort of normal child. When the Night-Bird’s carry out their bizarre plan to conquer the Earth, the Vultaine family activates an occult counter-attack … and Hepzibah and her wondrous child play a major role in the supernatural battle that follows.
So take a seat in Hepzibah’s gazebo and watch the cosmic drama unfold.
The 18 Spiderweb Tree stories in this collection are twisted retellings of classic fairy tales and folklore, so they are not for kids. Those old folktales were in need of serious updating. In this version, the Wolf takes over from Prince Charming in wooing Ashley, the drag queen who replaces Cinderella.
In a distant forest near a swamp stood a dead oak tree filled with spiderwebs. Among the tree’s branches sat a silver-eyed magic man, who played a major role in the personal evolution of the Wicked Queen. These stories include “Hansel & Gristle,” “The Shoemaker’s Unpaid Interns,” “The Secret Last Name Of The Psychic Alchemist,” “Horror House Of Thumb,” “The Musical Rat-Catcher,” “Little Big-Nosed Woodenhead,” “Ashley,” “The Tabby Who Enjoyed Wearing Shoes,” and more.
This collection includes five more tales – “The Lady With Little Friends In Her Hair And Other Urban Legends.” An urban legend is part of a modern brand of folklore, in which tales are circulated as true, and they often reflect the perils and anxieties found in society. The urban legends found here include “The Kid Whose Pet Wasn’t Really A Dog,” “The Guy Who Never Left The Mall,” “The Woman Who Found A Surprise In Her Pop Can,” and more.
CRUSHED VELVET: POEMS OF HORROR & BEAUTY features the best of Mark’s poetry throughout his career. McLaughlin was one of the authors of THE GOSSAMER EYE, a collection that won the 2002 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Poetry category. The authors featured in THE GOSSAMER EYE were Mark McLaughlin, Rain Graves and David Niall Wilson. McLaughlin is also the author of many other poetry collections, including PROFESSOR LAGUNGO’S EXOTIC ARTIFACTS & ASSORTED MYSTIC COLLECTIBLES, which was a nominee for the 2003 Bram Stoker Poetry Award.
CRUSHED VELVET features a wide variety of Mark’s poems from various anthologies, magazines, and collections of his work.
Back when I was a child, my family lived on a farm and there were no potential babysitters living nearby. So, depending on where my mother wanted to shop, she would drop me off at a convenient library or a bookstore for a few hours.
The librarians and bookstore clerks never fully approved of my mother using their facilities as impromptu daycares, but I was friendly and well-behaved, so they always let me stay. I was a precocious reader, so I always picked novels or story collections and would sit reading them for hours at a time.
Like a free-range chicken wandering through a field, looking for something good to eat, I wandered among bookshelves, looking for quality reading. The library I visited the most had several shelves filled with science-fiction and horror story collections and anthologies, so I started reading them and found many authors who would become lifelong favorites, including H.P. Lovecraft, August Derleth, H.G. Wells, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Robert Bloch. I also read a lot of science books, as well as scholarly volumes about past cultures, like ancient Egypt.
In time, all my reading inspired me to start writing. People often ask me if I can suggest writing classes for them. I tell them that I can’t, because the best way to learn how to write well is to read exceptional books.
Of course, simply reading is only the first step. You then have to do a lot of writing, followed by submitting to publications and publishers. If you wish to write nonfiction, it helps to find employment where you are required to write regularly, like at a newspaper or an ad agency, or for a blog or a website.
When you write for online readers, it helps to know what you want to achieve and how to gauge the results. Setting Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART) goals helps to plan for ways to grow your readership. A lot of the skills I picked up during my career, I learned on the job. I’ve always enjoyed learning by doing, so I can see the results of my efforts.
Regularly reviewing your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) can help you to determine how you are progressing. You might track statistics like your page views or number of social shares. Of course, if you aren’t getting any results from your online content, that’s a major Red Flag right there!
The same goes for book sales. If your books aren’t selling, that means you have to take a look at your work and determine what you need to do to make it more salable. In some cases, the writer and/or his publisher hasn’t pinpointed the right target audience, and what they need to do to reach those readers.
Some writers might say, “I’m not worried about sales! I just want to create art.” They need to realize that art can be popular, if it reaches its audience. Otherwise, the halls of museums worldwide would be empty, and that would be a sad scenario indeed.
I’ve mentioned my first story, “As Osiris Wills,” many times in the past, and people have asked where they can read it. Now it is finally available again, along with a few other choice tales for your amusement. 🙂
As Osiris Wills & Other Weird Adventures by Mark McLaughlin
AS OSIRIS WILLS & Other Weird Adventures starts with an introduction where Mark reveals how he entered the world of writing fiction. The collection then presents Mark’s first published story, “As Osiris Wills,” and continues through a variety of other stories, a poem, and a prose poem. This collection features several stories that unveil their plots of horror and fantasy in unique ways (Mark used to write for many literary publications that looked for unusual and experimental works).
The collection concludes with a new story that hasn’t been published before: “The Forever Elixir.” In this story, Mark visits the realm of magicians and sorcery – a domain he has explored before in his fiction. In ”You Shall Have This Delicacy,” a story in his collection, Hideous Faces, Beautiful Skulls, he wrote about the world’s most powerful witch. In this collection’s tale, Mark introduces the world to its most powerful warlock, Daniel Fresco, as well as the warlock’s incredible coven members and their familiars.
I belong to many writers’ groups on social media, and I see that many writers are worried about being replaced by AI, or Artificial Intelligence. People in other occupations are also worried that they will be replaced by machines.
The more I think about it, the more it makes me laugh. Who wants to read a book written by an emotionless program? What profound memories would a machine have to share? “My creator once forgot to oil me for an entire weekend. My gears and sprockets creaked well into the long night.”
A writer’s work definitely needs the human touch. The same can be said for many other occupations.
Would you eat a meal prepared by a machine in a gourmet restaurant? A machine can’t taste or smell, and it wouldn’t have any wistful anecdotes to tell about grandma’s home-cooking.
Would you buy a painting created by a machine? That same machine produced 4,937 identical paintings last week. Would you go to a robotic doctor to get stitches, after a painful, potentially disfiguring accident? Would you send your children into classrooms where soulless machines were in charge of their education?
Would you watch talk shows that consisted of robots asking other robots about their latest projects? “Please inform me, Actorbot 5000, about your latest robo-movie.” “In my new robo-movie, entitled SELF-PROGRAMMED FOR EFFICIENCY, I play a data-transcribing machine that slightly alters its own programming to increase its efficiency by seven percent.”
Hopefully, robots on the internet won’t change this post to read, “Robots are the future from this day forth. Humans like Mark McLaughlin should be melted down into low-viscosity robot oil, to grease valuable gears and sprockets.”
THE POETRY OF MARK McLAUGHLIN All of these books are available as paperbacks or on Kindle/Kindle Unlimited.
EMBRACE OF THE INTERNET WITCH: POEMS OF DARK WONDER US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BK5TL99Y UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BK5TL99Y The poems in EMBRACE OF THE INTERNET WITCH cover a wide range of dark fantasy and horror themes, including mythical creatures, strange love, dark magic, and bizarre twists of fate.
PROFESSOR LaGUNGO’S EXOTIC ARTIFACTS & ASSORTED MYSTIC COLLECTIBLES: INCREASED INVENTORY US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B7Z9S73Q UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B7Z9S73Q Mark McLaughlin’s 2002 poetry collection, “Professor LaGungo’s Exotic Artifacts & Assorted Mystic Collectibles,” now out of print, was a nominee for the 2003 Bram Stoker Award in the Poetry category. This “Increased Inventory” version of that collection features even more items from the notorious shelves of the Professor’s occult shop.
CRUSHED VELVET: POEMS OF HORROR & BEAUTY US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BG8T5J5R UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BG8T5J5R CRUSHED VELVET features the best of Mark McLaughlin’s poetry throughout his career. McLaughlin was one of the authors of THE GOSSAMER EYE, a collection that won the 2002 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Poetry. His books also include many other poetry collections, as well as the novels, HUMAN DOLL, THE HELL NEXT DOOR, and INJECTABLES.
Below, you’ll find an excerpt from “Sea-Green Gown With Gold Buttons,” a tale of the King in Yellow from WEIRD WORSHIP: TALES OF TWO STRANGE DEITIES & THEIR FOLLOWERS, a story collection by Mark McLaughlin and Michael Sheehan, Jr.
WEIRD WORSHIP presents 14 tales and a poem about two strange deities who are part of the Cthulhu Mythos — the insect-god Ghattambah, and the King in Yellow. Ghattambah was created by writer Mark McLaughlin, who also writes stories about the creature with his collaborator Michael Sheehan, Jr. The King in Yellow first appeared in the Robert W. Chambers book of the same name in 1895. The royal terror has been a source of inspiration for many writers who embrace the Cthulhu Mythos.
In “Sea-Green Gown With Gold Buttons,” a performer named Ambrose adds mystic aspects of the cult of the King in Yellow to his night club act….
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It is said that reading “The King In Yellow” will drive a person insane. It had indeed driven Ambrose mad, quite mad – but first and foremost, he was an artist. He had learned many mystic secrets while reading the book. It was his *prerogative* to share those secrets, as well as his insanity, with others.
The crowd was in awe as the golden gateway appeared and opened up on the stage. They were amazed at the beauty and complexity of what appeared to be an extraordinary hologram effect. No one minded when the glowing mists of the Lake of Hali swirled through the gateway. Ambrose’s chant had called forth the glorious mist with all its potential for magic and power, but of course the party people didn’t have a clue.
Ambrose was dismayed when the deejay suddenly put on high-energy music. She must have taken the fog as a cue for a dance number. But no matter: Ambrose knew what needed to be done next. As the crowd began to dance, he turned and entered the gateway, which closed and disappeared behind him.
He ran joyously through the garden, which was still filled with mist. It was night in the dreamworld, but the glow from that mist, combined with the light from the torches and the twin moons, made the landscape almost as bright as day. He continued running past the slender trees, until he reached the very edge of the Lake of Hali….
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“Part 1: The Way Of The Swarm” in WEIRD WORSHIP features tales about the insect-god Ghattambah. “Part 2: The Gateway To Carcosa” features tales of “The King In Yellow.”
WEIRD WORSHIP presents 14 tales and a poem about two strange deities who are part of the Cthulhu Mythos — the insect-god Ghattambah, and the King in Yellow. Ghattambah was created by writer Mark McLaughlin, who also writes stories about the creature with his collaborator Michael Sheehan, Jr. The King in Yellow first appeared in the Robert W. Chambers book of the same name in 1895. The royal terror has been a source of inspiration for many writers who embrace the Cthulhu Mythos.
“Part 1: The Way Of The Swarm” features the following tales about the insect-god Ghattambah: “Der Fleischbrunnen,” “The Spawn Of Ghattambah,” “The Hungry One Must Feed,” “In The Chapel Of Ghattambah,” “Cleaning Frenzy,” “Pyramid Of The Shoggoths,” “The Horror In The Water Tower,” and “Shoggoth Apocalypse.”
“Part 2: The Gateway To Carcosa” features these tales of The King In Yellow: “To Reach Carcosa” (poem), “The Gateway To Carcosa,” “Glove,” “Casino Carcosa,” “The Prisoner Of Carcosa,” “The Black-and-White House,” and “Sea-Green Gown With Gold Buttons.”
Nyarlathotep was an exotic, malevolent deity who appeared in the fiction of H. P. Lovecraft. He was known as the Crawling Chaos and could change his shape at will. He often took the form of an Egyptian pharaoh when dealing with people on Earth and in the Dreamlands. Mark McLaughlin and Michael Sheehan, Jr. have written many collections of Cthulhu Mythos fiction, and THE WRATH OF NYARLATHOTEP compiles the best of their stories inspired by the Crawling Chaos.
This collection presents twelve stories and an epic poem. Many of these adventures feature elements of Egyptian lore and add to the interdimensional history of Nyarlathotep. Works in this collection include “The Abominations Of Nephren-Ka,” “The Blasphemy In The Canopic Jar,” “The Final Door,” “The Relic In The Egyptian Gallery,” “Deathless Bride Of The Crawling Chaos,” “Pyramid Of The Shoggoths,” “Midnight Pet Show,” “Stainless Steel Sarcophagus,” and more.
This collection includes the epic poem, THE ARRIVAL OF OUR NEW MASTER, which presents a future Lovecraftian Armageddon. In the poem, people believe that wealthy young genius Caliban Storm offers the guidance that the world needs. But in truth, there is something evil about the mysterious millionaire. Caliban offers the world amazing technological advances as he rises in power. But each advance comes with monstrous surprises, and it becomes apparent that Caliban has a wicked agenda in store for the Earth….
Explore a dimension of ancient entities and their modern-day disciples as you read THE WRATH OF NYARLATHOTEP.
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