Tag: William Meikle

A Night in the Lonesome October —
All is not what it seems…

In the murky London gloom, a knife-wielding gentleman named Jack prowls the midnight streets with his faithful watchdog Snuff – gathering together the grisly ingredients they will need for an upcoming ancient and unearthly rite. For soon after the death of the moon, black magic will summon the Elder Gods back into the world. And all manner of Players, both human and undead, are preparing to participate.

Some have come to open the gates. Some have come to slam them shut.

And now the dread night approaches – so let the Game begin.

Author: Roger Zelazny
Illustrator: Gahan Wilson
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Gaslamp
Publisher: Avon Books
Publication Date: September 1, 1994
Pages: 280

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October 24th

An action packed chapter today. Our heroes discover, thanks to Jill’s warding spells, that several of the familiars have visited the house in their absence in the city, one of them a loping wolf-thing that Talbot insists wasn’t him.

After Snuff does his rounds to make sure everyone knows the vivisectionists didn’t get him, someone, Snuff suspects the Vicar again, lays a spell on Jack’s house, a booming thunder and lightning storm of a kind, but only on the inside. The ‘things’ in the mirror, in the steamer trunk, in the attic and in the basement, all different, all dangerous, all get loose at the same time. Jack and Snuff have a battle on their hands.

The slithering things slither. Jack tries to round them up with magic while Snuff shows his mettle, dealing with the thing from the steamer trunk before holding off the thing from the attic long enough for Jack to get to work on it with his blade. The thing from the basement arrives, intending on getting at Snuff. Jack dispatches it easily.

We learn in passing that Jack is indeed under a curse and the blade is a focus of that, but that he is also a magic user in his own right, and possessor of at least two wands of power, one of which is one of the game’s major artifacts.

We also learn that the ‘things’ weren’t actually part of the game, but were intended as insurance to cover Jack and Snuff’s tracks should they need to escape after the big night. That insurance policy is now revoked.

The things are all eventually dispatched after a wonderfully described battle in the house. Jill and Graymalk arrive to see what all the fuss has been about and they have a very domestic pot of tea in the carnage after the battle.

At the close of day they get rid of the remains of the things by filling the druid’s wicker baskets with the offal, hoisting them up a big oak tree and setting it alight, a bonfire for Halloween, and a very pretty sight.

A lot of what Zelazny does well today. Fast paced, action packed but you always know where all the participants are and what they’re doing due to his descriptive skills, and he still manages to slide some pertinent information in among the mayhem. Technically, he’s brilliant, and also too good to let you notice while you’re barreling along caught up in the plot.

We got another lovely, gruesome Wilson illo too today, of the thing from the steamer trunk, coming apart where Snuff has been at it. Wonderful stuff.

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Boo-graphy:
William Meikle is a Scottish writer, now living in Canada, with more than thirty novels published in the genre press and over 300 short story credits in thirteen countries.

He has books available from a variety of publishers including Dark Regions Press, Crossroad Press and Severed Press, and his work has appeared in a number of professional anthologies and magazines.

He lives in Newfoundland with whales, bald eagles and icebergs for company.

When he’s not writing he drinks beer, plays guitar, and dreams of fortune and glory.

Website

• 

• 

The Green & the Black —
A small group of industrial archaeologists head into the center of Newfoundland, investigating a rumor of a lost prospecting team of Irish miners in the late Nineteenth century.

They find the remains of a mining operation, and a journal and papers detailing the extent of the miners’ activities. But there is something else on the site, something older than the miners, as old as the rock itself.

Soon the archaeologists are coming under assault, from a strange infection that spreads like wildfire through mind and body, one that doctors seem powerless to define let alone control.

The survivors only have one option. They must return to the mine, and face what waits for them, down in the deep dark places, where the green meets the black.

William’s Halloween Giveaway

A Night in the Lonesome October —
All is not what it seems…

In the murky London gloom, a knife-wielding gentleman named Jack prowls the midnight streets with his faithful watchdog Snuff – gathering together the grisly ingredients they will need for an upcoming ancient and unearthly rite. For soon after the death of the moon, black magic will summon the Elder Gods back into the world. And all manner of Players, both human and undead, are preparing to participate.

Some have come to open the gates. Some have come to slam them shut.

And now the dread night approaches – so let the Game begin.

Author: Roger Zelazny
Illustrator: Gahan Wilson
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Gaslamp
Publisher: Avon Books
Publication Date: September 1, 1994
Pages: 280

---

October 23rd

Another long chapter today, and the game is starting to take shape. Snuff has recruited the help of Larry Talbot in attempting to find the center of things and takes him to the spot where Snuff and Graymalk were transported to the Dreamlands. They have a long talk about the nature of Snuff’s magic and what it can, and can’t, do. Talbot believes another player has been taken off the table and asks if Snuff’s magic can identify them, but that isn’t possible. They walk Snuff’s rounds and eventually discover a player has indeed died. The mad monk has apparently hanged himself, but investigation shows that it’s a set up. He has been murdered, and his magical icon stolen. Someone is collecting artifacts, and whoever it is will have gained a distinct advantage in the game to come.

Snuff suspects the vicar. Later, while investigating with Graymalk, they are almost caught in the vicar’s house. Snuff has a chance to get away, but Graymalk is trapped by the vicar, so Snuff goes back and rescues her, mangling the vicar’s ear in the processs. A wonderfully written scene that serves to show how tightly cemented Snuff and Graymalk’s relationship has come; Snuff is now bonded to her almost as tightly as he is to Jack, willing to put himself in peril for her.

Snuff and Graymalk accompany Jack and Jill to London. Their master and mistress are getting very friendly, Jill even going so far as to share a warding spell that will inform them if anyone tries to enter their house in their absence. They are enjoying their trip, but Snuff realises they are being followed. Before he can raise the alarm he is kidnapped.

The vicar has delivered Snuff into the hands of vivisectionists where he is to be rendered down in candle wax, no doubt for use in some nefarious ritual. He is saved at the last minute by Jack, an angry Jack full of the power of some dark spell. When they leave the vivisectionists they leave a sea of blood behind, fulfilling the prophecy of the old cat in the Dreamlands. The scene in the vivisectionist’s lair is wonderfully done, just the right mixture of comic accents and Snuff- in-peril moments allied with some of Zelazny’s descriptive work, which, at its best, is second to none.

So someone is gathering the things of power. Is it the vicar? Or is this another of Zelazny’s misdirections. The Good Doctor’s ‘big man’ has also been prowling around. Is he being used for nefarious purposes? And how will Jack and Jill’s obviously budding relationship pan out when all the Openers and Closers have to declare for one side or the other? Lots of questions still to be answered, and the moon is still growing. Talbot’s curse will obviously have a part to play too.

And is Jack also, like Snuff, under some kind of curse, or is he using the dark magic that surrounds him deliberately? I predict more blood.

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Boo-graphy:
William Meikle is a Scottish writer, now living in Canada, with more than thirty novels published in the genre press and over 300 short story credits in thirteen countries.

He has books available from a variety of publishers including Dark Regions Press, Crossroad Press and Severed Press, and his work has appeared in a number of professional anthologies and magazines.

He lives in Newfoundland with whales, bald eagles and icebergs for company.

When he’s not writing he drinks beer, plays guitar, and dreams of fortune and glory.

Website

• 

• 

The Green & the Black —
A small group of industrial archaeologists head into the center of Newfoundland, investigating a rumor of a lost prospecting team of Irish miners in the late Nineteenth century.

They find the remains of a mining operation, and a journal and papers detailing the extent of the miners’ activities. But there is something else on the site, something older than the miners, as old as the rock itself.

Soon the archaeologists are coming under assault, from a strange infection that spreads like wildfire through mind and body, one that doctors seem powerless to define let alone control.

The survivors only have one option. They must return to the mine, and face what waits for them, down in the deep dark places, where the green meets the black.

William’s Halloween Giveaway

A Night in the Lonesome October —
All is not what it seems…

In the murky London gloom, a knife-wielding gentleman named Jack prowls the midnight streets with his faithful watchdog Snuff – gathering together the grisly ingredients they will need for an upcoming ancient and unearthly rite. For soon after the death of the moon, black magic will summon the Elder Gods back into the world. And all manner of Players, both human and undead, are preparing to participate.

Some have come to open the gates. Some have come to slam them shut.

And now the dread night approaches – so let the Game begin.

Author: Roger Zelazny
Illustrator: Gahan Wilson
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Gaslamp
Publisher: Avon Books
Publication Date: September 1, 1994
Pages: 280

---

October 22nd

A long, strange, chapter today. After a round of the house to ensure the ‘things’ are all under control we learn that Snuff has played the game many times, that he is more than he seems and under some kind of curse…and that Jack has told Jill of this, a Closer telling secrets to an Opener this late in the game, a thing unheard of before. Likewise Snuff and Greymalk are getting side-eyed from other familiars for being too close to each other. They’re not ‘playing the game’ properly to some eyes.

Several titbits of info emerge that might be relevant… “Linda Enderby” has been visiting with Larry Talbot again…and the vampire Snuff found staked was not wearing the Count’s magic ring. One of the game’s important artifacts is loose in the wild.

Snuff needs to recalculate his mental map and with Graymalk goes to his dog’s nest on high to scope out the land. He finds what he thinks might be the new center, but it appears to be an unremarkable patch of land. They decide to take a closer look.

This is where things drop far into the twilight zone. Having found a tumble of strangely carved rocks and then almost being killed by a bolt of lightning, Snuff and Graymalk are transported to the Dreamlands, where time has little meaning and reality is fluid, to say the least. After many strange sights, which Graymalk seems familiar with, they meet an ancient cat who claims to have saved them from a worse fate. Graymalk is given a secret, as yet unrevealed, about the end of the game, and Snuff is told there is a sea of blood in his immediate future, which disconcerts our old boy. He looks forward to running with Growler in his own, much simpler, dreamworld.

Things have taken a turn for the Lovecraftian and it appears that the Openers and Closers are indeed contending for the Opening of the Way to allow, or deny, the return of the Great Old Gods of Chaos. Zelazny is on fine form here, especially with the chaotic stuff which always brings to mind the shifting shadows in his Amber books, which are other great favorites of mine. I doubt there’s any chance of a Prince of Amber making an appearance in this game, but you never can tell in the patterns Zelazny weaves. That’s what makes him great.

As for Snuff. The revelation that he is cursed, and much older than he seems, and is in possession of certain ‘magics’ of his own has me wondering if he isn’t also one of the Lovecraftian pantheon, if not a Great Old One, at least one of their many acolytes, perhaps a failed Opener in a long ago game, now trapped and bent to service as a Closer by an ancient curse? Like Snuff himself, I prefer him as a dog.

Several times during this read through I’ve been reminded of the TV series PENNY DREADFUL. The dance that an adjacent in fictional realities cast of characters took in that one was ultimately dark and gothic, and there’s plenty of potential here for this one to go the same way.

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Boo-graphy:
William Meikle is a Scottish writer, now living in Canada, with more than thirty novels published in the genre press and over 300 short story credits in thirteen countries.

He has books available from a variety of publishers including Dark Regions Press, Crossroad Press and Severed Press, and his work has appeared in a number of professional anthologies and magazines.

He lives in Newfoundland with whales, bald eagles and icebergs for company.

When he’s not writing he drinks beer, plays guitar, and dreams of fortune and glory.

Website

• 

• 

The Green & the Black —
A small group of industrial archaeologists head into the center of Newfoundland, investigating a rumor of a lost prospecting team of Irish miners in the late Nineteenth century.

They find the remains of a mining operation, and a journal and papers detailing the extent of the miners’ activities. But there is something else on the site, something older than the miners, as old as the rock itself.

Soon the archaeologists are coming under assault, from a strange infection that spreads like wildfire through mind and body, one that doctors seem powerless to define let alone control.

The survivors only have one option. They must return to the mine, and face what waits for them, down in the deep dark places, where the green meets the black.

William’s Halloween Giveaway

A Night in the Lonesome October —
All is not what it seems…

In the murky London gloom, a knife-wielding gentleman named Jack prowls the midnight streets with his faithful watchdog Snuff – gathering together the grisly ingredients they will need for an upcoming ancient and unearthly rite. For soon after the death of the moon, black magic will summon the Elder Gods back into the world. And all manner of Players, both human and undead, are preparing to participate.

Some have come to open the gates. Some have come to slam them shut.

And now the dread night approaches – so let the Game begin.

Author: Roger Zelazny
Illustrator: Gahan Wilson
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Gaslamp
Publisher: Avon Books
Publication Date: September 1, 1994
Pages: 280

---

October 21st

Things are definitely heating up. We discover, while Snuff is talking with Quicklime, the Mad Monk’s snake, that high magic might be employed in the coming days to expose who are the Openers and who are the Closers. Snuff divulges that he is a Closer, Quicklime says he is too. We also learn that after the game, one side ends up dead depending on who ‘wins’, so the stakes have just got that much higher. It just hit me that this means that the Closers must have won the last time, given that Snuff is still around. In fact, I suspect that the Closers usually win, for I’m coming to think that what the Openers want is the return of the Great Old Ones, eternal chaos, cats and dogs living together, that kind of thing.

And talking of stakes, Quicklime tells Snuff that the Count has moved, having had the news from the Count’s bat familiar while the bat was drunk on fermented fruit. Snuff and the snake visit the Count’s new home… and find a staked, caped, very dead vampire in a coffin. It appears that someone has taken out one of the main players early. We learn this happens during the later stages of the game on occassion. Another raising of the stakes… Zelazny is building up the tension nicely here.

Snuff returns home to bring Jack up to speed, but finds him at Jill’s place ‘borrowing a cup of sugar’, and we all know what that means, don’t we? 🙂 Snuff and Graymalk have a further bonding chat and end up going to see what the gypsies are doing. What they are doing is dancing and feasting and playing the old songs. “Linda Enderby” is there, and when ‘she’ plays the old gypsy violin and almost gets lost in the music Snuff sees the disguise slip, sees the man coming through only to be pushed back down again by steely discipline and resolve. Snuff leaves with a new found respect for the Great Detective.

Dead players, high magic and more to come, as Graymalk has discovered that the vicar has a virgin locked away, being prepared for a sacrifice ritual, and Snuff has seen that the things in Jack’s mirror are really straining at the flaw in the glass. There’s much that could go wrong now, much keeping Snuff busy, and with the Count gone he needs to find time to recalibrate his map and find the new center where things will resolve. But time’s growing short and once the players are revealed as Openers or Closers some of his erstwhile companions will become enemies rather than friends.

Should he be trusting any of them? There’s a lot of subterfuge and deception going on, not just from the Great Detective. I’m sure there’s going to be a big twist somewhere along the line. Can’t rush ahead to see though. Rules is rules, and tomorrow is another day.

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Boo-graphy:
William Meikle is a Scottish writer, now living in Canada, with more than thirty novels published in the genre press and over 300 short story credits in thirteen countries.

He has books available from a variety of publishers including Dark Regions Press, Crossroad Press and Severed Press, and his work has appeared in a number of professional anthologies and magazines.

He lives in Newfoundland with whales, bald eagles and icebergs for company.

When he’s not writing he drinks beer, plays guitar, and dreams of fortune and glory.

Website

• 

• 

The Green & the Black —
A small group of industrial archaeologists head into the center of Newfoundland, investigating a rumor of a lost prospecting team of Irish miners in the late Nineteenth century.

They find the remains of a mining operation, and a journal and papers detailing the extent of the miners’ activities. But there is something else on the site, something older than the miners, as old as the rock itself.

Soon the archaeologists are coming under assault, from a strange infection that spreads like wildfire through mind and body, one that doctors seem powerless to define let alone control.

The survivors only have one option. They must return to the mine, and face what waits for them, down in the deep dark places, where the green meets the black.

William’s Halloween Giveaway

A Night in the Lonesome October —
All is not what it seems…

In the murky London gloom, a knife-wielding gentleman named Jack prowls the midnight streets with his faithful watchdog Snuff – gathering together the grisly ingredients they will need for an upcoming ancient and unearthly rite. For soon after the death of the moon, black magic will summon the Elder Gods back into the world. And all manner of Players, both human and undead, are preparing to participate.

Some have come to open the gates. Some have come to slam them shut.

And now the dread night approaches – so let the Game begin.

Author: Roger Zelazny
Illustrator: Gahan Wilson
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Gaslamp
Publisher: Avon Books
Publication Date: September 1, 1994
Pages: 280

---

October 20th

After being fed by Jill, who Snuff realizes is actually younger and prettier than she lets on, Snuff and Graymalk investigate the manse where “Enderby” is living. Graymalk sneaks inside. Meanwhile Snuff has a conversation with the great white owl, and discovers that the Vicar is indeed a player, and has a white raven as a companion who has been asking questions. Snuff and the owl surmise that the Vicar is new, and late to the game and has been trying to catch up. Now that he knows the vicar is a player, Snuff’s magic tracking system kicks in and he sees that the vicar’s killing of the policeman was a ritual one in an attempt to garner information. The owl and Snuff agree to keep each other posted, although Snuff keeps his knowledge of Talbot’s ‘lunar proclivities’ to himself.

Graymalk is let out of the manse. She tells of an altar hidden inside and they realize the place might indeed be the center they have been looking for. Why the Great Detective has ‘claimed’ it, and why he is maintaining the subterfuge of disguise are still unanswered questions.

Graymalk and Snuff are becoming good friends. We discover some of Graymalk’s background, as a lost, almost feral cat found by Jill, almost the same herself, both of them longing for a different world. We’re still unsure whether they are Openers or Closers, but both seem to have a desire to mix things up. We also learn that the ‘game’ isn’t played very often, only when there is a full moon on Halloween, and when Snuff tells Graymalk he has played the game before, he is giving away the fact that he has been with Jack for quite some time.

The last visit of the night is to the Good Doctor, to investigate rumors of a third person in the house. This third man turns out to be a hulking, slow-witted thing. When he takes a liking to the cat and starts to crush it to his breast Snuff has to alert the Good Doctor to get him to save Graymalk. They make a quick getaway, having learned much that night, but also having been given much to think about.

Snuff and Graymalk’s growing friendship is very nicely done, reinforcing their closeness, and their differences. Snuff is revealing things to her he won’t tell anyone else, but he is also keeping things from her, like the identity of the Great Detective. Is this through loyalty to Jack? Or is it distrust,…or just natural caution given that he has played the game before?

Friendships and alliances are forming and reforming, the players are all dancing around each other, and the wildcards are getting ready to throw their spanners in whatever works they can.

Round and round and round we spin. It is a great world Zelazny has woven from these iconic characters, and having Snuff being the narrator while the icons dance around him is the simple, but brilliant, idea it all hinges on.

I’m absolutely loving this slow trip through it.

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Boo-graphy:
William Meikle is a Scottish writer, now living in Canada, with more than thirty novels published in the genre press and over 300 short story credits in thirteen countries.

He has books available from a variety of publishers including Dark Regions Press, Crossroad Press and Severed Press, and his work has appeared in a number of professional anthologies and magazines.

He lives in Newfoundland with whales, bald eagles and icebergs for company.

When he’s not writing he drinks beer, plays guitar, and dreams of fortune and glory.

Website

• 

• 

The Green & the Black —
A small group of industrial archaeologists head into the center of Newfoundland, investigating a rumor of a lost prospecting team of Irish miners in the late Nineteenth century.

They find the remains of a mining operation, and a journal and papers detailing the extent of the miners’ activities. But there is something else on the site, something older than the miners, as old as the rock itself.

Soon the archaeologists are coming under assault, from a strange infection that spreads like wildfire through mind and body, one that doctors seem powerless to define let alone control.

The survivors only have one option. They must return to the mine, and face what waits for them, down in the deep dark places, where the green meets the black.

William’s Halloween Giveaway