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 9th

Snuff and Jack are back in the city again, with Jack still on the hunt for ‘materials’. They have a successful hunt, but on the way home are approached by the great detective finally showing himself in the game, on the trail of that night’s murderer. Holmes makes sure that Jack knows he is being watched. Snuff senses something almost canine-like in the doggedness shown by this new man, and resolves to keep a close eye on him.

Larry Talbot has also been in the city and has also been approached by the detective and his rotund companion, who was making cryptic comments about ‘hounds’. Talbot reveals that he has a chequered history with Count Dracula and believes Dracula to be an ‘opener’. This conversation reminds Snuff that earlier in the day he visited the Count’s hideout with Greymalk, who crept into the crypt under the ruined church and returned with tales of a swanky coffin and a sleeping inhabitant. As a reward for information Snuff took Greymalk to see the ‘slithering things’ in Jack’s mirror. The things do indeed ‘slither’.

Snuff’s relationship with Greymalk is quickly turning into a mutually beneficial friendship and is rather sweet, a lightness and sureness of touch that’s typical of Zelazny even while he piles on the growing sense of dread as the time of a full moon gets closer and Jack keeps an eye on the newcomer, Mr. ‘call me Larry’ Talbot.

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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

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• 

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

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October 8th

Snuff and Jack have a visitor, a large dark-haired man by the name of Larry Talbot who introduces himself as a new neighbor. He seems polite and well-mannered but there’s a strange scent about him that Snuff can’t identify. While Jack and the new man chat over tea Snuff has to scurry upstairs as the ‘thing’ in the wardrobe is making an escape. We learn it has leathery wings, reinforcing my earlier thought that the ‘thing’s are trapped demons. Snuff manages to battle it back into its pen but, being a dog, has trouble latching the door. Jack arrives in the nick of time to close it in. Talbot remarks on how Snuff is a good ‘closer of doors’, and drops a none- too-subtle hint that he himself is a closer, and that he believes that he and Jack are on the same side. That might be true, but nobody is really showing their hand yet and there is no indication of what needs to be opened or closed, or why.

When Talbot leaves, Snuff follows and adds the man’s house to his mental map which is coming along nicely now that he also knows the location of the Count. He is prevented from adding more detail to it by news that the two occultists have broken the unsaid rules of the game and have made an attempt on the life of Greymalk. Snuff rushes to save her from the well into which she’d been thrown, and is thanked for his help. Is this the beginning of an alliance? Time will tell.

So already we have Jack the Ripper, the Wolfman, Dracula, Doctor Frankenstein, Rasputin, Holmes and Watson and various occultists, witches and familiars, all congregated in a small patch of countryside, all preparing for what is obviously a ritual at Halloween, and all apparently aligned as either openers or closers. Who else will be along to do the Monster Mash?

Today there was also one of the best lines in the book. When asking questions about Talbot, one of the other familiars says to Snuff “Perhaps he’s his own best friend.” A lovely joke just thrown in among many witticisms and knowing references to older works. This book is a marvel.

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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

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October 7th

The day begins early with Jack and Snuff on a foray into the city for ‘materials’. It’s bloody work again, but Jack announces himself pleased with the prize of a piece of green material from the clothes of a redhead, a necessary piece of a spell. Once again they are pursued by the dour detective and his rotund friend, the latter of which is still hampered by a limp so much that Jack and Snuff can get clear away. Did Snuff cause the limp, or is it the rotund chap’s old war wound playing up? Inquiring minds need to know.

In the morning Snuff’s rounds turn up an intruder! He finds a rat, sitting staring at the ‘things’ in the mirror. Snuff’s first instinct is to dispose of it outright, but the rat talks, announcing itself as Bobo, a familiar of “The Good Doctor”. After a bit of trading Snuff spares the rat in return for the location of the Count. Together they visit a ruined church. The rat tells Snuff that the Count is down in the crypt, sleeping. Snuff, sensing trouble, takes his word for it. In return for the rat’s help he shares his info on the locations of the other players.

At the close of the day we learn that, as the bells chime for midnight, Snuff can talk to Jack. They have a conversation about the day’s findings, in the course of which we discover that they have been together for some time, having played at least one previous great game in Dijon. They chat about the other players, the witch and the cat in particular, both seeming to be interested in them and in ascertaining whether they are friend or foe. Snuff finally settles down to sleep, seeking the advice of someone called Growler in his dreams.

Beneath the seemingly easy-going conversations of the day there’s been a lot going on. Zelazny is a master of foreshadowing and there’s a lot of it here, more than enough to quicken the interest and get us turning pages. I had to force myself to stop at the end of the day. I’m playing by rules here too.

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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 6th

The ‘things’ in the mirror have made a break for freedom and Jack has to deploy a magic wand and ritual to trap them in another mirror. We discover that Jack is not the only one au fait with the ways of magic. The reason Snuff has been building a map in his head is to provide him with a power locus, a mandala of a sort that will track the central point where what is to come will take place. He has the help of the snake in this task, but the Count is proving elusive to pin down and his absence from Snuff’s internal map means that the center can not be pinpointed accurately.

We are still unclear as to why it is important to know the central point in advance of the big day. Given Snuff’s devotion to Jack we assume that it must be something that will give his master an advantage in the game, but what that might be is still some way from clarity.

Back in the house the ‘thing’ in the basement is getting bolder. It has shape-shifted itself into a cute Pekinese in an attempt to seduce Snuff, but our hero is not to be bought so cheaply, much to the ‘things’s’ chagrin. i suspect the ‘things’ are trapped demons or elemental spirits but I’m sure it will all come clear in time.

For now, I’m just enjoying the ride. Reading it a chapter a day in this fashion means that I’m finding myself getting up in the morning eager to discover what Snuff is up to today.

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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 5th

Snuff does his rounds again. He tries to keep track in his mind of all the places where the players are gathering, but his inner map is proving increasingly hard to organize. He meets Greymalk who informs him that a man was torn apart in the city the night before, as if by a giant hound. Snuff pleads innocence, for both himself and his master. Together the two familiars go in search of a snake who may have more information.

With the snake’s help they begin to piece together more of the players. From the snake’s masters, a pair of occultists, to the mad monk, to the druid, from the witch to Jack, from the Count to a new arrival. This newcomer was first detected by the presence of a hump-backed familiar bringing ‘materials’ to a doctor in a strange house that appears to have a lightning storm on the inside. Mad laughter is heard in the air and Snuff adds the place to his mental map. It will bear watching.

I’m really enjoying the interplay between Snuff and the other familiars. Friends are being made and foes identified, and although we are still no closer to knowing what it’s all about, the cast is gathering fast now. And at the end of the day, when Snuff returns home, he finds a strange paw print. Has someone else joined the game?

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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