Dr. Alan Cantwell, R.I.P. (1934-2021)

A few days ago, I learned from Joan D'Arc (the co-founder of PARANOIA MAGAZINE) that Dr. Alan Cantwell passed away in January of this year. Cantwell's 1988 book, AIDS & THE DOCTORS OF DEATH, played a significant role in my development as a writer and researcher. The book partially ignited my interest in conspiracy theories and helped inspire me to view the field as a complex, ever-evolving art form. It was one of the first guideposts leading me down this strange and wonderful path of 1) studying the shape and shadow of consensus reality and 2) studying the shape and shadow of those who question consensus reality.

 

Cantwell and I shared the same Table of Contents page several times back when I was contributing regularly to such publications as PARANOIA and THE CONSPIRACY READER. Over the years, he sent me a few complimentary emails about my articles in NEW DAWN and other magazines. He even graciously gave me a blurb for my first book, CRYPTOSCATOLOGY: CONSPIRACY THEORY AS ART FORM ("A sane and penetrating analysis into the murky realm of contemporary conspiracy theory. Guffey is sure to inform and entertain you with Cryptoscatology."--Alan Cantwell, M.D.).

Cantwell particularly liked my article, "©onspiracy Inc.: Anatomy of a Discipline," which later became Chapter One of CRYPTOSCATOLOGY. When the article first appeared in the pages of PARANOIA in 2005, he sent me the following email:

Hi Robert:
I just finished your SANE article on conspiracies in the latest PARANOIA.
Thanks for the kind words about my research.
Like you, I sometimes wonder how much leg pulling is included in some of these really weird articles in conspiracy magazines.
However, I am very grateful to the P editors to print my stuff -----as it would be near impossible to get such unflattering articles in "real" medical journals.
Now what's your take on that fairy article in the same issue?????? Only kidding!!
Keep up your good work in trying to give conspiracy theories more "credibility"!!
Regards,
Alan Cantwell MD 

Here's what Joan wrote about Cantwell on her Facebook page:

I have just realized my friend Alan Cantwell has passed away. I sent him an email about a month ago and he didn't reply, so I checked. Readers of Paranoia Magazine will remember many articles written by Dr. Cantwell, author of Queer Blood, AIDS and the Doctors of Death, The Cancer Microbe, AIDS: The Mystery and the Solution, and Four Women Against Cancer. I met Dr. Cantwell on a trip to Los Angeles in the '90s where he lived in the Hollywood Hills with his husband, who was actually named Frank Sinatra! Alan made a delicious spaghetti dinner and played the piano.

And here's an excerpt from Cantwell's 1-10-21 LOS ANGELES TIMES obit: 

Alan R. Cantwell Jr., M.D., physician and author, passed away peacefully at home on January 1, 2021. Dr. Cantwell was always interested in research and throughout his career published many papers on dermatological problems. During the AIDS pandemic his interest concerning the many cases he was observing lead to a series of books on the subject which he authored and published through his own publishing company, Aries Rising Press. A fine pianist, good painter, generous host and a man devoted to his patients, Dr. Cantwell will be missed by all who knew him.

To read the entire obit, click HERE.

NIGHTMARE MAGAZINE REVIEWS BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD

I was pleased to see that Terence Taylor (author of BITE MARKS and BLOOD PRESSURE) has written a very laudatory review of my latest novel, BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD, for NIGHTMARE MAGAZINE. Here's a brief excerpt:

"The sensation [of reading BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD] is like being led deep underground while your flashlight grows dimmer and dimmer, until you’re left in total darkness. That’s when the lights of a subterranean crypt flash on to reveal that you’re not where you expected to be, and where you are is far worse than you could have imagined. The result is an ending that left me chilled and took me a few days to fully process. As shocking as it was, everything was set up from the beginning. I know, I went back and checked, and have to give Guffey credit for pulling off a literary sleight of hand that caught me by surprise. I won’t spoil it with more, except to say that like the frog in water that’s warmed so slowly it doesn’t realize it’s coming to a lethal boil, Guffey’s readers face an equally stunning conclusion."

You can read Taylor's entire review right HERE.

Havana Syndrome

From Katie Bo Williams and Jeremy Herb's 4-29-21 CNN report entitled "US Investigating Possible Mysterious Directed Energy Attack Near White House":

Federal agencies are investigating at least two possible incidents on US soil, including one near the White House in November of last year, that appear similar to mysterious, invisible attacks that have led to debilitating symptoms for dozens of US personnel abroad.

Multiple sources familiar with the matter tell CNN that while the Pentagon and other agencies probing the matter have reached no clear conclusions on what happened, the fact that such an attack might have taken place so close to the White House is particularly alarming.

Defense officials briefed lawmakers on the Senate and House Armed Services Committees on the matter earlier this month, including on the incident near the White House. That incident, which occurred near the Ellipse, the large oval lawn on the south side of the White House, sickened one National Security Council official, according to multiple current and former US officials and sources familiar with the matter.

In a separate 2019 episode, a White House official reported a similar attack while walking her dog in a Virginia suburb just outside Washington, GQ reported last year.

Those sickened reported similar symptoms to CIA and State Department personnel impacted overseas, and officials quickly began to investigate the incident as a possible “Havana syndrome” attack. That name refers to unexplained symptoms that US personnel in Cuba began experiencing in late 2016 – a varying set of complaints that includes ear popping, vertigo, pounding headaches and nausea, sometimes accompanied by an unidentified “piercing directional noise” [...].

The attacks eventually led to a dramatic drawdown of staff at the outpost in Havana under the Trump administration. Personnel in Russia and China reported similar, unexplained incidents. Though there’s no consensus as to what causes the symptoms, one State Department-sponsored study found they likely were the result of microwave energy attacks.

To read Williams and Herb's entire article, click HERE.

From Julian Borger's 5-2-21 GUARDIAN article entitled "Havana Syndrome: NSA Officer’s Case Hints at Microwave Attacks Since 90s":

When the first reports surfaced of a mysterious disorder that was afflicting dozens of US diplomats in Cuba, Mike Beck’s reaction was one of recognition and relief.

Beck, a retired National Security Agency counterintelligence officer, was at his home in Maryland, scrolling through the day’s news on his computer when he spotted the story, and remembers shouting out to his wife.

“I got excited because I thought: well, it’s coming out now that it’s not a mirage,” Beck said. “I felt bad for the victims but thought: ‘Now I’m no longer one of one. I’m one of many.’”

Beck had been forced into retirement in late 2016 by a rare early-onset, non-tremor form of Parkinson’s disease, and he had evidence, supplied by the NSA and the CIA, that he could have been the victim of a deliberate attack from a microwave weapon.

After years of lonely struggle, he now feels vindicated. Last December the National Academy of Sciences published a report finding that the scores of CIA and state department officials affected by “Havana syndrome” in Cuba, China and elsewhere, were most likely suffering the “effects of directed, pulsed radio frequency energy”.

To read Borger's entire article, click HERE.

More on the Capitol Riot Arrests

From Olivia Rubin's 4-23-21 ABC News report entitled "Number of Capitol Riot Arrests of Military, Law Enforcement and Government Personnel Rises to 52":

As authorities investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol continue to pore over images and video of the riot, they've encountered a distressing trend: A growing number of alleged perpetrators had previously served their country.

At least 52 active or retired military, law enforcement, or government service employees are among the over 400 suspects arrested for their alleged actions at the Capitol, according to an ABC News investigation based on military records, court records, interviews, and publicly available news reports. The arrests include over half a dozen ex-police officers and multiple former elected officials -- and represent some of the most significant and violent charges brought in connection with the deadly insurrection.

To read Rubin's entire article, click HERE.

Rose O'Keefe Appears on THE OUTER DARK

Rose O'Keefe, the head of Eraserhead Press (publisher of my recent collection of novellas, WIDOW OF THE AMPUTATION & OTHER WEIRD CRIMES), was interviewed by Anya Martin on THE OUTER DARK podcast earlier this month. Here's THE OUTER DARK's description of the episode:

In our first full-episode publisher spotlight, Anya Martin interviews Rose O’Keefe, publisher at Eraserhead Press, the world’s leading publisher house of bizarro fiction with an international following for 400+ titles in its main line and four imprints Deadite Press, Fungasm Press, Lazy Fascist Press, and New Bizarro Author Series. The free-ranging no-holds-barred conversation includes the origins of Eraserhead Press as a writers’ collective in the punk/DIY/zine world of 1999, leveraging the print-on-demand revolution to success, the fun of being a writer’s ‘first fan’, the evolution of Bizarro and how its embrace of Weirdness differs from and intersects with Weird fiction, the rise of genre fluidity, her personal journey facing leadership challenges to expand diversity and inclusion, lessons learned and proactive ways to address and prevent sexual harassment/abuse at cons, Eraserhead publishing news and spotlight on new releases (1:09:53), updates on 2021 submissions status and the future of BizarroCon, Rose’s non-press-related reading recommendations, and her personal passion for Argentine Tango. This episode was recorded on Tuesday April 6, 2021.

To listen to the entire show, click HERE.

MY ADVENTURES IN HYPERSPACE

Last night I returned to Solaris BlueRaven's HYPERSPACE radio show to discuss my latest books, BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD and WIDOW OF THE AMPUTATION & OTHER WEIRD CRIMES. If you have a Dark Vault Insider subscription, you can listen to the entire show by clicking right HERE.

 

 

 

Alan Moore Endorses BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD!

I'm very pleased to announce that my latest novel, BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD, just received the following blurb from none other than writer/magician Alan Moore (author of WATCHMEN, V FOR VENDETTA, FROM HELL, VOICE OF THE FIRE, JERUSALEM, etc.). Since I first encountered Moore's writing at the tender age of fourteen, I couldn't have been happier when he volunteered this endorsement: 

“Blending intertextual rampage through the horror-movie canon with engrossing noir mystery and a backdrop of Hollywood esoterica, Robert Guffey serves up an intoxicating pulp cocktail that will leave you wanting more. A crepuscular treasure from a fascinating author.”

--ALAN MOORE

If you want to learn more about this "crepuscular treasure," you can buy a copy of BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD (available in trade paperback and eBook formats) right HERE!!!