HAPPY HAPPY HALLOWEEN HALLOWEEN HALLOWEEN!!!

 

Dispatches from the Haute Dog Howl'oween Parade

 

BEHOLD!!!

COMING JANUARY 2024...

HALLOWEEN ON THE FARM!

I recently had the pleasure of meeting up with Steven Snider (AKA "Recluse") of THE FARM PODCAST at Manly P. Hall's Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles. It was great to finally interact with Steven face-to-face rather than just over the phone. I've been on THE FARM twice so far (on 1-4-21 and 11-16-21), and I consider it to be one of the best podcasts going right now. Here's a photograph (from right to left) of Laura Shapiro, the mysterious and ubiquitous Lyle X, Steven Snider, and Yours Truly standing outside the front entrance of the PRS Bookstore.

I recommend checking out the latest episode of THE FARM, which makes for ideal Halloween Listening. In the 10-23-23 episode, Steven Snider and his guest, Robert W. Sullivan IV, discuss "Friday the 13th and the John Carpenter Mysteries." To paraphrase Snider's description of the show, topics in this latest episode include: The Knights Templar, the origins of Friday the 13th being perceived as an unlucky day, Jason and the Argonauts, Sirius, the Tarot, the Freudian aspects of John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN, witchcraft in the HALLOWEEN franchise, the Threefold Goddess, 9/11, Gnosticism, BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, THEY LIVE, PRINCE OF DARKNESS, quantum physics, tachyons, and other Halloween High Weirdness! To listen to the entire episode, click HERE.

If you'd like to hear John Carpenter talking about his films in his own words, I recommend checking out the below interview conducted by J. Michael Straczynski (author of BECOMING SUPERMAN) and his co-host, the late Larry DiTillio (creator of She-Ra). I distinctly remember listening to this episode of MIKE HODEL'S HOUR 25 when it originally aired on KPFK-FM in Los Angeles 36 years ago, only a few days after the premiere of Carpenter's PRINCE OF DARKNESS.

Synchromystic Sidenote: It's fascinating to note that Mike Hodel, who hosted HOUR 25 for fourteen years, was the younger brother of bestselling true crime author Steve Hodel. Steve Hodel is most famous for having written the nonfiction book BLACK DAHLIA AVENGER (2003), in which he claims that his and Mike's father, George, was responsible for the grisly murder of Elizabeth Short in 1947. Steve Hodel has written about his late sibling on his blog on several different occasions (see, for example, his 2-2-21 post and his 12-6-19 post). 

Besides working as a producer for KPFK in Los Angeles for many years, Mike Hodel was also a fiction writer. Before his untimely death from cancer at the age of 47 in 1986, Mike Hodel co-authored a well-regarded Sherlock Holmes novel entitled ENTER THE LION, which I recommend highly.

JOHN CARPENTER ON MIKE HODEL'S HOUR 25

Here's the description of the John Carpenter episode of HOUR 25 from Straczynski's YouTube channel, Synthetic Worlds: "J. Michael Straczynski and Larry DiTillio hosted MIKE HODEL'S HOUR 25 [from 1987 to 1992] at KPFK-FM Los Angeles. The two-hour weekly talk show featured the best and brightest in science fiction, fantasy and horror. Most of the recordings were considered long lost, but a recent discovery brought many of those lost recordings to life. This is one of the best: a 90 minute, commercial free interview with director and writer John Carpenter that covers everything from Quantum Physics to the Bible, to his many movies, behind the scenes stories, and a host of personal and professional topics. The interview was originally broadcast October 30th, 1987 and has not been available since then."

Mass Shooting in Maine

From Sara Smart, John Miller, Joe Sutton and Elizabeth Wolfe's 10-25-23 CNN report entitled "At Least 22 People Dead and ‘Person of Interest’ Sought After Shootings in Lewiston, Maine, Officials Say":

At least 22 people are dead and dozens are injured following two shootings Wednesday night at a bowling alley and a restaurant in Lewiston, Maine, authorities say. An intensive manhunt is underway for a person of interest in the shootings, according to officials.

Robert Card, 40, of Bowdoin, is a person of interest and should be considered armed and dangerous, Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck said.

Law enforcement officials in Maine tell CNN that Card is a certified firearms instructor and a member of the US Army Reserve. Card had recently made threats to carry out a shooting at a National Guard facility in Saco, Maine, and also reported mental health issues, including hearing voices, the officials said.

During a news conference Wednesday night, Sauschuck declined to provide further information about Card. “We’re not prepared to go into (Card’s) background,” he said.

To read the entire article, click HERE.

LAND OF THE LIVING DEAD by Carlton E. Morse

Recommended Halloween Listening: Yes, it's that time of the year again! To get into the proper spirit of Spooky Season, sit back, relax, and allow yourself to be transported to those thrilling days of yesteryear while listening to Carlton E. Morse's classic radio serial LAND OF THE LIVING DEAD. These episodes of ADVENTURES BY MORSE first aired in 1944. You can hear the entire series below....

LAND OF THE LIVING DEAD CHAPTER 1: THE ADVENTURE BEGINS

LAND OF THE LIVING DEAD CHAPTER 2: THE ADVENTURES CONTINUES

LAND OF THE LIVING DEAD CHAPTER 3: THE GREEN-EYED MURDERESS AGAIN

LAND OF THE LIVING DEAD CHAPTER 4: THE TREE THAT EATS FLESH

LAND OF THE LIVING DEAD CHAPTER 5: THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES

LAND OF THE LIVING DEAD CHAPTER 6: THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES

LAND OF THE LIVING DEAD CHAPTER 7: THE ADVENTURES CONTINUES

LAND OF THE LIVING DEAD CHAPTER 8: THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES

LAND OF THE LIVING DEAD CHAPTER 9: THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES

LAND OF THE LIVING DEAD CHAPTER 10: THE CONCLUSION

DEAD MONKEY RUM ON HYPERSPACE!

Last night I returned to Solaris BlueRaven's HYPERSPACE radio show for my seventh appearance! Over the course of two hours, Solaris and I discuss my latest book, DEAD MONKEY RUM, as well as previous books such as BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD, CHAMELEO, SPIES & SAUCERS, and CRYPTOSCATOLOGY. You can listen to the entire interview by clicking right HERE!!!

HAPPY 141st BIRTHDAY, BELA LUGOSI!

On what would have been Bela Lugosi's 141st birthday, I urge you to check out my Rondo Award-nominated novel BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD (Crossroad Press, 2021), the ideal read for Spooky Season! A recent Amazon review described BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD as "perfect reading for October." Who am I to disagree?

 You can hear me discussing BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD during my recent appearance on THE TYLER'S PLACE, the official podcast of the Supreme Council of Scottish Rite Freemasonry, as well as during my 2021 appearance on Adam Sayne's CONSPIRINORMAL podcast.

THE TYLER'S PLACE (10-16-23)

 CONSPIRINORMAL (6-22-21)

“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, author of V FOR VENDETTA and WATCHMEN

“In Robert Guffey's latest and greatest novel, dreams of old movies and nightmares of classic horror rack into sharp focus through the lens of a brave film historian, one determined to squint clearly at fleeting grains of film through the shifting sands of time. Never has the truth of Hollywood been so well revealed through fiction. As a result, BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD delightfully and definitively proves that Bela Lugosi isn't dead.” 

--GARY D. RHODES, author of LUGOSI and TOD BROWNING'S DRACULA

"[H]orror fans will delight in how Guffey cleverly immerses movie monsters in the real world. Film buffs and monster enthusiasts will relish the supernatural characters brought to life in this atmospheric celebration of monster mayhem." 

--PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"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." 

--TERENCE TAYLOR, NIGHTMARE MAGAZINE

The unabridged Audible Audiobook of BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD is also available! It's brilliantly read by the talented SAMUEL E. HOKE. Hoke was so dedicated to nailing the audio version that he contacted me before he began narrating the novel to make sure the accent of a particular character was exactly correct. He also went out of his way to research some of the films and documentaries about the real people and events upon which the novel is based. If you're interested, you can listen to a sample of the audiobook right HERE!

And if you're not completely Lugosied out by that point, why not check out the Rondo Award-nominated nonfiction book I coauthored with Gary D. Rhodes, BELA LUGOSI AND THE MONOGRAM NINE (BearManor Media, 2019)? This is an in-depth analysis of the nine Poverty Row films in which Lugosi starred during World War II. You can hear Gary and I discussing this book at great length during the October 22, 2019 episode of Roejen Razorwire's PROJECT ARCHIVIST.

PRAISE FOR BELA LUGOSI AND THE MONOGRAM NINE:

"BELA LUGOSI AND THE MONOGRAM NINE, by Gary Rhodes and Robert Guffey, critically and wonderfully examines a series of no-budget films made by no-budget Monogram Studios in the 1940s featuring Lugosi that are among the most wonderfully odd cinematic follies ever made--surrealistic, straight from the subconscious, sometimes stupid, at moments seeming to spring from the mind of Bunuel, and in the next, an idea Ed Wood would have discarded as too unbelievable. But, movies always unlike any others, and at their best seeming like fever dreams through which Lugosi calmly walks in evening clothes carrying a flaming blowtorch. I highly recommend this book." 

--JACK WOMACK, author of RANDOM ACTS OF SENSELESS VIOLENCE and LET'S PUT THE FUTURE BEHIND US

"Gary Rhodes has become my favorite nonfiction author, while the subject of some of his writings, Bela Lugosi, has long been one of my favorite actors. Now Gary has teamed up with co-author Robert Guffey to present, for the first time, a collection of in-depth and insightful essays evaluating those lesser ‘classics’ that comprise the so-called ‘Monogram Nine.’ If you are a Lugosi fan and also a fan of old ‘B’ horror films, you will love this book."

--DONALD F. GLUT, filmmaker, Marvel Comics writer, and author of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK novelization

"An extraordinary volume. Rhodes and Guffey refract these films through the lens of surrealism, detailed genre study, auteurist-informed close readings, star studies, and vigorous historicism to name a few of the kaleidoscope of methods employed. This book provides a breakthrough model for serious work on films that have to date received very little scholarly attention.”

--MICHAEL LEE, Ph.D. (University of Oklahoma), editor at the journal HORROR STUDIES

"It would require an enthusiastic writing team such as Gary Rhodes and Robert Guffey to bring respect and probing inquiry to these Lugosi films from Monogram Studios. Are the films minor miracles or minor masterpieces? This book is food for thought in that area. For too long, 'the nine' was considered throw-away entertainment. Watch it once, then forget it. The authors of this book demur [...]. I encourage every monster fan to get this book. You’ll love it. The treasure chest of Monogram classics is shown knowledgeable evaluation and context at long last."
 
--MICHAEL COPNER, MONDO CULT ONLINE

"Containing several chapters offering different variations on its subject matter, Rhodes and Guffey explore the films Lugosi made at Monogram with an open-minded approach, an intelligent appreciation, and a historical knowledge. Even those of us long familiar with these films will be enlightened by the further information provided in these essays [...]. The reader's understanding of film history, production, and promotion will be enhanced by this exceptionally intelligent text.

"BELA LUGOSI AND THE MONOGRAM NINE is a book that needs to be included in any library, research center, or personal collection that even hopes to be considered at all comprehensive. For fans of film history, of Lugosi, of the horror genre, or of B movies, BELA LUGOSI AND THE MONOGRAM NINE is an absolute must." 

--JAMES L. NEIBAUR, author of THE MONSTER MOVIES OF UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

ROBERT GUFFEY'S WORLD CRIME NETWORK!

Yesterday I appeared on THE TYLER'S PLACE PODCAST to discuss my recent SALON article about the ever-increasing incidents of assaults on Masonic lodges all over the world. The following development further underscores almost every point I made in the article. Note: My SALON article was published on August 13th. Three days later, this nonsense appeared. Click HERE for an intravenous shot of 100% pure jabberwocky! Scroll all the way down to the photograph in which I'm wearing a bright blue SPY VS. SPY t-shirt while holding up a copy of my third book, CHAMELEO. According to this delusional chap, I'm a ruthless billionaire as well as a member of an elite world crime syndicate! If this is true, I can only conclude that one of my fellow criminals is receiving my cut of the ill-gotten proceeds because I still have to get up every morning and work for a living. 

Here's a direct quote for you: "The propagandist author Robert Guffey is a Scottish Rite Freemason and agent of deception of these Scottish-American billionaire clans [...]. Robert Guffey is a Scottish Rite Freemason from California who specializes in architecting gang stalking and selling books about him gang stalking a guy who he claims is his friend in the book. Guffey also spreads military propaganda and he is a brainwasher."

Thanks for the laudatory blurb, my friend! If enough people uncritically accept the bent notion that I'm an all-powerful multi-billionaire, this will no doubt redound in my favor in innumerable ways. MAHALO!!!

THE TYLER'S PLACE PODCAST!

Earlier today I appeared on THE TYLER'S PLACE PODCAST, the official podcast of the Supreme Council of Scottish Rite Freemasonry, hosted by the inestimable Maynard Edwards. We chat about three of my most recent books: BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD, OPERATION MINDFUCK, and my latest novel, DEAD MONKEY RUM. We also discuss my recent SALON article, "QAnon's Weirdest Obsession: Why Does the Radical Far Right Fear the Masons?" which focuses on the increasing incidents of assaults on Masonic lodges all over the world. If you want to listen to the entire episode, click HERE.

Ukraine's Invisibility Cloak

From Alia Shoaib's 10-8-23 MSN.com article entitled "Ukraine Claims to Have Invented an 'Invisibility Cloak' to Help its Snipers and Specialists Evade Detection from Russian Troops":

Ukraine claims to have invented an "invisibility cloak" to help its soldiers evade detection by Russian thermal-imaging cameras and drones.

Ukraine's Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, shared a video on social media, which he said showed the jacket being tested.

The video, filmed by a thermal-imaging camera, shows one cloaked soldier appearing much fainter than his two uncloaked counterparts.

"The cloak blocks heat radiation & makes defenders invisible to Russian thermal cameras. It will help our soldiers work effectively during the night," Fedorov wrote in an X, formerly known as Twitter, post.

Fedorov added on Telegram that the jacket was lightweight, weighed up to 2.5 kg, or around 5.5 pounds, and worked in difficult conditions such as snow and rain. He added that it did not burn and protected users from extreme heat.

He did not provide further information about the materials and technology used to make the jacket.

He attributed the invention to Brave1, which is a Ukrainian government initiative to promote innovation in battlefield technology.

A member of the Brave1 development team, Maxim Boryak, told Newsweek that their production capacity for the jackets was currently limited to 150 units per month but that they are "ready for mass production."

He said that the technology was designed with certain specialist units in mind, such as snipers and reconnaissance teams.

Boryak added that the cloaks worked best when the person wearing them moved slowly, as rapid movements cause body temperature to rise [...].

In 2021, The Israeli Ministry of Defense and Polaris Solutions, an Israel-based manufacturer thermal emitters, revealed new camouflage technology that made soldiers virtually "invisible."

The Kit 300 was made of thermal-visual concealment material that combined metals, microfibres, and polymers to make it harder to detect soldiers.

To view Shoaib's article in its entirety, click HERE. 

Aerial Stalking

From Rebecca Rosenberg's 10-9-23 FOX NEWS report entitled "Pilot, 65, Accused of Using Plane to Stalk Woman for 4 Years: 'It's a Nightmare'":

A pilot was charged Friday with threatening a young girl days after he was arrested for using a single-engine Cessna plane to stalk her mother for more than four years.

"It's a nightmare. He's terrorized my family, and we've been so afraid," Cassie Wilusz, 42, told Fox News Digital. "All these years he has been winning because nobody would do anything until now."

Micheal Arnold, 65, allegedly flew his plane over her Schuylerville. New York, home multiple times a week so low that the windows rattled and the roof shook – all of this as Wilusz's husband lay dying of colon cancer.

"I didn't know if he'd fly into our home. I didn't know what he was capable of," she said. "I thought, what if he shoots me."

Her complaints to the Federal Aviation Administration and New York State Police fell on deaf ears, she said.

Arnold has been arrested at least five times for the aerial torment but nothing has deterred him [...].

The trouble started in November 2019. Wilusz runs Revolution Café in the picturesque town of 1,300 about 200 miles north of New York City. Arnold, a retired Merchant Marine, used to come into the café several times a week.

As far as she was concerned, he was just a regular customer. One day he sent her an alarming email. "It was pictures of him tied up with naked women, like 20 photos, and he was telling me to open my mind," recalled Wilusz, who was married.

She sent him a respectful Facebook message taking exception to the graphic photos, then she blocked him.

The rejection appeared to have sparked an obsession. Arnold began flying over her home, taking photos of her backyard and car and posting them to a community Facebook page. When she headed to work, walked her dog or took her daughter to school, she'd find him sitting in his car at the end of her driveway or hiding nearby.

An anonymous package arrived in the mail with photos of her and her family with checkmarks next to their faces, but the package was sent from a post office without cameras and police said they couldn't identify the sender.

To read Rosenberg's entire article, click HERE.

"The Tree that Casts a Shadow Like a Man" in COSMIC HORROR MONTHLY

I just received my contributor copy of COSMIC HORROR MONTHLY #37, the perfect reading for Spooky Season! This issue includes my short story entitled "The Tree that Casts a Shadow Like a Man." Here's the publisher's ballyhoo....

Another issue of CHM is here! We start with a mysterious space horror by CHM alum P.L. McMillan in “The Working Conditions of Shift Three” followed by a social media commentary by Jo Kaplan that will make your skin crawl in “The Feed.” In “The Tree that Casts a Shadow Like a Man” unimaginable things lurk in the woods of the upper Midwest. There is a right and wrong way to die in “Glass Clue” followed by a thoroughly disturbing tale of motherhood and entomology in “Want Like Raw Silk.”

Long time readers of CHM will know how much I enjoy corporate horror. In “Down in Minus Three” we witness how valuable interns are to large corporations… and the world. All the young men in town are connected by a weird, terrifying dream space in “Heroes” before we wrap things up this month with a ship’s crew marooned on a strange, ancient island in the era of sail in “Under the Wall.” Enjoy.

Buy your copy right HERE!!!

UNBOXING DEAD MONKEY RUM!

 

ADVOCATE: "QAnon Believer Threatens to Kill U.S. Congresswoman He Thought Was Transgender"

From Christopher Wiggins' 9-26-23 ADVOCATE article entitled "QAnon Believer Threatens to Kill U.S. Congresswoman He Thought Was Transgender":

A man in New Mexico has admitted to threatening a U.S. member of Congress because he thought she was transgender.

According to court documents, Las Cruces resident Michael David Fox has entered a guilty plea to a federal charge concerning threats made across state lines. This plea was presented in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Damian L. Martinez at the U.S. District Court in New Mexico last Thursday, relating to a phone call Fox made last May to a congressperson’s Houston office.

He threatened to “put a bullet” in the unidentified congressperson’s face during the call.

“You’re a man. It’s official. You’re literally a tr*nny and a pedophile, and I’m going to put a bullet in your f***ing face. You mother f***ing satanic cock sucking son of a whore. You understand me, you f***er?” Fox said in the call, according to the criminal complaint.

Following a trace conducted by law enforcement, the call from May 18 was linked to a cellphone in Las Cruces. Upon being confronted by FBI agents on May 26, Fox confirmed making the call, although he didn’t recall all the details initially. However, Fox admitted his actions after hearing the recorded call, per court records.

Fox told authorities about his affiliation with the QAnon movement but clarified he did not possess any firearms to act on his threats, court documents elucidated. He expressed his and others’ intentions to save the world from transgender people. Fox believes that trans people are secretly leading governments and corporations.

To read the entire article, click HERE.