THE EXPECTANT MOTHER DISINFORMATION HANDBOOK ON GODLESS!!!

Earlier this morning, John Baltisberger (the publisher of Madness Heart Press) released the following announcement...

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Today is the Godless release of Robert Guffey's new book THE EXPECTANT MOTHER DISINFORMATION HANDBOOK. This is your first chance to read this incredible book, as it will be WEEKS before it's available anywhere else.

When Robert sent me this pitch last year, I immediately fell in love. It was EXACTLY the sort of book I was hoping for when I opened Gutter Mystic Books. It was what I was trying to achieve with the Nafallan Course Catalog anthology, and the Madness Heart Press Employee Handbook, but done so masterfully that I was amazed.

Robert Guffey is truly a master of the craft. Check out this Bizarro and satirical tome TODAY.

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Meanwhile, GODLESS.com posted the following announcement...

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𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗧!

Robert Guffey and Madness Heart Press bring a little bit of bizarro to 31 Days of Godless IV with THE EXPECTANT MOTHER DISINFORMATION HANDBOOK.

Part scientifically sound guidebook, part nutso indictment targeting the exploitation of parenthood, THE EXPECTANT MOTHER DISINFORMATION HANDBOOK is wildly different than any other book on Godless.

Be sure to pick up THE EXPECTANT MOTHER DISINFORMATION HANDBOOK today for a BUCK OFF!

𝗚𝗘𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗧 𝗠𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞 𝗡𝗢𝗪!

 
𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗣 𝗥𝗢𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗧 𝗚𝗨𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗬

 
𝗚𝗘𝗧 𝟯𝟬 𝗗𝗔𝗬𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗦𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗠𝗕𝗢𝗫 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘!

𝗖𝗼𝗱𝗲: 𝟯𝟭𝗗𝗢𝗚𝗜𝗩

𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗣 𝟯𝟭 𝗗𝗔𝗬𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗚𝗢𝗗𝗟𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗜𝗩

The Expectant Mother Disinformation Handbook by Robert Guffey.

The Expectant Mother Disinformation Handbook is part novel, part fabulist encyclopedia. It’s academic research that’s shockingly close to the truth. The Expectant Mother Disinformation Handbook is a cabinet of wonders disguised as an informational guide for expectant mothers.

Backed up with scientific-sounding footnotes from imaginary obstetricians, this book threatens to raise the paranoia of postmodern motherhood to a new level of absurdity.

Ultimately, this book is a scathing satire on the unthinking commercialization of motherhood, fatherhood, and procreation in general.

The only guide an expecting mother needs, from master of Bizarro Robert Guffey.

𝗚𝗘𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗧 𝗠𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞 𝗡𝗢𝗪!

𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗣 𝗥𝗢𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗧 𝗚𝗨𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗬

Strange Realities 2024

On Sunday November 3rd, I'll be speaking at the annual STRANGE REALITIES conference where I'll be delivering a talk entitled "Mr. Ulmer's Cabinet of Wonder: Edgar G. Ulmer and the Cinema of High Strangeness," which will draw upon at least two of the chapters in my next nonfiction book, HOLLYWOOD HAUNTS THE WORLD: AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE CINEMA OF OCCULTED TABOOS (soon to be published by Headpress Books). If you're interested in purchasing tickets for the event, click HERE.

THE WEIRD PART

The latest episode of Vincent Treewell's THE WEIRD PART PODCAST dropped earlier today. Over the course of this two-and-a-half hour discussion, Vincent and I tackle all manner of High Strangeness. At around the 16:00 mark, I offer a sneak preview of what lies in wait for you in the pages of my latest book, THE EXPECTANT MOTHER DISINFORMATION HANDBOOK, which will be published by Madness Heart Press on October 27th. Click HERE to check out what Vincent describes as "one of [his] best episodes to date"!

"Freemasons from Outer Space" in NEW DAWN MAGAZINE

The current issue of NEW DAWN MAGAZINE contains my latest article, "Freemasons from Outer Space," in which I examine the connections between hermetic symbolism and alleged extraterrestrial encounters. 

(This issue also contains articles by and about Bob Frissell, author of NOTHING IN THIS BOOK IS TRUE, BUT IT'S EXACTLY HOW THINGS ARE, newly released in a thirtieth-anniversary edition.)

"Freemasons from Outer Space" appears on pp. 55-64 of NEW DAWN MAGAZINE SPECIAL ISSUE Vol. 18, No. 5. NEW DAWN is available from Barnes & Noble or any well-stocked newsstand. Print and digital copies of this issue of NEW DAWN are available HERE.

Spooky Season Redux!

Now that we're officially into Spooky Season once again, you're no doubt searching for something appropriately weird and macabre to read as we hurtle our way toward All Hallows' Eve. Why not try my Rondo Award-nominated novel, BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD? None other than Alan Moore, author of V FOR VENDETTA and WATCHMEN, gave BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD the following 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.”

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!

PRAISE FOR BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD:

“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

"BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD is a remarkably authentic, hypnotizing interpretation of all the glitz and pure talent behind Lugosi’s fame, as well as the hubris that steered his downfall. Guffey depicts how Lugosi’s Dracula transformed horror from a genre of make-believe to one that spreads the notion that monsters lurk among us."

--HALEY NEWLIN, CEMETERY DANCE

Welcome to Spooky Season... and the City Limits of CRYPTOPOLIS!

As Spooky Season and an impending Apocalypse descend upon us like deliciously dark storm clouds from Hell, why not take this opportunity to curl up with a tome that PUBLISHERS WEEKLY describes as "not for the faint of heart"? Yes, why not inoculate yourself against the increasing madness of our times with an even greater amount of unhinged lunacy? That strategy seems perfectly logical to me, and I'm sure it'll seem perfectly logical to you as well after you've imbibed a few of the mind-distorting, poisonous treats hidden between the ominous covers of my debut short story collection, CRYPTOPOLIS & OTHER STORIES, released by Lethe Press this past January. The peculiar tales in this volume have been compared to the works of Jorge Luis Borges, William S. Burroughs, Samuel R. Delany, Franz Kafka, H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Clark Ashton Smith, and Robert Anton Wilson! Here's what a pack of raving maniacs have to say about CRYPTOPOLIS & OTHER STORIES...

PRAISE FOR CRYPTOPOLIS:

"The stories in Cryptopolis feel like the bloody, star-filled lovechildren of Burroughs and Delany, with each tale ostensibly one part of a greater whole; abstract limbs and organs tethered together by strained flesh. Cryptopolis will take readers on a hallucinogenic journey through worlds fractured by time and place—slipping through liminal dimensions with seamless abandon to unveil unsettling illusions and heartbreaking realities—and totally worth the trip."

--Philip Fracassi, author of Boys in the Valley

 

"If you're tired of the same wines and you're curious about the vintage only just whispered about, have a deep draught of Robert Guffey's Cryptopolis. You don't have to descend with Fortunato to the deepest cellars to find this bottle of Amontillado. Here it is! If Poe collaborated with Robert Anton Wilson...if Borges had a lovechild with Lovecraft, which was subsequently adopted by Kafka...you might get Cryptopolis. I think too that Clark Ashton Smith would admire this collection. Written with the obsessive precision of a mysterious staircase descending into the abyss, Cryptopolis will take you to strange epiphanies..."  

 

--John Shirley, author of The Feverish Stars

 

"Once upon a time, weird and speculative fiction had an underground full of stories that were not written as calling cards or as film treatments or as extended internet memes. Guffey's tales resist genre gentrification; they move into your mind to turn it into a punk house squat!" 

--Nick Mamatas, author of Move Under Ground and The Second Shooter

 

 "In Cryptopolis & Other Stories, Guffey's free-ranging intellect meshes wonderfully with his command of the language."

--John Oakes, author of The Fast

 

"Guffey brings together 25 horror shorts that swing wildly between terrifying mindtrips and gritty realism. Throughout, Guffey’s blunt prose lends a sense of normalcy to the fantastic as his cast of losers from all walks of life face the cruelties of their existence—sexual violence, drugs, war, parenthood, and poverty [...]. Though not for the faint of heart, this bizarre and over-the-top collection is sure to thrill devotees of weird fiction."

--Publishers Weekly

"Cryptopolis may end up being a gateway drug into Robert Guffey’s work. I don’t use that term spuriously. So many of Guffey’s stories in Cryptopolis have a hard-bitten edge and gritty feel to them that I could see him crafting a metatext about an author whose books are physically addictive. Across the collection’s twenty-five stories and vignettes, Guffey displays a range of interests and foci with such depth and heart that I wouldn’t be surprised if he became one of my favorite modern writers [...].

"Affect, the experience of emotional response, seems to be at issue in every one of Guffey’s offerings. From the opening eponymous story (which is the only outright Lovecraftian story in the collection), with its resonances of love as a torturous paralytic, to the last, 'Esthra, Shadows, Glass, Silence,' a parable of alternate lives and lost possibilities, the emotional response drawn from the reader appears to be the crux of every piece. These stories are engines designed to make the reader feel."

--Géza A. G. Reilly, Dead Reckonings

 

EXPANDING FRONTIERS RESEARCH: "1950s Psychological Warfare, Intel Collection, UFOs and Fascism"

What follows is a brief excerpt from Jack Brewer's recent EXPANDING FRONTIERS RESEARCH article entitled "1950s Psychological Warfare, Intel Collection, UFOs and Fascism":

FBI files responsive to Gordon Gray obtained by Expanding Frontiers Research through the Freedom of Information Act contain reports compiled during the course of security investigations spanning some 25 years of his intelligence career. The Yale-educated attorney held numerous positions of responsibility, advising and leading national security personnel at the highest levels of the mid-20th century United States intelligence apparatus. His positions included Secretary of the Army, directing the CIA Psychological Strategy Board, chairing the Clandestine Collection Committee, sitting on the board of the Economic Development Committee, heading the Office of Defense Mobilization, and numerous additional presidential appointments, including serving as Special Assistant to the President and as a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.

FBI files not surprisingly demonstrate Gordon Gray was involved with psychological warfare offices, propaganda groups, foundations now known to have acted as covert CIA funding conduits, and secret intelligence-gathering operations ostensibly created as international economic relief organizations. A follow-up FOIA request led to obtaining documentation of a 1982 investigation conducted by the U.S. General Accounting Office showing it identified many of those CIA initiatives to be of interest in its search for Nazi war criminals.

Records also show that a Robert M. Hanes, then-president of Wachovia Bank and future Administrator for Germany of the Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA), described himself as knowing Gordon Gray since childhood and admiring him very much when interviewed by the FBI in 1948 (see p43). Notably, Gray's grandfather was a co-founder of Wachovia. The ECA was a precursor to U.S. Aid for International Development, or USAID, and has a recurring presence in records obtained and circumstances explored by EFR.

As previously reported, a 1949 letter from then-DCI Roscoe Hillenkoetter to the Economic Cooperation Administration provides documentation of CIA use of the ECA as an asset to collect and furnish the Agency classified “economic intelligence information.” Soon after the date of Hillenkoetter's letter, the ECA contracted a Baltimore public relations firm, Counsel Services, to conduct work abroad. This took place as Counsel Services co-founder Leo McCormick became employed by the ECA as a project manager (see p60). Counsel Services officers Mary Vaughan King, who was another co-founder, and Thomas O'Keefe, a State Department man with experience working overseas and designating personnel for foreign assignment, fascinatingly went on in 1956 to assist T. Townsend Brown with the incorporation of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (see p3).

The organization became the largest UFO group ever formed, boasting some 14,000 paid subscribers at the height of its public relations success and assembling a governing board that remained populated with intelligence officers throughout its existence. The implications are intriguing and offer many directions for research, illuminating puzzle pieces about the people who inhabited the murky world of flying saucer tales, even if reliable information on the reported craft themselves remains forever elusive...

To Brewer's entire article, click HERE.