Spooky Season Begins!

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 latest nonfiction book, HOLLYWOOD HAUNTS THE WORLD: AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE CINEMA OF OCCULTED TABOOS, or my 2021 novel inspired by the Golden Age of Hollywood and all the tragic ghosts that wander the streets of Los Angeles, BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD? Both of these books were nominated for Rondo Awards, the former for "Book of the Year (Nonfiction)" and the latter for "Best Classic Horror Fiction."

PRAISE FOR HOLLYWOOD HAUNTS THE WORLD: 

 

"In HOLLYWOOD HAUNTS THE WORLD, Robert Guffey takes his readers for a trip behind the magic curtain to reveal the true Wizards at work - those behind the lenses, making magic and moving the secret levers. To this end, Guffey plays the role of Toto, tearing the curtain aside to reveal these flesh and bone Wizards of the military-industrial-entertainment complex, and the occult role they play in influencing our inner dreams and everyday realities."

--Adam Gorightly,  

author of SAUCERS, SPOOKS, AND KOOKS
and THE SHADOW OVER SANTA SUSANA: BLACK MAGIC, MIND CONTROL, AND THE MANSON FAMILY MYTHOS

"Hollywood has truly haunted the world. So too should this book, one of the best ever written on American cinema."

--Gary D. Rhodes,

author of THE PERILS OF MOVIEGOING IN AMERICA and TOD BROWNING'S DRACULA, 

from his Foreword

 

"A heady, occult-driven exploration of cinema!"

 

--Larry Wade Carrell,

director of GIRL NEXT, THE QUANTUM DEVIL, and THE DARKSIDE OF SOCIETY

 

"HOLLYWOOD HAUNTS THE WORLD is an eccentric, erudite, freewheeling, groundbreaking, tongue-in-cheek but facetiousness-in-check extravaganza. Robert Guffey’s wry homage to cinematic taboo-breaking delighted and captivated me.”

--James Morrow, 

award-winning author of ONLY BEGOTTEN DAUGHTER and BEHOLD THE APE 

 

 "This is a fascinating, mind-expanding trip into some seriously dark corners."

 

--CINEMA RETRO 

 

 "[An] enjoyable trip from a tour guide likely (and proudly) on at least one agency watchlist."

 

--FLICK ATTACK 

 

 "[A] work of remarkable consequence, one I urge you to read."

 

--Peter Normanton, CRYPTOLOGY MAGAZINE 

 

"Highest recommendation!"

 

--Stephen R. Bissette,

writer/artist of TYRANT, CRYPTID CINEMA, and SAGA OF THE SWAMP THING 

You can hear me talking about the secret origins of HOLLYWOOD HAUNTS THE WORLD on several different podcasts including CONSPIRINORMAL, THE FARM, FORGOTTEN HOLLYWOOD, HI, STRANGENESS, THE NEW BOOKS NETWORK, RAVENSTAR'S WITCHING HOUR, THINGS VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE, THE WARPED REALITY PARANORMAL PODCAST, and WHERE DID THE ROAD GO? 

As for BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD, Gary D. Rhodes (Lugosi's premier biographer), PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, NIGHTMARE MAGAZINE, CEMETERY DANCE, and Alan Moore all loved this novel! What more do you want? How about an audio version? Yes, indeed, 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

Back in 2021, Adam Sayne and Serfiel Stevenson of the CONSPIRINORMAL podcast interviewed me about BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD, focusing on Lugosi's relationship with esotericism and Manly P. Hall. You can hear that entire interview on YouTube:

Conspirinormal 372- Robert Guffey 4 (Bela Lugosi's Dead):

Kenn Thomas on CONSPIRINORMAL

The Autumnal Equinox of 2026 marks the third anniversary of Kenn Thomas' death. Besides being the editor of STEAMSHOVEL PRESS, Thomas was also the author of several fine parapolitical books including THE OCTOPUS: SECRET GOVERNMENT AND THE DEATH OF DANNY CASOLARO (written in collaboration with Jim Keith) (1996), MAURY ISLAND UFO: THE CRISMAN CONSPIRACY (1999), and TRUMPOCALYPSE NOW! (2017). To mark this anniversary, I suggest listening to the September 7, 2017 episode of Adam Sayne's CONSPIRINORMAL podcast in which Thomas is interviewed at length about his final book, TRUMPOCALYPSE NOW! To listen to the entire conversation, click HERE.

 

EQUINOX!!!

 Equinox - This Unholy Bible:

Even Long Extinct Grandparents Love THE EXPECTANT MOTHER DISINFORMATION HANDBOOK!

Here's a photograph of Yours Truly and my dear grandfather taken shortly after the old codger finished reading my Wonderland Award-winning book, THE EXPECTANT MOTHER DISINFORMATION HANDBOOK! As you can see from the joyous expression on his roadmap of a face, even one's long dead grand pappy can be delighted by the unexpected explosions of pure wonder contained within THE EXPECTANT MOTHER DISINFORMATION HANDBOOK! To avail yourself of the same volatile energy seen here being absorbed by Grandpa's living corpse as his ancient brain soaks up the healing wisdom contained within THE HANDBOOK, you need simply buy a copy from the publisher (Madness Heart Press) and/or the evil multinational corporation that peddles such contraband online. Do you know anyone who needs to be restored to life instantly? If so, here's an opportunity of a lifetime... indeed, of several lifetimes! To purchase one or more copies of THE EXPECTANT MOTHER DISINFORMATION HANDBOOK (guaranteed to resurrect lost loved ones under certain astronomical conditions [details available upon request]), then simply click HERE... or HERE!!!

 

PRAISE FOR THE EXPECTANT MOTHER DISINFORMATION HANDBOOK:

"Robert Guffey’s The Expectant Mother Disinformation Handbook is weirder than parthenogenesis, weirder than the Republican Party, weirder than the fetishizing of pregnancy that suffuses our culture, weirder than all the back issues of Weird Tales combined. You will laugh, gasp, and scratch your head in pleasurable bemusement. I can’t recommend this tongue-in-cheek tour de force too highly."

—James Morrow, award-winning author of Only Begotten Daughter and Behold the Ape


"Here it is. THE perfect baby-shower/gender reveal party gift. Forget all the binkies, blankies, cute little onesies, and diaper-service subscriptions. Those are so overdone and boring. Want to make a REAL impact? This book. This book right here [...].

"Well-written, lively, engaging, easy to read, and tons of fun. If I were a truly evil imp with plenty of money, I’d sneak copies into every OB/GYN office and ‘Parenting and Family’ bookstore section in the country."

—Christine Morgan, award-winning author of Spermjackers from Hell and Lakehouse Infernal 

 

"We've got plenty of people who think that they know best--better even than a given pregnant woman. We don't need more of them, but we could damn well use more examples of them turned into buffoons just like we get to see in the Handbook [...]. [The Expectant Mother Disinformation Handbook] is often weird, often funny, frightfully well written, and it gives us that unique satisfaction that only fiction can provide by putting the bastards into a magic circle of their own disinformation and locking them away. Isn't it sweet to think that they'd stay there."

 —Géza A. G. Reilly, Dead Reckonings 

 

You can hear me talking about the secret origins of THE EXPECTANT MOTHER DISINFORMATION HANDBOOK on multiple podcasts and radio shows including Steven Snider's THE FARM, Matthew M. K. Hopewell's THE AP STRANGE SHOW, and Seriah Azkath's WHERE DID THE ROAD GO? 

ICE Deaths Reach Their Highest Level in Decades

From Sofia Leyba's 8-28-26 COUNTERPUNCH Op-Ed piece entitled “We’re Getting Awfully Used to ICE’s Abuses”:

Jose Chajon-Raxon, an immigrant from Guatemala, died this August at Delaney Hall, a controversial ICE facility in New Jersey. His death marks more than 50 deaths in ICE custody since President Trump took office last year.

Despite all the controversies, ICE keeps killing people — a sentence that should never feel normal. We should never find ourselves counting the days between deaths or waiting for the next headline. But somehow, we have.

Earlier this year it was Renee Good, then Alex Pretti. This summer it was Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero. Before them were Silviero Villegas Gonzalez and Ruben Ray Martinez. Those are only the names we know— many others will never make national news [...].

In June 2026, ICE arrested more than 43,000 people, about 1,400 every day. By July, nearly 68,000 people were being held in immigration detention. The overwhelming majority of those arrested had no criminal convictions.

This includes over 6,000 children. Children who are spending their birthdays behind bars. Children who should be back in school, safe and protected. Many have been detained for 100 days or more — five times longer than the 20-day limit for detaining immigrant children.

They’re being held in facilities like Delaney and others, where human rights groups have warned repeatedly that dangerous conditions are leading to preventable deaths. ICE deaths reached their highest level in decades last year, and this year is on track to be no better [...].

No matter where you were born, what political party you belong to, or whether you support stricter immigration enforcement, no government should have the power to kill or imprison people with so little accountability. 

To read Leyba's entire article, click HERE. 

Surveillance and Harassment in Minneapolis

From Matt Sledge's 8-15-26 THE INTERCEPT article entitled "Secret ICE Agent Tried to 'Entice' Minneapolis Activists into Confrontational Tactics":

Organizers in Minneapolis long suspected they were being surveilled by the federal government during the height of the winter protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It was not until a court filing on Thursday, however, that the youth-led Sunrise Movement and other groups learned the depths of infiltration.

The Sunrise Movement has long preached nonviolence even as it pursues aggressive tactics, such as making a racket outside of the hotels where ICE agents sleep.

But the group’s public commitment to peaceful protest did not spare it from a months-long, aggressive campaign of government snooping that included ICE agents attending its meetings and protests undercover, subpoenas of its financial records, and at least one apparent attempt to entice an organizer into backing more confrontational tactics [...].

Shortly after federal agents killed Alex Pretti on January 24, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations opened two investigations it called “Operation Puppet Master” and “Project Whipple Shield,” the latter a reference to the federal building that was the site of many ICE protests.

Supposedly, those probes would focus on a network supporting “violent opportunists and agitators.” In reality, the investigative reports that the federal government has turned over to defense attorneys show that undercover ICE agents secretly recorded at churches, libraries, and schools even when organizers stressed the importance of nonviolence.

In the case of Sunrise, undercover agents were already targeting the group before the killings of Pretti and Renee Good [...].

One week after Pretti’s slaying, two undercover agents attended a Sunrise Movement Twin Cities training on “resistance skills” hosted at a public library.

The meeting included primers on deescalation at protests, and the ICE agent noted that it was “made clear that the Sunrise Movement organization focused on ‘peaceful’ protests.”

That did not stop the undercover agent from making a private approach to one of the organizers, according to a report the agent produced. The agent told the organizer that he worked in construction and “could build items that might assist other groups with more ‘direct-action’ protests.” When the undercover agent declared that “going to jail did not bother him,” the organizer “acknowledged” the agent’s comments and took down his phone number, according to the report.

Kevin Riach, the attorney representing one of the defendants in the indictment targeting Minneapolis activists, said in a court filing this week that that report was one of several showing that ICE’s undercover agents “actively participated in organizing and directing the groups they were surveilling, at times working to entice people into discussing or committing crimes.”

To read Sledge's entire article, click HERE. 

In regard to the connection between organized surveillance and ICE, I suggest taking a look at this 1-4-25 CryptoPost entitled "Anti-surveillance Graffiti."

Announcing... CryptoScat Press!

I'm proud to announce the launch of my own publishing imprint, CryptoScat Press! The first volume released under the esteemed CryptoScat Press banner is a brand new edition of my Rondo Award-nominated novel, DEAD MONKEY RUM, which has been praised by the likes of writer/magician Alan Moore, filmmaker Irek Dobrowolski, painter Robert Williams, graphic novelist Jim Woodring, film scholar Gary D. Rhodes, and cryptozoologist Loren Coleman! The ripple effects of this novel's initial publication back in 2023 have been pleasantly unexpected. For example, I was proud to discover recently that DEAD MONKEY RUM has been taught in English classes at the university level. Equally encouraging were the positive reviews for the novel featured in such diverse publications as FORTEAN TIMES and EXOTICA MODERNE, both of which I read on a regular basis. Cryptoscatology correspondents sometimes sent me photos of the book found in the wild (see below)... 

 

Alan Moore's enthusiastic response to this modest epic was heartening, to say the least. And DEAD MONKEY RUM'S nomination for a Rondo Award in the category of "Best Classic Monster Fiction" alongside the likes of such luminaries as Tim Lucas and Craig Russell represented the Rondo-Hatton-sized cherry on top of the rum cake. Alas, regardless of this attention, the novel has been unavailable for the past year or so due to mysterious circumstances beyond my control. 

 

Despite the sinister and conspiratorial efforts of the half-human Yetinsyny to keep this novel out of your hands, the terrible truth about the Sons of the Yeti refuses to be suppressed! To prevent the imminent destruction of the human race, you must buy a copy of this new edition of DEAD MONKEY RUM... today!!!

A mixture of urban fantasy and Los Angeles noir, DEAD MONKEY RUM revolves around a stolen Tiki idol that contains the ashes of visionary artist Stanislaw Szukalski. Our heroes, an alcoholic monkey named Robert Mclintlock and a beautiful bartender named Stephanie Waterfall, must locate the missing statue in the wilds of Los Angeles before a tribe of pissed-off Yetis can get their massive, dirty paws on it. Because the obsidian idol possesses magical properties, the cryptozoological beasts intend to use it to kickstart the destruction of the entire human race.

DEAD MONKEY RUM is an alcohol-fueled voyage through the heart of Los Angeles. This tumultuous odyssey amidst the Tiki bars, illicit casinos, exclusive hotels, trains, buses, and hidden tunnels and grottoes that lay beneath the City of Angels propels our hero, Robert McLintock (who just so happens to be a wiseacre simian conman from a small island called Koshima located off the coast of Japan), from his comfort zone in Orange County, into the violent byways of Hollywood, and far beyond Southern California to the Rano Rarako volcanic crater on the remotest island in the world, Rana Nui, also known as Easter Island, where our heroes ultimately engage in a final, fierce, knockout battle with an army of homicidal Abominable Snowmen for the control of Planet Earth.

Here's your first glimpse at the proof copy of DEAD MONKEY RUM, which arrived here at the highly fortified Cryptoscatology Compound only a couple of days ago. Please take a good long look at this fabulous Tiki-centric cover created by artist extraordinaire, Joseph Dunn:

 

PRAISE FOR DEAD MONKEY RUM:

"A remarkable rush of entertainment and thrills."

--Alan Moore (V for Vendetta and Watchmen) 

 

"Robert Guffey's fantastic novel, DEAD MONKEY RUM, will at least bring your brain out of a coma, if not get your imagination off the couch. This is a thinly masked tribute/adventure to the late Stanislaw Szukalski and his boundless imagination. This book is a mental gymnasium."

-- Robert Williams (Visual Addiction, Hysteria in Remission, and Through Prehensile Eyes)

 

"A fantastically rich and entertaining piece of work with an original sharp edge."

 -- Jim Woodring (writer/artist of Weathercraft, The Frank Book, and One Beautiful Spring Day)

 

"Stanislaw Szukalski would love DEAD MONKEY RUM. This novel is addictive like a heavy drug. Make space in your calendar to read it all."

-- Irek Dobrowolski (director of the Netflix documentary, Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski)

 

 "Yetis, Tiki Gods, Cryptozoology, and rum-filled adventure! Sign me up and tell me when the ship sails! I'm recommending this Robert Guffey novel to all my friends, family, and foes to take their minds completely off whatever they are thinking about. Wonderful."

-- Loren Coleman (Mysterious America, The Field Guide to Lake Monsters and Sea Serpents, The Field Guide to Bigfoot, Curious Encounters, and 40 other books - Director of the International Cryptozoology Museum)

"The wild ride of wild rides... this may be Guffey's best novel, which is saying a lot. The humor is as strange as it is dark as it is priceless."

-- Gary D. Rhodes (The Perils of Moviegoing in America, Tod Browning's Dracula, and Weirdumentary)

 
"DEAD MONKEY RUM succeeds at being a pursuit thriller, with suspense and tension as the monkey and Stephanie evade their cryptid enemies, and comedy as the two exchange jabs at each other. It is cinematically fast. DEAD MONKEY RUM should be adapted to a [...] Ralph Bakshiesque animated film where both the zaniness of the narrative and the latent satire would really flourish."

-- Exotica Moderne

 

"One of the weirdest romps you'll ever read."

-- Fortean Times

 

Coincidentally, it turns out that this is an auspicious time for the relaunch of this particular novel, as DEAD MONKEY RUM has been spotlighted in the latest issue of MEN'S ADVENTURE QUARTERLY (Issue No. 14) published by Robert "Bob" Deis. Entitled "Popsquatch!: A Crash-course on Where the Pop Cultural Bigfoot Has Gone in the 21st Century," Stephen R. Bissette's incisive feature article explores the most important cryptozoological fiction released in our current century (yes, including the Zermatism-inspired DEAD MONKEY RUM). I highly recommend this issue, which is overflowing with fascinating, Bigfoot-themed articles by such writers as Loren Coleman, Keith Roysdon, MAQ Co-Editor Bill Cunningham, the aforementioned Steve Bissette, and the late Ivan T. Sanderson!

Rest assured, future volumes in the CryptoScat Press series will be announced very soon!