Spies and Saucers Now on Amazon

My second book, SPIES AND SAUCERS, is now available through Amazon!  Simply click HERE to procure yourself a ticket to a slipstream version of 1950s America that defies the traditional notions of time and space, history and mythology, paranoia and sanity (and all that jabberwocky)….



SYNOPSIS

Madness, murder and mayhem abound in SPIES & SAUCERS, a collection of three sui generis novellas by ROBERT GUFFEY.  Each of these tales explores the anti-Communist hysteria of the 1950s, as well as the flying saucer obsession of that era, while straddling the boundaries of seemingly disparate genres:  metaphysical science fiction, espionage, satire, and crime noir.

The first part of SPIES & SAUCERS, “The Fallen Nun,” takes place in 1959.  Our protagonist, Kyle Black, wakes up one morning to discover a dead nun lying facedown in the marijuana garden in his backyard.  Attempting to solve the mystery of how the nun ended up in his garden leads Kyle to strange encounters with an Irish Cyclops named Finn mac Cumhall, a Devil Bat grown to enormous proportions by a dead mad scientist, two homicidal tabloid journalists, and a sickly extraterrestrial abducted by a time travelling mother superior . . .

In “Communist Town, U.S.A.,” a young FBI agent named Philip Trowbridge is sent to Wisconsin in 1955 with orders to infiltrate a small town, reportedly a hotbed of underground Communist activity, in which several previous FBI agents have disappeared without a trace . . .

"Spies and Saucers" is set three years earlier in 1952 and involves a blacklisted, left-wing Hollywood screenwriter named Curt Adamson.  Down on his luck after having been dumped by every studio on the West Coast, Adamson is recruited by a covert spy agency to write a screenplay for an unknown reason—unknown only to Adamson, that is.  Adamson’s superiors are well aware of the screenplay’s purpose.  Though consistently told he doesn’t have a “need to know,” Adamson insists on discovering the truth behind the tale he himself is weaving, and uncovers a plot far more outlandish and ominous than the cheap horror and science fiction B-movies on which he’s built his tarnished reputation . . .

Postal Spies

Here are some brief excerpts from Ron Nixon's 10-27-14 New York Times article entitled "Report Reveals Wider Tracking of Mail in U.S.":

"In a rare public accounting of its mass surveillance program, the United States Postal Service reported that it approved nearly 50,000 requests last year from law enforcement agencies and its own internal inspection unit to secretly monitor the mail of Americans for use in criminal and national security investigations.

"The number of requests, contained in a 2014 audit of the surveillance program by the Postal Service’s inspector general, shows that the surveillance program is more extensive than previously disclosed and that oversight protecting Americans from potential abuses is lax.

"The audit, along with interviews and documents obtained by The New York Times under the Freedom of Information Act, offers one of the first detailed looks at the scope of the program, which has played an important role in the nation’s vast surveillance effort since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 200 […].

"The surveillance program, officially called mail covers, is more than a century old, but is still considered a powerful investigative tool. At the request of state or federal law enforcement agencies or the Postal Inspection Service, postal workers record names, return addresses and any other information from the outside of letters and packages before they are delivered to a person’s home […].

"The Postal Service also uses a program called Mail Imaging, in which its computers photograph the exterior of every piece of paper mail sent in the United States. The program’s primary purpose is to process the mail, but in some cases it is also used as a surveillance system that allows law enforcement agencies to request stored images of mail sent to and received by people they are investigating."

To read the rest of Nixon's article, simply click HERE.

ATTACK OF THE POISONOUS MUSHROOM GROWTH!

Last night I returned home from trick or treating with my daughter to discover a most excellent Halloween present waiting for me in the mailbox:  my contributor copies of the latest issue of FORTEAN TIMES MAGAZINE.  My article "Attack of the Poisonous Mushroom Growth!' is the cover feature of the November 2014 issue (#320).  My article explores the moral panic sparked by the taboo-shattering American horror comic books of the 1950s, postulating that the devastating witch hunt mounted against these comics was nothing more than a clever distraction designed specifically to draw attention away from the real horror stories (i.e., political conspiracies) lurking just beneath the picture-perfect surface of Eisenhower's America.  Rush to your nearest Barnes and Noble (or any other well-stocked newsstand) and pick up your copy of FORTEAN TIMES #320 TODAY!  Tell 'em Ogo the Clown sent ya!

Octo Camo

From Ivan Amato's 9-30-14 Guardian article entitled "Engineers Mimic the Amazing Camouflage Abilities of the Octopus":

"At first glance, the thumbnail-size grids of 256 minuscule black squares seem to have nothing to do with the octopus, squid and cuttlefish that inspired them. But these hi-tech microconstructions of polymers, semiconductors, light sensors and heating elements are what you get when scientists attempt to replicate the camouflaging ability of the animal world.

"One of the goals of the scientists’ work, which explains the US navy’s financial support of the project, is to invent synthetic skins that can recast their textures, colours and patterns to match their surroundings – match them well enough that the skins and what’s underneath them essentially disappear.

"For millions of years, hiding has been a primary means of survival for soft and often defenceless cephalopods. Engineers can learn a lot from these masters of deception.

“'The power of evolution is spectacular,' says John Rogers, a materials scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who is part of a multi-institutional team developing hi-tech camouflage. 'We are taking inspiration from nature to build devices that can respond and adapt to the lighting and coloration of whatever environment they are in.' The scientists envision paints and fabrics that can change their patterns swiftly, even entire naval vessels that can blend into their surroundings with octopus-inspired camo skins [...].

"Military applications will come first, but Rogers envisions a world with octopus camouflage ability all over it. 'This is a starting point,' he says. 'I am thinking about surfaces whose colours are programmable and adaptive to what is going on.' A textile artist at the Art Institute of Chicago interested in futuristic fabrics has been in touch, Rogers notes. He then ticks off a bunch of things — cars, toys, displays, even living room walls — that he imagines could be designed with astounding morphing surfaces, from smooth to bumpy or woven textured, like wicker."

To read Amato's entire article, click HERE.

For further information on octopus camouflage, click HERE.

Announcing... CHAMELEO!

My third book, CHAMELEO:  A STRANGE BUT TRUE STORY OF INVISIBLE SPIES, HEROIN ADDICTION, AND HOMELAND SECURITY, is now available for pre-order!  It's scheduled to be published by OR Books in New York this coming February.  Feel free to spread the word!

If you wish to pre-order CHAMELEO, simply click HERE.

Unrestrained Surveillance in New York

A revealing article from Friday's New York Times is entitled "Undercover Police, Just About Everywhere" written by reporter Jim Dwyer.  Here are some brief excerpts:

"[New York City] now has a sturdy legion of undercover officers who have taken up residence in many surprising regions of civic life. Much of this began in early 2003, when a federal judge lifted many restraints on spying by the Police Department. The city had been failed by the federal intelligence services, and thousands died on Sept. 11. Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg created an independent intelligence capacity.

"So before and during the Iraq War, the organization of antiwar rallies was regarded as a fit matter for police surveillance; so were the monthly Critical Mass bicycle rallies, as well as groups protesting at the Republican National Convention in 2004, and a range of Islamic facilities, from mosques to college student clubs. Undercover New York police officers showed up at activists’ meetings all over the country, carrying guitars and knapsacks […].

"The unrestrained surveillance in New York public life is the physical embodiment of what has been taking place online over the last decade under operations of the National Security Agency revealed by Edward J. Snowden. To borrow the title of a 1918 novel about nosy Irish villagers, we have become The Valley of the Squinting Windows […].

"One of the large, undiscussed questions of such surveillance is how civic dialogue can be influenced or distorted by police agents — perhaps as provocateurs, or possibly with no motive beyond maintaining cover. During the Republican convention, after a group making a film was arrested, a redheaded man standing on the street pounded on the back window of a police van, urging that the people inside be let go. A day later, the same man was videotaped being briefly put under a fake arrest, leading to tumult in the street from others who objected to his incarceration. They were unaware that the man was an undercover police officer who was walked down the street by uniformed officers, hands behind his back but uncuffed, and sent on his way: catch and release."

You can find the entire article by clicking HERE.

SPIES AND SAUCERS on ANCIENT OF DAYS

Earlier today Tessa B. Dick (wife of the late Philip K. Dick) interviewed me on her radio show, ANCIENT OF DAYS.  Over the course of an information-packed half hour we discuss my new book SPIES AND SAUCERS, Curt Siodmak, the OSS, the CIA, CREATURE WITH THE ATOM BRAIN, THE GAMMA PEOPLE, secret mind control experiments, the dangers of communicating with dead celebrities, Philip K. Dick (naturally), and did I mention SPIES AND SAUCERS?  That interview can be heard by clicking right HERE.