Harlan Ellison's "Pay the Writer" Rant & The Harlan Ellison Memorial Panel

In light of recent allegations regarding ChiZine Publications withholding royalty payments from writers (see previous post), perhaps this would be an appropriate time to resurrect Harlan Ellison's classic "Pay the Writer" rant from Erik Nelson's excellent 2008 documentary HARLAN ELLISON: DREAMS WITH SHARP TEETH:

 

Speaking of Harlan Ellison... on November 16, 2019, the FANAC organization uploaded to YouTube the Harlan Ellison Memorial panel that was held at Worldcon 76 in August of 2018 (about two months after Harlan's death on June 28, 2018). What follows is the YouTube description of the panel: "This Memoriam panel (audio, with pictures) features memories and anecdotes from Tom Whitmore, Robert Silverberg (who was a friend of Harlan's for 65 years), Chris Barkley, David Gerrold, Christine Valada and Nat Segaloff (Harlan's biographer). Each of the panelists had a close relationship with Harlan, and these loving but clear-eyed reminiscences are a comfort to those that miss him, and hopefully to those readers who never had a chance to meet him. Harlan was an enormous presence in science fiction. His stories, his scripts, his kindnesses and his sometimes unbelievable missteps will be long remembered. Recording provided by Karen G. Anderson and Richard Lynch."

The Horror Show: THE RISE AND FALL OF CHIZINE

In a series of articles posted on his FILE 770 website, Mike Glyer has been covering the recent allegations concerning ChiZine, the most prominent independent speculative fiction publisher in Canada. ChiZine, which is owned by Sandra Kasturi and Brett Savory, has won the World Fantasy Award, the British Fantasy Award, and the Bram Stoker Award. Their publications include books written (or edited) by the likes of Laird Barron, Ellen Datlow, Paul Di Filippo, Gemma Files, Christopher Golden, Stephen Graham Jones, Ed Kurtz, Geoff Ryman, and Paul Temblay. The recent public allegations against ChiZine include "slow payment and nonpayment" and "blackballing an author who complained" about the publisher's pattern of financial fraud. Such allegations (and others) are covered in the following FILE 770 articles:

"Authors Break Silence with Complaints About ChiZine Publications" (11-6-19).

"Writers and Staffers Share More Bad Experiences with ChiZine Publications" (11-7-19).

"As Authors Share More ChiZine Experiences, Others Part Ways with CZP" (11-10-19).

Novelist Brian Keene covers the controversy in great detail in the most recent episode of his podcast THE HORROR SHOW (11-14-19), which can be heard in its entirety below. It's well worth a listen:

THE RISE AND FALL OF CHIZINE - The Horror Show with Brian Keene - Ep 244

Invisibility Cloaking: Theory and Experiment

In January of 2019, investigative journalists George Knapp and Matt Adams (of KLAS-TV in Las Vegas, Nevada) obtained and published a Defense Intelligence Agency study entitled "Invisibility Cloaking: Theory and Experiment." According to Knapp and Adams' 1-31-19 8NewsNow article entitled "Former Sen. Reid Calls for Congressional Hearings into UFOs," the DIA study "explores invisibility cloaking — craft that are not only invisible to radar, but actually invisible. That research has reportedly been underway at Nevada’s Area 51 base in recent years."

The DIA study begins as follows:
 
"The idea of invisibility has fascinated people for millennia, inspiring many myths, novels, and films. Invisibility cloaking has recently become a subject of science and technology. This paper describes the important current theoretical and experimental developments and tries to project into the future."

To read the full DIA report, click HERE. 

To read Knapp and Adams' 1-31-19 8NewsNow article, click HERE.

THE REVELATION OF THE METHOD

What follows is the official trailer for the "remake" of Universal's THE INVISIBLE MAN, which hits theaters in February of 2020. CHAMELEO readers might find this preview of particular interest....

On pp. 36-37 of the 1995 edition of his book SECRET SOCIETIES AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE, Michael A. Hoffman writes that the multilayered phrase "Revelation of the Method" (first coined by James Shelby Downard, author of the excellent memoir THE CARNIVALS OF LIFE AND DEATH) refers to:

"...the process wherein murderous deeds and hair-raising conspiracies involving wars, revolutions, decapitations (secret archaeo-astronomic deity cult-worship), and every manner of horror show are first buried beneath a cloak of secrecy... and then, when finally accomplished and secured, slowly revealed to the unsuspecting populace who watch... deep-frozen... as the hidden history is unveiled [E]xposure itself does not defeat the cryptocracy because given the degraded and atrophied nature of modern man's perceptions and insight today, such revelations may only serve to strengthen the cryptocracy's mental hold.

"The record shows that the recent revelations of occult crime have almost never been accompanied by arrests, prosecutions, convictions and punishment of the initiates involved, hence the reputation of Academy invincibility is heightened by the revelations.

"Moreover, the spectacular nature of the crimes revealed carry a highly charged aura of the violent and the erotic and in the final analysis, when exposed to public attention, only become further grist for the seemingly limitless public appetite for shock-titillation and passive voyeurism."

Partying with the Frankenstein Monster!

For those of you who have not yet bought a copy of Craig Spector's new anthology, FREEDOM OF SCREECH, you must beware, for you have now incurred the wrath of the Frankenstein Monster! "Rarrrrrrgh!" the Monster said to me upon interviewing him about his participation in the anthology during a Halloween party in Long Beach, California. When asked for an official statement, he replied as follows: "Curse those of you vile insects who have willfully failed to purchase the most cutting-edge horror anthology published in the past twenty years! Do you not know that this quaint and curious and inflammatory volume of triggering lore consists of a plethora of transgressive tales by the likes of Norman Spinrad, Richard Christian Matheson, Chet Williamson, Jack Ketchum, Thomas F. Monteleone, and Elizabeth Massie? Why, it even includes a horrifically STRANGE BUT TRUE STORY--as reported by none other than the journalist to whom I now speak, Robert Guffey--about the legendary celebrity tell-all the talented Mrs. Percy Shelley penned in my honor over two hundred years ago! The story in question is entitled 'Farewell, Frankenstein!' I daresay, one cannot survive--before or after one's untimely death--without having read this masterpiece of contemporary cult literature. Heed my words, puny mortals: BUY FREEDOM OF SCREECH FORTHWITH OR I SHALL BE FORCED TO CRUSH YOUR CONTEMPTIBLE SKULLS!" The Monster then became so overwrought that I had to offer him twelve drams of laudanum to calm him down. He's now in my guest room, sleeping like a baby, a battered first edition of THE SORROWS OF YOUNG WERTHER clutched in his massive, scarred hands. I have to finish this post quickly now, before he wakes up and demands that I drive him home. (He dislikes Uber drivers with a passion, but that's a long story best left for a future post.) Alas, in his drug-induced stupor, he trashed my living room and three-quarters of my beloved terrarium. This is the last time I party with the Frankenstein Monster on All Hallows' Eve. Live and learn, my dear friends, live and learn....

To comply with the Frankenstein Monster's passionate wishes, feel free to purchase a copy of FREEDOM OF SCREECH right HERE!

Gary D. Rhodes on PARALLAX VIEWS

I recommend taking some time out from your Halloween festivities and listening to Gary D. Rhodes' 10-30-19 appearance on J.G. Michael's PARALLAX VIEWS. Here's Michael's description of the show:

On this Halloween bonus edition of Parallax Views, the Hungarian-born actor Bela Lugosi has become immortalized in pop culture since he starred as the title vampire in Tod Browning's 1931 Universal Studios monster movie classic Dracula. Additionally, Lugosi is also remembered for his collaborations with the notoriously inept filmmaker Ed Wood in the final years of his life. Together Wood and Lugosi made Glen or Glenda, Bride of the Monster, and, most infamously, "The Worst Movie Ever Made" Plan 9 from Outer Space. Lugosi's relationship with Wood went on to become the subject of a major motion picture, Tim Burton's Ed Wood, and garnered the late Martin Landau an Academy Award for his performance as the iconic thespian. Even after his passing 63 years ago, Lugosi's place in the pantheon of popular culture remains cemented into the collective imagination with the legendary actor being referenced in works by artists as varied as Andy Warhol and the goth rock band Bauhaus. In other words, the Lugosi legacy lives on all these years later. 

Joining us to discuss the life and times of Bela Lugosi, from Dracula to Plan 9 from Outer Space, is film historian Gary D. Rhodes. Having written multiple books on Lugosi, including Bela Lugosi: Dreams and Nightmares, Ed Wood and the Lost Lugosi Screenplays, and Bela Lugosi and the Monogram 9 (with previous Parallax Views guest Robert Guffey), Rhodes is without a doubt the foremost scholar of all things Bela Lugosi. In this previously unpublished conversation Rhodes takes us through the life and times of Lugosi, from his rise to stardom to his eventual struggles with addiction and infamous collaborations with Ed Wood. 

If you want to listen to this hour-plus conversation, simply click HERE. 

SILVER SHAMROCK FOREVER