New Discovery: Who Goes There by John W Campbell.

I guess what I really should say is new 'old' discovery as John W. Campbell's novella Who Goes There, was originally published in Astounding Stories in 1938. It is purported that he wrote Who Goes There in response to H.P Lovecraft's novella At The Mountains of Madness that had been published in Astounding Stories in 1936, to show Lovecraft how a story of that nature should be written.

Campbell's story Who Goes There served as the basis for the 1951 movie The Thing From Another World, that John Carpenter remade in 1982 as The Thing.

What makes this release unique is that before John Carpenter became involved in the remake, Universal Studios approached William F Nolan, who had recently garnered a great deal of attention with the release of the movie Logan's Run for which he'd written the screenplay. The print version contains a forward by William F Nolan as well as his treatment of the proposed screenplay that Universal passed on in favor of John Carpenter's version.  Nolan's take on Campbell's story downplays monster elements in favor of an "imposter" theme, in a vein similar to The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney. The forward and treatment is not available in the kindle version, I purchased a copy hoping to find the treatment by Nolan only to be disappointed.

Click on the cover to grab a copy for yourself.

Issac Asimov called Campbell, "the most powerful force in science fiction ever,." and his novella Who Goes There proves the point.

Establishing a Routine

It's not unusual that during the course of a conversation I'll be having with someone I haven't met before, when the subject of my writing comes up, almost without fail the person will express their desire to write a book themselves. If they only had the time.

Their excuses for not doing so range from having to watch their kids, to wanting to spend time with their spouses. There's housework that needs to be done, laundry waiting to be washed, work around the house that they've been putting off far to long. And the biggest excuses is being too tired after a hard day at work.

Not to brag but I'm writing this on Sunday evening after having worked from 9am until 5pm in a retail store. I got up this morning at 5:30 am, showered and made some coffee, then sat down and wrote until it was time to get ready for work. After work I stopped at another store to pick up food for the dogs and upon arriving home I sat down to dinner with my wife and our oldest grandson who had stopped by for a visit.

After dinner I ran my grandson home, came back to the house and helped finish the dishes. Now I sit at my computer, a cold beer on my desk beside me, while I write this post I've been promising myself I would do all week. You see I've made the decision that I have to post three times a week from this point on. Mondays will be missives like you're reading now about living the life of a writer who also works a full time job. Wednesdays will be devoted to new discoveries I've made in horror fiction, guest posts from other authors, and interviews. Fridays will remain Fridays Frights with a more personal touch as I talk about creepy places around the world. After I'm done this post I'll join my wife on the patio while we watch our dogs play in the back yard and relax for an hour or so before we go off to bed.

Recently I've rediscovered an old truth about being a working writer. To be successful, to complete your projects in a timely manner, you have to have a routine. Setting a goal is not enough if you don't establish a routine that will help you achieve that goal. My shot term goal is to finish Parasite, part two of the Shadows of the Past series I've been contemplating for some time. I want to release it by Halloween this year. To do that I have to finish it by the end of August. That will give me all of September and most of October to rewrite and polish the story in preparation for its Halloween release.

Will I make it?

I'm doing everything possible on my end. For the past two weeks I've gotten up every morning at 5:30, hopped in the shower, and grabbed some coffee before turning on the computer and getting to work. I've established a routine that is slowly becoming second nature.When I wrote Shadows of the Past I did the same thing, starting work the same time each day,and working until I achieved a goal which at the time was five pages per day, many days I'd write ten or fifteen. and in no time I had written 85,000 words.


To date I've laid down just over 25,000 words on Parasite. I'm nearly halfway there.

There's another little truth I've rediscovered recently. By sticking to my routine I've found I actually have more time to do the things I want to without feeling guilty.

Oh and don't forget while you're here to sign up for my monthly giveaway. This month I'm giving away a $10.00 amazon gift card along with an electronic library of all of my work. The drawing will take place August 15. to sign up follow the Where's Puddles link above.

Fridays Frights: Eastern State Penitentiary

We've visited a number of old insane asylums in our travels, coming to understand that wherever there was misery and death, ghostly apparitions were sure to follow. The walls of these places having absorbed the despair of its former occupants. Some had been placed within those walls for their own good, unable to care for themselves, requiring constant supervision. Many others had been abandoned by their own families. Committed not because they needed to be, but because they were in the way, so to speak. Innocents imprisoned for the crime of existing.

At the other end of the spectrum are the hardened criminals who deserve to be locked away to protect society as a whole. Men and women with no regard for anyone or anything but themselves. And one such place is Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Originally constructed in the early 1800,s the prison was operated under the Pennsylvania system from 1829 to 1913. A system centered on solitude that the designers felt would force the inmate to look within and find god. Yet the solitary existence was enough to make a sane person insane.

Confined to a single cell for twenty three out of twenty four hours, there was but a single slit in the ceiling through which the sun would shine, and was referred to by many as the eye of god. Before they could leave their cell a black hood was placed over their head to prevent communication as they were guided through the prison.

 Communication between inmates was an offense punishable by the cruelest form of torture. An iron ring was clamped around the inmate's tongue, their wrists were then bound behind their head and attached to the ring. Even the slightest movement would result in a tearing of the tongue. Many inmates died from loss of blood as a result of this punishment.

Other punishments included The water bath, an inmate was dunked into ice cold water then chained to a wall overnight. During the winter when this punishment was most popular the water on the inmates flesh wold freeze overnight.

The mad chair, so named  because many inmates were driven insane if they survived the punishment. They were strapped to a chair so tightly with leather straps that even the slightest movement was impossible. Forced to sit for days with no food in almost all cases circulation to their extremities would stop resulting in amputation or death.

Prior to its reform in 1913 the prison, which was designed to hold 250 inmates, was crammed with over 1700 inmates in tiny makeshift cells with little light or ventilation. In 1971 the prison was closed for good. Since that time there have been reports of weeping, giggling, and whispering coming from within the prison walls.

A locksmith changing  the 140 year old lock on cell block #4 reported being overcome by a malignant force that prevented him from moving. Anguished faces appeared on the walls of the cell block as shadowy forms swirled around him, and an overpowering entity beckoned for him to come to it. Many believe when he removed the lock he released the trapped spirits within the cell block.

Today the penitentiary is open to the public. More information on tours is available at

http://www.easternstate.org/home

New Discovery: The Bad Box

Ran across this on Goodreads and grabbed myself a copy. Very well written and worth the three bucks. Click on the Cover to grab yourself a copy.

Synopsis:

Sarah Temple hopes to find a bit of peace and quiet when she leaves her abusive boyfriend, but instead she finds a world of horror. It’s bad enough that a sadistic serial killer and another maniac are both trying to murder her, but what’s worse is the mysterious Solitary One who controls both of them, a malevolent entity that the serial killer describes as a living darkness, a man and yet not a man, something that’s alive and yet not alive, something that wants to appall the world.

Trying to flee from the two killers, Sarah finds herself running deeper and deeper into a deadly supernatural trap, a place where people are buried alive, where ghastly apparitions mutter in the dark, where demented killers prowl, where a crumbling haunted house can drive its victims mad with terror, and where something buried for a very long time may walk again.

 

About Harvey Click:

 

 

Harvey Click earned an M.A. in English from Ohio State University, using his first novel as a master's thesis. He has written four novels, three of them in the horror genre, and numerous short stories. He has taught both English and creative writing for Ohio University, Ohio State University, the James Thurber House, and OSU's Creative Arts Program.

His other work is: