Season 9 Episode 7: The Weirdification of "The Fire of Asshurbanpal" and The Dark Man Journal with Nicole Emmelhainz-Carney and Jason Ray Carney!

This is a big 'un! We were lucky enough to have Nicole Emmelhainz-Carney and Jason Ray Carney sit in with us for our discussion of "The Fire of Asshurbanpal," which progressed through a variety of iterations as written by Robert E. Howard. Beyond this, we have great discussions about this year's Howard Days, Jason and Nicole's contributions there, and spend some time talking about The Dark Man: Journal of Robert E. Howard and Pulp Studies. Jason and Nicole are taking over the reins from the most recent issue (10.1) onward, so there is a lot of discussion about where this journal is going! Tune in!

Misc. Things
- See here for the Facebook page for The Dark Man, where you can find about about submission deadlines and other info!

- See here for the Imaginary Worlds episode featuring Nicole Emmelhainz, alongside other REH scholars!

- See here for Ben Friberg's extensive video coverage of REH Days! Thanks so much for this continued service, Ben!

- See here for Jason Ray Carney's blog, which is loaded with all kinds of pulp and lit crit goodness!

- See here for the Pulp Studies section of the Popular Culture Association!

One Things
Nicole: The TV show, Longmire!
Jason: The Sorrows of Young Werther, and the Byronic Hero!
Jon: Lost Christianities, by Bart Ehrman!
Josh: Crusader Kings, which is easily accessible at Good Old Games!
Luke: The Books of Blood, by Clive Barker!

Next time... We get expansive when we tackle "Nekht Semerkhet," and get to talk about Kentucky's own Andrew J. Offutt!

Questions? Comments? Curses?
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Legal Mumbo-Jumbo
Our episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Themes by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. Outro: "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel. All music was obtained legally; we hope our discussion of this content makes you want to go out and purchase the work!

Season 9 Episode 6: The Progression of "The Spears of Clontarf" by Robert E. Howard

The Cromcast crew dives into the progression of "The Spears of Clontarf" to "The Grey God Passes" and "The Cairn on the Headland" all by Robert E. Howard. 

What starts as historical fiction featuring Brian Boru and Ireland vs. Brodir of Man and a bunch of Vikings becomes a Cthulu mythos tales featuring an Odin with tentacles! We pick apart why Howard loves Clontarf and what the vicious cycle of Ragnarok might mean for these stories. Tune in!

Odin is a bad mamma jamma

One Things
Jon: Spider-Man: Life Story- What if Spider-Man aged in real time?
Josh: Transmetropolitan and Spider Jerusalem by Warren Ellis- What is journalism?
Luke: Barry on HBO- Bill Hader is a hitman who takes acting classes! What's not to love?

Next time: Get your marshmallows ready because we're lighting up ""The Fire of Asshurbanpal"

Questions? Comments? Curses?

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Or, check us out on iTunes!
We're also on Stitcher Radio and Google Play!
Finally.... Call us! (859) 429-CROM!

Legal Mumbo-Jumbo

Our episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Themes by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. 

Outro: "The Grey God Passes" by Manilla Road.  All music was obtained legally; we hope our discussion of this content makes you want to go out and purchase the work!

Season 7, Episode 7: The Black Stone (Epic Closer for Season 7)

Greetings, Cromrades! This week we conclude our seventh season with a discussion of REH's The Black Stone. It's free on Project Gutenburg or, if you're on the hunt for an audio retelling of the story, check out an older post by SFF Audio. They give some great shout-outs to podcasts that narrated The Black Stone. Their post also presents some additional art inspired by the story! Here's the  cover art for Bantam's 1979 edition of the "Wolfshead" collection...

This widely-lauded "Cthulhu mythos" story was first published in Weird Tales in November of '31... We think this is a tremendous story! While there are arguments to be made about its derivative qualities (see this well-written essay by Price), this is as much a tale that exhibits "Howardian" themes as those typically associated with Lovecraft....

One Things

Jon: Magic for Humans on Netflix.

Josh: Aw...Crap, A Hellboy Podcast and the Hellboy Book Club Podcast.

Luke: Trilogy by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer.

Also... Be sure to check out "The Terrible Parchment" by Manly Wade Wellman, as recommended Rusty Burke!

Next time... Cromtober!

Questions? Comments? Curses?

Email us! (thecromcast at gmail dot com)

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Subscribe to our feed on FeedBurner!

Or, check us out on iTunes!

We're also on Stitcher Radio and Google Play!

Finally.... Call us! (859) 429-CROM!

Legal Mumbo-Jumbo

Our episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Themes by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. Pop music includes Donovan's "Season of the Witch." All music was obtained legally; we hope our discussion of this content makes you want to go out and purchase the work!

Season 7, Episode 4: The Book of Eibon!

Hello again, Cromrades! We meander a bit with this episode, but after a solid front-end covering bourbonz, books, TV, and podcasts, we finally get into a big discussion of three Clark Ashton Smith stories, namely The Door to Saturn, Ubbo-Sathla, and The Coming of the White Worm.

As referenced in our episode, below are two of CAS's depictions of Tsathoggua!

One Things
Jon: Priceless, by Wittman and Shiffman
Josh: Retrogaming podcasts, including Retronauts and Watch Out for Fireballs, and Graveyard Duck!
Luke: Sharp Objects, both the HBO series and the book!

Next time we'll cover De Vermis Mysterious, as referenced in Bloch's Shambler in the Stars and Lovecraft's The Haunter of the Dark.

Questions? Comments? Curses?
Email us! (thecromcast at gmail dot com)
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Subscribe to our feed on FeedBurner!
Or, check us out on iTunes!
We're also on Stitcher Radio and Google Play!
Finally.... Call us! (859) 429-CROM!

Legal Mumbo-Jumbo
Our episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Beginning theme: Sudden Defeat by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. Closing theme: In the Evening, by the Led Zeppelin. All music was obtained legally; we hope our discussion of this content makes you want to go out and purchase the work!

Season 7, Episode 1: Grimoires in the Pulps!

gri·moire: noun. a book of magic spells and invocations, that may itself possess some magical properties.

Take a look, it's in a book... 

Welcome back, Cromrades! It has been a bit since our journey to Howard Days and the wrap-up of our adventures with Fafhrd & The Gray Mouser. We're sure we'll be seeing them again someday. But for now, our journey takes us down some dark paths. We are searching for knowledge, and to that end have purchased some ancient tomes that ought to open new vistas in our perceptions of reality! To that end, Season Seven will focus on Grimoires and their use as literary devices and tropes in pulp fantasy and horror! This week, we dive into a general discussion of grimoires both real and fictional and ponder why this trope is so prevalent in the pulps!

One Things
Jon - Kolchak the Night Stalker
Luke - His raised bed - zukes & cukes!
Josh - Altered Carbon on Netflix

Next week: H.P. Lovecraft's classic grimoire, The Necronomicon! We'll be reading "The History of the Necronomicon" and "The Hound" for our eldritch, gibbering discussion!

Questions? Comments? Curses?
Email us! (thecromcast at gmail dot com)
You know you want to follow us on Twitter!
Subscribe to our feed on FeedBurner!
Or, check us out on iTunes!
We're also on Stitcher Radio and Google Play!
Finally.... Call us! (859) 429-CROM!

Legal Mumbo-Jumbo
Our episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Beginning theme: Sudden Defeat by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.

Closing theme: Magic Carpet Ride by Steppenwolf. All music was obtained legally; we hope our discussion of this content makes you want to go out and purchase the work!

Season 4, Episode 19: Worms of the Earth

Hile, Cromrades! This week, we bear witness to the destruction of a man's soul. Worms of the Earth by Robert E. Howard was published in November of 1932 in Weird Tales, but you can read the story online here. This one is a doozy, and is a great way to kick off Cromtober! Time to get yer scare on!!!

An adaptation of this story appeared in Savage Sword of Conan #16-17, and was interpreted by Roy Thomas with art by Barry Smith and Tim Conrad. Here's a bit of Tim Conrad's contribution:

One Things
Jon - O.J.: Simpson, Made in America
Luke - Jake Xerxes Fussell's eponymous album
Josh - Straight Outta Compton

Questions? Comments? Curses?

Email us! (thecromcast at gmail dot com) You know you want to follow us on Twitter! Subscribe to our feed on FeedBurner! Or, check us out on iTunes! We're also on Stitcher Radio and Google Play! Finally.... Call us! (859)429-CROM!

Legal Mumbo-Jumbo

Our episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Beginning theme: Sudden Defeat by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.

Closing theme: Raggy Levy by Jake Xerxes Fussell from his eponymous album. All music was obtained legally; we hope our discussion of this content makes you want to go out and purchase the work!

Cromtober, Part III: Robert E. Howard's "The Cairn on the Headland"

Oh, hello there! Good evening. It's such a pleasant night here on the headland, isn't it? I do so much enjoy being here in the evenings. My doctor tells me the ocean air is good for my convalescence, so I try to make it out here before the sun sets. It's so peaceful, an almost timeless quality to the landscape, don't you agree? It's almost unbelievable to think of the barbarous battle that spilt so much blood here nearly a millennium ago...

Hugh Frazer's Battle of Clontarf (1826)

And so our Cromtober 2014 shenanigans draw to a conclusion! In our third episode we tackle Robert E. Howard's The Cairn on the Headland! It was first published in Strange Tales in 1933. If you don't have a copy of the story to read, check it out here for free! While you're at it, make sure you read up a little bit on the Battle of Clontarf! Or listen to Dan Carlin's Hardcore History episode on this era of history. That guy knows his stuff!!!

And we had a plethora of spooky 'One Things' as we head into the homestretch for Halloween....

Jon: the zany Bruce Campbell vehicle, Bubba Ho-Tep!

Josh: the Paul W.S. Anderson cult favorite, Event Horizon!

Luke: Another seasonal text, The Book of Hallowe'en!

Don't forget that you can support The Cromcast by signing up for your free trial of Audible at audibletrial.com/thecromcast. We recommend trying out one of their THOUSANDS of titles!

Our episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ The spooky organ intro comes from (we think) the public domain (via the YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2RP1GivOqo). Our epic closer is the tail-end of Agalloch's Ghosts of the Midwinter Fires. Agalloch are AMAZING, and their song absolutely fits into our pagan Norse discussions, don't you think? We hope our discussion of this content makes you want to go out and purchase the work! All music was obtained legally. And seriously, go pick up some of Agalloch's discography. Check out Marrow of the Spirit or, their newest, The Serpent and the Sphere!

Questions? Comments? Curses? Email us! (thecromcast at gmail dot com)

Leave us a voice mail! (859) 429-CROM! (That's 859-429-2766)

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Howard's Horrors: The Black Stone!

Hey all, Luke here! Just finished another REH story last night, The Black Stone.
Here's the Roquefort Raider's interpretation of that strange obelisk...

Pretty ominous, huh? This widely-lauded "Cthulhu mythos" story was first published in Weird Tales in November of '31... Right out of the gate I noticed that REH set a very different tone from both Haunter of the Ring and Pigeons from Hell (the other straight horror stories from REH that I've read)... REH "grounds" this story with a backdrop of mythical books and poetry that surround an unnatural, perhaps mystical, obelisk in the rural landscape of Hungary. 

Needless to say, the nameless narrator of the story can't be happy with just reading about such weird landmarks, he is compelled to take a little holiday to investigate this obelisk... And did I mention it happens to be around the time of the summer solstice?

Once darkness falls, the story takes on a dream-like quality. And as the events of that night build to a fever-pitch, the story turns into a blood-curdling nightmare! This tale has by far the most striking and horrific act(s) of violence that I've read by REH, though I would say not gratuitous in the least.

I think this is a tremendous story! While there are arguments to be made about its derivative qualities (see this well-written essay by Price), I am of the mind that this is as much a tale that exhibits "Howardian" themes as those typically associated with Lovecraft.... Without spoiling too much, there is a heavy reliance on civilization and race, which I think is a nice contrast with the theme of doomed familial relations and heritage that are more commonly acknowledged Lovecraftian tropes. 

If you've read this story, what do you think? Sound off in the comments section below!

I give this story a hearty recommendation. It's free on Project Gutenburg or, if you're on the hunt for an audio retelling of the story, check out an older post by SFF Audio. They give some great shout-outs to podcasts that narrated the The Black Stone. Their post also presents some additional art inspired by the story! 

And on that note, I'll leave you with the cover art for Bantam's 1979 edition of the "Wolfshead" collection... Who knows what that being that lurks on the top of the dread black stone?

And from when?!?!?!

Notes From the Road... Cincy Comic Con 2013!

The Cromcast recently took a trip to the Cincinnati Comic Con...

And what a day! I think it's safe to say that we "pulped it out" as much as possible. Some great buys were found, some great discussions were had, and we made some new friends of the show!!! 

What kinds of finds did we run across? Who did we meet? Well, a string of images and notes follow... If you're interested, then please read on! However, if this seems like a bit of over-indulgence, then just sit tight... Episode #6 will be coming your way lickety-split!!!

The first image here is a great commission from Alejandro Bruzzese. I asked for a Red Sonya, specifically one that was "a bit more foreboding, and a bit less cheesecake..." Needless to say, you can see that Alejandro flat-out nailed it. It's already on display in Cromcast Central. 

Besides the sketch we were able to talk a bit with Alejandro about some of his ongoing work. His webcomic, Proxy, is AMAZING! Seriously, there's not much else out there that I think does such a good job of blending the weird with the psychedelic. And then, for good measure, add just a touch of horror. JUST LOOK AT THAT ALIEN! 

The next on our list is a sketch from John Sebastian...

John is a multi-faceted guy. First, as you can tell from the above work, he is one hell of a visual artist. Lots of heavy metal linework, lots of love for the genre, lots of horror. Some serious weirdifiied and pulpified goodness there. John told me he thought this could be best described as "some sort of eldrtich sorceror trying his hand at summoning an Old One..." Or something along those lines. Regardless, it is truly horrific. And excellent!

But beyond these sketches, John is also part of the Cincinnati-based band, Grey Host! Check out their Bandcamp page and you can stream their full album, Dawn for Vultures, and buy it for a mere $6. If you're into any sort of doom / sludge metal, this is some great stuff. It's been on heavy rotation for me since we left the convention. Here's the opening track from the album... Queue it up and get yer metal on! 

From our talks with John it looks like Grey Host is in the studio prepping some new material, and at least one song has some serious Conan connections! These guys have agreed to let us feature this new song in the upcoming music episode of the podcast, so be looking for a premiere release of that song right here on THE CROMCAST!

And finally...

These images are some of the books we picked up. Some great finds, both comics and prose!

Whewww, I think that about wraps it all up. What a weekend! 

See ya on the next podcast!