The Dream Keeper

"Sir," said the jittery homeless man on the train. He was clad in a filthy dark jacket, had a an aged and ragged-edged ski cap on, and an uneven, grey-sprinkled beard. He was missing some teeth and he smelled like piss and liquor. Oh, no wonder - he had a thing of vodka in a brown paper bag. "Sir, can you..." "Sorry, I don't have anything." I said. He turned to the Goblin next to me, who helpfully held out Goblin-Gold with a big, toothy smile. That is, he gave him a little black, silk baggy of worms, beetles and rocks, which to his people were currency. I looked down and away to smirk, shaking my head. Poor Goblins - they hadn't figured out how to deal with the Homeless yet. The man begrudgingly accepted the useless sack, probably planning on emptying it out and selling it if it wasn't too damaged. Or, hey, maybe he'd eat the bugs. I dunno how desperate he was. He walked on while the Goblin crossed his legs and continued to hum his ...

They're the embodiment of all that is evil and wrong and ungood, don't ya know? Pictured: Evil, apparently. 

Taken from a Reddit Writing Prompt, which you can find here . My post is there too, which you can find on that page under my username: "FearTheProxyHorde" Enjoy! ''BETH AND SHELLY'' Technique, Astaroth said. It was all about technique. WHY THE HOLY HELL DIDN'T I LISTEN?!? How long has it been? Six minutes, and still all she's got is the Ren and Stimpy theme song up in her head? Lucifer Almighty, do parents just park their kids in front of the T.V. sets nowadays? I could parent these kids better, and I exist to create suffering for no defined god-damned reason! Literally, that's in the handbook: "Thou art to weave pain, and woe, and (And, well, it goes on for 666 pages after that) for some god-damned reason. This is the Devil's Creed, and we honor it for it is in our nature." Ugh, when is this gonna turn off? O.K., wait it out, they taught you about this. People can be very patient, even children with their short at...

And that rhyming name pleases me waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than any twenty-something man has any right to be. Thinking about making him my official mascot from now on. Thoughts?

And yet another Goblin. This one I've decided to call Sid. Because it fits, y'know. As a tall, thing bassist I find myself identifying with him far more than I should.

This is Stretch the Goblin. He's one of three Goblins, all with the last name Zinn, who make noise in the Boy's Garage.  Originally his name was to be J.B. or maybe Beckenstein, after Jay B. Beckenstein , but once I started calling him Stretch I got too used to it. 

Or, if you want a pretentious and artsy title: "Breaking Out Of The Prison Of Normality." I live in New York, so, y'know, feel free to picture this. If it helps.  So, Halloween is the best Holiday ever, right? Right! ALL DISSENTERS REPORT TO THE GAS OVENS! Halloween is great for a number of reasons, most of which I don't have to tell you. One of them, though, doesn't get mentioned often enough, and I thought I'd pass it along here should anyone come across it. Tell me: if you pass by a guy on the street, exactly how much thought do you give him? If he's not doing anything particularly weird or dressed unusually you probably just walk by, right? Right. But what about Halloween? You walk by somebody dressed as a character you recognize, what do you do? This. You do this. I saw, this Halloween, a pair of parents with three kids - Mom was Alex Delarge, Dad was Jason. The kids were Mike Myers, Freddy Krueger and the baby had a Hannibal L...

Taken from a Reddit Writing Prompt. My story here can also be found here , as a comment on said writing prompt. "The Waves of Warfare" The boundaries between life and non-life are very, very fuzzy. There is great disparity between a man and a stone, true. But less so a cell and a virus. What is alive? What is not? If a Virus is not alive than how does it move about? How does it act? Questions worth pondering for a Biologist, once upon a time. Something that could produce a pretty good thesis, maybe ever a career path, once upon a time. Once upon a time is no longer, however. Now, things are different. The first wave had been organic. Actually, it had been only organic. It still remains a mystery how, exactly, the first wave got here; since they seem to have no technology whatsoever. We didn't notice they were here until we saw them the first time, after the 'assimilations' had started to get people's attention. Oh, assimilations? Let me tell you all about...

It's an ad from a Lovecraftian Monster-God for advice. Read it and reply, maybe? :D

So, you ever find a movie you like and that everyone else can't stand? I do, all the time! Either I have a keen eye for underappreciated talents, or I just have shitty taste because I'm a fanboy raised by t.v. and movies (probably the second one). So, inspired by Doug Walker's observations of the same name , I'll be presenting you with some opinions of mine that would probably get me burned at the stake if I were ever to voice them among other film enthusiasts. Here we go! Feel free to tell me your own in the comment section. Or, y'know, Troll the shit outta me, that's cool. Drillbit Taylor This one was a victim of high expectations. Also, I was a freshmen when I saw it, so I probably related to the main characters a little more. But here it goes: Drillbit Taylor is, like, three out of five. I'm not saying it's gold, because it fucking ain't. The bully is so over-the-top that you can't take him seriously, or for humor given how totally...

So, for those of you who don't know, the greatest horror film director of my generation passed away recently. I'm sorry I don't update this blog as often as I should, but sometimes the Fates Conspire...as they have today. So: Wes Craven. If you don't know the name, you definitely know his work: Last House on the Left, Hills Have Eyes, Nightmare on Elm Street, The People Under The Stairs, New Nightmare, Swamp Thing, Serpent and the Rainbow, Scream ........the man had not only a great take on the Horror Genre but a great take on Film-Making in general. Before linking you to some other remembrances, I'd like to go over what I think are his best works, and pay tribute to one of the biggest influences on me and my writing. Before we begin, let's address one of the best things about a lot of Craven Movies, and one of the themes he worked with that imprinted itself onto my mind forever: His Urban Fantasy. Urban Fantasy, as some of you may know (and some of...

Equivalent to the King of Swords. War Deities are usually associated with violent, aggressive animals ( Ares with dogs and boars, and Sekhet , the Egyptian War Goddess, associated with Lions, for example) so I thought: what other animals, besides humans, wage war? Army Ants , of course!

Wasn't able to come up with an alternative for this one. But, y'know, I like this one the best so far.

An illustration from my upcoming poetry book. This one took me nine tries. 

My Tarot's equivalent to the Fool. Yes, my self-esteem issues are glaringly obvious in that comparison. Enjoy!

The Oracle of Skulls, equivalent to the Queen of Cups, depicts a little girl positioned triumphantly upon her bed, and astride the Bogeyman. Neither one of them seems terribly upset at a change of roles in the usual relationship, as they march onwards into the dreamworlds.

The Four Of Guns Tarot card, equivalent to the Four Of Swords in the standard deck. So is she blissfully unaware of the fire consuming her tree house..........or celebrating her last night on Earth, not allowing her enemies victory?

May the 4th be with you!

Two more Tarot Cards are done!

Funny. All I could think when drawing the Eight of Blades (my tarot's equivalent to the "Eight of Wands") was: LOOK OUT, MOTHMAN! SHE'S GOT A NET!

Who really, really, REALLY need to read this . You wanna do it for them?

From Trent Staley's Tarot Deck! Which version do you like better? Let me know in the comments!                                             

“LATEBROS ASSECLASOMNUS” Sometimes “Nightsnare”, “Mind-Parasite”, or “Dream-Drainer”. Etymology: “Lurking Parasite God”, from the Latin “Latebros” (Lurking), Assecla” (Parasite), and “Somnus” (Roman Sleep God).        S leep is a time of vulnerability – possibly the most vulnerable one can be by necessity. So, of course, the worst conceivable predator relating to this time of helplessness would not only be one that hunts exclusively while its prey is sleeping – but also one that hunts the very act of sleep itself.        S omnivores by necessity are difficult to observe, but a creature of vaguely Dragonfly-like outline is seen drifting in and out of the darkness as its victims awake and drift off to sleep. Its outline is thin as a stick, its four wings great and transluscent and glowing softly; lulling its prey into unconsciousness. Its head is bulbous, rounded. Its mouth looks as a human’s without a lower ja...

Hope you guys like it.

As a huge Lovecraft fan, I've never been so highly honored! LET'S ALL GO TO RLYEH, LET'S ALL GO TO RLYEH; LET'S ALL GO TO RLYEH AND BUY OURSELVES A SOUL (yum!)

At one point in my current novel, Trent - the protagonist - illustrates a mural in chalk on the side of his school. Of course, the teachers make him hose it down, but he recreates it for a two-page spread in the book. Near the top center are the Dreadful Wind Demons. Watch out, they're dreadful.

If anyone out there likes Tarot Cards - and I feel like those are the kinds of people who'd like my blog, for some reason - I'm working on a deck that'll go with my current book. The Major Arcana, anyways. For those of you who don't know that means, like, the Devil and the High Priestess and all the cool ones that show up in horror movies and books and such. This is my "High Priestess" equivalent, "The K'thonic Queen". Went with that name because the High Priestess is usually related to Persephone, a Cthonic Goddess from Ancient Greece. And went with that spelling because it's kinda like "K'tulu", my preferred spelling of "Cthulhu". I sometimes suspect that "Cthulhu" comes from "Chthonic" seeing as Lovecraft was very well-schooled in mythology and folklore. More on the way! And I may very well make the deck itself available for purchase, presuming enough people like it.

You lived long and you prospered.

Enjoy your Flying Cars and Hoverboards and Terrible 80's Theme Restaurants!