Beatty Reveals Influences For WELCOME TO DUNWICH

BY GUEST COLUMNIST GARY SCOTT BEATTY . . . . . . . . . . .

EDITOR’S NOTE: Gary Scott Beatty is a friend of the blog and an irregular contributor with guest columns.  Today, his big  WELCOME TO DUNWICH free comic begins on Webtoons.  If you like Lovecraft, you’ll want to visit - - perhaps buy some property?  Here, Gary shares with us his influences. . . . . . I've been getting a lot of press about Welcome to Dunwich,the Lovecraft-inspired story that begins TODAY at Gods of Aazurn on Webtoons, here: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/gods-of-aazurn/list?title_no=202820 REAL ESTATE IN DUNWICH. I think it has a pretty good hook, "Lovecraft's Dunwich Gentrified by Developer." Or maybe it's just when you drop the name "Lovecraft" people stand up and listen. A shame they wouldn't even sit up for his influence Lord Dunsany, or his contemporary Clark Ashton Smith. Or another influence, William Hope Hodgson. His House on the Borderland (1908) is a trip and a half. I didn't like it the first time I read it, then I was compelled to reread it, then I started writing in that disjointed style that makes you go, "Huh?" You can read it for free at Project Gutenberg here: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10002 History picks winners but it often misses some along the way.   NO ESCAPE. Anyway, Welcome to Dunwich runs nearly through to the end of 2018, so if you don't like it, I need to know now. Comment at Webtoons: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/gods-of-aazurn/list?title_no=202820 Beneath the real estate story, as homeowners are kicked out of Georgians and shacks alike, a variety of eldritch beings eye the newcomers with evil intent.   YOUR FIRST TIME. Where did you first read H.P. Lovecraft? I learned about Weird Tales magazine (1923 to 1954) from reading Conan paperbacks with Frank Frazetta covers as a young lad. From there I read Weird Tales stories whenever I could get my hands on them. Some were pretty darn good, others not so. Then I ran into reprints of H.P. Lovecraft in paperbacks in my early teens, and because I knew about Weird Tales I read 'em. Just wow. So different. Subtle and over the top at the same time. Creepy. I'm not sure where I bought them, but I own a set of Arkham House hardcovers from 1963 that I've felt compelled to reread over the decades. Welcome to Dunwich is based on these books, Lovecraft's original stories. None of the post-Lovecraft tales, movies or video games influence Welcome to Dunwich. I'd be very interested to know when I slip out of current Lovecraft canon, but it's not going to influence my own HPL pastiche. I think I know this world and I'm enjoying rolling around in it like a dog in the back yard. Anyone want to guess how long the developer's family lasts in quaint, old Dunwich?   LIKES. I have to remind y'all, I need Likes at Webtoons:  https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/gods-of-aazurn/list?title_no=202820  It's the only way the corporate guys know I'm there. Remember, EVERY story can be Liked individually. If you'd like to read Weird Tales, The Pulp Magazines Project has a handful of them here: https://www.pulpmags.org/content/view/issues/weird-tales.html The UNZ Review has a few more here: http://www.unz.com/print/WeirdTales/ I have Mark Bloodworth to thank for being guest artist for Welcome to Dunwich! Let's talk about it over at Webtoons!  https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/gods-of-aazurn/list?title_no=202820 In glorious service to our Aazurn overlords, Gary Scott Beatty The LIKE monger   http://strangehorror.com

Copyright © 2018 Aazurn Publishing, All rights reserved.  If you're new here and forgot why you subscribed, I'm Gary Scott Beatty, author and/or illustrator of several fine genre fantasy books, including Wounds, Jazz: Midnight, Worlds, and, Bleeding Cool claims, one of the best indie comics of 2014, Number One. Add gary@indiecomicsmagazine.com to your address book and these won't be branded as sp7m-robot generated evil. If you enjoy these ramblings, feel free to send friends to http://strangehorror.com so they can become indoctrinated into the temple of Aazurn.