First, my standard proviso: If you haven’t already read the first installment in this series of posts, then please do so before reading this one, since the first one lays the groundwork for what I’m going on about. But for now, to reiterate briefly: Since childhood I have been overcome from time to time by…
Author: Matt Cardin
Teeming Brain founder and editor Matt Cardin is the author of DARK AWAKENINGS, DIVINATIONS OF THE DEEP, A COURSE IN DEMONIC CREATIVITY: A WRITER'S GUIDE TO THE INNER GENIUS, and TO ROUSE LEVIATHAN. He is also the editor of BORN TO FEAR: INTERVIEWS WITH THOMAS LIGOTTI and the academic encyclopedias MUMMIES AROUND THE WORLD; GHOSTS, SPIRITS, AND PSYCHICS: THE PARANORMAL FROM ALCHEMY TO ZOMBIES; and HORROR LITERATURE THROUGH HISTORY.
The Daemon is someone inside you
Apologies for my failure yesterday to make my regular Monday blog post. I really have no excuse, especially since I was off work yesterday due to last week’s winter storm that has resulted in several days of school cancellations. Today we’re in our fourth day of this unexpected vacation, with a return to work tomorrow…
Religious Horror: the burgeoning cultural moment
What an interesting cultural moment it is for somebody like me, who holds an obsessive interest in religion, horror, and the interface between them. For example, it’s widely recognized that zombies have become the monsters of the moment in contemporary horror entertainment. Zombie-themed movies have been flooding movie theatres for the past five or six…
The inner locus of creative inspiration
Last Monday I was the subject of an author chat at The Lost and the Damned. I think it went pretty well. I certainly enjoyed myself, and a small crowd showed up to pick my brain about topics that proved quite interesting to me. I just hope my answers proved equally interesting to them. A…
Autumn Longing: Edgar Allan Poe
First, my standard proviso: If you haven’t already read the first installment in this series of posts, then please do so before reading this one, since the first one lays the groundwork for what I’m going on about. I assume Poe needs no introduction to most readers, seeing as he — or at least a…
Brian McNaughton’s “lost” introduction to DIVINATIONS OF THE DEEP
I just returned last night from attending the World Fantasy Convention in Austin, Texas. I’ll be posting a full report on my experiences there some time in the next week or so, but right now, in order to meet my self-imposed weekly blog deadline, I thought I’d go ahead and share something I’ve been planning…
Autumn longing: H.P. Lovecraft
If you haven’t yet read my first post in this series of posts about a special mood of ethereal longing that occasionally overcomes me, then please read that one before this one, since it lays the groundwork to explain what I’m getting at here. H.P. Lovecraft was an early 20th century American horror author who…
Adventures in nocturnal assault
In the early and mid-1990s, beginning immediately after my graduation from college, I began to suffer from a recurring experience of sleep paralysis. If you’re not familiar with this phenomenon, click the link just given or do a Web search. There’s plenty of detailed information available. The link above will take you to an article…
Autumn longing: C.S. Lewis
The autumn season has always carried a special emotional potency for me. When the weather turns crisp and the colors of nature change first to vibrant reds, oranges, and golds, and then progress onward toward deep russet browns, tending toward the death-sleep of winter, I’m struck with feelings of poignancy and melancholy that burn more…
War, torture, and the failure of the American experiment
Once again, an online conversation has elicited enough words from me that I’ve realized they would make for a good blog post. A word of warning, though: I’m afraid it reads like a sermon or lecture. And a rambling one at that. Or worse, it may read like a one-sided conversation — which indeed it…