This short film from 2016 is the official video accompaniment for Jóhann Jóhannsson’s “Flight from the City,” the opening track from his sublime final album, 2016’s Orphée. Orphée traces a path from darkness into light, inspired by the Orpheus myth. A story about death and rebirth, the elusive nature of creation and art and the ephemeral…
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.
An interview with Gary Lachman on occult politics, nihilism, and the dangerous potentials of the imagination
Just published here at The Teeming Brain: my interview with Gary Lachman on his new book Dark Star Rising: Magick and Power in the Age of Trump. As many Teeming Brain readers are already aware, Gary is a noted writer on occultism and esotericism who contributed to my paranormal encyclopedia a few years ago….
Booklist names ‘Horror Literature through History’ a Top 10 Reference Book
Booklist has named my horror encyclopedia one of the top ten reference works it reviewed between May 2017 and May 2018, saying that all the books on the list “represent useful resources for libraries of all sizes.” You can also read Booklist‘s full starred review of Horror Literature through History, where the upshot is this:…
The inherent sadness of stop-motion puppets: Short film ‘Stems’
A short film by BAFTA award-winning Scottish animator Ainslie Henderson, with music by Poppy Ackroyd. Suddenly, what was just stuff becomes this character staring back at you. What I love about stop-motion puppets is that they have this inherent sadness about them. They’re like little actors that only ever get to play one role. Everything…
Published: “Vastarien: A Literary Journal” – Vol. 1, No. 1
To quote someone or other: It is finished. After three years of planning, preparation, and intensive editorial work by Jon Padgett and me (and a handful of additional key individuals), the first issue of Vastarien is now available. Early responses from readers are enthusiastically positive. Both print and Kindle editions can be purchased through Amazon….
Sample of Cadabra Records’ Audio LP of Ligotti’s “The Bungalow House”
https://soundcloud.com/cadabraecords/thomas-ligotti-the-bungalow-house-read-by-jon-padgett-score-by-chris-bozzone-sample-2 Cadabra Records is currently accepting preorders for their lush audio production of “The Bungalow House,” which is one of my (and indeed one of most readers’) favorite stories by Thomas Ligotti. The above sample allows you to hear what the whole thing sounds like. Hint: It sounds incredibly lush and wonderful. The published album…
The necessity of constructive pessimism in our dystopian world of digital illusions
Robert Kaplan, writing for The Washington Post: It is impossible to imagine Trump and his repeated big lies that go viral except in the digital-video age. It is impossible to imagine our present political polarization except in the age of the Internet, which drives people to sites of extreme views that validate their preexisting prejudices….
A Penguin Classics edition of Ligotti’s ‘The Conspiracy against the Human Race’
First there was the Penguin Classics combined edition of Ligotti’s Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe. Now there’s this forthcoming Penguin Classics edition of his The Conspiracy against the Human Race, to be published this October, with another beautiful cover by Chris Mars and a new preface by Ligotti himself. The canonization continues. Here’s…
This Is Horror, Episode 193: Jon Padgett and Matt Cardin on “Vastarien” and More
In this just-published episode of the This Is Horror Podcast, Jon Padgett and I talk with hosts Michael David Wilson and Bob Pastorella about our new project Vastarien: A Literary Journal, along with other matters of interest. Click to listen or download. Note that at the time of this writing, our Vastarien Kickstarter campaign, to…
Nanette Fabray and the quietest two minutes in American television history
Nanette Fabray, the legendary American television actress, singer, comedienne, and advocate for the hearing impaired, has died at the age of 97. Fifty years ago last month, she (and The Carol Burnett Show) provided just over two minutes of the most amazingly quiet and mesmerizing programming in the history of American broadcast television. These two…