Are you eager to see a thrilling new crossover, featuring occult detectives struggling at both the physical and psychic level against horrors in the nineteen twenties? You are? Then you should be a writer, and get on with it. Or you might wait and see if Joshua M Reynolds and John Linwood Grant come up with anything further in the shadow of Carnacki over the next few months. Who knows? We probably don’t. But here’s what we in the trade call ‘a conceptual framework’, or possibly what we scribbled on the back of spare envelopes…
Or at least one mellow longdog, in today’s passing ramble about dogs and conjure-women. For whilst Chilli dozes on the sofa, and an author struggles to put words into some sort of useful order to earn frozen chicken, Django shows no signs of settling. The very colour of Autumn, he disappears into swirls of leaves with his usual bumbling energy. He is essentially a dog who does very little, but all of it with great enthusiasm. Rush across to pee on the nettles. Rush back to pee on that bush. Follow a scent for a while and then forget what he’s doing. Look the wrong way and walk into a tree. Repeat….
The infernal fires have begun to burn, and the Enochian writing is on the wall. Yes, we’re at the starting line for the forthcoming anthology, Hell’s Empire, to be published by UltharPress and edited by John Linwood Grant. So here are all the details you need…
If you want the general submission details, skip down to the Technical Details for Hell’s Empire part at the bottom of this post. If you want to submit, you’ll need to read the rest.
HELL’S EMPIRE from Ulthar Press
ANTHOLOGY SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
These guidelines are detailed, so please read them carefully. Within the framework, there is room for a wealth of stories, from tales of very personal challenge and loss or triumph, through subtle occult ventures, to large scale slaughter. Technical details and requirements are give on the last page. If there is a role model for the anthology, then it is basically H G Well’s ‘War of the Worlds’. A more occult version of that. We can set a few basics first:
Hell’s Empire is set firmly in the real Britain and /or Ireland of the 1890s.
We are not looking for Lovecraftian Mythos, steampunk or alternate dimensions. Sorry.
The British Empire is not prepared for the Incursion, and in its early stages the Incursion might not even be recognised for what it is.
Military and civilian technology levels are exactly what they were in the 1890s.
If you prefer to pitch an outline idea before investing a lot of writing time, you are welcome to do so. Send your outline to the email address at the bottom, subject line: Hell’s Empire/Pitch.
BACKGROUND DETAILS
a) The Incursion
The simplest part. At some unspecified point in the 1890s, the forces of Hell invade Britain. And there you have it. The Incursion includes:
subtle attempts to undermine or demoralise the British;
lone demonic appearances in unexpected places;
strikes at key places and organisations;
seemingly random acts of terror and destruction, and/or
outbreaks of direct combat between Infernal and Victorian forces.
b) The Physical Setting
Anywhere in Victorian Britain or its coastal waters. The Incursion occurs there, and we’re not looking at stories set anywhere else in the Empire. It is also possible to set a story in some infernal ‘circle’, where directly relevant to the Incursion, but this will be harder. Pitch first if unsure.
c) The Two Empires
The British Empire’s far-flung and over-stretched nature is one of the reasons why Britain may be vulnerable. Queen Victoria is not a character in the book, except for possibly distant glimpses, second-hand rumours, and anything the editor or the anchor writers use in their framing text.
The Infernal Empire is an unknown which may be both chaotic and cruelly logical at the same time. Aspects of Hell and its peoples will be seen only through human eyes, and may therefore be completely false. As with Queen Victoria, the Infernal Prince Himself is not a character in the book, except for rumours, and anything the editor or the anchor writers use in their framing text.
d) Human Protagonists
Human protagonists may be from any class or station, civilian or military. It would be preferable to have a range of quite different protagonists, including diversity in gender, social station, normal role in society, and so on. ‘Stiff upper lip’ military men may well occur, but we don’t want them to swamp the anthology. Here are just a few throwaway protagonist ideas to encourage you:
The country vicar’s wife
The factory worker (male or female)
The veteran Army sergeant
The charitable woman of ‘good breeding’
The Muslim Indian, working or visiting
The policeman’s mother
The journalist (male or female)
The visiting American businessman
The harbour-master
The sceptical rabbi
The shopkeeper (male or female)
The naval officer
The occult scholar or antiquarian (m or f)
e) The Infernal Hordes
Demons and demonic forces can vary from brutal foot-soldiers to complex, highly rational horrors from the Infernal Circles. Their motivations may be fear of their masters and mistresses, or subtle personal gain from the situation. There can be nuance to the demons – they don’t need to be simply unthinking monsters. In Wells and War of the Worlds, the Martians have internally consistent reasons for their actions, even the genocide. We would prefer to see that reflected in some aspects of the enemy.
Given the context, we expect that most demons will be based on genuine sources – Judaeo-Christian (including Dante, Milton etc) as well as Mesopotamian religions and mythologies etc (e.g. Sumerian, Babylonian). There’s a useful Wikipedia page with a list of theological demons which could be a good starting point. Classic demons, in other words – again, no Lovecraftian horrors, please. Attempting to write from the point of view of an infernal character is possible and we would be interested in seeing that tried. It may be harder, and if in doubt, feel free to check with the editor.
f) Religion and the Occult
Some responses to the Incursion in Hell’s Empire will be from the People of the Book and related churches, sects and movements of Britain at the time. Christian mainstream and mysticism, Jewish Kabbalah and Islamic mysticism are all valid. If a rabbi sees his neighbours having their heads pulled off or their minds scrambled, he’s not likely to sit back and say ‘Nothing to do with me’.
A second set of responses will be from ‘magicians’, esoteric scholars, John Dee and pre-Crowley types (by the mid-1890s, the Golden Dawn was well established in Great Britain), pagans and others. These may have a go at responding to the threat – or welcoming it. They may also be pressed or coerced into service by the British Empire, in desperation. Maybe some of them suspected this was coming.
You can be literal, and take this as an invasion by a real Hell. Or people in your story might argue that this cannot be Hell, rather a construct of the shared Christian conscious – a mass ‘guilt trip’ brought into reality. Characters might construct a theory of complex occult influences masquerading in a form relevant to the mass of the population. Bad things will still happen.
Religious and occult methods for protection or fighting back will be used. Some may not work. We would expect some religious, literary or historical basis for these, not just shouting pretend magic and rhyming nonsense at a demon with a twenty foot skewer. Augmentation of mundane weapons, and the use of various folklore, temple or church beliefs and rituals, are all sound, and will probably be essential. Enochian magick will come up at some point.
g) The Military Response
Note, from above, that the main forces of the British Empire are busy elsewhere, and that the incursion was largely unexpected. Forces to hand would therefore be the Volunteer Force, Cadet Corps, Yeomanry (light cavalry) and regimental HQ staff, reserves etc. Limited number of artillery batteries. These would be depleted from sending reinforcements to conflicts overseas for years.
So there will be no full-strength mainline regiments charging across Suffolk. The police would be a mainstay, with local constabulary, mounted police and detective forces all pressed into use, as would coastal naval forces and reserves. The RN probably would have front line units of the Channel Fleet, so there is the possibility of seeing professional sailors and marines, who would in the 1890s be accustomed to disembarking and fighting ashore and fighting alongside the army – eg. the machine gun (Gardner Gun) team at the Battle of Abu Klea. So there may be small groups of bluejackets available to shore up local levies.
Aerial response would be limited to what you can do with rockets and balloons. No armoured airships. Bear in mind that a lot of the weapons are going to be older generation technology. In the 1890s, even at the end of the decade, the majority of rifles are going to be the Martini-Henry, which will mean cartridge extraction problems and sticking breech–blocks, black powder smoke in abundance. There will be breech–loading artillery pieces, but a lot of rifled muzzle-loaders too – difficult and clunky to operate and not very good rate of fire.
The blunt force effectiveness of weapons will apply, but without any kind of mystical or religious enhancement, they will damage and slow down, but not always kill or destroy. A Martini Henry shot could knock a man-sized demon down, an artillery round would scatter a knot of them, maybe mangle the odd limb etc, but some may still rise. Hence the need for religious and occult support.
h) Terminology
We don’t want lots of laboured and archaic speech, or an excess of Cockney chimney-sweeps and ridiculously posh-talking nobility. Moderate and appropriate use of contractions and period slang, cant and vernacular, please.
Terminology for demons, devils, spirits, fallen angels, Lucifer, Beelzebub, Satan and all the rest can and may vary from story to story, according to the views of the narrator or protagonist. As mentioned, names from classical demonology would be a sound choice.
i) The Stories
Anchor stories at either end will be provided by Matt Willis and Charles Rutledge. Everything in between from the start of the Incursion is fair game. Simple rules apply, drawing on all the above:
Stories can range from a rousing local victory to a tragic loss (as humans see it).
You can suggest a breakthrough or specific solution to a demonic problem, but not guarantee one that will always work.
Do not use Queen Victoria or the Infernal Prince as a character.
Do not destroy London (you can seriously damage parts of it, though).
TECHNICAL DETAILS
Submissions are open from 25th October 2017 to 15th February 2018 inclusive.
Around 5000 words is the sweet spot; 3500 – 4000 is OK. Anything much more than 5000 words may work if you have a great idea for a tale, but this is best queried with the editor first.
Please submit as a standard double-spaced document in a common file form, either doc or rtf, with your name, email address and title at the top of the document. This is so we can match submissions to submission emails if they get separated.
Headers and footers are not required. Italics for italics. No fancy fonts. Submit in Calibre or Times New Roman font at 12 point size. No lines between paragraphs. Do NOT use formatting programs for indents. Please use Tabs. One space after periods.
Emails should have Hell’s Empire/Your Name/Story Title in the subject line. The story should be an attached document, not embedded in your email. Please include in your email the briefest covering details:
The name under which you write
Full title of your story and final word count
No more than a couple of lines about you or your writing credits.
We don’t read anything longer, as your story is what you’ll be judged on. Send completed submissions (and pitches) to:
empiresubmissions@virginmedia.com
General updates will be posted in the Imperial Weird Facebook Group and here. We will acknowledge receipt, and will do some reading during the submission period, but do not expect final responses until February 2018.
Payment
Payment will be 1 cent/word, to a maximum of $50, made upon publication.
Discrimination
It was perfectly possible in 1890s Britain to be active and respected whilst being a feminist, being black, being gay or being restricted in physical ability (as just a few examples). Don’t limit the scope of your characters’ personal nature, situation or views. Whilst limited discrimination may occasionally be relevant in context of the period in order to reflect character experiences, casual sexism and racism etc. will not be accepted.
John Linwood Grant, with Charles R Rutledge & Matt Willis, on behalf of Ulthar Press
Today, one of our regular in-depth interviews with weird fiction authors – and this time, we have the great pleasure of being joined by author Philip Fracassi. As usual, we let the interview do the work rather than rattle on beforehand. We first came across Philip through his novelette ‘Altar’, released early 2016, so when his collection Behold the Void was released this year, including ‘Altar’, we had to go there. We were not disappointed.
It’s a reasonably long interview, in which (also as usual) we ask a lot of annoying questions about particular stories and themes of his, so let’s get to it…
PHILIP FRACASSI
greydog: Welcome to greydogtales, Philip. We’d like to focus mainly on your collection Behold the Void today, because it offers readers a chance to get a good overview of your range and the sort of themes you explore. So we can start by giving you a chance to challenge that assumption. Fair or unfair?
philip: Thanks for having me! Regarding BEHOLD THE VOID being a good overview: Yes, I think that’s a fair premise. At least as far as my currently published work is concerned. The collection, along with the two novellas that are recently published – FRAGILE DREAMS and SACCULINA – are pretty much all the stories I wrote from Summer of 2015 to Summer of 2016. I have another, say, dozen or so stories that have been published, or are being prepared for publication, that covers my work over the past year or so. I think these newer stories vary a bit from the first ones in style and tone. That said, BEHOLD THE VOID is certainly where I think readers should start.
greydog: Greydogtales reaches a wide and very varied audience – some who will know you and your works well, some who won’t. Is there anything about Philip Fracassi the man that people should know, before we go into Philip Fracassi the author? Revelatory facts that will open eyes, or professional kudos that might cause appropriate bowing and murmurs of awe?
philip: I doubt it’ll make heads explode, but I suppose there are a couple things that are good to know. First off, I’ve been writing much longer than people think due to the face that I just started publishing over the last one or two years, which is when I made the decision to focus on genre fiction – primarily supernatural horror. Prior to that, I spent a couple decades writing literary fiction – three novels and hundreds of stories. Looking back, I think that was all preparatory for what I’m doing now, which is likely why things are finally taking off.
Also, not everyone who is aware of my existence knows that I’m also a screenwriter. Been doing that professionally for five or six years now, with a couple credits under my belt. One is a children’s movie for Disney, the other a thriller for Lifetime Television called GIRL MISSING. I’m working on a feature script now with Philip Gelatt, who recently wrote and directed the film THEY REMAIN, which is based on a short story by Laird Barron.
So I’ve been around, I guess is the point.
greydog:Right, we’ll bite down. Behold the Void is a collection of horror stories. We’re not saying there aren’t elements of the weird, the literary and the liminal, but we read them as modern horror. An unashamed position for you?
philip: I am unabashedly a horror writer. A writer of horror. I have no problem with the label. Now, that said, it’s often helpful for readers to know the “type” of horror one writes, because there are extremes and nuances. There is modern horror, gothic horror, body horror, hardcore horror, literary horror, supernatural horror, and the ever-expansive Weird.
When describing (not categorizing) my work, I tell people I write supernatural thrillers with horror elements. Or, I’ll say I’m a hybrid of old-school horror and modern horror. A mix of 80’s pulp and the modern weird, I guess.
But yeah, I write Horror. Capital H.
greydog:Our impression after a first read-through was that the collection is predominantly about parenting. It’s easy to grab something like that and make too much out of it, but the role of parents, particularly mothers, is a recurring element. Nor is it exactly a hymn to the joys of child-rearing. Is this happenstance, or a deliberate strand?
philip: I think a lot of the stories in the book are about Transformation. And there is no greater example of transformation in real life than a child becoming an adult. To me, there is enough terror and fodder in that process that I could explore nothing else for the rest of my years and never fill the bucket.
But other areas where lives are transformed include relationships, and trauma. Every seven years every cell in the human body is replaced with a new cell. We literally become different people. I think I try to touch on what it means to be human by way of transformation, and the horror that is life… but I don’t purposely focus on parenting. It just seems a natural plot element given the theme.
That said, most of the newer stuff steers away from that. More period pieces, thrillers and stories of madness.
greydog: And it’s fair to say that a second reading opens up new thoughts about most of the tales we’re discussing. It’s hard to go where we want to go without spoilers, but we’ll see what we can do. Two stories stood out for us in particular. ‘The Horse Thief’ is a very unpleasant tale in many ways (it made us wince), and yet also transformative. Do you know what generated the idea for this one?
philip:‘The Horse Thief’ is another story about transformation. About a good man who becomes a bad man, and about finding salvation in a way through violence. The impetus of the story had a lot to do with the idea of redemption as a fable.
That said, the base concept of the story – illegal horse butchering for profit – is a very real thing. The violence of the act, and the idea that these prize horses are sold on the black market as meat, reminded me a lot of Thomas Harris’s Red Dragon, in that transformation comes at a very violent cost.
Hopefully that doesn’t give away the ending, which I know has had an impact on readers.
greydog: ‘Surfer Girl’ is a horror story of a quite different nature, almost a character study. As with ‘The Horse Thief’, although not written with a First Person POV, it comes essentially from the inside of the main character. And it ends with a sort of transformation, though we can’t be sure what the consequences might be. It has echoes of Frankenstein’s creation for us, raising sympathy and fear at the same time, despite there being no technical relationship to the Gothic or mad science at all. Care to comment on the nature of Adolf himself?
philip: ‘Surfer Girl’, on its surface, is definitely an “origin” story. But if you dig deeper, you’ll notice that in many ways the story is about vulnerability, and what it means to be protected in the wild of our world. The comparisons to a lion pride are done purposely, and if you read carefully there are hints as to who the true monster of this story might be.
It’s also a stab at black humor, which I don’t do in many stories.
greydog: The last line of ‘Surfer Girl’ (which is ideal for the story, by the way) is a promise which we can’t interpret, and a forecast of far greater horror. Were you ever tempted to go further in cases like this?
philip: It’s funny, when my friend Laird Barron first read this story, his response was that it seemed like the first chapter of a novel, versus a short story. But I think the story very much has a beginning, middle and end, and that the arc of all the characters are fulfilled. Yes, the characters go on and do interesting things, and Adolf may make another appearance in future tales, but as it pertains to this part of his life, the story is told.
I think the penultimate violence is more impactful because it didn’t come easy. It was a lifetime of buildup. If there were more and more violence, it would lessen the impact of that gorgeous, horrible moment. That’s why I think sometimes it’s better to leave them wanting more, as it were.
greydog: And it does work, no doubt of that. The rest of the stories, if we shove parenting to one side, explore many different characters and settings. Laird Barron says in his introduction “Nobody is safe in a Philip Fracassi story.” Which is not to say that no-one survives, no-one is “saved”. A number of characters end up with a new purpose or insight, though not always one for which they might have wished. Are we seeing an outlook here – what we get in life is rarely what we choose for ourselves?
philip:Nothing quite that blatant, no. I think the idea of “no one is safe” comes from the fact that I spend a lot of time developing characters in my stories. I want you to know them before they begin their horrific adventures. Some readers hate this, they want to go right to the bloodshed. But I think most readers appreciate knowing the characters more deeply. Then, when things go poorly, you’re more apt to remember the story because at one point you cared for these people, and therefore you feel more empathy when they go through these terrible events.
I mean, be honest, are you more affected by a bomb going off in a foreign country, or by a best friend who died of a painful disease? In other words, I try and make my characters your friends first… and then I cut them down.
included in ‘behold the void’
greydog: That certainly increases the level of reader engagement. Two other tales, ‘Coffin’ and ‘Baby Farmer’, are interesting because they tread another path, one more rooted in history – pagan presences and Judaeo-Christian mythology respectively. They’re great stories, but they read as if you wrote them in a different frame of mind from the others. Were they intentional explorations of ideas away from the bulk of your tales?
philip: I think what you’re seeing in these stories are me flexing my writing muscles a bit. Trying to do something a bit different, expand my range, and see how far I can take a style or a new angle on storytelling. Experimental isn’t quite the right word, but it’s in the ballpark.
‘Coffin’ is, in many ways, a parody. I won’t say of what, which is a terrible answer. But let’s just say my stories have been maligned by writers who look down on my work because it’s plot-driven, and has a beginning/middle/end, rather than just twenty pages of detached discomfort, dreamlike ethereal concepts with no grounding or arc. In a way, ‘Coffin’ is my response to writers who live by ambiguity, and hints at where I think some of those ambiguous stories might belong.
‘Baby Farmer’, in contrast, is very much outside of my comfort zone. That was a reach for me. It was written for Mark Beech, of Egaeus Press, as part of the wonderful MURDER BALLADS anthology. And as such, it was intended to have a certain feel / vibe.
I included it in the collection because I think it has a lot to say, and it’s an angry story. And I want my stories to be angry. To be passionate. If I hadn’t included it, it would have come for me in the night, I assure you.
greydog: ‘Mandala’, whilst being a tense story that draws the reader in, is perhaps the most traditional piece, or appears so at first. It has the scent of King and Bradbury, the small-town incident and the disquiet; the complexity of small boys and fathers. The ending is quite clear, if you want it to be. Being over-suspicious, we also saw other implications. Put our minds at rest and tell us we’re nuts.
philip:You’re not nuts. At least as it pertains to this query. “Mandala”, in many ways, is what you want it to be. If you want to read the story on its surface, then you get one kind of story with one variation of an ending. If you want to dig deeper, however, you’ll find some disquieting hints at a much different story, with a much different ending.
I had a friend call me after reading it and say, “I loved the story, and at first was quite relieved. But then I read it again, and I’m not relieved at all. Am I crazy?”
So I’ll tell you what I told him: No, you’re not crazy. But take from it what you will, and God bless. The story was very purposely given multiple layers of response and revelation, depending on how tired you are, I suppose, or how much you really care about the truth of it all.
But if you have a shovel, by all means, dig away. There’s black oil beneath that happy, sun-soaked topsoil.
greydog:We have to ask, as we have you here, is there a deliberate connection between ‘Altar’ and Mandala’, or is this one of those writerly accidents? Is the same black, staring threat behind and beneath the world common to both stories, or simply a trick of the light?
philip: Excellent observation, and I’m pleased you picked up on it. Yes, there is an underlying world beneath much of my universe, and it’s vengeful, and hateful, and desirous of our light. Of our innocence. There are creatures who would have us, meat and spirit, if they could.
For those who wish to follow the rabbit hole, I’d suggest reading my novella, FRAGILE DREAMS, and my upcoming release, SHILOH, to find more instances of this threat which haunts our dreams, and our swimming pools.
included in ‘behold the void’
greydog:And as everything today is examined to see if it’s Lovecraftian or Mythosian, when it’s not being Holmesian, would you weep if you never had to read another Cthulhu or Sherlock story ever again? Where do you crouch on neo-Lovecraftian and such concepts?
philip: My stories, for the most part, are not built on any pre-existing mythos. I have little interest in pastiche or playing in someone else’s sandbox.
That said, never say never. But to answer the question, I don’t crouch anywhere as it pertains to pre-existing myths or writers of myths. It’s just not something I find interesting. Lovecraft is Lovecraft and King is King. I plan on being myself for now. We’ll see how that goes.
greydog:On a different tack, a last question about the more technical side for the writer-readers. Behold the Void includes some long pieces, and you seem to favour novelettes and novellas – your novellas Sacculina (2017) and Fragile Dreams (2016) are also available, as you mentioned. Yet you have written novels. Do you find writing the latter a very different process, or is a novel just a long novella?
philip:As a short story writer, I tend to write longer pieces. My wheelhouse seems to be in the 11,000 – 24,000 range. I guess I just feel I need that much room to properly tell a story. Anything under 10k feels like a fragment to me, or an idea not fully fleshed out. I’ve written shorter pieces, for sure, but personally they feel more to me like intermissions than features.
Regarding novels, no, absolutely not an extension of a short story or novella. Novels are, to me, a completely different art form, a completely different animal. They take time, and structure, and patience, and a mountain of editing and rewriting and forethought. Ten times that of a novella. I acquaint a novel more closely to a screenplay. A 3-act story with full character arcs and foreshadowing and setups and payoffs and all that good stuff. I think that’s why so many writers write short stories and not novels – one is far easier than the other, regardless of word count.
They’re just different forms of literary art. Period.
greydog:We’ll relent now, and leave you in peace, but what have you got coming up in the next year that people should be watching out for?
philip: I have a story coming out in a wonderful anthology, due later this year, with writers such as Jonathan Maberry, Whitley Strieber, Ronald Malfi and Douglas Clegg. It hasn’t been announced yet, so that’s all I’ll say about it. But keep an eye out for that.
I also have a limited edition novella coming out from Mount Abraxas Press called SHILOH, which I’m very excited about. It’s a brutal, relentless, terrifying story. A Civil War horror story that will curl your boots. SHILOH will initially be in a pricey, deluxe illustrated edition, but hopefully I’ll be able to reprint it down the road. That should be out in November.
I also have stories coming from Dark Discoveries, and working on things for Lovecraft eZine and some other publishers at the moment. Hopefully there will be news of a novel and a new collection in the near future, but that’s in the hands of my agent so when I know you’ll know. Fingers crossed.
Otherwise, if you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, or at my website (pfracassi.com), you’ll know about all my new stories as they are released, plus you’ll get to see the occasional picture of my cat, which is a nice bonus.
greydog:Many thanks, Philip, for joining us.
From publisher JournalStone, Philip Fracassi’s Behold the Void (and other works mentioned above), can be found on Amazon in a number of formats.
