PROVIDENCE horrors

December 16, 189X
An m/m/m eldritch horror romance novel!

"An occultist an artist & a hedonist walk into a bar..."

Okay not really. Not exactly. But "an occultist finds an artist through the newspaper, and meets both him and his partner, a hedonist, in the art gallery" doesn't sound nearly as good, now does it?

And that's what this whole thing is about, right? Making my as of yet unfinished, and therefore unpublished work sound good. Making it catch your eye, before I even finish writing the blasted thing. Of course to do that, I do need to actually talk about the novel, don't I?

I suppose we ought to begin with the plot. Though that might give too much away. The setting? 1890s Providence, Rhode Island, with a few small sidebars toward Arkham. That is to say, the setting is Lovecraft Country.

Continued on page 2.


Daniel Davies named leading man

Daniel Davies, 32, one of New England's foremost occultists, has found himself out of luck and shut out of every door in every circle of society. Proper society doens't want anything to do with the morbid death-talker, scarred and smelling constantly of ozone, smoke, and a faint metallic tang. Occult circles want nothing to do with a man who so clearly has touched beyond the veil, beyond death and will never properly be the same. He seems not quite close enough to human anymore for them.

Front facing picrew (credit @elena-illustrations) of Daniel Davies, a white man with black hair in a middle part. He has a stitch line scar running diagonally across his face, and is holding a butterfly on a finger.

Unfortunately, the underground and illicit queer circles don't want him around either. Davies brings too much attention, and too much heat from the law, neither of which the community can withstand. It's a dangerous world, made all the more dangerous by cops looking too close.

Continued on page 3.


Spalding Gallery Exhibition to Open

A new art exhibit is set to open at the gallery on First and Grape. Peter Spalding, 34, has created an entirely new set of paintings to tantalize and tease the senses.

Continued on page 5.


E. A. Poe's "The Conqueror Worm"

LO! ‘tis a gala night
Within the lonesome latter years!
An angel throng, bewinged, bedight
In veils, and drowned in tears,
Sit in a theatre, to see
A play of hopes and fears,
While the orchestra breathes fitfully
The music of the spheres.

Mimes, in the form of God on high,
Mutter and mumble low,
And hither and thither fly—
Mere puppets they, who come and go
At bidding of vast formless things
That shift the scenery to and fro,
Flapping from out their Condor wings
Invisible Wo!

Continued on page 2.


December 16, 189X
An m/m/m eldritch horror romance novel!

Adopt a Squid For Free Today!

At the behest of the wonderous God Squid. we have many blessed children for all who desire to bring home one of the Elder God's spawn.

Some have remarked that they fear the ramifications of removing a baby godling. When asked, the great God Squid said: "Take one of my children home. Please. They are starving." I implore you, come collect a weaning godspawn today. ■


E. A. Poe's "The Conqueror Worm"

Continued from front page.

That motley drama—oh, be sure
It shall not be forgot!
With its Phantom chased for evermore,
By a crowd that seize it not,
Through a circle that ever returneth in
To the self-same spot,
And much of Madness, and more of Sin,
And Horror the soul of the plot.

But see, amid the mimic rout
A crawling shape intrude!
A blood-red thing that writhes from out
The scenic solitude!
It writhes!—it writhes!—with mortal pangs
The mimes become its food,
And the angels sob at vermin fangs
In human gore imbued.

Out—out are the lights—out all!
And, over each quivering form,
The curtain, a funeral pall,
Comes down with the rush of a storm,
And the angels, all pallid and wan,
Uprising, unveiling, affirm
That the play is the tragedy, “Man,”
And its hero the Conqueror Worm. ■


"An occultist an artist & a hedonist walk into a bar..."

Continued from front page.

A most haunted and sinister version of New England. 'Lovecraft Country' has become the widest used title for this fictionalized region. [In a 1930 letter to Robert E. Howard, Lovecraft attempted to explain his fascination with New England as a setting for weird fiction: "It is the night-black Massachusetts legendary which packs the really macabre 'kick'. Here is material for a really profound study in group neuroticism; for certainly, none can deny the existence of a profoundly morbid streak in the Puritan imagination."](Wikipedia) This is the New England we are working within. One of the macabre, of the Weird, and one full of cults.

"It's erotica, there's just also gooey corpses & cults"

What else to use to draw in the readers.... Ah yes, our characters. As with all romances, we have our lead, one Daniel Davies, in this case, and a love interest. Well, two love interests here. This is, first and formost, a romance. It's erotica, there's just also gooey corpses and cults.

Not to mention the rest of them. The ghosts, the cults, the Things From Beyond. All of them will appear in due time, with bios and interviews forthcoming as appropriate. They can't wait to meet you all. ■


Love interest found!

Peter Spalding, 34, is our first love interest, and our artist. A painter, tormented by visions from Beyond, compelled to put what he sees to the page, or be in excrusiating pain. A thin, odd duck of a thing, never clean of ink, paint, or graphite. The model of a tortured artist, slender, waifish, wide dark eyes and hair kept long, despite the style of the era.

Continued on page 4.


December 16, 189X
An m/m/m eldritch horror romance novel!

Daniel Davies named leading man

Continued from front page.

He's been a bit odd since the disaster too. Twitchy, not sure if he wants to look into mirrors, or avoid them entirely. Daniel, who was attending Miskatonoic Medical until an unannounced and unplanned drop from classes between semesters, threw himself into his occult work. His father died shortly before Daniel dropped out of classes, and upon further investigation, it appears that his sister, Helena Davies has been missing since at least that same time frame. One wonders if there is any connection between the events. ■


Something is terribly wrong

Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong. Something is terribly wrong.


Second Love Interest Introduced!

Andrew Spencer, 34, is our second love interest. He and Peter became close friends early on in childhood, while attending the same boarding school. They would continue to attend together, as room mates and seat neighbors, until graduation. A few years after their friendship began, the two boys would start up intimate relations. While they never expected exclusivity, they would continue to be entangled, moving in together. Andrew took over all the everyday minutia, keeping Peter and himself alive and cared for, while allowing Peter to focus entirely on his work, rather than navigating society.

Front facing picrew (credit @elena-illustrations) of Andrew Spencer, a lightly tanned white man with brown hair tousled but swept back. He has a small scar on the left bottom end of his smile. His right cheek is held in someone else's hand.

He is viciously protective of Peter, willing to do anything for him, including and going beyond murder. This is our hedonist, violently angry, overly indulgent in drink and smoke and sex. He prefers the blade, but has no qualms with guns. Andrew is actually a fairly good shot with the rifle, after a childhood spent riding, shooting, and fencing. ■


Graverobbings Increase!

More and more of our fair town's dead have been disappeared from their graves. One can only guess it is the work of interloper ressurection men from neighboring Arkham, though there are some who claim they've seen hooded figures in the cemetaries. Still others insist they've witnessed the dead climbing out themselves, though one must wonder what they were doing in a churchyard at night themselves... ■

December 16, 189X
An m/m/m eldritch horror romance novel!

Love interest found!

Continued from page 2.

Peter is more than happy to spend his time in his studio, leaving all the rest to Andrew. He has no interest in society.

Front facing picrew (credit @elena-illustrations) of Peter Spalding, a white man with long brown hair messy and hanging behind him.. He has adark circles under his eyes, compounded by inky tears. Paint stains the fingers of a hand that holds a pen.

The man has always been close to the edge of 'madness' and this only becomes more precarious once the visions begin. Peter is teetering on an edge. ■


Excerpt:

He should have known something was wrong when he hadn’t received any mail in three weeks. Daniel and his sister wrote near constantly. She’d been devastated when he moved to Arkham to attend school, had near begged him not to go. He had smiled, tried to crack jokes to reassure her, though none of those had landed (they never did). It had hurt, of course, pulling away from her grip and snapping shut his traveling trunk, but Daniel knew he belonged at Miskatonic. Knew he needed to attend, to become a doctor. So, he promised he would write her near daily, and see her over the winter holidays, and that was that. Daniel got on the train and made the near hour trip with a smile on his face. This was to be his future! The culmination of his dreams, and he was so close he could taste it. Could physically taste it, when he disembarked, the river smell permeating his nose and landing heady on his tongue. It was lovely, the same salt-sea smell he grew up with in Providence, and yet entirely new.

Daniel had written his first letter to Helena that very evening. Telling her of his dorm, his schedule, and all that he was excited to learn. Thus began their constant flurry of post, only ever a day or two behind each other in writing. There had been only four days since he moved that Daniel recalled ever not having post ready for pickup. Until now, that is.

Now, he sat by the mail room each day as a dejected dog would, waiting miserably for a letter, any letter. None came. Nothing came, from Helena or anyone else.

Trudging back to his dorm, through muck and the ever present puddles that formed in the streets, Daniel turned over all the possible explanations. Had something gone wrong? The post gotten lost? No, it wasn’t nearly a long enough trip for this much mail to have been misplaced. Had she just decided he wasn’t worth the effort? No, Daniel thought, shaking his head. They had been inseparable for years, there was no way only a few months apart would make Helena find him unworthy of her time.

Maybe she had taken ill? But then that wouldn’t explain a lack of correspondence. Even when so sick he could barely think, Daniel had managed to return her letters. Riddled with mis-spellings and strangely slanted lines, but returned them nonetheless. There was no reason to believe Helena wouldn’t do the same.

There was nothing else for it, Daniel would have to return home. Earlier than he intended to depart school for the holidays, but not unheard of. Not now that exams had been completed. Daniel had none of those pesky term papers with late submission deadlines, he was free until the spring. ■


Comp Titles & Influences

Most immedietly obvious is the similarities to Jordan L. Hawk's "Whyborne & Griffin" series. While I did actually begin work on this novel before reading any of the W&G books, they are the most accurate comp title to my own novel, in addition to being just wildly entertaining books themselves. An instant favorite, and a series I have returned too each time I worry that 'people don't write this kind of romance.' If my book sounds at all interesting to you, I implore you to read Hawk's work!

Of course, Lovecraft himself, and his own forebearer, Robert Chambers have been massive influences. If you look closer you can likely see the steady diet of Gothic literature I grew up reading, most significantly Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" and all the works of Edgar Allan Poe, which is most prevalent to this novel itself. A closer still look, and likely some threads of King will appear. In this particular work, I also drew from my love of podcast "Welcome to Nightvale," which I have been listening to since adolescence, and will likely continue listening too until it ends, or I die, whichever manages to happen first. ■

December 16, 189X
An m/m/m eldritch horror romance novel!

Spalding Gallery Exhibition to Open

Continued from front page.

The work of Peter Spalding has long been a mystery in the art world; his manager and dealer near never allowing public exhibits of his work. Years of private clients and whispers of smaller commision jobs have finally culminated in the first proper publiclly availible gallery of Spalding's work! ■


About the Author

RJ Tischner lives and grew up in Ohio, a place that may as well be its own eldritch horror. He has one cat, dreams of a small place by the sea, and knows he would get eaten by a cult the moment he set foot in Arkham. Despite this, he write more of them into the world. ■


Current Wordcount

As of right now the wordcount in my first draft is: 11,458 ■