Author Archives: Keith West

2020 Turns 21 and Can Legally Drink

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No, the title of this post isn’t original with me, but it’s too good not to steal. I’m not expecting things to magically improve just because the year on the calendar has changed. Call me pessimistic, but I expect this year to be a lot like the last one . I hope I’m wrong. We’ll see.

As I stated yesterday, my plans for the Asimov and Bradbury centennials and the 90th anniversary of Astounding didn’t work out the way I had intended. I’m not planning on trying to restart them this year, although I will try to put more Bradbury and Asimov in the rotation throughout the year. Continue reading →

A Christmas Conundrum with Carnacki

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Carnacki’s Christmas Conundrum
William Jeffrey Rankin
ebook $0.99

If you like William Hope Hodgson’s Carnacki the Ghost Finder, then is will be an electronic stocking stuffer you’ll enjoy. William Jeffrey Rankin was written a tale in which Carnacki awakens in a room beneath the London streets. A note tell shim he’s been placed there by someone who was inconvenienced by Carnacki in a previous case.

Carnacki had met some friends for dinner and a drink on Christmas Eve and on his way out of the restaurant was invited to join a group of men. One of them slips him a Mickey.

Carnacki is trapped beneath the streets of London with apparent way to get out. He’s in a series of chambers with no exits. Although there are these large mirrors…

I thoroughly enjoyed this short story. There were some decidedly weird moments. Rankin gets Carnacki out of his trouble, of course, bu he leaves enough loose ends that I want to know what happens next.

Like I said, if you’re a Carnacki fan, this will make a nice gift for yourself. Carnacki’s Christmas Conundrum was just published yesterday, so it’s a gift to yourself you most likely haven’t read yet.

Christmas Stories III

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This is the last set of stories I wrote for the Christmas contest. (You can read most of the others here and here. I’m not going to post the slice of life or satire stories. They are the weakest.)

I bent the rules a little here. The stories were supposed to be a maximum of 500 words, but there was no prohibition in the rules against sequels. So the following four are linked. The viewpoint character changes from one story to the next. I’ve posted the original stories, not the ones I submitted for the contest, meaning not all of them will be under 500 words.

I was participating NaNoWriMo when I wrote these and used them for my word count. I was writing short fiction, not a novel. I used these stories as personal challenges and tried writing things I wouldn’t normally write, just to stretch myself. For example, the first three of these stories are what is considered sweet romance. (This is not a genre I typically read, much less write.) You can read the first three without reading the fourth, although the observant reader may pick up on a slight discrepancy between the first and second parts.

The fourth story resolves the discrepancy, changes the reader’s understanding of what is going on, and makes the whole thing dark fantasy. Continue reading →

Christmas Stories

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The local writer’s group had a Christmas story contest recently. There was a five hundred word limit and no restrictions on how many times you could enter. I entered a dozen stories. One of my won 2nd place. I’m including it and another entry below. I’m including the original version of the winning story. It’s a little longer than 500 words, but I like it better than the shorter one I submitted. One of the judges said it made her cry. (Mission accomplished!)

The second story here is just a bad joke. I’m including it because it is still 2020, and you haven’t suffered enough yet. Continue reading →

Echoing a Curse

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Echo of a Curse
R. R. Ryan

R. R. Ryan’s birthday was a few days ago, and I said in that post that I would read Echo of a Curse and review it. So here goes. I read the Midnight House edition, which I’ve had for a number of years.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book. I ended up liking it very much.

Terry and Mary have grown up next door to each other in a small English town and are best friends. Terry wants things to be more than friends. He’s about to head off to fight in WWI. Just as he’s about to leave, he decides to ask Mary to marry him but changes his mind. He knows he might not be coming back and doesn’t feel it is fair to her to make such a commitment under those circumstances.

This is a decision he will regret. Continue reading →

RIP, Phyllis Eisenstein

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Fantasy author Phyllis Eisenstein (1946-2020) passed away earlier in December. She was the author of a series of stories about Alaric the minstrel that were collected in Born to Exile. This collection was followed by In the Red Lord’s Reach.  She was also the author of Sorcerer’s Son and a sequel, The Crystal Palace. Locus is reporting there was a third volume that would have been published by Meisha Merlin, but the publisher closed before it saw print. It remains unpublished. I’ve read all of these books and would like to read more about the characters in both series. Hopefully someone will step up and return these books to print and publish the third book. Ms. Eisenstein is survived by her husband Alex. Adventures Fantastic extends its condolences to her friends and family.

R. R. Ryan and Echo of a Curse

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December 14 is the birthday of R. R. Ryan (1882-1950), whose real name was Evelyn Grosvenor Bradley. Ryan was the author of the novel Echo of a Curse. I’m sure you’ve heard of it.

What’s that? You haven’t?

Well, truthfully I’m not surprised. This is a rather obscure novel. So why am I bringing it up?

Well, if you read the post on Karl Edward Wagner, you’ll recall l mentioned Wagner had three lists of best horror novels. Echo of a Curse was on the list of Supernatural Horror.

It’s currently available in both paperback and hardcover. The image is from the Midnight House edition published in 2002. It’s out of print and expensive if you can find a copy. I’m going to try to work it in over the next few weeks and report back. I might make trying to read through Wagner’s lists a project over the next few years, not like I need anything else to do.