The Wendigo - Algernon Blackwood

I needed a break from some of the novels I've been reading so I decided to read a short story. I've had Ancient Sorceries and Other Weird Stories by Algernon Blackwood for a while now but haven't had time to read any of it yet. The edition I have was printed by Penguin Classics and is edited, introduced, and notated by S.T. Joshi.
Looking through the table of contents, I decided to read The Wendigo which was first published in 1910. Although I had heard great things about Blackwood's writing, I really had no clue just how good it was.
Blackwood, from what I understand, was a huge influence on H.P. Lovecraft. On the back of the book is the following quote:

"Of the quality of Mr. Blackwood's genius there can be no dispute; for no one has ever approached the skill, seriousness, and minute fidelity with which he records the overtones of strangeness in ordinary things and experiences."

- H.P. Lovecraft

 The Wendigo is essentially a story about five men who go camping in the remote Canadian wilderness. Two of the men are a doctor and his nephew, a theology student. There is also a guide and another man that is sort of a guide to the guide (this was weird for me to think about at first but just go with it). The fifth person is a Native American (or Indian as he is called in the story) named Punk whose job is basically to tend the camp and cook the food for everyone.
I don't want to give away much of the story but I will tell you that this was one of the most chilling stories I have ever read...EVER. Blackwood's writing is even better than Lovecraft's at setting mood (in my opinion). If you immerse yourself completely into this story, taking in every word and imagining the setting, the sounds, the feelings, you will actually feel fear.
I have a feeling that camping out in the woods will be a bit harder than it used to be for me now...

New Books - de Camp, Pratt, and Leiber

I have an enormous backlog of books sitting on my shelf waiting for me to read them. I have a problem though. The problem is that I can't stop picking up more books that I want when I see them.
Today I bought my second copy (see, I have a problem) of The Tritonian Ring by L. Sprague de Camp. So now I have two different printings with different covers. These books are my crack.
I also bought The Fallible Fiend by L. Sprague de Camp as well as Land of Unreason by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt. Both of these books have awesome covers. I've uploaded one for you to look at (to the left).
Last, but definitely not least, I picked up a copy of Gather, Darkness! by Fritz Leiber. Leiber is one of my favorite authors. If you haven't read any of his Fafrhd and Grey Mouser stories, do yourself a favor and pick one up NOW.
So you can look forward to me talking about these books in the future. I'm not sure if I'll read one of these next or one of the other books patiently waiting for me to open them. You'll find out soon enough.

The Blue Star - Fletcher Pratt

Over the summer I read lots of books that I think would be great to write about. This included The Moon Pool by A. Merritt, Dying Earth by Jack Vance and many stories by Fritz Leiber. I was going to write about one of these stories but decided I would instead write about one I finished more recently.
A couple of weeks ago I finished The Blue Star by Fletcher Pratt. Although the story was originally printed in 1952 as part of a fantasy anthology titled Witches Three and printed by Twayne, the copy I have was printed in 1969 as the first volume of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series.
I don't want to spoil this too much for anyone that would like to read it (and I recommend that you do) but I will give you some basic information on the setting to get you interested. The story is centered around two primary characters, Lalette Asterhax and Rodvard Bergelin. Lalette's mother is a witch. This makes her one by blood. Witchcraft has been banned in their world and this has forced any remaining witches to hide their abilities from the general public.
Every line of witches possess a gem called a Blue Star. This Blue Star is passed down from generation to generation as witches come of age. Essentially, the star gives the owner the ability to sense true thoughts and feelings when looking into someone's eyes. However, the star does not do this for the witch and it has no power until the witch takes on a lover. At that point, the star is given to the witch's lover to use. If this lover is ever unfaithful, the star loses its power until the witch takes on a new lover and is then passed on to that person.
In the beginning of the story, Lalette is basically having her virginity sold by her mother to a man named Count Cleudi. Lalette doesn't really like the Count so when the opportunity arises to have sex with Rodvard instead, she jumps at it. Rodvard has his own reasons for wanting to have sex with Lalette...her Blue Star. You see, Rodvard is a member of a radical underground group called the Sons of the New Day. They have knowledge of Lalette's Blue Star and have tasked Rodvard with seducing her to get it. They want it so they can use it (through Rodvard) to further their agenda. Rodvard is actually in love with someone else but follows through with his task and takes possession of the Blue Star.
This is where things get interesting. Count Cleudi figures out that Lalette has given her virginity to someone else and attempts to have her arrested (he is a powerful man). The rest of the book follows Rodvard and Lalette while they escape the city and find themselves entwined in a political plot to overthrow the queen.
If I give you much more, it will spoil the story for you. Just go read it. This story has more political intrigue than action but it's a great read.

Another blog? Why should I read this crap?

To start with, let me give you a bit of background on why I'm doing this and what this blog will be about...
Many years ago I was introduced to a game that would change my life forever. I believe it was around 1981 but I do not remember for sure. The game was Dungeons & Dragons. My friends and I spent many nights sitting around a table with snacks, pop (what you call soda in some states), dice, and our Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual. We created our characters and went through many adventures together. It was a blast and was a part of my life that I will never forget.
Until I got more into music, D & D and other role-playing games were my escape. I enjoyed staying up late and working on characters, new monsters, and whole worlds. I could enter these worlds and be whatever I wanted to be. It was amazingly liberating.
A few years later I would discover metal, punk rock and hardcore punk. My books and games sat while my record collection grew. At one point I decided to sell off all of the role-playing game stuff that I had collected over the years so that I could buy more records, a bass guitar, drums, etc. I played in bands and loved it but a few years ago, I started getting back into RPGs. Now I regret selling off all of my RPG material "back in the day" and have been considering selling off my record collection to get some of it back.
When I came back to RPGs, it was through D&D v3.5 and Pathfinder. Although I was interested and ended up buying many Pathfinder books over time, the game never felt the same to me as it did when I was younger. The game I had known and loved had become so complex. There were so many stats involved...so many rules...I just couldn't wrap my head around all of it and enjoy it.
Last year, I discovered a variant of Dungeons & Dragons called Dungeon Crawl Classics. Immediately upon opening the rule book, I got back the feeling I had when I played as a kid. The base rules were not too complex, the drawings were a complete throw-back to the old school books, and don't get me started on the tables! I've always loved randomness and tables in RPGs and DCC has a lot of that.
After discovering DCC, I started reading about the Appendix N from the old Dungeon Masters Guide (1979). The Appendix N from my Dungeon Masters Guide (yes, I have a copy again) is as follows:

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APPENDIX N:
INSPIRATIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL READING

Inspiration for all of the fantasy work I have done stems directly from the love my father showed when I was a tad, for he spent many hours telling me stories he made up as he went along, tales of cloaked old men who could grant wishes, of magic rings and enchanted swords, or wicked sorcerors and dauntless swordsmen. Then too, countless hundreds of comic books went down, and the long-gone EC ones certainly had their effect. Science fiction, fantasy, and horror movies were a big influence. In fact, all of us tend to get ample helpings of fantasy when we are very young, from fairy tales such as those written by the Brothers Grimm and Andrew Lang. This often leads to reading books of mythology, paging through bestiaries, and consultation of compilations of the myths of various lands and peoples. Upon such a base I built my interest in fantasy, being an avid reader of all science fiction and fantasy literature since 1950. The following authors were of particular inspiration to me. In some cases I cite specific works, in others, I simply recommend all their fantasy writing to you. From such sources, as well as just about any other imaginative writing or screenplay you will be able to pluck kernels from which grown the fruits of exciting campaigns. Good reading!

Inspirational Reading:

Anderson, Poul. THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS; THE HIGH CRUSADE; THE BROKEN SWORD
Bellairs, John. THE FACE IN THE FROST
Brackett, Leigh.
Brown, Fredric.
Burroughs, Edgar Rice. "Pellucidar" Series; Mars Series; Venus Series
Carter, Lin. "World's End" Series
de Camp, L. Sprague. LEST DARKNESS FALL; FALLIBLE FIEND; et al.
de Camp & Pratt. "Harold Shea" Series; CARNELIAN CUBE
Derleth, August.
Dunsany, Lord.
Farmer, P. J. "The World of the Tiers" Series; et al.
Fox, Gardner. "Kothar" Series; "Kyrik" Series; et al.
Howard, R.E. "Conan" Series
Lanier, Sterling. HIERO'S JOURNEY
Leiber, Fritz. "Fafhrd & Gray Mouser" Series; et al.
Lovecraft, H.P.
Merritt, A. CREEP, SHADOW, CREEP; MOON POOL; DWELLERS IN THE MIRAGE; et al.
Moorcock, Michael. STORMBRINGER; STEALER OF SOULS; "Hawkmoon" Series (esp. the first three books)
Norton, Andre.
Offut, Andrew J., editor SWORDS AGAINST DARKNESS III.
Pratt, Fletcher, BLUE STAR; et al.
Saberhagen, Fred. CHANGELING EARTH; et al.
St. Clair, Margaret. THE SHADOW PEOPLE; SIGN OF THE LABRYS
Tolkien, J. R. R. THE HOBBIT; "Ring Trilogy"
Vance, Jack. THE EYES OF THE OVERWORLD; THE DYING EARTH; et al.
Weinbaum, Stanley.
Wellman, Manly Wade.
Williamson, Jack.
Zelazny, Roger. JACK OF SHADOWS; "Amber" Series; et al.

The most immediate influences upon AD&D were probably de Camp & Pratt, REH, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, HPL, and A. Merritt; but all of the above authors, as well as many not listed, certainly helped to shape the form of the game. For this reason, and for the hours of reading enjoyment, I heartily recommend the works of these fine authors to you.

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Hopefully I don't have any typos in that listing. If you see any, let me know and I will edit the post. The listing should be verbatim from the book, including capitalization, italics, etc.
In looking at this list, and not remembering seeing it when I was younger, I realized I had not read too many of these books and/or authors. I had of course read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I had read at least one Elric book by Michael Moorcock (and always loved the things he did with Hawkwind)...although I still can't remember much about it. I had read lots of H.P. Lovecraft. I had seen the Conan movies back in the 80s but never read the books. I knew who Lin Carter, August Derleth and Lord Dunsany were but had not, to my recollection, read anything they had written. So...I started to wonder who these other writers were and what I was missing...
So I went to my local library and picked up a copy of "Lankhmar" by Fritz Leiber...and I was hooked. The Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories written by Leiber are PURE freaking D&D. It was extremely inspiring and I couldn't put it down. This got me wondering what other stories I was missing and I'm now on a journey that I never thought I would be taking.
I started looking for the books listed in Appendix N at used book stores, on Ebay, at Amazon, etc. and found quite a few. From there I've started exploring other authors and stories that may interest me. I already have a huge love of music and have started listening more to bands that remind me of these stories. I've also begun looking into related art and old mythology and occult books. The possibilities seem endless...I don't think I'll ever be bored again.
This blog will be about my findings (and adventures). I'm planning to discuss some of the original Appendix N books and authors as well as other things I've found that I feel are related. This could be games, other stories, other poems, music, the occult....basically anything I feel might be of interest to someone exploring these things.
If you can't tell, I'm not much of a writer...so bear with me. I might get better as time goes on (and if I actually stick to this blog). Also, I don't always have my "filters" on. In other words, I may occasionally say things that are not necessarily for kids (i.e. earmuffs!!). I'll try to keep that to a minimum but sometimes I just can't help it.
I will attempt to update this blog on a regular basis...perhaps weekly. There may be times when I'm able to do more and times when I do less.
I'll make the blog look "prettier" when I get time. Right now, I just wanted to get my thoughts down. There is plenty of time for aesthetics...so get over it.
Feel free to comment, discuss and disagree with me...just don't be a dick. That is the only rule.