From Conan to Ungaretti.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

The other month, I was interviewed by the fine fellows of the Cromcast, a podcast which, as its name suggests, is devoted to all things sword-and-sorcery. (If you’re unfamiliar with this type of fantasy, think Robert E. Howard’s Conan character.) A fine time was had by all.

Conan! By the late, great Frank Frazetta.

Following the podcast, I contributed an introductory essay to the third issue of their self-described “amateur magazine of cosmic horror,” Witch House. They asked me to say a few words about cosmic horror, a type of horror with which I’ve been associated since at least The Fisherman. As is usually the case with me, the introduction grew in the writing to a little more than twice as long as what had been requested, beginning with a consideration of a short-short poem by the Italian poet, Giuseppe Ungaretti, and using that as a leaping off point for a discussion of the role of the sublime in cosmic horror. To their credit, the Cromcasters did not blink an eye at what I gave them. The essay and the entire issue is now available for free download. My thanks to the Cromcasters for giving me the space to follow through on an idea I’ve been kicking around for a while.

Ungaretti as an old man.