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--- goreletter:some_hypnotic_suggestions [2013/11/24 12:43] – [WEIRD SITES OF THE MONTH] marnzen
+++ goreletter:some_hypnotic_suggestions [2013/11/29 11:34] (current) – marnzen
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+THE GORELETTER:
+Arnzen's Weird Newsletter
+http://www.gorelets.com
++++ Vol 1 #12, July 5, 2003 +++
+**Some Hypnotic Suggestions**
+----
+====BLATHER====
+Blather. Wince. Repeat.
+You're Not Getting Sleepy
+You're not getting sleepy. Why not?
+I've tried every trick in the hypnotist's
+handbook. From the swinging gold
+watch to the spinning spiral top to the
+repetitious patterning of my deep,
+monotone voice...and nothing works.
+How dare you test my mental
+dominance? I have degrees in
+parapsychology AND television
+advertising. I have studied ancient
+unbound manuscripts in libraries that
+are kept secret from even the real
+magicians, like Doug Henning. But I
+have gone farther into the mysteries of
+the mind than most; there is no
+hypnotic method I have not mastered. I
+have memorized trade secrets from
+how-to books by used car salesmen
+and I know all the tricks from every
+"How to Get a Person in Bed" book
+ever published. Yet you seem
+impenetrable to every mind-bending
+technique.
+You think you're so smart. You believe
+that no one can bend your freewill,
+except, perhaps, brain surgeons who
+know how to trigger reactions by
+prodding the scarlet sponge with their
+cold instruments. Uncivil brutes! I can
+manipulate your nerve endings without
+even touching flesh. I can seduce you
+with my eyes in a stare that puts Bela
+Lugosi to shame. I can lull you into a
+waking dream state with my voice in a
+way that makes nursing mothers and
+day care workers jealous. When I pull
+and your aura with my electric fingers,
+you will feel me in every way. I can
+seduce your optic nerves into seeing
+things that aren't there -- indeed,
+Hollywood wishes they could market
+me. When it comes to the trance state,
+I'm more potent than a pill or a history
+book. My methods of persuasion
+require no technology. My power is
+genuine.
+So why do you still resist? Why do you
+not succumb to my charm?
+Don't you understand?
+I will not simply put you to sleep. I will
+make you dream that which is not
+possible within your puny perception of
+the world.
+But still you resist.
+I will not make you cockle-doodle-doo
+like a chicken whilst flopping your
+elbows. I will serve you a fricassee of
+air that you can taste and swallow and
+actually feel hot in your gullet. In fact, I
+could even get you to cannibalize other
+people who I >have< transformed into
+a chicken, and relish the taste of their
+meat. My powers are that strong.
+But still you resist.
+Enough.
+Look into my eyes. Deeply. See the
+vast expanse of the universe -- the
+galaxies of sparkling stars, spiraling
+into the center of two blacker-than-
+black black holes. Feel them pulling
+you into their vacuum, gently -- like a
+raft of driftwood pulling slowly away
+from shore. Feel the genuine release
+of your worries as you cascade around
+the swirling shower of light. Your mind
+is free from the bindings of your heavy
+body. Your eyelids are losing their
+power as you swirl in the vortex of my
+abyss. Freedom waits around every
+turn and twist. You are getting sleepy,
+sleepy....
+When I snap my fingers, you will
+believe that this job interview was the
+best you have ever conducted. You will
+not only want to hire me, you will give
+me the maximum salary and benefits
+and turn the other way when I seduce
+secretaries and charm accountants
+and beat the boss at golf.
+One. Two...
+Oh, come on! Please?
+====WEIRD SITES OF THE MONTH====
+Where the Bodies Are Buried
+Dig it Deep
+<del>bbc.co.uk/beasts/fossilfun/burial/</del>
+Paint it Black
+<del>memorialart.com/index.html</del>
+Clean it Up
+<del>cadaverinc.com/</del>
+====NEW AT GORELETS.COM====
++ Feeling generous? Add a link to
+gorelets.com on your website with
+these new clickable graphic banners
+and buttons. All the code is provided
+and there's nothing to download: just
+copy and paste into your HTML!
+http://www.gorelets.com/demos/goreletbuttons.htm
++ I get a lot of requests for my out of
+print horror novel, Grave Markings --
+and I'm no longer selling them from my
+private stock. There are now two ways
+I recommend to hunt them down: 1)
+get GMX -- the Extreme Edition --
+coming out in hand-tooled leather from
+Double-Dragon Publishing in
+November 2004 (YES! I don't mean to
+brag, but this is the epitome of a COOL
+BOOK. Only 13 copies will be printed!);
+or, 2) use the handy-dandy new page
+I've added to gorelets.com for a "Super
+Quick Search of Bookstores for New
+and Used Arnzen Titles" (you can
+always get there via the
+"writing/demos" page, too).
+<del>gorelets.com/demos/arnzenbookscan.html</del>
+====INSTIGATION: TWISTED PROMPTS FOR SICKO WRITERS====
++ Dramatize a pet turning on its owner
+with deadly intentions.
++ Torture a character who has been
+falsely accused of a crime.
++ Describe the journey of an
+earthworm as it writhes its way through
+a recently buried carcass.
+Instigation is now a WEEKLY
+department in Hellnotes newsletter:
+http://www.hellnotes.com
+[ Look for a discount code elsewhere in
+this issue of The Goreletter! ]
+====OUR ODD TRIPLE FEATURE====
+"Bic Sticks"
+For your next movie night, rent:\\
+The Bourne Identity (2002)\\
+Casino (1995)\\
+Grosse Point Blank (1997)\\
+====NOT DEAD YET: PRINT REVIEWS====
+Maybe you've read medical thrillers by
+the likes of Robin Cook or Tess
+Gerritsen. Sure, they're good nail-
+biters, but they're also a little too
+mainstream for my taste. The life-and-
+death nightmares get blended down
+into a something of a dark smoothie for
+mass consumption. They're high on
+suspense thrills and medical ethics, but
+otherwise low on imagination and
+fantasy, often written with a desire to
+educate or impress rather than
+confront taboos or horrify you in the
+gut. After all, most of the writers are
+doctors -- people with a clinically
+detached, observational viewpoint on
+the body -- who have learned to port
+their bedside manner into profitable
+fiction but refuse to entertain the
+fancies of the supernatural or the
+madness of unreason. The narratives
+are all ultimately about salvation
+through science and the re-institution of
+comfortable domestic bliss.
+But If you're looking for a >real<
+nightmare in the operating room, you
+might have to snoop around in the
+small press, where genuine horrors
+can still be found. To get your feet wet
+in the extreme creativity of the horror
+genre operating on the margins of
+publishing, I recommend a recent book
+called "PAIN and Other Petty Plots to
+Keep you in Stitches" by Alan M. Clark
+and several collaborators. PAIN is part
+of a relatively new genre which might
+be termed "medical dark fantasy" --
+stories that stare in hallucinatory
+wonder at the agony of the operating
+room, the icky-ness of illness, and the
+surrealism of surgery. If such a genre
+exists, then Clark's PAIN is a classic of
+its kind.
+Although it's actually an anthology of
+stories and art, PAIN is centered
+around a novella and most of the work
+in the book is collaborative in some
+way. The opening novella -- "PAIN and
+Other Petty Plots" -- is a collaboration
+between Clark and writer Randy Fox
+set in the Facility -- an imaginary
+hospital where nightmares are probed
+via the body in search of emotional
+truths, ranging from the absurd to the
+profound. The tale is essentially an
+"escape from the madhouse" narrative,
+with many interesting twists and turns
+as sick doctors do sick things to not-
+so-sick patients. Laced with an IV drip
+of humor as black as a body bag, this
+novella is a carnival ride through a
+surreal series of sick surgeries,
+banking off Clark's gloriously bizarre
+full-page pieces of art -- a series of
+paintings which inspired the writing.
+It's a crazy collection -- disturbing but
+also funny. And even though much of
+the art is reprinted from various
+sources (esp. the rare collection, The
+Pain Doctors of Suture Self General, a
+progenitor of sorts to this later project),
+PAIN is highly original. You just don't
+find books like this on the shelf and
+Barnes and Noble. While the narrative
+vacillates a little unevenly between the
+existential angst-ridden mood of
+Kafka's The Trial to the splatterpunk
+silliness of Peter Jackson's Dead Alive,
+the sheer imaginative risk that this
+novella takes makes for compelling
+reading. Reading through the stories
+and perusing the art makes every page
+of PAIN a page of demented pleasure.
+PAIN not only dramatizes hospital
+room anxiety like no other book I can
+think of, it's also an art book (the sort
+you might toss on the coffee table in a
+waiting room in Hell). Clark -- a
+renowned, multiple award-winning
+artist of the outr‚ -- not only designed
+this full-sized (8-1/2 x 11") book for his
+own press (IFD Publishing) but also
+created all of the dark and disturbing
+illustrations that are copiously
+scattered throughout the book -- about
+total, from my count. Even the
+borders and frames and dingbats
+throughout the book -- mini-drawings of
+scissors or scalpels or rib-spreaders --
+are fun to look at. Since the art inspired
+the stories, the art has been "literated"
+as opposed to stories being
+"illustrated" (see Fairwood Press'
+brand new book, Imagination Fully
+Dilated: Science Fiction to get an idea
+of what this means at
+http://www.fairwoodpress.com).
+The wrap-around cover (featuring the
+grim reaper standing above a body on
+the table, surrounded by twisted
+demonic-looking "surgeons" in an
+operating theater of the damned) is the
+only rich color image; the interiors are
+a monochromatic black-and-white that
+really delivers -- each of Clark's
+paintings is a marvel to behold. From
+an extreme close-up rendering of a
+virus in action to an apocalyptic image
+of the medical "Facility" towering in a
+sky full of bleeding clouds, Clark's
+creative range knows no bounds, no
+limits. Indeed, PAIN is a testament to
+this artist's lifework, as many of these
+images come from a variety of sources
+that he's kindly reprinted here.
+After Clark & Fox's novella, the second
+half of the book consists of three short
+stories "To Keep You in Stitches" by
+Clark collaborating with writers like
+Mark Edwards, Jeremy Robert
+Johnson and Troy Guinn. These are all
+good gross-out stories which go way
+over the top in depicting bodily excess,
+terrifying transformation, and
+phantasmagoric torture. There's a
+wicked glee that these writers take in
+diving into Clark's dark imaginative
+universe of catheter tubes and body
+fluids. But as Dr. F. Paul Wilson (MD)
+puts it in his introduction, "This is not
+fiction -- this is what really happens"
+psychologically when you enter into the
+terror of any hospital visit. You give
+your body over to some alien system
+where your life and identity are at risk.
+The only disappointment with PAIN --
+aside from the b/w art which makes
+you want to see it all in color -- is a
+minor one: the book's readily apparent
+reliance on reprints. There's enough
+credits to fill the 8-1/2x11
+acknowledgements page. The art
+pieces are from everything from
+biology textbooks to limited edition
+hardbound books -- and two of the
+stories are reprinted from hard-to-find
+sources. But this is not really a fault;
+unless you're a Clarkophile, most of
+this book will be new to you -- and if
+you are already a fan of Clark, then
+you'll get to see some work you never
+knew he created. Besides, Clark
+created at least five brand new
+paintings just for this book -- what
+more can you want?
+In addition to the fantastically imagined
+novella, the closing memoir by Alan
+Clark makes the collection well worth
+the price of admission ($16). "The
+Unseen and Unknowable" is an
+autobiographical piece as shocking as
+anything else in this already very
+shocking book -- and perhaps it's the
+most memorable entry. Here Clark
+talks frankly about a near-death
+experience that in some ways
+accounts for his aesthetic as a well-
+spring of inspiration. It's an honest
+report about a very scary hospital
+experience involving brain abscesses
+and a wrestling match with alcoholism
+that you'll not easily forget. Reading
+this memoir makes you turn back
+through the pages, lending a new level
+of appreciation to the artwork, which
+seems to purge his demons while
+sharing Clark's unflinching curiosity
+about the mysteries beyond everyday
+life.
+PAIN and Other Petty Plots
+to Keep You in Stitches:
+http://www.ifdpublishing.com
+Buy Clark's artwork, personalized:
+http://www.shocklines.com
+====GORELETS: Unpleasant Poems====
+Demon of Hendrix
+these six strings distort time into a red\\
+chiaroscuro of hallucinatory painsound,\\
+a pink crisp and blue crackle under\\
+the warlock's conjuring bonefinger blur,\\
+gasolined heat muffling voices that\\
+drown in their wooden orchestral pit of\\
+despair; the shriek of soundsputter\\
+as he hammer-pulls an agony of souls\\
+from the beast before lifting lambent\\
+instrument over his head, high enough\\
+to pick at the fiery wires on its neck\\
+with the tines of his own metal teeth\\
+====ONLINE GIZMO OF THE MONTH====
+"The Virtual Autopsy"
+Sure, there are plenty of "virtual" body
+dissection and mutilation kits on the
+internet. But this one from the UK
+makes a serious challenge out of it.
+You cut up the limbs, you weigh the
+organs, you probe and poke and YOU
+get to choose the cause of death.
+Featuring real world case studies! It's
+like CSI for the common man and
+woman.
+http://www.le.ac.uk/pathology/teach/va/titlpag1.html
+====ARNZEN NEWS====
++ Several of my poetry books will be
+coming into print as the summer winds
+down. My publisher promises me that
+Freakcidents will be available within
+the next ninety days (probably less)
+and apologizes for all unforeseen
+delays. My new e-book, Sportuary, has
+been tentatively slotted for an August
+th release from Cyber Pulp. And the
+long-awaited Gorelets: Unpleasant
+Poetry series is destined for a late
+October publication from both
+Fairwood Press (print) and Double-
+Dragon Publishing (e-book with bonus
+section!).
+<del>darkvesperpublishing.com/freakcidents.html</del>
+<del>gorelets.com/demos/sportuarysampler.htm</del>
+<del>gorelets.com/gorelets/retro/retro.htm</del>
++ Self help for the strange: Two weird
+"how-to" guides are now published and
+available for free online. A sad memoir
+of sorts, called "How to put a Cat to
+Sleep," is at Literary Potpourri. And a
+much less depressing -- but far more
+morbid -- piece called "How to Grow a
+Man-Eating Plant" just went online at
+The Eternal Night. Follow the
+directions closely.
+<del>literarypotpourri.com/</del>
+http://www.eternalnight.co.uk/
++ I was humbled by Ed Bryant's kind
+review of my Martha parody, Michael
+Arnzen's Dying, in a recent issue of
+Locus. He wrote: "Arnzen's a
+crackerjack poet of the dark
+fantastic...[his poetry] whipsaws the
+reader from giggling to guffawing to
+cringing, often all on the same page."
+Yes -- I like to saw people and make
+them cringe! It's a good thing. Dying is
+just $5.95+postage from Tachyon
+Publications; inquire via e-mail at
+jw@tachyonpublishing.com if the book isn't
+listed on the website at:
+http://www.tachyonpublishing.com
++ My fun game show parody, "Who
+Wants to be a Killionaire?" will appear
+on Horrorfind.com within the next
+month. Your final answer indeed.
+[Note that I'll also be attending the
+Horrorfind Weekend in August (my
+reading is on Sunday)].
+<del>horrorfind.com/fiction/</del>
+http://www.horrorfindweekend.com
++ The reason this issue is a teensy bit
+late is because I just wrapped up a
+week of intensive teaching in the MA in
+Writing Popular Fiction program at
+Seton Hill University. If you're a writer
+of any genre and thinking about
+working toward an advanced degree,
+you might want to look at our web site:
+http://fiction.setonhill.edu
+====SNIPPETS OF THE STRANGE====
+Studies in Decomposition
+"Each specimen at Skulls Unlimited
+International is carefully prepared with
+dermestid beetles, also known as
+carrion beetles...With over 25 years
+experience you can be confident that
+we will prepare your specimens worry-
+free without shrinkage of bone, teeth
+cracking, or falling out, softening of the
+bone or damage from over-boiling."
+-- skullcleaning.com
+"The priest first made a small incision
+down on the left side of the abdomen.
+The organs were then removed
+through this aperture to be washed,
+salted, and bandaged in the same way
+as the rest of the body. The brain was
+removed through the nose. A metal
+probe and small chisel were used to
+break through to the cranial cavity
+through the nostril. A long, thin bronze
+hook was used to liquefy the brain so
+that it could be poured out through the
+nose."
+-- ukm.uio.no/utstillinger/mumien_lever/english.html
+"Well-sealed caskets EXPLODE daily
+in mausoleums throughout the U.S.,
+blowing the liquefied body parts out of
+the caskets -- explosions so strong that
+they sometimes blow the heavy crypt
+fronts off the crypts, with the danger of
+killing persons who are in front of or
+below the crypts. Families need to be
+warned not to picnic beneath outdoor
+crypts, as families are frequently seen
+doing."
+-- funerals-ripoffs.org
+====DATA + ERRATA = DRATTA====
+Last issue, I mentioned that horror
+writer Tanya Twombly was conducting
+a survey of "Top Ten Fears" for her
+graduate research. Here are the
+overall results of 300 people surveyed:
+. Death of a family member\\
+. Living an insignificant life\\
+. Snakes\\
+. Death/The Dark (tie)\\
+. Spiders\\
+. Drowning\\
+. Fatal car accident\\
+. Slow death/long illness\\
+. Being alone\\
+. Harm to a family member\\
+Given the distance between #1 and
+#10, I conclude that we don't mind
+harming our family members to the
+brink of death so much.
+====BOO COUPONS====
+It actually pays to scroll this far down.
+NEW FICTIONWISE EXCLUSIVE
+Enter the info below at check out and
+receive 20% off any Arnzen e-books in
+you order at Fictionwise.com:
+Coupon Code: Arnzen2003
+One time only. Expires 9/29.
+Otherwise, continue to shop for e-
+books at this special 15% off page for
+Goreletter subscribers, which is
+updated weekly:
+<del>fictionwise.com/fwa/4004/</del>
+NEW HELLNOTES OFFER
+Because you subscribe to The
+Goreletter, you can get a one year's
+subscription to the e-mail version of
+Hellnotes -- the Insider's Guide to the
+Horror Industry -- for just $18. Use the
+code GORELETS in your order by
+August 31. You can subscribe via
+Paypal (payable to JRohrig@aol.com);
+otherwise, check the website for more
+information:
+http://www.hellnotes.com
+FLESH AND BLOOD
+Get all available back issues of Flesh &
+Blood magazine for 30% off and any of
+the F&B book titles for 35% off. Free
+shipping and handling on all
+purchases. Please send payment
+made out to Jack Fisher with a note
+mentioning the "Goreletter discount" to:
+Jack Fisher, 121 Joseph St., Bayville,
+NJ 08721 NOTE: Jack Fisher also
+has a new e-mail address, effective
+immediately: HorrorJackF@aol.com
+<del>fleshandbloodpress.com</del>
+DARK ANIMUS MAGAZINE
+One of the best new horror magazine's
+of the year -- Dark Animus -- will give
+you $3 off a postage paid subscription
+(from Australia). That means a year's
+worth of dread for only $15! DA
+contributors have included myself,
+Graham Masterton, Mark McLaughlin,
+Tim Curran, and others. You can begin
+your sub with back issues, too. To get
+your discount, include the phrase
+"goreletter" in your correspondence or
+the order form available at:
+http://darkanimus.com/
+====COLOPHON====
+All material in The Goreletter is:
+c 2003 Michael A. Arnzen, unless
+otherwise noted. All rights reserved.
+Permission is granted to forward the
+entire contents as a whole, without
+alterations or excisions. For reprint
+permissions of individual pieces,
+please contact arnzen@gorelets.com.
+This newsletter is formatted in one
+skinny column to accommodate
+handheld computer users. If you own a
+PDA, try The Goreletter as a free
+Mazingo channel at:
+<del>mazingo.net/pc/subscribe.php?site_id=1552&src=111</del>
+Subscribe, unsubscribe, and shout out
+about The Goreletter at:
+http://www.gorelets.com
+Our surrealist product endorsement:
+http://thesurrealist.co.uk/priorart.cgi?ref=The+Goreletter
+====PITHY MORBID THOUGHTS====
+"Our fear of death is like our fear that
+summer will be short, but when we
+have had our swing of pleasure, our fill
+of fruit, and our swelter of heat, we say
+we have had our day."
+-- Ralph Waldo Emerson (died 1882)
+----
+{{page>gfoot&nodate&nouser}}