Mark Twain’s “Mysterious Stranger” — a Claymation Terror

Still in your jammies and slurping cereal in front of the tube? Then click through to this week's Saturday Morning Cartoon... "The Mysterious Stranger" was a scene in the 1985 film The Adventures of Mark Twain, in which Tom, Huck, and Becky get a visit from a very familiar character...who teaches his lesson through an apocalyptic nightmare. You can learn more about this story on Wikipedia or even read the complete (but I believe unfinished) novel on The University of Viriginia's e-text server.

Attention Ebook Readers: Fictionwise.com to Close Shop

If you've been reading my ebooks since the early days (e.g., pre-Kindle), then there's a good chance you got them through Fictionwise.com -- one of the first successful ebook distributors, known for offering a wide array of genre fiction -- especially individual short stories -- for a very affordable price. You may have already known that they were "bought out" by Barnes and Noble a few years ago, to help support B&N's offerings for the Nook e-reader. Yesterday I was informed that I should backup all my own purchases and get ready for the site to close down. They have…

Live from the “Poedown Throwdown” at DV8 11.10.2012

I had a wonderful time reading poetry alongside Stephanie Wytovich (who read a battery of amazing "psycho ward" poetry) at DV8 Espresso Cafe & Gallery in Downtown Greensburg, PA, this past weekend. It was standing room only, there were a lot of laughs, and weirdness was definitely in high abundance. Among other things, I got to share my current Mutterverse experiment, which featured a slideshow of strange images...until the power went out on the projector, that is. But I just continued reading in the darkness, which was perfect. Perhaps the highlight of the night was a "Poedown Throwdown" slam poetry…

Horror Poetry Reading on 11.10.12 at DV8 Downtown Greensburg

If you live in the Pittsburgh/Greensburg area, join me for a horror poetry reading alongside writer Stephanie Wytovich at DV8 Espresso Gallery and Cafe in Downtown Greensburg, 7pm, on Nov 10th. We're informally calling it "Halloween Resurrection." Come on by; it's free and freaky. I'll have my latest books in hand if you'd like to pick up a signed copy, too. (DV8 is located on 208 S. Pennsylvania Avenue, Greensburg, PA 15601. Phone: 724-219-0804. More venue information on Facebook) or their website). UPDATE: Stephanie has posted a fun Facebook Event page that will be useful for those of you with…

MUTTERVERSE: All Halloween Day and Night Long!

Throughout #Halloween day I will tweet new poems inspired by my recent trip to @muttermuseum #MutterMuseum with hashtag #MUTTERVERSE— Michael Arnzen (@MikeArnzen) October 31, 2012 Happy Halloween! I enjoyed the Zombie Haiku tweet marathon on Halloween last year (which later was printed in The Gorelets Omnibus) so much that I am doing it again -- but it will be a little more somber and diverse this time with short free verse pieces about disease, deformity, body horror and medical freakitude, all inspired by my recent trip to the Mutter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia (and based on…