MARCH 29-31, 2012 | Lafayette, LA | Media Technology and the Imagination
GUEST AUTHOR READING & PANEL
The Louisiana Conference on Literature, Language & Culture presents: Media, Technology and the Imagination. I’ll be moderating a panel discussion, and giving a reading presentation at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s annual literary conference.

More visits and events are in planning stages.  I’ll update this page as things develop!

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays!

I’ve been extremely busy on many fronts, personal and professional — and now that I’m on a brief holiday break, I’m catching up with obligations and promises.  I plan to get the next issue of The Goreletter out soon, but for now I thought I’d give everyone a quick round-up of what’s happening in Arnzenland lately:

• Big news:  The Gorelets Omnibus is scheduled for a January 2012 release!  If you preorder a copy directly from Raw Dog Screaming Press (publisher of my other books, 100 Jolts & Play Dead), you’ll get a free collector’s item! Get the hardcover — it’s got a lot of bonus material and is so worth it.
• I started keeping a journal at the innovative creative non-fiction site, cowbird.com.  I’m trying to keep it focused on authentic observations, but with an emphasis on the weird, uncanny, and overlooked as much as I can. Drop by, encourage me, and I’ll keep it up.
• A new overview page that lists all the social networking sites I’m a part of is now up at michaelarnzen.com  Please feel free to friend and follow in a frenzy.
• This website was injected with a malicious code last month and I’ve been quite busy rebuilding much it from scratch.  It was time to purge and renew anyway, and I like how it’s turning out.  But several links — especially to material from my gallery and bibliography pages — are now broken and I’m still recreating a page dedicated to my books and other horror creations.  If you’re here shopping or researching horror, please head on over to my profile page on amazon.com for the time being.
• If you’re a writer, don’t overlook the book I c0-edited that was released a few months back: Many Genres, One Craft: Lessons in Writing Popular Fiction.  It was listed by The Writer magazine as one of the top ten “terrific writing books of 2011″ and also was a finalist in the USA Best Books Awards.  Read the MGOC blog to learn more.

I’ll paste the publisher’s description below, but if you want to jump right to their catalog, Raw Dog Screaming Press (publisher of my other books, 100 Jolts and Play Dead) are now accepting pre-orders on their website. 

PREORDERS WILL GET A FREE SIGNED BROADSIDE AS A COLLECTIBLE BONUS.

The book will likely ship in late January 2012.  I’ll keep posting news and info as it breaks. You might even get sick of hearing about it. But I won’t. I hope you’ll buy a copy and enjoy the look back over a decade of decay.

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Now Available for Pre-order!

THE GORELETS OMNIBUS
Collected Poems, 2001-2011
by Michael A. Arnzen
ISBN 978-1-935738-20-6 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-935738-21-3 (pbk)

$29.95 Hardcover | $13.95 Paperback

TERRIFYINGLY TINY.  DEVILISHLY DEEP.

The Gorelets Omnibus collects all the bloody little bits of Michael Arnzen’s poetry written in the past 10 years into one big volume. From the contents of the original Gorelets chapbook and his classic “refrigerator of the damned” online magnetic poetry experiment, to Arnzen’s latest flash fiction and brand new Zombie Haikruel series, this collection chronicles his revolutionary vision for the horror short form. He even received a Bram Stoker Award for Alternative Forms for some of the work included in this book. As one of the first writers to recognize the creative capacity of handheld devices, Arnzen’s pioneering work to deliver gory entertainment in as few characters as possible is still eminently relevant today. Thus, a “casebook of criticism”—a collection of scholarly analyses of Arnzen’s unique approach to the genre—is included alongside the poetry.

While The Gorelets Omnibus is available in both paperback and hardcover versions, the hardcover edition contains more than 50 pages of must-have bonus material, including:  the hard-to-find Martha Stewart parody, “Michael Arnzen Dying,” additional haikruel you won’t find elsewhere, unfinished poems and pieces no longer available on his website, the “Borelets” parody, and an impressive “horror poetry workshop” of instructional essays by Arnzen on crafting terrifying verse, alongside over 300 “twisted” writing prompts specifically intended to instigate weirdness.

Arnzen’s other books with Raw Dog Screaming include 100 Jolts and Play Dead—soon to be rereleased in paperback and ebook format.

And be sure to visit the website responsible for it all at http://gorelets.com

Praise for Arnzen’s Poetry

“Bored with sleeping? Read this book at night. Michael Arnzen’s poems are absolutely terrifying. His writing makes me uncomfortable for all the right reasons. If you enjoy the things that go bump in the night, Arnzen’s poems might change your mind. Arnzen is disturbingly, madly, brilliant and I pray for those close to him.” —Ryan Mecum, author of Zombie Haiku and Dawn of Zombie Haiku

“Horror and poetry very rarely mix well—if at all—but with Gorelets, Michael Arnzen has produced something of minor miracle; not only does every piece in this marvelous collection stand up to the rules applicable to poetry, but each piece—like the best horror story—provides the reader with chills—no small feat. If, on occasion, Mr. Arnzen’s tongue is obviously pushed toward his cheek, it’s all in fun—albeit intelligent, well-crafted fun. These pieces, and this collection, will not disappoint.” —Gary A. Braunbeck

“SCARY. Achieves in your face, punching rhythmical effects. Coupled with Arnzen’s vivid visuals…these rhythms are confrontational, leaving readers no place to run and hide.” —Sidereality

“Tight and succinct…visionary fragments, sharp little pictures that make your stomach squirm…in regular English, avoiding the pretense that consume so many other poets.” —Feomante.com

“Like one of those stubborn and painful scabs, only Arnzen could pull this one off. Served up with humor both vitreous and gut-wrenching, Gorelets delivers its tasty mind-morsels in palatable portions both raw and rare. If you haven’t tried one yet, grab a plate and dig in.” —Kurt Newton

“…the cumulative effect of the entire book of gory horrific teeny poems is a lot of fun.” —Ellen Datlow, Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror

“It’s no wonder Arnzen has built up such a cult following with his Gorelets.com website—read one thing by him and you’re hooked.” —Matt Schwartz, Shocklines.com

“Gorelets is an example of horror’s rebirth.” —Pittsburgh City Paper

“Scary, gory, horrifying little demons that float around in the sinister mind of a very talented writer…these teensy poems are larger-than-life! Arnzen’s technique is brutally artistic with a blood-streaked flair.” —Brutal Dreamer Reviews

“wild…the product of Arnzen’s fevered and inventive brain.” —alt.press

“Gorelets doesn’t read like a bunch of tiny poems were quickly trotted off on a PDA. They are tiny experiments as to what a poet can do with a minuscule amount of space, and even with only a tiny amount of space, Arnzen’s possibilities are limitless.” —Damned Critic

“Michael A. Arnzen has a knack for balancing dark themes with wit and surprise. By mastering short, thought-provoking poetry, Arnzen creates works that are perfect for a quick fix of horror during the day or to be read from the screen of my Blackberry.” —Heidi Ruby Miller, author of Ambasadora

“In a little over a decade, Michael A. Arnzen has achieved what few writers manage in a lifetime. He has become the master of a brand of literature that is uniquely his own, and I do not doubt that his approach to horror will soon (if not already) be referred to as ‘Arnzenian’… Horrifying, captivating, ironic—Arnzenian!—the works of Michael A. Arnzen are in a class all their own. Fasten your seat belts and enjoy the ride!” — Lawrence C. Connolly, author of Veins

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Preorder today from Raw Dog Screaming Press to be the first to read it and get your hands on the collectible free signed broadside.

The Vampire Bat:
“…The furry, bean-shaped bat with its rodent-like face resembles a rat with wings, but bats are actually more closely related in evolution to dogs and horses. In fact, vampire bats in the wild will gallop and leap across the ground much in the same way that horses do.
In South America where they are common, vampire bats approach their prey on the ground, galloping quickly and quietly as they sneak up on, bite, and drink the blood from sleeping cows, goats and birds.” — “What Steers Vampires to Blood,” UCSF Research

The Vampire Finch:
“…Their most important source of food during the extended droughts is blood. The finches begin by landing on the tail of a seabird. They peck at the base of its wing feathers, breaking the skin and causing it to bleed. As the blood oozes out, the finches sip it every few seconds. Other finches line up behind the booby like a queue at a blood bank and as soon as one leaves its blood-sucking perch another takes its place.” — “Islands of the Vampire Birds”

[Read about Oxpeckers and more at The Evolution of Vampires]

Image Source: fatfinch.wordpress.com

]]> http://www.gorelets.com/blog/snippets-of-the-strange/vampires-of-the-wild-kingdom/feed/ 0 http://www.gorelets.com/blog/pithy-morbid-thoughts/deadizen-kane/ http://www.gorelets.com/blog/pithy-morbid-thoughts/deadizen-kane/#comments Thu, 17 Nov 2011 21:24:14 +0000 Michael Arnzen http://www.gorelets.com/?p=2167 “I rejoice in the presence of death because I think it’s what makes life brilliant and beautiful. And without it, the world would be ridiculous. I’m interested in it from every point of view. My interest in it has not dimmed with its approach.”
– Orson Welles (died 1985)