Sunday, September 8, 2013

Celebrating the Births . . . Linda Addison, W. W. Jacobs, and Ariosto

 Linda D. Addison (born 8 September 1952)
     Addison is an American poet and writer of horror, fantasy, and science fiction.  She has one two Bram Stoker Awards for her poetry collections. Some of her fiction and poetry is available online.










Fiction
 At Author's Site:
• "One Night At Sheri-Too-Long's Popcorn Bar"
      "Why does this always happen to me? I could go to the loneliest, faraway bar--a place on a planet outside the known universe and some unnamed genetic hybrid will find me. They always treat me like a long lost brother. They talk and talk and talk until I'm all sticky and wet with their words."

• "Excerpts from The Unabridged Traveler's Guide as UFOs in Galaxy A.G.2"
      "Maintain an acceptable holo image at all times when visiting the most interesting planet, native-named Earth, in the 'Milky Way' galaxy. Neatness and a good fitting image will gain high marks on the believability scale if inadvertently seen by Earth's sentient beings. Several varieties of images have been tested and rated in this galaxy. Certain highly stylized images have been found to invoke agitated states in members of the species."

• "After The Fire" Poem.
• "The Barn" Poem.
• "Inevitable Singularity" Poem.
• "Storm of Souls" Poem.
• "Dragon Love" Poem.


William Wymark Jacobs (8 September 1863 – 1 September 1943)
      Best known for his wonderful short story "The Monkey's Paw," Jacobs wrote several other short horror stories, including "The Toll House." His horror stories are definitely worth reading.








Fiction
At Project Gutenberg:
• "The Monkey's Paw" Horror. 1902
      "It had a spell put on it by an old fakir," said the sergeant-major, "a very holy man. He wanted to show that fate ruled people's lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow. He put a spell on it so that three separate men could each have three wishes from it."

• "The Toll House" in Sailor's Knots. 1909.
     "It's all nonsense," said Jack Barnes. "Of course people have died in the house; people die in every house. As for the noises—wind in the chimney and rats in the wainscot are very convincing to a nervous man. Give me another cup of tea, Meagle."

• Other stories indexed here.

Audio Fiction
"The Monkey's Paw:


Ludovico Ariosto (8 September 1474 – 6 July 1533)
      An Italian poet, Ariosto is best known for rhe fantastic epic Orlando Furioso (1516).  The poem takes "place against the background of the war between Charlemagne's Christian paladins and the Saracen army that is attempting to invade Europe. Ariosto has little concern for historical or geographical accuracy, and the poem wanders at will from Japan to the Hebrides, as well as including many fantastical and magical elements (such as a trip to the moon, and an array of fantastical creatures including a gigantic sea monster called the orc, and the hippogriff)" - wikipedia.  The poem, while long and sometimes difficult, was extremely important in the development of fantastic literature.

Fiction
At Project Gutenberg:
Orlando Furioso translated by William Stewart Rose (1831)
      "No empty fiction wrought by magic lore,
  But natural was the steed the wizard pressed;
  For him a filly to griffin bore;
  Hight hippogryph. In wings and beak and crest
"

Audio Fiction
At LibriVox:
Orlando Furioso translated by John Harington (1561 - 1612)

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