Showing posts with label Zagava Press. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zagava Press. Show all posts

Monday, March 14, 2022

Neo-Decadence Evangelion

The latest offering from the last bastion of creative excess and reasonable aesthetic choices, Neo-Decadence Evangelion, is now available for pre-order from Zagava Books. 




The book is edited by Justin Isis and features artwork by Gea Philes. 

The table of contents are as follows: 
Brendan Connell – THE SLUG
Golnoosh Nour – SADPRINCE
Justin Isis – A TREE ROTTING FROM THE TOP DOWN
Arturo Calderon – YAWAR JAGUAR
Gaurav Monga – THE COSTUME
Audrey Szasz – FRED IS DEAD
Colby Smith – HELLENIC DROPOUT
LC von Hessen – BAPHOMET’S BALLROOM
James Champagne – PROVIDENCE SPLEEN
Kristine Ong Muslim – THE BLACK ZODIAC
Damian Murphy – A NIGHT OF AMETHYST

A sample of my entry in the book follows below.



A Night of Amethyst
Copyright © 1981 by Mimesis Software, all rights reserved.
Release 1 / Serial Number 044516
(First-time players will benefit from typing ‘help’)


Lobby
Exits: north, east, south

    You stand in the lobby of an institution stained with scandal and ignominy. A symmetrical group of decorative lamps hang by thick strands from the ceiling. Their bulbs are shaped like rising flames and are arranged in tight concentric circles. A slender front desk resides on the far end of the room, behind which stands a well-dressed attendant. He wields the authority of the minor official whose expertise exceeds that of their superiors. His attention is absorbed in what appears to be an open registry.
    Sitting areas of no great size lie to either side of the desk. A woman reclines in an immodest position on the elegant upholstery of one of the armchairs. She wears a button-up top of vivid emerald and a skirt of pale cream. A bare foot is propped on one of the armrests while the fingers of one hand trace lazy circles on the fabric. She appears to be intolerably bored.
    To the west, behind you, is the entrance to the establishment, but of course you have no intention of leaving so soon.

> examine carpet

    The mandates of the night itself are enciphered in its rich designs and its golden fringes flash like filaments against the dark, wooden floors. It occurs to you that its pattern reflects every possible path that can be taken through this game.

> approach desk

    “Sir?” prompts the attendant as he looks up from the registry. “If you’ll be so kind as to sign in.” He turns the book around to face you. A pen lies on the desk to one side.
    You’ve managed to attract the scrutiny of the woman in the armchair. She lies just out of view, yet you can feel her gaze on the back of your neck. You’re ashamed to admit it, but this pleases you a little.

> sign registry

    “Thank you kindly, Mr. Morse,” says the man behind the desk after you’ve added your name and time of arrival. “There are a few preparations that must be attended to. If you’ll be seated for a moment, we’ll be ready for you shortly.” He executes a barely perceptible bow before making his exit through a doorway in the east.
    You turn around to confront the woman that fixes you with her gaze. She glances over to the northern archway, beyond which lies a well-lit corridor that extends in both directions. Her eyes are aflame with provocation as they return to yours. She seems to be suggesting that you slip out of the lobby before the man returns.

> examine desk

    I fail to see how the front desk warrants the benefit of your attention. Nevertheless, you turn around and consider its simple elegance. The woman behind you is hardly amused that you’ve turned your back on her. She proceeds to make a gentle hissing sound with her tongue and the roof of her mouth, her presence overflowing with a shameless physicality that’s all the more pronounced when your attention is focused elsewhere.

> search desk

    With all of the discretion of a gentleman thief, you step behind the desk. You realize that the risk you’re taking is nothing short of absurd. The attendant might return at any time.

Saturday, April 2, 2016

Booklore

I am extremely pleased to announce the upcoming publication of Booklore, in which appears a piece I've written on Alain Robbe-Grillet's Topology of a Phantom City (the book from which this weblog has inherited its name).



The anthology is edited by Jonas Ploeger and Alcebiades Diniz Miguel, and features illustrations by Erika Seguín Colás. Other contributors include Carl Abrahamsson, Avalon Brantley, Brian Catling, Andrew Condous, Brendan Connell, Quentin S. Crisp, Richard Gavin, Martin Hayes, Colin Insole, Timothy J. Jarvis, Andrew Liles, Chris Mikul, Daniel Mills, Reggie Oliver, Thomas Phillips, Ray B. Russell, Michael Siefener, Charles Schneider, Thomas Stromsholt, Supervert, Mark Valentine, Paul Wallfisch, DP Watt, Ron Weighell and Jonathan Wood.

Booklore is scheduled to begin shipping in the 2nd week of May, and may be ordered directly from the Zagava Press website.

“I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound and stab us. If the book we’re reading doesn’t wake us up with a blow on the head, what are we reading it for? So that it will make us happy, as you write? Good Lord, we would be happy precisely if we had no books, and the kind of books that make us happy are the kind we could write ourselves if we had to. But we need the books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us. That is my belief.” (Franz Kafka in a letter to his friend Oskar Pollak, 27. January 1905)