Graveyard Shift

Archie Collins sat inside the cabin, reading the latest issue of Varney the Vampire, while slurping a cup of cocoa. The night was young and the wind sounded a little soft. Archie’s eyes were engrossed by the pages of this pamphlet, and feeling rather tense. There was no wood in the fireplace and here it was freezing. To resist the cold air, he refused to take off his coat, flatcap and fingerless gloves. The quiet wind suggested he was alone tonight. It was his first month, and he needed this unwanted job, as times were extremely hard for him. Friday was always his favourite day – payday – where he would rush off to his local inn. Sunday evening, he would be broke.

After he’d finished his third cup, it didn’t take long before his insides were as cold as outside. Archie demanded to himself that it was time to go on his usual round. While I’m out, I’ll try and scout for some wood for the fireplace.

He stepped out, locking the door, and scoured the cemetery grounds with his guiding oil lamp lantern. The dominating light shined on hundreds of headstones, tombs and crypts. Archie began to feel lost, as always, after wandering for over ten minutes. But it seemed to be a lot longer. A large graveyard, it was, and reports of resurrection-men lurking about for bodies to plunder was the main reason why his job existed.

The only sound he heard was his own crunching footfalls, treading on the fallen leaves. All seemed to be quiet, and the wind continued to die. Lots of trees stood uneven, as Archie passed them. He kept remembering to brandish his knife, expecting an ambush from the trees. His employer insisted he should check the site, every two hours, but Archie would come out only once during the night.

Ding, ding, ding! His heart froze at this sound. His movement stopped too, but his mind screamed, someone’s alive!

He chased after the chiming sound, as it rang and rang, yelling for attention! Strange shapes formed out of trees and headstones, during his pursuit. Then, he stopped at the uncanny sound, huffing and puffing, and faced – a freshly buried grave.

Archie was about to race back for a shovel, when another…

…ding, ding, ding! And another…and another. More and more safety coffins ringing their bells.

But his mind was instantly crippled with confusion and uncertainty, he had no idea what to do.

Now, every single burial tolled to be unearthed.

Jason D. Brawn is the author of horror novelettes Stranded and Refuge, as well as having short stories, poems and film reviews published in anthologies, magazines and ezines. He holds a degree in Film and Media from Birkbeck College, University of London and has appeared in the Hammer Horror webserial, Beyond the Rave. He resides in London and enjoys cinema, theatre, listening to obscure music, art, travelling and reading for inspiration.

His website is http://jasonbrawn.weebly.com/index.html        

Raven Morgoth is an artist, sculptor, graphic designer based in Winchester – United Kingdom. She works with all kinds of media: oils, acrylics,  and coloured pencils. Raven recently created digital art using Wacom Intuos tablet and Photoshop CS5.  http://www.ravenmorgothstudio.com/

Ira Joel Haber was born and lives in Brooklyn New York. He is a sculptor, painter, book dealer, photographer and teacher. His work has been seen in numerous group shows both in USA and Europe and he has had 9 one man shows including several retrospectives of his sculpture. His work is in the collections of  The Whitney Museum Of American Art, New York University, The Guggenheim Museum, The Hirshhorn Museum & The Albright-Knox Art Gallery. His paintings, drawings, photographs and collages have been published in over 100 on line and print magazines. He has received three National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, two Pollock-Krasner grants, the Adolph Gottlieb Foundation grant and, in 2010, he received a grant from Artists’ Fellowship Inc.  Currently he teaches art at the United Federation of Teachers Retiree Program in Brooklyn.

Attention Span

America’s absolute destruction dances in the mind of Mickey Mouse as he skips in black and white radiance

No one notices.

The statutory rape of Afghanistan is ongoing

No one notices.

The president impregnates his secretary’s throat with patriotism

We are disgusted.

Jeremiah Walton was born February 12, 1995 in New England where he currently attends High School. Jeremiah manages Nostrovia! Poetry, http://www.nostroviatowriting.com , a small publishing press dedicated towards promoting poetry to the youth, and disproving the negative stereotypes assigned to poetry.

Since we do love to promote all things creative here I thought it was past time we included fashion as well. That said I am very pleased to bring you Nicholas Lemons. Lemons rose to fame as a male model for fashion icons like Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Gant, and DSquared2 to name a few. He is currently a designer offering up the mens line, Nick + Campbell, which uses natural fibers such as sustainable bamboo and cotton to produce the most comfortable underwear on the planet. It was an honor to talk with him on the transition from model to designer.

Can you tell us a little about your background? What were you like as a child?

I was born Kentucky. Growing up in the country, I did a lot of fishing, hunting, playing sports and just going to school. I really enjoyed my youth.

I know you have a love of comics. What initially sparked your interest in all that? Which characters are your favorite and why? Which artists do you enjoy most?

I have collected comics most of my life. When I was younger, I would draw all the time any chance I could get. I wanted to start my own comic book at one point. There are so many characters that I love, it’s hard to name them all…. Batman….Silver Surfer…Superman and trust me, the list goes on.

What was it like to go from the mid-west to modeling at the age of 17? Did you experience any culture shock?

I went from country life to sitting on a beach in Miami watching cruise ships roll out. It was most definitely a culture shock for me.

What do you think you would be doing at this point in your life if you hadn’t become a model? What do you plan on doing when you stop?

I am not a model anymore, I am a designer. There you have it.

I read somewhere once that you had said, “The more beautiful you are on the inside the more beautiful you are on the out”. Do you still believe that? Do you think it possible to be beautiful strictly from what you carry inside the self?

Yes, I believe that being healthy has a lot to do with that as well, but I do believe that true beauty comes from within.
What do you think it takes for a person to be truly beautiful?

What qualities do you find most…admirable?

Self respect, being genuine. A man or a woman of his or her word goes a long way. I believe that just being an all around good spirit will make you shine.

Do you think the world today places too much emphasis on looks?

Yes…I have always thought that it is more about charisma than just simply good looks.

You’ve also said you would like to be an angel. Why is that? Have you always been drawn to things of a mystical nature?

I don’t think I said that? But ok, that would be a really good time…question is what kind of angel would I like to be?

When did you first discover your love of tattoos? How many do you have? Are there any that hold personal meaning? Which are your favorite? Are you planning on any more?

I love them all and would love to be covered eventually from the neck down. I enjoy being tattooed and working with different artists very much.

Do you have any favorite tattoo artists?

Tasha Rubinow, Anderson Luna, Neil Powers, Jun Matsui…

How did the Nick+Campbell clothing line come to be? Do you think it may expand beyond underwear in the future? Any plans to offer a women’s or children’s line?
I would love to expand, anyone would. If I make clothing that people enjoy wearing then I should have room to expand in the future, that’s the plan.

Any little known things about you that people might be surprised to learn?

I believe, at some point, that this world will come together as one and find a way to share our knowledge and use religion as hints and keys to finding other forms of life and other means of living beyond this planet. I also would encourage, if possible, for humans to travel. If they cannot travel, then speak about the world we live in and keep an open mind. I’ve always questioned why people are incapable of imagining the things they are capable of doing. If you can imagine it, you can accomplish it. It’s all about the steps we follow to get to the places we have imagined.

How do you hope to be remembered when your time comes?

I hope that I will be remembered as someone who thinks ahead of his time, and someone that made a change for the better of life.

Anything you’d like to say in closing?

Enjoy!

Joe & Adam Kubert

Adam Kubert is a legendary comic artist. Over the course of his career his works have appeared in DC, Marvel, and Dark Horse Comics. His works feature the characters we all know and love from Superman, Spider-man, Wolverine, Ultimate X-men, Ultimate Fantastic Four, and Ghost rider to the Incredible Hulk he produces some of the most vivid work in the business. He teaches at the Joe Kubert School of alongside his father Joe and brother Andy (who is also an illustrator). Wizard magazine has called him one of the “Hot 10 Writers and Artists” in the industry. He won an Eisner Award for his work alongside his brother Andy,inking the title Batman: Batman vs Predator.

What were you like as a kid? What would you say is your fondest early memory?

My earliest memory was popping a wheelie all the up my driveway on my Honda SL70…those were the days.

What is it like to come from a family that is so creative? Your father must be very proud?

Yeah…he seems to be. As far as a creative family, I don’t really know any other so to me this is normal.

What did you draw most as a child?

Catsup faces on my hamburger.

You got a job as a letterer at age 12. What was it like to do that?

Again, this is what I knew so it didn’t feel weird in any way. Just a way to make enough money to buy that SL70!

Did you feel lucky to have the job at such an early age?

Hmm…I don’t know but it felt pretty good being able to buy what I wanted instead of having to ask for it.

Is it true you were the youngest professional comic book letterer?

As far as I knew, yes.

Since this is a publication catering mainly to horror/sci fi/dark fantasy, are you yourself a fan of those genres? Which works speak to you most? Do you have a favorite..monster so to speak?

I have four favorite monsters…they are my four children.

 What is your scariest memory to date?

When I was a kid we had traveled to Mexico. My two brothers and I went out into the ocean with one raft.  Trouble was that there was a tremendous rip tide and before we knew it were way way out there… and couldn’t get back in. I remember seeing my Dad with his hands cupped by his mouth but we couldn’t hear him because we were so far away. They sent some surfers to bring us back in. It wasn’t until we were safely on the beach that we found out there were a lot of sharks out there.

You have a degree in medical illustration. What led you to that?

I enjoyed drawing and I liked science so I put the two together.  Plus it was the only program that I was accepted into.

Do you ever think you might go back to that?

Nope.

When you started working on Batman vs Predator did you ever think you’d win an Eisner Award for it in 1992? What did it feel like when you first learned of that?

I remember Diana Schutz called me the next day and gave me the news….she said she was proud of me but not all that keen to go up in front of a gazillion people to accept it.  I was pretty stoked to win it… Andy still kids me about winning the best tracer award.

What it is like to work with your father and brother? Do you find it helps to work with people you know best?

I love working with both Andy and my Dad. I know whenever we work together that the job is going to come out great.

What do you think you’d of become if not an artist?

A hobo. I love to travel.

What projects are you currently working on?

I’m working on the last issue of Astonishing Spider-Man Wolverine…written by Jason Aaron…and LOVING it!

Anything you’d like to say in closing?

Yes…I try not to take what I do for granted. I realize what I have and know that I’m very, very lucky. I don’t feel like it’s work…and for that I’m forever grateful. Thanks for the genes, Dad (smiles).

For more information on the Kubert School please see: http://www.kubertschool.edu/

(This interview originally appeared at The Damned Interviews sometime past. Many thanks to Adam for taking the time. We cannot post images due to copyright issues, but everyone knows Adam does great work.)

Irresistible Wine of Love

Come closer and pull on these transparent covers,
And let the sensuous thoughts flock our minds over.

My body satiates for more with your passionate love and caress,
And your every touch heals me of all sorrows I must confess.

Sipping from your glass, a drop of red wine slides down my tender lips,
The taste beautifies our love so pure in this lovely relationship.

How intoxicating is the wine or is that your eyes drooling over me,
Making me love you even more and losing my sanity.

Your arousing kisses stir up the fire inside me,
Dipped in your romantic syrupy wine so irresistible which has soaked me completely.

Oh My Love, this thirst for you still lingers on and will continue to be,
Just like this red wine melts down my throat slowly and hungers for more with greed.

Copyright ©2012 by Elvira Lobo, Its My Life
(All rights reserved; unauthorized use prohibited)

Elvira is a Fun-loving person, Avid Bollywood fan, Blog-Writer and dedicated towards cause for Thalessemia. Born in Mumbai, having an MBA finance degree , she is currently working in a corporate bank. She is a keen enthusiast and loves to play the guitar, dance, reading books etc. and creative to make innovative handicrafts at leisure.

As she quotes, “Writing poems has been my passion since young and now have an blog Its My Life to emote my feelings and thoughts with friends. Poems on love, life, relations, abstracts, nature etc”. A budding poet, Elvira has her works (25 poems) published both at the national and international level in different anthologies.

Adam & Eve (Painting by Adriaen van der Werff)

How old is the institution of marriage?
The best available evidence suggests that it’s about 4,350 years old. For thousands of years before that, most anthropologists believe, families consisted of loosely organized groups of as many as 30 people, with several male leaders, multiple women shared by them, and children. As hunter-gatherers settled down into agrarian civilizations, society had a need for more stable arrangements. The first recorded evidence of marriage ceremonies uniting one woman and one man dates from about 2350 B.C., in Mesopotamia. Over the next several hundred years, marriage evolved into a widespread institution embraced by the ancient Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans. But back then, marriage had little to do with love or with religion.

What was marriage about, then?
Marriage’s primary purpose was to bind women to men, and thus guarantee that a man’s children were truly his biological heirs. Through marriage, a woman became a man’s property. In the betrothal ceremony of ancient Greece, a father would hand over his daughter with these words: “I pledge my daughter for the purpose of producing legitimate offspring.” Among the ancient Hebrews, men were free to take several wives; married Greeks and Romans were free to satisfy their sexual urges with concubines, prostitutes, and even teenage male lovers, while their wives were required to stay home and tend to the household. If wives failed to produce offspring, their husbands could give them back and marry someone else.

When did religion become involved with marriage?
As the Roman Catholic Church became a powerful institution in Europe, the blessings of a priest became a necessary step for a marriage to be legally recognized. By the eighth century, marriage was widely accepted in the Catholic church as a sacrament, or a ceremony to bestow God’s grace. At the Council of Trent in 1563, the sacramental nature of marriage was written into canon law.

Did religion change the nature of marriage?
Church blessings did improve the lot of wives. Men were taught to show greater respect for their wives, and forbidden from divorcing them. Christian doctrine declared that “the twain shall be one flesh,” giving husband and wife exclusive access to each other’s body. This put new pressure on men to remain sexually faithful. But the church still held that men were the head of families, with their wives deferring to their wishes.

When did love enter marriage?
Later than you might think. For much of human history, couples were brought together for practical reasons, not because they fell in love. In time, of course, many marriage partners came to feel deep mutual love and devotion. But the idea of romantic love, as a motivating force for marriage, only goes as far back as the Middle Ages. Naturally, many scholars believe the concept was “invented” by the French. Its model was the knight who felt intense love for someone else’s wife, as in the case of Sir Lancelot and King Arthur’s wife, Queen Guinevere. Twelfth-century advice literature told men to woo the object of their desire by praising her eyes, hair, and lips. In the 13th century, Richard de Fournival, physician to the king of France, wrote “Advice on Love,” in which he suggested that a woman cast her love flirtatious glances — “anything but a frank and open entreaty.”

Did love change marriage?
It sure did. Marilyn Yalom, a Stanford historian and author of A History of the Wife, credits the concept of romantic love with giving women greater leverage in what had been a largely pragmatic transaction. Wives no longer existed solely to serve men. The romantic prince, in fact, sought to serve the woman he loved. Still, the notion that the husband “owned” the wife continued to hold sway for centuries. When colonists first came to America — at a time when polygamy was still accepted in most parts of the world — the husband’s dominance was officially recognized under a legal doctrine called “coverture,” under which the new bride’s identity was absorbed into his. The bride gave up her name to symbolize the surrendering of her identity, and the husband suddenly became more important, as the official public representative of two people, not one. The rules were so strict that any American woman who married a foreigner immediately lost her citizenship.

How did the tradition of marriage change?
Women won the right to vote. When that happened, in 1920, the institution of marriage began a dramatic transformation. Suddenly, each union consisted of two full citizens, although tradition dictated that the husband still ruled the home. By the late 1960s, state laws forbidding interracial marriage had been thrown out, and the last states had dropped laws against the use of birth control. By the 1970s, the law finally recognized the concept of marital rape, which up to that point was inconceivable, as the husband “owned” his wife’s sexuality. “The idea that marriage is a private relationship for the fulfillment of two individuals is really very new,” said historian Stephanie Coontz, author of The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap. “Within the past 40 years, marriage has changed more than in the last 5,000.”

Adam and Eve weren’t married?
No — if the earliest writings of man are true — Adam and Eve never married. Therefore, we’re all descendants of illegitimate children.

Born in the deep dark south in the mid-sixties. Brom, an army brat, spent his entire youth on the move and unabashedly blames living in such places as Japan, Hawaii, Germany, and Alabama for all his afflictions. From his earliest memories Brom has been obsessed with the creation of the weird, the monstrous, and the beautiful.

At age twenty, Brom began working full-time as a commercial illustrator in Atlanta, Georgia. Three years later he entered the field of fantastic art he’d loved his whole life, making his mark developing and illustrating for TSR’s best selling role-playing worlds.

He has since gone on to lend his distinctive vision to all facets of the creative industries, from novels and games, to comics and film. Most recently he’s created a series of award winning horror novels that he both writes and illustrates: The Plucker, an adult children’s book, The Devil’s Rose, a modern western set in Hell, The Child Thief, a gritty, nightmarish retelling of the Peter Pan myth, and his latest concoction, Krampus, the Yule Lord, a tale of revenge between Krampus and Santa set in rural West Virginia.

Brom is currently kept in a dank cellar somewhere in the drizzly Northwest.There he subsists on poison spiders, centipedes, and bad kung-fu flicks.When not eating bugs, he is ever writing, painting, and trying to reach a happy sing-a-long with the many demons dancing about in his head.

Lost Note

I know you were born in Georgia, being the child of an enlisted did you get to spend much time growing up in the South?

Sure did. About half my life in such places as Georgia, Texas, and Alabama. My grandparents lived a very self-sufficient rural lifestyle. It’s very sad to see their way of life fading away.

What was it like to live in various places all over the world? Do you  think the culture of other lands fed your artistic visions?

Most certainly. Experiencing other cultures opens your mind up and feeds your imagination.

What were you like a kid? What did you draw most back then? I know you’ve said you where always an artist. Why do you think art has always beckoned you?

I was a handful. Always into mischief. Some things never change. When I wasn’t getting into trouble I was drawing and writing, making books with magic markers, notebook paper and staplers. Same darnn thing I’m, doing now, but with a computer and oil paints.

Moonlight

When did you first know you had to be a professional artist?

Always knew art was my calling. The reality that I might be able to be paid to do it didn’t really set in until my late teens.

Your work is rather…dark. Why do you think that is?

It is simply the aesthetic I am drawn to. All the inherent drama is interesting and so very seductive.

Nostalgia

On your site you mention a happy sing-a-long with the many demons dancing about in your head. Do you find the idea of demons and the whole good/evil thing appealing? Why do you think people have always been fascinated by such things?

We are fascinated by the things that scare us. My muses come in many guises. I have demons, and angels, and impish goblins singing in my head. Sometimes in chorus, but most often in chaos. Keeps things interesting.

What does it feel like to see your work featured at some of the top companies in the world? Did you ever imagine as a child you’d be doing that?

It’s always a thrill. No, as a child I never imagined I would get to paint professionally, yet at the same time I never imaged doing anything else.

Radiance

What does it feel like to make a living doing what you love?

It cuts both ways. I am very fortunate to be doing work I love for a living, but also, it can sometimes make you despise the thing you love as you often have to work under such pressure, or compromise your vision to fit someone or something else’s.

What led you try your hand at illustrated novels?

I’ve always consider myself as a story teller, with pictures or with words, so it seems natural two combine the two.

Gunslinger

How has your outlook on things changed most do you think since you have became a parent yourself? Do your children admire your talent? Do you enjoy drawing with the kids?

Children make it very hard for me to be the selfish, self centered, ego-centric artist that I want to be. My children both seem to appreciate what I do for a living. As kids they spent many an afternoon drawing with me in the studio. Now they are both in creative fields making their own art, one with game design, the other with music. Their mother is an artist as well, and I feel the creative gene is often passed along.

How do artists make the transition of images in pencil/ink to paint? I’ve always been enthralled by that entire process. How does it…come about?

Every artist has their medium. For me paint comes easy, ink on the other hand is a struggle.

Shade Blue

I know you have said you’d like to work more in horror. Who are some of your favorite authors in the horror genre?

Stephen King, Clive Barker, Cormac McCarthy, Anne Rice.

Did you have any favorite horror films or character early on?

Vampires have always struck a vein with me.

Miss Muffet

What is the scariest memory you hold?

Being impaled through the heart with a wooden stake. Fortunately I managed to turn into a bat and fly away just in the nick of time.

What projects are you working on at the moment?

My latest novel is Krampus, the Yule Lord, about an ancient pagan demon coming to reclaim his holiday from Santa Clause. Also, just finishing up a new art book. You can find all the details on my website: www.bromart.com

Krampus

Red Wing

Morgan Le Fay