I really liked Grendon

Inspired by H. P. Lovecraft's 1920 short story, "The Doom That Came to Sarnath," this new animated Batman film takes fans back to a Prohibition Era Gotham steeped in horror and decadence. It is an adaptation of a parallel-earth storyline introduced by DC Comics' three-issue "Elseworlds" miniseries "Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham" (2000–2001), written by Richard Pace and Mike Magnola and illustrated by Dennis Janke and Troy Nixey. At the beginning of the movie, Bruce Wayne is shown to be on an expedition to find Prof. Oswald Cobblepot and his crew in Antarctica with his three underlings, Kai Li Cain, Sanjay Tawde, and Dick Grayson. They discover that the crew was shipwrecked and that most of the crew members were dead. Amid the frozen desert, Bruce locates Cobblepot and follows him to a cave, where he finds one of Cobblepot's crew members, August Grendon, a disfigured and creepy-looking figure hard at work trying to chisel out a cosmic deity from the icy cave. At this moment, Bruce catches a glimpse of the cosmic being's true form and collapses in agony. Several mutated penguin-like figures attack Bruce inside the cave, but he is able to fend them off and capture Grendon. The party sets off on a course back to Gotham after a twenty-year odyssey, as proclaimed by Bruce, with Grendon as a captive, but a terrible misfortune follows them on their homeward journey. The film features a star-studded roster of some of the most iconic Batman villains of all time; all mashed together in a classic Lovecraftian horror-mystery narrative. Spoilers Ahead The Penguin (Prof. Oswald Cobblepot) The Penguin appears as Prof. Oswald Cobblepot in the film, a man who has been driven to insanity amid the cold, frozen desert of Antarctica after he and his crew suffered a shipwreck there. One of the oldest adversaries of Batman, The Penguin, first appeared in "Detective Comics" issue #58 and is well-remembered for his signature top hat and monocled look and for carrying a weaponized umbrella, and in the Gotham universe, the Penguin is a master criminal, famously known for being an advisor to the city's underworld. In this film, the character has been used as a sort of catalyst for the exposition of the main narrative. Bruce finds Cobblepot's journal among the ruins of his ship, which contains several secrets and documentation of his adventures and is essential to the plot. Mr. Freeze (August Grendon) In "The Doom That Came to Gotham," Mr. Freeze is alluded to through the character of August Grendon. Grendon is a part of Prof. Cobblepot's crew that gets shipwrecked in Antarctica, after which he becomes an agent of the "cosmic deity' (Iog-Sotha). He is discovered inside a cave by Bruce as he is searching for Cobblepot and is brought back to Gotham. He is responsible for the deaths of two of Bruce's most trusted apprentices: Sanjay Tawde (whom he freezes to death) and Dick Grayson (killed while trying to stop Killer Croc from breaking him out of his confinement). The film features a different version of Mr. Freeze from the original (Victor Fries) version of the main Batman comic book continuity, which has a different backstory and personality. Iog- Sotha The Cthulhuesque-cosmic entity, teased at the beginning of the film, is portrayed as the root of all evil in the film. Its figure bears a striking resemblance to the Lovecraftian imagination of an all-powerful and all-devouring cosmic being that is ruthless in its approach. It is the entity that Ra's al Ghul worships and claims had created life itself millions of years ago. It is seen as an indefinitely large, amorphous being with tentacles whose true form cannot be perceived by human senses. Two-Face (Harvey Dent) When it comes to Batman villains, Two-Face needs no introduction. The character of Harvey Dent, like all the other characters, is given a unique backstory in this film. He was a good friend of Bruce Wayne and Oliver Queen and was on his way to becoming the Mayor of Gotham.

And in doing so, he becomes the target of Ra's al Ghul, who wishes to use him as a tool to open a gateway to Iog-Sotha, his master. He is poisoned by poison ivy and consequently becomes two-faced because of the deformity that the poison has caused. Created by Bob Kane, the character of Harvey Dent first appeared in Issue #66 of "Detective Comics" in 1942 and has since then been one of the most enduring antagonists of the Batman universe. Talia Al Ghul Talia al Ghul is the daughter of Ra's al Ghul and is instrumental in executing his plan to unleash Iog-Sotha on the world. She is the only surviving member of her father's centuries-old cult, 'The Cult of Ghul,' and has command over demons and other creatures of the dark. She traps Etrigan after he saves Bruce from Daitya, a demon summoned by her, and resurrects her father to bring forth the destruction that he had promised millennia ago. First appearing in "Detective Comics'' #411, created by Bob Brown and Dennis O'Neil, Talia al Ghul is a recurring character in the Batman universe, alternating between the roles of a supervillain and an anti-hero. In the main comic book continuity, she is even portrayed as a lover of Batman and the mother of Damian Wayne. She is also known as a member of the 'League of Assassins,' headed by her father and heir to the throne of his terrorist organization. Ra’s al Ghul (Cthulhu) Ra's al Ghul is the film's chief antagonist and the leader of the 'Cult of Ghul.' He was resurrected by Talia so he could fulfill his desire to summon Iog-Sotha on Earth. He births Poison Ivy from the inner essence of Grendon to poison Harvey Dent and create a gateway to the cosmic deity using his physical form. In the final battle against Batman, he reveals his true form as the monster Cthulhu and almost succeeds in bringing Iog-Sotha through the gateway to Earth but is finally stopped by Batman and Etrigan. When it comes to the Batman Universe, Ra's al Ghul is definitely one of the most iconic villains of all time, a title spot contested by perhaps only a few others. Created by Dennis O'Neil, Julius Schwartz, and Neal Adams, the character was first introduced in Issue #232 of "Batman," "Daughter of the Demon," in 1971. Killer Croc Killer Croc is introduced as a minor character in the film and is forever at the beck and call of Talia al Ghul. He is tasked by her to free Grendon from Bruce's ship at Boston Harbor and is responsible for the death of Dick Grayson, who tries to stop them. He brutally attacks Batman twice in the course of the film, on the say-so of Talia, and is killed in the second encounter. In the original comic continuity, Killer Croc, or Waylon Jones, was a wrestler who suffered from a genetic disorder that gave him a crocodilian appearance but with superpowers. He turned to a life of crime after being driven insane by the irreversibility of his condition. Poison Ivy In the film, Poison Ivy is born from the essence of Iog-Sotha residing inside Grendon for one chief purpose: to poison Harvey Dent, which she fulfills with ease. She takes on a demonic form while battling Oliver Queen and is killed by him in a final act of self-sacrifice. Poison Ivy made her first appearance in "Batman" Issue #181 in 1966 and was created by Carmine Infantino and Robert Kanigher. She is a recurring supervillain in the Batman universe and has been featured in several "Batman" issues over the years.

Weird Tales, January 1947 (Vol. 39, No. 9). Edited by D. McIlwraith. Cover art by A. R. Tilburne.

The Hog by William Hope Hodgson [long novelette; Carnacki]

The King of Shadows by Edmond Hamilton [novelette]

The House Beyond Midnight by Allison V. Harding [novelette]

Shadow of Melas by Roger S. Vreeland [novelette]

The Final Hour by Chester S. Geier

The Extra Passenger by Stephen Grendon [August Deleth]

Cellmate by Theodore Sturgeon

There Was an Old Woman by Charles King

The Handler by Ray Bradbury

The Seal-Woman's Daughter by Leah Bodine Drake [verse]

The Familiars - The Pigeon Flyers by H.P. Lovecraft

Illustrated by Lee Brown Coye, A.R. Tilburne, Boris Dolgov, Matt Fox, and others.

Horrors In Hiding - Edited by Sam Moskowitz & Alden H. Norton (1973)

CONTENTS:Horrors In Hiding ed. Sam Moskowitz & Alden H. Norton (Berkley S2303, February 1973, 75¢, 192pp, pb)11 · Introduction · Sam Moskowitz & Alden H. Norton · in 15 · Two Shall Be Born · Seabury Quinn · nv Weird Tales January 1941 45 · Tell Your Fortune · Robert Bloch · nv Weird Tales May 1950 76 · Time To Kill · Henry Kuttner · ss Strange Stories June 1940 90 · Alannah · August Derleth · ss Weird Tales March 1945, as by Stephen Grendon 106 · Luana The Living · Ray Bradbury · ss Polaris June 1940 117 · John Barrington Cowles · Arthur Conan Doyle · nv Cassell’s Saturday Journal April 12-19 1884 145 · The Door Of Unrest · O. Henry · ss Cosmopolitan May 1904 157 · Thurlow’s Ghost Story · John Kendrick Bangs · ss Harper’s Weekly December 15, 1894, as “Thurlow’s Christmas Story” 175 · The Man With The Brown Beard · Nathaniel P. Babcock · ss Munsey’s Magazine January 1892; given as by Nathaniel T. Babcock.

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Anglian Water fined £156k for <b>sewage</b> pollution

At least a kilometre and half of Grendon Brook was contaminated with sewage over two days in August 2016, according to the Environment Agency ... from Google Alert - sewage https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=https://www.energylivenews.com/2019/09/16/anglian-water-fined-156k-for-sewage-pollution/&ct=ga&cd=CAIyGmU0OWEzNWRjZTA0MTI3ZTg6Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AFQjCNEw8op3X2ZwnhzIW2ML5h9MwXcGWw

ARTnews in Brief: Warhol Foundation Research Grants and More from July 23, 2019 – ARTnews Tuesday, July 23, 2019 A New Artist in Residence at Ikon Gallery The Ikon Gallery in Birmingham, England, has named Dean Kelland, an artist from the area, as its new artist in residence. Kelland will work with the HMP Grendon, a local prison, for the next three years to create work alongside the incarcerated community that will ultimately be showed in exhibition at HMP Grendon yearly. The residency will also include public programming that will look at art’s relationship to the criminal justice system. Seattle Art Fair Renews Museum Acquisition Fund For the second year in a row, the Seattle Art Fair will offer the city’s Frye Art Museum a $25,000 budget for purchasing works on view in the show. At last year’s fair, the museum used the funds to buy works by Toyin Ojih Odutola and Ellen Lesperance. The fair runs August 1 through 4 this year. Warhol Foundation Names Spring 2019 Research Fellows The Andy Warhol Foundation in New York will award $224,000 in spring research grants this year, with fellows receiving up to $50,000 each. Funds will support research by curators Peter S. Briggs (of the Museum of Texas Tech University), Jaime DeSimone (Portland Museum of Art in Maine); Polly Nordstrand (Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College); Catherine Taft (LAXART in Los Angeles); and Olga Viso (El Museo del Barrio). Joel Wachs, the foundation’s president, said in a statement, “Each of these curators will explore important, previously unexamined work by experimental artists and forgotten movements. Their projects will introduce new perspectives and approaches to exhibition making while also influencing the field of contemporary art scholarship.” Monday, July 22, 2019 A $10 M. Gift for the Worcester Art Museum The Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts has received a $10 million donation from the C. Jean & Myles McDonough Charitable Foundation, the largest single donation in the institution’s history. In 2015, the foundation gave the museum a $4 million endowment gift for its directorship. Matthias Waschek, WAM’s director, said in a statement that the gift “reflects Jean’s lifelong devotion to the museum, which she describes as her second home. For years, she served as a forward-thinking trustee and as a docent extraordinaire, who introduced thousands of school children to the museum collection.” CAPC Musée d’Art Contemporain Bordeaux Gets New Director The CAPC Musée d’Art Contemporarin Bordeaux in France has picked Sandra Patron as its new director. Patron is currently the director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sérignan, France, and she will start in her new position in September. She fills a position that has been open for about a year, after Maria Inés Rodriguez, the museum’s former head, was fired, sparking controversy. Zeitz MOCAA Makes Two Curatorial Appointments The Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town has hired Storm Janse van Rensburg as senior curator and promoted Tandazani Dhlakama to the position of assistant curator. Janse van Rensburg most recently served as head curator of exhibitions at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia, and he has curated shows elsewhere in the United States, South Africa, and Germany. Dhlakama, who joined Zeitz MOCAA in 2017, has worked as education manager at the museum’s Centre for Art Education. Powered by WPeMatico

August Derleth’s 110th Birthday

Today is the 110th birthday of August Derleth (1909-1971). Derleth is probably best known for his macabre fiction.  If my adding is correct, Derleth had 124 stories in Weird Tales magazine. He is surpassed by only Seabury Quinn who had 143 stories in Weird Tales. His weird/macabre fiction has often been dismissed. Yet, when I began reading it with an open mind, I found much of it to be much better than most of what ran in Weird Tales. The average reader will probably be introduced to Derleth by way of his Lovecraft pastiches and Cthulhu Mythos stories. This is the stuff that was out in paperback with multiple printings. It is also probably the worst way to be introduced to Derleth. August Derleth could not write cosmic horror. Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, Robert Bloch, Donald Wandrei could. It is like listening to the Zombies, Kinks, or early Moody Blues attempting to play the Blues. Enthusiasm is there but not the ability.

Derleth is much better writing stories in the English ghost story manner. I especially like those written in the 1940s as “Stephen Grendon” collected in Mr. George and Other Odd Persons. Those stories work very well. Many have settings in the northern woods and small towns. Derleth had a knack for writing outdoor scenes of woods, creeks, spring time or autumn.

He also had a cycle of stories set in Renaissance Italy that I enjoy. They have some similarities to Clark Ashton Smith’s “Averoinge” stories but different.

He wrote a series of Sherlock Holmes imitations with the Solar Pons series. Some of the Solar Pons stories were in Dragnet magazine in 1929 and others in The Saint Mystery Magazine in the 1960s. A few years back, I mentioned Solar Pons to a Sherlock Holmes aficionado and he was most enthusiastic about Derleth’s efforts.

A friend of mine sent me the mainstream collection Wisconsin in Their Bones a few years back. That is a collection of stories of life in Sac Prairie. One story, “The Christmas Gift” is one of the best Christmas stories I have ever read. This is not the sort of thing I would want to read every day but do enjoy when in the mood.

John D. Haefele pointed out in The Derleth Mythos that in the mid-1930s, August Derleth had the highest literary profile of any of the Weird Tales writers. He had a Roll of Honor status in Edward J. O’Brien best short stories anthology. Scribner’s published his Sac Prairie books. Sinclair Lewis praised Still is the Summer Night. Derleth won a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1938.

Derleth’s greatest impact on my life was the founding of Arkham House publishing with Donald Wandrei in 1939. The idea was to publish and keep in print H. P. Lovecraft after his death. The major publishing houses turned down the idea. In the long run this was beneficial. Had Derleth and Wandrei got Lovecraft published, it probably would have been one book and one printing. Then Lovecraft would be back to lapsing into obscurity. Derleth at the helm at Arkham House preserved the best of Weird Tales. He also reprinted English ghost story writers. We had Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, Robert Bloch, the first book from Ray Bradbury – all from Arkham House. Derleth’s efforts slowly grew the audience for weird/horror/macabre over the next 20 years until horror came back in vogue in the 1960s. Those well made, well put together hardbacks primed the pump for the later paperbacks that we grew up with.

Derleth also edited the landmark anthology Sleep No More from Farrar & Rinehart in 1944. That book included Robert Bloch, Clark Ashton Smith, Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, Henry S. Whitehead. There was even an Armed Services edition. How many new fans of horror were created soldiers, sailors, and Marines reading that book?

Something forgotten is Derleth edited nine hardback anthologies of science fiction (with some fantasy) from 1948 though 1954 for Pelligrini & Cudahy and Rinehart. There were paperback versions with fewer stories by Berkley Books in the late 1950s. You used to see those paperbacks in used bookstores 35 years ago. Not so much now. August Derleth was Ray Bradbury’s first cheerleader.

If you are a fan of horror fiction, thank August Derleth. He kept the faith through some rough years. He put himself at risk starting and supporting Arkham House. He gets flak for writing stories as “H. P. Lovecraft” based on ideas from Lovecraft’s notes. That money generated was put back into Arkham House to keep Lovecraft in print. If you want to read more on that, check out John D. Haefele’s A Look Behind the Derleth Mythos. I was a Derleth hater until I read the book. I did a 180 turn as a result.

I will probably dig into Mr. George later today and raise a glass to the memory and deeds of August Derleth.

August Derleth’s 110th Birthday published first on https://medium.com/@ReloadedPCGames

Hark, the lurker is on the threshold.

God I loved him