In this podcast The Outer Dark presents the first installment of The Outer Dark Symposium on the Greater Weird 2019 including Friday Night Readings Presented by PseudoPod hosted by Alex Hofelich and featuring Kristi DeMeester, Craig Laurance Gidney, Michael Wehunt, and Damien Angelica Walters, ‘A Brief History of Swamp Things’ presentation by Chris Gavaler, and the symposium’s first panel: ‘Flora and Fauna: The Pervasive Presence of Nature in Weird Fiction’, moderated by Gwendolyn Kiste, and featuring Mike Allen, Kristi DeMeester, Chris Gavaler, Fiona Maeve Geist, Edward Austin Hall, and Eric Schaller. These segments were recorded live on Friday March 23 at Hotel Indigo-College Park in Atlanta, GA.
Introduction
Gwendolyn Kiste joins Scott and Anya to talk about the experience of attending The Outer Dark Symposium 2019 and moderating the first panel. The episode also includes gratitude to our 2019 Platinum Sponsors including PseudoPod, Innsmouth Free Press, Nightscape Press, Kino Lorber, NecronomiCon Providence, Word Horde, Tachyon Publications, and Emerald Sponsor Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing. Plus the exclusive reveal of location and dates for The Outer Dark Symposium 2020!
Show Notes
(0:23:00) In this podcast The Outer Dark presents the first of six installments of The Outer Dark Symposium on the Greater Weird 2019 including Friday Night Readings Presented by PseudoPod hosted by Alex Hofelich and featuring Kristi DeMeester, Craig Laurance Gidney (0:50:50), Michael Wehunt (1:01:20), and Damien Angelica Walters (1:14:44).
(1:25:36)In the audiovisual presentation, ‘A Brief History of Swamp Things,’ Chris Gavaler, associate professor of English at Washington and Lee University, reveals the murky truth about the creation of the comic book character Swamp Thing and the unmapped boundaries of the swampman subgenre. Watch the slides that accompany Chris’s talk here.
(1:48:40) The symposium’s spirited first panel, ‘Flora and Fauna: The Pervasive Presence of Nature in Weird Fiction’ was moderated by Gwendolyn Kiste and features Mike Allen, Kristi DeMeester, Chris Gavaler, Fiona Maeve Geist, Edward Austin Hall, and Eric Schaller. Nature is nothing if not weird. The plants and creatures that stir in shadowy landscapes never cease to inspire the imagination. From the works of Arthur Machen and Angela Carter to Swamp Thing and Annihilation, this panel explores how nature creeps its way into The Weird through fiction, film, comics, and beyond. See the additional links below for a lengthy reading/watch list compiled by the panelists.
These segments were recorded live on Friday March 23 at Hotel Indigo-College Park in Atlanta, GA.
The Outer Dark Symposium on the Greater Weird 2019 is an immersive one-day event featuring more than 40 program participants and approximately 16 hours of panels, readings, signings, and social activities centered around contemporary Weird and speculative fiction. The third annual event was held March 22-23, 2019 at Silver Scream FX Lab and Hotel Indigo-College Park. Thank you to all our attending and supporting members, sponsors, and Indiegogo campaign supporters who helped make Something Weird happen for a third year.
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Additional Links
Nox Pareidolia Call for Submissions (Nightscape Press)
TOD 045 Playing in the Dirt with Kristi DeMeester
PseudoPod 641: ARTEMIS RISING 5: ‘A Song for Wounded Mouths’ by Kristi DeMeester
A Spectral Hue by Craig Laurance Gidney, forthcoming from Word Horde
‘Hello’ by Lionel Ritchie (Video, 1984)
Stories from the Borderland: ‘Slime’ by Joseph Payne Brennan
Reading/Watch List compiled by ‘Flora and Fauna’ panel (links to fiction, The Outer Dark previous episodes, trailers, or articles/reviews about each):
The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
The Southern Reach trilogy, by Jeff VanderMeer, including the film adaptation of Annihilation
A Collection of Nightmares by Christina Sng
‘White Rabbits’ by Leonora Carrington
‘The Willows’ by Algernon Blackwood
‘Bride Before You’ by Stephanie Malia Morris
‘The Great God Pan’ by Arthur Machen
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) and The Day of the Triffids (1962)
The Birds by Daphne Du Maurier
‘Hallucigenia,’ ‘Proboscis,’ ‘Blackwood’s Baby,’ ‘The Men from Porlock,’ and ‘Occultation’ by Laird Barron
‘To Build a Fire’ by Jack London
‘The Stains’ and ‘Bind Your Hair’ by Robert Aickman
When I Arrived at the Castle by Emily Carroll
‘Bears Discover Fire’ by Terry Bisson
The Sword of the Lictor by Gene Wolfe
‘The Summer People’ and We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker (trailer for 2017 restoration)
‘The Voice in the Night’ by William Hope Hodgson
‘The Summer People,’ ‘Lull,’ and ‘Stone Animals’ by Kelly Link
‘The Resident’ by Carmen Maria Machado
Black Hole and Last Look by Charles Burns
‘Slipping Petals From Their Skins’ (PseudoPod) and ‘Planting Petals’ (Fairy Tale Review) by Kristi DeMeester
‘The Assistant to Dr. Jacob’ and ‘All We Inherit’ by Eric Schaller
‘The Music of Bremen Farm’ and ‘With Shining Gifts that Took All Eyes’ by Mike Allen
Werewolf Players Guide: A Sourcebook for Werewolf: The Apocalypse
Show Credits
Host/Executive Producer: Scott Nicolay
Co-Host, News From the Weird: Justin Steele
Producer/Show Notes: Anya Martin
Logo Design: Nick “The Hat” Gucker
Music: Michael Griffin
