K. Scott Forman
It isn't often that one realizes a dream. What you are now reading, viewing, enjoying, has been my dream since I read my first comic book. I must admit, during the late 1980s, reading copies of the Robert R. McCammon Newsletter was what really got me thinking about producing a cheap, pulp-like newsletter that someday would grow into a literary journal. Well...
Welcome to Fear Knocks, the brainchild of 25 years of pondering. Excuse the passive voice, but it was writers like Robert R. McCammon and Stephen King, as well as Marvel Comics, Lon Chaney, Jr., Bela Lugosi, and Boris Karloff, that really sparked this idea more than 25 years ago.
As a child, every Friday night Nightmare Theater on the old black and white TV scared me and my brother. Our mother would do her weekly ironing during the program (more out of love, okay, concern for her two boys' potential nightmares than to actually iron, although she did get a lot done.). Friday night was followed by an early Saturday morning of cartoons, especially Scooby Doo. The terrifying monsters - I always remember the Snow Ghost - always ended up as a mystery solved by those "meddling kids."
Eventually, as we grew up, writers of the past engulfed us in the horror genre. Mary Shelley, Bram Stocker, Robert Louis Stevenson, and the short stories and poems of Edgar Allan Poe quickly found companions with H.P. Lovecraft and Algernon Blackwood. It wasn't long before we were imagining and writing our own stories. I remember the first time I read the Dunwich Horror it reminded me of some of the neighbor kids across the street. What was good was that none of the sex, violence, and drugs associated with much of today's society was necessary to enjoy a good ghost story or horror tale.
Today, Fear Knocks is my attempt to bring back some of that great horror fiction in today's writers. You'll notice a familiar name in the first story of this issue, Forman. Yes, that's my little brother, Mark. I've also included a non-fiction tale, mainly because I have a weakness for all things Sasquatch, from bagpiper Ian Williams. Finally, a short-story from the past: H.P. Lovecraft's the Cats of Ulthar. My goal is to showcase at least one piece of fiction or poetry from days gone by in each issue of Fear Knocks. Most of the greats, the pulp writers, are now in the public domain. Two great web sites that offer some great writing for free are Classic Horror Short Stories and Project Gutenberg, both of which I can highly recommend.
Remember the mention of literary journal? Poetry is synonymous with literature. A quick search on Google using Poetry is as a search term reveals quite an astounding amount of hits. Some of my favorites include:
Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history. ~Plato, Ion
The distinction between historian and poet is not in the one writing prose and the other verse... the one describes the thing that has been, and the other a kind of thing that might be. Hence poetry is something more philosophic and of graver import than history, since its statements are of the nature rather of universals, whereas those of history are singulars. ~Aristotle, On Poetics
Everything one invents is true, you may be perfectly sure of that. Poetry is as precise as geometry. ~Gustave Flaubert
To have great poets there must be great audiences too. ~Walt Whitman
I believe these statements reflect why poetry is so important, and has such great potential to change people and the world. Within the e-pages of Fear Knocks I want people to enjoy poetry again. I plan to showcase new poets, along with some notable poets from the past - poetry, both modern and classic, and all its schools, has a place at Fear Knocks. My good friend Tara Blaine starts us off with Werewolves (great title). Tara is joined by one of the greatest American poets, Edgar Allan Poe, as well as a visit from Anonymous. I hope that each reader starts to enjoy and appreciate poetry again, even if it has the flavor of monsters, the supernatural, or fear.
There will also be room for letters, essays, and other Horror-centric writing in Fear Knocks. I hope that we receive lots of letters and emails telling us what's wrong with Fear Knocks, as well as notes and endearments speaking to our strengths. Please enjoy!
Fear Knocks - Let it in...
Scott
As a child, every Friday night Nightmare Theater on the old black and white TV scared me and my brother. Our mother would do her weekly ironing during the program (more out of love, okay, concern for her two boys' potential nightmares than to actually iron, although she did get a lot done.). Friday night was followed by an early Saturday morning of cartoons, especially Scooby Doo. The terrifying monsters - I always remember the Snow Ghost - always ended up as a mystery solved by those "meddling kids."
Eventually, as we grew up, writers of the past engulfed us in the horror genre. Mary Shelley, Bram Stocker, Robert Louis Stevenson, and the short stories and poems of Edgar Allan Poe quickly found companions with H.P. Lovecraft and Algernon Blackwood. It wasn't long before we were imagining and writing our own stories. I remember the first time I read the Dunwich Horror it reminded me of some of the neighbor kids across the street. What was good was that none of the sex, violence, and drugs associated with much of today's society was necessary to enjoy a good ghost story or horror tale.
Today, Fear Knocks is my attempt to bring back some of that great horror fiction in today's writers. You'll notice a familiar name in the first story of this issue, Forman. Yes, that's my little brother, Mark. I've also included a non-fiction tale, mainly because I have a weakness for all things Sasquatch, from bagpiper Ian Williams. Finally, a short-story from the past: H.P. Lovecraft's the Cats of Ulthar. My goal is to showcase at least one piece of fiction or poetry from days gone by in each issue of Fear Knocks. Most of the greats, the pulp writers, are now in the public domain. Two great web sites that offer some great writing for free are Classic Horror Short Stories and Project Gutenberg, both of which I can highly recommend.
Remember the mention of literary journal? Poetry is synonymous with literature. A quick search on Google using Poetry is as a search term reveals quite an astounding amount of hits. Some of my favorites include:
Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history. ~Plato, Ion
The distinction between historian and poet is not in the one writing prose and the other verse... the one describes the thing that has been, and the other a kind of thing that might be. Hence poetry is something more philosophic and of graver import than history, since its statements are of the nature rather of universals, whereas those of history are singulars. ~Aristotle, On Poetics
Everything one invents is true, you may be perfectly sure of that. Poetry is as precise as geometry. ~Gustave Flaubert
To have great poets there must be great audiences too. ~Walt Whitman
I believe these statements reflect why poetry is so important, and has such great potential to change people and the world. Within the e-pages of Fear Knocks I want people to enjoy poetry again. I plan to showcase new poets, along with some notable poets from the past - poetry, both modern and classic, and all its schools, has a place at Fear Knocks. My good friend Tara Blaine starts us off with Werewolves (great title). Tara is joined by one of the greatest American poets, Edgar Allan Poe, as well as a visit from Anonymous. I hope that each reader starts to enjoy and appreciate poetry again, even if it has the flavor of monsters, the supernatural, or fear.
There will also be room for letters, essays, and other Horror-centric writing in Fear Knocks. I hope that we receive lots of letters and emails telling us what's wrong with Fear Knocks, as well as notes and endearments speaking to our strengths. Please enjoy!
Fear Knocks - Let it in...
Scott
copyright 2006 Fear Knocks