Autumn in the Abyss

✍ Scribed by Smith, John Claude

• Book ID: 108779246
• Publisher: Omnium Gatherum
• Year: 2014
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 74 KB
• Category: Fiction
• ISBN-13: 9780615972732
• ASIN: B00IQKD9TU

✦ Synopsis

When enigmatic poet Henry Coronado disappears six months after the New Year's Eve, 1959, Welcoming Chaos event, he takes with him a profound secret wrapped within the words of his poem, Autumn In The Abyss. Fifty years later, an ill man's research into Coronado's work and life reveals that poetry can indeed change the world, or leave it in ruins.

The Word is a living thing...and often with lethal intentions.

Reality is the strangest mirror...

"The stories in John Claude Smith's new collection take their characters to the limits of human experience, the places where our bodies come asunder in the face of the abyss. Positioning his stories in the seams of our cultural history, Smith chronicles the efforts of artists of all stripes poets, musicians, sculptors, filmmakers to break through our common experience to another, more essential one that is painted in blood. It's a quest that draws these artists into proximity with the serial-killer in the book's single and singular tale of a police detective's obsessive manhunt. Whether with pen or carving knife, Smith's characters will not stop until they have gone too far, into a space where revelation and terror are part of the same, vast thing." John Langan, author of The Wide, Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies

"These five emotionally complex tales ask, above all, what it means to be human in a tempestuous universe. What part of ourselves do we owe to the pursuit of goodness, especially if there's no apparent advantage to being good? How can we define ourselves in the absence of moral authority? Blurred lines of identity, the role of the artist, and the nature of temptation are explored in these stories of sacrifice and self-destruction. Autumn in the Abyss is another dark and captivating collection from a writer who isn't afraid to plumb the depths of our greatest and most dangerous desires." S.P. Miskowski, Shirley Jackson Award nominated author of The Skillute Cycle

"The best compliment for any artist is leaving the audience desperately wanting more. And that s exactly what John Claude Smith accomplishes with the tour de force of Autumn in the Abyss. The title novelette is a breathtaking exercise in dark fantasy a surreal, unabashedly literary, horrific mystery with a surprising, heartrending truth at its end. It's a tough act to follow, and yet the next four tales not only hold their own, but occasionally even up the ante. The novelette "Becoming Human" is a chilling mix of the serial killer genre and... something much more frightening. And three shorter tales all share a common gatekeeping character, as Smith explores some Night Gallery style places that are... just beyond the pale. Smart, creepy, unexpected ... these are stories from that nightmare zone that will stick with you long after midnight. Hell, these are stories that will haunt you beneath the bright sun at noon. This is one of the best collections I've read in years!" John Everson, Bram Stoker Award-Winning Author of NightWhere and Violet Eyes

"The Rhythmic flow of John's words instantly absorbs you into his world, bringing not only his words to life but the story as well." Joe Mynhardt, Crystal Lake Publishing

**

Review

These five emotionally complex tales ask, above all, what it means to be human in a tempestuous universe. What part of ourselves do we owe to the pursuit of goodness, especially if there's no apparent advantage to being good? How can we define ourselves in the absence of moral authority? Blurred lines of identity, the role of the artist, and the nature of temptation are explored in these stories of sacrifice and self-destruction. Autumn in the Abyss is another dark and captivating collection from a writer who isn't afraid to plumb the depths of our greatest and most dangerous desires. --S.P. Miskowski Shirley Jackson Award nominated author of The Skillute Cycle

The stories in John Claude Smith's new collection take their characters to the limits of human experience, the places where our bodies come asunder in the face of the abyss. Positioning his stories in the seams of our cultural history, Smith chronicles the efforts of artists of all stripes--poets, musicians, sculptors, filmmakers--to break through our common experience to another, more essential one that is painted in blood. It's a quest that draws these artists into proximity with the serial-killer in the book's single and singular tale of a police detective's obsessive manhunt. Whether with pen or carving knife, Smith's characters will not stop until they have gone too far, into a space where revelation and terror are part of the same, vast thing. --John Langan, author of The Wide, Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies

The Rhythmic flow of John's words instantly absorbs you into his world, bringing not only his words to life, but the story as well. --Joe Mynhardt, Crystal Lake Publishing

The stories in John Claude Smith's new collection take their characters to the limits of human experience, the places where our bodies come asunder in the face of the abyss. Positioning his stories in the seams of our cultural history, Smith chronicles the efforts of artists of all stripes--poets, musicians, sculptors, filmmakers--to break through our common experience to another, more essential one that is painted in blood. It's a quest that draws these artists into proximity with the serial-killer in the book's single and singular tale of a police detective's obsessive manhunt. Whether with pen or carving knife, Smith's characters will not stop until they have gone too far, into a space where revelation and terror are part of the same, vast thing. --John Langan, author of The Wide, Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies

The Rhythmic flow of John's words instantly absorbs you into his world, bringing not only his words to life, but the story as well. --Joe Mynhardt, Crystal Lake Publishing

About the Author

John Claude Smith originally wanted to be a horror writer; now he s not sure what it is he writes, he just knows it is dark, and he's the one holding a flashlight, shining light on those places most people would want to avoid, scribbling notes.

He has written fiction, poetry and bad lyrics for as long as he can remember. At a point when he decided to get serious with fiction, sending out stories and getting a few acceptances in the early 1990s, he was side-tracked for many years by music journalism (as JC Smith), including stints as the industrial, experimental, gothic, metal, and all fringe categories reviewer for a variety of magazines including Outburn, Industrial Nation, Side-Line, and Alternative Press. He believes the over 1,100 reviews, articles, profiles, etc., he wrote helped hone his skills for the fiction gig. Finally back on the fiction path, he s had over 60 short stories and 15 poems published, as well as a debut collection of not your average horror, The Dark Is Light Enough For Me. He is presently writing his third novel, while shopping around the other two. Busy is good.

He splits his time between the East Bay of northern California, across from San Francisco, and Rome, Italy, where his heart resides always.