254. Readercon } Horror into the Classics.

 “…pondering all this, the palsied universe lies before us a leper; and like the wilful travellers of Lapland, who refuse to wear colored glasses upon their eyes, so the wretched infidel gazes himself blind at the monumental white shroud that wraps all the prospect around him. And of all these things the Albino whale was the symbol.”

Friday, if I can make it, I’ll join a discussion at Readercon 33 called “Reading Horror into the Classics” (July 12, 3pm). It’s possible I’ve misinterpreted the panel—as described on the events schedule, it could be a jokey panel where any book that isn’t to our taste is recategorized as horror; it could also be about reimagining classics as horror (so, the racist, expansionist assumptions of the Ingalls family is visited upon them or they are recast as monsters). I interpret the panel’s subject to be classics that can be read (& mined) for horror—not as horror. I could easily be wrong, but that’s what I’ll bring the table. Of course, w/ a scant 60 minutes for our discussion, we may not get past the term “classics.”

At 9pm, I’ll read a story from Stone Gods.

I’m at Readercon, too, to attend the Shirley Jackson Awards. This year, NO Press’s Mooncalves is nominated for “edited anthology.” If it wins, I’ll accept on behalf of John WM Thompson. I’m glad to do this for John, but I do not look forward to the awards ceremony.

By the way, John & Glenn McDorman discuss “Distant Signals”—my contribution to Mooncalves—on the Elder Sign podcast. You can read the story for free at the NO Press site before you listen. I really enjoyed their conversation.

& an unrelated note: in a church basement I examined a copy of Robert Burns' selected poems (Penguin Classics, 1950) & found a cheerful note inscribed on the title page, “Merry Christmas, Dad! Bobbie Burns 4 life! Love, [name illegible]”—but, inscribed at the end of a short bio of Burns was another note, written in a different hand, of a decidedly different sentiment: “Feb 28 / Julian gave this to Mark on final visit to say goodbye.”