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annathepiper for unearthing the greatest thing that has ever been posted on YouTube. A tribute to John Williams:stu_segal , who just may have inaugurated a new active-socializing tradition with his "Strolling With the Stars" initiative. (What, you didn't know I'm a second-generation sci-fi* geek?) Inspired by a conversation with frankwu about how conventions could perhaps do more to encourage healthy living, Dad got himself drafted by the con committee to plan and lead a daily morning walk schedule whereby con-goers could take an invigorating urban constitutional alongside such guests as David Brin, Ellen Datlow, John Picacio, Paul Cornell, Joe Haldeman, and more. The turnout was great — we had about 40-50 people per day on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and about 25 on Sunday — and everyone enjoyed starting off the day with some fresh air and scenery. I say: Next year in Montreal!princeofcairo 's "Lost in Lovecraft" column now running in WT. Talking book covers with Picacio and Bob Eggleton. Learning about NerdFighters: Made of Awesome from Alethea Kontis. Getting the NORAD tour report from Paolo Bacigalupi. Finally meeting the clockpunk tinkerer, Jeremiah Tolbert, in person. And, of course, dreaming and scheming about matters ranging from vegan cannibalism to aggressive corsetry to John Hiatt's carillon with a 80-percent-redheaded posse comprising the likes of jennawaterford , lasirenadolce , sunilsebastian , maryrobinette , and my mad-genius soul sister lisamantchev .ego_likeness 's "Blasphemous Horrors" art on display; johnjosephadams in the house to celebrate his new book, Seeds of Change (which incidentally happens to feature a couple of great WT contributors); and a fun Kitty the Werewolf reading by ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/syndicated.gif){kind=small}
carriev , whom we've now sworn to forever refer to as "the Robert E. Howard of the paranormal era," and whose lycanthropic story was no doubt enhanced by a room overflowing with full moonpies.
maryrobinetteon her shiny new John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer! It is an honor and a delight to have entered professional geekdom alongside Mary as a member of the same batch of young'uns. Did I mention that the Spam Fiction Contest was half her idea, by the way?
You’ve seen the latest wave of spam — you know, the faux outrageous news headlines: “Osama trains goats for tactical bombing.” “Laika the Russian space dog returns to Earth.” “Children admit to being little shits: Video.” Isn’t it a shame the headline is all we get? So here at Weird Tales we’re inviting YOU to turn this spam into… um… spam-ade!
Write a flash-fiction story — under 500 words — based on a spam you’ve received. Send your story, along with the headline that inspired it, to contest@weirdtales.net before 9 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 4. The Weird Tales editorial team will judge them, and three winners will be announced at the Weird Tales reception on Friday, Aug. 8 at the World Science Fiction Convention in Denver!
The first-, second-, and third-place winners will all be published online at WeirdTalesMagazine.com the week of August 11. The first- and second-place winners will also receive three free issues of Weird Tales; and the first-place winner will also receive an autographed copy of Ekaterina Sedia’s incredible new novel The Alchemy of Stone.
(UPDATE! If you’ve thrown away all your own spam, writer Adam Israel has compiled a humongous collection of spam headlines here. Be forewarned that adult language abounds therein.)
We encourage you to spread this announcement far and wide. But note: entries from Nigeria will be examined very closely.
ego_likeness, and then come right back here and friend the magazine on LJ at weirdtales_mag so you'll never miss an installment of the shiny. Did I mention that the ORIGINAL ARTWORK will be sold almost every day for as little as $40 to the FIRST BIDDER?
weirdtales_mag.Readers wrote us in record numbers last autumn when WeirdTalesMagazine.com asked you who, in your book, are the weirdest of the weird: the most influentially strange authors and artists and talespinners of all kinds to work their magic on the world in the 85 years since 1923, when Weird Tales was born. We asked that you not limit your suggestions to just fiction writers, and you responded enthusiastically, naming hordes of filmmakers, songwriters, cartoonists, and more. We took your ideas, added a few of our own, called some top fantasy professionals to put in their two cents, and then dove into the long and arduous process of winnowing the list down to a mere 85 names.
In our 85th anniversary issue –- which also features fiction by Michael Moorcock, Sarah Monette, and Tanith Lee, nonfiction by Cherie Priest, and Jeff VanderMeer’s interview with China Míeville, and which is on sale now online and in stores in early April –- we introduce you to each one of the 85 Weirdest Storytellers individually. We’ll also be discussing them online at weirdtalesmagazine.com, one a day for the next 85 days. But right now, here’s the complete list of names!
WEIRD TALES presents:
The 85 Weirdest Storytellers of the Past 85 Years
Kudos to them all: creative geniuses whose work, in whatever form and flavor, has shown an affinity of spirit with the brilliantly freaky storytelling that’s been the hallmark of Weird Tales since the magazine was born 85 years ago this very month.
(Don’t see one of your favorites here? Help us compile more weirdness! Go to our new Share the Weird page and tell your fellow readers about the weird storytellers you love the most!)
Girls in beauty pageants are sometimes maligned for not having enough brains. But this year, the Phoenix Comicon is holding its inaugural Miss Zombie Beauty pageant, where the contestants are the types who like brains so much, they want to eat yours! lisamantchev's popular "Six Scents," and Pittsburgh Monologue Project founder Robert Isenberg, bringing a wickedly hilarious first-person toad voice to Erik Amundsen's "Bufo Rex" (also due up in the next issue).ninamazingand her remarkably wonderful family.
Come have fun with us!
