roberthood.net


Rob's other websites:

Dreamer of
Furious Oceans

Fragments of a Broken Land

Peripheral Visions

Undead Backbrain

Undead Brainspasm

Robot War Espresso

Check out
Robert Hood's
Shades series

Information on Immaterial: Ghost Stories by Robert Hood

Information on
Creeping in Reptile Flesh by Robert Hood

Buy a copy of
Creeping in Reptile Flesh

 

 

Welcome!

You have just entered the digital domain of Robert Hood. I am a writer of what is generally classed as speculative fiction, that is, SF, horror and other forms of fantasy. On this site you'll find (over time) information on current releases, fomenting projects and past glories, along with stories, extracts, essays on related subjects, explorations of aspects of genre writing, bibliographical and cinematic lists, reviews, and articles on my favourite obsessions.

 

OTHER PLACES

Check out other sites featuring Robert Hood, author. There are links to them in the left-hand column.

DREAMER OF FURIOUS OCEANS: Robert Hood's author site, where you can read about his latest and upcoming fiction.

FRAGMENTS OF A BROKEN LAND: This explores the world and background of Hood's award-winning epic dark fantasy novel.

PERIPHERAL VISIONS: This site is dedicated to Hood's reference volume of ghost stories and other matters phantasmal.

UNDEAD BACKBRAIN: This is Hood's popular blog focusing on films (mostly) and other matters relating to giant monsters, zombies and anything else weird that grabs his attention. (currently — as of Feb. 2017 — somewhat damaged due to a cyber-attack. Other problems with it continue.)

UNDEAD BRAINSPASM: A split-off site from Undead Backbrain that mainly serves as a repository of brief (and sometimes not) information on B-horror and other independent genre films. [In abeyance at the moment.]

ROBOT WAR ESPRESSO: All things robotic. [Also in abeyance]

NEWS! NEWS! NEWS!

Peripheral Visions cover

1 August 2018
A Lovecraft-inspired story, "Time and Tide", was written for and published in Cthulhu Deep Down Under, Volume 2, edited by Steve Proposch, Christopher Sequeira and Bryce Stevens (IFWG Publishing Australia).

9 December 2017
A Halloween-themed story titled "A Man Totally Alone" has been accepted by editor Stephen Jones for publication in an upcoming anthology, The Mammoth Book of Halloween Stories, to be published by Skyhorse Publishing in the US. (Note: it was published in August 2018)

16 January 2017
A very creepy ghost story from Peripheral Visions: The Collected Ghost Stories, "Double Speak", is to be included in The Year's Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2015, edited by Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene, and published by Ticonderoga Publications. See announcement here.

23 April 2016
Peripheral Visions: The Collected Ghost Stories won the 2015 Australian Shadows Award in the Best Collected Works category. For details go to the Peripheral Visions website here.

30 December 2015
A post-human SF story, "Breaking the God Partition", appears in Cosmos Magazine: The Science of Everything, December, 2015. Read it here.

24 April 2015

A new SF/fantasy/horror story based on the life and [future] times of Gilgamesh and titled "Footprints in Venom" has just been published in the anthology Insert Title Here, edited by Tehani Wessely (FableCroft Publishing, 2015; ISBN 978-0-992553-41-8).

16 April 2015
The shortlist for the 2014 Australian Shadows Awards has been announced, and "The Shark God Covenant" is in line for the Paul Haines Award for Long Fiction (novella). Winners announced on 24 April 2015. See the full list here. [Update: It didn't win.]

14 April 2015
Peripheral Visions: The Collected Ghost Stories (IFWG Publishing Australia, 2015) is officially published, having made its highly successful debut at Supanova in Melbourne. Now comes the hard slog of regional launches and general marketing.

25 February 2015
A website focusing on ghosts in celebration of the upcoming ghost story collection Peripheral Visions is now online. Check it out. There's even a book trailer....

14 February 2015
The deluxe limited edition hardcover of Peripheral Visions: The Collected Ghost Stories is now available for pre-order. Check out the details here.

31 January 2015

Previously announced publication of a reference collection of my ghost stories now has a name and cover (by Nick Stathopoulos): Peripheral Visions: The Complete Ghost Stories 1986–2015. There are actually three covers: for the single volume hardcover and the two-volume trade paperbacks. You can view them here.

16 September 2014

"Flying Death", a Rocketeer novella, has just been published in The Rocketeer: Jet-Pack Adventures, edited by Jeff Conner and Tom Waltz, for IDW Publishing.

13 July 2014
My story "Footprints in Venom" has been accepted for publication in the FableCroft anthology, Insert Title Here. Expected publication date is October 2014.

1 July 2014
IFWG Australia Publishing is to produce a reference collection of my ghost stories (1986-2014), including several new stories. As yet, it has no title. Expected publication date is March 2015.

8 June 2014
Fragments of a Broken Land: Valarl Undead has won the Ditmar Award for Best Novel at the 2014 National SF Convention, Continuum X, in Melbourne.

6 June 2014
My Zombies vs Robots novella, "Soul Killer", written for the anthology ZVR: Diplomacy, edited for IDW by Jeff Conner, has been shortlisted for the Paul Haynes Shadows Award for Long Fiction -- part of the Australian Shadows Awards for stories published in 2013.

10 April 2014
A quantum sport/invasion story, "Dark Mechanics of the Game" was published in Cosmos Magazine: The Science of Everything, Issue 56, April/May 2014.

19 February 2013
My story “Esceno de un Asesinato” has just been chosen for inclusion in The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror for 2013 (ed. Paula Guran, Prime Books). It was first published in the excellent anthology Exotic Gothic 4, edited by Danel Olson (PS Publishing, 2012).

3 February 2013
My long-awaited dark fantasy novel, Fragments of a Broken Land: Valarl Undead (Borgo Press/Wildside Press) is finally out and available. With cover artwork supplied by multiple Hugo award-winning artist Bob Eggleton), the book looks magnificent. Information can be found on its website, along with downloadable e-reader stories related to the characters and events of the novel. You can buy the book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository and the Wildside Press website, to name but a few. I will be announcing a launch date and venue, and other appearances, soon.

26 July 2012
"Escena de un Asesinato" -- a ghost story set in Mexico and Sydney -- has been published in Exotic Gothc 4, edited by Danel Olson (PS Publishing). The book is beautiful and well worth your attention. More details here.

12 May 2012
My story "Desert Madonna", though happily shortlisted in the Best Science Fiction Short Story category of the 17th Aurealis Awards on Saturday 12 May, didn't win. That honour went to Robert N Stephenson for his story "Rains of la Strange", which appeared in the same anthology as "Desert Madonna" -- namely Anywhere But Earth, edited by Keith Stevenson for Coeur de Lion Press.

10 April 2012
The supernatural noir anthology Damnation and Dames, edited by Amanda Pillar and Liz Grzyb (Ticonderoga Press), was launched over the Easter weekend in Perth and again a bit later at Notions Bookshop in Melbourne. The anthology includes my incredibly fun story "Walking the Dead Beat" -- a noir tale of monsters, phantasmal hookers, zombies, ghosts and a host of other oddities. Buy a copy now!

19 March 2012
"Desert Madonna" from the anthology Anywhere But Earth, edited by Keith Stevenson (Coeur De Lion) is a finalist in the Science Fiction Short Story section of the 2011 Aurealis Awards, with the winner to be announced at the award ceremony on 12 May at ther Independent Theatre, North Sydney. Two other stories from the same anthology are also on the list, not to mention a story by my partner Cat Sparks.

17 January 2012
A noirish supernatural novella set in a 1950s B-film setting, titled "Walking the Dead Beat", has been accepted for publication in Damnation and Dames, an anthology edited by Amanda Pillar and Liz Grzyb for Ticonderoga Press, 2012.

23 November 2011
A fantasy novel, tentatively titled Fragments of a Broken Land: Valarl Undead, has been contracted by Borgo Press in the US, an imprint of Wildside Press. Publication date TBA.

8 September 2011
A novella-length story, "Cold Steel, Colder Flesh" (now called "Soul Killer"), has been contracted, completed and accepted for a Zombies vs Robots anthology, edited by Jeff Conner for IDW Publishing (US). Publication date will be announced soon. One interesting facet of the franchise is that a film version is currently under development by Michael Bay.

8 September 2011
The revised edition of my collection Creeping in Reptile Flesh, published by Morrigan Press, is now available on Smashwords in a variety of e-formats and on Amazon in book form and for Kindle.

9 July 2011
Exotic Gothic 4, and hence my story "Escena de un Asesinato", is now being published by PS Publishing in the UK.

11 April 2011
Morrigan Press has just announced that my collection Creeping in Reptile Flesh will be re-printed as part of their e-book series. Read about it here.

25 March 2011
The story "Wasting Matilda" from Zombie Apocalypse! (Robinson Press/Running Press) is one of five finalists in this year's Best Horror list of the Aurealis Awards.

11 March 2011
Ellen Datlow has included my story "Ego", from Scenes from the Second Storey (Morrigan Books), in her Honorable Mentions list for her definitive Year's Best Horror anthology.

18 January 2011
A new Gothic ghost story, "Escena de un Asesinato", has been accepted for inclusion in Exotic Gothic 4, edited by Danel Olson, to be published in 2011 by Ash-Tree Press. It's set in Mexico and Sydney.

17 January 2011
My article/commentary, "Making Fish out of Men: Gothic Uncertainty in Gould's Book of Fish by Richard Flanagan", has been published in 21st Century Gothic: Great Gothic Novels Since 2000, edited by Danel Olson, The Scarecrow Press, 2011. 21st Century Gothic is an incredible, encyclopedic book that anyone interested in Gothic literature should seek out immediately. Go to the publisher's site to check it out and order it online.

New to the site!

More stories sold
• Now added: Stories Online by Robert Hood
Critical comment on my stories
What's Out There? Various writings -- in editorial limbo
Read my Atheling award-winning article, "Divided Kingdom: King Kong vs Godzilla".

"Ghosts -- Treat Them Gently" by M.R. James
• What's happened to The Drakenswode Correspondence?

Additions to the Daikaiju! Anthology site
The Guidolon Project: An Ongoing Report
Daikaiju! reviews
• Information on the sequels to Daikaiju!
Hoodwinked! Cartoons by Robert Hood
Man and Super-Monster: A History of Daikaiju Eiga and its Metaphorical Undercurrents -- an article that appeared in Borderlands Magazine #7, 2006
A Giant Against Giants: Ultraman for the New Millennium -- an article that appeared in G-Fan #77
• Updates have been made to the lists of Evil Doll movies and Ghost movies that appear in the Obsessions section of this website (April 2007)
A full list of films based on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Daikaiju! 2: Revenge of the Giant Monsters is here!
Daikaiju! 3: Giant Monsters vs the World is also here!
Clarion South Pseudo-blog (which may or may not develop into something more extensive...)
• Custom-made Godzilla DVD covers for multi-disk cases (courtesy of Craig Neufeld)
• Check out the new website for my fantasy novel Fragments of a Broken Land: Valarl Undead.

ROBERTING ON!
Comments and commentary on films and TV shows.

Latest: Spider Forest, Burnt Offerings, J-Horror Anthology: Legends, The Host, Devour, Half Light, Inner Senses, Mary Reilly, Dead Meat, The Red Shoes [Bunhongshin], Sorum, The Maid, Urban Legends: Bloody Mary, Gamera the Brave, Watch Me, LovecraCked! The Movie, Transformers, The Return, Severed, Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror, The Quick and the Undead, Dead and Deader, The Dead Will Tell, The Gravedancers, Konga, Yongary, Monster from the Deep, Flight of the Living Dead, The Meeksville Ghost, Night of the Living Dorks , The Booth [Bûsu], Angel On My Shoulder, Trespassers, Kraa! The Sea Monster, Komodo vs Cobra, Grindhouse, Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend, Zombie Town, The Horseman, Showdown of the Godz, Big Man Japan, Monster X Strikes Back, Zombie Strippers, Onechanbara, Monster From Bikini Beach, Prom Night, Devi, Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus, 30,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Attack of the Slime People, I Am Omega, The Land That Time Forgot, Fallen Angel and Whirlpool,Monster island, Ogre, Tokyo Gore Police, Transmorphers, Transmorphers: Fall of Man, Snuffin' Zombies

New reviews/commentary now appear on Undead Backbrain

Book Reviews

The Creature From the Black Lagoon: Time's Black Lagoon, Paul Di Filippo, DH Books, 2006 -- off-site

Lists

Interviews

Pazuzu and Me

No, not the Mesopotamian Demon of the Winds (see The Exorcist films), but one of my three cats. He can be demonic, but in a cutely vicious feline way.
Photo by Cat Sparks.

Sadly, Pazuzu (the cat) died of heart failure on September 17, 2018. He lived with us for 16 years, which was all his life. I miss him deeply.


Scene with Pazuzu from The Exorcist

Wikipedia entry for Pazuzu (the demon, not the cat). Handsome, isn't he!

Quote of the Moment

"Anyone who's ever worked in movies knows the most fun you can have making films is in a horror film. Dramas are boring and comedies are hard, but horror films - the minute anyone brings out knives and blood and rubber, everyone's going to have a good time."

John Carpenter
(commentary track on
Cigarette Burns
DVD)

DAIKAIJU! GIANT MONSTER TALES

The anthology is available... and it looks great. You can get a copy through Amazon.

If you want to know more, there's a brief anthology update on the Daikaiju! News page.

Note: the two sequels to Daikaiju! are also available through Agog! Press in association with Prime Books, in paperback and hardcover editions. Look for them on Amazon.

Important note!

The Latest
Here you'll find a rundown of recent publications, appearances, an archive of news about developments and stories and books sold, and stuff like that. You can find out about books and stories currently (and newly) available and hopefully you'll seek them out.

New Projects
What's cooking? That burnt-toast smell is probably coming from the horror novel I've been writing for over three years now. The lingering scent of succulent herbs and automotive oil is the makings of a cyber-punk SF novel that I may or may not complete. The crusty bread odour comes from the short stories sitting in the scone tray. Anyway, sit back and breathe in the aromas of creative toil.

"We have always been surrounded by terror and by the beauty that is an inseparable part of it."

Josef Skvorecky
(Czech novelist)

FAQs
To save time, I've cobbled together a variety of popular questions and answered them here for you. Should your particular query be absent, however, feel free to email me at the address provided below. Your interest will probably be enough for me to classify it as 'frequently asked'.

Biography
This is where I reveal sadly uncontroversial information about my past. I've tried to keep the fiction out of this bit, and I've mostly succeeded.

Bibliography
This is as complete a list of my written works as I can manage. I left out the first real (non-school) story I wrote, which was submitted to Galaxy magazine in about 1964 and subsequently rejected; it never again saw the light of day. Nor does the list include my first novel — The Darkness Beyond — a tome hand-written in two exercise books during approximately a year of math lessons. As you may gather, this bibliography only includes published works. The remainder may rest in peace.
Scribblings
This is a metaphor, of course. Very few of the enclosed pieces were scribbled. (Pen? What's a pen?) Some of them were talks delivered at conferences or readings; others were published in online e-zines; some have never seen the light of day 'til now. Eventually there will be stories, extracts from this and that, and rambling thoughts about writing. Some film reviews, too. Oh, and a couple of poems… yikes! Mental scribblings, all of them.
 
Obsessions
An obsession is the fluff that keeps appearing in your navel, the itch in your armpit that won't go away, the Godzilla paraphernalia that appears randomly around the house… oops, who put that in there? An obsession is the zombie sitting on your telly and the phantom shape that forms in the darkness at the end of the hall. It's the fifty-odd Jethro Tull CDs and the similar number of Hawkwind albums that sub-human friends mock at when they come to visit. Your obsessions define your inner fannishness. Here are some of mine.

Links
If you've had enough of my particular cultural milieu for the time being, here's some interesting places to go to. Well, they interest me, anyway
….

home - the latest - new projects - faq - bio - biblio - scribblings - obsessions - links

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