W. H. Pugmire

[Dr. Zirk]

I'm curious if any other TLO members have read any fiction by W. H. Pugmire? I just recently discovered him via Hippocampus Press, which published a collection of his fiction last year (The Fungal Stain and Other Dreams).

Pugmire identifies very strongly with the Lovecraftian tradition, and many of his stories first appeared in small press titles like Tales of Lovecraftian Horror. I normally steer away from the obivous Lovecraft pastiches, but something about Pugmire intrigued me, and I must admit I am enjoying what I have read so far.

His stories feature a heavily gothic atmosphere, very dreamlike and just a bit over-cooked to the extent that a little goofiness creeps into the picture. Sort of a prose equivalent of the pop group Bauhaus - gothic moodiness alleviated with more than a little intentional humor.

Anyway, he's well worth checking out if you're looking for something new to reignite your interest in that 'ol Cthulhu Mythos. Not exactly Ligottian, but there are some thematic similarities that are rewarding on their own terms.

	TLO THOMAS LIGOTTI ONLINE

[Dr. Bantham]

Quote Originally Posted by Dr. Zirk";p=&quot

I'm curious if any other TLO members have read any fiction by W. H. Pugmire? I just recently discovered him via Hippocampus Press, which published a collection of his fiction last year (The Fungal Stain and Other Dreams). Pugmire identifies very strongly with the Lovecraftian tradition, and many of his stories first appeared in small press titles like Tales of Lovecraftian Horror. I normally steer away from the obivous Lovecraft pastiches, but something about Pugmire intrigued me, and I must admit I am enjoying what I have read so far.

I have read a couple of stories by Pugmire, and enjoyed them for the unique punkish skew on the Mythos angle. Both were embedded within small press zines, though I am pressed to recall which ones at the moment.

Quote Originally Posted by Dr. Zirk";p=&quot

His stories feature a heavily gothic atmosphere, very dreamlike and just a bit over-cooked to the extent that a little goofiness creeps into the picture. Sort of a prose equivalent of the pop group Bauhaus - gothic moodiness alleviated with more than a little intentional humor.

An excellent description, from my recollection! A slim pixie, thin and forlorn...

Quote Originally Posted by Dr. Zirk";p=&quot

Anyway, he's well worth checking out if you're looking for something new to reignite your interest in that 'ol Cthulhu Mythos. Not exactly Ligottian, but there are some thematic similarities that are rewarding on their own terms.

	TLO THOMAS LIGOTTI ONLINE

[G. S. Carnivals]

Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire, Esquire.

A) Punk.
B) Queen.
C) Gentleman.
D) A fine writer.
E) All of the above.

I encountered Mr. Pugmire's work when I frantically began hunting down Cthulhu Mythos fiction, around 1996 or so. This strange byline popped up here and there in this magazine and that. I was instantly fascinated by the name itself, being so odd. (And oddly, in Deathrealm #3, the byline of the story "A Piece of Stone" is Wilum Frogmarsh Pugmire.) I sampled Mr. Pugmire's work. And was glad that I did. As Dr. Zirk suggested, Cthulhu Mythos fiction can be written with sensitivity (to Lovecraft) and intelligence. Also, Mr. Pugmire's prolific letters to various magazines make for engaging reading. If one can still find it, I recommend Mr. Pugmire's collection Tales of Sesqua Valley which was published by Necropolitan Press in 1997. The book contains ten stories with a rather generous amount of artwork by Earl Geier, Jeffrey Thomas, and Scott Thomas.

Why walk when we can just jump on the frog - and hop hop hop?

Did you pass the quiz?

[Spotbowserfido2]

I can't really add much to what has already been written by Dr. Zirk, Dr. Bantham, and GSC...

Except for a few words from Wilum Hopfrog Pugmire, Esq. himself. From Pugmire's column "LUSTCRAFT" in Tales of Lovecraftian Horror Number 8 (Eastertide 1998):

"I confess that I am a literary snob. I have before me, pushpinned to the wall just above my typewriter, a photo of Henry James, my personal god of fiction; a man devoted to the art of fiction. I often repeat my belief that HPL was also a man obsessed with intrinsic artistic excellence when it came to the composition of weird fiction. Sadly, I find most of today's Lovecraftian and Mythos fiction void of artistic virtue. I've lightened up enough to acknowledge the importance of 'fun' in the game of writing Mythos fiction; yet I feel that for such stories to contain good writing is one of the finest ways by which we can pay tribute to Lovecraft."

Suddenly reevaluating my unwritten tale of Qwertyuiop,
Rover

[Dr. Zirk]

Interesting quote, Spotbowserfido2, about Pugmire being a "literary snob." I can see that coming through in the fiction that I have read so far - the focus is often on what I might call "Lovecraftian dream visions", with little reliance on plot, characterization, etc. That does (in my mind) make his stories true to some thread of the Lovecraftian tradition, since HPL had little interest in his own characters, and much more of a focus on vaguely defined horrors that were all the more potent when he left critical details out of his prose and allowed the reader to fill in the blanks.

By the way, I'm impressed at the canine contribution to this discussion. What other non-human species are lurking here in the TLO forums?

	TLO THOMAS LIGOTTI ONLINE

[Spotbowserfido2]

Firstly, I would like to welcome Mr. Pugmire to the ranks of Thomas Ligotti Online.

Quote Originally Posted by Dr. Zirk

By the way, I'm impressed at the canine contribution to this discussion. What other non-human species are lurking here in the TLO forums?

I can personally vouch for Slurp Spider and BlackCatSophie as non-human specimens. I suspect that waffles and Waterdweller are walrus and jellyfish wannabes, respectively.

[G. S. Carnivals]

Quote Originally Posted by Dr. Bantham

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It's a genuine shame that this image is no longer available (as of this writing, anyway).

[starrysothoth]

Pugmire is definitely one of those cases where one is served well by artistic ego. I found the Pugmire quotation from earlier in this thread pretty interesting. It's refreshing to see a "Cthulhu Mythos" writer dedicated to reproducing Lovecraft (or at least his main vision) in a high quality way.

In Pugmire's case, this seems to have helped ward off the worst products of other writers in this sub-genre, who don't appear to set any standards for themselves in the Lovecraftian free-for-all.

[yellowish haze]

Perhaps some are still unaware, but this year Mythos Books has published a paperback edition of SESQUA VALLEY & OTHER HAUNTS.

[waffles]

Quote Originally Posted by Spotbowserfido2

Firstly, I would like to welcome Mr. Pugmire to the ranks of Thomas Ligotti Online. I can personally vouch for Slurp Spider and BlackCatSophie as non-human specimens. I suspect that waffles and Waterdweller are walrus and jellyfish wannabes, respectively.

So, I've been found out - Waffles the Walrus Wannabe. It's true. I only eat clams and type while wearing mittens. At work, I tell people that it's cold in my cube and my hands have poor circulation.