Welcome, fans of fright and purveyors of the perverse, to the very 1st issue of our new HOUSE OF SCREAM online magazine! In the long and industrious spirit of every DIY zine that’s come before us, each new edition of this digital publication will feature a variety of original art, short fiction, exclusive interviews, and much more. Will there be plenty of monsters, creeps, and kooks? Surely!
And what a jelly and jam packed first issue we have, as illustrator Adriel Venegas supplies our cover today (and an interview), while painter and tattooist Benny German provides the back cover art. In between those fantastic covers you’ll find a haunting new short story by writer C. Rommial Butler, Creepy Linguini’s Cocktail Corner, and Professor Oddfellow (from Grave Mood Rings) shares his “Priceless Spectacles”.
Likewise, frequent collaborator Negative Space Pictures, provides some really cool digital art for this inaugural maiden voyage. This has been a creative passion and labor of love, so we’re excited to share it with you. And where is the House of Scream headed next? That’s up to you! We’re always open to suggestions, and on the lookout for new art, short stories, essays, reviews, and interviews to feature in future editions.
One last note I’d like to share is that the INSANE SIGNALS NETWORK is now up and running, with new podcasts and video specials (hosted by yours ghouly) on the way! A lot of fun and entertaining things are in the works, so we hope you’ll join us on this journey, and thanks for being part of the first issue!
Beast Wishes,
Mad Mike Mandrake
Adriel Venegas is an up and coming indie artist known for his interesting characters and new comic book entitled, No Need To Kill.
I recently had the chance to sit down and discuss his creative inspirations and advice for other artists.
Nobody Said It Would Be Easy,
Not Even For Demons
Her hair, the color of flames. Her eyes, wickedly gleaming. Her demeanor, as mischievous as the little bat wings sprouting from her head. Could a true creature of darkness ever be as comical as tv presenter Melevill, Puerto Rico's first horror host? Could a true comedian ever be as demonically sinister? Melevill sometimes describes herself as a "fictional horror character," but there's a problem with that. Fictional characters in fact possess a special sort of reality. Just as Shakespeare's witchy Weird Sisters are real characters who are taken on by actors, and even as a spirit manifests itself in the person of a Vodou priest, Melevill absolutely exists. Melevill may not be a "real" person, but that doesn't rule out that Melevill is a fiendish entity. She certainly has some grievances, stony-faced as a gargoyle. Speaking of gargoyles, the demonic life isn't all Hollywood glitz and glamor. Just imagine someone like Melevill trying to get a beloved avian familiar through customs.
We might have told her not to be dressed in her best pirate garb while crossing borders, as it could easily send the wrong message, but then again we might have kept our opinions to ourselves and our eyes humbly downcast. Only a bona fide horror character, upon having her pet bird confiscated, would seize the opportunity to raise awareness about the plight of cryptids. La Gárgola is a Puerto Rican monster with gargoyle-like features. This red-eyed, winged humanoid is said to drink animal blood and scream like a 1980s metal head. But it hasn't been seen in Puerto Rico since 2018, and Melevill deduced why: it was banned from returning due to the island's strict avian influenza laws. Wasting no time in mourning, Melevill found renewed enthusiasm for taking over the entire Caribbean with the assistance of gargoyles and other winged creatures. When you hear her blood-chilling maniacal laughter, you know she's serious. Melevill and her alter-ego Melanie Ramos can be seen regularly on Neo-Pulps <https://neo-pulps.com/>, a venue promising DIY punk aesthetics for lovers of pulp, horror, fantasy, and the bizarre.—
*Hailed by the art world as the most unusual scholar working today, Craig Conley a.k.a. Prof. Oddfellow fled academia to author Weiser Books' Magic Words: A Dictionary, HarperCollins' One-Letter Words: A Dictionary, and The Young Wizard's Hexopedia. Esoteric publications include Books of the Dead, Magic Archetypes, The Care and Feeding of a Spirit Board, Seance Parlor Feng Shui, How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook, Heirs to the Queen of Hearts, Astrogalomancy, The One-Minute Mystic, and Divination by Punctuation. He produces, directs, and writes both Grave Mood Rings and Prof. Oddfellow's Penetralia. His work has been profiled in the New York Post, the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune, National Public Radio, The Dallas Morning News, Publishers Weekly, The Associated Press, and dozens of others. His website is MysteryArts.com
Only Where There Are Graves
By C. Rommial Butler
Walking silently among the rows of unmarked white crosses, I feel something stir in my loins.
Have the spirits of these unnamed soldiers who have lain so long beneath the earth really gripped me in some sexual way?
I am tripping on LSD, after all.
Some believe psychoactive drugs open doors to other realms of consciousness. Some believe our minds are just blipping, conjuring hallucinations.
What is perception but a controlled hallucination determined by the needs that arise when we interact with our environment?
If all we know about our environment is filtered through the state of mind we call "sobriety", then we must indeed surmise reality to be twisted by the introduction of an intoxicant.
However, if I have inured myself to the effects of such an intoxicant, have I learned to perceive more reality? Less reality?
A new reality?
I'm an old pro at this. Tripping, walking through graveyards and ruins.
The spirits are very much aware of my presence, and they hunger for love.
NEGATIVE SPACE PICTURES
NEGATIVE SPACE PICTURES is a new studio specializing in digital animation, horror, the grotesque, and the oddly familiar.
A frequent collaborator to both House of Scream, and Scary Salad, we can expect to see a lot more from NSP in the near future. In the meantime, be sure to check out our first official gallery featuring more of his works!
-GALLERY-
Creepy Linguine’s Friday the Screamteenth Bloody Mimosa
The first official cocktail of House of Scream Magazine
The fog rolled in before the first issue ever hit the stands.
I suppose that’s fitting.
You see, when you open a place like the House of Scream, strange things have a way of
showing up early. Monsters. Maniacs. Midnight storytellers.
And occasionally…
a very good drink.
So allow me to introduce myself.
I’m Creepy Linguine— the Devil’s Eldest Daughter; your hostess of horrors, curator of
calamity, and now the proud bartender of the brand spanking new House of Scream
Magazine.
Every proper house needs a welcoming toast, and around here we like our celebrations the
same way we like our stories:
bubbly, a little bloody, and just unsettling enough to make you check over your shoulder.
Which brings us to tonight’s house specialty…
The Friday the Screamteenth Bloody Mimosa.
A crimson twist on the classic brunch cocktail—sweet, sparkling, and garnished with a pair of
cherries that float just right so the drink can stare right back at you.
Because in my house…
even the cocktails are watching.
Ingredients
● ½ champagne
● ¼ cranberry juice
● Splash of triple sec
● Splash of orange juice
● Lemon wedge (also goes great with a slice of lime or orange!)
● 2 maraschino cherries (the eyes)
Directions
1. Pour champagne into a flute until it’s halfway full.
2. Add cranberry juice until the drink turns a rich, blood-red color.
3. Splash in triple sec for a wicked citrus bite.
4. Add a splash of orange juice to brighten the brew.
5. Garnish with a lemon wedge on the rim.
6. Finally, drop in two maraschino cherries.
Watch them float.
If you’ve done it right, two red eyes will appear…
…and the drink will be looking straight back at you.
I’ll raise my glass to that.
After all, every haunted house needs a proper toast before the screaming starts.
Welcome to the HOS.
What does your future hold?! Find out in this month's HORRORSCOPES by Pharaoh Ramsleazis!
Be sure to check out www.horrortoculture.com for the podcast archives, original essays and reviews, exclusive interviews, and an official partner in the new INSANE SIGNALS podcast and Saturday morning video specials!
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Back cover painting courtesy of Benny German.