Blood & Mud
by John Baltisberger
Genre: Jewish Kaiju Horror
Austin Poet and author, John Baltisberger, (ARTIFICE OF FLESH, THE CONFIGURATION DISCORDANT) makes his St Rooster Books debut with a powerful kaiju novella full of Jewish mysticism, death, and destruction.
When a good man is senselessly murdered during Chicago's Gay pride event, Satan summons a horrifying monster of old, releasing both his anger and the monster in defiance of Heaven and humanity.
BLOOD & MUD includes an essay on Jewish occultism and mythology, revealing the rich tapestry of mystery and history that inspired Baltisberger and this harrowing novella.
Massive Monsters - What is the Kaiju's Place
in Literature?
by John Baltisberger
Godzilla is one of the most famous monsters in the entire world.
He has reigned as the king of monsters on the big screen, cartoons, and comic
books. (We won't mention the video games). But are Godzilla movies 'horror'
movies. And how would a giant monster truly fit into the literary world?
Godzilla (1954) was an incredible film, full of despair and the
full realization that the threat of radiation and nuclear weapons was
ever-present. Godzilla, was terrifying because he represented the specter of
Japan's powerlessness in the face of the nuclear bomb, as well as the crippling
of their rights as a nation after WWII. It is about the dangers of an arms race
and the loss of humanity that must go hand in hand with developing horrifying
weapons.
Many of the movies that followed lost the nuance of these
monsters as parables, either ignoring the idea altogether in favor of a giant
monster melee, or being so obvious as to be cartoonish and garish (I'm looking
at your Hedorah). These fights were are are much beloved, including by me, the
spectacle of giant monsters fighting filling the silver screen fills me with
adreniline, it allowed Godzilla, and his cohorts in Gamera and the Ultraman
mythologies to all flourish. Beneath these fights there is always some sort of
message. Some lesson to learn, but it's often drowned out by explosions and,
lets be honest, for many of us, bad dubbing.
Shin-Godzilla changed that. The movie has action, sure, but
Godzilla is the lone giant monsters, and spends much of the movie standing
still and resting, or just moving forward. The action is on the red tape and
panic of the Japanese government. The contrast between the older generation
maintaining status quo and the younger who seek to make Japan better. All the
while the rest of the world threatens Japan with nuclear weapons if they cannot
stop the Kaiju. It is an amazing film, and deserves every award it has
recieved.
This is where the kaiju fits into literature. Yes it's a set
piece of action against which our protagonists can flee or try to fight. But to
truly to the strange beasts justice you have to remember their original purpose:
parable. Kaiju should be used to represent some implacable danger, something
that man cannot fight with weapons or militry. Something that, without some
type of adaption. The kaiju is a force of nature that must be addressed by
changing as a species. That, in my opinion, is the kaiju's place in modern
horror.
John never thought he would write horror or darker fiction, he was planning on writing fantasy. But something about setting all of the occult and fantastical elements of fantasy just behind the backdrop of the modern world appealed to him, and he wanted to introduce the world to the incredible mythology of mythic Judaism.
He spends his time squirreled away fervently working on the next book or engaging in the 'Obliterate the Globe' project, only taking breaks to record episodes of Madness Heart Radio and Wandering Monster, or to eat, or to play with puppies. John lives with his patient and gorgeous wife Desiree, and maniacal and powerful daughter Aziza. You can find him and the project at www.KaijuPoet.com
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