I rather like the crayon drawings, Nathan. They are creative and entertaining! You put in more work on them than I do trying to prompt AI. Don’t give up if you don’t get many likes—the system is fickle, and even after almost two years, I have only a few readers. That’s OK with me. I enjoy your stories very much.
Thank you, Carole. I really do appreciate your support. You are one of my regular readers, and that means a lot.
I was using ChatGPT for art creation, and I found a lot of the restrictions very severe. Especially when trying to depict women, or religious stuff.
I know there are other options, but I have not done the research necessary to know the social or environmental ramifications. For right now, I am very much enjoying drawing.
One of my favorite artists is Reuben Kadish, and his print work has really inspired me to branch out more. Additionally, regardless of attention, this whole Substack thing has been quite rewarding.
Glad to hear that. Everything takes time. Artwork is more fun if you can do it yourself. I resort to AI only when I have to for graphics. It has lots of limitations but it’s good for laughs sometimes. 😊
Yes, the constant struggle between silent misunderstanding, and self-indulgent over sharing. I figured if I scheduled the latter, I could resist the urge to sprinkle my bullshit slowly throughout the landscape. We will see how effective this is. 😂
Thanks for asking. I could talk about certain niche aspects for days, but I’ll keep this brief for now.
The traditional big names like HPL, Chambers, Machen, Blackwood, C.A. Smith, M.R. James, E.F. Benson, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Louisa May Alcott, and Clemence Housman.
Anything from the Decadence movement, Huysmans, Stenbock and the like.
Guy De Maupassant.
Robert Aickman and Walter De La Mare are two of my favorites currently.
Pu Songling and his strange tales from a Chinese studio.
My all-time favorite weird tale is called “Decay” by J.C. Moore. It has limited printing, but Horrorbabble did a really good audio version of it.
I recently read Against Nature and Bel-Ami (not in the weird category, but an amazing book).
For some reason I had my wires slightly crossed with cosmic horror and weird fiction. For whatever reason, when I think weird fiction, I immediately think of Thomas Ligotti.
Yeah, it is sort of a vernacular trick or semantics.
So, EF Bensons “Caterpillars” would be either strange fiction or weird fiction because it doesn’t deal with cosmic ramifications.
Ligotti would be weird fiction for the most part, although he often keeps the origin behind his monsters open-ended.(The Red Tower)
Clark Ashton Smith’s “The Seven Geases” would be weird fiction, but the Cthulhu Mythos retroactively made Tsathoggua and the other creatures from this tale of cosmic origin.
With Huysmans, Maupassant, and even Gillman, the monster is more internal and classified based on individual preference.
I stick with Strange fiction as a catch-all these days, to avoid confusion. Cosmic seems more specific, and Weird has been co-opted a bit because of Liggoti’s Antinatalism and Lovecrafts racism. For the most part, they could be interchangeable, unless you are dealing with the more pedantic fans.
Nice to read and get to know more about you Nathan. Happy to call you a friend I met on Substack, and am glad to know you. Congratulations and best wishes to you and your wife on your impending arrival.
I rather like the crayon drawings, Nathan. They are creative and entertaining! You put in more work on them than I do trying to prompt AI. Don’t give up if you don’t get many likes—the system is fickle, and even after almost two years, I have only a few readers. That’s OK with me. I enjoy your stories very much.
Thank you, Carole. I really do appreciate your support. You are one of my regular readers, and that means a lot.
I was using ChatGPT for art creation, and I found a lot of the restrictions very severe. Especially when trying to depict women, or religious stuff.
I know there are other options, but I have not done the research necessary to know the social or environmental ramifications. For right now, I am very much enjoying drawing.
One of my favorite artists is Reuben Kadish, and his print work has really inspired me to branch out more. Additionally, regardless of attention, this whole Substack thing has been quite rewarding.
Glad to hear that. Everything takes time. Artwork is more fun if you can do it yourself. I resort to AI only when I have to for graphics. It has lots of limitations but it’s good for laughs sometimes. 😊
My pleasure. Substack (and the entire world) owes me a thanks for convincing you to stay and write for us.
Love the tactility of the crayon drawings. They express something AI cannot. Looking forward to your year-long journey!
Thank you, Pablo
"aminimity." 😂😂😂
Maybe it makes me a weirdo in today’s age, but I like to learn about the "real" persons I'm interacting with online. I enjoyed this greatly.
Yes, the constant struggle between silent misunderstanding, and self-indulgent over sharing. I figured if I scheduled the latter, I could resist the urge to sprinkle my bullshit slowly throughout the landscape. We will see how effective this is. 😂
Right on, Nathan. Cheers for the introduction. You do really interesting work. Very unique.
Can you elaborate on weird fiction that inspired you? Care to share some authors or stories?
Thanks for asking. I could talk about certain niche aspects for days, but I’ll keep this brief for now.
The traditional big names like HPL, Chambers, Machen, Blackwood, C.A. Smith, M.R. James, E.F. Benson, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Louisa May Alcott, and Clemence Housman.
Anything from the Decadence movement, Huysmans, Stenbock and the like.
Guy De Maupassant.
Robert Aickman and Walter De La Mare are two of my favorites currently.
Pu Songling and his strange tales from a Chinese studio.
My all-time favorite weird tale is called “Decay” by J.C. Moore. It has limited printing, but Horrorbabble did a really good audio version of it.
https://youtu.be/RD56buzM7Jw?si=bFVNe3M-11hamazX
If there is a specific topic of interest or flavor of odd you are interested in, let me know, and I can recommend a specific story tailored to that.
Thank you for the recommendations...
I recently read Against Nature and Bel-Ami (not in the weird category, but an amazing book).
For some reason I had my wires slightly crossed with cosmic horror and weird fiction. For whatever reason, when I think weird fiction, I immediately think of Thomas Ligotti.
Yeah, it is sort of a vernacular trick or semantics.
So, EF Bensons “Caterpillars” would be either strange fiction or weird fiction because it doesn’t deal with cosmic ramifications.
Ligotti would be weird fiction for the most part, although he often keeps the origin behind his monsters open-ended.(The Red Tower)
Clark Ashton Smith’s “The Seven Geases” would be weird fiction, but the Cthulhu Mythos retroactively made Tsathoggua and the other creatures from this tale of cosmic origin.
With Huysmans, Maupassant, and even Gillman, the monster is more internal and classified based on individual preference.
I stick with Strange fiction as a catch-all these days, to avoid confusion. Cosmic seems more specific, and Weird has been co-opted a bit because of Liggoti’s Antinatalism and Lovecrafts racism. For the most part, they could be interchangeable, unless you are dealing with the more pedantic fans.
Nice to read and get to know more about you Nathan. Happy to call you a friend I met on Substack, and am glad to know you. Congratulations and best wishes to you and your wife on your impending arrival.