The Statement of Randolph Carter

Mike Bennett Recently contacted me for another cover image for one of his podcasts. This time It was a superb reading of H.P. Lovecrafts 'The Statement of Randolph Carter' Check it out here 

The Gatekeeper

What heartless creature from beyond would lead me to this seemingly dismal path, alone, cold, wet and confused?

I call to you in the pitch black room with no end nor beginning
I can hear you laughing in the corners of my mind
You see everything as I see nothing
I plead for forgiveness for the sins I will soon commit as this sin fills my insides.
I have fallen victim without warning; without cause
I want to believe in righteousness, but fear it is too late

Underwood leaves Almacena

This was more of an experiment into creating a smoky image effect in photoshop. The background was made in hexagon then rendered in Vue. For the bat i used a standard stock image. I desaturated the bat,  used a soft eraser brush to blend in some of the harsh edges on the picture left from cutting it out then placed it onto a new layer and set the opacity to 70% and set the blending mode to screen.

I also added some smoke with a brush pack I downloaded but before that, I  added some smoke by just using the brush tool for its wings.

I made another  new layer, set its opacity to about 70% and then use the soft eraser brush to blend the smoke in with the bat and background layer.

Finally I made yet another new layer, filled it with a light blue then set its blending mode to overlay and dropped the opacity to around 30%

From Beyond Still

Whilst rooting around my artwork drive, I came across this still of Crawford Tillinghast. It is the first frame from they story where our protagonist describes the dishevelled figure with candle in hand at the entrance to his house.

Innsmouth Revisited

A second view of the notorious Innsmouth, I have slightly altered the lighting and water textures here,

Innsmouth

Innsmouth is an abandoned 1930s New England coastal village. Why was it abandoned? It just may have something to do with the giant monster emerging from the ocean and it's little friends roaming

Journey to the centre of the Inksters

Inspired by my parody video Hitler's reaction to not being able to get his favourite podcast, My good chum Paul Warren over at The Watchman has come up with this Fabulous piece entitled 'Journey to the centre of The Inkster's Hitlerian Parody'

I particularly like this Image, as Paul has unwittingly given you an all an inside to what goes on in this twisted, dark and depraved mind of mine, and this certainly does deserve to reside here in the Imaginarium. to view more of Paul's work please click here

Planet Underwood & Flinch Appeal

My Good Chum Mike Bennet over at Underwood & Flinch Podcast has made an appeal for his listeners to make short audio recordings and send them in. Say who you are, where you are, when and how you listen, and then give someone a shout if you like. Send the finished file in to themikebennett@gmail.com and he'll run it on the podcast. What do you mean your not a listener? Head over to Underwood&Flinch and subscribe!

Underwood & Flinch Episode 31

Mr. Bennett has excelled himself with the latest episode of U&F. The plot’s intense; equally so are Bennett’s meditations, while never breaking the seamlessness of the story line, on the nature of love and evil. A bullet of a Story—and an absolute bull’s eye.

Depicted here are 2 scenes from the episode, one of John William Brooks as a Gentleman Highwayman and one Of the Black Horse Inn.

I cannot reccomend this episode enough to anyone who fancies something a little but different. Head off to Underwood & Flinch and download the latest episode. Also the story is up for an award, so head over to The Polidori Awards And Vote for U & F 

Bedchamber of the Master.

A vampire's life cold and dark.
A vampire's life a lonely existence.
My life is a hollow grave dead ground.
The moon kisses while the sun stings and burns.

A vampire's life is dark and dense never dying but never seeing.
We are feared but then what do we fear?
We have everything but it turns out we have nothing.
They want to be us, but in a vampire's life they want death.

The Fledgling

I've been rather busy of late so i have been neglecting my duties here, anyway a new image of Underwood for you. This time he's in his vampiric infancy, somewhere back in the 18th Century.

Crawford Tillinghast Concept Art

The From Beyond Video is almost ready,  meanwhile heres a piece of concept artwork for Crawford Tillinghast i used in the storyboard

If you go down to the woods today...

Underwood & Flinch is back for a second long awaited season. The image shown above is of Underwood himself, so if your on your own, walking through woodland one evening, be careful you don't come across this hungry chap.

How I came across Mike Bennett

I was browsing the Itunes store for some short stories to listen to on the way to work, and came across in the first instance hall of mirrors.

I downloaded 'Night Crossing' as a trial to see how good the pod-cast was as there's many sub-standard ones out there. After listening to the episode, I promptly downloaded the whole of U&F, as I loved Mikes writing and narrating style. Soon after I downloaded the rest of his works.

Its really nice to hear how Mike has progressed from his earlier works to his latest works. I now really look forward to every new pod-cast Mike produces, and I really appreciate his hard work and time, to produce entertainment for myself and every one else. His combination of humour, and suspense make it all in all a great series of works that although are mostly intended for an adult audience, can be enjoyed by most.

Personally i think the likes of L. J. Smith, Charlaine Harris & Stephanie Meyer (the teeny bopper vampire writers) could learn a lot from him, as could Anne Rice to be honest, as she seems to forget too many details in her books so the stories lack continuity. Not so with Mike as we all know. Not only are Mikes stories, enjoyable but they are easy to lose yourself in.

If you want to hear some of Mikes work, click here

From Beyond

Tillinghast creates an electronic device that emits a resonance  wave, which stimulates an affected person’s pineal gland, thereby allowing them to perceive planes of existence outside the scope of accepted reality.

"From Beyond" is a short story by science fiction and horror fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was written in 1920 and was first published in The Fantasy Fan in June 1934 (Vol. 1, No. 10).

XI

Henry and Maureen find an unusual cockroach in their apartment, could this be a new species? If it is, it could be the route to fame and fortune… or something far more unpleasant.

XII

Another image inspired by a Mike Bennett Story. This is from the Hall of mirrors and depicts a certain character who's name I shall not reveal here. To find out you will have to listen to the hall of mirrors series

Mike Bennett Podcast

I created this image for my good friend Mike Bennett as an illustration for one of  his short stories Hair & Skin.

In Mikes own words:

 For millionaire, Charles Mason, when every known, legal hair transplantation method has failed, it's time to embark on a journey into the unknown, the illegal... and the horrific.

The scene above shows poor Charles Mason having umm a problem or 2 - but if you want to know more, then you will have to listen to the story available from itunes or Mike Bennetts sites , the links to the sites are on the left

My (Short) Review of Underwood & Flinch

Mike Bennett is probably the most talented literary talent to take on a classic  vampire novel. It is beautifully written and certainly has more literary merit than the vampire stories inhabiting pop culture now. The story is a grand sweeping tale spanning, locales and many exciting events with iconic characters. Mike is a wonderfully Gothic writer writer whose talents far outshine those of Stephen King and others in the field. I even found myself comparing the writing to H.P. Lovecraft, which is high praise indeed coming from a Lovecraft fan like me.

  
About The Author

Mike Bennett grew up in London and Windsor and spent many years in Brighton where he wrote his first novel, 'One Among the Sleepless.' He published 'One Among the Sleepless' through his own company, Seed Publishing, in 2002.

He moved to Ireland where he podcast 'One Among the Sleepless' from 2006 - 2007, then his short story collection , 'Hall of Mirrors' from 2007 - 08.

He is currently writing the second part to his  novel, 'Underwood and Flinch', part 1 can be downloaded as a  podcast either from his website or from itunes. He is married and lives in Ireland.