DARK FICTION'S STALKER SALUTE: EDITING BEGINS

Raffaele Pezzella/Eighth Tower Publishing's tribute to Andrei Tarkovski's 1979, Soviet, science-fiction parable, Stalker (based on the novel, Roadside Picnic, by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky), has entered the editing stage.

In fact, artist/writer John Chadwick has just completed the onceover for my contribution, which is called "Revolutionary," and I'm pleased with his tweaks and suggestions.

"Revolutionary" features an anomaly that manifests along the Delaware River sometime in the near future. The manifestation is designed to erase the past, allowing only an elitist class to recall what came before. Traces of American history, in particular the Revolutionary War, are referenced therein. 

Though I've dabbled in science fiction, most of my stories hold only subtle traces of technological cause. With "Revolutionary," I believe I've forged a thorough, science-technology endeavor, while for the sake of its dystopian margins, I've leaned on those old standbys, George Orwell's 1984 and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, as well as Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles chapter, "Usher II." 

I'll keep readers posted on the anthology's progression; so be sure to visit Bizarrechats to partake each dark and dreamy insertion. 

ANDREI TARKOVSY'S STALKER: THE NEXT EIGHTH TOWER CURATION

Eighth Tower publisher, Raffaele Pezzella, has announced that the next Dark Fiction volume will salute director Andrei Tarkovsky's 1979, science-fiction epic, Stalker, which was adapted by Akady and Boris Strugatsky from their acclaimed novel, Roadside Picnic. 

The Samuel Beckett-esque Stalker, like Tarkovsky's adaptation of Stanislaw Lem's Solaris, is open to interpretation. I'm sticking to that tradition, but instead of events taking place in a parallel-future Russia (where an insinuated Soviet Union maintains control), my story will occur in an extrapolated Trenton, NJ (though an undisclosed spot in a neighboring region will distinguish the fable's start). 

Local history will color my contribution, with a daring escape (and a vehement attempt to uncover the truth) dominating much of it. Additional details will rise later down the dystopic line.