MICHAEL HOUSEL'S THE PERSONA, VOL 3: SILVER SKIN, NOW AVAILABLE

My Airship 27, New Pulp novel, The Persona, Vol 3: Silver Skin, has arrived and is far more a science-fiction sequel than those prior. The story also holds its share of horror, inspired by Italian, cannibal movies, continuing the series' flair for scares.

For Silver Skin, the identity-absorbing Persona, aka Mike Mansford, discovers that an alien world has infiltrated Earth in the Amazon. The strange invasion is conducted by an insane, silver-skinned entity named Sentinel Sifer (perhaps the favorite of all my villains).  

Aiden Belcher has fashioned the interior illustrations. Michael Youngblood has rendered the Creature from the Black Lagoon-inspired cover, with Rob Davis having formatted the jungle-based, back cover. The combination creates a pleasing, pulpy aesthetic.

I do hope folks will latch on to this one. It is, in my estimation, an honorable extension to my saga.

FYI: Persona #3 also contains a bonus story entitled "Dark Waves," which picks up where Green-Fleshed Fiends left off, thus tying up loose ends for Mansford's mythology, as well as confirming the saga's alternate-reality relegation.

Order The Persona, Vol 3: Silver Skin at

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=michael+housel+the+persona&ref=nb_sb_noss

REMEMBER THE FALLEN: DECEMBER 7, 1941

 

I READ (& LISTENED TO) TIM CURRY'S VAGABOND

Tim Curry recounts his impressive life and career in an autobiography called Vagabond, from Grand Central Publishing. 

For the "memoir" (Curry doesn't fancy the term), the revered performer evades the personal matter of his sexual preference(s), with only a teasing allusion regarding his relationship with Miss Piggy, focusing instead on facets of his bittersweet upbringing, which cover his fondness for his father and sister and an anxious aversion toward his mother. His school years and early friendships are detailed in a breezy yet nuanced manner, which make the initial part of his reflection as relaxing as it's informative. This approach is enhanced by segueing, coming-of-age passages that later guided Curry's nomadic entrances into acting, singing, voice work (for cartoon and video-game animation), real-estate brokering, fits of stage fright and narcotic indulgences. 

As should come as no surprise, Curry's commentary is packed with celebrity antidotes (some meaty, others brief and/or quippy), which encompass Queen Elizabeth, King (Prince) Charles, Princess Diana, Donald Trump, Ivana Trump, Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Chris Columbus, Diana Ross, Mick Jagger, Bianca Jagger, Truman Capote, Andy Warhol, Ridley Scott, Tom Cruise, Grace Jones, Sylvester Stallone, Marisa Tomei, John Landis, Rita Moreno, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Mike Nichols, Charlie Adler, Carol Burnett, John Huston, Bernadette Peters, Richard O'Brien, Patricia Quinn, Meatloaf, Jonathan Lynn, Tommy Lee Wallace, Madeline Kahn, Patti LaBelle, Charlie Sheen, Brian Henson, Carly Simon ... and the short-fused, John Wood, with whom he "shared" the stage in Travesties.

Behind-the-scenes details are plentiful for The Rocky Horror (Picture) Show and its colorful antagonist, Dr. Frank-N-Furter (as would be only expected and demanded), but much the same can be said of the straight-and-narrow yet amusing Three Men in a Boat, the stage production of Amadeus (in which Curry portrayed the eponymous Mozart), a high-profile stage production of The Pirates of Penzance (as the Pirate King), Legend (where he endured hours of meticulous body casting and makeup applications by Rob Bottin and his crew to become the fearsome Darkness), the original adaptation of Stephen King's It (tackling the mind-tickling "clown," Pennywise), Annie (as "Rooster" Hannigan), Clue (as Wadsworth), Home Alone 2 (as Mr. Hector), The Three Musketeers 1993 (as Cardinal Richelieu), Muppet Treasure Island (as Long John Silver), Spamalot (as King Arthur) and Will Shakespeare, aka Life of Shakespeare (as the titular raconteur). 

Other productions are referenced but not with as much time or analysis as one might desire (that includes Curry's excellent portrayal of Bill Sikes in Oliver Twist 1982, as well as his roles of Dr. Thornton Poole in Oscar and Herkermer Holmoka in Congo), with additional ventures only name-dropped or left unmentioned altogether (e.g., Charlie's Angels 2000, The Hunt for Red October, The Shadow and the science-fiction saga, Earth 2). Despite the occasional downplays and omissions, Curry's prime picks are in-depth enough to compensate for any skips and/or evasions. 

On the flipside, he laments at length being fired from Rosencrantz and Gildenstern Are Dead: one of the book's saddest segments, even if tame compared to the arduous impact of his stroke, which dominates his chronicle's conclusion.

In addition to Curry's recommended text, his audio performance of such is a veritable treat. Though his voice grows strained on occasion, his underlying tonality maintains its mirth, trenchancy and pathos, which further highlights Vagabond's contagious candor. 

For Curry fans, and those who relish stage and screen recollections in general, Vagabond (no matter which format one chooses) is worth the journey. 

Vagabond can be purchased at 

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=tim+curry+vagabond&crid=1DFBH1QKVIC5G&sprefix=tim+curry+vagabon%2Caps%2C261&ref=nb_sb_noss_2

HAPPY ROCKY DAY 2025 (12/3)

 

PUPPIES BEHIND BARS: A CHARITABLE TRADITION

 

For the Christmas/holiday season, thoughts of charitable causes once more come to mind. For those who wish to make a positive impact on others, Puppies Behind Bars is a sincere, worth-while means to do so.  

Puppies Behind Bars assists in canine training for wounded war veterans and first responders, who face difficulties with daily functions. In addition, the agency supplies crucial, bomb-detection dogs for police procedures. The canine training is administered by prisoners, who wish to give something beneficial to a society they've wronged in one way or another: a most honorable path toward redemption. 

The charity ensures that inmates are prepared to the utmost, caring capacity before they commence their meticulous but nurturing lessons. Trainers and dogs are then teamed for two years, at the end of which the astute, adoring animals are dispatched to their designated guardians in need.

I'm a proud contributor of Puppies Behind Bars and do hope that others will contribute as well. The organization is a huge win-win for all involved.

Visit Puppies Behind Bars

at https://puppiesbehindbars.com/. 

You'll find ample information on all activities, with specific steps on how to lend your support. 

  

KUSER PARK WINTER WONDERLAND 2025, HAMILTON TWP, NJ (12/5 & 12/6)

I SAW STRANGER THINGS: SEASON 5 (THE 1ST FOUR)

Netflix's Stranger Things: Season 5 has begun (after an illimitable hiatus). This latest tributary is said to be the saga's finale, which grants it a greater, melodramatic draw. 

Stranger Things restarts in 1987, covering the big, dimensional rifts that have swept accursed Hawkins, thanks to heaps of supernatural manipulation, which we suspected would flame all the higher, thanks to the season's plethora of publicity stills and that terrific trailer, tingled by Queen/Highlander's "Who Wants to Live Forever".

Hawkins is also quarantined by the military (kept "under the dome," as it were), and for the sake of planting an anti-establishment cliche, is portrayed as mean and myopic as it searches for the powerful yet misconstrued Eleven, aka Jane Hopper. Meanwhile, our young, Hellfire Club chieftains have decided to hunt down their freaky, Pied Piper-bound foe, Vecna, before he enslaves and/or kills them; it's just a matter of pinpointing where he's burrowed. 

By design, the concept instills the required mystery and suspense (for one, that bathtub scene overflowed with pitch-perfect tension), simulating the progressing dread of Stephen King's Salem's Lot and It but with Hellraiser's seductive sadism, The Keep's unlocked ruination and a Gates of Hell-meets-Phantasm-meets-Elm Street undercurrent. That Stranger Things: Season 5 has surfaced while HBO Max's Welcome to Derry holds court is interesting, if not fortuitous, since it (pun intended) complements Derry's allusions. 

I can't judge Stranger Things: Season 5 in its entirety since only four parts are now queued (with three to land on Christmas night and the finale on New Year's Day). All the same, everything seems in proper, atmospheric order with the previous seasons (even sweetened at a point by a nifty, Great Escape angle, per Episode 3, and a little Back to the Future, time travel per Episode 4). However, despite the cozy flow, something bugs me.   

I'm referencing the season's publicized contention. As one may know, Millie Bobby Brown lodged a harassment complaint against David Harbour. Though the conflict is said to have been curbed, its aftertaste lingers (perhaps due to the abundant scenes the two have together and those understandable reminders that can't help but creep through). This dents the saga's suspension of disbelief. Maybe I should have shrugged it off, but when the media ballyhoos a situation to such an egregious extent, how could I overstep the baggage? The stain, like Lady Macbeth's damned spot, pervades. 

Maybe by the time the final episodes roll, none of the behind-the-scenes discord will matter. However, for now, it seems that whatever the Upside Down spews can't match what ubiquitous materiality has carved. A real shame, too. Save that stuff for reality TV. When it comes to fiction, even the dark and sinister sort, I (and I do believe others) prefer it without the deflecting friction.