Masters of Horror

It is that time once more. It's killing time. Killing Time - Horror E-Rag Issue 3-2 has landed in the Battered Spleen Productions store. I hope everyone's been able to patiently wait until now, with a minimum of bloodshed--after all, that duty falls to the E-Rag. The wait is worth it. Don't let that page count fool you. Yes it's about the size of the very first issue, but look at how well that turned out. The first story is titled "Snowfly" and you won't know what you’re in store for until you read it. It's the oldest story to grace the pages of Killing Time. The second story is the second instalment of the new serial story, "Sun Cycle". It is titled "Powerless at Midday" and it keeps the hits coming from last time out. Then I have what you have all been waiting for, the thrilling finale to "PSY3007". It's the final confrontation between Ben and the forces of evil.

On the article front we have "Ghostly Illumination #2" and its look at the man that likes to make you scream and gives you nightmares, Wes Craven. This issue brings you the poem "Constellations" and that is all I going to say about it because you just have to experience it for yourself. "Sommatoria #2" ties all of the portions of the issue together again. Just as I initially did in the first short issues, there is some additional full-page art. Eventually it will make its way into the Grotesquerie, but until then it is only available in this issue. In the midst of the chaos that is putting together the final touches on the PDF and the website I came upon an idea. I'm not ready to unveil it yet, but just watch this blog for it. It's small bit of added fun and I've said enough. You may now go buy your copy of Issue 3-2. The next issue will land on a more regular date, March 18th.

Music: Blastin' Fast & Loud by Twisted Sister.

The Ides are nearly here. Time just seems to be flying. It's only next week that the next issue of the magazine is unleashed on all too expecting public. Despite that I don't want to focus too many entries of this blog about Killing Time - Horror E-Rag(TM), and the newly renamed www.spleen-mart.com I must. There was a technical issue that affected the file size of E-Rag. After some work and recoding I have rectified the problem and the store now has the slimmer version. Nothing was changed visually or text wise, only the download time was seriously impacted, or if you want to put the E-Rag on a thumb drive or what have you. Still, for those that wish the smaller file please email me from the account tied to your PayPal and/or send me the transaction ID and I will reissue you a new download link. The new file is not quite half of the size of the one you already downloaded.

The problem arose due to an error in a third party bit of software that I use to convert web pages into PDF pages. The error itself is most likely tied to my having moved from the beta of Internet Explorer 9 to the Release Candidate. To work around it I used an obviously inferior replacement, which while printing visually identical pages, created pages that were actually eight times larger. While this did get compressed down when all of the pages were put together and the rest of the work done to them, it didn't help much. Honestly, with a release compared to a beta there shouldn't have been an issue. The fix itself to make the original third party program work again was in itself ridiculous and didn't involve said company at all, just me and some recoding. The moral of this story is that when you sit on the bleeding edge of technology prepare to do some bleeding now and again.

Music: Prowler by Iron Maiden.

Hello and welcome to a special Inchoate Ascendant. As you know Killing Time - Horror E-Rag(TM) completed it's run of Year 3 issues. That ended completed issues that only needed a spit shine and hammering into magazine and then PDF shape. Throughout the three years of the E-Rag I wrote everything from start to finish. With the completion of the backlog I came to a decision point. Do I continue on or do I quit? Some might point to the financials of producing and selling the magazine as the indicator of whether to continue or not. That is hardly a satisfying way to decide. Anyone can look to the numbers as an excuse to give up. Is it worth it though is not a question that I want to base on numbers, even aside from the fact that numbers and I do not get along under the best of circumstances. I had to decide quickly before rolling the final issue out so I could give people a heads up.

If you do not by now, I suggested that there will be a Year 4 and it might land in late September or early October. What no one knows until reading this now is that I am more than seriously considering opening up Killing Time to submissions for short stories. That opens up a whole host of serious questions. The first question is will there be enough interest? That is dependant on the second question, which is are people willing to contribute to a publication that pays little to nothing? Even if authors are not part of the profit cycle initially they still want to know about how large an audience they are going to be put out before. So, other questions aside, do you think it is worth my while to open to outside submissions? Will authors be interested in submitting for the credit alone?

I have considered paying royalties or profit sharing. In that case authors have to believe that I am honest in my reporting and that there will be enough copies sold. That is the one place where the author may actually share in the responsibility. Right now it is only me, and some occasional help from friends in letting people know the magazine is even out there. Anyone submitting to a publication like this should help advertise it even if they are being paid, after all they will want people to know they have been accepted somewhere and they will want to be as widely read as possible. Of course I could just stay the course and produce it all from start to finish like I have so far. Or I could even let it stand at only three years. I have to make the decision quickly because that release date will come sooner than I might like otherwise.

Have your say.

Music: Run Silent Run Deep by Iron Maiden.