"News of the Shaman" collects four novellas of the dark fantastic from Filipino horror scribe Karl R. De Mesa, author of the cult hit "Damaged People - Tales of the Gothic-Punk."
These interlaced stories take us deep into the lightless labyrinth, from the feet of a vampire queen presiding over her court of eternal night, a band possessed and haunted by the music of their friend, to a city ruled by a shaman turned eco-terrorist.
Biblio-ghouls, you won't want to miss this one.
PRAISE:
"News of the Shaman conjures and appeases the desire to decadently revel in the dark and wonderfully terrifying world of both the supernatural…and (oft-times scarier) natural. This book is a romantic, sometimes hilarious, journey into what keeps the humans (and non-humans, apparently) up at night, with a precise, unapologetic dosage of sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll. Karl sends us back to hell…mainly because we’re all sick and tired of heaven."
~JOEY DIZON, PULP Magazine (Editor-in-Chief), Filipino heavy metal icon
"Enough of boring epiphanies, quiet middle-class household conflicts. Karl R. De Mesa’s imagination is a landscape populated by winged beings, kapres, mystics, vampires, cherubs, and intriguingly flawed humans (the most monstrous of them all). I want some of whatever it is he’s been smoking."
~LOURD ERNEST De VEYRA, author of Insectissimo!
"[Karl] is back, with a surer eye and a firmer hand, weaving his magical tales of a borderless land, where the surreal merges with the irreal, fantasy becomes nightmare, and fabulation slips into television reportage…Even the most recalcitrant will recognize the strength of the voice and the vividness of the imagination that lights up this strange, dark, violent world with sharp shafts of psychedelic light. De Mesa was one of the first of our own young writers to take us down this labyrinthine path, and remains a fascinating guide."
~CRISTINA PANTOJA-HIDALGO, Tales of Fantasy and Enchantment and Fantasy (Editor)
"Even in the late ‘90s…Karl had been my favorite Pinoy fictionist. News of the Shaman is a testament to why he is still a favorite until now. His are stories that place Manila’s frayed alleys and shadowy bars in a different light, with the possibility of other uncanny inhabitants. To render his narrative and imagery with justice onto the silver screen is something I can only hope for in this lifetime."
~PAM MIRAS, director of Lumang Kahoy (The Old Wood)
These interlaced stories take us deep into the lightless labyrinth, from the feet of a vampire queen presiding over her court of eternal night, a band possessed and haunted by the music of their friend, to a city ruled by a shaman turned eco-terrorist.
Biblio-ghouls, you won't want to miss this one.
PRAISE:
"News of the Shaman conjures and appeases the desire to decadently revel in the dark and wonderfully terrifying world of both the supernatural…and (oft-times scarier) natural. This book is a romantic, sometimes hilarious, journey into what keeps the humans (and non-humans, apparently) up at night, with a precise, unapologetic dosage of sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll. Karl sends us back to hell…mainly because we’re all sick and tired of heaven."
~JOEY DIZON, PULP Magazine (Editor-in-Chief), Filipino heavy metal icon
"Enough of boring epiphanies, quiet middle-class household conflicts. Karl R. De Mesa’s imagination is a landscape populated by winged beings, kapres, mystics, vampires, cherubs, and intriguingly flawed humans (the most monstrous of them all). I want some of whatever it is he’s been smoking."
~LOURD ERNEST De VEYRA, author of Insectissimo!
"[Karl] is back, with a surer eye and a firmer hand, weaving his magical tales of a borderless land, where the surreal merges with the irreal, fantasy becomes nightmare, and fabulation slips into television reportage…Even the most recalcitrant will recognize the strength of the voice and the vividness of the imagination that lights up this strange, dark, violent world with sharp shafts of psychedelic light. De Mesa was one of the first of our own young writers to take us down this labyrinthine path, and remains a fascinating guide."
~CRISTINA PANTOJA-HIDALGO, Tales of Fantasy and Enchantment and Fantasy (Editor)
"Even in the late ‘90s…Karl had been my favorite Pinoy fictionist. News of the Shaman is a testament to why he is still a favorite until now. His are stories that place Manila’s frayed alleys and shadowy bars in a different light, with the possibility of other uncanny inhabitants. To render his narrative and imagery with justice onto the silver screen is something I can only hope for in this lifetime."
~PAM MIRAS, director of Lumang Kahoy (The Old Wood)
