Join members of The Paramental Appreciation Society for an ad hoc tour of San Francisco’s odd and unnatural corners.
“Engaging, literate, and wholly worthwhile.” — The Fix
The second edition of The Paramental Appreciation Society’s self-titled chapbook was published by Automatism Press in October 2008. The chapbook collects four previously unpublished dark urban fantasies by Seth Lindberg, Claudius Reich, Loren Rhoads, and Lilah Wild. The booklet has a cover and interior illustrations by Lily Beacon.
Excerpts from the chapbook:
“If I got to the dragon first, then I might be able to solve this quickly. I had no real way of doing that, though. It’s not like they have some 1-800 number. I could wander the streets looking for kids who called the place ‘Frisco’ or some other name a visitor gives the city. Someone who seemed awful fond of lighter tricks, cigarettes, or anything else that burned. But the whole premise seemed kind of weak, more of a joke, really. I could also go randomly asking people on the street, ‘Hey, are you a dragon in disguise? You sure?’ It’d probably get me just as far.” — “Ascalon” by Seth Lindberg
“Stairsitters: Found on San Francisco’s scenic stairway walks. Visitors will notice little people who appear to be conversing, admiring the view, or having tea parties upon a step. Perspective may trick the eye into thinking them ordinary tourists, though located in the distance. They are described as miniature and fully humanoid, dressed in formal Edwardian apparel. The few close-up sightings mention charred bustles, singed top hats, and other indicia of the Great Quake. Their pouty lips appear to hide disproportionately large teeth. They always vanish before contact. It is said that the dregs of their abandoned teacups bring visions, albeit with an unknown degree of accuracy. The tiny crustless sandwiches are highly poisonous, however, induce the green froth, and their consumption is discouraged. Sightings have decreased markedly as the City’s wooden steps have been replaced by concrete.” — “fragments of a Barbary Coast” by Claudius Reich
“She loved San Francisco. She wanted to stay. How could she bring herself to drink blood? If attaining immortality meant buying something regularly in a shop, she might come to enjoy that sort of interaction with strangers. If she might cheat death behind the privacy of a locked door, she would consider doing any number of unsavory things. But to purchase life through so intimate a transaction: not only to solicit strangers, but to touch them, taste them, drink their blood… She shuddered, repulsed on a level beyond the grasp of words.” — “The Shattered Rose” by Loren Rhoads
“None of the other girls had ever been much more than set dressing, the bait of naked skin like a Playboy Mansion promise beneath their ceremonial velvets. But still. There was magick here, no doubt. She’d been with him long enough to know, had risen up from the mass of writhing bodies on the ritual chamber floor, and gained his eye and a place in his luxuriant bed. She was top girl now. His favorite.” — “The Neon Coffin” by Lilah Wild
Publication data:
56 page chapbook. 5.5″ x 8.5″ saddle-stitched paperback.
Purchase information:
$8.00 with postage in the US. Available from my bookshop: https://lorenrhoads.com/product/the-paramental-appreciation-society/
