GET IT ON AMAZON NOW http://getbook.at/NUCC2022
Notes and Acknowledgments for the Nafallen University Course
Catalog
I would not have thought a year ago that my idea for an evil
college course catalog would have been anything more than another weird idea I
had that would at most be a writing project for myself. Somehow though, this
book is now a real thing, and I couldn’t be more excited to have others read it
and hopefully get some enjoyment out of it. Even better, it’s been wonderful to
work with a bevy of talented people to have this come into fruition.
I have not seen acknowledgments really done in an anthology
before, probably because it would get very long to have all the contributors share
their thoughts and thanks. But I would be remiss not to account for everyone
that had a hand, seen and unseen, in making this project happen. This on its own
will be a little lengthy but I hope you’ll give it some time and attention, and
give attention and support to all of those mentioned. When one wins we all win,
and this is most certainly a win I want to see ripple forward. I apologize if I’ve
excluded anyone from this list, there are truly a lot of people to thank-and
please know your support and encouragement means a lot to me, and I wish you
all success, peace, health, and love.
Thanks to my wife Jennifer, and our cat Rumi, who help me
stay grounded and give me a loving base to be able to work from.
Thanks to my parents, who probably won’t read this, but
raised me to embrace my imagination and to be creative and silly.
The idea for this project was born from a walk where I was
listening to an interview with Matthew M. Bartlett talking about his phenomenal
chapbook series, the WXXT Program Guide. I started thinking about what kind of
universe I could create that might mimic what he is doing with that series (and
his writing in general is a large inspiration to me). Matt was an enthusiastic supporter
of the idea, and over the months has proven time and again how wonderful people
in the independent horror community are to one another. I am proud to call Matt
a friend, and even prouder to have done a little playing in the WXXT-verse
myself.
John Baltisberger is the head of Madness Heart Press which
put this book out. In the midst of his own prodigious and excellent output, and
running a small press, and just life in general, John has been a joy to work
with and is committed to supporting his writers. He took a risk on an unknown
weirdo with a crazy idea, and I hope this reinforces his belief that there is a
necessary place in this world for weird horror stuff. I can’t believe how fast
he made all of this happen-I’m still pretty blown away by it! I look forward to
working more with John in the future.
A critical part of Madness Heart Press is Charles Bernard,
who has been a great supporter of mine and a hell of a writer in his own right.
Thank you for all you do for the Press and for your friendship!!
The entire roster of Madness Heart Press is so supportive of
one another and are all doing phenomenal work deserving your attention.
Christine Morgan, Susan Snyder, Jay Wilburn, Lucas Mangum, Ben Arzate, Maxwell Bauman, and many more. Do yourself a favor and pick up ANYTHING from madnessheart.press
and you’ll have a fantastic reading experience.
Madness Heart Press is one of several small presses out
there putting phenomenal work out. Had I gone through the usual channels for pitching
something, two I definitely would have gotten a hold of were Silent Motorist
Media and Nightscape Press, run by two of the kindest folks I have met in the
community. Justin Burnett runs Silent Motorist Media, and has been incredibly
generous with his time and thoughts. Dream Wilson runs Nightscape Press, and
has also been a really wonderful person to talk to and get to know. Please
consider supporting them and their work!
Jon Padgett is a writer of formidable talent, another strong
influence on my writing, a very nice guy who also runs Grimscribe Press. His
passion for putting quality work into the world of the weird and the horrible
has been an influence on my editing for this project.
Mike Davis runs Lovecraft E-Zine (the press and podcast) and
has introduced me to many writers I hadn’t known previously. He is a very nice
man who does great work championing the indie horror community.
An anthology would be naught without the talent contributing
to it. For every author who wrote something for this, THANK YOU for making it
more awesome than I could have hoped for. I encourage you, reader, to seek out
other work by these amazing authors and give them your support and
encouragement.
One of my creative partners going back to the school bus is
Michael Cavagnaro. In addition to being my longest and one of my best friends,
this guy has writing talent to stun and shock you. I am hopeful to introduce
you to his work in the near future.
Another more recent creative partner here in Illinois is
Nick Vasi. His encouragement for this idea has truly made me feel like this
earns a spot on your bookshelf. He is also quite the writer, and I’ll be
excited to give him a platform for his creative output in the near future.
I met Mat Fitzsimmons through Matt Bartlett, and together we
have created something truly awesome with Olde Wyathscope’s Quarterly Concern-a
very strange, horrible, and weird almanac. His creativity and support fuel me,
and if you like the Course Catalog, I think you’ll really like what we have
cooked up. We also have a few other irons in the fire that we’ll look forward
to revealing to you in the months to come.
Farah Rose and Michael Cisco are two awesome people who have
also influenced me as well as being supportive of my work. I am grateful to count
you among my friends.
Through Farah, I met Leah Bond who graciously interviewed me
(with Matt Bartlett!) for her podcast. Thank you for boosting my signal and
being a wonderful host.
Daniel Braum ran several very entertaining weird reading
events last year over Zoom which featured several of my favorite writers as
well as authors new to me. He is a terrific guy and writer. Check him out.
Brian Evenson is another writer who influenced me greatly,
especially with his talent for the super short and disturbing writing as well
as injections of the surreal and absurd.
Drew Stepek, Christina Pfeiffer, Marian Elaine, and all the
authors and talent associated with Godless.com have been phenomenal to me and supportive
in my creative endeavors. Truly too many to name, but my thanks is deep and
wide to you.
I have several friends who I incorporated into the catalog –
you’ll know who you are and please consider it a little tribute to what you mean
to me and my unending gratitude for being in my life.
If you have given me a creative platform in the last couple
of years, you don’t know how much it means to me to have my creative output
validated and shared. Thank you very much!
If you’re an author who has even said thank you to a message
from me, your time, effort, and talent mean a lot to me and have helped fuel my
own creativity. Thank you very much!
If you’ve listened to my music and dug it and shared it, or
we’ve collaborated on something together, you mean a lot to me, and thank you
very much!
If you’ve read my writing, thank you very much!!
If this lengthy document doesn’t call you out by name, but
you’re reading it, you mean a lot to me! Thank you very much!
If you are a creative person, and want to work together, if
you don’t ask you don’t get, and I would love to connect and talk about ideas
for things to do together. Together, when one wins, we all win. Let’s put
something awesome out in the world that we can be proud of.
I love you.
Matt
