Advent Calendar: First Wormhole

From the 1st until the 24th of December, we'll present you a reading tip from our holidays newsletter on this blog - and another reading tip, in German, on our website! Our first advent wormhole actually leads to the same book in both cases ...

Horror-ing on Friday

Hey Folks!
This one is to remind you that this Friday, November 22, - tomorrow evening - the Otherland horror special book club will take The Ceremonies by T.E.D. Klein under the microscope!

"In close to 25 years of writing Klein has only two books and a handful of scattered tales to his credit, and yet his achievement towers gigantically over that of his more prolific contemporaries."

gushes S.T. Joshi, scholar with an expertise on weird fiction.
Unfortunately it was and still is rather hard to find Klein's scattered writings mentioned by Joshi. His short story entitled "The Events at Poroth Farm" (those who have read The Ceremonies will rightly guess that this is the short story that our current book club book is based on) is in my humble opinion his absolute masterpiece and alas, can only be found in a handful of horror anthologies. His short story collection, Dark Gods, on the other hand, seems to have disappeared from the book market all together and can only be encountered at some antiquarian bookshops, with a good portion of luck, that is.
Thanks to PS Publishing The Ceremonies,

Jo Walton: Lent

Jo Walton needs little introduction for fantasy and sf readers - which is surprising, given how far most of her works stray from our usual comfort zone ... Lent is no exception. Set in Florence towards the end of the 15th century, it tells the story of the last years in the life of Girolamo Savonarola, a Dominican monk, reformer and for a short time, de-facto ruler of Florence. I must confess that I wasn't familiar with this historical figure before reading Lent. While Lent is obviously thouroughly researched (Walton provides an afterword in which she details where and why she strayed from the historical facts), it features at least some of the things we'd expect to see in a fantasy novel, and even some strong sfnal elements. There's actual demons from hell, subtle magic and elements of time travel, alternate history or both, depending on how you look at it.

Some Abyss-Gazing this Friday?

"Gaze into the abyss all day and the abyss will gaze into you."
Normal Head is an institution surrounded by an experimental forest, where so called foresight strategists are civil futurists are being taken to recover from this abyss gaze. New patient Adam Dearden witnesses the disappearing of a fellow patient leaving nothing but a pile of insects and  sets off to uncover the incident... It will not be the only thing he uncovers...
This month's discussion on the refreshingly short Normal by Warren Ellis starts this Friday, November 8, at 7.30 pm at the Otherland Bookstore.
As always there will be snacks and drinks that are free, contributions are welcome. You don't need to sign up to join in, please just read the book and come over.

James S.A. Corey are in Berlin and They Want to Meet You!

After having had the pleasure to have Ty Franck as a guest a couple of years ago we’re now hugely excited to present to you the full duo James S.A. Corey!!!

So take down your Expanse-novels from the shelf and mark your calendars : Tuesday, November 5th, at 7.00 pm Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham, aka James SA Corey, will be at the DTK Wasserturm (Kopischstr. 7, 10965 Berlin)!

Book Recommendations October/November 2019

We’re hugely excited to bring to you (drum rolls)… James S.A. Corey!!! Yes, a couple of years ago we had the pleasure to have Ty Franck as our guest and this time we even get to have the full duo here! So mark your calendars: Tuesday, November 5th, at 7.00 pm the authors of the Expanse-Series, Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham, will be at the DTK Wasserturm (Kopischstr. 7, 10965 Berlin) - brought to you by the Otherland Bookshop!
On the following Thursday, November 7th, it is role-playing time at the shop again! And the next day, Friday November 8th, we’ll be discussing graphic novelist Warren Ellis’ suspiciously short futuristic book “Normal”.
There are two book clubs this month and the latter is for horror fans! On November 22nd we’re meeting to talk about T.E.D. Klein’s “The Ceremonies” - an almost forgotten horror classic and hell of an unsettling cosmic horror-gothic novel merger.
Admissions to the book clubs and the role playing evening are free but contributions are very welcome. If you want to come role playing, it would be great if you dropped Jakob a line at “service@otherland.de” and if you want to join the book clubs, it would be equally superb that you read the book if you’re coming to discuss it.
See you around!

Final Girls Berlin Halloween Bash

The Final Girls Berlin strike again!
No plans on the scariest night of the year? Too many good showings on Halloween and you don't know what to choose? Why not join me at the Final Girls Berlin Bash! It will be fun, promise!
See their  announcement on facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1190604014470547/

Summer is (thankfully) over and it‘s time to celebrate Halloween with the Final Girls Berlin Film Festival! Watch a selection of 2019‘s best horror shorts made by women followed by a 5th anniversary screening of THE BABADOOK (2014), Jennifer Kent‘s incredibly creepy film about a single mother, her troubled young son, and a most sinister creature. There will also be a costume contest, so let your imagination fly and come in costume for a chance to win a prize!

20:00 – Final Girls Filmfest – Best of Shorts 2019!

Call Girl (5:50)
Directed by Jill Gevargizian, US, 2014
In one man's attempt to exploit his date night via video-chat, he ends up sharing something far more disturbing.

Asian Girls (6:33)
Written and directed by Hyun Lee, Australia, 2017
Chan is a Chinese factory worker who lives alone. Every night, she suffers from horrific nightmares involving the woman in the apartment next door, a Japanese office worker.