Hello cyber world, long post alert, but a brief note from your humble horror author,
As you know, POSTPONED Book Club – Scry For Help was moved to June 15th to focus on our society’s continued march to racial equality, justice and truth. That march has not ended and should not. It is with great joy and fervor to be learning and listening in this radical time just as much as being a writer and speaker in the LGBTQ community. The event is still on with the amazing Bonus Round Game Cafe, and will still be online. We will be talking ghosts, queer spaces in literature, how queer horror is vital to us all and so much more.
Additionally, my production company Paradigm Shift Productions will be matching the ticket sales from this event and donating them directly to Brave Space Alliance, the first Black-led, trans-led LGBTQ Center located on the South Side of Chicago, and designed to create and provide affirming and culturally competent services for the entire LGBTQ community of Chicago.
So, if you can, tickets can be purchased here: bit.ly/ScryConvo. Share with your friends, invite whoever you want. Please join us, bring questions, prompt discussion. This is a book about ghosts, grief and love–all things we can find something in common about. Whether you have read the book or not, it would be an honor to have you with us.
To read the book, though, consider a paperback copy from the cafe directly available for pick-up. If not in Chicago or nearby, visit the Scry For Help page to order a copy from Bookshop.org which directly support indie bookshops around the country.
As an indie publisher of ghoulish delights, Paradigm Shift Productions is proud to have joined Bookshop to continue haunting readers with Aaron Eischeid’s queer ghost tale Scry For Help with sales directly from our online ‘shop’ simultaneously benefitting us AND a pool of local bookstores across the nation who need us and our readership, including our friends at Build Coffee who have their own landing page of spectacular books. On our ‘shop’ you’ll not only find SCRY FOR HELP: A NOVELLA OF GRIEF but also a list of our favorite and local haunts to engage your dark imagination from voices from all about the darkness. Keep the words alive, read up on this amazing group’s mission and thank you for supporting the independent arts!
Writers may write the words and printers may print the words, however the words do not reach the eyes of the people without the bookseller. Bookshop owners everywhere are impacted heavily throughout the world and could be for some time. This is a ripple that affects the owners, the workers, the readers and the writers. In this time through which we will prevail, we must stick together and help the best we can, for these are the people who have helped us, the writers, find and amplify our own voices.
Below is a compiled list of Chicago (and a couple other cities) bookshops who opened their shelves to Paradigm Shift Productions’ own publications, SCRY FOR HELP: A NOVELLA OF GRIEF and/or AVERSION: A ZINE OF THERAPEUTIC VIGNETTES #1 “Dummy” and #2 “Canine.”
Please help support the independent arts. Buy local as much as you can. Pick up our books, others’ books and any books they recommend! There are so many options even with momentary closure. We love you and we love our booksellers!
Located in Hyde Park by the University of Chicago, Build Coffee is a grassroots shop filled with local publications, community events and amazing java. They are currently CLOSED until April, however you can still support their intrepid team by donating to their virtual tip jar to help the owners and employees. They have also provided an excellent list of community resources as the good samaritans they are. We look forward to them reopening soon!
The foremost feminist bookstore in Andersonville still marches on and has moved their bookselling online with delivery as the current available option. SCRY FOR HELP is available for shipping and they are also providing as many community resources as they can.
Can’t keep the proud weirdos down and we love it. The Wicker Park staple is also accepting online orders but also by phone at (773) 342-0910 where you can do pick up or have it delivered by any means necessary. Phone ordering is recommended for all 3 of our titles as well as many others as a lot of titles in store are on consignment so you may to inquire. Also, for New Yorkers, AVERSION #1 & #2 is available at their store, support our East Coast friends too!
The cozy Wicker Park and now Mag Mile shops are closed to the public of course, but there are a couple busy bees doing amazing work fulfilling orders and offering FREE SHIPPING through April. And if you are a Wicker Park resident, they’ll even drop it on your doorstep. SCRY FOR HELP is currently available on the shelf right now!
Comics are books too and don’t you forget it! A Lakeview home to everything you could want in the comic-verse, online, phone and email orders are still on the table here and can be set up easily. Note, for Paradigm shoppers, AVERSION #1 & #2 are the only titles carried here.
Quick, a geography change! Baltimore, the home of John Waters, needs our love too. They graciously gave AVERSION #1 AND #2 a home on their crazed shelves and have them online now for purchase alongside a ton of other amazing indie titles worth checking out.
Back to Chicago! The dream shop of genre hounds far and wide is located in Avondale and currently has closed up to the public but is moving a lot of their music inventory to an online platform (they have killer vinyls y’all). One of the major ways to help support them (and all the shops on this list) is by purchasing gift cards in any denomination as that is an instant way to help get independent shop owners through this difficult time.
Last but certainly far from least is Uncharted Books, one of the most relaxed and hippest spots to stop by in Andersonville whether it is to chat about literally any subject with staff or socialize with store pooch Ramona. They are currently only offering some of their rare titles online due to the store closure and not so much used or consignment titles (such as ours), but you can purchase rad gift cards and subscribe to their Instagram and newsletter both of which posts just plain cool content.
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Again everyone, stay safe, stay healthy and thank you from the depths of our hearts for supporting the independent arts and oddities. Visit our online store too for anything Paradigm Shift you desire.
Welcome to 2020, a new year; a new decade of possibilities and expression. It is with devilish pleasure for all Scry For Help fans and newcomers that Paradigm Shift Productions announces our book’s inclusion on horror network GetScaredTV‘s new podcast channel, Get Scared Podcast, showcasing indie authors’ works, where a major excerpt of our ghostly happenings will be aurally re-enacted live!
Tune in Thursday, JANUARY 23, 2020 on Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play & beyond.
SCRY FOR HELP’s first review is of the 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 variety! Stunned and warmed that our 👻 was discovered by acclaimed indie horror author Armando Munoz (HOARDER, TURKEY DAY). Read on for what he had to say and pick up your copy today to share in the frights!
“Kudos to author Aaron Eischeid on his accomplished new work Scry For Help: A Novella of Grief. From my new five star Amazon review: Shivers and surprises are instore with Scry For Help: A Novella of Grief by Aaron Eischeid (Aversion: A Zine of Therapeutic Vignettes). A love story turned tragedy that is refreshingly told from a queer perspective, grief is merely the starting point for a horror novella that takes many fun, frightening, and unexpected turns as it reveals the monsters that lurk in mourning. This story got under my skin with its razor sharp claws and drooling, jabbering jaws. In satisfying balance with the horror, there is also passion and compassion for marginalized and misunderstood artists and the worth of their love. Ultimately, this tale of beasts beyond death’s door is aimed for your heart.”
SCRY FOR HELP: A Novella of Grief is on sale today to haunt your Halloween season and beyond! Visit The Store for exclusive, signed edition or special ‘Trinity of Terror’ bundle that includes previous publications AVERSION: A ZINE OF THERAPEUTIC VIGNETTES Chapters 1 & 2. Also available in paperback from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com and in the Amazon Kindle store. Happy screaming!
Summer leisure wouldn’t be complete without sunshine, a quiet nook and a book to become lost in. In between our writing, we have been encountering some excellent reads!
Add some of the below to your list today from mostly independent authors seeking to raise their creative voices:
1. 9 Lords of Night by Cesar Torres (Book Two in the The Coil Series) — A behemoth winter storm is about to hit Manhattan. In it, a killer lurks…The Night Drinker! Detective Nestor Bunuel is assigned to hunt down the increasingly bizarre suspect who is aping symbols and rituals from the lost film of a madman director that may actually signal the presence of a higher power humankind is not prepared to face.
Penned by Chicago-native Torres, this sequel novel dives deeper into a mythology that uniquely blends cinema, Aztec culture and unabashed social justice and queerness to weave together a thriller unlike any other on the market. Fans of crime, horror and particularly Stanley Kubrick will want to join in the fun.
2. The Venus Complex by Barbie Wilde — Professor Michael Friday has just killed his wife out of love and excitement. Murder is an art, he believes. Following his sick state of mind, Friday continues to hunt, destroy and preserve through memory a series of women before he reaches the point of no return and almost expects to be caught and become a legend.
If Jack the Ripper lived in the present and kept a diary, this would be its exposé. Wilde (of HELLRAISER fame) details in epistolary form the disgusting mind of a psychopath whose sexual urges move him to kill what he loves. It is not for the faint-hearted or weak of stomach but is a challenging subversion in discussing how deep the ‘male gaze’ can go and the warped, misogynistic actions it can take, especially being written by a woman herself who has a lot of things to say about the state of the current world.
3. Rex Mundi by Arvid Nelson (Omnibus published by Dark Horse Comics) — In an alternate Paris circa 1933 an Inquisition-style church has overtaken the streets, the politics and the culture. As citizenry and culture are stifled by these powers, a secret is uncovered by an unsuspecting doctor that a cult of sorcerers may be be brewing up trouble for him, the city and quite possibly the world.
Good graphic novels are hard to come by, especially ones that are consistently attention grabbing and holding for their entirety. This one provides a fascinating dark timeline that remains true to Parisian looks and feels but presents succinct religious criticism, the supernatural and adventure together in a cohesive whole. The panels are deliberately presented in dark, earthy tones. The dialogue is smart, sometimes humorous and always elevated. The multimedia presentation of this Other-Paris’ newspapers in addition to the story are akin to WATCHMEN’s Tales of the Black Freighter interstitials which are appreciated.
“Have you ever cradled a brain and told it exactly what to do?
That’s healing.”
Many frights are competing to possess your imagination and leave you feeling overwhelmed by dread, fear and crawling skin. This October, consider Paradigm Shift Productions to be one of your captors by reading AVERSION: A ZINE OF THERAPEUTIC VIGNETTES Chapters 1 & 2. You will not be disappointed with the queerest surreal terror in town: every issue is handmade, originally illustrated and features a narrative focused on timely societal ills affecting the LGBTQ community in addition to horrifying happenings that are sure to breed nightmares.
Watch the trailer below, learn more on the AVERSION page and purchase here or at your local bookstore, whose locations you’ll also find below.
Paradigm Shift Productions 