Hi there, I'm from Belgium, Europe. Gothicism in its broadest sense is a way of life to me. I first read Bradbury at age 10 when I picked up Dutch translations of Dark Carnival and The Martian Chronicles and haven't stopped reading & re-reading him. Other favourite authors: H.P. Lovecraft, Ramsey Campbell, Richard Matheson and John Wyndham. But I also dip into the mainstream: latest finds include JT Leroy and Paul Watkins. Glad to have found this Message Board!

Do you speak Dutch, then? You need to greet douglasSP!

Yep, I speak Dutch as well as French and a smattering of German. Is this Douglas a poster here?

My username comes from the novel of the same name by American author Frank Norris.
If not my favorite book, it is definitely in the upper echelon. Mcteague is an uneducated dentist whose base instincts bring him to ruin. I can identify. Not with the dentist part, you understand, but with the rest.

Gothic, if you like all the authors you mentioned, you should definitely try to find whatever you can by Bradbury's writing student, Charles Beaumont.

Between the two of them, Beaumont and Matheson wrote a very high percentage of the "Twilight Zone" episodes that were not written by Serling himself. Beaumont's work was among the finest.

Haven't seen much from Douglas lately, but he's around.

Charles Beaumont - yes, the name is familiar. "Miss Gentilbelle" comes immediately to mind, a beautiful if sad story. Is all Beaumont's work in the same vein? Stefan Dziemianowicz did a substantial piece on him in Studies in Weird Fiction #13. I see the bulk of his work was published in the late fifties - early sixties, that VERY interesting period . . .

Hello everyone...im a newby...but anyway mine is obviously from "The Lake" which is one of my favorites. i think about Tally everyday...I think that it's Bradbury at his saddest...I was going to pick "waiting" as my screen name, after "The Fog Horn" because i often feel like an alien creature who is waiting for my spaceship. but please don't think im insane.

The screen name isn't from anything Ray, but I wanted that feel.

A farewell to Poe's famous pet? A reference to that glorious epiphany of sunrise? Or, maybe--just those rippled air currents left by the flight of a bird.

"'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings."--Led Zep. Or, "What's in a name?"--Will "Wish-it-were-Nightshade" S.

Duality of meaning is interesting. Probably why I like so many screen names here; like, Robot Lincoln--are you a car, or the digital eye of Abraham?

Wow, its a little more mundane than that. I started out as Col. Freeleigh because I really love that book and that story. He just seemed so warm and those kids were so in awe of him and his stories and it was kind of bittersweet and filled with nostalgia. I went around here for about a day or two before realizing that there was already a Colonel Freeleigh. I was bummed, so I looked for another name. I had recently read I Sing The Body Electric and I really liked that story Downwind from Gettysburg. For some reason, I wanted to choose an innocuous and obscure character off the beaten path, like me I guess. I thought, "how great", Robot Lincoln. I think it has shock appeal too. Its funny because it was near Presidents Day when I chose it. What is truly ironic is that the one I'm more like in the story was Booth, only in that on some level, I do crave attention. I was always a class clown, but not a mean one. I about fell off my chair when biplane started calling me Robert Lincoln.(no offense biplane) By the way, I like your name and meanings, you say it and it sounds mysterious like a magic incantation or something.

Yeah, I thought at first it was some futuristic take on Robert Lincoln, then realized it referred to "Downwind from Gettysburg."

Last night, I had to go to Walmart late in the storm. When I was in the checkout, the girl asked for a donation and if I donated, I would receive an Easter package of those marshmellow yellow and blue birds. I despise those, have ever since being a kid. I asked if there was an alternative. She said that I could donate and they would put it on this card and hang it up with alot of others, so then I donated. I signed the card Robot Lincoln. She didn't even notice. It's slowly becoming me, absorbing me. It started with my hands finally reaching my brain and completely taking over....

[This message has been edited by Robot Lincoln (edited 03-10-2006).]

The head is the last thing to go.

The horror, the horror, the horror...

I took my name from what was the most memorable passage (to me) from DANDELION WINE when RB tells of boys smelling like grass stains. I don't have a copy and it's been 20 years since I read it. I wish I remembered more of that passage.