Another "The Pelt" snippet, with commentary // 1 Short Story + 1 Record #7

( "The Pelt" definitely won't be the final title )

XI
The trail led them up rough terrain surrounded by steep and jagged cliffs and down a small valley that converged into the gates of a narrow pass. There they journeyed for several days, tracing the serpentine path towards the mountains.

Along the sides of the ravine grew dense thickets of shrub oak that hid orchards of edible cacti and at night the walls became the stage for hypnotic plays of dancing shadows cast by the light of their torches, having for a chorus the bats and insects and whatever else inhabited that place. And as the verminous chitter reverberated through the chasm’s walls the drone was coloured with a metallic sounding resonance which seemed to amplify characteristics and dimensions previously imperceptible -  an underlying chant sung in some primordial language familiar to all men but understood by none. A chant that seemed to speak of secret things long forgotten or never learned at all.

                                                                  * * *
Still really enjoying the writing process. I'm feeling really confident with how this project is shaping out, even if my confidence in writing as a practice comes and goes. It's been a glacial process: this portion above took me hours and hours of re-writing,  shifting things around and cutting unnecessary description. The reason is that I'm planing the book in spreads and I need everything to be as tight as possible before I draw because the text will dictate the art space throughout the book. Plus you can't rush a project like this, it sets its own pace. At this point it'll be around 50 pages and if my last comic is any indication of my pace it'll take me at least a year to draw, I think. Hopefully it'll be worth the wait.

____________________________________________________________________

1 short story + 1 record #7

Instead of a movie this week I'll highlight one of my very favorite short stories: The Willows by Algernon Blackwood.
First thing's first: If you are born with the name Algernon Blackwood you pretty much have no choice but to be a horror writer. Or Sorcerer.
I'm still missing a few of his major works like The Wendigo but I'm a big fan of what I've read so far. The Willows, though, boy oh boy does it stand tall above the rest. Incredibly atmospheric and strange and genuinely spooked me the first time I read it, in a way I can't really describe. I rarely get scared of horror writing, specially this kind of story. I won't spoil what it is about and would recommend you to read as little as possible about it beforehand (not that it's a twist heavy story, but I feel it works better that way) but if you enjoyed that snippet from my book above, it's something very much in that vein, except much much better of course.
I might have to include it in orchard #2 if it's in the public domain.

For a record I'll highlight High School, Tim Heidecker's latest record which came out this week. I'm a huge fan of all facets of Tim's work but his music is still a bit surprising for how good it is, which shouldn't be because why would it be other than typically celebrities' (even D list ones)  vanity projects are pretty boring. Not loving this one as much as Tim's Fear of Death (which I think is absolutely fantastic front to back) but I still need to listen a couple more times to take it in. Sirens of Titan, Buddy and Stupid Kid are all fantastic tracks. I think Tim is a fantastic song writter because his strongest tracks always seem to get stuck in my head for weeks like Sirens did.
Take a listen to that song here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVjvJ5FX2gE&ab_channel=TimHeidecker

As always I always welcome your participation in this posts. Let me know what you've been enjoying lately!