Hertzan Chimera – his life, death and resurrection

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF HERTZAN CHIMERA, the official biography of an invented persona, by Mike Philbin, Chimericana Books. It took Oxford, Uk resident artist/author Mike Philbin fourteen years to give birth to, nurture, allow to grow and then kill off his ‘bizarro’ writing persona Hertzan Chimera.Hertzan Chimera R.I.P.April 1 1990 – August 5 2004

Mike had learned to live with Hertzan’s craziness as his writing persona’s literary perversity and online confidence grew. He had accepted Hertzan’s whacked-out control over his fingertips at the expense of some literary understanding on the part of the reader. After all, he was purposefully trying to make the reader’s life more difficult. Trying to get the reader to think a little more about the shit he was reading, the sheer crap publishers throw onto the shelves these days. Trying to challenge ‘accepted’ standards of what was sellable fiction, format, narrative.In this fourteen year spell of disconnected insanity, Hertzan Chimera penned the extreme books Szmonhfu (novel), United States (novel), Animal Instincts (collection), Spidered Web (horror writer interviews), Broken (collaboration with Wrath James White and Alex Severin), BoyFistGirlSuck (collaboration with Alex Severin), Skin (collaboration with Star Jewel Smith), Chim+Her (collection with 8 female collaborators) and Chim+Him (collection with 7 male collaborators).This is the official biography of one of horror fiction’s most extreme creative writing talents. It gives the story of the ‘Hertzan’ writing persona and its control over his writing life.

“Hertzan Chimera is destined for great fame — solid gold planes and caviar squeezed from endangered fish. Know him! Embrace him! And ultimately — worship him!” — Mark McLaughlin, author of GOSSAMER EYE and MOTIVATIONAL SKRIEKER.

“Hertzan Chimera is both monster rant and taboo heat. His primal work clutches me in both G-spot and brain–and everywhere else in between.” –Charlee Jacob, author of THIS SYMBIOTIC FASCINATION and HAUNTER.

“When I say that Hertzan Chimera’s writings make me want to throw up, I mean that only in a good way. He’s a major contender in the gross-out arena; his work is a hallmark of creative outrage.” –Edward Lee, author of CITY INFERNAL and MONSTROSITY.

“Hertzan Chimera is the Henry Miller of Our Time. He has remortgaged the Horror/SF ghetto, replacing it with a Garrethouse of the Psycho-Erotic on the Left Bank of the Seine.” –MF Korn, author of RACHMANINOFF’S GHOST and CONFESSIONS OF A GHOUL.

“As a longtime fan of the outre and fiction of the abject, I can say that very little of what I read anymore shocks, revolts, scares, or disturbs me. But Hertzan Chimera manages to do it every time. ” –Michael A. Arnzen, Bram Stoker Award winning author of GRAVE MARKINGS and FREAKCIDENTS.

“Chimera’s conflagrations raze cities of the human mind while his sickly dogs twitch in the burning bones of entropy.” –James Havoc, author of RAISM and SATANSKIN.

“Hertzan Chimera and I raided the panty patch together from 2002-2004. During that time he screamed, bounded, lacked, compensated, and innovated. He kept things interesting, which is more than you can say for any hundreds of authors combined.” –John Edward Lawson, author of Last Burn in Hell

THE RESURRECTION OF HERTZAN CHIMERA It’s three years since the ‘early retirement’ of Mike Philbin’s subversive writing persona Hertzan Chimera – but as they say, “You can’t keep a good ‘invented persona’ down.” This Halloween, under the banner Writing As Hertzan Chimera, Chimericana Books are releasing two never-before-seen full-length novels Twilight’s Last Gleaming and The Hoo-Hoo Are Coming. novel (80,000 words).Written in the early eighties and set in the north of England, the split narrative tells the interwoven story of the a trip to a parallel world from both the physical and the mental perspective. It’s up to the reader to decide which. The world is in danger and aliens are harvesting the souls of mankind to further their intergalactic cause. Aliens were never supposed to be this seductive, though.

The limp trickle of liquid on porcelain. The filthy tap squeaking as it is turned off. The static cling of tights being pulled on. The hot smells of the flesh. The juicy odours. The lubricated thrashings and tortured sighs. The scampering of footsteps on the uncarpeted staircase. The slamming of the front door.

novel (80,000 words).Written in the late eighties, this book explores future European politics and the role of dolphins in human evolution. But it’s not really about that. It’s about horror, sheer mental and physical horror. The horror of the flesh, the horror of the machine, the horrific interface between the two. Will mankind survive the frenzied amalgamation of desire and chrome?The scourge began amid the dizzying pyrotechnics of a spectacular thunder storm and a frenzied knuckle assault at an, as yet, undisclosed, door. Stewing in the bath was the only answer to these terrible twinges of pain her monthly scourge brought her. Geraldine Kablensk brought her head from beneath the soapy surface; sat up in her bath. Was she hearing things?

Both books were written with an adult audience in mind – fans of David Lynch, David Cronenberg and Japanese uber-director Takashi Miike will be right at home within the bleeding walls and screaming furnishings of these crazy mansions of terror.  

ALL THREE TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FROM CHIMERICANA BOOKS for US$13.99 each.

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