The Lament of San Miguel
FEATURED IN: Collage Macabre: An Exhibition of Art Horror published by Future Dead Collective
- Publication date: April 2023
- Cover Art: Christi Nogle
- Interior Art: Schism.Art
- Foreword: Gemma Amor
ABOUT THE LAMENT OF SAN MIGUEL
Ramon Acosta stands alone between the people of San Miguel and a deity whose wrath was once feared by all. But as tradition fades, so does the fragile barrier that separates the villagers from the ancient god’s vengeful rage.
PUBLICATION DETAILS
Your work will betray your secrets. Obsessions, hidden desires, and desperate wishes all woven into the fabric of what we make. A sculpture crafted with longing, a painting of a dream just barely articulated, the craving that cannot speak its name buried in a short film’s score. Old want only spoken aloud through someone else’s voice. Need etched on someone else’s lips for all the world to see. A false self created for the audience to claim as its own, still hiding what it knows.
Through these eighteen stories, dread is the medium of choice, winding its way through each unsettling and terrifying tale about human creation, the artistic follies and triumphs we imbue with so much meaning. You will find artists and audiences alike grappling with confrontations beyond their comprehension, works that require more than careful consideration—sometimes a little bit of blood is necessary. Art is alive if you are. Inside these pages you will be asked to open yourself up like a wound and expose your mind to the darker side of our oeuvre.
CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS
- Alex Wolfgang, Demi-Louise Blackburn, Ai Jiang, Ryan Marie Ketterer, Timothy Lanz, Nikki R. Leigh, Matthew Maichen, Erik McHatton, Mob, Jessica Peter, Christi Nogle, TJ Price, Mary Rajotte, Rachel Searcey, Julie Sevens, Nina Shepardson, Andrew F. Sullivan, Joseph Andre Thomas
AN EXCERPT
© MARY RAJOTTE
The first warning comes when the sun refuses to rise over San Miguel. Instead of blazing blue, the noontime sky over the tiny village is the bruised purple-grey of dusk.
The second warning appears in Ramon Acosta’s workshop where dust motes float like lazy moths in the half-light, and the heavy smell of paint lingers in the shadows where whispers of old gods lurk. On Ramon’s worktable, an army of miniature statuettes stands in formation—each five inches tall and fashioned only yesterday. Ramon’s stomach lurches when he raises one and sees the features have already faded. He swipes his thumb across the surface. Lost faith, not the passing of time, has buffed the grooves and creases of the figure’s face smooth, almost as if he never carved it at all.
READER REVIEWS
An amazing display of what the body horror genre can be! These were remarkable stories which alI more than enjoyed Collage Macabre: An Exhibition of Art Horror. The stories within are surreal representations of what it feels like to make, view, and experience art. A well-written story is its own form of art. These stories were masterpieces. Two of my absolute favorite stories in the collection pack a wealth of character development, tradition, and emotion into a few short pages and end on a haunting note – The Lament of San Miguel by Mary Rajotte, and Breath, Blow, Burn by Ai Jiang.
– Theresa
Stunning collection of art themed horror. Each exhibit will blow you away with it’s simplicity and it’s complexity of combining various forms of art with horror. It felt to me that each author was well versed in the art form they wrote about. If I had to pick a favorite, it would have to be Josie. Not only was it a creative story, but the sense of dread the main character experienced was palpable.
– DA Latham
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