It’s release day for the anthology And One Day We Will Die: Strange Stories Inspired By The Music Of Neutral Milk Hotel, featuring my contribution “The Clown King In Yellow.“
Check out this cover by Chris Bilheimer, the same artist who did the album cover art for Neutral Milk Hotel’s “In The Aeroplane Over The Sea” – it’s absolutely perfect!
Each featured author selected one song from the band as inspiration for their story. I chose the instrumental song “The Fool” because it’s always brought to mind mental images of a bizarre, dirge-like waltz. I’d also had a story about a funeral scratching around in the walls of my brain asking to be written for a few years, so it seemed like a good opportunity to excavate the vermin.
We open with an estranged brother arriving at their oldest brother’s funeral, which is a masquerade in a decrepit church. Masks are provided for all family and friends who may have forgotten to bring their own. In fact, masks are mandatory. You won’t get in without one. A very normal family!
Here’s editor and publisher Patrick Barb’s description of the book:
“Celebrate the Strangeness of Being Anything at All: Spotlighting the bizarrely beautiful and beautifully bizarre music and lyrics of indie folk rock band Neutral Milk Hotel, And One Day We Will Die features 22 short stories from the realms of weird, phantasmagoric, and speculative fiction, all inspired by the cult classic songs written and performed by Jeff Mangum and company. From alternate histories where happy endings are allowed and mythological re-imaginings that center love over destruction to awe-inspiring contemplations of the potential in the present and dark and unfathomable future visions, all featured authors selected one song from the beloved Neutral Milk Hotel songbook to use as a springboard for their tales.”
I hope you’ll check out And One Day We Will Die: Strange Stories Inspired By The Music Of Neutral Milk Hotel, featuring my contribution “The Clown King In Yellow“
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Horrorsong 