By Darkness Influenced
By KOTAH aka Ron Dayton
More Food For Your Bizarre Mood
For those who enjoyed Ron Dayton’s HIT “A Darker Light” we present this sequel, “By Darkness Influenced.”
Over 120 pages of bizarre poems, stories, effects and more. Bizarre magic is NOT for every audience nor for every performer, but every performer WILL benefit from learning how to take simple methods, sometimes only hinted at- wrap them in a dramatic or disturbing story, and make them in to something WONDERFUL. Some food for though, some food for performance, and some, well- just down right disturbing!
By Darkness Influenced features Magick stories, poems and effects that range from necrophiliac paranoids who are killed by giant spiders, to paper butterflies that flap to life in a flash of fire. Poems about children who turn parents into living Mister Potato Heads, to clever card tricks used to illustrate a story of an old western shootout! From the Beautiful to the disgusting… it’s all here!
Download a FREE PDF sample here.
You may also want to check out the Dayton Bizarre Collection.
$35.00
By Darkness Influenced $35
One Format Available: 8.5 X 11 Softcover, 120 Pages, Perfect Bound, book.
Order By Darkness Influenced $35
Here is a Recent Review From Oracle Magazine
Steven King, Edgar Allen Poe, Lovecraft, Kotah. As I read through BY DARKNESS INFLUENCED, by Ronald Dayton (a.k.a. Kotah), published by Leaping Lizards, I couldn’t help thinking of those other masters of the macabre. I have known Ron Dayton for many years. He wrote a fine column for M-U-M magazine during my tenure as editor, and I made sure to include him in my final issue last December. The work in this handsome soft-cover book of 121 pages is very good and frequently shows Ron’s talent as a poet as well as a weaver of tales. Much of it is dark, often with a touch of horror, which makes it quite suitable for those who favor the bizarre side of storytelling magic. However, there are several items that are light enough to suit the less squeamish of us.
A story about two cowboys, a shoot-out, a card with a bullet hole in the middle. A paper buterfly that changes in a flash (a victim of the Enola Gay) not to cinders, but to a real butterfly (or something close). An account of death – and your touch on a spectator’s arm is icy cold! A pocket watch changes to a purple heart in honor of the death of a loved on in the service. A coil of rope – hangman’s tool or safety line? The eerie story of dropping into the depths of an underground cavern only to have the rope disintegrate using a Dr. Sawa method. Rupert’s Pearls, tears at Otto’s death. Over 50 stories are contained in this book, your own collection of Hitchcock and SF and Horror in short and short-short story form. If nothing more, read them for pure enjoyment.
Ron’s poetry sometimes flits in and out of his narratives, especially in the front part of the book – a few lines here and there, often near the end of a story. This key I’m told fits a lock in the door of an iron cell which holds a man named Manson, a minion of hell. What if the ring had lied to us and made a deal with the key, allowing it to fall thus setting Charlie free?
At other times we find a thought, or theme, expressed through 15 – 20 lines, sonnet-like, without any suggestion of a trick to be used with them, unless added by the editors.
Things believed as children become our very own Demons that have grown, just as we have grown.
I am amazed and delighted at the depth and breadth of Ron Dayton’s thinking in several of these items. In the best tradition of early 20th century poetry he weaves allusions into his writing from little known folk legends as well as religious and historical references, recollections for some of us, enlightenments for others, that add fullness to his work.
Most of the stories further into the book are less poetic and more narrative, with perhaps 500 – 1000 words that describe an incident, a set of feelings, a dream, a possibility accompanied by suggestions for a magical happening to enhance the story.
Most of his items are short, 700 – 1000 words not counting his suggested methods. This is perfect for storytelling magic, in our opinion, since the powerful imagery is quickly followed by an illustrative effect for maximum impact. As in much of good bizarre magic, the methods are simple but cloaked in the invisibility of presentation. The fact is, the description of method is sparse. We get more a sense of how to accomplish the effect than instructions for accomplishing the effect. This is not really a problem, for Ron’s instincts are good and the suggested methods hold considerable promise. The editors of the book, R.T. Stark and Julie Sobanski, add still more ideas to many of the effects.
How would I use these? I would pick out five routines, collect some nifty props to enhance the stories, pack them all in a special box, and package them as “an evening spent with some friends of mine.” Yes, I would write a script, incorporating Ron’s wonderful stories and poetry and writing my own transitions from one routine to the next. Turn down the lights, poke the log a time or two to send the sparks flying, and begin…
