Weird Tales

As serendipity would have it, New York artist Viktor Koen, who provided the fantastic biomechanical insect-man cover to the October issue of Weird Tales, has curated a new exhibit of artwork inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu.” The show goes up this Fri., Nov. 21 — with an opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tues., Nov. 25 — at the Visual Arts Gallery in Chelsea.

Originally aired on BBC Radio in 2006, “Weird Tales: The Strange Life of H.P. Lovecraft” features contributions from Neil Gaiman, S.T. Joshi, Kelly Link, Peter Straub, China Mieville and others. The show explores the legendary WT author’s work and biography, exploring his fundamental invention that changed the course of 20th-century literature: cosmic horror, the idea that life is incomprehensible to human minds and that the universe is fundamentally alien.

Feeling thirsty in both mind and body? WT contributor Jeff VanderMeer just completed a two-part feature on books and beer at Amazon’s Omnivoracious blog, asking a number of prominent authors — including cutting-edge fantasists Elizabeth Hand, Zoran Zivkovic, and Ekaterina Sedia, not to mention hot new ghost-story novelist Lauren Groff — what beer or beers would go best with their book. Read, drink, be merry!