We’re less than three weeks out from Christmas. On the off-chance that some DMR readers have a few drachmas and ducats to spare, I thought I’d rectify some deficiencies in my previous ‘Yuletide 2021’ post. When I posted “Gifts for Yuletide 2021”, I was under some serious temporal constraints. That blog entry needed to go up when it did and that’s what happened. However, there were plenty of worthies left out—as I admitted at the end of it. I’ve decided that those omissions shall not stand, so here’s the supplemental post. I hope justice is more fully served.

We should begin with the usual suspects: those other small publishers who are fighting the good fight, getting pulp-style SFF/horror/adventure/whatnot out there in today's funophobic market. As DMR's Dread Editor, D.M. Ritzlin has said many times, "There's room for everybody".

I've known Howard Andrew Jones personally for over fifteen years. He's a talented author and editor--not the most common combination. When he hooked up with Goodman Games to publish Tales from the Magician's Skull in 2018, that grabbed my attention. They've since published tales of S&S from veteran stalwarts like Adrian Cole, John C. Hocking and C.L. Werner. The Mag’s Skull output has been consistently good and the Kickstarter for #7 just finished up, if I'm not mistaken. In addition, for those DMR Readers who do tabletop RPGs, Goodman Games is quite possibly the best OSR gaming company out there.

Cirsova was in the forefront of the Pulp Revolution/Revival/call-it-whatcha-will. Editor/publisher, P. Alexander, from his bunker in Darkest Arkansas, has been searching out some of the ablest pulpish scriveners in the game since 2016... Schuyler Hernstrom not least among them. Cirsova has also been reprinting some classic pulp SF adventure. Check 'em out here.

StoryHack rounds out the triumvirate. Editor/publisher Bryce Beattie is a true student of the Pulp Era, doing weekly podcasts on forgotten classics. Check out his narration on Rocklynne's "The Empress of Mars" here. That said, Bryce regularly features some of the best new pulp-style authors pounding a keyboard in his StoryHack magazine. Authors like David J. West, Jon Mollison, Alexandru Constantine, Paul R. McNamee and Stanley W. Wagenaar. I've been a reader since #0. While it doesn't affect the quality of the prose one way or the other, I've always thought that Bryce has had the consistently best covers of any of the new Pulp SFF mags out there.

I might as well get some Robert E. Howard in here. Jason M. Waltz published Robert E. Howard Changed My Life this year. I don’t mention this because I have a chapter in it. I mention it because there are other chapters by Michael Moorcock, Keith Taylor, Roy Thomas and Adrian Cole. The chapter by Charles R. Saunders just might’ve been the last thing he ever wrote. Plus, the profits go to Project Pride.

I should also point out that Rogue Blades’ The Lost Empire of Sol is a fun collection of planetary/interplanetary adventure tales.

For the Lovecraftians--of a scholarly bent--on your Yuletide scroll, I absolutely must recommend John D. Haefele's Lovecraft: The Great Tales. I review it here. While you're at it, you might as well purchase JDH's A Look Behind the Derleth Mythos, which I review here. The two tomes really do complement each other.

If you're still in a Lovecraftian kinda mood, I strongly suggest checking out the books of David Haden. He's an eclectic, multi-faceted scholar and his books on HPL demonstrate that. His publications on sundry other esoteric topics are also worthy. If nothing else, check out his blog, Tentaclii. Topics can swing from HPL's rambles 'round Providence to sword-and-sorcery to arcane Victorian scientific theories from one post to another. It should be noted that Wordpress canceled David for still-unrevealed violations, which necessitated a move to his new URL in October. A Fall-clean for the Witch-Queen, as it were. Mr. Haden can sincerely use any support you send his way.

For over a decade, the fine folks at Pegana Press have been crafting beautiful, hand-made books to showcase forgotten gems of Lord Dunsany, Clark Ashton Smith and other luminaries of the weird. If you've been blessed with bounty this year, consider purchasing one of their treasures.

Blood on the Blade has been out now for about a week. Hot off the press and crammed full of S&S goodness from the likes of Adrian Cole, Cliff Biggers and D.M. Ritzlin. Just like Tales from the Magician’s Skull, this is another sign that sword-and-sorcery is back. People are buying S&S—and small publishers are meeting that demand.

Finally, I must mention Oldstyle Tales Press. M. Grant Kellermeyer has been publishing collections of the best weird tales from the Victorian and Edwardian eras since 2013. Anyone who has read his blog knows of his insight regarding those works. I lost all of my Poe in the Flood of 2012. The one book I chose to replace it was the OTP Poe collection. I also like Kellermeyer's atmospheric illos for each book. If you're looking to build a dead-tree collection of classic horror, OTP is a good place to start.

Well, that should finally wrap up my suggestions for 2021. What unites all the pulpsters and the scholars in my list is their sincere and passionate love for the Good Stuff. The classic fiction--and new fiction inspired by those classics--that TradPub basically doesn't care about anymore. Spend wisely and well.