Feed the Flames

Summer burns hot, cleansing the land with her hungry fires.  Where only blackened cinders remain, new life has room to grow.   Dragons roam the night, and blacken the stars.  Best run for cover...

This fairy was made for someone's birthday.  
She comes but once a year to remind you of your mortality.

Dordji has discovered a few new species, horrifying and wondrous.  Not all are as gentle as the fae.  Come and view them, but don't stick your fingers through the cage.  They still need to be fed.  See more beasts of the abyss on the Magar-Art tumblr.  

           Cool off in the creek.  Don't you wish your mind was this clear?

Caleb Beechem has been busy this summer, visiting Crater Lake in Oregon and exploring a few other places.  His photos immerse the viewer in the wide world outside, and will help inspire your own adventures.  Caleb has also found a willing in subject with what looks to be a Fox Squirrel.  Down, boy...

                                        Say hello to Hello Mona

American Fantastic welcomes Lexington street-artist Hello Mona.  Hello Mona combines images from classic art and modern pop culture to create their own form of mash-up.  From Ancient Greece to the Mushroom Kingdom, their influences include cartoons, video games, and Renaissance Art.  Read our interview with Hello Mona, and check out their own space on the interwebz at Hello Mona's website and webstore.  You can see Hello Mona on August 27th in Lexington at the Bread Box studio for 1UP, an art show focused on video games.  Admission is 100 gold coins or rings, good for one special mushroom.

John Beechem has been on the airwaves with episode two of the American Fantastic Radio Hour on ARTxFM, featuring friend and poet Selena McCracken.  

Listen to John read "Delusions of Grandeur", Selena read "Voltairine", and hear them discuss the French Revolution, Manic Depression, Nature goddesses, and other fine subjects.  Featuring music by Daft Punk, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Jamie XX, and Jim James, this show will open your mind and funk it up.  

You can also read about the fascinating world of Wendy's employee training videos, an indie video game inspired by The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers called Chroma Squad and other cultural ephemera at A Fantastic Pop! (mirrored on blogger).  Learn about things that don't matter, and have fun doing it.  

John will return to fiction this Fall with his Halloween short story "Shattered".  You can hear the introduction on the American Fantastic Radio Hour, and read the complete story in October.  In the tradition of shows like The Twilight Zone and Black Mirror "Shattered" will warp your perceptions of the seemingly familiar.  

Welcome back to American Fantastic.  Submit original content to americanfantastic@gmail.com.  Remember, when reality becomes a burden, enjoy a sojourn into the fantastic...