NOTES ON THE ARTISTS Bob Callahan writes "The Dark Hotel." The concept was his in the first place. He is the editor of "The New Comics Anthology," and his many books include "Who Shot JFK: A Guide to the Major Conspiracy Theories." Within hours after NYPD forensics had finished its work and the Chelsea Hotel had opened it up for rent again, he once found himself staying in the same room where Sid Vicious had just taken his own life. Nothing has been the same for him since.
Spain Rodriguez draws "The Dark Hotel" and its employees. Spain also drew "The Manchurian Experiment" story. With Robert Crumb, S. Clay Wilson, Robert Williams and Victor Moscoso, Spain is one of the creators and publishers of the original Zap Comics magazine. He has recently completed a 144-page adaptation of William Lindsay Gresham's "Nightmare Alley" for Avon Paperback's Neon Lit graphic crime novel series. Two important Spain collections are available from Fanatagraphics.
Justin Green drew and helped to adapt "At the Pinnacle," a selection from the novel "Two Girls, Fat and Thin" by Mary Gaitskill. Green is the author of one of the true masterpieces of the underground comics movement, "Binky Brown Meets the Blessed Virgin Mary." Both "Binky" and a
collection of Green's short fictions are available from Last Gasp Comics.
Paul Mavrides has a long history of lying through his teeth when it comes to providing detail for biographical blurbs. What we do know about this strange Greek man is that he collaborated for many years with Gilbert Shelton writing and drawing "The Adventures of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers" and he must shoulder more than a small share of the blame for attempting to launch a number of weird religious movements. A page featuring some of his better art can be viewed at Paul Mavrides. Mavrides created the art for
"The Night Sky" for this first edition of "The Dark Hotel."
Special thanks to Patrick Corcoran for colorizing the Dark Hotel entrance, registration and history panels.
NOTES ON THE STORIES
The Manchurian Experiment
For more information on the CIA and mind control, see "The Search for the Manchurian Candidate" by John Marks. The authors have relied on Mr. Marks' account for all of the factual details to be found in this true-crime CIA fable. William Sternelli and Virginia Gresham are fictional characters. Any resemblance to actual characters, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
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At the Pinnacle
"At the Pinnacle" is adapted from part one of Mary Gaitskill's novel "Two Girls, Fat & Thin." Thanks to Mary for allowing us to play with her writings. Gaitskill has herself recently completed a dark novel adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's "Laughter in the Dark," forthcoming from Avon Books in Bob Callahan's Neon Lit graphic crime novel series.
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The Night Sky
"The Night Sky" is an imaginary explanation of William S. Burroughs' final written words. Thanks to Penguin Books for allowing us to quote from "The Letters of William S. Burroughs 1945-1959," edited and with an introduction by Oliver Harris (Penguin Books: New York, 1993). Thanks as well to Dr. Nancy McNelly of Boston University for translating Burroughs' words into actual Mayan hieroglyphs. Please visit Dr. McNelly's fascinating Mayan glyph site Rabbit in the Moon.
This final Burrough's diary entry was widely published in news accounts at
the time of his death. The entry was also published on a funeral card
handed out to the two hundred or so souls who attended the funeral back in
Kansas.
In translating this entry into Mayan glyphs, Doctor Nancy McNelly came up
with "love conquers pain" as its closest possible Mayan equivalent. Dr.
McNelly also noted that a thoroughly literal translation of the entry could
also be read as "Love stomps on your heart as if it were an insect."
Touch Down! Instinctively, we knew Mr. Burroughs would have approved.
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