A collection of two novellas, THE VARVAROS ASCENSIONS is an astonishing, intoxicating, heavy slab of Weird and Fantastic Literature. The book's feverish artwork is by the amazing Valin Mattheis. An obscure bibliographic reference to "The Arch: Conjecture of Cities" leads a student of Urban Planning on an obsessive search, resulting in the discovery that at the root of all cities are people; mostly oblivious to the part they play. "The Ivory Tower" links the chains between the deep history of mankind's emergence from the bowels of the earth and its reaching up into the cosmic void. Both works explore the question: does Man create civilization, or does civilization create man? A black curse, an endless wound and an invocation of Nihil for all clandestine dreamers. Hail, hail the Nightmare! exoccidente@gmail.com