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Founding editor at Automatism Press since 1993.
Morbid Curiosity magazine
Because she believes that there's nothing more important (or
socially dangerous) than human curiosity, Loren created Morbid Curiosity
magazine in 1997. The final issue came out in May 2006.
In its 10 issues, Morbid Curiosity magazine collected 310 survivor
narratives about encounters with the unsavory, unwise, unorthodox, or
unusual: all the dark elements that make life worth living. Contributors
probed every facet of homicide and birth, illicit substances and what
passes for modern healthcare, graveyards, natural disasters, UFOs,
sexuality, humanity's inclinations toward violence, and ever so much
more. They wandered from Auschwitz to Malaysia, from Hiroshima to
Mexico. Through it all, Morbid Curiosity questioned authority, consensus
reality, and accepted wisdom. Its tongue was often firmly in cheek.
Contributors included Simon Wood, Brian Hodge, Nancy Kilpatrick, Charlee Jacob, Michael Arnzen, Ray Garton, Trey Barker, Brian Keene, John Everson, Alan M. Clark, and others at the cutting edge of horror, speculative fiction, and mystery -- except that, in Morbid Curiosity, the horror stories they related were all true.
"This is a national tragedy. Our great nation no longer has a magazine dedicated to publishing ordinary people's accounts of the noteworthy events in their lives... For a decade, Morbid Curiosity has been a confessional where Americans revealed their deepest, darkest secrets. The title was no joke: Morbid Curiosity was definitely morbid. It was also frequently gross, disgusting, perverse -- and very funny, if you prefer your humor to come in a decidedly dark hue." -- The Washington Post "Fascinating frontline journalism. If you want to know how people really react to worse-case scenarios without the attendant Springer-style circus punch-ups, here's some seriously good reading." -- Bizarre magazine "This is an absolutely absorbing, amazing, and affecting collection of true stories by some of the best authors I have ever read all in one place." -- Staci Wilson, About.com
Death's Garden
In 1995, Loren edited the book DEATH'S GARDEN: RELATIONSHIPS
WITH CEMETERIES. DEATH'S GARDEN was originally envisioned as a
showcase for Blair Apperson's photos. Before his death, Blair documented
graveyards from the California Gold County to the Bahamas. As Loren
pursued the project, she discovered that everyone's life has been touched
by at least one graveyard. The book blossomed into a collection of over
two dozen essays and more than 200 photographs involving 27
contributors, ranging from confrontationalist Lydia Lunch and ceramics
professor Mary Jo Bole to artist/poet Jane Handel. From Argentina to Wall
Street, cemeteries provided a quiet place for meditation or the perfect site
for a suicide, the best place for a ghostly game or to gossip about dead
celebrities, and the only place to really connect with others in our
tumultuous modern world. Authors considered teenage suicide, the death of
parents and friends, their own mortality, the transience of fame, and the
nature of death itself.
The limited edition of 1000 copies sold out in 18 months.
Press:
"Death's Garden is an anthology of cemetery tours from all around the world, well-photographed, and smart enough to know it's not the where and when of certain burial grounds that intrigues us, it's the why as well. There's a certain joy about Death's Garden which is hard to pin down; the sense that just as no two graveyards are the same, no two burial beliefs are the same, either." -- Alternative Press "The photographers and writers relay their thoughts on the relationship between the living and the dead, creating a feast for the eyes and senses... Death's Garden goes a long way in showing just what these residences of the dead have to offer those of us that are still among the living." -- Maximum Rock N Roll
Lend the Eye a Terrible Aspect
Loren co-edited the book LEND THE EYE A TERRIBLE ASPECT with
Mason Jones. It was published in 1994.
LEND THE EYE, the first book by Automatism Press, collected essays, short fiction, and artwork by Americans and Canadians. Contributors were a who's who of underground music and art, including Jello Biafra (of the Dead Kennedys), Don Bajema (author of BOY IN THE AIR), Stephen Holman (creator of the Nickelodeon cartoon "Life with Loopy"), recording artist Deborah Jaffe (Master/Slave Relationship), performance artist blackhumour, and Mark Lo (publisher of the legendary zine File 13). Mason and Loren wanted to confront North America at the end of the 20th century. Topics spanned bringing Christmas to a crack house, working as a transsexual prostitute, Hollywood's effect on drive-by shootings, facing homophobia from the police, finding one's own ethnic identity, surviving interracial rape, and the human need to form tribes. Press: "An intriguing collection of fiction and essays by some of the more interesting voices from the San Francisco/Los Angeles axis... It stands out as an important collection of observations of our contemporary society." -- Factsheet Five "This is a great collection of essays and fiction about the issues facing North America. I can't even begin to list all of the good things in here. Anybody living in this day and age needs this book." -- Cyber-Psychos AOD "The book analyzes how we, as North Americans, live in arguably the most affluent nations on Earth, but also are the poorest in soul. The contributing writers are all aware of this fact and seek to expose our culture for what it is: a media-controlled fishbowl. The writers in this collection are scared and angry about what they see approaching." -- Maximum Rock N Roll |