Dennis Latham: Life, Fiction, and the Pursuit of Madness

The end of an era? New Year's Resolutions This year I'm once again on New Years...giving up skydiving, rock climbing, any Alfredo sauce, alcohol, watching all pro football, peeing outside, and most gambling. It's a tough call. And since I'm a man, keeping my hand away from my crotch. (Back in the 50s that's all we had to play with most of the time.)  Tough habits to break.

A typical Sunnyvale resident back in the days I spent there. He never attended groups because he would sit on his own face. Written at Sunnyvale Mental Rehab in Fermonga, Ohio. A Short Excerpt From A Book You'll Never Read Chapter 41 Vito Nazarini and Monk Spitzanelli watched as the man they were supposed to kill stepped from a parked car. In a moment, they were at his side. "Hey, Frankie," Vito said to the victim. "Big Elmo says dat you is supposed to take a ride wit us, ha-ha." Frankie Garbaroni knew his executioners well, and though trapped with two ice picks jabbing his back, he had a plan. "Big Elmo who?" Frankie said. Vito and Monk looked at each other, and Frankie knew their limited third grade education might save his life. "Frankie, you know who it is," Monk said. "Big Elmo Maraconzon, uh, Maracuzzo, uh, you tella him, Vito." "Hell, Monk, I can't a pronounce dat nam

New for handgunners: Extend your pistol accuracy with the Latham bipod The Latham Bipod Christmas Special You may have heard about it, but probably not because most people wouldn't dream of owning a bipod for their pistol. But marksman Dennis Latham has the answer with this general purpose fold up bipod that slips easily in your pocket or on a belt loop. In the picture above, Cecil Pettigrew, is seen holding a derringer equipped with the Latham bipod system. "I just clamp that sucker on there and have increased my effective range from eight feet to up to twelve feet. It's enough to save your life in a bad situation like a bar fight or church Bingo." Hardcore critics argue that the concept of a bipod on a derringer is ridiculous, and by the time a right handed shooter put it in place and balanced the bipod on the left forearm (from Latham instruction manual), the shooter would probably already be shot by the bad guy. Plus, it looks like a cheap rifle bip

As soon as I find the missing manuscript, I'll write some more on the tales of Guilford. But until then, a Guilford Santa may be coming your way. From my King of Guilford...or is it fiction? Hire a Guilford Santa This Year...or maybe not.

This picture makes about as much sense as the logic behind this story. Give Us Your Muskets Last Night on Fox News I saw a guy who represented some anti-gun group led by Gabby Gifford. They want to ban muzzle-loaders as weapons of mass destruction. They claim that equipping a muzzle-loader with a silencer will make someone able to become a mass shooter. They don't care that a silencer does not completely muffle a gunshot or doesn't make sense to put a silencer on a powder flintlock. They don't care that it is a single shot cap and ball weapon. They don't care or understand that it takes at least a minute or two between each shot to rig a muzzle-loader to fire again, making it the least likely to be a weapon of any kind of mass destruction. All they care about is trying to regulate the deadly muzzle-loader because it fires a .50 caliber ball. Next they will ban any mention of the Revolutionary War in schools as evil because of muskets. I can see it no

    Bizarre stories from the alternative reality. © Copyright 2000 by Dennis Latham From the story collection Sudden Victims 2008 Originally published in Gothic.net   Squeeze After the court hearing, Gina seemed on edge during the ride to dinner. She had changed during our six-month separation. The gray streaks had been dyed black, and she wore bright red lipstick. A green dress, cinched tight at the waist by a thin green belt, accented her weight loss and made her eyes bright emeralds. "You look a lot younger."             She stared out the passenger window. "So do you, Michael."             "Younger?"             "Full of yourself." She glanced at me before turning away.             "Thanks. I guess your new lover bends to your every need."           I realized then how much she had wanted out. The hurt punched my chest. It would be easy to hate her, but I keep such emotion locked up, especia

The Haunted Dining Room. The Spirits On Vacation Nothing new to report this week. All the spirits in our house have been quiet for weeks. They do that at times, and just when we think they are gone they will show up again. Our dining room is like a train station for the other side. It fills up at times, and then empties out for awhile.  I wake up early, but I never get up between 3 and 4 am if I can help it. I believe there is more activity during this time. Everything with ghosts seems to happen around the number 3. Has to do with the Holy Trinity. I believe it. We have had too much going on here over the years to deny it.

After Marine Corps Boot Camp and ITR (me on left, my sister, and my adopted brother Little Joe). On leave (age 20) right before we went to Vietnam in 1967. We survived, but we believed back then we would probably die in Vietnam. Kill, Kill, Kill I had been in boot camp at San Diego for probably six weeks. I'm not quite sure how long because the constant torment days ran into each other and one was like the next. I had even gotten a Dear John letter from my girlfriend about the third week into boot camp and I just shrugged and tossed it. I was in enough trouble just trying to deal with boot camp. I couldn't worry about what might be my last relationship before getting buffed or shot up in a war.  We were running for miles close to dusk, as we usually did. I hated running. The DI would count cadence by chanting and making us answer or repeat what he said. That was a constant.  His favorite was the "What are we going to do to the Viet Cong?" We would y

After 70 years, each person should be allowed to make some observations on life and current events. Seventy doesn't seem that old, but I've reached the point where I know more dead people than I do live people. The belief for men is that if you make it out of the 50s, you have a good chance of reaching 80 or beyond. That remains to be seen. I also did some quotes at age 60. A few remain the same. In case I don't make it anywhere close to my century mark, here are a few of my quotes about life and current events taken from my vast experience of having survived (as the Indians would say) 70 snows. I feel like an old Indian Chief in many ways. I can imagine how the old chiefs felt giving advice to young warriors to avoid their coming destruction at the hands of foreign invaders. The young people listen and nod and think it never could happen, just before they run off to their doom. On Credit Cards "When people used to ask me if I worried about credit card the

BLT 1/3 USMC 1967 Vietnam Boot Camp Hell I recently saw a video of what I assume was the current Marine Corps Boot Camp. It mentioned recruits reporting any abuse right away and the DI was trying to be tough (and he did sound tough to an extent), but underneath it all you could tell the old Corps was gone in the civilian desire (political desire by people who never served) to make things easier and less traumatic for the boots. They never mentioned abuse to us in 1966 because we were abused 24/7. I'm an old Corps Hollywood Marine (that's an inside Marine joke about the difference between boot camp in Parris Island or San Diego.) The boots in Parris Island claimed they had it rougher because they had swamps. The Hollywood Marines had mountains. I would rather walk in water than climb mountains so I disagree. I entered the Marine Corps on August 10, 1966. Marines had been in Vietnam for over a year. All of us would probably go to Nam. For some of us it woul

A CIA operative managed to smuggle this diagram South. Top Secret Diagram Smuggled out of North Korea through the South last week, this CIA diagram shows a Top Secret view of the North Korean missile launcher system. Each launcher uses two giant, special order, Chinese rubber bands and 10,000 peasants to pull back the rubber bands for the launch.  The North Koreans are estimated to have 50 launchers, but can't get enough giant rubber bands and stable missiles to launch an attack.   (The rubber bands are so huge that on test launches a noise like twang-boing-g-g can be heard for several hundred miles.)

Diet Soda Killer? I've seen two articles this morning on how bad a diet soda is for you. You have to be shitting me. All along they say you shouldn't have sugary drinks and now they are saying diet soda causes strokes and dementia...but when all the factors like smoking, age, weight, current medical problems, and health are figured in...the figures don't mean anything and are inconclusive. So in the end it's all bullcrap, probably promoted by the sugary drink manufacturers an d the sugar growers. They should be concentrating on the effects of mixing prescriptions and the many ingredients in the flu shots they now keep trying to push on people, who in nine out of ten cases get the flu anyway. Seems to me they would cause dementia and strokes more than any ingredient in diet soda. At age 70, I have a case of Type 2 diabetes, which they say is from exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. I was exposed to it...but I never got diabetes until I starte

Talk of Civil War in America There is always talk of Civil War in America. I just want to know if we all have to dress like we're in Road Warrior or a Goth Band to participate? What if you  don't live near a desert so you can drive around without purpose? Will the electric stay on so everyone can raid grocery and drug stores to grab stuff they don't need? If you don't have any weapons will a big stick or a ball bat or a knife really help? Can you reason with people who want to kill you and raid and pillage? Will little kids all have to dress like cavemen? How can you tell who is on your side? Will everyone just wear a blue or red Scream face? Will people still report to work if they have a job or will they have "closed for anarchy days". Will anything remain open? Since most families are divided now, will people shoot their own relatives over politics? What happens when there are no longer cell phones, internet, cable, and toilet paper? Wh

(I've done an update to keep this story in the public eye. Ohio has just released a list of what will probably end up being close to 2000 unsolved homicides. Southwestern Ohio has at least 500 crimes on that list. There had been no activity on this story since Ohio detectives came to see me in 2009 and asked me about my theory. I don't know if they followed up on what I told them, but a statement in the comment section makes me believe someone knows more about the crime than what has been released to the public by police.) At home, George Gibson, age 47, is found dead inside the tiny first floor bathroom, as if trying to escape his killer. A veterinary pathologist and a twelve year employee at Proctor and Gamble, he appeared to be caught by surprise while at the kitchen table and tried to escape into the bathroom. Gibson was shot nine times, seven small caliber bullets to the head and two to the chest. One of his three pet Bernese mountain dogs was shot to death on the f

PEAF Watch Out  (Update on the world of domestic intelligence. I reported on this last year but the project failed to receive budget funding. This time it should go into effect so watch out.) New Terror Alert Takes Effect In March 2017  After Delay In March 2016 Concerned that terrorists may abandon suicide vests, an alert was issued today under the heading PEAF for all United States public transportation. PEAF stands for Plastic Explosive Anus Filler . Most people are unaware that Homeland Security agents investigate possible instances of any terrorist activity involving an explosive packed anus. The new screening procedure was supposed to have taken place March 1, 2016 but was stalled due to funding. It is now part of the new business tax break law that requires the President’s signature. Such explosives are easily made using potassium chlorate and petroleum jelly. Potassium chlorate can be retrieved from common household matches and mixed with Vaselin