Please support my new project Fires In The North. It was a common belief in Native American culture that the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) were the reflections of huge fires in the distant North. ‘Fires In The North’ is an on-line magazine which celebrates the North through multiple creative channels. Alongside the magazine, there… Continue reading Fires In The North
When I first heard about The City Fox literary e-zine, I felt my face work its way into that special Joker-esque grin I do when something excites me. ‘...specializing in the publication of dark, flora and fauna inspired poetry, prose and artwork....’ Oh yes, oh yes! I thought it would be interesting to hear… Continue reading Review & Interview: The City Fox Literary E-Zine
‘Most people chose to sleep when daylight faded.’ I seem to recall owning a mass of these Time-Life books as a child, but where they’ve disappeared to is sadly another story. The book I am writing about here was a gift a couple of years back, and came from one of the finest bookshops in… Continue reading The Enchanted World:Night Creatures – Book Review
I first encountered Scott Bradfield in The Mammoth Book of Wolf Men, with his incredible short story The Dream of the Wolf. I purchased his short story collection almost immediately, greedy for more of his dark and sinister writing. The cover of my copy is not electrifying. I don’t know if there was a wraparound… Continue reading Dream Of The Wolf By Scott Bradfield – Book Review
‘Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers at night may become a wolf when the wolf-bane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.’ - Ancient gypsy saying. When I was first developing the idea of setting up Wyrd Words & Effigies as a blog, one of my main objectives… Continue reading A Review Of Werewolves: The Occult Truth By Konstantinos
‘There is something unnerving about people who can’t be located dead or alive. They upset our sense of space – surely the missing ones have to be somewhere, but where?’ – Margaret Atwood. Whenever I visit the library, I make a beeline for the travel section, and crouch down to inspect the lowest… Continue reading A Review Of Frozen In Time: The Fate Of The Franklin Expedition by Owen Beattie & John Geiger
‘Up here a man becomes aware of things that he can’t perceive further south.’ I read most of Michelle Paver’s Chronicles of Ancient Darkness, but got bored after a while. The series started off great, but then they got a bit, well, ugh. I reckon that’s why it’s taken me a while to pick this… Continue reading A Review of Dark Matter by Michelle Paver
Giving a voice to the modern heathen household I came across this fantastic, bi-annual, print publication after a long, long search through other, mostly mediocre journals and blogs, and what a find. I’m so glad I persisted. It’s like when a walk on the beach in the rain turns into a really special occasion. When… Continue reading Review of Hex Magazine (Issue 1)
When The Ritual arrived, I spent a good five minutes admiring the cover art of an ancient Scandinavian forest. It has a constricted, sinister feel to it, achieved through multiple layering and ‘ancient green’ colouring. It's a place humans avoid, a primordial place best left alone, to coil and knot in and around itself. I… Continue reading The Ritual by Adam Nevill – Book Review
Celebrating the strange and the shadowy, the damned and unseen 