My first encounter with the Icelandic, child eating troll Gryla was in 2010 when I wrote a poem about her. The second encounter was a year later, on a street in Akureyri, a city in northern Iceland. She was there with her husband Leppaludi. While most people think she's quite the hideous monster, I found… Continue reading Art Of Gryla
Since I was small, I've been fascinated with the idea of a demonic black hound, the size of a yearling calf with eyes the colour of hell fire, haunting the dark, lonely moors and lanes of England. Also, the fact it's a legend most commonly associated with my home county of Yorkshire is something that… Continue reading Art Of The Barghest
The other day when I was talking on Facebook about my obsession with the Wendigo, a friend from Baffin Island mentioned to me the Inuit myth of Qalupalik. (Since I learned how to pronounce Qalupalik I haven't been able to stop saying it to myself! It's such a wonderful word to say aloud.) The Qalupalik… Continue reading Art Of The Qalupalik
I've been meaning to make a post about the work of Polish artist and graphic designer Dawid Planeta for ages, but, funnily (?) enough, my depression has prevented me from doing so. My mood is one of the reasons why this blog was cold and quiet for so damn long - I didn't have the… Continue reading Depression As Gigantic Beasts : The Art Of Dawid Planeta
I have Swedish artist Tomarum AKA Christine Linde to thank for today's Sound Of The Day, as she tagged the musician Helga in a recent post on Instagram. I couldn't resist tapping into Google and going down the dark path to find Helga's Bandcamp page, as I had a feeling I would discover something really… Continue reading Sound Of The Day : Helga
I've long been obsessed with the terrifying Algonquian folkloric creature the Wendigo. Also spelled Wìdjigò, Windigo or Wetiko, Wendigo is said to mean 'the evil spirit that devours mankind.' This flesh-eating spirit of the north features in dozens of works of fine literature, though possibly the most chilling is its appearance in Stephen King's book… Continue reading Art Of The Wendigo
What's this now? A new post? Yes folks, I'm as surprised as you, but here we are. Before I treat (?) you to today's sound(s), I want to raise a cup of tea to Wyrd Words & Effigies sixth year floating in the blogosphere. Seventy-two full moons ago, I wrote the very first of the… Continue reading Sound(s) Of The Day : Cave Mouth
Wyrd Words & Effigies Magazine Issue 2 is on the way. To get an idea of what the magazine is all about, have a watch of the promo video for the first issue, then download the magazine for free. The first issue's theme of death and dying should satisfy your most morbid curiosities.This is visual… Continue reading Visual Subsistence For Dark Souls
If I set up a Kickstarter project to do a print run of Issue One of Wyrd Words And Effigies whose support do I have?
Celebrating the strange and the shadowy, the damned and unseen 