"What are you complaining about, J? You're getting paid, aren't you?" That was Derrick's go-to whenever I started to moan about something - a bad review, a crap project, an editor I wanted to punch, that sort of thing. He knew just when to deliver that line, too. Just as I was building steam and … Continue reading Untold Stories
Men From the Ministry
Today's entry in the Royal Occultist Compendium delves into the bureaucratic wrangling of the Ministry of Esoteric Observation and Containment. The Ministry of Esoteric Observation and Containment was formed in 1907, following the disappearance of Edwin Drood, the then Royal Occultist. Drood, a firm believer in the rational sciences and the observation, classification and regulation … Continue reading Men From the Ministry
Twice As Many Stars
Tomorrow when the farm boys find this freak of nature, they will wrap his body in newspaper and carry him to the museum.- Laura Gilpin, "Two-Headed Calf" I've got a handful of favourite poems. Most of them are weird or grotesque in some way, but beautiful nevertheless. In fact, their beauty is inextricable from their … Continue reading Twice As Many Stars
Nothing for Nothing
It's in the trees! It's coming!- Professor Harrington Magic always has a price - and someone must pay it. While Julian Karswell never uses those exact words in the 1957's Night of the Demon, they are nonetheless at the heart of the film. Directed by Jacques Tourneur, starring Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, and Niall MacGinnis, … Continue reading Nothing for Nothing
Dr. Voronoff of Wych Street
Let's start the week off right with a few more odds and sods from my commonplace books. This time, its all about non-existent streets, monkey testicles and lost plays. Wych Street. Decrepit Elizabethan housing, projecting wooden jetties, and the mysterious 'bookstalls of Wych Street'. Demolished in 1901, but...what if? I think this one stuck in … Continue reading Dr. Voronoff of Wych Street
The Cavalier Occultist
Today's entry in the Royal Occultist Compendium takes a look at one of the earliest holders of the office - Prince Rupert of the Rhine, 1st Earl of Holderness, Duke of Bavaria, soldier, admiral, scientist, slave-trader and sportsman. Rupert was the holder of the offices of Royal Occultist during the turbulent period of history known … Continue reading The Cavalier Occultist
The Phantom Fighter
“Tomorrow is another day, and who knows what new task lies before us?”- Jules de Grandin ‘He was...rather under medium height, but with military erectness of carriage that made him seem several inches taller than he actually was. His light blue eyes were small and exceedingly deep set and would have been humorous had it … Continue reading The Phantom Fighter
Fierce, Cruel and Deadly
...expect something that's fiercer, more cruel and deadly than anything that ever walked the earth.- Professor Townsend A severely deformed man stumbles through the desert. Falls. Dies. But that is only the beginning, as the tiny Arizona town of Desert Rock is soon besieged by a horror unlike any other. So begins the 1955 big … Continue reading Fierce, Cruel and Deadly
The Brazen Head of Frankenstein
In lieu of real content, have a few random assortments from my commonplace book. Automatons, Italian cinema and a grimoire. All the ingredients for an interesting weekend. Brazen heads. Mechanical or magical automaton. Answers any question put to it, albeit in a 'yes or no' sort of way. Connected to alchemy and occultism. Also, 'the … Continue reading The Brazen Head of Frankenstein
The Black Pharaoh
Permit not thou to come nigh unto me him that would attack me in the House of Darkness.-Book of Dead Nephren Ka. The name of an old horror from a forgotten time. Little is known of the being known as the Black Pharaoh. Scattered references in ancient writings were all that remained to mark the … Continue reading The Black Pharaoh
