Category Archives: books

Blyton and Lovecraft

Posted on August 14, 2026 by Mark Hayes

“What’s the weirdest thing you have discovered today mark?”

Why, I am glad you asked… Continue reading →

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Oh what convoluted webs we do weave

Posted on July 21, 2026 by Mark Hayes

Main characters are bad enough, but the incidental characters that hang around the edges get more often than not have their own lives that morph and change as they go from a one chapter, one scene, body with a plot point nailed to it, to someone with a complete back story and who has had their own weird adventures of stage… Continue reading →

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Cosy dragons and haunted beds

Posted on July 9, 2026 by Mark Hayes

Now, to be fair, while I may read a lot of old dead white men, they are far from the only things I read. Some genre’s however I read less than others, not really for any major reason, I just don’t really seek them out. However on occasion a different subgenre crosses my path and for one reason or another I feel compelled to read them.

As is often the case these books are not written by old middle class white men, the authors are all alive as well, which makes a nice change. Continue reading →

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Lucifer Redux

Posted on June 16, 2026 by Mark Hayes

Magic, mayhem and impeccable manners in a Victorian London where magic is real Continue reading →

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Cover Stories

Posted on June 11, 2026 by Mark Hayes

‘Don’t judge a book by the cover’ as the old wisdom goes, unfortunately, however, in the real world everyone does. There is going to be some harsh unforgiving honesty with myself in this post, but sometimes that is required Continue reading →

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The Creation of Strange Worlds

Posted on May 12, 2026 by Mark Hayes

Did I really want to delve back into the mind of Howard Philips Lovecraft? Continue reading →

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Maybe, just maybe…

Posted on April 7, 2026 by Mark Hayes

A storm is brewing in the mid Atlantic and the airship Maybe’s Daughter is caught up in the middle of it. Benjamin West is hanging from a cargo net after someone tried to kill him. Eliza Tu-Pa-KA is trying to save the airship, unaware of West’s plight. Meanwhile in a realm beyond the mortal world, the soul of a dead man faces a stark choice.

Hopefully Perkins will put the kettle on before it all goes too far… Continue reading →

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Not Committing Ritualised Murder

Posted on April 6, 2026 by Mark Hayes

The first bit of news is of a Free anthology. Yes FREE, on kindle and Smashwords and other places. Now normally the moment I talk about a free book I develop a nervous tick because no book is free, it all costs the writers, editors and publishers those most vital of resources, time and energy. Giving books away for free feels like a betrayal of the artist and a betrayal of the art… It is part of the malaise of the industry, because no one truly values that which is free*. However in this case the free anthology was created specifically to be free. It was also, ahem, my idea… Continue reading →

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Barbaric Pottery and Things of That Nature

Posted on February 17, 2026 by Mark Hayes

That said however, skulls are bones. Ergo, if you learn the porters art and find yourself not entirely burdened by moralistic constraints it is possible to drink from the skulls of your enemies. in the most civilized British way imaginable.. Continue reading →

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Pagan Lines

Posted on January 20, 2026 by Mark Hayes

She utters words of honeyed violence to sooth the savage at her breast.

I harken to her words, but they are as nothing to me. Garbled sounds, senseless, meaningless. Words from across the whale road. Words from the lands of the cross carriers. The land where they worship the murdered god. Continue reading →

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