Category Archives: books

Necromantic Pontifications

Posted on November 30, 2024 by Mark Hayes

All of this is of course unpalatable to any gentleman of moral fortitude. But moral fortitude is not a prerequisite among your average magus, unlike a degree of nihilism which almost certainly is. More than one magus, once they feel the bite of age upon them and see the first grey hairs among there ravenlike locks, will be tempted to use a little necromancy to ‘rejuvenate’ themselves.

‘What, when it comes down to it, is the point of having acolytes other than so they can lend aid to your designed. Lend you their power. Lend you a year or two of their life perhaps… Well, would they really miss it?’ Continue reading →

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Fascinating Folklore, Taurus and the book pile

Posted on November 22, 2024 by Mark Hayes

fascinating insight as that may be to the beside cabinet of a bibliophile, on to some reviews, starting, as a delightful Flemish research witch has me on a folklore kick at the moment with with Fascinating Folklore… A book that answers a question much on the lips of the zeitgeist these days. Did anything good ever come out of Twitter..? Continue reading →

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Terrifying Joy from the Forests of Flanders

Posted on November 20, 2024 by Mark Hayes

Terrifying joys, and glimpses into Europe’s our collective cultural past. For while these are all Flemish tales, they are tales that are echoed throughout Europe. Which is only natural, as travels tell tales of their homelands and those tales get retold and made anew. A such this book is tales of the kind told around the camp fire, on the edge of the woods, with twilight all around. Told to frighten, and to warn. The woods are dark, the wise do not wander there.

But who wants to be wise… Continue reading →

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Lucifer Mandrake ~ Not a cover reveal…

Posted on November 14, 2024 by Mark Hayes

*my entire contribution to the Finch Ministries were the words ‘octopus catapult’ , I am ridiculously proud of this fact… Continue reading →

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Yer, so about the tower…

Posted on November 11, 2024 by Mark Hayes

The Tower is one of those stories… A story that people tend to remember and ask about. It has a perfect ending in my opinion. Which is to say the ending is open to the readers imagination. This tends to generate the same question from almost every reader “What is the tower?” Continue reading →

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Music and words

Posted on October 30, 2024 by Mark Hayes

Passing Place remains the book of which I am most proud. I love all my novels but this one is the one with the most blood in the ink, the most slivers of my soul between its pages. Its a tale of loss and love, of hope and grief , and of choices, the choice we all have….

Also, there really is a forest in the cellar. As well as a Dryad waiting tables when she is not in the back garden with her tree. A gunslinger with a tale of the mythology in the old west. An Inuit whose spear is dropping blood on the bar and speak of tears like diamonds. The wisest doorman in all the universe who will teach you many things, including how to drink brandy the right way. A girl in the corridor with eyes in her hands. A literal devil called Lyal. A grey man form a grey world marveling at the colour in the swirl of his mop water. A chef who understand how to may causality sandwiches. Continue reading →

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The Cultist Prayer

Posted on October 17, 2024 by Mark Hayes

I was raised in The Church of England and thus I learned The lords prayer by rote, as one does when your are sent off to Sunday school every Sunday to listen to bible stories and be taught about the great beard in the sky, my prospective salvation, hell and what not…

I am sure those raised in the Cult of Cthulhu experience much the same. Continue reading →

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Redux: Beguiling darkness: Tethered

Posted on October 15, 2024 by Mark Hayes

This is a fabulous ride of a novel, through a dark gritty fantasy landscape, with strong characters, betrayals, surprises, shocks, a whole world of imagination to explore and wonder at. There will I am sure be more to come, and I was delighted to go back to it and see how much what had been a good book when I read the early draft four year ago has been revise and polished into something so much more than it was. Continue reading →

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After the end…

Posted on October 4, 2024 by Mark Hayes

One in two of us will be affected by dementia in our lifetime. Families living with the condition are often left feeling exhausted, overwhelmed and alone. With your support, together we can provide vital specialist dementia nursing services, so more families can access our life-changing support and live as well as possible, for as long as possible. Please donate today and help ensure no one faces dementia alone. Continue reading →

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A Gentleman

Posted on September 24, 2024 by Mark Hayes

“It seems to me, that the use of lockpicks should fall under the remit of a gentleman’s valet, rather than the gentleman himself.” Benjamin West grumbled just after he snapped his second pick in quick succession.  Continue reading →

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