Category Archives: reads

Dear Edgar 65 ~ X-ing a Paragrab

Posted on August 7, 2026 by Mark Hayes

As it is well known that the ‘wise men’ came ‘from the East,’ and as Mr. Touch-and-go Bullet-head came from the East, it follows that Mr. Bullet-head was a wise man. If that short exert doesn’t tell you all you … Continue reading →

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Dear Edgar 64 ~ Von Kempelen and His Discovery

Posted on August 2, 2026 by Mark Hayes

By April 1849 our dear Edgar was a widower finding his comfort once more in the bottle. Privately he had started becoming increasingly unstable after Viginia’s death in January 1847. Yet publicly he had never been so successful. The initial … Continue reading →

Posted in Poe, reads, retro book reviews, Uncategorized | Tagged writing, amreading, books, reads, fiction, Edgar Alan Poe, book reviews, literature | Leave a comment

Dear Edgar 63 ~ Hop Frog

Posted on July 28, 2026 by Mark Hayes

“I now see distinctly… what manner of people these maskers are. They are a great king and his seven privy-councillors—a king who does not scruple to strike a defenceless girl, and his seven councillors who abet him in the outrage. As for myself, I am simply Hop-Frog, the jester—and this is my last jest.” Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, Dear Edgar, horror, reads, retro book reviews | Tagged amreading, book-review, books, fiction, poetry, reading, reads, writing | Leave a comment

A Tale of Two covers

Posted on July 20, 2026 by Mark Hayes

This post may offend some people. To be fair I could write that at the beginning of almost everything I write so I’m not overly worried. However, this post will touch upon a subject which offends a lot of people, including me. The subject of AI art. Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, Harvey Duckman, horror, indie novels, rant, reads | Tagged AI, amreading, art, artificial-intelligence, books, reads, sciencefiction, urban fantasy, writing | Leave a comment

Dear Edgar 61 ~ The Domain of Arnheim

Posted on July 1, 2026 by Mark Hayes

the question before us is not if the landscape Garden is a story, but if The Domain of Arnheim takes that original non-narrative piece and turn it into a story…? Continue reading →

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Interesting Folk…

Posted on June 17, 2026 by Mark Hayes

Folk horror is when a stranger stumbles into a “quaint” village and discovers horrors at a harvest festival! Folk horror is fundamentally British and pagan! Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, horror, pagan, reads, Uncategorized | Tagged book-review, books, film, folk horror, horror, pagan, reads, reviews | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in amreading, books, fantasy, reads, steampunk, urban fantasy | Tagged books, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk, urbanfantasy | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in amwriting, books, fantasy, Harvey Duckman, men in dark tweed, reads, self-publishing, writes, writing | Tagged amwriting, book-review, books, cover design, fiction, reading, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk, writer, writing | Leave a comment

Dear Edgar 60 ~ The Cask of Amontillado

Posted on May 26, 2026 by Mark Hayes

In this grim tale of revenge by our Dear Edgar, the promise of sampling a cask of Amontillado is used by the protagonist Montresor to lure his intended victim Fortunato to his grotesque doom. Fortunato considers himself to be a connoisseur of fine wine, though just how true this may be is debateable. Continue reading →

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Dear Edgar 58 ~ The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar

Posted on April 13, 2026 by Mark Hayes

In these, the enlightened days of modernity, hypnotism is a casino act and the other aspects of mesmerism is consigned to long debunked and forgotten corners of pseudoscience. In Edgar’s time however, there was some basis of belief that gave credence to this story. By presenting it in such an arid perfunctory way it seemed like a genuine scientific account. People wanted to believe, and the story offered ‘proof…’ Continue reading →