Category Archives: retro book reviews

Dear Edgar 28~ The Murders in the Rue Morgue

Posted on April 3, 2025 by Mark Hayes

At some point in your life you will have learned of this story, you will most likely not recollect when and how you learn of it, but you know of the story. ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’ is one of those stories that is part of the zeitgeist of humanity. It is a story so intrinsic to our collective culture, so ingrain within us, so referenced and repeated, that it exists beyond itself. Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, Poe, reads, retro book reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Dear Edgar 27: The Man of the Crowd

Posted on March 31, 2025 by Mark Hayes

 It was well said of a certain German book that “er lasst sich nicht lesen” –it does not permit itself to be read. There are some secrets which do not permit themselves to be told. Men die nightly in their … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, Dear Edgar, Lovecraft, Poe, reads, retro book reviews, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dear Edgar #20 The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket

Posted on September 13, 2024 by Mark Hayes

As authors go you would be hard pressed to find many with a legacy as influential as that of our own dear Edgar. Poe’s works have inspired directly or indirectly much of what we now perceive as the western cannon. … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, Dear Edgar, Poe, reads, retro book reviews | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Dear Edgar #19 The Devil in the Belfry

Posted on August 20, 2024 by Mark Hayes

Order is a wonderful thing, there is a genuine joy to waking up on a morning and knowing there will be breakfast in the cupboard, because there is always breakfast in the cupboard. There is a safety and some would … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Dear Edgar, Goth, horror, reads, retro book reviews | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Dear Edgar 16: Silence, a fable

Posted on November 20, 2023 by Mark Hayes

“It was night, and the rain fell; and falling, it was rain, but, having fallen, it was blood.” It is not unreasonable to say that a good half of our Dear Edgar’s out put over the years was poetry. As … Continue reading →

Posted in opinion, Poe, reads, retro book reviews | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Dear Edgar ~14: Four Beasts in One

Posted on October 7, 2023 by Mark Hayes

‘Glory of the East,’ thou art in danger of mastication!  This is clearly either on of the finest sentences ever written, or a really odd typo to find in the middle of an Edgar Allen Poe story. So lets go … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, Dear Edgar, Poe, reads, retro book reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Dear Edgar #12 King Pest

Posted on August 9, 2023 by Mark Hayes

King Pest is also a bit of an odd ball, even amongst other Poe stories. It reveals in description and the grotesque to a far greater extent than even Poe’s usual work. While the story is something akin to a nightmarish romp through a plague ridden London. Think of it as the literary equivalent of a Hieronymus Bosch painting. Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, Dear Edgar, horror, humour, opinion, Poe, reads, retro book reviews | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dear Edgar #6 MS Found in a Bottle

Posted on May 10, 2023 by Mark Hayes

Poe scholars are apt to say it was this story that truly launched Poe’s career. Certainly its is the first tale to read the way you expect Poe to read, with an ominous intensity wrapped in poetic language, creeping with ever more intensity towards a dark grim conclusion. In this tale then, you can see all that is to come late in Poe’s career. Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, books, cthulhu, Dear Edgar, Goth, horror, Lovecraft, Poe, quotes, reads, retro book reviews, supernatural, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dear Edgar #5 Bon-Bon

Posted on May 3, 2023 by Mark Hayes

Look too long in to the abyss and the abyss will make you an offer on your immortal aspect… Apparently. Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, books, Dear Edgar, Goth, horror, opinion, Poe, quotes, reads, retro book reviews, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What is Steampunk? A Guest post by Matt McCall

Posted on April 20, 2023 by Mark Hayes

Mat McCall, a bulldozer of joyous exuberance and invested enthusiasm who manages to drag unsuspecting people into a whirlwind of frivolity. I love this man… He has some thoughts on ‘What is Steampunk’ he is something of an expert on the matter, though he would never claim to be. Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, books, Hannibal Smyth, indie, indie novels, indie writers, IndieApril, reads, retro book reviews, sci-fi, steampunk, Uncategorized, writes | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment